What would you do?

[danipooh]

I know there have probably been threads about value vs moderate a million times. But here's my situation. I'm booked for All Star Movies for 6 nights in early December. We've never stayed at a value before--we've stayed at POFQ the last 2 visits. I keep hearing mixed reviews about the All Star's. DH is worried we won't like it and wants to spend the extra $$ and stay at a mod (he wants to try Coronado Springs). Anyway, I thought, why not take the extra $$ we'd spend to upgrade, and just stay a night or two longer at the value.

So...are the All Star resorts really all that bad? I feel like as long as it's clean and the food court is operational, that's all I need. I've just been reading so many stories of poor service. Should I keep the reservation and maybe add a night, or upgrade to a moderate?

One other thing--we're renting a car so wating for busses isn't an issue.

 

[pluto3198]

Early December is the time of year for the Pop Warner championships at the World of Sports. This means that the football teams and, more annoyingly, the cheerleaders take over the value resorts. If you don't mind hoardes of screeching pre-teen cheerleaders infesting your resort, then the value resorts should be OK. Personally, I would spend the extra money for a moderate resort to avoid the noise.

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

We always did a value until our last trip. I have to say that the values are nice, but I don't plan on staying there again. As others have mentioned the noise is terrible. We've been there when groups of teens from Brazil were there and they had no adults with them. It was terrible.

I loved POFQ. It was so quiet. My hubby wasn't along so he's looking forward to staying at a moderate some time. His dream is to stay at WL some day.

 

[hls1023]

We stayed at pop for a long weekend last may and it was a nightmare,
The pool was soooooo crowded and kids were throwing balls and noodles at everyone, young and old.Also we had people outside our door all nite drinking and talking and we were on the top floor!

I would only stay at a value for 1 or maybe 2 nites at the most.

I think that you will have a much better stay at a place not so overrun with tour groups and school trips.Way to many kids!


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And do these things only happen at value resorts or something? We stay at value resorts every time and never had any issues with anything. :veryconfu

 

[mcstensrud]

You do not need to get defensive,
I was just stating MY experience at a Value resort

 

[hls1023]

You do not need to get defensive,
I was just stating MY experience at a Value resort

Excuse me for coming across as rude. But your post does make it sound like your whole reason for not staying at a value resort is because there where drunk people and kids throwing stuff at you in the pool. Whatever. I apologize.:shrug:

 

[jjgoo]

My take on it is how much time do you plan on spending in your room and at your hotel?

I have stayed at Value, Mod and Deluxe. I was pretty happy with the value but it was a short trip in February (not a lot of people and very minimal amount of cheerleaders [I was at Movies and they were at Sports]) and I was by myself and not spending much time in my room or at the resort.

To me I want to have some relaxation time when I am on vacation. I usually use hanging out in my room or the hotel pool to do that. I'm not so sure I would have been really able to relax at the value, it was a little too bare bones to me for that.

My humble opinion is to keep with the Moderate this trip and take an hour or two at some point and visit a value. Ask at the front desk if you can see a room (most hotels will let you look). Determine if a value will suit your style, then book the longer trip for next time.

Have fun!

 

[cb3k]

I do love POFQ! But we wanted to try something new. We thought CS as a moderate because we stopped there on our last trip and thought it was really nice. I still would like to try ASMo, I just don't want to be blamed for it if we have a bad time!

Awww...I'm sure he wont blame you. I would never blame my gf if she had something planned and it didnt turn out as expected, u seem like a darn good wife to be worrying about it and his thoughts on the matter so you will be fine regardless of where you stay. I feel that 6 days is a lot, but this is because I go to school in Orlando so I am used to weekend getaways or daily visits. If you are used to the longer trips, I would go ahead and try the value so you can squeeze in some more days. Really all you are doing is sleeping there, because you are staying on Disney property you have the rights to EVERY resort there, so if a day of leisure is what you want and the AS pools are way too wild, then hop on a bus over to Yacht and Beach club or the GF and enjoy your day somewhere much more quiet. If you both really miss POFQ you can still go spend an evening or afternoon there and return to your sleeping quarters. Don't worry, go with your gut feeling, and have fun!

