Question for those who stay in the values.

[Parrain]

All of the Disney resorts are well themed, some more kid friendly, some more refined, but all well done. And they are all different experiences as they should be. Who wants to see the same thing over and over? Comparing Disney resorts isn't like comparing apples and oranges, it is like comparing the entire fruit basket! We love the over-the-top theming of the value resorts, having stayed at Pop Century a couple of times when we have extended trips at the last minute, and we love the AOA and All Star Movies (Hidden Menu!!!) food courts. But we don't care for the motel 6 feel of the outside hallways. The Moderates have outside hallways too, but they have a lot of beautiful landscaping that provides an enjoyable walk. The pools have themed waterslides also, which the kids love. The Deluxe are great; a large choice of food options and very beautiful grounds, but the obvious perk is location! You can walk into Magic Kingdom in 5 minutes from the Contemporary! Walk or take a boat into Epcot or HS from the Boardwalk, The Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin or Yacht Club! AKL is a quick bus ride or drive to AK and very near Blizzard Beach... The Yacht and Beach Club's sand-bottomed pool, Storm-Along Bay, is so nice that we have booked ticketless trips there just to relax and enjoy the amenities! We sometimes enjoy being on the balcony of the Yacht Club or Boardwalk rooms and just watching the Friendships (boats)! The gorgeous Poly Pool area is our young nephew's favorite place to be in WDW!
Our favorite studio/hotel rooms are the DVC units, with the kitchenettes and cool trundle beds. You get the amenities of a deluxe plus a microwave, mini-fridge and sink area. We own at the Poly, and the studios have both a bath and a shower, in two completely separate rooms! Talk about convenient!!! But there are still things to think about; you can get lost at some resorts! Once, we got off at the wrong stop at PORS and wandered around for 30 minutes looking for our room! And we were at Animal Kingdom's Kidani Village once, and the room (DVC studio) must have been a half hour walk from the lobby... INSIDE the building!!! It was like being in an international airport! But the view of the animals made up for the length of the walk.
The bottom line is there is something magical about each resort, and some things maybe not so magical. But I have never had a bad trip to WDW, and, by my daughter's count, we have been 48 times! I say try them all, and if you can't make up your mind, start over! That's what we do! ;-)

 

[Princess Leia]

We haven't stayed on property now for several years, but we did stay at Pop a few times when our kids were growing up. No complaint about the theming really, but DH and I were pretty disgusted that there wasn't even a coffee pot in the room. Hopefully that has changed now.

They added them at Pop during the last refurb in 2017. I imagine they will do the same with the others.

I was at Pop in late November 2017, no coffee pots.
This is what is listed for room amenities at Pop on the website:

 

[Master Yoda]

I was at Pop in late November 2017, no coffee pots.
This is what is listed for room amenities at Pop on the website:

View attachment 315598

They are in the refurbed rooms. The old ones still lack a coffee pot. The rufurb will be done sometime next year.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I like the theme of Art of Animation.

 

[Tom P.]

For some reason, when value resorts are being discussed, Art of Animation often seems to be left out. Only a couple of people in this thread have mentioned it. I get it that many of the rooms are very expensive, but those rooms are family suites that can sleep six. Compared to the cost of two standard rooms, their cost is not bad. And there are plenty of standard rooms there as well at reasonable cost.

Anyway, we have stayed twice at Art of Animation and absolutely love it. Not just tolerate it or accept it because that's our budget. We love it. The theming is fantastic, and extends far beyond the statues you see at the All-Stars. Virtually every aspect of the resort and the rooms is themed to a particular movie.

The pools there are top notch. It is true there are no water slides, but otherwise I think the Big Blue Pool is fantastic. There are no table service restaurants, but I would put Landscape of Flavors up against any food court or quick service restaurant on property. A ton of very good, very fresh options and not just your standard pizza and burgers. The arcade is wonderful and much larger than many of the arcades at the other resorts.

Finally, the service at Art of Animation is top notch. I have never once had a single negative interaction with a cast member at any part of the resort. From the front desk to the food court to Mousekeeping to maintenance, they have all been good.

It's true that Art of Animation is not a luxury resort, and it probably appeals more to families with young children like ours than to childless adults. But that's just a question of the target market, not a question of quality. In terms of quality, I don't think it can be beat and I would highly recommend it.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I definitely loved Art of Animation. I'd stay there again.

