Movies Preferred or Pop Standard?

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I'll be doing my first solo trip this July and will be spending most of my time at the parks. I have stayed at Pop before and loved it, but Pop has no passholder discounts available for my dates. Movies Preferred room does, which means a preferred room at Movies would be $60 less for the five nights.

Is the bus service at Movies good enough to be worth a $60 savings?

I have never stayed at Movies and want to eventually stay at all the resorts, but not sure that a trip without kids is the best time for that.

Could also stay at Music standard for $100 less than Pop, but the Music
Standard rooms do not seem very appealing to me.

Love that some rooms are being renovated at Pop and would love a room with a coffee maker, but not sure that the chance of my getting one of those (plus having to deal with construction) is worth the extra $60.

Thoughts?

 

[Nutbean]

Is a standard room at All-Star Movies included in your passholder discount?

We stayed at All-Star Movies in 2013 and requested a room in the Mighty Duck section so we could have a pool close by, laundry close by and food and bus service close by (just cross the road and use the food court and bus stop at All-Star Music).

It was like having a preferred room for standard pricing, could save you even more money. Just a suggestion.

 

[HopperFan]

Hmmmmmm .... so jealous!!!!

- You could book POP and only request 90's hoping for a newly renovated room.
- Agree if discount available on Standard Movies I would request Mighty Ducks.
- Stayed in the Ducks and located right between hub of Movies & Music.
- Movies is full of kids so for adult trip mixed feelings.
- Music would be a no way for me.

POP or Movies, you are still at Disney World

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Is a standard room at All-Star Movies included in your passholder discount?

We stayed at All-Star Movies in 2013 and requested a room in the Mighty Duck section so we could have a pool close by, laundry close by and food and bus service close by (just cross the road and use the food court and bus stop at All-Star Music).

It was like having a preferred room for standard pricing, could save you even more money. Just a suggestion.

No standard discount available at Movies. Only preferred.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Was Sports available? Before I stayed there I didn't think I would like it but I think it might be my favorite value now-I still like Pop though too.

I don't think you'll have any issues with the busses at Movies.

 

[Nutbean]

No standard discount available at Movies. Only preferred.

In that case, if it were me, I would book a standard room at All-Star Music to save the $100, then request a king bed. Being a value resort, you may have a decent chance of getting a King as there will be a lot more families there needing the two double beds.

We did this when staying at All-Star Sports and were given a King in the Surf's Up section (preferred location) at no extra charge.

Of course, no guarantees but worth a shot in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[HopperFan]

Was Sports available? Before I stayed there I didn't think I would like it but I think it might be my favorite value now-I still like Pop though too.

I don't think you'll have any issues with the busses at Movies.

After stays there the early years ............... and no plans to go back, had a last minute trip where it was my only choice. Was booking only a few weeks out to get to 7DMT day after it officially opened. Had a great stay and now since then have stayed about 5 times. I never thought I would say I liked ASSp but I do.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Was Sports available? Before I stayed there I didn't think I would like it but I think it might be my favorite value now-I still like Pop though too.

I don't think you'll have any issues with the busses at Movies.

Sports is available, but I have stayed there before. I liked it, but I am not a big sports fan, and since I would like to stay at all of the Disney resorts eventually, I would probably stick to Movies if I were going to do an All Stars.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

After stays there the early years ............... and no plans to go back, had a last minute trip where it was my only choice. Was booking only a few weeks out to get to 7DMT day after it officially opened. Had a great stay and now since then have stayed about 5 times. I never thought I would say I liked ASSp but I do.

We stayed there last July for a few nights before moving on to AKL. It was fine. I liked it. My daughter (9 at the time) loved it and wants to go back. I will probably stay again, but will wait until my daughter is with me. The movies themeing appeals to me more than the sports themeing. But like you, I did like it more than I expected to. It is a great resort for the price.

Did not much like the baseball section. It was the least appealing to me of all of the sections. Very drab colors.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

We stay in Movies Preferred. If you can get Toy Story, that's very close to the Food Court and bus stop. We find the bus service there to be pretty efficient, although, unlike Pop, the Movies doesn't have its own bus for returns from the park. You have to go to the other resorts before stopping at Movies and the bus is usually packed to the gills.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

In that case, if it were me, I would book a standard room at All-Star Music to save the $100, then request a king bed. Being a value resort, you may have a decent chance of getting a King as there will be a lot more families there needing the two double beds.

We did this when staying at All-Star Sports and were given a King in the Surf's Up section (preferred location) at no extra charge.

Of course, no guarantees but worth a shot in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you choose!

I was wondering about the king rooms. I have never had any interest in them since I have always had my family with me, but I am now curious as to how to get them. They don't seem to be a bookable option, or if they are, I never see them available. Is that just on the room request? Do all the values have king rooms?

