Pop or AOA

[babygirlamg]

Only ever been to Pop and I love it but this time traveling with another adult and Two more kids .. Total of 2 adults and 4 kids. My 3 year old loves cars and it will be his first time so that's stearing me to AoA but I've heard bad reviews of the food court ... And I love Pop .. So AoA or two rooms at Pop???

 

[Disneylover99]

I love the AofA Foodcourt!!! It's much better then Pop's IMO.

 

[morethananyonex]

How close are you with the other adult and children? Are they immediate family?

If not, I'd probably stick with 2 rooms at Pop to give each family some time apart. Cheaper too, and real beds for everyone.

 

[babygirlamg]

How close are you with the other adult and children? Are they immediate family?

If not, I'd probably stick with 2 rooms at Pop to give each family some time apart. Cheaper too, and real beds for everyone.

The other adult is a friend with their one child..

 

[morethananyonex]

The other adult is a friend with their one child..

Only you can decide, but personally I think it may be nice to have separate rooms then. As a bonus it's cheaper and you get better sleeping options IMO.

 

[Disneylover99]

How close are you with the other adult and children? Are they immediate family?

If not, I'd probably stick with 2 rooms at Pop to give each family some time apart. Cheaper too, and real beds for everyone.

I agree with this too.

 

[babygirlamg]

Only you can decide, but personally I think it may be nice to have separate rooms then. As a bonus it's cheaper and you get better sleeping options IMO.

Yes I agree

 

[mommyburns]

I would also say to go with Pop. If you want to try the offerings of AOA's food court it is a short walk.

 

[disneynut11]

We were POP people until August.
AOA is awesome! The pool in the Nemo section is a blast.
We also loved the theming and the food court, no complaints.
What about two rooms in LM section?

 

[JennyDrake]

2 rooms for more space and less cost.

Here is my review of AoA food court:

The REAL negative is the food court. It has a terrible layout and it is just BEDLAM. The queuing lines are not nearly as long as they need to be. Service was sluggish and I can't tell you why. It seemed a bit understaffed, but not terribly so. It took 10-15 minutes (one time 20 min) to get through the lines and get food, then stand in line again to pay. By the time you are seated, the food is tepid. Then you have to get silverware, drinks, find a table, etc. The noise level is HORRENDOUS even at non-peak times. And the traffic flow design (WHAT traffic flow design??) is very poor. There is no real flow pattern.

Seating is ample, which is nice. You get real plates and silverware which is good news/bad news. I found that I bristled at having to so bus my own table. You have to try to get the trash and remnants into a trash receptacle with a too small door that is spring loaded to close. Then you sort of recycling and the dishes in one bin and flatware in another. It reminded me WAY too much of bussing tables in a restaurant.

Food quality was OK but not remarkably better than AS, which is what I had hoped for... The food "looks" better than it tastes. Naan bread is VERY good and I really enjoyed the build your own fruit bowls and yogurt/granola bowls for breakfast.

I gave this food court another chance Feb. 2014, walking over from Pop. Nothing had changed--it was still loud, chaos w/ no traffic flow and long lines.

 

[Redarrow5150]

We stayed at POP in October 2012 and I found the food court to be overcrowded and noisy. It's the one of the reasons why we are going to try AoA this time.

2 rooms for more space and less cost.

Here is my review of AoA food court:

The REAL negative is the food court. It has a terrible layout and it is just BEDLAM. The queuing lines are not nearly as long as they need to be. Service was sluggish and I can't tell you why. It seemed a bit understaffed, but not terribly so. It took 10-15 minutes (one time 20 min) to get through the lines and get food, then stand in line again to pay. By the time you are seated, the food is tepid. Then you have to get silverware, drinks, find a table, etc. The noise level is HORRENDOUS even at non-peak times. And the traffic flow design (WHAT traffic flow design??) is very poor. There is no real flow pattern.

Seating is ample, which is nice. You get real plates and silverware which is good news/bad news. I found that I bristled at having to so bus my own table. You have to try to get the trash and remnants into a trash receptacle with a too small door that is spring loaded to close. Then you sort of recycling and the dishes in one bin and flatware in another. It reminded me WAY too much of bussing tables in a restaurant.

