Pop Century or All Stars??

[Daisy21015]

I am helping a friend plan a trip and she is wanting to stay at either one of the All Stars or Pop. I haven't stayed at either so I wanted to see about getting some opinions.

Which do you prefer? Why?

Is there any difference in the rooms/layout of the resorts other than theming?

Does one offer better food court options?

Is one more recently renovated?

Which has better transportation? Does Pop have its own bus while the All Stars share between the resorts?

If going All Star, is one better than the other?

Is there a real benefit to paying for a preferred room?

Thank you for any and all info on these resorts!

 

[lustergirl]

We have stayed at both and I prefer the All Stars. They are more compact and POP is too big for me. We paid preferred at POP and still have quite the hall to the bus stop and foodcourt. The preferred rooms at the All Stars are closer in my opinion. The foodcourts are about the same but I would venture to say that POP is busier because of the amount of people staying there. The rooms are basically the same though. Good Luck!!

 

[maxiesmom]

Full disclosure: I have never stayed at the Pop. Made reservations there 3times now, but always have ended up somewhere else. I have stayed at the All Stars 4 times.

Anyway, here are some plusses for both places.

Pop plusses: More centrally located than the All Stars.
Most recently completed refurb of the Value resorts.
Has its own dedicated bus.

All Star plusses: All were recently refurbed, with the Movies being done now.
Each All Star is considerably smaller than the Pop.
Each All Star has its own bus way more often than
they share.

A plus of the Sports resort is that when the All Stars do share a bus, they are the first stop. So first on, first off. And sharing is so not the big deal some make it out to be. The All Stars are all right next door to each other. It takes maybe 5 minutes to go to the other 2 All Stars and pick up guests.

A plus of the Music resort is the extra fun by the pool area. They play games during the day (think bingo and savanger hunt) and show movies by the pool at night. No other Value resort can lay claim to that! I think it really adds to the fun feel of the Music resort.

 

[Daisy21015]

Thanks so far!!

So, Pop is bigger as one resort than any of the All Stars are individually? And all the All Stars together are bigger than Pop? So really, staying at Pop is the bigger resort??

Any other ideas on which to choose??

Thanks

 

[Cherinva]

I've stayed at AS Music, Movies and POP. I love them all....if I had to choose...it would be Movies.

POP is a big resort, and it could be a long walk to the bus stops, depending on where you are. The Food Court is busy, but very good.

The rooms at Movies and Music are basicly the same, with difference in the decor. I like the food better at Movies...but I like the pools better at Music.

A plus about Music is....if they need a bigger room, the Music has the family suites...which I loved !!!

I hope this helps.

 

[hammie59]

We stayed at ASMo in 2008, before the refurb. Rooms were a tad run down, nothing major. Glad to hear they're currently being redone. I found the outer areas of the resort (sidewalk, outer walls, etc...) to be a little dirty. Needed some power washing desperately. Food court to me was good. Also thought the general theming of the resort was great inside and out. VERY Disney. Kids loved it and actually wanted to "visit" it on our recent trip.

So that leads me to POP, which we have just returned from. The theming was fun, but movies was better in that regard. Rooms were updated, kinda plain (meaning no toystory wallpaper border, popcorn light fixture, buzz poster), but it did have a poster with different 50s items on it. (I only mention this because both son and husband seemed to have issue with that ) Resort was extremely clean everywhere although the foodcourt could have used a little help. POP is on a lake, which is beautiful. The kids pool area is better than the kids area at movies and the entire resort is generally larger.

One more thing- Buses at movies was an issue for us. We had to share with the other All Stars. Buses at POP were pretty good, most came quickly and seemed pretty abundant.

 

[Daisy21015]

Is the Movies refurb complete? If not, when will it be finished?

Is there a refrigerater in any of these resorts?

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[disneychic2]

Stayed at Movies a long time ago and loved it. You can rent a fridge. I think it's $10 a day? Not sure about that price. I've wanted to stay at Pop for a while now. I like the idea of the one bus. I've also heard that the food court at Pop is the best value food court. I think your friends would be happy at any of the values. The rooms are equal in size. Good luck!

 

[trekker93]

From its theming to its food court to the great layout, it is the best value resort. Nowadays, so many people prefer Pop it is often very crowded! But we go in the Sept./Oct. time frame and it is great.

