All Star Music or Pop Century?

[WDWlover717]

Hello, DIS Friends!

DH and I are booking trip tonight for December 19-24. We are wanting to stay value. Art of Animation is a little pricey, so we are looking at ASMu and POP. The only resort we have not stayed at is ASMu. I know this resort is older and I was wanting to know if it has been refurbed in the last several years? Out of these two resorts, which would you pick and why?

 

[soblessed]

I stayed at POP the year it opened we loved it. Stayed in the 80's building (Pac-man) it was very clean and the buses were efficient. The food court was typical nothing exceptional.

Stayed at Music in 2010 and it was also clean and lots of fun. We loved the movies/activities at the pool and the CM's were all very friendly. Music was recently renovated.

Since you wanted to stay at AoA I would pick POP because you can walk over to AoA and take pictures. And you would have another dining option. POP has movies and activities by the pool as well.

I was having this same dilemma (sports or movies).

You can't go wrong with either choice. Enjoy your trip

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I would pick POP b/c of AOA being close to visit and also you can ask for a lakeview room at no additional cost.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We stayed at POP once and to us it felt "too big" compared to the All Stars.

That said I do agree with the PP it would be fun for you to stay at POP and walk over to AoA to see it and to visit their food court.

 

[msmith07101]

I have stayed at both, though Music was many years ago. We are staying at Pop in a few weeks. 2 reasons...I really liked it when I stayed 2 years ago...good food court, busses were good...was a good experience. And my sisters family is staying in a suite at AoA, so we choose Pop so we could be close to each other. I don't think you can go wrong either way.

 

[Belle83]

I haven't stayed at either but would pick AS Music. I just like the theme more, really. Plus, it's fun to try new resorts.

My one concern that time of year would be buses, since I think Pop has its own bus and the All-Stars share. I don't think they share during such a busy time, though?

 

[jsw1114]

We stayed at pop in 2008 and loved every min, we were in the 50s buildings not too far from main building then went to movies in 2011 we were less than impressed we were all the way at the back towards a parking lot the buses were horrible because they run all three all stars we did enjoy the food court but the walk to the main building felt like forever. We went back this past sept and my husband made me choose a moderate because we just felt like at movies we were the bottom of the barrel so to speak. We stayed at POR and it was really nice it was also the first time we stayed in a preferred room we were close to everything. I just don't know if it was worth the money, we only sleep there, I want to go back to POP next year

 

[jenrose66]

Hello, DIS Friends!

DH and I are booking trip tonight for December 19-24. We are wanting to stay value. Art of Animation is a little pricey, so we are looking at ASMu and POP. The only resort we have not stayed at is ASMu. I know this resort is older and I was wanting to know if it has been refurbed in the last several years? Out of these two resorts, which would you pick and why?

I have stayed at both and I prefer POP. I like the pools better, I like the food court better, I like the layout of the food court and gift shop better, and I like the theme better.

However, if you are looking for a smaller and more quiet resort experience you should go for ASMu.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I have stayed at Music twice and will soon be making my fourth stay at Pop. I prefer Pop because of the dedicated bus service and proximity to all parks (as compared to Music which is a bit more remote). I also like Pop's food court, the lake, and how it is compact. I look forward to making that stroll over to AoA to check things out there too.
Music is a decent place to stay too. I think it has had a refurb since I stayed there last 6-7 years ago.

 

[princessallegra]

We vastly prefer Asmu. The beds at Pop are rock hard.

 

[maxiesmom]

My one concern that time of year would be buses, since I think Pop has its own bus and the All-Stars share. I don't think they share during such a busy time, though?

I've stayed at the All Star resorts 4 times now. Each resort has its own bus way more often than they share. And when they share it adds maybe 5 minutes to the trip, as the resorts are all connected by their parking lots.

I've booked the Pop twice, but always changed my reservation. I like the smaller size of the All Stars compared to the Pop. And I like that the food court and gift shop are not connected as they are at the Pop. Seems like a weird design, to have to cut thru one to get to the other.

 

[Shmily1]

I've stayed at POP 9 times and ASMusic many times. I much prefer ASMusic. The reasons I like it better are it's smaller and easier to maneuver, the decor, the sections are fun to go to and take random pictures, the pools are not overly crowded, and the buses rarely share and even when they do, they are not nearly as crowded as the buses at POP. DS22 loves to try all the resorts and I do too, but sometimes I just have to get me some ASMusic in so I book that.

 

[ang]

I stand at both, we prefer Pop. When stayed at Music we has a lot of school kids there at the time. We went to music in Dec. the first week. But we did enjoy it there.

 

[JessM]

I would chose the Pop Century. It has a better layout and a dedicated bus. I have never been there that close to Christmas but I would assume the dedicated bus alone would make all the difference! We also enjoyed the food court and the layout more. Having everything (gift-shop, food court, bus stop, check-in) in one central location is great. After you load on a bus to go to a park there is not stopping to pick other guests up at different areas.

I have stayed at Pop pretty much every year since they opened and I love it! This is coming from someone who was used to Deluxe Resorts! We have stayed at the Contemporary, Poly, Beach Club, and Yacht club but love the valve and convenience of Pop.

Have a great trip!

 

[JennyDrake]

We stayed at POP once and to us it felt "too big" compared to the All Stars.

That said I do agree with the PP it would be fun for you to stay at POP and walk over to AoA to see it and to visit their food court.

Ditto!

 

[JennyDrake]

I would chose the Pop Century. It has a better layout and a dedicated bus. I have never been there that close to Christmas but I would assume the dedicated bus alone would make all the difference!

Just the opposite, during the busiest of seasons and busiest times (morning, evening) during *any* season, each AS has its own bus.

 

[Gleece]

We enjoyed our stay at Pop Century. To me, the dedicated bus service is reason enough to choose Pop over any of the All Star resorts. Also, when we left at closing time, it always seemed like the lines for the buses back to the All Star resorts were longer than the one for Pop.

 

[AntFarm]

We enjoyed our stay at Pop Century. To me, the dedicated bus service is reason enough to choose Pop over any of the All Star resorts. Also, when we left at closing time, it always seemed like the lines for the buses back to the All Star resorts were longer than the one for Pop.

Hmm, we observed the exact opposite during our last trip. Multiple buses for the separate individual All Star Resorts and long packed line for Pop! I prefer the theming and food court variety at Pop, but I definitely wouldn't base my resort decision on the bus service which can be hit or miss for each resort and for different times of the day and weeks of the year.

 

[Herfnerd]

Have stayed at ASMov and ASMus and staying at Pop this coming January.

Pop is pretty much the same size as all three AS resorts put together....

 

[trekker93]

Not even a close call. Pop was much better - food - theming - buses - arcade - lobby. When we were at ASMu this July the bathroom toilets weren't working everyday. Also, the bathtub would back up. The walk also was much longer up to the food court at ASMu . Pop's layout is wide and not deep so any walk is much shorter. Also, with the Hourglass lake at Pop the sunrises are beautiful. You can even see the fireworks at night from Epcot and MK from Pop! So in my opinion, it is not a close call.