Food quality was OK but not remarkably better than AS, which is what I had hoped for... The food "looks" better than it tastes. Naan bread is VERY good and I really enjoyed the build your own fruit bowls and yogurt/granola bowls for breakfast.

I gave this food court another chance Feb. 2014, walking over from Pop. Nothing had changed--it was still loud, chaos w/ no traffic flow and long lines.

 

[KELLY]

We stayed at POP in October 2012 and I found the food court to be overcrowded and noisy. It's the one of the reasons why we are going to try AoA this time.

IMO it is worse than pops as well. Like pp said the flow just don't work and it is very loud there. So if you think it will be any better it won't. I even ate there before when only the nemo suites and cars suites were done.

The food IMO isn't anything special same as most food courts. All the food courts even at the mods get crowded and loud.

 

[JennyDrake]

The food IMO isn't anything special same as most food courts. All the food courts even at the mods get crowded and loud.

I certainly agree that they ALL get crowded and loud!

As far as values, AoA has the most guests at the resort, followed by Pop, then the All Stars; so factor in your chaos level accordingly.

Pop's food court is loud and a bit crazy at times, but at Pop there is at least a traffic flow and I've never waited at any food court ever (in 40 visits) that had the inexplicable waits that AoA did.

My other issue with AoA was that it was loud and crazy no matter when we visited. 7:00 am breakfast? Bedlam w/ long lines. 8:30 breakfast? Bedlam w/long lines. 10:00 breakfast? Well, you get the idea........

 

[disneyAndi14]

AoA is amazing, you will love the car suites, the food court is not awful and the best thing is you can easily walk over to pop for their food. My DD and I did that a couple times and it was a very easy walk over there.

 

[dizzyinwdw]

We were at Pop two weeks ago and walked over to AOA food court. Did not like it at all.....LONG wait for food, dirty, and seemed very busy (but there was plenty of seating, busy in the ordering area) and loud. This is in comparison to Pop food court, where there WAS one dirty area (kids area near some TVs) but food came out quickly, plenty of seating, not too loud or crowded. There was also construction at AOA food court. We may do AOA-LM/Suite for a couple of days for the pool, but I am sure even if we do that we will be back at Pop for food and the arcade which DS loves.

 

[trekker93]

I prefer POP over all resorts due to the theming, music, food court, store, and best of all, the people seem much happier and warmer than at any other. Yes, we have stayed at others but it is more fun at POP!

 

[Kate and Family]

You may want to get connecting rooms at POP. That way, you and your friend can relax and chat and talk over the day and plans for the next day - in relative peace with children in next room (door open, with small children, of course.)

Have a terrific time!

 

[krinicone]

How are the bus systems at Pop and AOA? Is one better than the other or are they about the same? Just curious. And are the refillable mugs worth it? My DH and I have to have our coffee every morning and it sounds like there aren't any coffee makers in rooms at AOA or Pop, am I right?

 

[jamnich314]

How are the bus systems at Pop and AOA? Is one better than the other or are they about the same? Just curious. And are the refillable mugs worth it? My DH and I have to have our coffee every morning and it sounds like there aren't any coffee makers in rooms at AOA or Pop, am I right?

Bus situation appears to be the same as far as I could tell. Not sure how capacity between the two compares (more resort guests would demand more buses I imagine) but when we stayed at POP we hardly ever waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. At certain parks, the stops are right next to each other so we would hop on an AoA bus if it came before the POP bus and walk back to POP. It's a 10-15 minute walk depending on where within POP you are staying and vice versa.

Compared to other resorts though I think they are the best. Definitely better than other value and deluxe resorts since they have their own (All-Stars are shared most of the time, Poly/GF/WL share a lot, etc.). You end up standing on the POP bus in the morning and night quite often and sometimes there are so many people in line the bus fills up before you get on.

The only bus system I think is better than POP is POFQ simply because there are fewer guests staying at POFQ so the chances of actually getting a seat or making it on a bus when it pulls up are much higher.