First trip ever! All Stars Resort or Pop?

[courtky]

This is my first trip ever to Disney World and I'm excited but overwhelmed! I currently have All Stars Music booked for $765, but I can pay about $250 more for Pop Century. Would it be worth it? It will be just my boyfriend and I and we will probably be way too busy exploring and going to the parks to even care about the resort. However, our main concern are the bus times. I'm aware that All Stars shares a bus between the 3, but Pop has it's own. Would the bus times be considerably faster and worth the upgrade, especially with the addition of the Skyliner? Or should we just save our money?

Also, if we stay at All Stars, should we switch to Movies for the renovated rooms (same price) or should we just stay with Music since it is in the middle for the busses?

Thank you guys so much!

 

[strike4]

Pop Century has a better feel to me personally but since you are just wanting a place to crash, I would stick with the All Stars and use the extra money for fun stuff! In fact, you could use the savings to get an Uber back to your hotel instead of waiting for the insanely long bus lines at park closings. I also would get the renovated rooms.

 

[nikkita]

when are you going? the AS resorts accommodate a lot of sporting groups too (i think Pop does also, but less i've heard?)

 

[mom22boys]

Pop! Renovated rooms and the Skyliner!

 

[Eeyore daily]

Pop definitely. All star music only has full sized beds while pop has queen. If movies is another option then I’d do that since I assume it’s cheaper too. I don’t think the bus system will be an issue, they’re value resorts so their stations are at the very end of every terminal. The buses only share for less busy times of the day, and I know pop does too because we got on at Disney springs and it shared with AoA.

 

[karly05]

If you plan to spend a good amount of time at Epcot/DHS, I think the Skyliner looks awesome.

If you want to stay with All Stars, I'd switch to Movies for the new room.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I’d stay with the All Stars. But in a renovated room.

The All Stars only share busses during less busy times of the day if at all.

Pop does have the addition of the Skyliner for DHS & EPCOT but for speed purposes I’m not sure it’ll be any faster than a bus.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'd stay at an All Star over Pop. The All Stars are each much smaller, meaning less people at the pool, food court, and waiting in line for a bus.

 

[Haley R]

I would choose pop because you get the skyliner and the renovated rooms. You also can walk over to AoA for a change of pace. If cost is really an issue then I would change your music reservation to movies because they are almost completely done with their renovations.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

It depends on what you think after reading these posts.
It's a split decision.
Pop is a bit nicer but it costs 33 percent more.......that is a lot in this overall price range.
Either way you will have a great time at WDW.

Would you pay 33 percent more for a car that has leather and an upgraded 6 speaker sound system, or be perfectly happy with a cloth interior and the standard 4 speaker stereo? .....and have extra cash in your pocket for other things.

 

[WelshMorgan92]

POP!!!

 

[mamamelody2]

The All Stars do not share buses very often. Only in the afternoon/early evening when few people are riding. We were at Sports last year for 9 days, probably 30 bus rides and only 2 were shared with the other All Stars. We waited 20 minutes once, but usually it was just a couple minutes or the bus was waiting when we got there. We were very happy with the All Star bus service.

We were just at POP for 9 days over Labor Day week this year and bus service was also excellent. We did have once when we rode during the non-busy afternoon time and the bus was shared with AoA.

We are planning a trip next year and are booked at All Star Sports as it is significantly cheaper and we like both resorts very well. $1000 instead of $750 is significant. I would choose to save the money, especially since you don't plan to spend much time at the resort.

 

[Wild4Walt]

For a Value resort Pop is my favored due to location. It's a tad more central than the others. I also like the food court and that it's walking distance to AoA. ( Lots of photo ops at both ). With the Skyliner added, for me, that makes it even more attractive.

 

[frannn]

We have had many stays at all the AS, and just tried POP for the first time this year. We booked POP with the bounceback for next year, even though it will be about 600 more than the AS. Here's why- there are standard rooms closer to the main building than at AS Music, the bus rides to the parks seemed shorter, the rooms are all renovated with Queen beds, there are coffee makers in the renovated rooms, and it's an easy walk to AoA for a slightly different menu than POP...plus the skyliner. We don't want to spend the money on a monorail resort, so this is the alternative for us. I read somewhere on these boards that POP is like the moderate of the value resorts, and that rings true for us. For the same time period this year it was only about 300 more than the AS, so it seems the skyliner definetly added a premium to the price of the POP.

 

[hdrolfe]

I prefer POP, especially when the Skyliner is open. However I stayed at All Star Movies this summer (room discount) and the renovated rooms were the same as POP and very nice. We were very close to Music and chose whichever bus came first. I also used Music to fill our mugs and grab breakfast sometimes. We had some issues with the buses, primarily during non-peak times getting back for a break, and for the water parks. We only shared buses a few times, the water parks and coming back to the resort for a break. Movies is the last stop, so we would just get off at Music, or walk over there to catch it. I'd choose a renovated room for sure though.

Movies is usually excluded from free dining but we got a room discount and it was a better deal for us.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We really like movies, they are all redone and all have queens like pop...
I prefer to save money.. when you go to the parks at peak times take uber or a minnie van it will not cost you 250 even if you did it everyday..
If cost is really an issue consider sports you can save even more.

 

[courtky]

when are you going? the AS resorts accommodate a lot of sporting groups too (i think Pop does also, but less i've heard?)

Last week of January! 26-1st of Feb.

 

[nikkita]

Last week of January! 26-1st of Feb.

espnwwos.com/events/#date=January|view=list

This might be useful in helping you decide ☺
We are staying at Pop at end of Oct for. A few days, when there is sporting events (so avoided AS) before moving to AKL
If I remember (or you follow me up) I can tell you if it was busy with sport groups at Pop or not

 

[courtky]

The All Stars do not share buses very often. Only in the afternoon/early evening when few people are riding. We were at Sports last year for 9 days, probably 30 bus rides and only 2 were shared with the other All Stars. We waited 20 minutes once, but usually it was just a couple minutes or the bus was waiting when we got there. We were very happy with the All Star bus service.

We were just at POP for 9 days over Labor Day week this year and bus service was also excellent. We did have once when we rode during the non-busy afternoon time and the bus was shared with AoA.

We are planning a trip next year and are booked at All Star Sports as it is significantly cheaper and we like both resorts very well. $1000 instead of $750 is significant. I would choose to save the money, especially since you don't plan to spend much time at the resort.

Oh I must have gotten mixed up with info then! I was reading they shared busses so I assumed they ALWAYS share busses throughout the day. Thank you for clarifying. I think after reading this thread, I will stick with All Stars but switch to Movies for the renovated rooms. I really appreciate the insight!

 

[courtky]

espnwwos.com/events/#date=January|view=list

This might be useful in helping you decide ☺
We are staying at Pop at end of Oct for. A few days, when there is sporting events (so avoided AS) before moving to AKL
If I remember (or you follow me up) I can tell you if it was busy with sport groups at Pop or not

Hmm. Do they tend to stay more in the Sports section of All Stars? This might make me switch to Pop now... LOL.