Hey there… starting the initial planning for a trip in August ’09. We’ve decided to stay at one of the value resorts (much to my chagrin- I have fond memories of the Caribbean Resort pool). I really know nothing about them, except that on one of the podcasts it was mentioned that Pop Century had amenities the others didn’t. Can anyone give me some pros and cons on the resorts?

P.S. Totally friggin’ psyched about this trip. I am a SoCal Disneyland junkie that hasn’t been to WDW in 15+ years.

The Pop Century is the newest of the values. In my opinion it's also much better landscaped, and the room decor is a notch above. I think the Pop is much closer to staying at a moderate than any of the All Star resorts. I'm a moderate fan, but sometimes budget requires that I do a value. And the Pop works great for me.

I also feel that POP is more centrally located--easier & quicker to get back & forth to most places. My parents stayed @ POP last summer & thoroughly enjoyed it.

I like Pop because it's newest. I think I just read that they got rid of the inside bar, which was different from the other Values. It still doesn't have a slide in any of the pools (one of the big differentiators for most kids between Value and Moderate).

It NEVER shares a bus, but it's a large resort, so there are more people there than at any one of the All Stars. And the waiting area for the buses is set up with queue chains, and I'm not sure the All Stars are or not (it's been a while since I stayed at an All Star).

I have stayed at Movies, Music and Pop never at sports I've heard it's old and needs updating. If you asked me before my trip in November I would have said Pop but my experience this past year wasn't good. The mattress was lumpy and the springs were digging in us, the comforter was dirty and part of the rug when we checked in was wet and soapy when you walked on it. I was very disappointed but sometimes your budget doesn't allow you to go elsewhere. This November we are staying at POFQ we haven't been there in awhile so we are giving that a try we usually stay PORS. I really wanted CS but they are getting a overhaul in November so I will wait till next year for that one. Enjoy your trip!

I don't think that POP has any better/different amenities than the other values (other than dedicated buses).

I love POP and that's usually our value of choice but last time POP was sold out and we stayed at ASMu and were really pleasantly surprised.

The smaller scale of it was kind of nice (the food court in the AM was no where near the zoo that POP can be). The pool felt huge to us, and the walks all felt shorter.

I can't say anything about the buses- we've started driving everywhere after lots of frustration with WDW transport.

So either POP or ASMu would be my choice.

I have the option of staying at Pop or ASMo for 6 nights. I save about $110 by staying at ASMo. Is it worth the savings? I LOVE pop!

How were you saving money? The only reason I think that they should be different is if the Pop quote included preferred location, but the All Stars didn't. I think they even changed the tax rate in the county that Pop's in, so that they match again.

But for over $100, I think I'd save the money for something fun! And do something you wouldn't have otherwise, like a tour, or extra TS (or even signature) meal, or something like that!

Pop has one bus stop, the All-Stars have three. If you're on that last stop (Movies?)--you're screwed.

We drive everywhere anyway though.

we have stayed at Pop and at ASM. We prefer ASM over POP. POP did seem to have larger room, but nothing noticable. Our biggest problems with POP were the buses and the food court was more crowded. Even though ASM shares with the other to resorts, most of the times we headed to the parks, each resort seemed to have there own bus. At POP all the buses seemed more crowded. Not sure if it was bad timing luck of the draw, it did start get annoying that it took two buses for us to get on a bus at the hotle pick up. The seating area in the food court seem smaller and more crowded to me, once agian not sure of bad timing or what. Other than that, both resorts seemed about the same, same level of customer service. Of course this year we got the family suite at ASM and loved it

The pools at Pop are bigger and nicer than at Allstars.

Of the three Allstars, Movies has the best pool.

We have often stayed in Sports because my kids stayed there during cheerleading competitions and it's a nostalgia and know it well sort of thing.

But if I was going to use the pool, I would prefer Pop.

Also, exactly where your room is located in the Allstars makes a big difference.
If you get a map of the resort lay out for Sports, look at Hoops.
Hoops is where we do not want to be.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/guide.php?pg=BLC000

We have a favorite area at Sports that overlooks a garden area and is just a zig and a zag to the food court. (Look at building 7 on the northern side of the "stem" of the T.)

We stayed in the All-Star Movies in January '04. Of course, it wasn't peak time, but we never had any trouble with the buses. Never really had to wait and it wasn't a problem being the "last" All-Star bus stop. The food court was never totally full or was the pool. Yes, we actually went swimming in January!

We are staying at the All-Star Music Aug/Sept '08, so I will post when we come back and let you know how crowded the resort seems and how the buses do. We totally rely on Disney transportation. We make it part of the experience for our kids...like "yeah" another ride to go on! :)

We are going on "free dining" so maybe when you go in '09 Disney will offer the same deal. I will let you know how the crowd levels seem.

48 days until WDW! I can't wait!

I have stayed at POP, ASMo and ASMu but not sports (my sister and I walked from ASMu to touring the grounds of Sports). My choice would be POP, loved it. They have their own bus line, plus frozen cokes for your refillable mugs (not offered at the All Stars). It just seemed cleaner. On our last trip we stayed at ASMu to try another resort, I felt like it was a major down grade after staying at the POP. Plus the walk to our room was over 15 min from the bus drop off at front to our room. (we taped our walk). We plan on going again next year and will be staying at POP again.

POP is the newest of the four value resorts, but my favorite is ASMu because it seems to be quieter than the other values.

For information on overlooked activities at the values and moderates, check out this page on All Ears. http://www.allearsnet.com/ae/issue205.htm

And here is a Pop Century fact sheet including a photo gallery. http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_pop.htm

Hope that helps! :)