Pop vs Art of Animation mermaid rooms

[lookame]

So this trip we'd really like to stay on site but budget is tight. So I was wondering which everyone prefers.
Two kids- 4 yr old daughter and 12 yr old son. No dining plan planned as it's not cost effective for us. Most likely booking room only for Jan 4th-12th. We'll be driving from home and also probably driving to the parks. So I suspect resort parking fees to be an additional $104 and parks parking to be an additional $92 or $115 depending how many days we go to the parks.

Pop Century- I like the 80s building and I feel my son would get a kick out the 80s building as well since its done up like Mr. Pacman. Is this building a long walk to and from the lobby/cafeteria/parking areas? Or is this considered a standard room? By Jan would the rooms be referbished? Good/bad about this building? The second building I like is the 50s building and I read that the top floors on the lake view can see illuminations? Which rooms have the best view? Good/bad about this building as well as room referbishments? Is a microwave in these rooms or do we need to walk to the cafeteria? Lastly talk to me about cost is it significantly cheaper ($200 or more..) than AOA mermaid rooms (typically i know prices arent out for Jan 2019 yet) Does Pop book quickly and lastly is Pop usually available for discounts?

AOA mermaid rooms- We would prefer to stay in one of these (if I'm honest) my daughter gushes and asks repeatedly to stay in these rooms so if Pop isn't at a decent discount we'l probably stay in one of these. Anyway is the walk to the cafeteria significant, should I request a room closest to the Lion King area?

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I’ll speak to AOA because as you can see from my signature I’m slightly biased where Pop is concerned. Although I will say we request the 50’s every time for convenience (and many times we’ve been able to watch the high fireworks of Illuminations from our room).

My opinion, yes. The walk to the main building is significant from the Mermaid section.

For reference: I work on my feet 40+ hours a week, walk 6 kilometres every night and usually hit the hay with 20,000+ steps on my Fitbit.

That being said, that walk multiple times a day got old. Fast. It was like we were walking back to Ontario. We won’t be staying there again.

Many folks don’t mind the walk. We did.

 

[Psu620]

We have stayed at both with our young son. We would pick art of animation mermaid room hands down. We didn't like pop century at all. Would definitely stay at art of animation again but not pop century.

 

[Psu620]

And btw...we did not think the walk to the cafeteria or pool was bad at all!

 

[DebbieB]

So this trip we'd really like to stay on site but budget is tight. So I was wondering which everyone prefers.
Two kids- 4 yr old daughter and 12 yr old son. No dining plan planned as it's not cost effective for us. Most likely booking room only for Jan 4th-12th. We'll be driving from home and also probably driving to the parks. So I suspect resort parking fees to be an additional $104 and parks parking to be an additional $92 or $115 depending how many days we go to the parks.

Pop Century- I like the 80s building and I feel my son would get a kick out the 80s building as well since its done up like Mr. Pacman. Is this building a long walk to and from the lobby/cafeteria/parking areas? Or is this considered a standard room? By Jan would the rooms be referbished? Good/bad about this building? The second building I like is the 50s building and I read that the top floors on the lake view can see illuminations? Which rooms have the best view? Good/bad about this building as well as room referbishments? Is a microwave in these rooms or do we need to walk to the cafeteria? Lastly talk to me about cost is it significantly cheaper ($200 or more..) than AOA mermaid rooms (typically i know prices arent out for Jan 2019 yet) Does Pop book quickly and lastly is Pop usually available for discounts?

AOA mermaid rooms- We would prefer to stay in one of these (if I'm honest) my daughter gushes and asks repeatedly to stay in these rooms so if Pop isn't at a decent discount we'l probably stay in one of these. Anyway is the walk to the cafeteria significant, should I request a room closest to the Lion King area?

If you stay in a Disney resort, you don’t pay for park parking.

I stayed at AOA 2 weeks ago. If you drive to the parks rather than bus, you can park close to your building. We were in 7, the walk from the bus/ food court did seem long at times.

 

[cassie58]

If you stay in a Disney resort, you don’t pay for park parking.

