Pop or ASMovies

[jennafo3]

Hi! We are going in january with 4 adults and 3 kids... we're going to get two conjoined rooms at a value resort, but can't decide which one to go to... I was thinking Pop, but heard good reviews about ASMo... Our kids are 6,4,2 and I will be 5 months pregnant in January as well!!

Any Advice??

thanks,
jenna

 

[spiceycat]

hard decision

your kids would probably like ASMo the best.

the adults would probably like Pop!

January is a good time to go!!!!

 

[jcriket]

I would say movies, because its not as crowded as pop and I think that your children would enjoy it better.

 

[kufan98]

I have not stayed at Pop, but we stayed as ASMo last March and my kids loved it.

 

[mickerbaby]

I would say ASMo for sure. I've stayed at both and as an adult I even liked ASMo better because it was more "Disney" to me with all the character icons. Pop was fine too but a bit too "trendy" with all the era stuff. Plus my kids are little too, 4 and 2 so I know they will enjoy ASMo much more (they love Buzz and Woody!)

 

[*Fantasia*]

The kids your age... most definitely ASMovies! I think this is the best themed for the little ones. It is very Disney! I think your family will have a wonderful time there.

 

[eam]

My DH and I just got back from 5 nights at the POP, in the 70s section and we both LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!!!!!

 

[jennafo3]

How are the buses for the pop and the ASmo? I heard the All star buses were pretty bad due to all the all stars being on the same bus?

 

[eam]

When we were at WDW last week the buses were terrible at the POP. We only rode the bus one day, drove the rest. We waited for 30 minutes for a bus to pick us up, then waited an hour and a half for a pick-up from MK.

 

[minnie61650]

How are the buses for the pop and the ASmo? I heard the All star buses were pretty bad due to all the all stars being on the same bus?

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay .
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland.
All Star Movies has pop up fountains now also.
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.

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.

Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
Linda

 

[minnie61650]

How are the buses for the pop and the ASmo? I heard the All star buses were pretty bad due to all the all stars being on the same bus?

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING:

It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

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 All Star resorts have 1960 rooms each.
Pop has 2,880rooms.
That means more people in the pools,food court and in line waiting for the bus at POP.
When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP and the 2 POPs will have the same # of rooms as the 3 All Stars.

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.

 

[cuppy]

Hi! We are going in january with 4 adults and 3 kids... we're going to get two conjoined rooms at a value resort, but can't decide which one to go to... I was thinking Pop, but heard good reviews about ASMo... Our kids are 6,4,2 and I will be 5 months pregnant in January as well!!

Any Advice??

thanks,
jenna

I would say Pop for transportation reasons. The All Stars share buses and Pop has it's own. With strollers you have more room at Pop. You are the second stop at ASM and since there are a lot of people at *** you may be cramped. The icons at Pop are for kids as much as adults. All kids know playdoh and the large jungle book characters. I stayed at both and enjoyed both but for transportation reasons I prefer Pop.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I think it depends on what you want. Are you wanting theming for the children? Not in a rush to go anywhere and don't mind if you and your kids (and I imagine stroller based on the age of your children) are crowded and/or standing on a bus? Well if not... then go for ASMo. I would want to stay there atleast once.

That's what we did in June.
Now we've done it once- I don't think we'll EVER stay there again. We've stayed at the other two value resorts a couple times each and I'd have to say I hated ASMo the worst- on the transportation issue. Also it's just more crowded with more children (IME) so that means pools more full, less tables to be had if you happen to eat there when everyone else does, longer lines in food court (not to mention almost being tripped a billion times by smaller children in the food court that you can't see when you have the tray), etc. Yes that stuff goes on at other values but in our experience-not quite as much.

We went back in Sept and TRIED to get Pop but we were on the free dining plan and it was booked- tried calling and calling to get in... never could. We stayed at All star sports. So far that's our favorite- it still has theming the kids like (well my older two are into sports! LOL) yet it's the first one/first off on the bus system.

The transportation issue can be a big issue when you have a lot of young children like that. I know people say they don't share buses but in our experience they usually do. When we went in Sept we did notice music/movies being put together and/or sports/music put together but it wasn't ALWAYS like that. Our trip in June all 3 resorts were put together on the same bus stop and same buses every single time we got in line to return from the parks... and everytime the bus got to us at our resort it was standing room only. Even if we waited thru 1-2 buses trying to find one to sit on- it was always full by the time it got to us at Movies!
on the flipside- everytime we stood in those long lines at the parks to leave towards the resort- we'd see the pop century bus stop with no one in line or very short lines and all of them getting on the bus and sitting. Many times we saw that- that was one of the reasons I wanted to stay there on the Sept trip. This was JUNE that we saw this... mid to late june- summertime. Definitely a big difference in transportation between movies and Pop.

