Best of the Value Resorts....and why

[bee]

It may be called a "value" but I've never seen prices below $200/night.

On the dates you're looking the Little Mermaid rooms may be completely booked already and therefore the lowest price you are seeing is for a suite, which is over $200 per night. Or you may be looking at an extremely popular time of year when even the other values can be over $200 for a standard room. I've certainly seen Pop standard rooms listed for over $200/night around Christmas but I've also seen LM rooms for about $130/night in September.

 

[NonnaT]

Sorry, it really isn't. It's a value motel and always will be.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/

Sorry, I could have sworn it said it was a moderate on the WDW site, thanks for correcting my error!

 

[daisyduckie]

Actually, the All-Star resorts share bus-service none of them have a dedicated bus route to themselves. Although, if you do stay at the All-Stars it is best to stay at Sports because the buses pick you up & drops you off there before the other two resorts.

Not true! I've had 5 stays at various All Stars, and each resort has its own bus way more often than they share. Most of the time each resort has their own bus.

I like the All Star Sports. I like the cute theme, and the redone food court is pretty great. I also like that the food court is not joined with the gift shop the way it is at the Pop. I also like that the All Stars are each smallish, and not as large as the Pop.

 

[Disney mom 7272]

We love AOA. My kids love the theme, nice food court, and has it's own bus!

 

[pug]

I've never stayed in any of the WDW value resorts - in part because I've been spoiled by the deluxe, and also because none are close enough to MK for me. But for those of you who have stayed, which of them would you say are the best, or are they pretty much about the same except for the obvious differences in theming?

Pop And or AoA

 

[popcenturylover]

Not true! I've had 5 stays at various All Stars, and each resort has its own bus way more often than they share. Most of the time each resort has their own bus.

I like the All Star Sports. I like the cute theme, and the redone food court is pretty great. I also like that the food court is not joined with the gift shop the way it is at the Pop. I also like that the All Stars are each smallish, and not as large as the Pop.

Yes, sometimes they have their own bus but, other times they share. Therefore, they do not each have a dedicated bus system. It also depends on the time of year & how busy the resorts are. We were there during a cheer weekend & the resorts were busy. Most times the buses went to all three resorts & sometimes(early morning) we got lucky & they only came to Sports.

 

[daisyduckie]

I will clarify: In my experience each All Star has their own buses, and share on rare occasions. And when they do share, as they are all joined by their parking lots, it is not a big deal at all. I'd rather stay at an All Star with their substantionaly fewer guests than stay at the much larger Pop. Better odds of getting a seat on your bus at any of the All Stars than at the Pop.

 

[popcenturylover]

I will clarify: In my experience each All Star has their own buses, and share on rare occasions. And when they do share, as they are all joined by their parking lots, it is not a big deal at all. I'd rather stay at an All Star with their substantionaly fewer guests than stay at the much larger Pop. Better odds of getting a seat on your bus at any of the All Stars than at the Pop.

To each his own I guess!?

 

[FlyTriPacer]

We have stayed at Pop twice, Movies once, and Music once with Sports planned for this September. We enjoyed each and we only book the Value resorts (can't justify paying a lot for any room when we vacation). The worst bus service I've experienced was with Pop...both trips. Always lots of people in line going to/from the parks and we stood in line for a long time. After walking the parks all day, I can hop the shortest All-Star line and walk back to my resort and the extra steps are negligible.

I had booked Movies for our upcoming trip because I like the theming (no kids this trip too), but Free Dining wasn't an option...so we're trying something new.

Yep, to each his own...

 

[Dwarful]

We have stayed at every value resort. We got moved to AoA and fell in love with it. However, I wouldn't pay those prices for the suites. They were very nice and we were very spoiled, but I just couldn't do it myself. Never had bus issues at the values. We were there in Feb/March with multiple bands and cheer groups at Music and we never shared a bus with Sports or Movies. Maybe it was because all of the values were booked solid then?? No idea.

My favorite resorts were deluxe but when the girls were little or we were with groups the values are not bad.

