Pop Century vs ASMovie?

[101disneyfan]

Hello everyone!
Could somebody who has stayed at either of these two hotels tell me which they preferred.

Pros and Cons?
Park transportation preferences?
Room Rates?


Anything else to add would be appreciated.
We will have the park hopper, but will be hanging out at our hotel during the mid-afternoon, so anything you may like to add would be appreciated!

If anyone else can make use of this thread for planning their own trip, feel free!

Thank you, everyone, in advance!

 

[tlkgt76]

Hello everyone!
Could somebody who has stayed at either of these two hotels tell me which they preferred.

Pros and Cons?
Park transportation preferences?
Room Rates?


Anything else to add would be appreciated.
We will have the park hopper, but will be hanging out at our hotel during the mid-afternoon, so anything you may like to add would be appreciated!

If anyone else can make use of this thread for planning their own trip, feel free!

Thank you, everyone, in advance!

Good evening!!! We've stayed at both and I think Pop Century is much better. You don't have to wait as long for the buses since they're shared at the All Stars (although I have no idea whether Pop shares with Art of Animation now). I love the lake at Pop, it makes it feel a little nicer. It also seems like the All Stars are packed with large groups of kids that are participating in Nationals or Conferences (in All Star Music and All Star Sports).

I liked the food court much better at Pop Century and it seemed like they had more options. For some reason, it seemed like it took MUCH longer to walk to our room at All Star Music.

We've stayed at Pop Century twice, both times for over seven nights (we split it one year with DVC rental points for Animal Kingdom and stayed 14 nights overall). We stayed for 14 nights at All Star Music for our other trip.

I will say, unless we are forced or I somehow win a trip, we'll never stay in an All Star again. Pop Century just trumps them! Keep in mind that Pop was built AFTER they learned things from the All Stars.

 

[GrammyJudy]

WE HAVE STAYED AT ALL THE as AND pop. mY PREFERENCE IS asmUSIC. i LIKE THE SMALLER SIZE OF THE as AND WE NEVER SHARED BUSES EXCEPTIN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY.Sorry for the cap lock. Anyway the food court may have more choices at POP but it was much busier. I did like the POP gift shop better. We loved the pool at Music and the size of the resort. But any of them are great for the $$

 

[shburks]

Two stays a Pop and one at ASMo. I'd vote ASMo for sure. First trip to Pop was fine; second trip we were less than impressed. Beds were uncomfortable, very noisy, housekeeping was less than stellar. Prefer theming at ASMo, too.

 

[LisaBi]

Here is another vote for ASMo. They are basically identical, but we just like the overall feel at ASMo more. Also prefer the ASMo theming and food court. The Pop food court was more crowded, and seemed to have less selection, especially for picky eaters. We've rarely had an issue with the bus sharing. It only seems to happen during slower times of the day. We travel with a wheelchair, and only once that I can remember (in over 10 trips) was the bus too full for us to get on when it got to ASMo.

 

[twinboysmom]

Having stayed at all of the all stars and pop, I would pick whichever resort you prefer the theming of and which is cheaper. Movies is our favorite value and just completed a refurb November of 2011. It is compact and easy to walk around. The bus sharing is so greatly over exaggerated on these boards. The all stars do share but usually only during midday during non peak times. Usually during opening and closing they have their own buses. Pop while dedicated is a large resort and the buses were busy (our experience). Pop is larger and more spread out. I will give pop's food court a slight edge.

I would gladly return to any of the values again. Our family just prefers the theming of movies and the compact size.

 

[tlkgt76]

Having stayed at all of the all stars and pop, I would pick whichever resort you prefer the theming of and which is cheaper. Movies is our favorite value and just completed a refurb November of 2011. It is compact and easy to walk around. The bus sharing is so greatly over exaggerated on these boards. The all stars do share but usually only during midday during non peak times. Usually during opening and closing they have their own buses. Pop while dedicated is a large resort and the buses were busy (our experience). Pop is larger and more spread out. I will give pop's food court a slight edge.

I would gladly return to any of the values again. Our family just prefers the theming of movies and the compact size.

Since I brought up the bus sharing I feel I should add that I formed this opinion from personal experience. (Maybe ASMovies is the first stop so you don't notice as much? I can't remember so I'm not sure.) I know there was quite a bit of difference at night going back to the resort. We waited an average of 15 minutes for a bus to get home in July staying at Pop Century (when its pretty busy). We waited about 30 minutes on average for a bus to go back to the All Stars in September.

I have heard that in busier seasons the buses actually run more frequently, so maybe that's why we had to wait double the amount of time for the All Star bus. I will say it prompted me to spend $260 on a rental car for our next trip so we could pretty much leave when we wanted to. haha

This next time, we'll have my car so it won't be an issue (which is good, because we're crazy enough to head to MK on Easter Sunday just so we can eat at Liberty Tree!)

Either way Disney's value resorts are the best value in the country. Multiple times now my husband and I have been in nice 4 star, much more expensive hotels and mentioned that the service doesn't even come close to Disney's.

 

[tiggore91]

We have stayed at both and prefer Pop. I did like the store and the food court better, but the biggest thing for me is, Pop is a lot closer to most of the parks/DTD than the All Stars. At the end of the day, I just want to get back to the hotel room and the 10 minutes less it takes to get back, the better!