POP vs ALMo

[sullymoscow]

Planning a trip for 5/07 and wondering everyone's thoughts on POP vs. ASMo.
We have 2 little girls 6 and 3 years old. Thanks.

 

[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

 

[bluejasmine]

We normally stay at ASMo but DS was dying to try POp so we will be trying it in Aug..

 

[minnie61650]

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 resorts do not have anything special for 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.

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 a Fantasia themed children's pool area.

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.

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!

 

[MelanieC]

We have stayed at the AsMov many time and we love it. The theming is awesome, the hotel is easy to get around.
Last year we stayed at the POP and we loved it there too. The theming is not as much Disney, all though there are a few Disney Iconic type things there too. There were things we liked better about each. We seemed to have more fun at the hippy Dippy pool (POP) then the Fantasmic pool at (ASmov). The gift shop is bigger at POP and flows right from the dinning area. The property seems smaller and easier to navigate at ASmov, although it gives more areas to explore at POP. Pop is newer so that's a plus.

I don't think you cn go wrong with either option!

 

[sullymoscow]

Thanks guys.....great info I am sure will help. I quess my biggest concern was transportation, but as you have said hopefully it will not be an issue.