Pop vs. other values

[Ropachs]

We're thinking about staying at a value resort for our next trip (after this years trip.) Never stayed at a value before and thought they would all be pretty much the same. I constantly see people writing about and staying at Pop here but hardly ever see anything about the All Stars. Something I should know???

[Strmchsr]

It's just a matter of preference. I like Pop, but I like All-Star Music and Sports, too (never stayed at Movies). I think some folks like that Pop has its own buses, but because it's bigger those buses can be just as (or more) crowded. It's also a little newer and the pop culture theming connects more with some folks than the other themes. I like them all, though. Considering the amount of time I spend in my room (pretty much sleeping only) it doesn't matter much.

[disneymom15]

We prefer POP also. Although, there's nothing wrong with the other values (and we've stayed at them all) but first choice is always POP. I think the food court is nicer and larger than the All Stars. You can't go wrong with which ever one you pick.

[TKDONALD]

THE KEY IS THE BUSES!!!!!:bus:

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

We have stayed at Pop, Movies, and Sports, preferring Movies. The main reason was the food selection at Movies was more suited to our tastes. :mickey:

[Tinkerbella16]

We've stayed at all four value resorts and Pop Century is our preference. We never had any issues with the bus system, and never had to wait long...so that was great about Pop running their own busses. There really is no difference in the rooms, just the theme is different. I found that Pop had the best foodcourt out of all the values... a nice wide variety to choose from, and very good food. I also like the layout of the whole resort better than the all stars...its not so crammed, and a bit more spread out, but not too much. We loved the 50's section...close to the main building.

[LizLovesDiz]

We have stayed at 2 of the all stars and we prefer Pop because of the location,the buses and the theming,love it !!! :mickey:

[pink]

The All Star movies and music are both great, I've never heard anything good about Sports. Most competitive teams stay here as groups and tend to be very loud very late at night and then get up early and start praticing. Pop and the All Stars are basically the same but Pop is newer and the best thing, it doesn't share buses. All three All Stars share one bus for each park, which means long waits early in the morning and at park closing. It also means stopping at all three resorts. Pop has it's own bus but since the resort is so big and popular those buses tend to be busy too. :mickey:

[Ropachs]

Hmmm, had no idea about the buses, very good point. You learn something new (about Disney!) every day! Thanks-

[Strmchsr]

One thing to note about the buses...when things are slower All Star Sports and Music (and sometimes Movies) do share buses, but during the busier times buses will often be dedicated to only one.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

One thing to note about the buses...when things are slower All Star Sports and Music (and sometimes Movies) do share buses, but during the busier times buses will often be dedicated to only one.

I have experienced this too, busy mornings sometimes resulted in dedicated buses. However, 90-plus percent of the time, it was a shared bus.

Other the POR, I have only stayed at Movies, and I never found the bus waits to be intolerably long except for one night leaving MK at closing. For me, the only catch to staying at Movies is that when you do share a bus, you will be the last of the three All-Star Resorts to be picked up, which will mean standing up 100% of the time.

[SAnderson70769]

I personally think the theming and food is much better at POP. We love this resort - we have pretty much decided from here on out it's a value for us as we spend very little time in the room (sleeping and napping). I can't speak for the buses as we always rent a car - I just prefer to drive to the parks! You certainly won't be disappointed in POP I don't think!

[Soul_Power]

This is an ongoing debate around here! Some people are hardcore All-Stars fans and others are hardcore Pop fans (myself included). :mickey: The only real way to find out which one you like is to experience it yourself!

We took our first trip last summer, so we didn't really know what to expect. We ended up going with Pop because it's the newest. That's all we pretty much knew about it. After going there once, we fell in love! We love the themes, not sharing a bus with any other resorts (as the All-Stars do), the food court, Everything Pop, and the PRICE of course! :mickey: We took Magical Express as well, and we were the first stop when we arrived (this varies though, I think).

Even this is another vote for Pop, I'm sure you'll have a great time at whichever resort you choose! It's WDW after all!

[thrillme]

I like them both.

The All-Stars had cooler pools. They seemed bigger and I really liked the Meatball Subs there.

The Pop had a "dedicated" bus ALL the time. The Pop also had Tie Dye cheese cake and one that was chocolate with marshmallows...LOVED these.

It seemed like the All-Stars would send buses to pick up ALL the All-Stars hotels. SOMETIMES they would send a bus if the "community" bus was just too full. We had a couple of times where it was packed coming to Movies (the last on the route) and only a couple of people got in and the rest had to wait (this was an "all-star" pain).

Since we really spend more time at the parks than at the pool and we usually eat our main meal in the parks...I choose POP for the quicker buses and "cheesecake".

[Tbelle1976]

Glad to hear so many enjoyed Pop. We have stayed at ASMo and will be staying at Pop in February. I actually chose it because of a better rate, but I'm sure the kids will like it.

[paragon]

We've stayed at Movies and Sports and prefer Movies a little more. It doesn't matter all that much to us because we aren't there to stay at the hotel room, we're there for the parks. We spend very little time in the room and at the resort.
We were there on 911, at Sports, the only time we didnt rent a car. On our way into the park we had a ride, my parents drove up to spend the day, but as we were going in across bay lake on the ferry, the world changed. We weren't allowed in as they closed the parks and we were routed to the bus terminals. During what was surely a frightening time, the transportation system was run extremely well.
We got back to our hotel and collected our group. Confusion at first but then calm.
Anyway I rambled there, sorry.
On the following trip we visited POP and a very nice telephone worker spoke with us for a while explaining to us that the plans were drawn utilizing the guests input in what worked best and least at the All Stars and they built POP using that information, the layout, the additional floor, the better locations of the lobby bathrooms ( closer to the pool ) the lobby, and the better location and layout of the food court.
In three days, we will arrive and stay at POP for the first time. I hope to enjoy it as much as All Star Movies.

