Best Value resort

[Mom to Jordan]

Budget wise we need to scale back our January trip. We have not stayed at a value since the All stars were new.

We love WL so I know this is going to be a huge difference but at least we will be at WDW!!

Which one is the best in terms of noise and bus service?

Thanks,
Jordan's mom

 

[Rachljo22]

Which one is the best in terms of noise and bus service?

I can't give much advice since I have only stayed at ASMo. We really enjoyed it there, it was clean and the cast members were great. I was not impressed with the buss service as ASMo is the last All Star resort to get picked up and dropped off (mostly). I would deffinetly stay there again )

 

[TLinden16]

I like Pop best, mostly because I prefer the theming there to any of the All Stars. I also think that Pop has a better food court than the others.

Karen

 

[DMRick]

I love them all, but Pop is our choice.

 

[Cinders Mum]

not stayed at pop so cannot comment, but have stayed at Music and Movies ...... we found Music had the shortest lines for buses of all the value resorts (sept/Oct '05, during free dining too) so were most impressed by this.

I'll always have a soft spot for Movies as this ws home for us for so many trips but it was at 100% capacity during our stay so Music it was and I have no regrets.

Val
xx

 

[spiceycat]

I happen to love Pop.... but I also loved Lady and Tramp when I was a child....

here is a poll done not long ago - Pop wins by quite a margin
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1143356&highlight=poll

 

[WVParkfan]

I would choose POP for one specific reason...

When we stayed at All-Star Sports in January, there was a college-age cheerleading competition taking place. Many of the cheerleaders stayed at Sports. It was fine during the day. Our DD6 enjoyed watching the cheerleaders practice. However, when these college kids went out to Downtown Disney for the evening, they came back to the hotel drunk around 2:30 am, and were VERY LOUD. This happened all three nights we were there, and it wasn't 4 or 5 kids. It was 100 - 300 college-aged kids.

We've been told that most of the large groups (like the cheerleaders) stay at the All-Stars, with very few at Pop Century. You need to consider that.

In April, we stayed at POP. It was loud, too, but that was more from young kids running down the halls and yelling. Most of the noise died down around midnight.

We will not stay at a value again because of the noise. But, that's our choice. If you can afford it, Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach are both very nice moderates, and are MUCH quieter. If you can afford Wilderness Lodge, then a moderate wouldn't be that much more than a value.

If you must choose a value, I suggest that you find out if there are any large groups staying at the same time. You don't want to be at an All-Star when the cheerleaders are there.

Good luck

 

[minnie61650]

All of the values are nice. They all have great themes!
I would say pick the value whose theme appeals most to you and family.


Me ? I love the All Stars and All Star Music.

When you choose to stay at one of you get so many perks (Disney themeing, Disney transportation, and EMH)
Any of Disney's resort guests (even those staying at a value or mod) are allowed to shop, dine, use the transportation or spa facilities at any of the Disney Resorts. (Of course pool hopping is not allowed.)
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Photos of ASMu from allearnet.com:

Quiet pool

Rock Inn icon

Country Fair

Calypso icon * NOTE the lush landscaping

Calypso pool *NOTE the palm trees and landscapimg.

Garden near Broadway

Ariel near quiet pool

Broadway with B&B

Fountain by Jazz Inn

Jazz Inn



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

All Star Music is my favorite resort. It tends to be the quietest of all the values.

Here is a map of sports and music:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.

Here is the map of Movies:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG

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


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 56 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe and mod resorts are just another hotel/motel to me.
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 Music share and Movies 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 5 visits have been at The All Stars and last fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 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 or Mickey Mouse at the pool?

Have a great time at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[minnie61650]

I would choose POP for one specific reason...

When we stayed at All-Star Sports in January, there was a college-age cheerleading competition taking place. Many of the cheerleaders stayed at Sports. It was fine during the day. Our DD6 enjoyed watching the cheerleaders practice. However, when these college kids went out to Downtown Disney for the evening, they came back to the hotel drunk around 2:30 am, and were VERY LOUD. This happened all three nights we were there, and it wasn't 4 or 5 kids. It was 100 - 300 college-aged kids.......


If you must choose a value, I suggest that you find out if there are any large groups staying at the same time. You don't want to be at an All-Star when the cheerleaders are there.

