Just Back! Hot off the presses!

[Mrs Green]

I don't recall seeing either Wishes or MSEP available mid-afternoon but I'll be honest that I really wasn't looking for them either. I'll be back in MK on Sat and Sun and will check - we are usually grabbing our 4ths around 2pm or so. BTW Frontierland at rope drop had been insane. Went there one day and instant 40 min standby at BTMR and Splash. Tomorrowland was absolutely deserted tho. Space was walk-on, no one visiting Stich - he was off by himself with his CM handler.

That works well for me since on one of our Mk days I was planning on rope dropping tomorrow land and got fp+ for splash and btmr later in the day. Thanks!

 

[Mrs Green]

Good to know. I mapped it out and it looks like the LM rooms are about 0.25-0.35 miles from the main building. A pretty hefty distance, especially if you just want to refill a pop or coffee or something. However, if it's to walk to the bus stop once in the morning, or when returning from the parks, no real biggie to me. It's just the little short trips for a snack, drinks, or to the main pool where it could get old, fast. Are there coffee makers in the rooms? I got used that that at POR. That's a good hike to grab a coffee each morning from the LM rooms. I see that you've also been to Coranado Springs? That's the other resort we're seriously considering. Can you give me your opinion between the two (CSR and AoA)? Theming, buses, rooms, etc... Dan

We stayed at CS a few years ago. We liked it, but didn't love it and will keep trying other resorts. Cs is very spread out, though the bus has several stops so that part wasn't bad. I remember a long walk from the main building/restaurant to our building and unfortunately, I don't remember what our section was called. I have since read about folks requesting specific sections so you don't get stuck in the section we were in. Lol. The pool looked great but we were there in January so never did get in. We are staying at aoa on our upcoming trip.

 

[mom2rtk]

Would the distance to rooms be a deal breaker for a 7 or 8 night trip?

Dan

We stayed in a LM room for 10 nights December 2012. As others have said, the resort is gorgeous. But that walk is a deal breaker for us. It changed the way we tend to enjoy our resort. My daughter (who was 12 at the time) loves walking to the food court by herself. Even she didn't want to make that walk once we got to the room. And after a long day in the parks? Not fun. So for us, once we got back to the room, we tended not to leave. The refillable mugs were very much worthless to us.

We stayed in a LM room in April, and seriously had the 2nd to last room at the end of the resort. We stayed 6 nights, and while it was a hike, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. The whole family loved it! We went to the Nemo and Cars pool a few times during our stay.

I think the issue is with the LM rooms. If we could justify the price of a suite, we'd be all over staying in the CARS or Nemo sections. But we are typically a party of 2 or 3.

 

[mom3teach3]

Some questions I saw...
You can book the fp for BOG lunch thirty days out (I think). Here is the link:
https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/
*You check in with a host at the podium located at the front of the restaurant.
*This does NOT count against your 3 fastpasses.

I heard others say the Cars, Nemo, and Lion King sections for AoA weren't long walks. Yes this is true. I was staying in the Mermaid section. I think it is way too long of a walk to the busses and food court. There is a pool in that section (which is nice) but if you want to use the big pool with the music etc.... you have to take the hike.

At 3:30 we were able to book our 4th fp in HS for Fantasmic. However during the same time in Magic Kingdom there were none left for the electrical parade or Wishes.

One more thing.... we did Disney Quest for the first time during this trip. I found it to be a waste of money. It's way over priced. We arrived fifteen minutes after opening and the lines for the virtual experiences were LONG! Like 30+ minutes each. The cast mates were slow at managing them as well. Then there were people camping at the video games so you couldn't even play those. The best part of Disney Quest for me was the chocolate peanut butter cupcake I bought at the snack bar!

 

[Minniedap]

We just got back yesterday from our trip, group of 19. Stayed at POP. We had several teenagers in our group. My daughter warned me ahead of time that they would want to sleep in so don't expect early risers. Well, the first day we did rope drop at MK because we did not have a fastpass for Mine Train. After that we did several attractions before we used any fastpasses. When they seen how much they could get on by doing rope drop, they got up early every morning! This was especially true at AK. The only long line that anyone waited in was for Peter Pan, 60 minutes. We did try to get a fastpass for that after our 3 were used but earliest available was for after 10 PM. We had a great trip!

