Which Value Resort do you choose? (And why?)

[Lucille]

We are heading to WDW in late January 2010. I stayed at All Star Sports in 1995. But that is the only value I've been to. Right now we're leaning towards Pop Century.

Which value resorts have you stayed at?
Which one did you like best?
Why?
Have you found any value resort to be less crowded than the others?
Have you found any to be quieter?

 

[krankenstein]

We are heading to WDW in late January 2010. I stayed at All Star Sports in 1995. But that is the only value I've been to. Right now we're leaning towards Pop Century.

Which value resorts have you stayed at?
Which one did you like best?
Why?
Have you found any value resort to be less crowded than the others?
Have you found any to be quieter?

I have stayed at all 4 numerous times. My personal favorite is Sports. I prefer the layout and the fact that the rooms were recently rehabbed making the condition of them newer than Pop. However, Pop does have the best physical location of the values on property. Everything else (transportation, food court, pools, etc) is basically the same between the resorts.

As for your quiet/ least crowded question, I have found Music to be the least crowded and the quietest of the four.

One last thing, people will tell you that the All-Stars always share busses, that isn't the case. I have shared buses only 3 times in multiple stays.

You really can't go wrong with any of them. Pick which one stands out the most to you. :wave:

 

[slappy magoo]

I haven't stayed at any of the values personally, but based on what I've read and what I've seen, I'd choose Pop. It has its own dedicated bus line, most people seem to prefer the rooms and the pools and the food court, it's newer (though I'm sure at this point every room is showing at least a little bit of its age) and when WDW is block-booking large groups of young 'uns for cheerleader or Pop Warner competitions or events of that ilk, they tend to book them in the All Stars. So, if I had to choose, I'd choose Pop.

 

[Lucille]

I'm sort of a light sleeper. I heard that the lake facing rooms at Pop, on the 4th floor, would probably be the quietest. Any opinions on that?

 

[krankenstein]

I'm sort of a light sleeper. I heard that the lake facing rooms at Pop, on the 4th floor, would probably be the quietest. Any opinions on that?

I think the 70's are the quietest (no pool). A 70's room on the 4th floor overlooking the lake would probably be quiet.

 

[hellotim]

We are heading to WDW in late January 2010. I stayed at All Star Sports in 1995. But that is the only value I've been to. Right now we're leaning towards Pop Century.

Which value resorts have you stayed at?
Which one did you like best?
Why?
Have you found any value resort to be less crowded than the others?
Have you found any to be quieter?

We have stayed in the ASM and POP. Both are built on the same model and overall I don't think there is much difference. POP is obviously the newer of the resorts and I found the overall living environment much better. THe lake is very picturesque and if you do get the chance its worth a stroll around.

I would say this is the only difference, the rooms are the same layout, the food court and shops are the same, food is similar and there are a number of good pools in each.

If you want a value resort with a decent room and excellent service then choose any. Personally, getting off the fence for a moment I would choose POP if forced to give an answer.

 

[Lucille]

I wonder how quickly rooms at Pop fill up in late January.

 

[krankenstein]

I wonder how quickly rooms at Pop fill up in late January.

Slowly

 

[WTBAD]

All of the value resorts are equally well themed. I don't see any real leader on theming.
Buses - the three All Stars usually share bus service but Pop has its own buses. The AS's have a total of 5,760 rooms. Pop has 2,880. So even if Pop is full & the AS's aren't, there will still be more guest using an AS bus then at a Pop bus.
Food Court - Even though Pop has over 900 rooms more than any one AS, I find the FC at Pop to always have tables available. I've had to wait on a table at all three AS.
Location - Pop is centerally located. You can almost see DHS, Epcot & the Boardwalk from the fourth floor of bldg 2. DTD is almost as close as Epcot.

As far as the size of the resort, it can be a slightly farther walk to the FC & buses at Pop than at one of the AS.

However, I will always choose Pop over an AS resort when available.

 

[Lucille]

All of the value resorts are equally well themed. I don't see any real leader on theming.
Buses - the three All Stars usually share bus service but Pop has its own buses. The AS's have a total of 5,760 rooms. Pop has 2,880. So even if Pop is full & the AS's aren't, there will still be more guest using an AS bus then at a Pop bus.
Food Court - Even though Pop has over 900 rooms more than any one AS, I find the FC at Pop to always have tables available. I've had to wait on a table at all three AS.
Location - Pop is centerally located. You can almost see DHS, Epcot & the Boardwalk from the fourth floor of bldg 2. DTD is almost as close as Epcot.

As far as the size of the resort, it can be a slightly farther walk to the FC & buses at Pop than at one of the AS.

However, I will always choose Pop over an AS resort when available.

Thanks for all of the great info! On our last trip we stayed at POR in building 35 in alligator bayou. If you look on a map we were far, far away from the main building...and we loved it! The farther away, the better...in my opinion. So maybe I would like Pop. I also wonder if bus rides to the parks are shorter or longer compared to when we were at POR.