Good luck

I found out the Pop Warner cheerleaders also stayed at Pop in December 2004 so large school groups do stay at Pop also.

So yes do a little research so you can try to miss the large groups.

They certainly didn't take over the resort, but Pop definitely took some "spill over". So to say they won't at all effect Pop I think is false. We didn't use the Food Court in the AM, so that wasn't an issue. They were at the pool late night (being a little wild...I agree just kids being kids), after my kids were in bed, (I only saw them when I was doing laundry). Since their schedules keep them very busy at WWofS during the day, they were not a problem then. The only time they impacted my vacation was leaving the parks at night. If I can be truthful, the kids were fine; it was the chaperones...and I use that term very loosely. On 2 evenings, once at MK and once at Ep, we were waiting in line for the bus back. If there were a few of their group in line ahead they'd all cut and join them. One time the cheerleader basically said, "Mom, we can't stay up here. These people have been waiting." The mom ignored her. I am not talking about 2 or 3 people popping up to their family after a bathroom break. I am talking about groups of 10 or 12 just strolling ahead of 100 people in line. It was infuriating! Not only because it wasn't a fair thing to do, but because of the example it set for every single kid witnessing it. Mind you, I was with my DH and 3 princesses, plus 6 months pregnant at the time...

Sorry for the long story. However, I thought I should share my firsthand experience. Of course that was in 2004 and a lot could change. And I should say, I loved everything about Pop and probably would change when I go versus where I stay.

Good luck deciding.

we were at the POP for the pop warner/cheerleading week in 2004. the place was over run. you heard cheers until well past midnight. the food court was impossible to use. they were practicing their pyramids in the pool until late in the evening. i would opt for another hotel.

From this thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=12120909#post12120909

I stayed at PC in December 2004. The Pop Warner kids were definitely there. I specifically chose PC since I had read in multiple places that PC was not equipped for large groups and that the Pop Warner kids would be at the All Stars only. That turned out to be untrue. For one night, it shouldn't be a problem, but if you want to avoid the Pop Warner kids, stay at CSR or a deluxe. Pop Warner has yet to announce what resorts are available this year, but in years past they have been at CBR, POR, and POFQ as well as the value resorts.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1134039&highlight=cheerleaders

 

[TiggerFamily]

We stayed at the Pop in May/June and loved it. We have DS's 4 and 6 who loved it too. We will stay there again in 2 years when we go (DH doesn't know yet I'm planning a trip for 2 years from now). I can't say any thing bad about the Pop. Nancy

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Wow,

Thanks for some much good advice. The picture are great and I am going to get the whole family in on looking at them. We know all about the pop warner kids as that is how we started staying at the WL to avoid them. We are looking at the third week of January so a pretty quite time. Good idea about the tolet door. We also take a white noise machine so that will help. We would never stay off site, just trying to decide which place best meets our needs. Sounds like we are going to be good with any choice. Keep the comments coming.

Jordan's mom

 

[Amy&Dan]

I've stayed at all four values and for me Pop wins with ASMO coming in a close second. That said, I loved all of them and would gladly stay at any one of them again! I think the values are so close in amenities and service that one should always pick the one whose theming appeals to them the most. I happen to love Jungle Book, 101 Dalmations, Toy Story, Lady and the Tramp and the Love Bug so that really makes ASMO and Pop perfect for me! The reason I give Pop a slightly higher rank is because the bathroom has a nice little shelf above the sink which is so handy for putting all my toiletries on and the TV is larger. I also prefer the larger, nice dresser at Pop. We have enjoyed the pools and foodcourts about the same at each of them. I did not find the bus sharing at the All Stars to be an issue, Pop is so enormous and transports so many people, it seemed to all even out as far as waits were concerned. We like to do split stays between a value and our DVC resort, and my kids are sometimes sorry to leave the value to head to our DVC!!

 

[lustergirl]

My family of 4 has always stayed at AS Sports and love it there- I can't comment on any other value resorts- sorry!!!!! The Sports Resort has the first pick and first drop off as far as busses are concerned. Next year we are going to try one of the new suites that AS Music has to offer- good luck in your decision.

 

[spiceycat]

Linda pictures are of the All Stars.

here are some pictures of pop - just click on the link
http://www.wdwinfo.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=537