Value Resorts

[brresler]

Hi,
I'm wondering, is there any major difference between the value resorts? Particularly the All-Star Music and Pop Century? Pros or cons for either of them? Thanks!
Brian

 

[cabihler]

well its a funny thing i have stayed at 2 of the ALL-STARS and also at the Pop Century and I think there is a H-U-G-E difference. number 1 is that the 3 all-stars are all sort of lumped together in the same relative location while the Pop Century is located next to the Caribbean Beach; 2) the rooms are basically the same & the cost is exactly the same but the Pop Century gives you the feel that it is more upscale to the All Stars not quite a moderate but sort of more for your SAME money i.e. the food court is much better (i actually thought the pizza there in the PC was excellent) and the outdoor near poolside lounge was pretty good; 3) the situation with the buses how they are organized in the PC is far superior....... so bottom line is they all may be VALUE resorts but the PC is a much better value. By the way the Caribbean Beach is my favorite place to stay ever (i've stayed there maybe 20 or so times) but if i could not get an Annual Passholders discount then by all means i would be most happy to stay at the Pop Century to conserve funds

 

[scorp111]

As the OP stated, there are some differences between AS and POP. Probably the single biggest difference in my opinion is the difference in age of the resorts. Pop Century is much newer than all of the All-Stars, so the design is slightly better in my opininion, and everything is in a little better condition. Another point often made is that Pop has its own bus, where the AS resorts transportation is shared, especially in slower times.

We have stayed at POP a few times, and were quite pleased, even though we more often have stayed at Moderates or DVC. We have never stayed at AS, but my brother-in-law has and we visited him there.

 

[SewIn2Disney]

My first instinct is that I like Pop better, but for just the icons themselves. Then look deeper, and there are many many many reasons why I like Pop better. They have a more innovative food court (read: more then just burgers and chicken fingers), they have icee's in the drink machines!, I love the lobby and all of it's decorations, the soundtrack that is played throughout the resort is awesome, I love the walking path along the lake, the bridge over the lake, and last, I think it's more centerally located then most resorts. The furthest drive is MK, AK is a decent distance, and Epcot, MGM, and DTD are all really close. In fact, you can see Spaceship Earth and Tower of Terror from the forth floors in some buildings.

And, if we want to get nitty-gritty here, Pop is actually cheaper then the all stars.....Since the All Stars are in a different county, their resort tax rate is (I think) 2.5% more then Pop's taxes. Just a neat fact.

 

[NeverEnufDisney]

I have stayed at Sports and Music as well as Pop and prefer Pop Century. However there are some Pros and Cons. The food court at PC is much more busy even though there are more choices. The bus situation is better at PC because most buses at the All Stars service all 3 while Pop's bus only service the Pop Resort. They can be just as crowded as Pop is a bigger resort than any of the All Stars. The rooms are basically the same except since Pop was built later it's in better condition. After that it comes down to theming, take your pick.

 

[Fievel]

I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it

The pop century really isn't that different from the All-Star resorts. The big difference is that you can tell they learned their lessons in design and made drastic improvements that help crowd flow. To me - the pop century always feels less crowded even though it's just as big as an all-star.

Also- the bus service is much better at PC. No stopping at 3 hotels everytime you come and go.