I've heard even thought Pop doesn't share buses, you sometimes still have to wait a while because they are sent out on an as-needed basis. Does that mean if it's just us and a few other people at the bus stop at 10am, we're going to have to wait forever??

 

[WTBAD]

Thanks for all of the great info! On our last trip we stayed at POR in building 35 in alligator bayou. If you look on a map we were far, far away from the main building...and we loved it! The farther away, the better...in my opinion. So maybe I would like Pop. I also wonder if bus rides to the parks are shorter or longer compared to when we were at POR.

I've heard even thought Pop doesn't share buses, you sometimes still have to wait a while because they are sent out on an as-needed basis. Does that mean if it's just us and a few other people at the bus stop at 10am, we're going to have to wait forever??

I've never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus. We've gone in June every year for the last nine years and made several trips during other times of the year. We've stayed at every one of the AS, Pop, FQ & GF. I can't recall the bus service being better at any one of the resorts. The only problem I every had was staying as Movies, we always seemed to have to stand when going to the parks.

 

[captainkidd]

Stayed in all the Value Resorts.

Like All Star Movies the best. I like the theming, food court and bar by the pool.

 

[WDW_Emily]

I'm sort of a light sleeper. I heard that the lake facing rooms at Pop, on the 4th floor, would probably be the quietest. Any opinions on that?

If you want a room near the lake we stayed in the 50's a few trips back on the 1st floor and didn't hear a peep. we've stayed at every decade except the 90's and found the 50's were quietest 60's is loudest don't stay there!!!

I also enjoyed ALMU. it was very quiet and everything seemed closer together. the only negatives were the food court doesn't have enough seats for all people. and like someone else said, the all stars don't always share buses. on our last trip we shared a bus only once to go to AK and on the way home we had our own bus.

 

[fosse76]

I've stayed at Pop Century and All Star Movies. I think I ALMOST preferred Movies to Pop Century. My room was in the Mighty Ducks Building...my room was closer to the ASM busses than my own. I was also closer to the ASM busses than anyone staying at the ASM. It was great to only have to walk two minutes to get to the bus. And my timing was perfect on that trip...I never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus...and they didn't share once. Though I must confess, the one time I did wait for the bus at my own resort it was being shared, and despite being 6th in line there wasn't room for me.

Another thing I liked about All Star Movies is the trees. There seem to be more of them, whereas Pop Century seemed to be surrounded by nothing but parking lots and no trees.

Pop Century is more spread out, it seems "nicer", but to be honest, I always feel like I'm waiting forever for the busses to come. But I will add, I was spoiled by my room location at Movies, but I always stay at Pop Century.

 

[OneLuckyMom]

We've stayed at Movies, Music and Pop.

I didn't like Pop at all - it just was too danged big for me. Seemed like we had to walk forever to get to our room, there were too many other folks around, I hated the theming and I didn't like having to walk thru the store to get to the food court - too many temptations for the young child I had in tow.

I liked Movies because even in a room farther back, the walk wasn't as long. The resort seems to be layed out more "tightly". And I love the theming. But we did have problems at times with the buses, when they are running a single bus for all of the All Stars.

And the one I like the most is Music. We're staying there again this year. When a single bus is running for the All Stars, we don't have as many problems getting a seat compared to Movies, since Music is the stop before. And we LOVE the movies by the pool at night - it just adds a little something extra to the experience!!!

 

[Lucille]

I worry that since pop seems most popular, it will be super crowded, even in January.

Decisions, decisions!! Haha.

It's funny that some people's "cons" are what I consider "pros"....like Pop being bigger and more spread out. That goes in the pro column for me.

 

[aeillill]

I've stayed at Pop! and ASMu and of those two values I keep returning to Pop! Originally we went because it was the newest resort but we keep going back just because we like it. We're not huge into our hotel room (it's just a place we sleep in, if we're at Disney we're not going to be doing anything that involves long periods in our rooms).

Pop! just seems quieter then when we stayed at ASMu plus it has it's own bus line so that's always a plus at the end of a long day in the park. The buses sure do fill up sometimes though, and at the parks it always seems to be the furthest stop. That's the only real con I can think of for the place.

 

[JEANYLASER]

I voted for ASMO! I really wanted to stay!

 

[blackthidot]

Sports, the football field is awesome to play on after we get back from the parks!

 

[NiarrNDisney]

Which value resorts have you stayed at? Pop and AsMu (Jazz Inn)

Which one did you like best? Pop!

Why? I prefer the themeing, I liked the dining options offered in the food court, the rooms were a bit small but still nice , the resort is vast and great for wandering around, and the bus transportation is more efficient than the Allstars which shares the buses between the three resorts.

Have you found any value resort to be less crowded than the others? I think due to the size the Pop seems to be less crowded, with three pools and the huge ground areas you can find yourself a little solace amongst the hustle and bustle.

Have you found any to be quieter? I found that the Jazz Inn at the AsMu to be the most tame, I think the themeing of the other Allstars and the Pop resort to be a little loud where as the Jazz is toned down and peacful.