 

[the_rich]

Awww...I'm sure he wont blame you. I would never blame my gf if she had something planned and it didnt turn out as expected, u seem like a darn good wife to be worrying about it and his thoughts on the matter so you will be fine regardless of where you stay. I feel that 6 days is a lot, but this is because I go to school in Orlando so I am used to weekend getaways or daily visits. If you are used to the longer trips, I would go ahead and try the value so you can squeeze in some more days. Really all you are doing is sleeping there, because you are staying on Disney property you have the rights to EVERY resort there, so if a day of leisure is what you want and the AS pools are way too wild, then hop on a bus over to Yacht and Beach club or the GF and enjoy your day somewhere much more quiet. If you both really miss POFQ you can still go spend an evening or afternoon there and return to your sleeping quarters. Don't worry, go with your gut feeling, and have fun!

i might be wrong but isn't there one pool thats off limits...i think its at boardwalk, cant remember its name though

 

[lilclerk]

I really loved ASMovies. I stayed there with my boyfriend and our best friend in February, and there was a group of cheerleaders there, but they were not in our building. We had more problems with them in the parks than in the hotel (cheering loudly for half an hour before Wishes! and stepping on me while trying to cut me in the popcorn line is not nice.)
The room was small, but if three adults could happily fit in one, I'm sure the two of you will be fine. It wasn't that noisy at all, but I'm not picky about noise. We were in one of the Mighty Ducks buildings, and the smaller pool outside was NEVER busy. There were never more than 5 people around there, and that was with the main pool closed for refurb.
I've heard that if you're looking for a quieter, or more romantic area, to try and ask for a room in the Love Bug section. They're further away from everything, but I hear they're nice.
I dunno. I loved it and would definitely stay there again. Plus in Disneyland, I paid a lot more for an off-site room that was roughly the same size and really just as nice as WDW's Value resorts.
Though I think early December is when a lot of the Pop Warner things are. Maybe you could try to switch to Pop Century since they have their own bus line? Then you could probably avoid the groups of teenagers.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

After staying for years at Deluxe resorts, my wife and I spent the past two trips at the All-Stars and had a great time.

The Moderates, to me, are a bit pricier than the values for a room I really don't spend much time in. If you don't have kids or a large family, you might be better off in one of the other two categories. I've never had a big deal with the noise in the hotel or at the pool.

Give it a shot, you might like it. If not, you know you have a hotel you like to fall back on.

 

[cb3k]

i might be wrong but isn't there one pool thats off limits...i think its at boardwalk, cant remember its name though

Hmmm....if there is, I was not aware of an "off limits" pool. Thanks for informing me on that, and sorry to the OP if I gave you bad advice but you get the idea. You could use ALL pools with the exception of one or two.

 

[MrsPortiaB]

I'm going to throw in another positive vote for All Star Movies, I loved staying there and so did my husband! He isn't the biggest Disney fan to begin with and yet he's really looking forward to being back there this year, especially because the we missed out on the Fantasia pool last year due to it being in rehab and it looked like tons of fun.

I loved my preferred room in Fantasia 2000 (although I DID NOT love the love bugs..ew..:hurl:..there were what seemed like millions there last September) and although I haven't been to any of the Moderate resorts, we're the kind of couple that enjoys spending as much time at the park as possible and just wanting a nice place to sleep.

All Star Movies is so much more than just a nice place to sleep because of the amazing, fun, brilliantly colored themeing the hotel has! It's such a bonus! I love walking around the property just for fun because of all the Disney themeing. Gotta love a giant Disney icons like Buzz and Woody, Pongo and Perdita and more, it's such a blast!

I agree with what some other posts have said about it being really more about what you need from a hotel. If you want someplace on the quiet side for R&R, maybe a value resort isn't the best idea.

But if you don't mind a bustling and happy atmosphere, some long lines for the buses since all three All Star Resorts share buses (what makes this any different then waiting in line for a ride though? :shrug: It is a little tough at the end of the day, I agree, but you just have to plan for it accordingly), and a food court that's on the noisy side, then you guys will be just fine!

I think all of these things should be expected when you plan for a WDW resort stay. ASMo certainly wasn't as busy as to compare when we popped over to ASMu and when we stayed at ASSports for a night.

Although I haven't been to Pop Century, I know a majority of WDWMagic members are huge fans of the resort, I can't offer any feelings towards it.

HTH! :wave:

 

[LivinWitTheLand]

I do love POFQ! But we wanted to try something new. We thought CS as a moderate because we stopped there on our last trip and thought it was really nice. I still would like to try ASMo, I just don't want to be blamed for it if we have a bad time!

My wife and I are perplexed with your same question each year. We have stayed at the Poly, Contemporary, ASMo, Coronado, and Pop (3 times). While we return to the Contemporary or the Poly in a heartbeat, they are just not worth the money for how long you are actually using the room.

Pop and ASMo are each nice and clean, nicely themed and we had no service problems at either. Any time we asked for pillows, towels etc. they were there within 15 mins. I did not find the walls any "thinner" than the Contemporary. Oddly enough the Contemporary was the only resort we ever had to complain about noise at.

