Preferred Value Resort?

Luis Rodriguez

I'd rather be at Disney
Joined
Sep 29, 1999
Hi all,

We are planning a visit to WDW this next August, in the week just before Labor Day, staying at a Value resort.

The last time we stayed at a Disney property was in 2008, at Sports. Before that, we stayed once at Music.

Which value resort would you recommend? Also, we would be relying on Disney transportation.

Thanks in advance,
Luis
 
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Pop Century. Its a little more expensive than the All-Stars but the access to the skyliner is way beyond worth the little amount more that they charge. Having the skyliner isn't just great for quick access to the parks but it also opens your dining options way up as well!
 
All star movies is my favorite resort. It is a small resort so doesn’t matter where your room is. The Skyliner was fun to ride but I’m not sure how much time it takes to get from pop to a park. Haven’t stayed at pop since the Skyliner was put in. I didn’t realize that you have to transfer from one route to get to a park.
 
We too are going this August and always stay value. Pop is our favourite for sentimental reasons as it was our first ever stay when the kids were little with several more stays later on. However, the All Stars are not far behind. The rooms are identical to Pop. Really, the only difference is the Skyliner and also Pop is a much larger resort with a lot more rooms so depending on your room category there could be a lot more walking and it always feels busier. For our stay in the middle of August Pop comes in at $45/night more expensive plus tax than All Star Music. We are Canadian so add in another 37% in exchange and it just is not worth it (for us). We are staying at Music which was refurbished recently. It has beautiful grounds and two very nice pools and feels the least "busiest" although the standard rooms can be a bit of a walk but not too bad. The busses to the parks do not bother me at all and even though it is furthest from Magic Kingdom at the end of the day it is just minutes further really. If you are visiting AK it is very nearby.
 


Pop hands down. You can be at Hollywood Studios on the Skyliner in less than 15 mins, about another 10 to Epcot. Even when the skyliner lines are long they move quickly. There really is no bad building anymore you are either closer to the buses or closer to the skyliner with 2 parks each.
 
I still love Pop, but if I were going in August and relying on Disney transportation, I’d consider the AllStars. Besides the AllStars being cheaper and newly renovated, relying on the Skyliner during the weather in August can be iffy and unpredictable. And it can take a bit of time to get bus service rolling if the Skyliner goes down.
 
Art of Animation, although price-wise that hardly counts as a value unless you are in a LM room. My 2nd favorite is Pop. Really they are almost like one resort to me. My family loves both too.
 


I still love Pop, but if I were going in August and relying on Disney transportation, I’d consider the AllStars. Besides the AllStars being cheaper and newly renovated, relying on the Skyliner during the weather in August can be iffy and unpredictable. And it can take a bit of time to get bus service rolling if the Skyliner goes down.
This. Lightening in the area and they have to take the Skyliner down. I wouldn’t spend the extra for Pop during Aug.
 
Thanks to all for your replies.

I like the idea of Pop (I’m 64, so I have my own memories of most of those decades :-) ). Nevertheless, as some of you have indicated, the probability of the Skyliner being down due to inclement weather is somewhat high. Also, as “mom to minnie&mickey” wrote, Pop is more expensive and for me that’s a big issue (I’m from Venezuela, and for us the exchange rate is a killer).

That being said, I’ll will forward your comments to my boss (wife) and will go from there.

Thanks again,

Luis
 
AllStar Music. We really prefer the Broadway section. It's not "that" long of a walk (5 minutes?) and is really quiet.
 
We loved AOA (cars suite) but that's truly not value, but POP is nice and the re-do added a lot to the rooms
 
I stayed at both Pop and Movies back to back last year and I missed the skyliner less than I thought I would. Both were shortish stays so we only used the skyliner a few times. Movies was easier to navigate (maybe I just had a better room location) and felt a little quieter. Most people love the skyliner but it's a pretty big price difference, usually over $50/night. Imo there is NOTHING different/better about Pop other than the skyliner. The All Star buses sometimes share buses in non-peak times but it is hardly an inconvenience, it takes all of a few minutes to stop at all three resorts, they could not be any closer.

I like to do the math like this:

  • Pop: Five nights, four full park days, so $250-300 more than All Stars over the stay
  • One day at HS, one day at Epcot, mid-day break each day, so 4 round trips on skyliner
  • Possibly one extra skyliner trip on another day, either park hopping or for a meal
  • So at most I'd use the skyliner for 5 round trips, making each round trip on the skyliner over $50
    • I LOVE the skyliner but I'm not sure it's "worth" that much to me, especially when Ubers are almost always under $20 except at maybe park close

And I don't know if it's my poor luck but EVERY time I have stayed at Pop, our Uber/Lyft drivers have gotten incredibly lost. Both on the way to pick us up or on the way to drop us off. At first I thought it was a GPS issue since a few years ago phone navigation maybe wasn't as good, but it happened again last year and even when we pulled up maps on our phones we still couldn't help our driver, the directions were so confusing. He ended up at AoA finally and we just got out there and walked back to Pop lol. Sometime about the frontage roads must be really confusing to navigate. When we stayed at Coronado it was a breath of fresh air because you could see the resort clearly from the main road, ha!
 

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