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We stay in Movies Preferred. If you can get Toy Story, that's very close to the Food Court and bus stop. We find the bus service there to be pretty efficient, although, unlike Pop, the Movies doesn't have its own bus for returns from the park. You have to go to the other resorts before stopping at Movies and the bus is usually packed to the gills.

So is Sports where the shared bus stops first? That won't be as big a deal for me this time as it usually is when I have super tired children who are impatient and who don't want to stand, but I do have a couple of mornings when I want to get to the parks early. I know that sometimes that can be an issue in the morning when shared buses fill up at the first stop and never get to their second or third stops. We once waited a ridiculous amount of time for a bus to AK at POR because the bus would fill up at the first POR stop.

 

[Nutbean]

I was wondering about the king rooms. I have never had any interest in them since I have always had my family with me, but I am now curious as to how to get them. They don't seem to be a bookable option, or if they are, I never see them available. Is that just on the room request? Do all the values have king rooms?

All value resorts have them just not in a bookable category, like you said. They are by request only but I would think your chances would be decent since it would free up a room with double beds for a family who can't do King. Now whether or not you'd get a King in a preferred section like we did is another question but I would certainly risk it to save a hundred bucks...if you don't mind a stay at Music.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

So is Sports where the shared bus stops first?

I believe so, and it's the first stop at night. Didn't bother us much, though-we take the crowds and maybe having to stand as a given, although I must say in the mornings, the buses were never so crowded that we had to stand, unlike at night.

I've stayed at all three All-Star resorts, and by far Movies is my favorite.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Hmmmmmm .... so jealous!!!!

- You could book POP and only request 90's hoping for a newly renovated room.
- Agree if discount available on Standard Movies I would request Mighty Ducks.
- Stayed in the Ducks and located right between hub of Movies & Music.
- Movies is full of kids so for adult trip mixed feelings.
- Music would be a no way for me.

POP or Movies, you are still at Disney World

Definitely looking forward to the trip. Haven't had so much as a girl's night out (much less a solo vacation) in 10 years of having children, so I think I deserve this.

I had a bounce back free dining offer booked for the girls and me for eight nights in July, but after last week's spring break trip with both girls (where I had to work for 45 minutes every morning to get my ten year old out of bed and didn't have fifteen minutes without the kids arguing about something and could actually feel more gray hairs growing on my head), I decided to cancel that. No interest in taking the kids on vacation without my husband until they can get along better. My mom suggested I go alone, and after thinking about the idea of staying in the parks until close (1 am for AK!!) and actually being able to do Keys to the Kingdom and Wild Africa Trek, I bought my plane ticket and am ready to go.

You are right. Pop or Movies or any old Disney on site resort, Disney World, here I come!

 

[HopperFan]

Definitely looking forward to the trip. Haven't had so much as a girl's night out (much less a solo vacation) in 10 years of having children, so I think I deserve this.

I had a bounce back free dining offer booked for the girls and me for eight nights in July, but after last week's spring break trip with both girls (where I had to work for 45 minutes every morning to get my ten year old out of bed and didn't have fifteen minutes without the kids arguing about something and could actually feel more gray hairs growing on my head), I decided to cancel that. No interest in taking the kids on vacation without my husband until they can get along better. My mom suggested I go alone, and after thinking about the idea of staying in the parks until close (1 am for AK!!) and actually being able to do Keys to the Kingdom and Wild Africa Trek, I bought my plane ticket and am ready to go.

You are right. Pop or Movies or any old Disney on site resort, Disney World, here I come!

YES! Yes you do. I took my first 25 years after my first was born - should have done it sooner. Have only been at Disney a couple nights alone and so wish I had done more. Enjoy EVERYTHING you can't enjoy with the kiddles! I love closing the parks down, you'll have an amazing time.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

So I decided to try out Movies Preferred, thinking it would be nice to try a new resort and to be close to the food court and buses, and with the $60 savings, I could buy a resort mug and have a couple of nice breakfasts. When I went online to book, ASMo had nothing available. The rooms had sold out for my dates. ASMu was also sold out except for the family suites. I saw that Sports was available with a passholder discount for both standard and preferred, so I decided to sleep on it to decide if I wanted to stick with a basic discount for Pop or go with the passholder discount for Sports. When I logged on today, nothing was available at all. Seemed the system was down. I logged in later and saw that ASMo was available but the $108 a night rate for the preferred room had jumped to $119 a night, which was the same rate I had already booked with a Pop standard. I decided to think about that for a while, and when I went back to the site later, there was a standard Pop passholder rate available of $114. So I cancelled my original Pop reservation and booked the passholder discount and saved $25 for the five night stay. That was a lot of work for $25.

I have never seen Disney room rates/availability fluctuate so much within a few days/hours.

I think I will stick with Pop now. I love the themeing, the music, and the location next to the lake and AoA. Seems like a great resort for a solo trip. And maybe I will get lucky and get to stay in a newly renovated room.