Pop Century or All Stars??

[brucie]

Hi Everyone we are going to WDW in Sept and we have stayed at Pop Century 3 times in the last 2 years. We were wondering if we should try a different value resort like one of the All Stars or stick with the pop. We really liked it but maybe we are missing out on something??

 

[calicommando]

We stay at POP a lot, and the thing that always makes us come back is the bus situation. There's one bus for POP and one for all of the All-Stars. So I could be wrong in this, but it seems like a big pain in the butt to have to make all those stops anytime you ride the bus. :shrug:

 

[Monty]

The All Stars are older buildings. Their theming is fun. I've stayed at all the values except AS Sports and honestly, was happy with them all.

I think the biggest thing against the All Stars is that they share buses, so either you have to make extra stops on the way to the parks or on the way back [or both]. Pop has only the one bus stop. It was never a big deal for us, but some folks seem very bothered by it. :shrug:

 

[the-reason14]

Good question. I love pop half century, its like THE disney resort for me and my dad. We've stayed at Caribbean which was good until we saw some bats and we didnt really like the bus stops to much, and we stayed at teh all stars movies and sports. They're pretty good, but I would stick with pop half century. Thats me though, I think you should probably try All stars to get a different taste of what the value resorts are, I think after staying at pop the all stars seem alittle smaller or not as big/nice, but its still pretty good. I think the bus stops however are different, I think sometimes depending on which part you are staying in you may have to wait and stop at another part of the resort before going to the theme parks which I didnt really like, or you'll be the last stop and see that you have to stand to get to the theme park. All in all, you may want to try it once, just to get more experience, but after that, Im pretty sure you will like to stick with pop half century for the rest of your value resort disney days.

Either way, have a nice trip. :wave:

 

[brucie]

Thanks for the info that's what we thought. It looks like we will be staying at pop again!

 

[chris chris]

pop to keep a tradition
allstars to shake things a bit

 

[disneydudette]

Don't let the bussing situation steer you away from the All Stars... this has become one of the biggest misconceptions of the resorts.

We stayed at Pop in January and All Star Music in September. We weren't overly pleased with the service and experience we recieved at Pop, so wanted to try an All Star instead. We choose ASmu based on the new rooms and we loved every minute of our trip to the point where we almost felt spoiled.

The new rooms at ASmu made us feel like we had already gotten twice our money's worth compared to Pop. New carpet, linens, paint, decor, electonics and furniture plus added benefits like a privacy curtain in the vanity area and a small coat rack on the wall.

Our room (paid for preferred) was 3rd floor in Calypso facing the main pool and only a 90sec walk for us to walk out our room, down the stairs, and be standing at the beverage station at the food court. We overhead several guests commenting on how their standard rooms in the Jazz section were closer to the main building then the Preferred rooms they paid at Pop.

Each day at the pool they CMs played games and mainstream music. In the early evening they allowed guests to play Wii on the inflatable screen and each night they showed a Disney moving on the pool side screen. Life guards were always alert and were a blast to chat and interact with.

CMs were everywhere and mousekeeping was top notch. We recieved towel animals nearly every night and turn down service on departure night, a great ending to our trip! The food court is showing it's age but we preferred the offerings and were always able to find a seat. CMs kept the area very clean.

A huge concern with this resort for us was the busing situation, yet surprisingly we recieved just as good of service if not better than our experience at Pop. Upon leaving the resort, we had a dedicated resort bus on every trip but 2: one when trying to get to DTD and the other when trying to get Epcot in the mid afternoon.

When returning to the parks, ASmu had it's own stop at MK, DHS, and Epcot and shared at all other parks. Even when we shared, we only had to stop at ASsp and with the resorts so close together, it was extremely short (less than 5mins from entry to exit). We noticed that buses came to the All Star resorts faster than POR and Pop and during one night at Epcot closing, 3 buses came to our stop before one came to Pop.

We felt like an actual guest at ASmu, while we felt like just a "number" at Pop. After our stay we're having a hard time justifying the cost of a moderate/deluxe. We have no desire or plans to ever return to Pop, not until the rooms are renovated atleast, which I don't expect to happen for a while!

