Pop Century vs. All Star Movies

[svarhall07]

I'm still up in the air about Pop Century vs. All Star Movies. When I travel with my family, we always stay at a deluxe resort, but as I can't afford that myself (poor college student), I have stayed at Pop Century. I've read t Pop Century has separate bus services and is newer, but have wanted to try All Star Movies again recently? Do you think I would be inconvenienced by the buses and older resort?

What other pros/cons do you have between Pop and Movies? Thanks! :mickey:

[Itchy]

Really I think it is personal preference. I have stayed at ASM and Pop. I like Pop better because of the larger food court and their own buses. Having said that I would stay at ASM again if Pop was not available.

I really dont think you can go wrong either way.

Hope this helps:mickey:

[wmdaddy]

Having stayed at all the Values, I find ASMovies to be my personal favorite. I think it wins for theming, food court, pools, and buses. The whole "shared bus service" issue at All Stars is a myth. Here's why.

If the resorts are sharing:
I have never in 9 stays at ASMovies encountered a situation that there was no room when the bus arrived. It is the last stop, but they will not share if it's busy. Going anywhere from ASMovies is no big deal, as the bus arrives at Movies last. You don't have to get on the bus then go to other resorts. You get on and you're on your way. Coming back, Movies is the last stop. If you don't feel like waiting, get off at Music (2nd stop) and walk to Movies. Half the time, your room will be closer to Music's bus stop than it will be to Movies. At the end of a long day at the parks, Movies will have it's own bus but will have only guests at 1,920 rooms to get back. Pop will need buses for 2,880 rooms to get back. If you have any doubts, take a look at the waiting area for buses outside both resorts at Magic Kingdom closing. Pop ALWAYS has the longest line, and you may end up waiting for the 2nd or 3rd bus.

As for the food court, Pop and Movies are pretty much the same size. However, Movies only has 1,920 rooms to deal with, where Pop has 2,880 rooms.

[megustamex]

Why not consider All Star Music? The rooms are recently rehabbed and the pool is the only one at the all-stars that has music all day, along with a DJ hosting games. It's geared towards the tween set, but it's still nice to have music at the pool and provides a very lively atmosphere (unlike the quieter Movies and Sports). They also show movies at night outside by the pool. We had a blast.

[wmdaddy]

Music is indeed a good choice as when the buses are sharing, you can get off at Sports, Music or Movies and not have a long walk back to your room. The only disadvantage of Music is the food court isn't as big and set up as well as Movies.

[Tink#64]

ASMo's was our first resort stay and we loved it! DS's were 4 & 6 & it was perfect for them! But we saw the construction of Pop going on during that first visit & so we decided to try it for our next visit, which was 6 months after Pop opened & we fell in love with it & it's now our WDW home. I think for us it was the theming, Hippy Dippy Pool, the interactive water jet area, the pool bar, the resort specific busses, the caddy golf carts the CM's use! We love walking around HourGlass Lake, or sitting on one of the benches & watching all the wildlife in & around the Lake! Love being able to see some of IllumiNations & SSE from Pop! Lots of reason's that Pop just fits us right now! But I'm guessing as DS's get older, maybe financial situation changes, our taste will change too! I'm hoping in years to come we'll have the ooprtunity to try a few other resorts. Actually we've talked about it, but we're so happy with Pop, we're kind of afraid that we might be disappointed somewhere else! :blush:

But if Pop wasn't available, I'd definitely stay at ASMo's again. It's a classic IMO, with all the movie icons - very cool! I've read that the bus service is better than our first experience 8 years ago. You should go with your heart & your gut instinct, don't second guess yourself. Wherever you stay, it will be magical, you'll be in WDW! :cloud9:

[DisneyFr33k]

We've stayed at Movies twice and now POP twice. If asked to chooose, POP would win, hands down because:


POP has dedicated bus service. AS resorts share buses.
POP is newer. They've made adjustments from the AS resort rooms for POP.
In our opinion, the pools are nicer at POP.


Disadvantages:

View of the ruins across the lake.
Large smoking area by the main entrance to the building from the pool. If you are sensitive to smoke like I am, it literally stinks having to walk by it everyday.

[Julie_Mouse]

From one poor (Disney addicted) college student to another... :mickey:

I've stayed at Pop and ASMusic, both during college. Honestly, it depends what's important to you.

I enjoyed Pop because it was the newest value resort. Modernity is important to me.

However, I enjoyed ASMusic because I thought it had more of a Disney theme (Disney characters all over the place in the pool decor, on the buildings, etc.).

That said, the bussing at both (which, from what I've read in this thread and elsewhere is what most people think distinguishes the two types of resorts) is kind of a non-issue (from my perspective). AS resorts don't share buses at park opening or at night (busiest times), and Pop doesn't share buses ever. During the daytime, when AS resorts sometimes share buses, I think it takes about the same time to get back to both resorts. Any substantial variation between the two would likely be due to chance (i.e. the driver got all the lights on the way back).

Enjoy your trip!:mickey:

[Pop Centurion]

I know I've said this a million times but aside from everything that's already been said above, I think POP has a better atmosphere.

[GrmGrninGost]

We prefer POP, but All Star movies was nice also. Given the choice, I would pick Pop, but would not be upset if I had to stay at Movies. It just wasn't that much difference to me.

[cantgetenoughdisney]

I never stayed at POP, but we ended up at Movies on our last trip. We had an upgrade to Saratoga Springs from our original reservation at All Stars. We HATED the Springs, so requested a move back to All Stars. There were no rooms available, so we ended up at Movies. We loved it! We stayed in Andy's room. Loved the theming, and took tons of pictures. The food court was nice for what we needed, and we had absolutely no problems with the buses. Had a seat on the bus every time. I would definitely stay there again! :mickey: