Value Resorts

[GrimGrinningGhost15]

Hi All,
Planning on staying in one of the value resorts next January. In your opinion which one do you prefer?

 

[JillC LI]

My preference is not in your poll - Pop Century. It is centrally located, great food court, single bus system, and quiet.

 

[Mot]

We prefer Pop Century but find all the others to be just as good. Staying at Sports it appears you get picked up by the buses first. I found that is not always the case as we stayed at Music in Dec. If there was not a full bus at Sports they would sometimes pick- up at Music and Movies. I also saw many buses go directly to Music & Movies as well when staying at Sports. If you have small children I would recommend Movies for the recognizable icons. If you have a larger family (more than 4) you might like the AoA or Music Family Suites. Unfortunately I can't give an opinion for AoA because we haven't stayed there yet but it looks great. Whichever choice you make I'm sure you'll have a great stay.

 

[donaldtoo]

We've stayed at ASMusic, Pop, and AoA. We liked the others but LOVED AoA. A notch above, in our opinion.
We will be staying there again in June.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We prefer Pop Century but find all the others to be just as good. Staying at Sports it appears you get picked up by the buses first. I found that is not always the case as we stayed at Music in Dec. If there was not a full bus at Sports they would sometimes pick- up at Music and Movies. I also saw many buses go directly to Music & Movies as well when staying at Sports. If you have small children I would recommend Movies for the recognizable icons. If you have a larger family (more than 4) you might like the AoA or Music Family Suites. Unfortunately I can't give an opinion for AoA because we haven't stayed there yet but it looks great. Whichever choice you make I'm sure you'll have a great stay.

Sports is always our go to value resort and indeed they do pick up and drop off first if they are sharing a bus line with the movies and music resorts. However, if a bus goes by and goes right to Music or Movies, it means that they are not sharing those particular buses that day. It changed every day when we were there. Sometimes they picked up at the other two, sometimes just one if the bus got full and sometimes they just picked up at Sports. I think we might give Pop a try in November just to try something new. It's my cousin's very first trip and she's not a big sports fan lol so I think Pop might be more her style.

 

[draybook]

Out of all of them we've only stayed at Pop, so we can't compare. We toured AoA on our September trip, and I think we'll try it next year or 2015.

 

[DisneyWall-E]

Pop Century for me

 

[Twhitty]

We've stayed at All-star movies, Pop-century and will be staying at Art of Animation in May. Movies is ok if you get the Toy story buildings, the others are older movies. Movies share a bus line with the other two all-star resorts. Pop has its own dedicated bus line and multiple pools.

 

[lilclerk]

My preference is not in your poll - Pop Century. It is centrally located, great food court, single bus system, and quiet.

I haven't stayed at AoA yet, but for now it's Pop. It might stay Pop for me, I like that it's not ALL Disney stuff.

 

[x2princesses]

Pop is always our first choice of value resorts. Great bus service!

 

[pixiesteno]

I can't give any input on Art of Animation as we have never stayed there we really enjoyed our stays at All Star Music.

 

[SMS55]

Stayed at all of them. Like them all but might give a slight edge to Pop because of the buses. Other than they are pretty equal to me.

 

[luv]

The All Stars are the same. Just pick the theme you like better.

AoA is newer, so is a little nicer. But it isn't nice enough to justify a major price difference. It's still a Value motel/resort.

 

[GrimGrinningGhost15]

The All Stars are the same. Just pick the theme you like better.

AoA is newer, so is a little nicer. But it isn't nice enough to justify a major price difference. It's still a Value motel/resort.

Thats what I was thinking. Its about 70 dollars cheaper to stay at one of the all stars for our 7 night trip. 70 dollars we could spend on a nice dinner at down town disney or on souvenirs!

 

[smp2k6]

We recently stayed at AoA. Although the outdoor themeing is nice, I don't believe the increase in price is worth it. Especially if you stay in the Little Mermaid section. We definitly prefer POP for value resorts. The buses are excellent (we rent a car, but do use the buses occasionally). We really didn't like the AoA food-court. POP is much better... more options. I would suggest staying at POP and walking over to AoA to see the themeing and try the food-court.

 

[donaldtoo]

Yep, different Magic for different memories, 'else we'd all be stayin' in one big GIANT place called "Disney Parks Resort"...!
Wait.....

 

[GrimGrinningGhost15]

I have also heard that you don't spend that much time in the hotel, so I guess it doesn't matter too much, just a place to keep our souvenirs and re-energize every night!

 

[disney magic 06]

The only value I've stayed in is Pop, nothing wrong with it except the rooms are rather dark. the food court and shop are excellent. My friend wanted to try AoA this year but it seemed very expensive and from the outside it looks like a gaudy prison block. Also there was a free dining offer and 35% off at a deluxe (OKW) so it worked out more or less the same price, a no brainer for us.

To be fair, the moderate and value hotels look fairly similar as regards room sizes, facilities etc.

 

[Mot]

I have also heard that you don't spend that much time in the hotel, so I guess it doesn't matter too much, just a place to keep our souvenirs and re-energize every night!

Most of the time we never see the room until after park closing. Only when the Parks were closing around 6 or 7 at night in the 90's did we even get in early enough to use the pool. On occasion we freshen up before going to dinner at DTD.

 

[SAV]

As has been mentioned, you left the best value off of your list. POP Century!!!