(Business 2.0) – The world's premier tourist destination is ready to put itself back on the map. On Dec. 14, Walt Disney World will welcome the first guests at its new Pop Century Resort near Orlando, Fla., a 2,880-room hotel complex in which each building is designed to conjure nostalgia for the pop culture of an earlier decade. The economy-priced complex is the most elaborate resort project to open at Disney World since the 9/11 attacks devastated attendance and forced the company to close 3,000 rooms. Occupancy at the Pop Century will be a test of whether the old Disney formula still works in a post-9/11 world. --BRAD WIENERS

MAKE IT AFFORDABLE At $77 a night, the Pop Century's rooms are among the cheapest--and smallest--at Disney World. The company's discount hotels have been a bright spot in the gloom of the past years.

MAKE IT CONNECT Each building is marked by icons from the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s, or '90s, including an imposing Rubik's Cube and a giant Mr. Potato Head. "We kicked around a thousand ideas," says Bob Holland, VP for resort development. "But we all loved pop culture. It's an instant emotional attachment."

MAKE IT LAST Holland says pop culture gives the new resort "an overlay of Disney magic." Won't the novelty wear off? "For concept hotels, it's important to renovate or reconcept every seven to eight years," says Scott Smith of PKF Consulting, an appraiser of vacation hotels.

MAKE 'EM RETURN Actually, Disney's new hotel complex is only half done. Pop Century will eventually have 5,760 rooms, with buildings dedicated to the 1920s, '30s, and '40s. Disney hopes some visitors will come back to stay in different decades. "Pop culture is fairly evergreen," says Disney's Holland.