2 DINKS need to pick a Value Resort

[TXYankee]

I am planning a 4 night visit to WDW Feb 08. I know...not alot of planning time!!! My DH and I need to pick a value resort. We have no kids and REALLY want a king sized bed. All Star Music is not available with a discount. Any tips on how to get a king (CO said that all you can do is request one) and which resort would be better??

Thanks!!

 

[disnut8]

We're TANKs (two adults, no kids). I picked Pop Century because nothing compares to looking at all the icons with your mate and reliving your history together and before you met. Don't forget about the shadowboxes in the lobby. Lots of stuff in there to talk about and remember. And a walk along the lake and the signs with a significant happening from every year from 1950-1999. Pop Century is a resort that really opens up communications with families of all ages. And families can be just two adults.

 

[simonkodousek]

I voted for Pop Century. It is the most appealing value towards adults as they can remember all the icons.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

For a Value, I would also pick Pop Century. We really loved all the icons, but is just seems cleaner and better laid out than the All Stars Resorts. Probably because you are 2 adults with no children, they will put you in a King Bed room, but it doesn't hurt to make the request on your reservation. We are a family of 3 adults (Me, Dh , and my mom) and no children,unless we borrow one from someone. I took DH to WDW for his birthday in August and we were given a King Bed room at WL and we didn't request it, so it can happen. I was a HA room, but it was really nice, we even had a huge bathroom and a walk in/roll in shower, not that it mattered, but it was really nice.

Good Luck and have fun planning.

Suzanne

 

[pooh2001]

For some quite - stay at the POP - 1990s area pays tribute to two personal technology marvels -- the cellular telephone and the computer. A giant laptop computer is the centerpiece, while early-model cellular telephones stand at each corner.

 

[shellybaxter]

I chose Pop because it is the only value resort Dh and I will stay in. But if you would really like a King bed you should consider moving up to a moderate and reserving a King bed room. It is a special catagory that can be booked, not just requested. Personally I like POR and POFQ for moderates

 

[JenAusty]

I also travel with 2 adults no kids and I personally prefer to stay at Allstar movies because I love all the characters but for most adults I would choose Pop Century!

 

[TXYankee]

Thanks for the replys. I called and ASMu is now available!...NOW..POP or ASMu!!. I make me crazy!!!!

 

[DisneyDadNY]

I voted for the Pop - just got back from a week there (90's section) and had an amazing time.

1) Fantastic bus service

2) Very quiet at night where we were.

3) Very short walks (cutting through parking lot) to everything.

4) Food was surprisingly good. (Go off hours through)

5) Frozen Cokes

All in all I was very impressed with the Pop and will be returning in October.

 

[Micca]

We usually stay at deluxe or mod, but we tried All Stars and didn't like it. I'd go for Pop by default.

 

[becka]

For two adults I would say Pop.

 

[Twitterpated Dad]

A word of caution about POP.

Apparently, the bathroom ventilation system connects up to 16 room!

And with the new smoking policy, unexpected and unwanted smoke sometimes drifts into a non-smoking room.

This is enough to make us avoid POP until it's fixed. (If it can be fixed.)

 

[disneyfan2]

Thanks for the replys. I called and ASMu is now available!...NOW..POP or ASMu!!. I make me crazy!!!!

i would still consider doing POP!

 

[fla4fun]

Do you qualify for any room discounts? If you can get a moderate at a discount, they have king bed rooms as a separate booking category, so you don't have to wait and wonder "if". You might not pay much, if any, more tha you would rack for a value.

 

[MSC]

I am continually amazed by people who claim "quiet" as a virtue at Pop. We found that the walls were paper thin.

I'd spend the extra dough and go for a moderate.

 

[raven69david]

I vote POP because it's cheaper tax wise. I did a 1 night stay at ASMo last saturday and it was ok. Nice scenery and the resort in general is very nice.

 

[minnie61650]

All Star Music is my favorite Disney owned hotel.

