What started as a cruise ship custom has quietly taken over the hallways of at least one Walt Disney World resort. Guests at Disney's Pop Century Resort have embraced the tradition of decorating their room doors with magnets, personalized signs, and themed artwork celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, first visits, and favorite Disney characters — and the practice has grown into a genuine resort subculture, complete with a dedicated Facebook group topping 100,000 members.
Pop Century became the natural home for the trend in part because many of its guest room doors are made of metal, making magnets easy to attach without causing any damage. The resort's large repeat-visitor community helped the tradition spread further, with guests swapping decorating ideas and photos online after every trip.
Now there's a new wrinkle: housekeeping Cast Members at Pop Century have apparently started recognizing standout displays by leaving guests themed ribbons on their decorated doors. The ribbons match the resort's retro aesthetic — think disco balls and vinyl records — and congratulate guests by declaring their decorations are "the bees knees," noting the recognition comes from the Pop Century housekeeping team. Photos of the ribbons have circulated widely on social media, prompting speculation that Disney has quietly given the tradition its blessing.
Disney hasn't issued a formal resort-wide policy on decorated doors either way, and there's no confirmation the ribbon program will expand beyond Pop Century or that it was even directed from above rather than organized by Cast Members themselves. The company has, however, recently updated its Disney Cruise Line decorating guidelines to specify that decorations must stay on individual stateroom doors and not spill into public hallways — a policy some guests believe could eventually find its way to the resort hotels if displays continue to grow more elaborate.
For now, nothing suggests Walt Disney World is asking guests to stop, and the housekeeping ribbons at Pop Century signal that Cast Members, at minimum, are enjoying the creativity on display. This story was first reported by Inside the Magic.
