All Star Sports vs. Pop Century?

[stevediesel]

I've booked All Star Sports Sept. 16th—23rd & I'm
thinking about switching to Pop Century. Does anyone
have any thoughts if I should? I know many believe that
PC is the better of the value resorts. My thinking w/ AS
is that it is the first stop on the buses & less people staying
in that resort as apposed to Pop Century. Also the theming
@ PC is a little more exciting perhaps? My 18 year old
brother is going w/ me & it is his first trip to the World &
my first visit on property.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[WDWRLD]

IMO I would stay at PoP. You may be on the first stop but Pop only has one stop. Overall I like the feeling at PoP better although its basically identical. The food court is very simular although again I prefer Everything PoP better. Which ever you choose go to the other one afternoon so you will know what you are or arent missing....

 

[DivineMadness7]

Not to rain on your parade, but with the free dining promo running in Sept, it may be difficult to book Pop this late. Not saying it is impossible, I just wouldn't get your hopes up.

 

[Master Yoda]

If you can switch to POP do so. It is a newer resort with a better location and transportation than any of the All Stars.

 

[fosse76]

Not to rain on your parade, but with the free dining promo running in Sept, it may be difficult to book Pop this late. Not saying it is impossible, I just wouldn't get your hopes up.

I believe the free dining is limited to only a certain number of rooms per resort, so the resort can easily have rooms available...just not with free dining.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I've been to ASM and Sports, in addition to PoP, and I will never stay in an All-Star again.

Like others have mentioned, the transportation is far better. I also personally prefer the food court area, although that is debatable for everyone.

The main thing I like is that the setup of buildings is different. In the All-Stars, when you walk out of the main building, you have one path of buildings to get to your room. If you're in one of the last buildings, it can be an EXTREMELY long walk, which is particularly rough after 14-hour days in Epcot walking around all day.

With PoP, when you exit the main building, there are two paths to your left and right depending on your room. Even if you're in one of the farthest buildings, you're walk is half of the walk for an All-Star. It is much more manageable a walk after a long day in the parks.

I cannot say enough how much I prefer PoP

 

[CuriousDeGeo]

I've stayed at both and I would have to put my vote with Pop. The theming is just really great and out of the two I would have to say that it would be a little more geared toward an older crowd(for your brother's sake). Both are great but in my opinion with the values you just can't beat Pop!

 

[JerseySkiddie]

ive stayed in all of the values and id definitely go with pop if you can get it. its waaaaaaay better than the all stars. that being said the all stars arent so bad especially if are going to be in the parks all day and not spending much time in the resort. have a great time!

 

[MIDisneyFamily]

With PoP, when you exit the main building, there are two paths to your left and right depending on your room. Even if you're in one of the farthest buildings, you're walk is half of the walk for an All-Star. It is much more manageable a walk after a long day in the parks.

I cannot say enough how much I prefer PoP

I prefer POP too, if nothing else, just the busses seem to be less crowded. ANd the poole seem nicer, expecially the non-main pools. After carefull Google Earth measuring. The approximately longest walk to a food court (even walking from ASSports to the ASM foodcourts, etc. ) the walk from the farthest building at the ASMusic is just a tad further then the walkk from the very back parking lot side of the i think 80's building at POP. nothing at the sports was even close to those two for distance. Of course thats using the paths and not hiking through planting beds and bushes. Anyone else measure the same? I didnt spend to much time, but I think its pretty accurate.

 

[Candyland]

Throwing my 2 cents in for Pop Century also.
Isn't even a question for me...Pop all the way!

 

[hrcollectibles]

I prefer POP .. The transportation system is great (No Shared Resorts)

 

[mitchk]

I'd stay with All Star Sports. What alot of people forget to mention is that the food court at POP gets extremely crowded. Not to say the All Stars don't get crowded as well, but it's not as bad as POP. BTW, I'll be at All Star Sports Sept. 18th - 24th, hopefully I'll see you there, or if you happen to see me, make sure to say hello :wave:

 

[stevediesel]

I believe the free dining is limited to only a certain number of rooms per resort, so the resort can easily have rooms available...just not with free dining.

This is actually what happened when I tried to switch!
They have the room available @ Pop but since I am in for the free dining they won't let me switch because Pop is all booked for the rooms set aside for free dining. When making my reservation I noticed that if I put in for two more days Pop was available but not for the 7 nights I was staying! Had I thought of it I should have booked the 9 nights then just canceled the 2 nights I didn't want to stay. Next time I'll know. Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

 

[WLnTR]

That's a sweet avatar. BTW...I think you'll still enjoy ASSp (none of the values are that different from the others).

 

[3fordisney]

We've stayed at both and prefer Pop over any of the All Stars. We've stayed at all 3 All Star resorts and your theory on being the first stop is correct at the end of the day. It isn't necessarily at the beginning of the day. We found it so frustrating to wait on a bus and see so many keep on driving and not turn in to the AS Sports. Keep that in mind staying at AS Sports. Its real handy when its the end of the day because you know you are the first stop in, but it isn't always the case at the beginning.

It wouldn't hurt to check into switching hotels. If its not available, you will still love it and have a wonderful time. Be sure to share your trip with us when you get back!

 

[rissamattmom]

since so many of you think that POP is wonderful may I ask what is the best section to stay in at POP if my main goal is to be close to busses and main building.?..pool is not as important to me.....thanks for any tips...

 

[Disneykidder]

We have stayed at both and enjoyed them both. The only thing I did not like about ASSp was the cliental staying there. There were so many baseball teams from different countries competing. They were roudy, loud at all hours and very disrespectful. I am sure this doe not happen all of the time. I think we just got "lucky", I suppose. The thing that really ticked me off was how they all draped their own individual flags over their balconies...c'mon, you're in America. Show some resepct.

As far as resorts go, they were both great fun in different ways. We loved the food court at Pop a bit better but loved the theming of them. Walks were not so bad with either. We stayed in Hoops in ASSp and it was a bit far. At POP we didn't ask for a preferred but we were on the back side of 50's and were very close to the pool and main area.

Good luck switching. I have been trying to switch from a value to a mod for a month and have had no luck.

 

[MIDisneyFamily]

We have stayed at ASmovies (3 times), ASsports (once), and POP (twice). we do like POP, but because are famiy is now too big to legally stay in POP, we have to move in to a Family Suite at ASMusic. We ususally drive nowwhich isnt bad at all, and because its easy to stop at Goodings, Mcdonalds, or HESS for soda.

 

[MickeyspalJim]

We like POP so much, that even though We have joined DVC. and don't stay at the non DVC. resorts any longer, We go out of our way to have a lunch or dinner at the Pops food court. I know that may sound crazy, but they have lots of choices of food stands to eat from. The store at this resort is pretty big also. As far as all star sports, that is the one all star that We had never used. I had also heard alot of nightmares about the noise level there. I am not sure how old You are, but You did mention that Your brother is 18, so He may get to meet alot of women athletes there, LOL. I just like it to be kinda quiet when I am sleeping after a long day and it is supposed to be a bit crazy at all hrs there. The bright side: You are still in Disney!!!!!!:sohappy:

 

[WDFAN1977]

I've stayed at both POP and AS sports and I enjoyed POP better. Not because of the food court or theming but because it has it's own transportation line vs. all of the AS resorts having one transportation line. I also noticed that AS sports have A LOT of teenage and pre-teen groups staying there (They can make quite a bit of noise).