I can well afford to stay at any of Disney's resorts but these are the main reasons I stay at All Star Music:

1. I can book a preferred room location.
The way All Star Music is laid out it "seems" smaller than most of the other Disney resorts. If I stay in a preferred building i only see the Calypso and Jazz builings on the way to to and from the main pool and the bus stop and food court. Since I stay in preferred room I know I am going to be close to the food court, bus stop, & main pool.

2. I enjoy the theming at the All Stars. All Star Music is also is the quietest of the values. Generally less people stay there and there are more seniors and couples and less young children because children enjoy the themes of the other values more.

3. The bus service at the All Star Music is very good. Since I use an ECV good bus transportation is essential.

4. The entry at the values and Mods are much more Handicap friendly.
I am able to get in and out of my All Star room unassisted. This way my husband can go and play a round of golf and know I can leave my room to relax by the pool if I choose.
--------------------------------------------------

All Star Music tends to be the quietest of all the values.


All Star Music just underwent a refurbishment of all of the rooms and was completed in June 2007.


Here is a website with photos of the newly refurbished rooms at All Star Music.

Look at the Jazz Inn section with new posted:

http://allearsnet.com/acc/g_asmu.htm




---------------------------------------------------------


DH and I enjoy the landscaping and peacefulness of All Star Music.
We enjoy relaxing by the pool (there are plenty of chairs and lounges), and the beautiful lighting at the resort by night.

I have never had the unfortunate experience of running into the any of the large
groups of teens who sometimes stay at the values on school trips.
As long as you can avoid those large groups I do not think Noise will be an issue.

*HINT if you close your bathroom door at night you might not even hear the turbo toilets.
I close my bathroom door and I don't hear them.
------------------------------------


I love The All Star Resorts.

I am 57 years old and travel several times a yearfor pleasure. I often stay at 3and 4 star and sometimes a 5 star hotels and motels.
So the deluxe and mod resorts are just another hotel/motel to me.
Staying at an All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite. It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Calypso building. It is closer to the pool, food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.

The Calypso pool at ASMu has Donald Duck.

The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Movies share and Music has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

The pools at The All Stars are very kid friendly.

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theming is pure Disney.

My last 8 visits have been at The All Stars and during the fall of 2005 when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3(at the time) for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck , Goofy or Mickey Mouse at the pool?

Have fun at Disney whevere you choose to stay!

 

[minnie61650]

A word of caution about POP.

Apparently, the bathroom ventilation system connects up to 16 room!

And with the new smoking policy, unexpected and unwanted smoke sometimes drifts into a non-smoking room.

This is enough to make us avoid POP until it's fixed. (If it can be fixed.)

from this thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=21999445&posted=1#post21999445

We recently were on vacation at the World a couple of weeks ago and I'm just now getting the chance to post about our experience at the Pop. We absolutely love this resort and this was our 5th stay there. It is cheap, new, has a great food court, and you can see the fireworks from the 50's, which is where we always stay.

Well, this was our first stay since they enforced the no smoking in all rooms and balconies. Here is what happened to us.....DH-32, Me-28

We check in on Sun. Nov. 11th around 1PM and take our things to our room. I can't remember our exact room number, but it was 31 something. It was in an interior corner the side closest to the parking lot if that helps. Well, the first night everything was fine. The second night we arrived back from a day at Epcot, ate some dinner, go to bed and at around 12AM we both wake up to the smell of smoke in our room. Neither of us smoke and I guess you could say we are sensitive to it but we don't have asthma and aren't allergic to it. At first we couldn't tell if it truly was cigarette smoke or some other smoke. It just kept getting stronger and stronger. And for it to wake us both up it had to have been pretty strong. DH goes outside to look around and see if he sees anyone smoking. Nothing. Even if someone had been smoking out there it couldn't have been that strong in our room unless they had been laying down blowing it under our door. It was stronger than alot of bars I've been to. We finally realize it is strongest in the bathroom and figure it must be coming from the vent. So DH calls the front desk and tells them how we were both asleep and were awaken by the smell of smoke. She asks if we looked around outside and he said yes and didn't see anyone. I ask to make sure there isn't a fire nearby and we aren't smelling that because it was just soooo strong I wanted to be sure. She assures us there is no fire. Then she jokes with him and says, "Are you sure your wife isn't smoking in the bathroom and hiding it from you?" He told her no, that neither of us smoke, but it was very strong. She says that they could bring an air purifier to the room for us. He asks me if that's what I want and I was just so tired that I said not tonight and maybe tomorrow if we still smell it. She said okay and they hang up. Well, we close the bathroom door and finally get back to sleep.