 

[clarabellej]

I’m posting my response without reading what others have said. I’ll go back and do that in a bit.

My experience was this: First time we stayed on site was at Port Orleans Riverside. I think at the time that was the only thing we could afford that allowed 3 adults and two kids to a room. This was pre-value Suites.

We had two queen (I think?) beds and a trundle for my then 6 year old. The 6 year old refused to use the trundle, so my sister slept there.

The food area was nice. The property was nice, although it felt like a long windy walk to get to the bus & seemed like we waited a while. I remember the room being really brown in color. We must have been in the alligator bayou (not sure I have that right) section.

We didn’t use the pool. If it hadn’t been for my niece, I don’t think I would have gone back to the resort during the day. Too much work.

The important thing was, this was our first time on site.

The next time we went, we stayed at All Star Movies.

It was a revelation!!!

Same great Disney service. Clean. Pretty property. Lots of green. Nicely landscaped.

It was a really pleasant surprise.

And as far as the theming, hey we were at Disney, so why not? Especially with a 7 year old. It was fun!

We are the stay in the park till we drop types, even with my daughter being younger. So much to see and do. Not big on doing the pool, although the Value pools are lovely.

The food courts at the Values are a bit hectic, but the food is fine. Everyone is just there, doing their thing. Kind of fun to observe all walks of life on their missions.

Since staying at Movies, we’ve never looked back.

We have stayed there a few more times, but our favorite is Pop Century.

OMG. We love Pop Century. It truly is our Disney home away from home.

Sure, if I could afford a Deluxe Resort, I am sure I would love it. But for my money, the Values fit the bill (literally $$).

They are comfortable and clean. Pop has fully renovated rooms. We got to stay in a brand new one last March. I was uncertain about the Murphy bed eating up the table, but it was fine.

Miss the orange blossom scented soaps. They’ve changed to an ocean scented liquid soap, which I found to be very concentrated and harsh.

We usually grab breakfast at Everything Pop food court. Maybe a late meal as well, but for the most part we are at the parks.

I think anyone knocking the Values should give them s try. I bet some of those who criticize haven’t actually stayed there.

BTW, Pop has its own dedicated buses & I find those to be much more frequent and efficient than what we experienced at the moderate resort.

I believe I’ve gone ten years in a row & have stayed at value for 9 of those. Almost always Pop.

 

[clarabellej]

Just returned from staying a week at All Star Movies in one of the freshly finished refurbed rooms.
It was quite nice, and included a instant coffee maker with all the supplies on hand in the room.

New rooms also have a mini fridge with a clear glass door to aid in keeping contents visable.
They also now have a larger in-room safe located in the furniture, not the wall.


-

I agree that the refurbished Value rooms are really nice.

We had a new room at Pop last March. We opted out of mousekeeping and received a $60 Disney gift card for our efforts! That went straight to a darling Pandora Alice in a teacup charm!!

I was concerned with the remodel. Was not sure I’d like the Murphy bed. I have always been a big fan of the room’s table and chairs. The table was always kind of my headquarters. When the Murphy is down, you no longer have the table. It turned out to be fine. We kept the Murphy down. There is a really large dresser. I don’t use the drawers, but the surface was large and replaced the table. Seemed like between the bathroom and the room, there were lots of little cubbies. It was amazing to me that they were able to accommodate two queen beds (vs the old doubles) in the space and still have plenty of room. Large flat screen tv. Nice efficient easy to operate coffee maker. When you opt out of Mousekeeping, you can still ask for supplies for the coffee maker, fresh towels and trash bins emptied. They give you plenty of towels to start with anyway. My only question is, what was up with all those pillows??

We really love Pop Century.

I usually do the precheckin online and after receiving our text, we go straight to our room.

I miss Pop already!!!!!!!!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Evidently there is an entire segment of folks who feel that the values are basically cheap and tacky and that one sign of the decline in Disney is that they built the values. The old Disney would never have built some thing so "crass" .

my question? Do you like the theming of the values? Do you feel that the service is less?

I know folks who love the values and that their kids really enjoy those over- sized statues.

Thoughts?

