All-stars or Pop Century?

cdeev8690

cdeev8690

Well-Known Member
Pop is easily one of my favorite resorts and I've stayed there many times. It's very sought after these days because of the great refurbishments. If you can't get a room there, I'd recommend Movies or Art of Animation. The All Stars' rooms are all identical but Movies edges out the others because of the resort theming. I like the Mighty Ducks section a lot! Smaller pool, much more quiet but a quick walk to the main lobby and buses.

If you can stay at Pop, I think you are still able to walk over to AoA. The theming at AoA is really wonderful and definitely worth a walk around! The locals love to bring their kids around there to play
 
F

flyfree432

New Member
Wow. Thanks for all those pictures, WDW 72. Those pictures make Pop look pretty lame (especially the pools) compared to All Star Movies. Our 11 and 13 year old would love the theme at all star movies. Now I feel like the only reason to keep our POP standard room reservation ($915) over our ASM preferred room reservation ($800) is for the skyliner on the days we visit Epcot and DHS this fall, especially since the rooms have been updated at ASM.
 
L

LUVofDIS

Well-Known Member
I have stayed at both, just recently at Movies and just last September at POP, both new rooms and overall I would pick POP. The food was better, I like the theming better and having a solid choice between the food and transportation of POP and Art helps. Now with the Skyliner, for us it nots even a choice at that low of a coat difference.
 
Dad 2 M & M

Dad 2 M & M

Well-Known Member
Pop is definitely better and I would stay there if the price difference was minimal, but the All-Stars are a nice place to stay.

Here are a few reasons to consider the All-Stars:
Busing - Don't let the shared busing thought weigh too heavy on your decision!!.....All WDW busing is hit or miss and can be troublesome at times. I've posted many times we have NEVER experienced shared at the All-Stars, but have a couple of times at Pop/AoA. As a few have posted in this thread, the All-Stars might share during the middle of the day. Last note on All-Stars shared busing......have you EVER heard a traumatic horror story on the shared busing? If it really was consistently bad, there would be plenty of stories out there....and even dedicated threads to the subject. It's overblown and doesn't happen often (I used to think it was an Urban Legend created from the other "Motel 6" dude's blog as we have never experienced).

Resort Layout - With the resort being 3 separate Resorts in 1, you could stay in the epicenter at Music, and easily walk to Movies or Sports. This helps when you are leaving the Parks. You can choose the 1st bus that shows up and just walk over to your resort. Some of the Buildings at All-Stars are really secluded, with Love Bug being the most remote. Another note would be the Mighty Ducks Building at Music is sooo close to Sports busing/food court it is almost a "preferred" Building for Sports.

We prefer Movies, then Music, and try to avoid Sports......

Either way you really can't go wrong if you "settle" for the All-Stars
 
Tom 55

Tom 55

Well-Known Member
I also say POP. Was there in April 2019. I love that there is only 1 bus stop and the buses are not shared like the All Stars. Only negative was that at all the parks the POP bus stop is the furthest one to walk to. The All Stars are just a little bit closer. So it is not that much of a difference.
 
Mainahman

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Tom 55 said:
I also say POP. Was there in April 2019. I love that there is only 1 bus stop and the buses are not shared like the All Stars. Only negative was that at all the parks the POP bus stop is the furthest one to walk to. The All Stars are just a little bit closer. So it is not that much of a difference.
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We also HATE that! ha! at the end of a park open to park close day, and youve still got another long walk LOL
 
Dad 2 M & M

Dad 2 M & M

Well-Known Member
Tom 55 said:
I also say POP. Was there in April 2019. I love that there is only 1 bus stop and the buses are not shared like the All Stars. Only negative was that at all the parks the POP bus stop is the furthest one to walk to. The All Stars are just a little bit closer. So it is not that much of a difference.
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Most people don't realize each All_star has it's own bus stop (not a common All-Star station) and when the bus "sharing" does happen, the bus stops at each stop. Another thing most don't know is Pop/AoA share busing as frequently as the All-Stars. Neither share very often.......
Mainahman said:
We also HATE that! ha! at the end of a park open to park close day, and youve still got another long walk LOL
Click to expand...
 
L

LUVofDIS

Well-Known Member
We just returned from a stay at All-Star Movies. We were there from Friday Aug 16 to Today (Tuesday Aug 20). This is our second stay in the new rooms and they are still almost as nice as Pop's, not sure why my opinion would change.