The next morning we wake up and it doesn't smell as bad. Until DH opens the bathroom door and the smell pours out of their. It was worse than the night before. He hurries up and shuts the door back. It was so bad it was like someone was standing right in front of you blowing it straight in your face. DH really has to go to the bathroom so he goes to the ones by the bowling pool to use that. He's also pretty upset about the girl at the desk the night before joking about it being me smoking in the bathroom. While he is gone I call the front desk and explain how we had called last night and wake up this morning, had the bathroom door closed last night and when we open it it's worse. I told her it's so bad we can't even use our bathroom. She apologizes and tells me that 16 rooms are connected through the same bathroom vents. 4 over and all 4 floors. So, if anyone in any of those rooms was smoking in their bathroom they probably had their vent on blowing it into it but all it does is send it throughout the other rooms. She says she can move us to another room not connected to these and also will give us 25% off the last nights stay. She says to have our bags packed under the window and they will move them for us while we are away today. I also got to pick which area I wanted to move to and could have even chose preferred but because we like it more quiet we stayed in the 50's section. DH comes back and I tell him about everything but he is still upset about the other womans comments and that we have to pack up everything and move because of someone else thinking they can get away with smoking in their room.

I also was reading throught the papers they give you when you check in and it says if they find out you have smoked in your room or balcony it is a minimum $200 fine. I would think that would just cover them having to give the other 15 rooms a percentage off if they complain of the smell. BTW, we didn't have any problems in the room they moved us to for the remainder of our stay, which was 5 more days.

Closing thoughts--
- We still love the Pop for all the reasons mentioned in the 1st paragraph.
- I do not approve of the new no-smoking in the rooms policy even though we are non-smokers.
- I do not agree with the smoking areas. I understand that they are made centrally located for all, but that also means that every non-smoker must walk through a cloud of smoke to get to where they need to. ie:Right by the doors to enter the main building, and on the main paths to the main building.
- There will always be people who think they can get away with something, thus ruining things for others, and causing headaches both for the cast members and guests.
- I think they should make one building or half a building just for smokers and furthest from the main guest areas(pool, main building) or else have one of those 16 block of rooms in each building for smokers.

I'm also thinking of sending these thoughts to Disney. Does anyone know the best place to send this and get a response?

Thank you and I hope this helps someone else, April

-----------------------------------------------

We stay at All Star Music and my DH who is a builder remarked about how quiet the rooms are at All Star Music. We never our heard our neighbors and I only heard a toilet flush (softly) once when I was awake during the night.

I had read that the ventilation system at Pop is set up different than the system at the All Star resorts.
Apparently 6 rooms at Pop all share the same ventilation system.
That is why Pop had a lot of problems with guests smelling smoke when smokers would smoke in neighboring rooms.

I think the room noises are also traveling through the ventilation system at Pop.

So even though the walls may not be any thinner at Pop the rooms seem to be noisier there.

Just my 2 cents

Have fun at Disney!

 

[Twitterpated Dad]

Linda,

Thanks for locating and sharing the original post.

Mark

 

[clkelley]

I honestly wouldn't pick any of them.

The King beds at Pop are hard as a brick (had to transfer out of a king room after one night), couldn't sleep on that bed.

The King rooms at All-Star Movies are way back in Mighty Ducks (unless you pay for a preferred) AND they mostly have those roll-in showers instead of a tub. Also Movies right now is on my list as having LOTS of trouble with Luggage Services.

Sports is heavily due for a rehab and it hasn't happened yet.

If you can't swing a moderate at a discount, I would pay rack for a standard room at Music. Has been remodeled, quietest of the three All-Stars and since some have been converted to Family Suites, has the least occupancy capacity. Their King rooms are also likely to have a walk-in shower.