My only suggestion would be to request an upper level non pool facing room at any Value resort. This will usually be much more of a quite room than a lower level room where people are always walking by to get to the pool. We did find bus service was much better at Pop than at ASMo. 1. You don't share a bus with other resorts as ASMo does.

We also stayed at Coronado and just found that everything was a far walk. From the bus to the food court and the pool. We are staying at POFQ this year for 10 days so I am interested to comapre the two moderates.

Feel free to PM me with any questions about comparing ASMo and Coronado.

 

[danipooh]

We also stayed at Coronado and just found that everything was a far walk. From the bus to the food court and the pool. We are staying at POFQ this year for 10 days so I am interested to comapre the two moderates.

Feel free to PM me with any questions about comparing ASMo and Coronado.

You'll love POFQ! It's so quaint and beautiful, and not a long walk to get anywhere. That's one of the reasons why I love it so much. There's a nice walking path over to POR too, which is also nice, but MUCH more spread out which means a lot more walking to get anywhere. And we've never had a problem with noise. I should probably just stay there again...no wait--we wanted to try something new...

What would be a good building at ASMo to request that's close to the food court, but not too noisy? Or is that a total contradiction? I guess I want the best of both worlds! :ROFLOL:

 

[lilclerk]

What would be a good building at ASMo to request that's close to the food court, but not too noisy? Or is that a total contradiction? I guess I want the best of both worlds! :ROFLOL:

We stayed in one of the Mighty Ducks buildings. It was very quiet, and not a very long walk to the main building, but it did stink to have to walk from the Movies bus stop back to our building late at night. So we started getting off at Sports (or Music? I forget which one is right next door) since it was MUCH closer to our building.

 

[mnfootballmommy]

I have to agree with Pluto3198 (I think that number is correct..:lol: ) If you are going in early December and staying at a value resort, Pop Warner "could" be an issue. It is definitely something that you would want to take into consideration, if nothing else.

I haven't personally been there during that (I will be this year!), but I have heard the stories. Not ALL bad, but rather noisy and crowded, etc.

Good luck with your decision. No matter where you stay, you will still have a great time! :animwink:

 

[Tinkerbella16]

Pop Century is my favorite value resort. Haven't stayed at the All Stars in a couple years, but have stayed at each one 2 times or more. My choice for which all star I'd choose would def go to All Star Movies.

POP by far, is the best value to stay at.

 

[Lauraldove29]

:wave: the all star resorts are great. we have stayed there 4 times in the last 3 years and just love them. our family has always gone as grand gatherings with other family and friends with us so this was always the best choice. the giant icons are great and these resorts are just great for family's. my sister in law says these resorts just scream disney the way that they have been decorated. the rooms are small, but not enought to make anyone uncomfortable. they are the same size as any other hotel that we have stayed at throughout the country. all in all i think that they are a great choice.

i and leaving in 3 weeks. this year we do happen to be staying at the bc and this will be our first deluxe. it just so happens that this trip is over my birthday and my wedding anniversary and my husband decied to treat me this year as we our going in a group of 4 instear of twelve. but we will make a trip to the all stars to tale pics with the giant props.

you will have a good time.:animwink:

 

[kstella]

We had a group of 7 and we stayed at Pop. The rooms were clean and comfortable with our group split 2, 2, & 3. I don't think I would try 4 people in one room, but as far as quality I wouldn't hesitate about a value, but I would tend to stay away from the AS's. I think that's where groups of kids stay when involved with the sports complex. Definitely more time vs a moderate.

 

[coulty]

Awww...I'm sure he wont blame you. I would never blame my gf if she had something planned and it didnt turn out as expected, u seem like a darn good wife to be worrying about it and his thoughts on the matter so you will be fine regardless of where you stay. I feel that 6 days is a lot, but this is because I go to school in Orlando so I am used to weekend getaways or daily visits. If you are used to the longer trips, I would go ahead and try the value so you can squeeze in some more days. Really all you are doing is sleeping there, because you are staying on Disney property you have the rights to EVERY resort there, so if a day of leisure is what you want and the AS pools are way too wild, then hop on a bus over to Yacht and Beach club or the GF and enjoy your day somewhere much more quiet. If you both really miss POFQ you can still go spend an evening or afternoon there and return to your sleeping quarters. Don't worry, go with your gut feeling, and have fun!

Are you allowed to go to other resorts we have stopped twice in as movies and music ,in january we are staying in,sports because we will have my 4 grandsons with us.we have never had any problems staying in these resorts and prefer them to staying out of the world.it would be very nice to go to some of the other resorts and use their pools if we are allowed to do this we once passed through beach and yacht to get to the boardwalk but i felt guilty doing that.CAN YOU USE OTHER RESORTS?