 

[macsmom]

Have you thought of dividing your time between two resorts? You read on here all the time of people staying awhile at one resort and then moving to another. Your luggage can be moved for you and you just need to catch up with it later in the day when you are done. Well, you might have to go to the new resort to check in, I guess, later in the day sometime. Just a suggestion!

danna

 

[Gooch]

I've stayed at every AS resort as well as Pop and have to say that Pop blows the other value resorts away. The fact that it has its own bus is a major plus as well as the fact that it's alot newer than the AS resorts. Go with Pop. It's always a good/safe choice.

 

[Kwit35]

Having stayed at both (Pop this past Feb.) we liked Pop alot better then All Star. It was more fun, more quiet, more convenient with the buses, loved the store and food services. Just an all around great experience. Of course, our favorite place to stay is AKL. MMMMMMMMmmmmmm, Boma!

 

[Craig & Lisa]

Have stayed at all 4 values, if you want to stay at AS and want to have the best convience then make it sports, the busses stop there first in the morning and first at the end of the day, unless you happen to get lucky and have a bus all to yourselves that is going to just one of the AS.

 

[Red devil]

Yes pop is the best

I stayed at pop in sept 2006 and thought is was great. I would recommend going there again the busses are way better although I have never stayed at the AS but that seems to be what people say. I am going back to WDW sept 08 with my wife and brother and his wife and 2 other friends and we are planning on going to pop century. (Hi Bruce!)

 

[scottinredstick]

I have stayed at ASMu, ASMo, and Pop. I would stay at Pop again. I enjoyed my stay. Cast members were great. The food court was surprisingly good. The only downside is the parking lot.

 

[kimmychad]

Hi Everyone we are going to WDW in Sept and we have stayed at Pop Century 3 times in the last 2 years. We were wondering if we should try a different value resort like one of the All Stars or stick with the pop. We really liked it but maybe we are missing out on something??

we stayed at pop our last trip, it was great, no complaints. but ive heard too many bad things about the other values to try them

 

[mickey&me]

I don't know whether it was a fluke or what, but we stayed at ASMo in Dec. (during Pop Warner, no less) and were completely unaware that anything amiss had gone on until I read here after coming home.

And all 3 of the All Stars had individual busses from the parks--NO SHARING. The only shared bus was DME, and that would have been shared no matter where we were staying.

 

[lilclerk]

We stayed at Movies last February and really enjoyed it. That could be because it was our first trip together/my first stay on-site, but honestly it was very quiet, the CMs were more than helpful, and the bus waits weren't even a little bad. If it was late and we were tired, we'd get off at Sports' bus stop since it was closer to our room than the Movies bus stop, but even at that it wasn't a bad walk in the mornings.

We're trying Pop this year to have some variety (and I want my picture with the giant Lady and the Tramp statues...) but I wouldn't hesitate to go to Movies again.

 

[perrych]

If you stay at the POP, avoid the pool side rooms! The music is played until very late at night, there is a lot of noise from the kids playing, and we didn't get any sleep until well after midnight. If you a light sleeper and are trying to get an early nights, this is something to think about. (We have stayed at the AS since).

 

[NewfieFan]

Don't let the bussing situation steer you away from the All Stars... this has become one of the biggest misconceptions of the resorts.

We stayed at Pop in January and All Star Music in September. We weren't overly pleased with the service and experience we recieved at Pop, so wanted to try an All Star instead. We choose ASmu based on the new rooms and we loved every minute of our trip to the point where we almost felt spoiled.

The new rooms at ASmu made us feel like we had already gotten twice our money's worth compared to Pop. New carpet, linens, paint, decor, electonics and furniture plus added benefits like a privacy curtain in the vanity area and a small coat rack on the wall.

Our room (paid for preferred) was 3rd floor in Calypso facing the main pool and only a 90sec walk for us to walk out our room, down the stairs, and be standing at the beverage station at the food court. We overhead several guests commenting on how their standard rooms in the Jazz section were closer to the main building then the Preferred rooms they paid at Pop.