I can't stand Pop Century or the All Star resorts but we love Art of Animation. Pop and All Star are cheap and tacky and generic. Art of Animation is cheap and tacky too, but at least it's Disney.

 

[clarabellej]

Stayed at the Pop a few times, for us, not so Dumpy (the Eighth Dwarf).
I've spoken to people who stay at the Grand Floridian and they feel uncomfortable as the aroma of the place
and some of the guests seems to be better then we Valuers.
A Valuer at the Grand Floridian is like a New Yorker in Idaho (Napoleon Dynamite excluded).
Stayed at most of the resorts and I find there to be some differences but not necessarily worth 3 times the price.

The Pop, All-Star, part of the Art, Caribbean and Port Orleans have almost the identical room layout.
The Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge are extremely similar: Yellowstone Lodge vs. Harambe Preserve
The Contemporary and Polynesian being original makes them unique in their own right.

My favorites are the Wilderness Lodge and Port Orleans, not value resorts.
I find the Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach waaaaaay too big and getting bigger with Vegas-style too-tall hotels.
Structurally, the hotel groups are identical, just the AAAaaahhhhhmmmbeyonce'.
If you like it, put a ring around it!

AAAaaahhhhhmmmbeyonce'. I love it!!!!!!!!

 

[clarabellej]

I was at Pop in late November 2017, no coffee pots.
This is what is listed for room amenities at Pop on the website:

View attachment 315598

We were there March of this year (2018) & yes there is a coffee maker in the room. You may ask for additional supplies when you run out of anything. Really nice, easy to use with Joffrey’s coffee.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

I love staying in the All-Stars. Don't get me wrong though. The Deluxes are very nice, but waaaay beyond the abilities that my wallet can handle. I have stayed at the Polynesian a lot growing up, but the first time staying at the All-Stars, I was hooked.

From my experiences, the All-Stars feel like the more bare bones of a Disney-esque stay. You are engulfed into a Disney theme immediately when you walk up to the resort to check-in.

Meals are great if not better than actual in park QS meals. (If you don't like Mickey Waffles, we can't be friends.)

I love the theme of the Cafe as well as the souvenir shops. They all seem so family oriented.

In a way, being at an All-Star for me is like being in a Disney park in of itself but at an affordable rate.

 

[Tom P.]

I can't stand Pop Century or the All Star resorts but we love Art of Animation. Pop and All Star are cheap and tacky and generic. Art of Animation is cheap and tacky too, but at least it's Disney.

Tacky is in the eye of the beholder, so I can't really dispute your opinion on that. But cheap? On what basis do you say that Art of Animation is cheap?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Tacky is in the eye of the beholder, so I can't really dispute your opinion on that. But cheap? On what basis do you say that Art of Animation is cheap?

The statues ("icons," as they're called) look like the plastic figures you put on a child's birthday cake.

 

[Tom P.]

The statues ("icons," as they're called) look like the plastic figures you put on a child's birthday cake.

That's interesting. It's all a matter of opinion, but I have never thought that about any of the theming at AoA.

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

The statues ("icons," as they're called) look like the plastic figures you put on a child's birthday cake.

Good description. Kids love that stuff. Being “transported” to another place may not be necessary to please them. If it’s not awfully hot, people can find interesting and fun objects/games by exploring a value resort.

 

[JohnD]

I stay at values often because of price, although I’m staying at POR on my next trip because haven’t been to one of the PO resorts in a while. Of the values, Pop is my favorite. It’s more centrally located and has one bus stop. I always try to get into 60s with landscape view as it is closest to the food court. Stayed in a refurbed room for the first time last trip. Rooms are nice but not sure about tiled floor. I’m used to a double bed so I can put my stuff on the other bed. I didn’t figure out how to lower the Murphy bed until the last night.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

When I stayed at Art of Animation in 2012, that was my first experience staying on Disney World property.

 

[LaughingGravy]

We have only stayed at the values as a family, Pop and Music
But, we go for the parks opening until closing and have made it a point to use the pool at least once at each visit.
With 4 people, it's tight, but doable. It is a great thing they are there, otherwise we never would have been able to afford to stay on property.
The proximity to the room for being able to park a car is a huge plus.

 

[clarabellej]

When I stayed at Art of Animation in 2012, that was my first experience staying on Disney World property.

So did you like it??