Pop Lovers - How does All Star Sports Compare

[Tiggs14]

We have stayed at Pop for the past three years and are now playing with the idea of trying out All Star Sports this year. I am really worried we'll be disappointed with it...and am looking for advice from those that have done both.

For those that love Pop and have stayed at Sports how do they compare? We're looking specifically at the foot ball section of Sports if that matters. We know nothing about sports but love Pop!

 

[DisneyMom14]

Bumping because we are in the same situation

 

[DisneyGal24]

We were in the same situation last June. We had previously stayed at Pop but were wanting to try a new resort. I was really nervous that we wouldn't like Sports as much as we did Pop. We loved it! It is smaller and easier to get around. The Touchdown buildings are beside the food court and right between both pools. With that said just know that if your room faces the football field it could be noisy. It is a popular area for playing. We stayed in the baseball section facing away from the pool. It was very quiet back there! The all stars share buses sometimes but sports is the first dropped off and picked up.

 

[D&DDisney]

After many stays at POP we tried Sports in Dec. I too was nervous. It was very nice. We were in the hoops building and it was very quiet. Kids loved the icons and enjoyed the pools. Especially the baseball pool. Missed the tie-dye cheesecake but other than that it was just fine.

 

[deadhedjen]

We just got back from a stay at All Star Sports.
Previously we'd stayed at ASMo, Pop, and BWI.

We stayed at ASSp as part of a cheerleading group. 600+ performers plus their coaches/chaperones/parents/families...

There was also several other sports groups staying at ASSp while we were there. I was surprised to see how many groups were there the same time as us. Figured the place would be overcrowded.

I gotta say I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed the resort. Our room was great (9228, baseball section). Wasn't far from the ASSp food court and bus stop, but closer to the ASMu main building if we walked thru the parking lot. We actually did that a bunch of times. Just to make it easier.

My only gripe was that in the early morning, the food court did not have every food station open. This led to very long lines IMO. I don't know if that was something out of the ordinary or what. We ended up walking to ASMu's food court and found all of their food stations open and hardly anyone in line.

Bus service was EXCELLENT! Highly recommend. Even when we had to be at cheerleading stuff in the morning and wanted to hit a park later in the afternoon the busses were never an issue. (that was whether we used ASSp busses or ASMu busses)

In comparision, Pop busses seemed to come more often, but there were more people in line for them. I think with ASSp, you have more of a chance to SIT on the bus than we did with Pop.

Housekeeping was very good. I happened to bump into our housekeeper one morning just after she cleaned my room and she stopped me to thank me for leaving a her a nice tip. I told her I leave the tip out every morning and if they come to clean my room early before we come back from cheerleading practice they get the tip...if not I clean the room myself, LOL. I had a nice clean room and fresh towels every morning from that point on

As for themeing of the resort, I don't think huge POP icons are any better/worse than the Sports ones. Just a matter of preference I suppose.

The pool... our building had its own little pool in the courtyard area. It was very nice. Tucked away behind the football field, surrounded by the baseball buildings. Had its own little laundry room and everything. I thought it was more intimate/relaxing than the main pool area.

At Pop, we used the bowling pin pool which I guess would be the equivalent of the baseball area pool at ASSp.

The room at ASSp was the same as the Pop room. Aside from the big sports picture in the room, the decor was not IN YOUR FACE sports themed. I liked it and I'm no big sports fan. Beds were comfy.

As far as the football area at ASSp...I would NOT want to be in a room facing the football field area. Despite having a little sign that says quiet hours are from x:00-x:00, people still threw around footballs, ran, yelled, whatever all hours day/night. I would think the back areas of the football buildings would be perfect though.

I'll tell you, having come back from a WDW trip staying at BWI (Dx CL room) just 4 months prior, I was looking around ASSp wanting to really hate it. But honestly, I really enjoyed it. Definitely would not hesitate to go back.

If I had to pick between ASSp and Pop....

I would pick ASSp just for the bus service alone.

Oh...one other observation regarding the busses...hardly any ECV's at Sports. No offense to anyone that utilizes one, but they do add time to the pick up/drop off. We did run into ECV's when using ASMu's busses though.

I did ask my 3 girls (17, 14 11) which resort they preferred BWI or ASSp. They all said the resort at BWI was way fancier, and they liked having 2 sinks, bigger beds, balcony. BUT...they said everything at ASSp was EASIER. Easier to get to the bus, food, parks, pool, etc.

And I just asked them now which resort they liked better Pop Century or ASSp, and they all just yelled back SPORTS.

 

[Ro Z]

We stayed at Asp for one night. We were in the hoops building too. BUT it was during pop warner. Very noisy, the kids in the room next to us kept trying to open the door between the rooms. Our luggage was never transfered to WL because the person didn't show up for work. We spent most of our first day at WL waiting for luggage. It got so cold late afternoon, we were not prepared and needed our clothes! WL finally sent a runner to get our bags at 9pm!

