Hi Diane!
I'm so happy to hear that you are planning a vacation to Walt Disney World! You will love
Art of Animation resort, it features Disney's imagineering at its finest!
Art of Animation has 3 pools (
The Big Blue, The Cozy Cone and Flippin Fins) that are intended for guest use only, each of these pools are gated and require a guest room key to access. While the 3 pools at
POP Century are not gated, they are also intended for guest use only. "Pool Hopping" is a hot topic issue among many guests and while you may see it happening it is against Disney's policy. I like to play by the rules so I just stick to using the pools at the resort where I am staying.
The walk from POP Century to Art of Animation is a very pleasant walk and doesn't take that much time at all. The resorts are connected by bridge, since Art of Animation was originally intended to be a resort featuring the earlier years of the 20th century, and is only a 5 to 10 minute walk between the two resorts food courts. If you are staying at POP Century, I highly recommend taking a walk over to tour of Art of Animation. I hope this helps and please let us know if you have any more questions!
Best Wishes,
Mandy