I stayed at AOA 2 weeks ago. If you drive to the parks rather than bus, you can park close to your building. We were in 7, the walk from the bus/ food court did seem long at times.

I think OP was referring to the new resort parking fees she will have to pay.




Mermaid rooms are really well themed - I am sure your daughter would love it, probably your son not as much! Although he might enjoy seeing the Cars section - so well done IMHO! Walk is long from that area, just depends on how many times you go back and forth(food court, etc). - we are usually just out to park and back, but is a longer walk at the end of the night when tired.

We have only stayed preferred at Pop, which we definitely thought was worth it for the walk back at night - we stayed in 60s Bldg. 5 at lobby end, and loved the convenience - obviously lots of themes depending on your preference.

Whichever you choose, you can head over the bridge to see the other!

 

[DebbieB]

I think OP was referring to the new resort parking fees she will have to pay.

I think both. "So I suspect resort parking fees to be an additional $104 and parks parking to be an additional $92 or $115 depending how many days we go to the parks."

 

[cassie58]

I think both. "So I suspect resort parking fees to be an additional $104 and parks parking to be an additional $92 or $115 depending how many days we go to the parks."

Oops- sorry- totally missed the second part of that sentence!

 

[Skippyboo]

No microwaves in Pop rooms but there’s a mini fridge.

 

[lookame]

Thanks for letting me know that parking at the parks doesn’t have a fee. That helps a lot...though it sucks to have to pay to park overnight at the resort.

So I guess there are positives and negatives to both the resorts...themeing is really great for AOA but it’s a far walk from the mermaid rooms to the cafeteria. If we need to warm anything in a microwave we either have to walk or eat it cold...so I guess we’d have to keep things like salads, cereals, fruits and other things that don’t required heating in the room

Pop on the other hand you can see the tops of illumination in the 50s building and from what I understand it’s best to grab a preferred room. The cost of preferred room works out to be close to the same price as a mermaid room so I guess it’s what I prefer in regards to location and if we want a completely immersive room theme or a little less in your face Disney theme. I guess I could hold onto the mermaid room for now and then see if a discount becomes available for Pop and switch over. Or if I get lucky...a discount for the mermaid rooms.

Thank you all for your help. If anyone else would like to compare the two I’m always for reading other experiences and comparisons to help me make the most informed decision.

 

[Haley R]

Thanks for letting me know that parking at the parks doesn’t have a fee. That helps a lot...though it sucks to have to pay to park overnight at the resort.

So I guess there are positives and negatives to both the resorts...themeing is really great for AOA but it’s a far walk from the mermaid rooms to the cafeteria. If we need to warm anything in a microwave we either have to walk or eat it cold...so I guess we’d have to keep things like salads, cereals, fruits and other things that don’t required heating in the room

Pop on the other hand you can see the tops of illumination in the 50s building and from what I understand it’s best to grab a preferred room. The cost of preferred room works out to be close to the same price as a mermaid room so I guess it’s what I prefer in regards to location and if we want a completely immersive room theme or a little less in your face Disney theme. I guess I could hold onto the mermaid room for now and then see if a discount becomes available for Pop and switch over. Or if I get lucky...a discount for the mermaid rooms.

Thank you all for your help. If anyone else would like to compare the two I’m always for reading other experiences and comparisons to help me make the most informed decision.

I’ll just add that we never pay for preferred. We just had a stay at pop in a standard room and we were extremely close to the bus stop. Building 10 is where we were and it was great. We liked pop and the new rooms so much that we are going back in December.

 

[Skippyboo]

I just stayed at Pop last week building 6 in the 70s section. Requested lake view. The building had a lake view but my room was on a non lake side.

The two resorts are connected by a bridge. I walked over to AoA couple of times to eat at their food court which I thought was nicer than Pop’s. The Nemo theme Big Blue Pool was super nice.

The redone rooms at Pop are very IKEA ish with lots of white linens and storage areas with cubbies other than the Mickey art over the bed, it doesn’t scream Disney.

