Tori,
Yes, the main route to get from
Disney's Pop Century Resort to the
BOATHOUSE at
Disney Springs is to take the bus from your hotel.
There is one route I can think of that would incorporate some boat travel, though as you suggest, it would take you longer to get to dinner. What you could do is take the
Disney Skyliner from Pop Century to
Disney's Hollywood Studios. Next, you would take a bus to either of the Port Orleans resort hotels. From there you could boat in. A conservative estimate would put the total travel time at just over an hour and a half, though if your timing for the bus at Hollywood Studios and the Boat at Port Orleans is fortunate, that could drop by quite a bit.
While it is not as convenient as the bus route, it does offer you a lovely sail into dinner, and I can get behind that!
BONUS TIP #1That same boat ride could be made from Saratoga Springs as well, but it would be so much shorter that it would not be worth your effort.
BONUS TIP #2While this would work getting you to dinner, I would not recommend trying this route to get home after dinner.
Why? Well, if delays occur on the boat ride or the bus trip, you may get to Hollywood Studios after the buses have stopped running for the evening. It all depends on when at night you are heading home. Since on that day both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios close at 9 pm, technically the Disney Skyliner would be done operating at 10 pm. If the boat ride and ensuing bus ride take you past 10 pm, you could get stuck without an easy way home.
Please feel free to
write me back directly if you have any follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug