The '50s Are the Most!

The clusters of lodging buildings at Disney's Pop Century Resort are each dedicated to a decade from the latter half of the 20th century... and some of the pop culture icons of that era. Consistent among the buildings are slang phrases popular at the time and large figures posed to represent a dance from that decade. Here in the '50s, you'll find the Jitterbug, the Lindy and the Twist, along with expressions like "Cool," "Dreamy" and "Way out!"

The balcony railings are also decorated with musical memories of the '50s, in the form of transistor radios and 45 rpm records (that decade's equivalent of today's 99¢ iTunes download). The song titles are made up, but reflect other timely trends: "The Goldfish Gulp," "Penny Loafer Love" and "Sputnik Spin." Two of my favorites are "Alaska If She'd Like to be the 49th State" and "Hawaii? I'm Fine! (50th State Hula)," references to the fact that both states joined the union during the 1950s.

The stairwells on the end of each building in this cluster are encased in giant, 65-foot-tall bowling pins - officially sponsored by Brunswick, a rare example of participant branding in a resort. Looking around, you'll find nine of these pins standing. The tenth has "fallen" to form the pool. Around the pool are other details supporting the story of ten-pin bowling's popularity in the '50s, from the lane markers to the laundry facility disguised as a rack of rented bowling shoes.

The giant jukebox at the end of the bowling pin pool speaks to other major trends like sock hops, malt shops and rock 'n' roll. There are lots more fun song titles to be found here, especially if you're willing to take the time to walk around the entire jukebox and read all the tags. There's "Drag Race Daredevil Danny," "The Wallflower Blues," "Poodle Skirt Parade" and "The Tiki Torch Tango."

You'll even find a few Hidden Disney references, including the fabricated "I've Got a Date at Disneyland" and the very real hit songs "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and "Mickey Mouse Club March."

There's one element of Disney, though, that's not hidden at all. In fact, you can't miss the tribute to Lady and the Tramp, Disney's animated feature which debuted in theaters in 1955. At one side of the courtyard is Lady, shy and demure. On the other side of the tracks is the Tramp, all tall, proud and sure of himself. You can almost hear him calling, "Come on, Pidg'!"

My favorite detail in this vignette is one that's often overlooked. It's a small engineering building which anywhere else would be simply painted "go away" green and surrounded by tall shrubs. Here, though, it's part of the show, dressed as Lady's doghouse out in the yard.