Each day at the pool they CMs played games and mainstream music. In the early evening they allowed guests to play Wii on the inflatable screen and each night they showed a Disney moving on the pool side screen. Life guards were always alert and were a blast to chat and interact with.

CMs were everywhere and mousekeeping was top notch. We recieved towel animals nearly every night and turn down service on departure night, a great ending to our trip! The food court is showing it's age but we preferred the offerings and were always able to find a seat. CMs kept the area very clean.

A huge concern with this resort for us was the busing situation, yet surprisingly we recieved just as good of service if not better than our experience at Pop. Upon leaving the resort, we had a dedicated resort bus on every trip but 2: one when trying to get to DTD and the other when trying to get Epcot in the mid afternoon.

When returning to the parks, ASmu had it's own stop at MK, DHS, and Epcot and shared at all other parks. Even when we shared, we only had to stop at ASsp and with the resorts so close together, it was extremely short (less than 5mins from entry to exit). We noticed that buses came to the All Star resorts faster than POR and Pop and during one night at Epcot closing, 3 buses came to our stop before one came to Pop.

We felt like an actual guest at ASmu, while we felt like just a "number" at Pop. After our stay we're having a hard time justifying the cost of a moderate/deluxe. We have no desire or plans to ever return to Pop, not until the rooms are renovated atleast, which I don't expect to happen for a while!

I'm quoting this person because everything they say is right on!!! Now I've never stayed at Pop so I can't compare but I do know I loved my stay at the AS Music. Our room was also recently refurbished and it seemed brand new - it was really nice, fresh, and clean! We didn't pay for preferred room location but we got the Jazz building (not sure if this preferred or not) and we were really close to the main building and pool (I was very impressed as I thought I would have quite a walk everyday). I found all CMs great, especially in the evening when we'd get off the buses. They'd greet you as you'd walk through the main building and ask how your day was (now they might do that at Pop, I don't know, I'm just telling you what it was like at ASMu).

I was there in June and they had a dedicated bus for the ASMu. I don't know if this was b/c it was peak season but I only went to the other resorts on bus twice during my 8 day stay. There was always a dedicated bus leaving the resort and coming back to the resort from the parks.

Maybe I was just lucky but I had a great time at ASMu and never saw any of the negative things that people say about the AS resorts. My next trip is booked and we're staying at AS Music again!:sohappy:

 

[JessicaB]

We usually stay at All Star Movies. We stayed at Pop only once and it was okay we just liked the Movies better. Movies seems smaller to us. Probably not but it seems that way.:lol:

 

[SANDKRUSER]

If you stay at the POP, avoid the pool side rooms! The music is played until very late at night, there is a lot of noise from the kids playing, and we didn't get any sleep until well after midnight. If you a light sleeper and are trying to get an early nights, this is something to think about. (We have stayed at the AS since).

I definitely agree with this - we stayed poolside and there were a few nights when there were people out there screaming until 3:00 a.m.! It was so irritating. We also had people sitting at the tables right in front of our room smoking and you could smell it in our room. Of course, now that's changed. The last trip I specifically requested not to be in the poolside rooms next to the Hippy Dippy Pool (we stayed in the preferred). We got a room directly on the backside and it was great - quiet and yet close.

We've stayed at ASMovies many times and thoroughly enjoyed it. We stayed the first year it was open - 1999 and actually was there when they were finishing the "Love Bug" section - were pouring cement and putting figures up. They put us in that section so it was interesting how much got finished while we were there. Toy Story section wasn't close to being done at that time. But then, we tried Pop and now prefer to stay there - not because of the busses but because it's newer. The last time we stayed at the Movies, it was starting to show wear and tear. (This has been a few years, so it may have been renovated by now). Also, food court at Pop is larger, more beverage stations and generally set up better, but I do miss the Movies. I also like that the Movies' gift shop is enclosed in an entirely different room, not like Pop. It's not as noisy. We never found the bus service to be bad - generally we had a designated bus - it was only on the trips where they wasn't a lot of people (during the afternoon) that you would share a bus. In the morning and evening - they always had dedicated busses.

If you want to try something different, I wouldn't hesitate to try the AS's.