Pop Century or Art of Animation?

[disneydeb]

We love Pop because of these reasons:
tie-dyed cheesecake
its own bus system to the parks
Pina Colavas at the bar
preferred area rocks for us!

I know Little Mermaid area is not the preferred area at Art of Animation,
Lion King is preferred area and it only has suites as far as I know..
Is there a map of Art of Animation, will they have cheesecake?,Pina colavas?? and how about the buses????

As soon as we decide, between the two, I am sending in a ressie to Wendy @Magical Journeys..

[SurferStitch]

I'm sure Art of Animation will have its own busses just like Pop.

As for preferred versus non.... we've never noticed that much of a difference. The walk to the busses is about 1 minute longer from a non-preferred room (maybe 2 on a slow day), so it's never been a big deal to us.

Food? No idea... Guess we'll find out.

[Ms. Mode]

I kinda thought POP and Art would end up sharing a bus; like All Stars.

[brownie]

I don't believe there's been any word on the buses yet. Little Mermaid is standard rooms and the other areas are all suites, so you'll be paying more for rooms in buildings other than Little Mermaid. The Disney Parks Blog has one or two posts on food offerings for Art of Animation. Even if they don't offer the cheesecake, you're not going to be too far from Pop Century.

[LandFan]

I kinda thought POP and Art would end up sharing a bus; like All Stars.

My guess is they might have their own busses as they are both HUGE resorts!

I certainly hope so

[wmdaddy]

Just booked Art of Animation for July 2013. I gotta be out of my mind. We're spending a week in Disneyland, then flying to Orlando for 10 nights at WDW.

[disneydeb]

Just booked Art of Animation for July 2013. I gotta be out of my mind. We're spending a week in Disneyland, then flying to Orlando for 10 nights at WDW.

That's my kinda CRAZY !!

[JerseyDad]

...we're booked at POP at the end of August this year (again!)...because we just really love the place. My brother and his family are also heading to WDW at the same time...and is booked at Art of Animation...so we'll get a chance to check it out too.

....we have no need for family suites...but it'll be neat to see how the "big vacant lot" next to POP has evolved into something wonderful

[PopPhan]

I kinda thought POP and Art would end up sharing a bus; like All Stars.

Understand, Pop is about the size of all 3 All-Stars by itself.

AoA should have its own, dedicated buses.

[Scrappy2]

I was back and forth on this one as well. We went with the AoA for our trip in November. I did ask about the buses and they are going to have their own buses. They will not share with Pop. I'm very excited about the new resort!

[Tink#64]

Understand, Pop is about the size of all 3 All-Stars by itself.

AoA should have its own, dedicated buses.

I simply can't imagine the two resorts sharing busses! Pop's busses are always FULL, like a can of sardines! We love Pop, & my DS's are teens, so for us I think we're past the age that we'd want to stay at AoA, but I can't wait to check it out next year! I saw lots of new pics today & if I had little ones, I'd be booking our next stay there for sure! It looks absolutely awesome! The theming is just fantastic! I don't think you could go wrong with either resort, and I'm sure counting on Generation Gap Bridge being opened up so traveling to & fro between the two will be a snap!

And having said that, I've been wondering, assuming the bridge will finally be opened, and the two resorts connected via the bridge, will guests be able to use the pools, etc at both? Will the two be considered "Sister Resorts"? And if not, how will they inforce that? Curious, I know we'll definitely want to explore the new resort, my DS's are for sure too old for the kids theming in their play areas, but a thought I've had since seeing them start to work on it when we were at Pop last year.

[Alaska Disney Fan]

We have the same problem, already booked for Pop for Sept. 22nd at Pop. We have never stayed there, but for a little less we can stay at AoA. We have a preferred pool room at Pop, not sure if I want to walk the extra distance from the Little Mermaid section. Although it would be nice being one of the first to stay there. What to do, what to do?

[waymickey]

:
And having said that, I've been wondering, assuming the bridge will finally be opened, and the two resorts connected via the bridge, will guests be able to use the pools, etc at both?.

From what I heard the Bridge is opened but no they are not sister resorts and the pool at AoA is fenced in. In order to get to the actual water you must swipe your room key.
I hear most pools at Disney are now fenced in and use the same system. I guess to many pool hoppers. But I wonder if it takes away from the theme??

[Tink#64]

Personally, I think the fence is a yucky idea, aesthetically speaking! I can understand the premise, but personally I think that would give a caged look & feel. hmm...

But I'm so happy to think about the bridge finally being open! It's going to be so cool to have life on the other side of it! All these years, the planned Legendary years just looked like a sad, abandoned ghost town. I'm just glad that we'll have a much nicer view across the lake from Pop now! Can't wait to see it all next summer!

[BrerGnat]

Personally, I think the fence is a yucky idea, aesthetically speaking! I can understand the premise, but personally I think that would give a caged look & feel. hmm...

I've seen some video of the pool area (completed). The fence is VERY unobtrusive. It's a metal fence painted blue and it blends in very well with the surrounding theme. You will not feel like you are caged in at ALL. The actual fence is very far back and encompasses the entire pool area, so you can hardly even see it from inside the pool area.

Disney does a good job of making the fences feel like part of the theme. You will not be bothered by it at all.

[disneydeb]

I just found out that A of A will have strawberry cheesecake instead of the red velvet tiedyed variety.

But they will have a section to make your own smoothies.