Possible long weekend trip in Oct. Which value would you choose?? Please Vote!

[SeaSpray]

Ok, so my DH who is a confessed Disney Resort Snob is now saying we might go back to Disney World in the fall. (He's addicted to the new VMK game...he wants to do more quests...don't ask. LOL)

Anyway... We just got back about a month ago from the Wilderness Lodge concierge and the Polynesian concierge. However, if we do this sort-of-spur-of-the-moment trip in October, it will have to be strictly value! We're putting away money for our Disney cruise that we have booked for next August, plus older DS is graduating high school in June, so that means new laptop for him, college for him, graduation party for him, etc etc etc!

Ok...so now (finally!) onto the actual question!

Which value resort do all of you like? It would just be us two adults; no kids this time. I kind of like the theme of Pop Century, and also because it's the newest value resort.

Are they all equal in terms of convenience within the resort itself? Do some of the value resorts have better building or room locations than others (again, within its own resort)??

Any tips, hints, etc? I'm leaning towards Pop Century, but am open to all opinions. Thanks!

 

[Cerala]

Sorry I don't have any advice since it's been like almost 3 years since I went to WDW... But I'm glad you made this post since my fiancee and I will (hopefully) be going back to Disney for the first time in October (for a week though) and we'll also have to go to a value resort since we're saving up for (hopefully again ) going again in December to stay at a deluxe resort. I was also looking at the Pop Century (along with the All-Star Movies). Anyway, I look forward to finding out what people think of the different value resorts too.

 

[daisy_77]

I'd go with Pop Century! It looks like a fun place!

 

[minnie61650]

All Star Music tends to have more couples and is usually a little quieter.
Families with young children are more likey to choose the Movies or Sports themeing.
Try the ALL Star resorts. I love them. I am 55 years old.
I would rather stay at the All Stars than at any of the deluxes.
DH I travel several times a year and often stay at and can well afford 4 star hotels but we prefer the All Stars.
When we go to Disney we are always out at the parks,shopping,dining exploring,or taking in the sights. We don't need a large room to lounge around in.

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.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

The buses are wonderful.
Bus rides are shorter from the ALL Stars than POP according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses------------Pop buses
MK 20 min---------------MK 25 min
Epcot 10 min------------Epcot 20 min
MGM 10 min--------------MGM 15 min
AK 10 min----------------AK 15 min
DTD 15 min---------------DTD 20 min
Which is one the of the reasons I the All Star Resorts --they can't be beat. 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 theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying 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. I can hardly wait.
Linda

 

[SnoweyWhite]

I really did enjoy Pop Century when I stayed, but I also enjoyed All Star Music. ASMu has an edge over Pop simply because it is usually quieter and not as crowded. Pop is newer--which means more people. I wouldn't totally discount it, but since it is just you and your husband, I would think a quieter place would be the best.

 

[Disney_1derland]

We love Pop! it's nice that they don't share their busses with anyone else so there are no additional stops to worry about. The staff is wonderful, the theming is fun. A prefered room in the 60's building on the non-pool side of the building would be ideal. We were on the third floor nearer to the stairwells than to the elevator and had literally no traffic past our door and it was very quiet.

the only disadvantage to pop is that their bus stop is always the furthest from the gates of the parks, but.....the allstars is only one stop closer which makes almost no difference!

 

[minnie61650]

We love Pop! it's nice that they don't share their busses with anyone else so there are no additional stops to worry about. The staff is wonderful, the theming is fun. A prefered room in the 60's building on the non-pool side of the building would be ideal. We were on the third floor nearer to the stairwells than to the elevator and had literally no traffic past our door and it was very quiet.

the only disadvantage to pop is that their bus stop is always the furthest from the gates of the parks, but.....the allstars is only one stop closer which makes almost no difference!

I have timed the rides from the All Stars and it only takes 10 min to get to Epcot,MGM, and AK. It takes about 20 minutes to the MK.

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!)

When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP.
Each All Star resort has 1960 rooms. Pop presently has 2,880. when phase 2 is finished it will have 5,760 rooms the same # as all 3 All Star resorts.

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

here are the distances accourding to http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/distancetoparks.htm

I don't know about the actual driving distace of the bus routes though.

ALL STARS: -------------POP

MK: 7 miles---------------MK 7 miles
Epcot: 4 miles------------3 miles
MGM : 2 miles-------------3 miles
AK: 3 miles---------------AK 5 miles

Guess I should not let everyone know how great the All Stars really are.

More rooms for my closest friends!

I have researched this.
Linda

 

[SeaSpray]

Wow, thanks for the great info!! I'm going to take a look at those web pages and do some more research on each resort. I am not at all familiar with the layouts of these resorts.

Thanks again!

Any other comments, opinions, or suggestions??