With 4 kids so young they might love Movies but I would bet money right now that YOU won't like the bus situation. January isn't going to be all that busy- I'm betting they'll be back to having all 3 all stars on the same bus which means at Movies you'll be last on (maybe not finding a place for your you and your children to sit the majority of the time) and last off on your way back to the resort... and long lines waiting for that bus when you leave the parks.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay .
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland.
All Star Movies has pop up fountains now also.
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.

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.

Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
Linda

I prefer the All Star resorts too mostly because we don't use our room much at all (sleep, shower, change- that's it... we're not really into ambiance or room views and such LOL) and it's the cheapest so we can go more often. We like the theming also but from now on we will try to stay POP or if we have to pick all stars- we'll go with Sports.
Those times you mentioned are just the travel time once in a bus.. to the first stop at All stars. If you're at movies- the wait is going to be longer (usually sharing a bus and stopping at Sports and Music before going to Movies) and also doesn't take into account the long lines at the bus stop at the parks.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I would say movies, because its not as crowded as pop and I think that your children would enjoy it better.

Not as crowded as pop? I thought movies is where most kids want to stay so it fills up first.. and lotsa kids staying there- exactly how crowded is Pop if it's more crowded than Movies? Lordy... from our experience at Movies in June if POP is more crowded than that... wow, I can't even imagine being more crowded than that (at movies). LOL

 

[D3K]

We've stayed @ POP and my kids LOVED IT, We have also stayed at All Stars Sports and they said that they liked but nothing compared to Pop Century. We are going back in Nov. and when I made the reservation All Star Movies was full so my kids wanted to stay at All Star Music, just because they've never stayed there, I like that Pop is all by it self, but the other 3 resorts are all together, you can see All star Music from All star Sports.

 

[boomhauer]

I would say Pop for transportation reasons. The All Stars share buses and Pop has it's own. With strollers you have more room at Pop. You are the second stop at ASM and since there are a lot of people at *** you may be cramped. The icons at Pop are for kids as much as adults. All kids know playdoh and the large jungle book characters. I stayed at both and enjoyed both but for transportation reasons I prefer Pop.

This is such a misconception.

True, All Stars do share buses AT TIMES, but not all the time. I have NEVER stood on a bus at ASMovies. I've stayed at Pop twice, and stood about half the time. There's no contest - All Stars has FAR superior bus service.

I agree with the poster who said All Star just feels more Disney. It really does.

 

[boomhauer]

Not as crowded as pop? I thought movies is where most kids want to stay so it fills up first.. and lotsa kids staying there- exactly how crowded is Pop if it's more crowded than Movies? Lordy... from our experience at Movies in June if POP is more crowded than that... wow, I can't even imagine being more crowded than that (at movies). LOL

Pop is more crowded than Movies, and uncomfortably so. Check in takes longer, and you're ALWAYS cramped on a bus, if you're not standing.

 

[LaraK]

We stayed in Movies in April. Paid for Fantasia, but probably would have prefered Toy Story for the theming (although the kids loved walking through the hat every morning). The theming is fantastic and the pools are nice. I've never stayed at Pop.

In terms of transportation, I have to agree that being the third stop in both directions kind of sucks. We drove after the first couple of days. With small children and all the things they require, we just found it easier.

We never had problems with crowding in the food court or pool areas, but we were there during a slower time.

 

[boomhauer]

Don't take this the wrong way, but has anybody that is complaining about being the "3rd stop" when staying at ASMovies, actually experienced any problems with this?

When I stayed there for 8 nights in August, I think I had to share a return bus, maybe twice. Other than that, Movies had it's own bus. I NEVER stood on the bus going anywhere from Movies.

On the other hand, if you've never stayed at either, try staying at Pop and then make a decision after waiting for a bus at the end of the night when leaving one of the parks.

Sorry, but I would hate to see someone opt to stay at Pop because they were mislead about the transportation issues, that don't exist at All Stars. I've stayed at both several times each - All Stars's transporation far exceeds that of Pop's.