What Value based on the following:

[firstwdw]

We have our moderate in case there are general public discounts so time to figure out our value choice in case no discounts for our travel dates(first week in May).

here is what is important to us(husband, self and first grade son):
-clean and inviting room with comfortable beds
- close to transportation and food court
-fun theming for a first grader(boy)
-food court that offers the basics (chicken nuggets, mickey waffles)
-15min bus ride to Magic Kingdom (i.e.: not too far out there)
-not too crazy, loud or busy and over stimulating-we prefer a less crazy resort, if that's possible with the values

Here are my thoughts:
LOVE new AoA but not sure how a boy would feel about LM rooms, LM rooms are FAR and food court doesn't have chicken nuggets!However, theming is fun and it's new-we could visit each section and use the pools etc plus they have one bus which is nice

Pop: like the dedicated bus, food court offers good food, theme looks fun but more so for the parents, lake and fireworks, rooms look blah to me online at least, BIG=lots of people which I'm not crazy about and I've read about uncomfortable beds

All Star Movies: Son would LOVE this theme and Mom and Dad think it looks fun too, seems smaller and less crowded, food court offers a good selection, concerned about longer bus ride, sharing buses and also about tour groups with teens. I am leaning towards All Star Movies but the teen groups and bus situation is scaring me! I do think the rooms look bright and cheery and I like the decor better than Pop.

Actually I don't know what one I'm leaning towards.....I'm torn-I have looked at too many pictures and read too many reviews!!! I've only ever stayed deluxe ONE TIME but we were hardly in the room-we do use the pool however.

has anyone stayed at Pop, All Star Movies AND LM rooms at AOA and can offer some firsthand opinions etc....... THANK YOU!!!!!

 

[firstwdw]

OP here: I should mention that we prefer a quieter resort-not sure if quiet and values go together but thought I'd mention it either way. We do like fun poolside activities and such-I just want to be able to sleep and rest and have a break from big crowds

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have our moderate in case there are general public discounts so time to figure out our value choice in case no discounts for our travel dates(first week in May).

here is what is important to us(husband, self and first grade son):
-clean and inviting room with comfortable beds
- close to transportation and food court
-fun theming for a first grader(boy)
-food court that offers the basics (chicken nuggets, mickey waffles)
-15min bus ride to Magic Kingdom (i.e.: not too far out there)
-not too crazy, loud or busy and over stimulating-we prefer a less crazy resort, if that's possible with the values

Here are my thoughts:
LOVE new AoA but not sure how a boy would feel about LM rooms, LM rooms are FAR and food court doesn't have chicken nuggets!However, theming is fun and it's new-we could visit each section and use the pools etc plus they have one bus which is nice

Pop: like the dedicated bus, food court offers good food, theme looks fun but more so for the parents, lake and fireworks, rooms look blah to me online at least, BIG=lots of people which I'm not crazy about and I've read about uncomfortable beds

All Star Movies: Son would LOVE this theme and Mom and Dad think it looks fun too, seems smaller and less crowded, food court offers a good selection, concerned about longer bus ride, sharing buses and also about tour groups with teens. I am leaning towards All Star Movies but the teen groups and bus situation is scaring me! I do think the rooms look bright and cheery and I like the decor better than Pop.

Actually I don't know what one I'm leaning towards.....I'm torn-I have looked at too many pictures and read too many reviews!!! I've only ever stayed deluxe ONE TIME but we were hardly in the room-we do use the pool however.

has anyone stayed at Pop, All Star Movies AND LM rooms at AOA and can offer some firsthand opinions etc....... THANK YOU!!!!!

I personally think a 6 year old boy would love All Star Movies.
We have stayed at all of the values (except for AoA), and we really did enjoy our stays at all of them. POP was our favorite, but I do think that my girls would have appreciated All Star Movies more for the theme (DH and I stayed at movies before kiddos).

I honestly think that no matter what you chose, you will have a great time!

 

[twinboysmom]

Hi OP. The only value we haven't stayed at yet is AoA so I will offer my thoughts. I like them all and think any one you choose will be fun. Movies is a wonderful resort with its compact layout and fun icons that appeal to young and old Disney fans. It is also the most recently renovated. Here's my experiences with the all stars bus situation. We stayed at sports in 2000 and music in 2002 and both of those times they were sharing buses a lot. Since 2007, we have stayed at all 3 many times and the only times we have shared buses is during midday. We have had our own buses in the mornings and at park closings. As for teen groups, early May isn't a likely time. We stayed at music last year during pop Warner and I didn't think they were too bad.

We personally did find pop to be a little large and spread out for our taste but still enjoyed it during our stays. I have found the beds to be hard here but have had hard beds at many other WDW resorts too (including deluxe). I do think it has a little bit better food court.

The quietest (by far) value resort we have stayed at is not one of your choices. We have never had noise problems at music. We found it a little bit more spread out than movies and the icons aren't quite as fun. It still has a nicely themed main pool like the other values and pool side activities but w have always found it a bit more relaxing.

Hope this helps some and happy planning.

 

[married2mm]

we have only had one night stays in values, but slept well, and certainly not uncomfortable in the beds.

noise was no problem either- our favourite was pop, closely followed by music.

 

[ke3d98]

All star sports or All star movies would be your best bet with a 1st grade boy

 

[OKW Lover]

You'll have a problem with the "15min bus ride to Magic Kingdom" fro any value resort. The closest are probably Pop/AoA, while All Star (all) are further.

As far as "close to transportation and food court" goes, that's purely dependent on your room location within the resort. None are any better/worse than the others. I don't think you should use this as a criteria for choosing a resort.

We toured AoA in September and were very impressed with the theming. I'd guess that a first grader will love it.

 

[Maria1985]

Whichever you choose, you will be satisfied.

 

[DisneyGal24]

DH and I stayed at Movies back in 2005 and it was great. The theming was fantastic and the buses were fine. Didn't eat at the food court. We stayed at Pop in 2011 and really enjoyed all the nostalgia (80s & 90s sections)! The food court was awesome but hectic. It is larger than the all-stars. DD really enjoyed seeing the giant Mickey phone right outside our door. This summer we tried Sports. This is our favorite of the ones we stayed at. It was small and easy to get around. DD6 and DS3 LOVED it! Food was great. Bus were fine. When the all stars share buses Sports is picked up and dropped off first so that is a plus. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them!

 

[FancyNancy]

The first week in May you might encounter some dance and cheer groups at the All Stars. They are definitely not quiet or relaxing to be around. That being said if there are none scheduled to be there next year I would recommend All Star Sports. It's the most compact of all the resorts on site which means that all of the buildings are pretty close to the food court/ bus stop.