Help - Pop Century or All Star Music

[Vic23]

Hey everyone - hoping you can help!

Staying at a value resort for the first time in January, family of five (2 adults, 5, 3, infant).

We have All Star Music booked but availability opened for a Preferred Room at Pop Century.

Pop would add about $200 to the cost of the trip as the room isn’t available in the promo I booked in.

I read reviews that Pop is a bit nicer with decor and the remodeled rooms. Any thoughts on this? Is it worth spending the extra money?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Hey everyone - hoping you can help!

Staying at a value resort for the first time in January, family of five (2 adults, 5, 3, infant).

We have All Star Music booked but availability opened for a Preferred Room at Pop Century.

Pop would add about $200 to the cost of the trip as the room isn’t available in the promo I booked in.

I read reviews that Pop is a bit nicer with decor and the remodeled rooms. Any thoughts on this? Is it worth spending the extra money?

IMO, yes, for a few reasons besides those you state:

- the Pop Century resort location is fairly centrally located on Disney property, the All-Stars are in the southwestern corner, so trips to/from Pop may be slightly faster (except for AK as All-Stars are close to AK)
- the 3 All-Star Resorts may occasionally share buses, Pop Century never does

 

[Vic23]

IMO, yes, for a few reasons besides those you state:

- the Pop Century resort location is fairly centrally located on Disney property, the All-Stars are in the southwestern corner, so trips to/from Pop may be slightly faster (except for AK as All-Stars are close to AK)
- the 3 All-Star Resorts may occasionally share buses, Pop Century never does

Good info - thank you - one thing to note is we rent a car - we don’t do the busses as it’s tough we have found with the little ones. They like to nap in the car

 

[Ariel1986]

Good info - thank you - one thing to note is we rent a car - we don’t do the busses as it’s tough we have found with the little ones. They like to nap in the car

Recently stayed at ASM and we’ve also stayed at Pop. We did enjoy Pop more- the central location as mentioned was a plus. There is also the guarantee of a refurbished room which is definitely a plus. They are really nice. I’m not sure why, as the layout is pretty much the same, but we did enjoy Pop more. It seemed to have a better atmosphere. Probably haven’t been much help, but I would still go for Pop over ASM. They essentially are the same layout and the same food/pool/lobby wise though apart from theme. Oh, but of course being opposite Art of Animation is what made the difference- and the lake there. We did like walking between resorts.

Edit to add- we stayed at Movies not Music! We did walk through Music several times though- and it is pretty much the same and next door to Movies. Music isn’t refurbed yet- so I would definitely go for Pop if it was me.

 

[Vic23]

You guys are swaying me I may just have to switch....

 

[belledream]

In addition to the refurbished rooms, Pop is just newer in general and it shows. It's also neighbors with Art of Animation which is nice to visit. I would make the jump if you plan on spending a lot of time in your room, which I would guess with your party makeup, you will. otherwise, for shower and sleep, I'd put the $200 to something else, cause all in all, they're similar experiences. It's not jumping into a different category.

 

[lawdogNOLA]

Pop. Queen-sized beds versus full size beds, plus better Disney IP theming that the kiddies will like. Now, not all of Pop is themed for the kiddies, but you've got better chances than at Music, IMHO.Advice: Go Youtubing. There are a lot of room and property tours of all of Disney's properties. Be sure to look at only the most recent room tours from Pop Century. Our first trip with the kid was at age 6. We stayed at Movies, in the Toy Story section, and the kid definitely loved the theming.

We stayed at Pop a few years back, before the renovation, and I liked it better than Movies in many ways. It felt newer and fresher. At Pop you're right across from AoA, and you can use the buses there if you need, both going and coming back. The bus service was pretty good, though we also mostly used our car to get around. We found that using a car to get around to the theme parks was almost always faster than buses, with one important exception: The Magic Kingdom. With the other 3 theme parks and the water parks, you drive, park, and then you either walk (water parks), or walk or hop a tram (Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot), and you're right there. The buses might take you a little closer, but you're about at the same point as the buses and have freedom, plus you can park right outside your building, if the parking spaces favor you. MK adds the layer of the TTC, and the need to take either the boats or the monorail to the MK. Buses arrive right outside the MK, skipping the TTC trip layer, both ways. It can sometimes be faster in a car, but most times it's probably faster to take the bus from your resort to the MK. However, the boat ride and the monorail are both fun "rides" which have a coolness factor that lots love.

All that said, there's nothing wrong with Music. The pool qualities are about the same. I did prefer Pop's food court over Movies, though I thought there was nothing wrong with Movies. Watch some videos to try to get a feel of both resorts and go where your heart and pocket book tell you.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

IMO, yes, for a few reasons besides those you state:

- the Pop Century resort location is fairly centrally located on Disney property, the All-Stars are in the southwestern corner, so trips to/from Pop may be slightly faster (except for AK as All-Stars are close to AK)
- the 3 All-Star Resorts may occasionally share buses, Pop Century never does

Pop was sharing with AoA last week, and it was the second time we've seen shared while at POP!! Moot as we are APs and drive to and fro the Parks.

You guys are swaying me I may just have to switch....

I would stay at Pop!!

We've stayed at all the Values, and just returned from AoA Cars Suite. I can tell you there is ongoing Gondola construction, but the resort is still Popping with Magic.

Do want to point out, Pop and AoA were sharing buses this past week! This is the second time we've seen shared Pop/AoA busing, and have never experienced the shared busing at any of the All-Stars. I know this is moot with you as you will be driving......

With that said, we'd still recommend Pop over the All-Stars!!

Our ranking of Value Resorts:

1) Pop
2) All Star Movies
3) All Star Music
4) AoA LM
5) All Star Sports - too loud and domestic tour groups are a challenge

 

[Vic23]

Figured I would update everyone with my decision. I love all of the information and suggestions - thank you so much everyone!

I am going to stick with All Star Music...few reasons why.

1 - The switch to Pop would add $268 in total I figured out to my 7-day trip, and we go back next October so trying to keep this one very budget friendly.

2 - I did not know this, but just realized All Star Music has Three Caballeros in the middle of their big pool - and my children are obsessed with them and the ride in Mexico

Really comes down to cost - we only booked this (was a last minute booking just a few days ago) because the promo was too good to pass up. With the Visa Gift of Magic offer we got Music for $100 even per night.

I'll check out some YouTube stuff as you guys suggest - and see if it sways me more - but I think I'm going to use the $ to buy Memory Maker and stick with the Caballeros!

27 days cannot wait!!!!!!!!! Happy Holidays everyone!!!

 

[Storm]

Would probably have chosen pop if i could have for my trip but the only option i had was AoA ! Seem cheaper and pop seem to have been partially refurbished , glad you found out the best for you and your kids though ! Enjoy the trip !