 

[CastleGazerMom]

Our family's vote is for Pop Century. We have stayed a couple times and have also stayed at ASMo. During our stay at ASMo, my DH said, Never again - - always Pop for me.

We love the theming and the outside decor, the feel of the common areas and all the multiple pool areas are cool. The food court - for us - is awesome as was the gift area.

We did enjoy the dedicated buses and even when we had a room down in the 50s section, the walk didn't see to be an issue. When we rented a car, it seemed like we could always find a spot close to our building.

 

[DizFan101]

Which do you prefer? Why?
I prefer Pop because of the experiance we had at All Star Music in 06. We went to Pop in 07, which is where we call "home."
Also, the trip from the airport is less because you don't have to stop at too many other places to reach your hotel. Only Caribbean Beach Resort is the only other stop you will make. I also love the theme and the layout. We have always stayed semi close to the buses. in 07 we got the 80s, in 09 we got the 90s (or where the big juke box is) and 10 we got the 50s only because i asked the lady if we could have somewhere closer to the buses...no extra charge either. We even got a renovated room which was cool.

Is there any difference in the rooms/layout of the resorts other than theming?
Not sure.

Does one offer better food court options?
Not sure as we only stayed at all star for one year. I would check out AllEars.net for the menus at each one and pictures of the resort(s)

Is one more recently renovated?
The Pop i think is more recently renovated. We got a newly renovated room last year which was new paint job/rug/tv and there was a curtain between the sink area and the bedroom area which was nice because of changing issues.

Which has better transportation? Does Pop have its own bus while the All Stars share between the resorts?
I believe Pop has better transportation. I believe All Stars have to share buses with All Sports/movies/music i believe. I am not 100% sure. Magic express is lot quicker at pop because you don't have to stop at so many OTHER hotels. it's just caribbean beach and pop. if there is a 3rd on the list pop is usually 2nd.

If going All Star, is one better than the other?

Is there a real benefit to paying for a preferred room?
I don't think we paid for preferred room. But it's good to ask for a room close to the buses when you get there. we asked last year and we got seldomly close to the buses. It took us less then 5 min to get to the cafe area from the 50's but then again we're normally fast walkers. lol.

 

[Big Kid in Alabama]

We have stayed at Pop in 2008, 2010 and are staying there again in July. 2007 we stayed at POR, but you didn't ask about that one (My Favorite). In 2009 we stayed at All Star Movies. Here is my take. All Star Resorts are older. The air conditioner did not work that well at All Star. I literally slept in my own sweat each night. But here is the biggest thing...The buses. Pop has its own bus transportation where all of the All Star resorts have to share a bus. You could be waiting awhile for a bus there and when leaving the parks at closing. We certainly did. Won't stay there again. Food Courts are the same. Hope this helps.


53 days until we see the mouse again.

 

[photo_chick]

We stayed at ASMusic last year and we're staying at Pop this year. Let me start all this by saying we really liked ASMusic overall, and would not hesitate to stay there again.

If you get stuck at the back end of the resort like we did (one of the country buildings) at Music it's a longer walk to the buses than from anywhere in Pop. I've looked at the map and measured it out. Because the Pop buildings radiate around the main building and ASMusic goes straight back. The country buildings were super quiet though, and we were right by the parking lot so it did have advantages there.


90% of the time we had our own bus when we were at Music in August of last year. So while they do share buses, it's not all the time. Either way the buses are gonna be packed sometimes. Especially at the end of the night. But it's not that bad and we'd still choose that over taking our car.

In my research I found the food courts were pretty much the same. The rooms are pretty much the same. Pop has been recently refurbed (last year) and has flat screen TV's in all the rooms (a plus for my Xbox loving son and a big reason why we're staying at Pop this year).

Pop has better pools for little kids. They have the pop jet area and sprayer things on the baby pool. For bigger kids the ASMusic pools were fine, but if your kids can't swim they're stuck to the shallow end. There's not much of a shallow end at the piano pool and the shallow end of the guitar pool was always mobbed because that's where all the activities are.

anyway... that's my take on it. I'll know if my research and planning worked for us when we go in 35 days.

 

[KELLY]

We love pop. But were looking at staying at the ASMO. Well we are headed back to pop. My 3 year old still prefers the kiddie pool and the ones at the AS look really really tiny.

