POP or ASMu

[Ontdisfan]

I am triing to decide between these two for our next trip . We have two girls (5 , 10) we loved CBR but are looking to stay a bit longer (10 days) and can not swing it at a mod. Would love to hear some pro's and con's thanks!!

 

[minnie61650]

All Star Music is my Favorite Disney owned resort.
It tends to quietest and most relaxing of the value resorts.
DH and I enjoy relaxing by the pools and seeing the resort lit up at night.
All Star Music also has more landscaping, trees, and greenery than the other values. I love the rose garden by the Broadway section of ASMU :

Photo from allearsnet

All Star Music just underwent a refurbishment of all of the rooms and was completed in June 2007.


Here is a website with photos of the newly refurbished rooms at All Star Music.

Look at the Jazz Inn section with new posted:

http://allearsnet.com/acc/g_asmu.htm




Here is a list of differences between the two resorts.

Pop is newer.
Pop was built in 2003.
All Star Movies was built in 1999.
All Star Sports and Music were built in 1994.

All Star Music is undergoing a refurbishment of all of the rooms and was completed in June 2007.


All Star Sports is slated to be refurbished between June 2007 and Feb. of 2008.

Pop has a lake. The 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 Music have the new pillowtop matresses and are very comfortable

The beds at Pop at bolted to the floor.
The matresses at Pop are the old style and according to many are quite hard.

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

The far bed at Pop is pulled away from the wall more. 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 at Pop makes it more difficult for me to back my EVC in.

Have fun at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[kaysmommie]

I'm still trying to decide this myself, so I'm subscribing. I think my kids would love POP but I lean towards Music for the comfy beds. I'm not into crowds either, the parks are enough. This will be our first time not staying deluxe so it's a hard choice! Also we will be going during DD's spring break so Music might be just as packed & crazy as POP.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I've always been strictly a POP person, but after our stay in September I've sort of reversed my thinking & for our January trip we're going to ASMu. I love the fact that POP has it's own busses, a huge food court and an equally huge store. Pools are great, but.................this time around I felt overwhelmed with people.........especially unattended kids. DH & I went for 3 days to celebrate our anniversary & I know it's a family resort but I just got more than I bargained for with kids running around screaming up & down the halls after 10pm at night. That & rude neighbors was my only complaint. This time when the AP rates came out I convinced DH to try ASMu as he's never been there - I went with DSis & her kids & my DD eons ago. Now I can't wait, especially since it's been rehabbed & everyone talks about how nice it is and a bit quieter. Which is exactly what I'm looking for. Whichever one you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy it because you'll be at WDW....

 

[klofan]

I would stay at All-Star Music. It's a quiet resort with new rooms. Heres some photos:

The TV was bigger than the one at CSR!

Excuse the mess, haha!

 

[JennyDrake]

I'll also vote for ASMusic. Having stayed in all, it is my favorite value resort. Pop is very cool, but it is so loud and for me, the number of people and noise level inside the food court were just overwhelming.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I have stayed at all of the values - and I would have to say the POP is my favorite in the value category. It seems to me more "kid friendly" - in fact it is the only value resort that one of my daughters doesn't dislike.

 

[kaysmommie]

That is what I'm worried about the noise and just too many people in the foodcourts and bus lines.

 

[Ontdisfan]

Thanks for all the information, I think we will go with ASMu.

 

[blue_eyes5212]

I also vote for ASMu (even though you have already decided on it)!
At POP I feel overwhelmed with all the people and Music just seemed more laid back to me!

 

[dclfun]

We've stayed at Pop the last three years with the "free dining offer". Next year it will be ASMu. After going back to ASMu this year a few weeks after our trip to Pop and finding those wonderful beds, less crowds, and all the fun activities ( poolside bingo, poolside movies) it just had a wonderful fun atmosphere and my kids preferred our stay there. I still like Pop- it's a tough decision! We are also DVC owners and I'm convinced that all the resorts are fantastic for one reason or another. ---Kathy

 

[4theloveofdisney]

With kids that age I would choose Pop hands down. The pool at Pop is better and the kiddie pool features a spray water feature. There is also a another water play area and the playground is pretty nice as well. Pop doesn't share buses with any other resorts but all of the All Stars do share. Pop is a fun resort and is filled with tons of fun things as far as the icons go. You can even play a real game of Twister with your kids if you want too - we did. There are several outside features such as this. We also like the pool area at Pop. We like taking our food and sitting poolside. The bar is also closer to the pool which is nice for getting refreshments. I like the room decor at Pop too - it's just not as "cheesy" as the All Stars. Lastly, the food court at Pop is more spread out and the gift shop is huge. There is also a great arcade (compared to the ones at All Stars.)

 

[hercamore]

I always advise posters that are at Disney for more than a week to think about a split stay. 10 days in the same room is a longggg time.

You could do a split between Pop and Music. That would be fun.


herc.

 

[minnie61650]

Buses at All Star Music:

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 Movies share and Music 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!)


----------------------------------------------------------
Newly refurbished rooms with updated decor at All Star Music:

--------------------------------------------------------------
The Calypso pool at All Star music has Donald and friends. The Characters squirt the guests in the pool.

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.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.

* Note photos are from allearsnet.

Have fun at Disney!

 

[ktink]

We stayed at Pop for our very first stay at WDW and loved it. But we are going w/ ASMu in 2008! It's so good to see all of the postive posts about Music!

 

[nurse.darcy]

We had a blast at ASMu this past summer. . .the only complaint was that the busses would get quite crowded at ASMu so we would walk over to Sports to be the first to catch the bus and get off at ASSp to be the first off. The walk from ASSp is easy. . .

 

[insoin]

If anyone going to ASMu wanted to sign up on the list we have started, you can find it in my siggy below. I wanted to try something new for my stay next Sept. Doing the big family thing at Pop in June. So I will have both places next year.