My family and I are considering taking a trip to WDW next year and we're looking at staying at a value resort. Which of the value resorts do you prefer? I'm thinking I like the Movies Resort best. What do you think?
Thanks for your input
Julie
My family and I are considering taking a trip to WDW next year and we're looking at staying at a value resort. Which of the value resorts do you prefer? I'm thinking I like the Movies Resort best. What do you think?
Thanks for your input
Julie
All Stars and Pop Century are quite similar. Both are great for their value! I haven't stayed at the All Stars resorts in a few years, but I do prefer Pop Century. The buses may be a bit easier to manage and the theming is as good as the All Stars Movies. I sure the theming in All Star Music is just as good.
No matter which one you decide, make sure to spend some time walking the grounds. All have great picture opportunities, from giant icons (Lady and the Tramp, Buzz Light-year etc) to smaller ones such as Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads or Daffy and Donald Duck in Pop Century, or Goofy as a Hockey Goalie in the Mighty Ducks building pool in All Star Movies. My favorite was where you can position someone in a TV with two dogs watching the TV (All star Movies if I recall).
November 2012 Saratoga Springs Food and Wine Festival
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Our other Disney Trips (including our Disneymoon): http://www.hras.org/kelliandmike.htm
Pop. Hands down. It doesn't feel all that "value" (unless you're a frequent visitor of the deluxe resorts) and it only has 1 bus stop!
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
POP, POP, POP! Although, as it ages, I wonder if they'll be able to keep it as nice. I wish they'd continue with the next phase of the resort that they started way back when. Doing a moderate this time, but I'll definitely be back to POP in the future.
1999 - Coronado Springs (1 night); 2003 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2005 - All Star Music (7 nights); 2007 - POP Century (10 nights); 2008 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2009 - POP Century (10 nights); 2010 - Dolphin (2 nights); 2011 - POP Century (7 nights); June 8-18, 2012 - POFQ (10 nights); next trip,June 18-22, 2013 - POFQ (5 nights). If I'm not at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, I'm not really happy.
We have stayed at both the All-Star Movies and Music.
There is not much difference between the two. We enjoyed both of them. Our kids like the theming...you definitely won't forget you are at WDW! Character icons everywhere...lots for the kids to enjoy! We loved the games and movies by the pool at All-Star Music. They didn't do this when we stayed at the Movies, but maybe they do now.
However, we chose All-Star Music for our last visit just in case we could get an upgrade to one of the family suites...and we did! They allowed us to stay in a family suite for the same price as a standard room. We had a great time.
Have fun!
Pop Century, and spring for the Preferred room. You will be closer to the main building and the bus stop. The bus stops are more organized than the other values according to what I've heard.
Also, the food court can get a little crazy in the mornings, so it's best to hit it very early in the morning. When we visit, I always make a run to the food court to fill up our mugs and grab snacks before my gang wakes up.
POP!!! We like the food court, the bus stop, the staff at consierge, the theming (well, I like it better than the ALL Stars but not as well as Mods or Deluxe) the lake, the proximity to Epcot, Studios, Animal Kingdom. And the soap. Nicer than the wall mounted stuff.
"First of all I would like to make one thing perfectly clear.
I never explain anything." Mary Poppins
I can't give you a comparison because the only one we've stayed at is POP (because I took everyone's advice here
), but I can tell you we really liked POP a lot. We were moving down from a moderate and were a bit nervous about it, but it was great, exceeded our expectations!
~Annie
My personal favorite is All Star Music, but this is mainly because I am famous for last minute trips, and this is usually all that is left! I have stayed here more than any other resort, so it feels like home. I like the theming and the beautiful fountain in the middle. Pop is nice, too, but I have only stayed there once. I did like the displays of all the decades in the lobby.
I can't really give an objective opinion because the only value I've stayed at was Pop Century. I can say that we liked it quite a bit, but it was our first trip and we only really saw the hotel for sleeping/showering and an occasional quick breakfast. We never even dipped a toe in the pool. The only thing we didn't like was the bus service, it was pretty bad and it took 1-2 hours to get back to the hotel after park closing time because the lines were just horrendous and there were obviously too few buses to fill the needs of their guests. I have come to enjoy sitting in a hot tub at the end of my long touring days, so I don't know if we'll do a value again, but I wouldn't rule it out.
==Wendi==
2007 WDW @ AKL ~ 2006 WDW @ AKL ~ 2005 WDW @ Pop ~ DLR Too Many Times To Count!
Originally Posted by Wendi
I have to be honest; we never encountered this problem when we stayed there two summers ago, at peak season. Perhaps there was a snafu during your stay or something like that, because we never had to wait for more than the second bus coming back to the resort, maybe a 20 minute wait at most. Others?