 

[Kman]

Art of Animation, rooms are well kept. Really good food court. Dedicated bus. And can walk across a bridge and visit pop, which I love too. We have DVC, and stay there for one trip, and value for another.

It's interesting that AoA is considered value...I checked out the pricing for our last 3 night stay in January and it is not in the same ballpark as the All Star or POP resorts. That being said it was very cool- we walked the grounds while we were there. Even that- the theming is miles ahead of the others. I guess it doesn't quite line up with the pricing of a moderate resort but that's what it feels like to me.

At any rate...we love the POP resort for all of the reasons listed by others. Great reasonably priced place to stay on site!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I would definitely consider AoA a value... it's the most expensive value, but the standard rooms are about 20% more expensive than Pop and the suites are about 20% more expensive than those at ASMu. I don't think I'll ever pay the prices for a AoA suite (I could see myself in the Mermaid rooms someday), but I think it fits much better with the values than with the mods. It's a gussied-up ASMu with the ratio of standard rooms to suites mixed around.

Whereas the All Stars are more "next to each other", Pop and AoA work together better. You don't have to cross parking lot or access roads to get from one to the other, so I think (I haven't been since AoA opened) it will feel more like one big resort. You have two pretty decent counter service restaurants to choose from. And there's a big lake; water is neat. Pop gets the edge because it's cheaper.

 

[Magenta Panther]

POP:
Dedicated bus
Nostalgic theming
Fun food court, love the TV dinners.
Plenty of pool space even when busy.

POP was our go-to before we drank the DVC kool-aid. We tried ASMovie and didn't care for it.

I agree with this. Pop just seems more expansive and comfortable to me. As for ASMovie, it was so...garish and tacky. Great for little kids, I guess, but it reminded me too much of the old Nickelodeon suites. Yeeuuchh.

 

[Minnie Melia]

Art of Animation, rooms are well kept. Really good food court. Dedicated bus. And can walk across a bridge and visit pop, which I love too. We have DVC, and stay there for one trip, and value for another.

Staying there this Halloween! Heard good stuff about the food court and pools!

 

[mousefreak]

Pop Century!
We love the dedicated bus service, it's clean and a decent location to the parks.

 

[daisyduckie]

Whereas the All Stars are more "next to each other", Pop and AoA work together better. You don't have to cross parking lot or access roads to get from one to the other, so I think (I haven't been since AoA opened) it will feel more like one big resort. You have two pretty decent counter service restaurants to choose from. And there's a big lake; water is neat. Pop gets the edge because it's cheaper.

If you mean compared to the All Stars, the Pop is the more expensive choice. Not by much, but it is a tad more expensive than any of the All Stars.

 

[tem325]

I've never stayed in any of the WDW value resorts - in part because I've been spoiled by the deluxe, and also because none are close enough to MK for me. But for those of you who have stayed, which of them would you say are the best, or are they pretty much about the same except for the obvious differences in theming?

We stayed at All Star Sports in Feb when we did an impromtu trip and we had just been in CBR in September. The rooms in Sports are pretty up to date, and well maintained. The room is definitely a little smaller all around and we only had two double beds, not queen or a king option (I don't think they have queens, but the king was sold out). I would definitely stay there again if I was looking to stay at the Value tier.

 

[Tuvalu]

We stayed at All Star Sports in Feb when we did an impromtu trip and we had just been in CBR in September. The rooms in Sports are pretty up to date, and well maintained. The room is definitely a little smaller all around and we only had two double beds, not queen or a king option (I don't think they have queens, but the king was sold out). I would definitely stay there again if I was looking to stay at the Value tier.

Good to hear. Staying at All Star Sports in September.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

If you mean compared to the All Stars, the Pop is the more expensive choice. Not by much, but it is a tad more expensive than any of the All Stars.

Sorry, I meant that the Pop/AoA area is best, and Pop gets the edge over AoA because it's cheaper. By most any measure except price, AoA probably wins over Pop, but I'd rather save money and stay across the lake.

 

[Blairnicol]

I've stayed at a few of the value resorts and wouldn't ever stay at any again except AoA. All of the rooms are very well done, the lobby is beautiful, the pools are great. Highly recommend compared to the other lot.