 

[Amy&Dan]

We really like the All Stars, including Sports. I think the smaller size is a big plus. Its also nice having two other resorts right there to explore and enjoy just an easy walk or bus ride away.

I will also say, do not let anyone tell you that the bussing at Pop is superior! As another poster mentioned, the bussing at the All Stars has always been great for us with them sharing only at non peak times. And they are right next door so its an easy and quick route and Sports is first when they do share.

I do hate the large groups the All Stars attract but we have logged many stays in them (Movies 2x, Music 4x, Sports 1x) and only had a group there once.

The only reason I haven't returned to Sports is we stayed there with my mom and she died shortly after that trip and I just can't bear to go back. She just loved it, we all did!

I say give it a try!

 

[Colleen27]

I'm a big fan of Pop but I enjoyed ASSp as well.

We were there for the Girl Scout event over Memorial Day and the resort was packed, but other than the food court in the mornings it never felt that way. We were on the back side of the football building (7) facing a garden area which was a fabulous location, very quiet but close to everything. The room was cleaner than our last experience at Pop too, and Mousekeeping was attentive to our special requests (extra towels, extra shampoo).

The bus service was excellent. The only time we shared with the other All Stars was heading to DTD at 9pm one evening.

The baseball pool is great too; I hurt my foot right before that trip and the "bases" were the perfect place to sit and let it soak after a long day in the parks, particularly since there were never many people there.

And it worked out well having all three resorts together like that - my mom and younger DD wanted to catch the movie under the stars while I took older DD to DTD, but they weren't interested in the movie showing at Sports. At any other resort that would be a problem but at the All Stars they just walked over to catch Tangled at ASMu.

My family split on which we like better between the two. I like Pop mostly because the theme is more my style (my kids tease me about being a hippie), and DD4 likes Pop better because of Lady who has become a personal favorite since our first stay there. My mom liked ASSp better because it was smaller and we had a great room location, and DD11 liked it better because she's a sporty girl who just adores the theme.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We stayed at All Star Sports several times. Each time - we were totally annoyed by teenagers running past, yelling loudly, & banging on our door, as well as all the doors in the strip, just for "fun". We often wondered if the kids at Sports had any parents or supervision at all.

The final stay was when we were given a 3rd floor King bed room. I was with my adult daughter. I love her, but not that much! We needed a first floor handicapped room (with 2 beds). They obviously gave our room to someone else. We also had paid for Preferred section, but were somehow "moved" out of it. Hmmmmmm! The shower was NOT a roll-in, which caused a huge problem. Needless to say - we never stayed there past one night. We slept - then moved to Pop!

We have NEVER returned!

 

[Colleen27]

Oh...one other observation regarding the busses...hardly any ECV's at Sports. No offense to anyone that utilizes one, but they do add time to the pick up/drop off.

We noticed that too. I think it is the group effect - more youth groups and therefore more young families translates into fewer ECVs.

 

[alecshawn]

IMHO.....all star music is better than pop. As far as sports or movies....it's a toss up. But music is different..I have always felt it was an inbetween value and moderate. Plus music, as with the other all stars is small. Walking from the rearof music to dining hall..isn't far at all.
As for the buses....we have never had to share...the whole busing thing...is overstated, when talking about how it is better at pop. It isn't.

 

[disnut8]

We have stayed at Pop for the past three years and are now playing with the idea of trying out All Star Sports this year. I am really worried we'll be disappointed with it...and am looking for advice from those that have done both.

For those that love Pop and have stayed at Sports how do they compare? We're looking specifically at the foot ball section of Sports if that matters. We know nothing about sports but love Pop!

We did this same thing for Labor Day. I might stay at Sports again but if I do, it won't be at the football building. We had to call down each night to complain about the noise outside the building. The main pool was closed and the pool by Home Run pool was overloaded with people until at least 2:00 AM when I finally fell asleep. We were in building 7 overlooking the football field and I will never accept that location again. Not only are people out there at night, they start in the early morning as people are going to Stadium Hall for breakfast. Not great at 7:00 AM hearing shouts of kids running since, well, it is a football field.

Sports was good for the location of being the first to be picked up if you have a shared bus. We loaded up, then went to Music where a ton more people packed on and then I pitied those Movie people who loaded after us. That doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it's nice to be at Sports.

I'm looking at returning to All Stars but will stay in Music and walk over to Sports for their buses. Or, I'll stay in Sports but request something far out so as to not deal with the loudness.

But my first choice will always be Pop Century. Never had a bad stay there and don't request anything because I really don't have to concern myself with noise there.