POP or ASMo??

[DisneyGirl4188]

DH and I have stayed at ASMo before and we are going to try POP for our next trip.

We hope to go back in April 2007, but I am having a hard time deciding which resort I want to stay at.

I love the theming of both resorts. We drive our own car and we don't swim. We spend most of our time in the parks. Based on this, which resort would you choose and why?

 

[minnie61650]

Actually If you are going without children I would recommend staying at All Star Music.
All Star Music is my favorite value.
It tends to be less busy and quieter because more couples stay there.
The adults usually outnumber the little ones.


DH and I enjoy the landscaping and peacefulness of All Star Music.
We enjoy relaxing by the pool (there are plenty of chairs and lounges), and the beautiful lighting at the resort by night.


There have been reports here on the DIS that the rooms at Music are being refurbished!


They are putting the New Family Suites at All Star Music.
I think since the suites are getting all new furniture,carpeting,wallpaper and bedding the standard rooms are getting a redo in the same decore.

Here are the posts that I have seen about the refubishing at All Star Music:

We just returned on Saturday from our first trip to AS Music. We were very pleasantly surprised! The room we had in the Country Fair section looked as though it had just been refurbished. Excellent mousekeeping service, great bus service, good food at the food court, etc. It felt like we were in a moderate, except that there was no TS restaurant on site. For the price, I know we'll be back!

Another DIS member posted some photos of a newly refurbished room she stayed at in the Jazz building.

She had new furniture, new carpeting, new wallpaper, and a tan and baby blue bedspread.

Is this the way your room looked?
From this thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1139297

Here are some pics from the redone rooms. Please excuse the lived in look and the three year old.

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Photos of ASMu from allearnet.com:

Quiet pool

Rock Inn icon

Country Fair

Calypso icon * NOTE the lush landscaping

Calypso pool *NOTE the palm trees and landscapimg.

Garden near Broadway

Ariel near quiet pool

Broadway with B&B

Fountain by Jazz Inn

Jazz Inn



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All Star Music is my favorite resort. It tends to be the quietest of all the values.

Here is a map of sports and music:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.

Here is the map of Movies:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG

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DH and I enjoy the landscaping and peacefulness of All Star Music.
We enjoy relaxing by the pool (there are plenty of chairs and lounges), and the beautiful lighting at the resort by night.

I have never had the unfortunate experience of running into the any of the large
groups of teens who sometimes stay at the values on school trips.
As long as you can avoid those large groups I do not think Noise will be an issue.

*HINT if you close your bathroom door at night you might not even hear the turbo toilets.
I close my bathroom door and I don't hear them.
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I love The All Star Resorts.

I am 56 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe and mod resorts are just another hotel/motel to me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite. It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Calypso building. It is closer to the pool, food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.

The Calypso pool at ASMu has Donald Duck.

The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

The pools at The All Stars are very kid friendly.

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theming is pure Disney.
My last 5 visits have been at The All Stars and last fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?

Have a great time at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[minnie61650]

Here is a list of differences between the two resorts.

Pop is newer.
Pop was built in 2003.
The All Stars were built in 1994.

Pop has a lake.Tthe All Stars do not have a lake.

When staying at the All Stars you use any of the All Stars pools.
The 3 All Stars are within easy walking distance of each other.

The gift shops are separate from the food court at the All Stars.
The gift shop and food court are combined at Pop.

Pop has 2,880 guest rooms. 4 floors in each building.
Each of the All Stars has 1,960 rooms. 3 floors in each building.

Both Pop and the All Star rooms are 260 square feet.

The beds at the All Stars are movable.

the beds at Pop at bolted to the floor.

The far bed at an All Star is closer to wall. And the near bed is not as close to the doorway asit is at Pop

The far bed at Pop is pulled away from the wall more. and the near bed is closer to door.
http://allearsnet.com/acc/asmv59.jpg
http://allearsnet.com/acc/popcent56.jpg

For most people that would not make a difference but since I need an ECV
the bed being so near the door makes it more difficult for me to back my EVC in.

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Some Photos of All Star Movies from allearsnet.com:

Did you know if you count all of the Dalmatians (the icons plus the puppies on the buildings) you will come up with 101 Dalmatians?
Now how cool is that?

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That is one of my favorite WDW trivia facts. I love the way Disney pays attention to details!

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.


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Here are some photos of Pop from allearsnet.com:

Have fun wherever you choose to stay

 

[rabx5]

Is it easy to get connecting rooms at ASmu?

 

[minnie61650]

Is it easy to get connecting rooms at ASmu?

I have not had a problem getting connecting rooms at Music. If it is during a busy time you may have problems.

Just make sure you request connecting.

 

[dalt01]

We drive our own car and we don't swim. We spend most of our time in the parks. Based on this, which resort would you choose and why?

i would not worry to much about not being able to swim, the last time we were there they kept most of the water out of the rooms

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We have stayed at both Pop and ASMo. We really liked them both a lot, but given what you have said, I would pick Pop. It is newer, so therefore will be less worn and it is more centrally located which will mean shorter drive times to the parks.