 

[goofyintoronto]

POP does have a better food court compared to the other values. My personal fave is the beef & brocoli with rice. SOOOO YUMMY! Love their lo-mein noodles as well!!!!!!!! I also love the fact that the gift shop is combined with the food court (not separately like the other values). Yes pop is big, but if your taking the disney buses its best to do your research and ask for a room closer to the main building. If you stay in the 80's or 90's for example, wow thats quite a hike! So definitely ask the front desk when you check in. The arcade is awesome as well, according to my son.

I like the fact that POP has its own buses. Thats a huge plus.

Although if you asked everyone which is better, pop or movies....I think you'd get a tie there cause i heard great things about both places. it would be a close race between the two!!

I have to say thou, my fave allstar is Sports. I love that its smaller than the others. LOVE the pool, perfect temperature. The food court was good too.

Honestly, i prefer pop. But no matter where you stay you will have fun. Your at a disney resort afterall!

 

[Eliza32]

Pop for us every time. No shared buses, great food court and tie dye cheesecake. What more could you want?

You don't get a fridge at any of the values, but can rent for around $10 per day if you really need one. We just bought a styrofoam cooler and filled it with ice every other day or so and it did fine for drinks. (Kept it in the bath in case of leaks!!)

As for all of the 'it's too far from the buses/foodcourt/car lot' comments, please get a life. We were in 90s last time, furthest geographically from the foodcourt and the walk was 3 minutes!!! If any of you have a disability then fair enough, but otherwise, use those legs for what they were designed for!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

As for all of the 'it's too far from the buses/foodcourt/car lot' comments, please get a life. We were in 90s last time, furthest geographically from the foodcourt and the walk was 3 minutes!!! If any of you have a disability then fair enough, but otherwise, use those legs for what they were designed for!!!

"Get a life"? Really? Why so judgemental? Many of us feel use our legs for what they are designed for plenty at the parks. If we choose to pay a small fee and save ourselves some steps, why not?

As for what more could you want from Pop, well, I want it to be smaller. It is much larger than any All Star Resort, and I don't like having to fight that many people for a seat on the bus. Or for a seat in the food court. Or by the pool. And I would much rather it have a seperate food court and gift shop, instead of it being all together in one space. Not that those things in themselves would keep me away from the Pop. But I do think the All Stars have a better set up.

 

[mimiecp]

My kids loved the POP Century and we are returning for one night this September before moving to CSR just so they can stay there again. We really loved walking around the grounds (we stayed in the 70's building in 09) and the kids loved the glowing rubics cubes in the stairwells. Food court was good and the arcade was also a lot of fun. In 09 it was my ds's first trip (he was 6). He got a pet rock at check-in (something not everyone gets) and when we got back to our room our first night, there was also a personalized autograph picture of Mickey and the other main characters in our room. I mention this only to say that even though it is a value resort, they certainly sprinkled us with a lot of pixie dust.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Since 2007, we have stayed at ASMu twice, once family suite and the other preferred room. We are making our third visit to POP in November. Prior to that we were primarily RV'ers and stayed at FW or Wilderness Lodge(did you see the wilderness connection) Each time has been a preferred room. We like both resorts and have no problem with either. The only reason we have been staying at POP is for the theming. Our family grew up during the 70, 80 and 90's. We were the 50-60's. While POP is bigger than any individual AS, its layout is very compact. We like the preferred rooms because, lets face it, the 'Ol' legs are quite what they used to be. I like to save them for the parks. Besides after a long day at the parks, I like the shortest walk possible! IMO the food court is slightly better at POP, but both are good. I have never had a problem getting a table or booth at POP. Yes, AS sometimes share buses, but I never found it to be that big an issue. Music was always the second AS stop when it did share. The majority of the time, it had its own bus. Both ASMu and POP buses seem to take forever to get to DTD, so we rent a car and drive. Both resorts were clean and a lot of fun. There seemed to be more activities for kids at ASMu but the pools were better for kids at POP. At POP there are three pools in addition to the kids pool. They never seemed overly crowded.

IMHO both have their own allure. Its just the experience you want to have.

 

[jpmandan]

POP has its own dedicated bus.
All Stars share a bus.