I'm sure it is better now... that was on our first trip, a few years ago. It was pretty bad.
==Wendi==
2007 WDW @ AKL ~ 2006 WDW @ AKL ~ 2005 WDW @ Pop ~ DLR Too Many Times To Count!
No, I agree with the long waits AT NIGHT AT PARK CLOSING. Last trip, we were at POFQ and after waiting for 40 minutes with NO bus coming along, I got ticked at got a cab. Best money I ever spent. (BTW, others in line had been there for a good 20 minutes before us, so that's a full hour!)
I think they're pretty good most of the time, but at park closing, there's such a crush of people that they can't keep up. I think that my Pop and POFQ experiences were similar. The last trip, the busses were especially bad and we took cabs SEVERAL times. I'm good about allowing 45-60 minutes to get back and forth. When it gets beyond that, I get impatient. BTW, these were "off season" trips. I'm staying at POP again in a few weeks and almost exclusively planning on internal busses. We'll see how it goes!
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
To the OP: Pop is my favorite Value, because it's newer, because it doesn't share buses, and because the cast members make it feel more like a moderate.
That being said, I think you'll find someone firmly in each Value's camp and I think that's because some trips just gel perfectly and your fond memories are reflected in your opinion of the resort. Other posters have made good points about the All-Stars.
As far as the bus waits at the end of the night, I really think you have to come up with a different nighttime strategy. Either leave a bit before everyone else or hang back, enjoy the emptying park and maybe a dessert or bit of shopping.
I can't take the pushing and running with everyone up to the front just to wait in a line - I'm tired and patience (never my strong suit!) will not be a virtue at that point. I personally think transportation does a bang-up job, much better than at home after a sporting or concert event. Just my 2!
We stayed at All-Star Movies in January '04. Parks weren't crowded and we didn't have to wait long at all ever for a bus.
We stayed at All-Star Music in Aug/September '08. We never shared buses with any other resorts. We would leave the parks during the fireworks and the buses were lined up waiting. The longest we waited for a bus was 20 minutes. We stayed for an entire week and we got the most aggravated with the monorail. We tried to get from Epcot to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary and it kept stopping. It took us almost an hour to get there!
We love the All-Stars. We stay at the parks ALL DAY. We really are only at the room to sleep. This time the kids were older and they enjoyed the movies and dancing at the pool. We can't wait to get back!
The above mentioned wait at Epcot was after we walked VERY slowly and shopped through Epcot on the way out. We got to the bus stop around 9:50 pm.......
Of course, I understand that I could've hit "one of those days." It was during F&Wine
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
I just returned from a two-week stay at Pop. This was my first trip to WDW and the entire experience was absolutely fabulous. I loved Pop - everything about it was A-1 perfect! I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again on my next visit.
*
Disneyland ~ Forever Close To My Heart ~
Glad you had such a great trip coronado_g - two weeks, sounds heavenly
As far as the busses go, so far we've always decided to fork over the $$ for a rental car and one of the reasons is to avoid the end of day/night packed bus routine. This is not just a value resort issue. I don't know that there's any way around it if you go at a busy time, regardless of whether you're at a value, moderate or deluxe resort. Don't mean to sound too negative, but better to be prepared for standing room only crowded busses at the end of the day than to be shocked. I guess my point is I wouldn't let that weigh too heavily on my decision as to which value resort to pick.
~Annie
I couldn't agree more, annie. Also if I'm closing a park I'll hang out and watch all the people scurrying by, then saunter on out to my car after the crush of people at the exits.
As to the values, I find the Pop to be head & shoulders above the other value resorts. I think they learned quite a bit after building Sports and Music, and they themed the Pop nicer, with more landscaping, better furniture in the rooms, etc. It's a lot closer in feel to the moderates, I think. I'm usually a moderate resort person, but if budget forces me to skimp, I'll do the Pop in a heartbeat!
Dan
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
- James Taylor
Another vote for Pop here with only two caveats:
1) The food court seating is far too small for a resort this size.
2) As one of the newest resorts, it's often one of the furthest bus stops from the park entrance. Which isn't a problem so much in the morning as it is in the evening when you're dragging your feet with every step.
I think it's closer at some parks than at others - BUT, a lot of times you don't get dropped off at the place you'll get picked up at, and MOST bus drivers (especially in the morning rush when they're just dropping off and not picking up) are allowed/or just do go to the closest stop. That's part of the reason it doesn't seem as far in the morning - because it's often not!
Cathy
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