[maxrebo77]

I have stayed at Music and Sports and both fine. However if you do not have a car with you, Pop has Great bus service. If you are like me, that is the big thing that can ruin your trip. Most of us seem to be planners, and waiting for a bus can be very upsetting if you have a ressie or a life.

[Marker]

To me, there is not a handfull of difference between any of them. I have stayed at all of the value resorts. There are some differences in the food options in the food courts. The theming is the biggest and most obvious difference.

Yes, Pop has it's own buses, but it also seems to have more people. Last week, when leaving the Magic Kingdom at night, they were using 2 bus stops for Pop Century and both were loaded beyond their capacity. The 3 AllStar Resorts sometimes share buses but during heavier travel times they each get their own bus. And if you notice at the parks, they tend to have individual stops. One advantage, especially if you say at AllStar Music (the middle one) is the option to take a bus to one of the other AllStar resorts if it arrives first, or if yours is particularly busy. The resorts are close enough that you can easily walk back to your resort from one of the others.

For some reason my daughter likes Pop better, I think she likes it because its newer. But for me, the choice lies more in which theming do you prefer.

[GrmGrninGost]

We've stayed at all of the values and have not had any problems. However, POP is our favorite by far. The food court (IMHO) is far better. It is newer and a little brighter. I love the lobby. The store is great! The bus service is usually pretty good. They have a really nice pathway if you would care to take a stroll. I like to walk along the lake and look for fish or alligators. Haven't seen a gator yet, but we did see one in the MK a couple years ago! Very cool! :thumbsup:

[pixiesmimi]

We have only stayed at the All Stars Movies and liked it. The younger children thought the themes were wonderful and the pool was very big. We liked the food court and the charges. Of course, as said above, we only used it for sleeping and swimming on our day off. It was very clean, we loved the mousekeeping and had no problems. We never had a bus problem except one morning which was EMH and had to wait as the bus was full when it got there but most of the time our buses were empty when they got there and we never went to the other resorts at night before ours for drop off. We had no complaints.

[pamickeys]

May was the first year we stayed at a value-wanted to try it. You have to remember you're at a value resort. The buses at value resorts seem to be better than some of the moderates that we have stayed at. The food court at Music had anything and everything you wanted to eat so I don't know how one can be different from the other. The food was very good for a food court, it's not a restaurant. The theme was nice, the rooms were clean, we had a very enjoyable stay.

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

Hmmm, had no idea about the buses, very good point. You learn something new (about Disney!) every day! Thanks-

DH & I had no issues with the buses at ASMu when we stayed there in January. However, there were many, many issues besides the buses at POP. Sometimes in the mornings @ POP you had to wait 2 or 3 buses to cycle through before you could get standing room only on a bus to any of the parks.

Also, POP is so much larger that any of the AllStars and therefore has many more guests. We had many, many unmagical issues during our stay at POP in September 2007 & we won't be back. We did discuss our issues with Disney's Customer Service & received compensation for the issues which were not resolved while we were there. We found that the rooms at POP are beginning to look really, really run down while the rooms at ASMu have recently been refurbished & they're so nice and magical looking. I love the curtain between the sinks & the sleeping area as it makes a big difference during our stays. :mickey: Also the food court & shopping at ASMu were alot nicer than POP. At POP you have to be a table vulture hoping to get a table to eat at (no matter what time we went) and then hope your food is still hot when/if you got a table to eat at.

Whichever resort you choose, enjoy yourselves since you'll be at the Mouse House!! :thumbsup:

[valjane]

I have stayed at both, and for me Pop is far superior.

The rooms are about the same at both Pop and All Stars, but All Stars are a little more bright and, some would say, garish.

The grounds at Pop are much, much nicer. With the lake, you have almost a moderate resort feel. The trails are nice, and I like the surprises like the built-in Twister court!

The food court is excellent-- better than All Stars, and nicer. It's broken up into sections so it doesn't feel like one huge cafeteria.

I used to like the indoor lounge (something the All Stars don't have), but have heard it's now closed. :mad:

The buses are hit and miss at both places. I've generally had good experiences at both, though I did have major problems at All Star Movies. Since the bus picked up at Sports and Music first, they were often standing room only with VERY limited space by the time they got to Movies.

[doviasgirl]

Just got back from All Star Sports and they are doing construction on the food court section so you have to go all the way around around the main building to get to the front to catch buses. I have to say only one bus we were on went on to the All Star Music and none of the buses went to the All Star Movies resort even when we were not even close to being full. We have stayed in the All Star Music several times and love it.

The only thing I did not like at All Star Sports was the people smoking at the bottom of the steps in our building. We were in the building with the surf boards near the food court. I have asthma and had to hold my breath everytime we came down the stairs to keep from getting a lung full of nasty smoke. There were always 8 - 10 people standing there smoking and some had brought chairs from the food court over there to sit on. Just thought it was a strange place to choose to smoke. Don't know where the designated smoking area was but can't imagine the bottom of the stairs was the place.