 

[mickeygirl78]

I have stayed at both and I prefer pop. I loved AOA however I thought the little mermaid rooms were a far walk. At pop I always get a standard room but request 50’s and it’s been a short walk to the food court & busses. We will walk over to AOA from pop to use the food court. Now that pops refurb is almost done, the queen beds would be a factor too in choosing pop. I don’t see the value in paying for a preferred room.

You will have to go to the food court to use the microwave with either.

I think you need to pick the theme and price that works best for your family. My nephew and niece love both resorts but I will say my nephew isn’t as crazy about the LM section (he says it’s too girly).

 

[goofy4tink]

I've stayed in both. I love AoA, I truly do. And I really like the Little Mermaid rooms. I've stayed in them three times...that's enough for me. They are seldom discounted, so you pay a fair amount for these rooms. And in all reality, after the first few hours in the room, you hardly notice the theme.
I like Pop as well. It's probably my favorite value resort. But, it also can be pricey for a value. We paid for a preferred room just once...hated it. We were on the ground floor, with a lot of foot traffic going by...on the way to the food court and main pool area!! Won't do that again. I've also been in the areas that are on the edges of Pop...never had a long walk to the food court area.
You can always walk over to AoA and check it out...your dd will love seeing it. No, you can't use the pools but it's fun to see the resort. If it were me, I would choose Pop. You can get a room that is close to parking as well.
Another thought...you could book stays in both resorts...maybe just two nights in a Little Mermaid room and the rest over at Pop. The move would be fairly easy since you have a car and the resorts are next to each other. Just pack one bag for the Little Mermaid stay.

 

[hes122]

The thing that might sway me from staying in a LM room is that they often aren't part of any of the discounts when they become available.

The walk from the 80s section to the main building/bus depot is super quick if you walk on the sidewalk that is by the parking lot.

 

[lookame]

I have a few days which we just play in the pool and in the play areas at the resort. I couldn’t find much for the play areas at pop but AOA has the oversized boneyard and such can someone tell me about the play areas at pop?

 

[lookame]

The thing that might sway me from staying in a LM room is that they often aren't part of any of the discounts when they become available.

The walk from the 80s section to the main building/bus depot is super quick if you walk on the sidewalk that is by the parking lot.

I think that’s the biggest thing that is making me second guess doing the mermaid room. We can’t afford a family suite or else we’d choose a lion king suite but at like 400 a night....yikes. But then the mermaid rooms are a good sum of money and hardly get discounted which bothers me. At the same time I don’t want to switch rooms Unless I can get a discount at pop and if I switch now it’ll be less likely a discount will come available. That being said we’ll be there during marathon weekend and if I don’t change and I try to wait then a room might not be available. My husband doesn’t care about the rooms as well likely not be in it much so...idk

 

[Haley R]

I think that’s the biggest thing that is making me second guess doing the mermaid room. We can’t afford a family suite or else we’d choose a lion king suite but at like 400 a night....yikes. But then the mermaid rooms are a good sum of money and hardly get discounted which bothers me. At the same time I don’t want to switch rooms Unless I can get a discount at pop and if I switch now it’ll be less likely a discount will come available. That being said we’ll be there during marathon weekend and if I don’t change and I try to wait then a room might not be available. My husband doesn’t care about the rooms as well likely not be in it much so...idk

We usually go for whichever theme fits our family and how much money we want to spend. More often than not we try to save money, but it honestly depends on what kind of trip we are going for.

 

[hes122]

The other big difference between the rooms at Pop and LM is that you'll have 2 queens versus 2 doubles.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

We booked Pop for next week. We got a magical deal so with tax it's $123 a night. Easy choice at that price. We really wanted queen beds too. We also bought Disney Gift Cards at Target with our Debit Red card at 5% off and earned a few other free/ discounted ones. Also first week of December Target does 10% off their gift cards which in turn can be used to buy Disney Gift cards. With a room only reservation you more time to pay so that might work out for you? All in all I had 13% off my Gift card total making my room $107 a night at POP. If you have the time and determination you can save more that room discount. To me saving is part of my magical vacation.