 

[Missymouse18]

Thanks for the trip report Glad you had a fun time.
Pop is our favorite resort for so many reasons. For the past two years we have enjoyed walking across the bridge to AOA and browsing their gift shop and eating a meal there. This year we got the lentil crusted fish with sautéed spinach and cheese, roasted cauliflower (DH got roasted acorn squash), basmati rice and naan bread. It was so delicious and so clean tasting. And although we will probably eat one meal at AOA again next year, we do prefer the dining atmosphere of Pop over AOA.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Kiosks are not long but don't get in line behind a group of people with an aura of confusion about them. And if they are speaking a foreign language go to a different line. No offense - I've just been stuck behind groups like this and they tend to take 10 minutes at the kiosk and request a lot of help.

LOL @ "aura of confusion about them"

 

[Minnesota!]

I, too, was shocked at how far the walk was from busses to LM section - I was under the impression that it was a "mirror image" of Pop - meaning LM would be like the walk to 90's section. But it is (or at least feels..) quite a bit longer. It's why we won't stay at AOA. Family Suites hold no appeal to us, and LM seems out in the middle of nowhere...very distant from the resort.

 

[DisneyFive]

We stayed in a LM room in April, and seriously had the 2nd to last room at the end of the resort. We stayed 6 nights, and while it was a hike, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. The whole family loved it! We went to the Nemo and Cars pool a few times during our stay.

During our trip in April we took an afternoon and went to AoA to check it out. While it is not my style for a long stay, I had seen many pictures and thought it look cool. We walk through each of the areas to check out all the theming details. (Which were adorable!) When we were in the LM, my DH both commented on how far out this area seemed from everything. The walk to the POP food court isn't too much farther than the walk to AoA's! Still a neat looking place though.

For us, yes, it is a deal breaker. We stayed there last year in a LM room and won't stay there again, specifically because of the distance you must travel from the LM rooms to get anywhere (other than a car parked in the parking lot).

Dan-

We stayed at Coronado Springs forever ago, so I'm probably not the best source for you since a lot has changed. The pool at CS is excellent and it has a nice slide, which is a plus. From what I remember, rooms were a good size, it is spread out, but there are easily accessible bus stops throughout the resort. Rooms are definitely bigger at CS. If room size, pool slide, and a more grown up atmosphere are important then I would do CS. However, if you wouldn't mind a walk to the buses and food court, go with AOA. I really was impressed with it. We didn't do the meal plan so we never had to worry about refilling mugs. Hope that helps!

We did not mind the walk to the LM rooms during our stay at AoA. However, we did not buy the resort mug because we knew we wouldn't walk all that way just to refill a drink. Otherwise, we enjoyed the scenery on our daily walk.

We stayed in the LM room last year, and for the first time we rented a car. Got a great deal, less than $100 for the week and it was well worth it to save those late night walks back to the room.

We stayed there last year and by the 4th day, we were driving our car to the main building/bus stop. That's how bad it was for us! Will not be back.

Pop is laid out so much better... Even the farthest rooms don't seem too far away.

One thing to note. If you do decide to stay at Pop instead of AoA, you can walk across the bridge and check out the AoA resort if you have some spare time. While my family was sleeping one afternoon, I just hiked over to AoA and walked through all the sections. The Cars Land stuff was the part that impressed me the most, but it is definitely worth examining the theming in all four sections of the resort.

Pop was the first place we ever stayed and it will always be our favorite.

POP was our first WDW stay also, and holds a special place in our memories.

We stayed at CS a few years ago. We liked it, but didn't love it and will keep trying other resorts. Cs is very spread out, though the bus has several stops so that part wasn't bad. I remember a long walk from the main building/restaurant to our building and unfortunately, I don't remember what our section was called. I have since read about folks requesting specific sections so you don't get stuck in the section we were in. Lol. The pool looked great but we were there in January so never did get in. We are staying at aoa on our upcoming trip.

We stayed in a LM room for 10 nights December 2012. As others have said, the resort is gorgeous. But that walk is a deal breaker for us. It changed the way we tend to enjoy our resort. My daughter (who was 12 at the time) loves walking to the food court by herself. Even she didn't want to make that walk once we got to the room. And after a long day in the parks? Not fun. So for us, once we got back to the room, we tended not to leave. The refillable mugs were very much worthless to us. I think the issue is with the LM rooms. If we could justify the price of a suite, we'd be all over staying in the CARS or Nemo sections. But we are typically a party of 2 or 3.

