To all that have stayed in the little mermaid section:
1. Is 'the walk' really as bad as I hear everyone say? Are we talking having to walk a mile to get to rooms/bus etc?
Haven't actually stayed in the LM rooms but we've stayed in a LK suite on 2 trips. The longest walk from the LM section to the bus stops/food court would be about 10 minutes on average. Many rooms will be a shorter walk than that. While it's not a terribly long walk in the scheme of how much you walk overall at Disney, I think at the end of the night it will *feel* long. That being said, those rooms still sell out all the time, so there are hundreds of people who make that walk every day. 
During both of our AoA stays, we occasionally took the bus from a park back to Pop and walked from there to our LK suite -- that distance was about the same as walking to a LM room from the bus stops at AoA. It really wasn't that bad; however....
2. Is Pop Century worth the extra few bucks due to its less of a walk and or general overal facilities?
...every time we take a bus back to Pop and walk back to our LK suite at AoA, I comment that if I wasn't staying in a suite at AoA, I would probably stay at Pop instead but request a room close to the bridge so that I could go over to AoA to eat. But if I had a child that loved the Little Mermaid, I wouldn't mind staying in those rooms just for the theming.
3. Trying to save money so I know a family suite would probably be best...but...for my wife, me and daughter and grand pa....is a two bed room big enough? Daughter will only be 5.
Is your daughter planning to share a bed with Grandpa or is she sleeping on an air mattress on the floor? Keep in mind that the LM rooms have 2 double beds. There is room to use an air mattress, but it will make the room a little more crowded. I think you would all be more comfortable in a suite. It would give you more storage space; more personal space, more sleeping space; 2 TVs, 2 bathrooms; and a kitchenette if you like to have breakfast or snacks in the room. I do understand budgeting concerns though. The suites at All Star Music are a little cheaper than the AoA suites or you could do 2 rooms at Pop for less than a suite. You could request connecting rooms though they are not guaranteed.
4. Since we would be going November 10th through the 16th....how bad will the crowds be a. in little mermaid section/aoa in general as opposed to pop century b. in the parks in general?
We always go in June, so I can't really comment on the crowds in November other than to say that they will be lower than when we go in June. I haven't really noticed a crowd level difference between AoA and Pop when we've stayed there. They felt the same.
5. Overall...for my wife and daughter that love all things disney and the animation side of it vs me...who loves overall cost benefits/numbers guy.....which is better pop or aoa? (toss in all stars movies as well)
Again, I understand the budgeting concerns...we're the same way. We have 5 kids -- only 3 of them still live at home -- so we've always had to book 2 rooms or now get a suite at AoA. We love AoA and prefer it to the other Value resorts -- though we're not opposed to staying somewhere else, but AoA will always be our top choice. It's never "cheap". On our trip 3 weeks ago, since there were only 5 of us traveling, we considered staying in a Deluxe resort that could accommodate the 5 of us in one room...it would have been cheaper than the suite. After a few discussions, we decided we just weren't ready to give up the extra space and 2nd bathroom that the suites provide. Our teens tend to stay up later than we do so it's really nice to not all be in one room when the "old folks" want to sleep and the kids want to stay up watching TV. Mornings were much easier because we had 2 bathrooms -- no lines, no waiting. We were once again very happy that we chose a suite even though we could have gotten a standard room. It allowed us to be more relaxed in the room (we take afternoon breaks in the room most days) and overall kept the entire vacation relaxed. We don't want to sacrifice the quality of our overall vacation just to save some money on the room. We feel it's important to choose the type of room that works best for the family rather than the cheapest room we can all fit in. I know that some families are perfectly happy being in a standard room with 4 or 5 people but not every family's dynamics make that a good decision. You really need to think about how much "togetherness" you can all tolerate with each other. Will Grandpa and your daughter have similar sleep schedules to your and your wife? Will you all be comfortable sharing double beds? Will one bathroom work for the 4 of you? Does a single room provide all of the privacy that you want (getting dressed, private conversations, etc.) Is one person a light sleeper while someone else is a heavy snorer? Just a few questions to think about when making your decision.
Good luck with your decision and I hope you have a great trip!
Thanks for any constructive responses
......... Those who've stayed..........what did you like? What was less than great?
from raw-8603
Discount on AoA suites wasn't big enough to move up 