The restaurant at Pop and for that matter Art are a little nicer and a little better food. There is nothing at movies that we really like.

We stayed in the Dalmatians, building one, first floor. This was the first time staying on the first floor. We encountered four roaches, three I had to kill and one I watched crawl under the door even though it was closed. I would think that this is because we were first floor and they have easy access. Little buggers.

The bus situation, Movies had it's own bus I would say half to maybe 5/8's of the time. What was strange to me was we shared at the end of the night a few times, when it was really busy.

We have stayed at Pop and Art, and the only time I remember sharing was at the end of the night at HS when we stayed well past close, (yes, we are sometimes those people), and there were only a few of us at the bus stop. The bus driver from Art lets us know that this was the last bus and that a bus for Pop would not be coming.
 
Zé_Carioca

Zé_Carioca

Well-Known Member
LUVofDIS said:
We just returned from a stay at All-Star Movies. We were there from Friday Aug 16 to Today (Tuesday Aug 20). This is our second stay in the new rooms and they are still almost as nice as Pop's, not sure why my opinion would change.
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Are the new All-Star rooms also Queen beds like the new Pop rooms?
 
L

LUVofDIS

Well-Known Member
Zé_Carioca said:
Are the new All-Star rooms also Queen beds like the new Pop rooms?
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The beds are queen size, the only noticeable difference I noticed is the dual shower heads at Pop, not sure if all rooms there have this. I also like the theme at Pop and Art better, but that is personal opinion.
 
Dad 2 M & M

Dad 2 M & M

Well-Known Member
LUVofDIS said:
We just returned from a stay at All-Star Movies. We were there from Friday Aug 16 to Today (Tuesday Aug 20). This is our second stay in the new rooms and they are still almost as nice as Pop's, not sure why my opinion would change.

The restaurant at Pop and for that matter Art are a little nicer and a little better food. There is nothing at movies that we really like.

We stayed in the Dalmatians, building one, first floor. This was the first time staying on the first floor. We encountered four roaches, three I had to kill and one I watched crawl under the door even though it was closed. I would think that this is because we were first floor and they have easy access. Little buggers.

The bus situation, Movies had it's own bus I would say half to maybe 5/8's of the time. What was strange to me was we shared at the end of the night a few times, when it was really busy.

We have stayed at Pop and Art, and the only time I remember sharing was at the end of the night at HS when we stayed well past close, (yes, we are sometimes those people), and there were only a few of us at the bus stop. The bus driver from Art lets us know that this was the last bus and that a bus for Pop would not be coming.
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We were at Pop in July and had shared busing with AoA then....at the end of the night (MK).
Roanlady said:
I have stayed at both resorts and I prefer Pop over Movies. Food court has better food and buses are no problem,
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Never had busing issues with Pop? We drive almost exclusively now, with the main exception being MK (bummer one must take the monorail or ferry from TTC). When staying at Pop we've shared busing with AoA several times at Park closing (as well as a few times at Disney Springs).

The All-Star busing seems to come more frequently to MK, especially after Park Close, and at Park Close we haven't had the shared busing with an All-Star (we've stayed at all 3 numerous times). This past Wednesday, while staying at Movies, we used the busing to return after the MK Extra Magic Evening. The 3 All-Stars had their own bus stall, and the lines were long! Sports was loading it's second bus, Music's 1st bus had just left when our (Movies) dedicated bus arrived. As we were loading, a second bus for Music arrived. As we were leaving another bus for Movies has pulled in. Pop's station had long lines as well, and ZERO buses had arrived. Some of the Pop guests had moved to the AoA stall to attempt to get on their (AoA's) bus.....

WDW busing is hit or miss, but it seems All-Stars busing is as good or better than Pop....and no busing is as bad as the Epcot Resorts BLVD (Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk, Beach, and Yacht). While the water taxi to Epcot and DHS is great, the busing to MK and AK is ALWAYS shared and terrible!
 
Dad 2 M & M

Dad 2 M & M

Well-Known Member
scorp16 said:
POP

I'd rather stay at the Hampton on Palm Pkwy than an All Stars.
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Not sure if you meant that as a super slam or you were joking....as the Hampton on Palm Parkway is one of the least "values" of the Hilton Lake Buena Vista portfolio. The Palm Parkway area would give you the Hilton Garden Inn within less than $10 of the Hampton price and is currently only $2 more for the week of Labor Day........
 

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