I, too, was shocked at how far the walk was from busses to LM section - I was under the impression that it was a "mirror image" of Pop - meaning LM would be like the walk to 90's section. But it is (or at least feels..) quite a bit longer. It's why we won't stay at AOA. Family Suites hold no appeal to us, and LM seems out in the middle of nowhere...very distant from the resort.

Thank you all for the info about the LM rooms at AoA, and the info re. CS!!!

I'm very glad that I read this thread, but it's a downer!

I want to go to AoA pretty badly, but our options don't work too well there. Either get two LM rooms (my inlaws will be with, which make 7 of us), and walk a ton at the resort, or, well there isn't another good option. The suites only hold 6, not 7, and we're not going to fork out the $$$ for two suites. (we want to have adjoining or connecting rooms). Plus, my MIL has bum knees and walking that much every day is a real problem. Looking at an aerial map of AoA, yeah the LM section is quite a ways out past all the suites.

The biggest problem I have with CS is the lack of bold Disney theming. It looks like a beautiful resort, but kind of like our stays at POR, it doesn't have that loud, bright, colorful, big theming of POP or AoA. After two years at POR, which we've loved, I think we want to go back to the values for that feel. I travel enough that staying at a nice resort/hotel isn't a wow factor for me. The theming at POP the first time was pretty Wow, even if the rooms are pretty basic.

Dan

 

[sbrost13]

Dan- What about AS Movies? We've stayed there twice. The last time we had a preferred room and we were the first room closest to the lobby and food court. I know a lot of people complain that they share buses, but we were really happy with the bus transportation both times we went (which was in July).

 

[mom3teach3]

I've stayed at AS Movies too and loved the theming...
I don't care for sharing the bus with the other two All Stars though.
That is why Pop will remain my favorite.
Someone said they bought the refillable mug while staying in LM section and barely used it. The same thing happened to me. However, when we stayed at Pop we used it all the time and really got our money worth! Maybe one day they will have a second drop-off for people in LM section or a tram??? They have to do something about that.

 

[DisneyFive]

Dan- What about AS Movies? We've stayed there twice. The last time we had a preferred room and we were the first room closest to the lobby and food court. I know a lot of people complain that they share buses, but we were really happy with the bus transportation both times we went (which was in July).

I've stayed at AS Movies too and loved the theming...
I don't care for sharing the bus with the other two All Stars though.
That is why Pop will remain my favorite.
Someone said they bought the refillable mug while staying in LM section and barely used it. The same thing happened to me. However, when we stayed at Pop we used it all the time and really got our money worth! Maybe one day they will have a second drop-off for people in LM section or a tram??? They have to do something about that.

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe it's just me, but I kind of consider the All-Star resorts a tiny step down from POP (no offense). They are a little older, and don't have dedicated buses, and the theming is just not quite up there with POP and AoA from what I've seen.(that may be just due to my theming preferences though ) I'm probably pointing out super minor differences.

It IS an option. Maybe I'll research the All-Star resorts, and give them a second look, but it's kinda low chances to be honest. I'd probably find a moderate that would work if AoA or POP don't work.

Dan

 

[MichelleVW]

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe it's just me, but I kind of consider the All-Star resorts a tiny step down from POP (no offense). They are a little older, and don't have dedicated buses, and the theming is just not quite up there with POP and AoA from what I've seen.(that may be just due to my theming preferences though ) I'm probably pointing out super minor differences.

It IS an option. Maybe I'll research the All-Star resorts, and give them a second look, but it's kinda low chances to be honest. I'd probably find a moderate that would work if AoA or POP don't work.

Dan

I won't stay at any of the All Star resorts ever again. That's where the big tour groups usually stay. Last summer we stayed for 3 nights at All Star Sports and watched huge groups of Brazilian teenagers run around yelling at 3 am. Security was trying to keep them quiet but they just ignored them and kept doing what they wanted. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. It was crazy and sooo loud. We were on the 4th floor and it woke us up every night.

Oh...and let's not forget the girl that walked into the food court in her thong bikini...