HELP! Pop or AOA LM?

[weinerranchers]

Our trip is at the end of October. We are already booked at AOA in a LM room. We are two adults and one 3 year old that likes to eat! LOL What is your opinion please... Would you switch to Pop for the discounted dining plan or stay at AOA for the ambiance? The dining plan will be the one with one sit down, one counter and one snack. I think it will save us $200 - $300 to switch to POP. I have never used a dining plan tho so I don't know if it is "worth it". We have reservations at several character meals and sit down places. We will most likely spend a lot of time swimming. My son LOVES MICKEY! If you recommend POP, where would you stay to have Mickey around?
Anyone heard about refurbishments at POP in October?

Okay, ready... set... GO!

 

[Upatnoon]

Our trip is at the end of October. We are already booked at AOA in a LM room. We are two adults and one 3 year old that likes to eat! LOL What is your opinion please... Would you switch to Pop for the discounted dining plan or stay at AOA for the ambiance? The dining plan will be the one with one sit down, one counter and one snack. I think it will save us $200 - $300 to switch to POP. I have never used a dining plan tho so I don't know if it is "worth it". We have reservations at several character meals and sit down places. We will most likely spend a lot of time swimming. My son LOVES MICKEY! If you recommend POP, where would you stay to have Mickey around?
Anyone heard about refurbishments at POP in October?

Okay, ready... set... GO!

I would stay at Pop, pocket the $300, and walk over to AOA to eat dinner one night to see what all the fuss is about.

Or I would stay at Pop, use the money you are saving to upgrade my dining plan so it includes one sit-down dinner a day. Then you can go to a character breakfast and meet Mickey.

 

[Merandab4]

I agree, I would go to POP and just walk over the AOA. I think your son will like POP. And don't forget those character meals can really add up, so saving the extra money will be a bonus!

Have Fun!

 

[dismom3]

I haven't posted on these boards in a very long time, but when I saw your question, I just HAD to respond. We just returned from staying at POP. It was fantastic. I would not stay at AoA LM rooms because they were ridiculously far from the main food court building. The LM rooms looked like a different hotel, they were so far from everything (worse than the spread out moderates). We ate twice at AoA and walked the bridge back to our room at POP and our room was way quicker to get to at a different hotel than it would have been staying in the little mermaid rooms. You would be nowhere near that cute Nemo pool. This would be difficult with your 3 year old. I hope this helps. Regards.

 

[ruthies12]

I agree with the others, I was making a decision between the two for my next trip and chose a preferred room at pop to be close to the bus stops and food court. I have heard the LM rooms at AOA are a 10 minute walk! I have stayed at Pop twice before and it was just fine, the rooms aren't much to write home about but we spend very little time in our room anyway which is why we stay value.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I don't like booking without a discount, so my choice would be POP. I probably won't get around to staying at LM until the "newness" wears off and they start offering up some discounts.

 

[laceyinwonderland]

Our trip is at the end of October. We are already booked at AOA in a LM room. We are two adults and one 3 year old that likes to eat! LOL What is your opinion please... Would you switch to Pop for the discounted dining plan or stay at AOA for the ambiance? The dining plan will be the one with one sit down, one counter and one snack. I think it will save us $200 - $300 to switch to POP. I have never used a dining plan tho so I don't know if it is "worth it". We have reservations at several character meals and sit down places. We will most likely spend a lot of time swimming. My son LOVES MICKEY! If you recommend POP, where would you stay to have Mickey around?
Anyone heard about refurbishments at POP in October?

Okay, ready... set... GO!

Hands down switch to Pop and get free dining!!! Your son will LOVE pop!!! Since you have several character meals planned, Free dining will probably save you even more than your thinking!!! Have a great trip!!!

 

[dawnhaze]

I loved AoA LM, spent 11 days there and didn't mind the walk at all, but I'd definitely switch to Pop to save $200-300.

 

[rramsr]

I would switch to Pop and save the money. We stayed in a LM room a few weeks ago and the walk was long from the main building to the rooms

 

[POOHsie]

Ambiance vs $$ savings. Frankly, you can quickly walk to AoA from Pop and soak up some ambiance for free. And the free-standing icons at Pop are also very appealing to kids. Pop, hands down!

 

[TerryLP]

I am totally surprised at the responses that you received to your question. When I read it I thought that I would be the odd man out. I was pleasantly surprised that I totally agree with what everybody is telling you. We have stayed at many of the hotels at WDW and came to the decision that it is a waste to spend our money on hotel rooms when we don't spend that much time in them. You don't go to WDW to spend your time in a hotel room! We sleep, shower, and change clothes in the hotel. Other than that, we are out enjoying ourselves. Spend your money doing other things. POP is a great value for the money.

 

[RJP77]

I guess I will be the odd man out. I just got back from Pop and was shocked at how much better AoA was in comparison when I stayed there. The zero entry pool, splash pad and playground at AoA are all much better for a small child. The rooms are all newer and in my experience cleaner at AoA. The food court also seemed to have better options. We switched to Pop from AoA for a discount package that came up and were disappointed (as much as one can be while being at Disney). For a few hundred dollars it wasn't worth it for us. But I can't speak to your financial situation. Either way, good luck and enjoy!

 

[Disneylover99]

We just got back from our first Pop stay. We loved it! We are also booked in a LM room at AofA next month. I keep thinking I should switch back to Pop but I want to change it up a bit.

We walked extensively around AofA and the one thing I did not like are the gated pool areas. It really seemed so congested, crowded and closed in to me. I love how open the Hippy Dippy pool at Pop is.

 

[cruisingkat]

I haven't posted on these boards in a very long time, but when I saw your question, I just HAD to respond. We just returned from staying at POP. It was fantastic. I would not stay at AoA LM rooms because they were ridiculously far from the main food court building. The LM rooms looked like a different hotel, they were so far from everything (worse than the spread out moderates).

Have to agree with this, we stayed at AoA LM and were in the Ariel building at the rooms farthest away. We actually were closer to the POP buildings. I also felt that the room wasn't worth the extra money. The table in the room was extremely small, the chairs although cute, were not that comfortable, the dresser that the TV sits on doesn't have a lot of top space and the bathroom sink does not have the ledge under the mirror that POP does so the sink top ends up being very cluttered. The room also seemed darker than the POP rooms. Because of that, I felt our room ended up being more cluttered and therefore seemed to be smaller.

 

[disneypunch]

Well if it were me I couldn't pass up a discount deal. I did stay in the LM room 12/12 on a pin code discount for free dining and we enjoyed it but we didn't get to swim often since it wasn't hot. The rooms are on the end but I timed it and it was a 7-8 min walk to the main building with a stroller. I thought it was a scenic walk with fun stuff to view. Not on the way to LM but the cars section is really neat to see. I think the pools are gated to deter people from using them that are't staying there. You need a resort card to access them, but if you were staying there you wouldn't want it crowded.
I just stayed at Pop 8/13 and the first room they gave us was really far I didn't time it but it took so long I requested a closer room and so thankful that they had one.
I liked both resorts. I have stayed at all of the value resorts. My first choice would be LM but if there was a discount my next choice would be Pop.

 

[hsmamato2]

I would stay at Pop, pocket the $300, and walk over to AOA to eat dinner one night to see what all the fuss is about.

Or I would stay at Pop, use the money you are saving to upgrade my dining plan so it includes one sit-down dinner a day. Then you can go to a character breakfast and meet Mickey.

me too...it is a lovely view,and a lovely stroll over to visit AOA