Pop or AoA in November 2015?

[NCRedskins]

In a serious head to head grudge match, who wins - Pop or AoA? We're going Nov 2015, with 3 kids age 5 and under. AoA would be the mermaid room, probably a standard or preferred room at Pop. It seems like with Pop you have better eligibility for the discounts.

 

[DisneyJoe]

If you are not using a family suite at AoA, I'd go with Pop. Little Mermaid rooms are quite a distance from everything.

 

[wdisneyw2000]

I would go by what you think the kids would like the most. Yes Mermaid is farther away, but we drove up to the front & parked. took the bus to the parks. i think AOA is more magical then POP. we have 3 kids 7, 4, & 20 months. They loved the Mermaid.

 

[MMDVC]

Does the POP even allow 5 in a room?

 

[englanddg]

Does the POP even allow 5 in a room?

No, and neither does AOA, unless the third member is under age 2.

 

[ToTBellHop]

No, and neither does AOA, unless the third member is under age 2.

I would imagine the OP knows this. I'd go with Pop since you are likely to end up closer to the main building and I think kids those ages would prefer Pop's food.

 

[englanddg]

I would imagine the OP knows this. I'd go with Pop since you are likely to end up closer to the main building and I think kids those ages would prefer Pop's food.

Well...I wasn't responding to the OP. (Grin)

But, I agree with your assessment. If I were not doing a family suite, IMHO, just stay at Pop.

Unless you REALLY need to sleep in a turquoise room...

 

[Mainahman]

POP for the win! If you want to experience AoA you can always walk across the bridge and snoop around!

 

[huis14]

In a serious head to head grudge match, who wins - Pop or AoA? We're going Nov 2015, with 3 kids age 5 and under. AoA would be the mermaid room, probably a standard or preferred room at Pop. It seems like with Pop you have better eligibility for the discounts.

I just returned from the POP resort with my family. 3 Kids, all under age 10. POP was clean and well-maintained, but in my opinion (and it's only an opinion) it lacks the Disney magic and charm. My kids begged to walk over to AoA every night. The Cars area, the Nemo pool and all the other Disney/Pixar stuff was beautiful. If I had to do it over again I would book AoA in a heartbeat over POP.

 

[huis14]

I should add one more thing. I had a good time at POP. The food court was nice. The pools were kind of plain. We usually stay at Port Orleans Riverside, but we had to make this trip more cost effective. I have stayed at an all-star resort before and I liked POP more.

 

[juniorthomas]

If you are not using a family suite at AoA, I'd go with Pop. Little Mermaid rooms are quite a distance from everything.

Agreed. The theming isn't significant enough to justify the lengthy walk.

 

[JiminyandTink]

No, and neither does AOA, unless the third member is under age 2.

That's true for both, but it's actually under 3 though.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

The Little Mermaid rooms are far more newer and also much brighter than the rooms at the Pop, especially the bath rooms, theming is FAR stronger than in the Pop, where theming in the guest rooms is basically reduced to a poster on the wall. We stayed at the AoA in 2012 for 10 days (and even more often at the Pop) and although the Little Mermaid rooms are a slightly longer walk than most (not all!) rooms at the Pop I definitely liked the AoA rooms more than those at the Pop. The Big Blue Pool, a fenced pool with access only for AoA resort guests, is much better than any pool at the Pop and the theming, especially the Cars area, is superior to any other value resort. Especially with children IMHO the AoA beats the Pop in nearly every way, even if you are staying "only" at the Little Mermaid rooms. The menu at the food court is also a little different than at the Pop, however this is a matter of taste, I preferred the menu at the Pop in this case.
Take the AoA.

 

[NCRedskins]

Thanks everybody for the input. We decided to go with Pop this time. It's going to be late November, early December and we didn't think we would get much mileage out of the pool (not planning on being in the resort extraordinarily often anyway). Plus, the menu at Pop looked to be more to our taste. We figure we can walk over to AoA and eat and look at stuff as a few of you suggested.

 

[Mainahman]

I think you will like it. We ended up with a room on the lake side, staring over to AoA they were still building it back in 2012 when we went so not all of it was open. The room was quiet, and not far from Everything POP, or the buses, and close to the hippy dippy pool. As much as id like to try the higher level resorts, i feel for the amount i use a resort, POP is a great value for our family. I cant quite talk the wife into taking the Popup to Fort Wilderness quite yet..

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Does the POP even allow 5 in a room?

If one is under 3 and in a crib

 

[StarWarsGirl]

In a serious head to head grudge match, who wins - Pop or AoA? We're going Nov 2015, with 3 kids age 5 and under. AoA would be the mermaid room, probably a standard or preferred room at Pop. It seems like with Pop you have better eligibility for the discounts.

I agree with everyone else about Pop, and yes your eligibility for discounts is better. There are very few Mermaid rooms at AofA. As your kids get older, if you decide to go again, you may want to look into renting points for DVC resorts. A lot of the resorts are making it so that a one bedroom villa sleeps five (not all...yet). Just an alternative to getting two rooms someplace or staying in a suite.