POP vs. AoA

[crassmonkey]

It's been way too long since my wife and I took out engagement vacation in 2007, but now we are married and have a son, We are beginning the planning stages for our first family trip!!

I'm wondering what people's opinions are as far as Pop Century vs. Art of Animation (Little Mermaid rooms, not suites). Who has the better food, rooms, theme, customer service, etc.

The trip will be me, my wife and 3 & 1/2 year old son. We don't need a suite, space is not an issue, but bus and food court locations are important to us.

Thanks for the help, glad to be back in the WDW community!

 

[englanddg]

I stayed at Pop in August, and went to AoA all the time. The food court there is vastly superior.

Honestly, it doesn't matter if you are just going for standard rooms (not suites) unless you:

a) Have interest in access to AoA or Pop pools specifically or
b) Mind slightly older rooms / furnishings, but at a lesser cost (Pop rooms are less well furnished)

The two resorts, in terms of layout, are nearly identical (though mirrored). They are very close to each other, and a hike across the bridge to the other resort, or sharing busses to and from Parks isn't out of the question.

AoA does have covered queues for the busses, but that's not a major issue for me.

 

[englanddg]

AOA uses the buildings and foundation pads of where the 2nd phase of Pop Century was started but terminated, which accounts for the mirrored layout.
Because AOA is 2/3 suites, it has about 900 fewer rooms than Pop, so it will appear to be less crowded in the common areas.
AOA is new, Pop is not.
The bus situation is about the same as at any other WDW value resort. Neither resort ever shares buses with the other.

It may not *functionally* share busses (they don't, agreed), but factually, you can use either with a short walk. Did it all the time in August. Worst case was I had to walk through AoA to get back to Pop...yeah, not a bad thing, even with a 7 year old in tow.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Since your son is just 3 1/2 and school is not yet an issue, have you considered "Free Dining" in September? Disney's been cutting back on "Free Dining" and, with improving attendance, September may be the only time it's offered for the next 12 months. Generally, "Free Dining" is considered the best discount offered by Disney in recent years. Free dining for this Sept is available at the All Stars.

POP is usually a few dollars less per night than AOA. The theming at AOA is a little more fun, food court a bit better. IMHO, if you've never been to either, you'll find both equally enjoyable. If you've been to one, I suggest staying at the other one this trip for something different.

 

[englanddg]

Since your son is just 3 1/2 and school is not yet an issue, have you considered "Free Dining" in September? Disney's been cutting back on "Free Dining" and, with improving attendance, September may be the only time it's offered for the next 12 months. Generally, "Free Dining" is considered the best discount offered by Disney in recent years. Free dining for this Sept is available at the All Stars.

POP is usually a few dollars less per night than AOA. The theming at AOA is a little more fun, food court a bit better. IMHO, if you've never been to either, you'll find both equally enjoyable. If you've been to one, I suggest staying at the other one this trip for something different.

Nothing against AoA or Pop, but after my experience with the rooms and overall business of Pop...I ran straight back to moderates. I'll be at POFQ this next trip. Disney is fun, I love it, always have...but I want a resort that is a respite from the general chaos that is a Disney day.

 

[englanddg]

Yes you can, and depending on when you were there in August, either one or two phases were not open yet, so walking over to AOA to catch a bus was an excellent idea. I'm sure you noticed that not that many people were riding the buses then.
Now that all 4 phases are open and occupancy is approaching what is considered normal levels, you will encounter higher levels of bus ridership. It's still not as high as POP though, and should never be, so that may still be a good option depending on the walk.

I know you are a bus driver at Disney, and vastly more knowledgeable than I am in that respect.

I was there before the Mermaids opened and after Cars had hard (not soft) opened.

AoA was amazing.

But, my complaints about Pop have nothing to do with Bus times.

 

[englanddg]

And that's as it should be.
Selecting a resort based on the transportation alone is, IMO, not the way to go.
You'll have good and bad transportation experiences at the values and at the deluxe resorts.

Oh, I've had my share of bad Disney Transit experiences. But, none of them would relate to resort choices.

 

[Clamman73]

Food court at AoA is good - walked over to there for breakfast from Pop. For me Pop wasn't a problem since I was just there on my own and just for sleeping basically. Also it was October, so not too crazy around the pool area.

But if AoA is looking like it fits your budget, the theming and food court win compared to Pop.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

AOA has awesome themes and the buildings are awesome. I loved their food court and gift shop.

 

[crassmonkey]

Since your son is just 3 1/2 and school is not yet an issue, have you considered "Free Dining" in September? Disney's been cutting back on "Free Dining" and, with improving attendance, September may be the only time it's offered for the next 12 months. Generally, "Free Dining" is considered the best discount offered by Disney in recent years. Free dining for this Sept is available at the All Stars.

POP is usually a few dollars less per night than AOA. The theming at AOA is a little more fun, food court a bit better. IMHO, if you've never been to either, you'll find both equally enjoyable. If you've been to one, I suggest staying at the other one this trip for something different.

We did free dining back in 207 and loved it, so our plan is to get the free dining this time too. Can't beat free food!

 

[ParentsOf4]

We did free dining back in 207 and loved it, so our plan is to get the free dining this time too. Can't beat free food!

You might be limited to POP this September. I did a quick check and couldn't find "free dining" for AOA for just a room, only a suite.

Disney's been trying to back away from "Free Dining"; it's an expensive discount for them to offer. "Room only" discounts cost them less. If you want to go with "free dining", don't want a suite, and want to go in 2013, POP or the All Stars in September might be your only options.

Note that some are getting PIN codes in the mail for "free dining" in other months but if you haven't received this yet, I'm not sure you will this year.

 

[crassmonkey]

You might be limited to POP this September. I did a quick check and couldn't find "free dining" for AOA for just a room, only a suite.

Disney's been trying to back away from "Free Dining"; it's an expensive discount for them to offer. "Room only" discounts cost them less. If you want to go with "free dining", don't want a suite, and want to go in 2013, POP or the All Stars in September might be your only options.

Note that some are getting PIN codes in the mail for "free dining" in other months but if you haven't received this yet, I'm not sure you will this year.

Our trip won't be until 2015 so this year isn't an issue for us.

 

[melmood2000]

My family stayed in the little mermaid rooms last September, I really liked the AOA food options and the bust stops are covered the pools looked amazing but we didn't swim. I would stay at AOA again but not in the little mermaid rooms they are to far away from the food court and the bus stops in my opinion. The theme of the rooms is very cute and they are very well decorated. But short runs to the food court for drinks or early morning coffee didn't happen just to time consuming.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I stayed in Lion King Building 10. It didn't feel like too far of a walk to the Food Court and main hall. However, and this is probably true of most Disney owned hotels, cell phone service wasn't good. It took forever for a text message to go through and I had to go outside to make calls for better service. I'd definitely say for me, the benefits of staying on WDW property outweigh the drawbacks.

 

[popcenturylover]

We had a split stay at AOA/POP last September & we've stayed at POP before. While we love POP, I would have to say that AOA is superior in every way except for their bus times. When we were there the buses at POP we're much more efficient than AOA's. The theming is amazing & the food court is excellent at AOA. Another thing though is that if you pay for a preferred room at POP you can get pretty close to the food court but, at AOA you're pretty far away unless you have a suite. Especially, if you're like me & drink almost a pot of coffee every morning! Lol!!!