questions about POFQ and ASMovies

[disneyholic family]

i'm about to book a relatively last minute trip to WDW this fall for DD and DSIL using my free dining pin code that i got from the US disney site.

there are only a very few resorts left available (pop is NOT available - so that's out)

also, ASMusic's food court will be closed for refurbishment, so that's out as well.

so the possibilities are:
ASMovies
POR
POFQ

however, POR is way too big if you're not staying in a preferred room.

So that leaves POFQ and ASMovies.

so a few questions:

Bus service
1. how is the bus service at ASMovies?
2. How is the bus service at POFQ?
3. My understanding is that both share bus service with other resorts. In the case of ASMovies, with the other all star resorts and PRFQ, shares with POR. Is that true?

Food Court
1. How is the food court at ASMovies?
2. How is the food court as POFQ?
3. If you've stayed at Pop Century and either (or both) of the above, how would you compare Pop's food court?

i have to run out to pick up DD, i probably have other questions, but that's what comes to mind right now.

Thanks in advance!!!!!!

 

[scoobydooby]

Food court at POFQ decidedly average. Food court at POR excellent. You can easily use both is staying at either resort. Bus service at POFQ excellent. May share buses with Riverside at quieter times of day, I have not experienced that happen a lot.

 

[got2sammies]

This link may help:
http://www.portorleans.org/

 

[queendisney]

POR has been proved that you are only a max of 10mins walk to the main building at normal ambling pace from anywhere on resort. We always request a room in the far corner of that resort and its a total myth that its too large and takes forever to get anywhere. The food court is way nicer then POFQ and there are lots of quiet pools. Yes the two resorts sometimes share a bus but when its closing time at the parks they tend to have their own service. TIP The POFQ bus line is always tiny compared to POR at park closing, get on it and walk to POR!

There are bus stops around POR and its worth going to your nearest one if its not the main stop as for some of the routes to the theme parks they go around the back first, then pick up at the main entrance. I can't think at the moment which route these are at the moment.

I think the food court at POP is excellent by the way and do prefer it to POR.

 

[Dimplenose]

We're staying at ASMo in October. We have stayed at the other ASresorts before and loved them both but found ASMu a bit of a trek to the food court - but that was in an August and we were in the Country section.

Movies is a bit more thoughtfully laid out so I think it will be a 5-7 minute walk to food court at worst.

I am still happy with my choice because it is a sneaky, "lets do as cheap a trip as we can whilst still staying on property" trip but I do have a couple of concerns.

1. Will Movie food court be busier because of work next door?

2. Will Movie resort be busier than normal because people choose it over Music because of the work?

I have also found out that US free dining starts quite soon after I arrive and this includes value resorts which might put even more strain on the reduced All Star food courts.

These things won't spoil my trip but I might have made different choices if I'd known about them both in advance.

 

[disneyholic family]

We're staying at ASMo in October. We have stayed at the other ASresorts before and loved them both but found ASMu a bit of a trek to the food court - but that was in an August and we were in the Country section.

Movies is a bit more thoughtfully laid out so I think it will be a 5-7 minute walk to food court at worst.

I am still happy with my choice because it is a sneaky, "lets do as cheap a trip as we can whilst still staying on property" trip but I do have a couple of concerns.

1. Will Movie food court be busier because of work next door?

2. Will Movie resort be busier than normal because people choose it over Music because of the work?

I have also found out that US free dining starts quite soon after I arrive and this includes value resorts which might put even more strain on the reduced All Star food courts.

These things won't spoil my trip but I might have made different choices if I'd known about them both in advance.

that's what i'm worried about - that the food court at movies will be terribly crowded since people can just trek over from music.

but POR/POFQ are $700 more than movies even after i upgraded it from free QS to regular dining. $700 is a lot of money for a young couple.

by the way, it seems as if they're pretty crowded at all times now..
for the free dining package, only movies/music of the values are available..
and only POR/POFQ for moderates!!

decisions decisions..

 

[disneyholic family]

POR has been proved that you are only a max of 10mins walk to the main building at normal ambling pace from anywhere on resort. We always request a room in the far corner of that resort and its a total myth that its too large and takes forever to get anywhere. The food court is way nicer then POFQ and there are lots of quiet pools. Yes the two resorts sometimes share a bus but when its closing time at the parks they tend to have their own service. TIP The POFQ bus line is always tiny compared to POR at park closing, get on it and walk to POR!

There are bus stops around POR and its worth going to your nearest one if its not the main stop as for some of the routes to the theme parks they go around the back first, then pick up at the main entrance. I can't think at the moment which route these are at the moment.

I think the food court at POP is excellent by the way and do prefer it to POR.

it surprises me to hear that you can walk from the far parts of the resort..
i really find that hard to believe..
we stayed there many times back when it was called dixie landings....back then there was no such thing as preferred rooms, so we were always able to stay in bldg 14 right next to the main building..
but i can't see DD and DSIL being able to walk very far once they're back at the resort..

 

[dixonsontour]

We stayed at all star movies last October on the US deal and upgraded to ddp.

Had a great stay, our second time there.

It's a fun resort and for a young couple mainly in the parks would be fine.

 

[chmurf]

it surprises me to hear that you can walk from the far parts of the resort..
i really find that hard to believe..

you can play around with Google Earth and the path tools, I just did, because I also go preferred at POR to avoid walking (stayed at 14 last year, perfect location) and I was curious about the walking time from remote buildings.

What I found out stunned me a bit, as there is never more than 600 yards from a building to the entrance of the food court, no matter where you are in the resort.

600yds = .35 mile

the average walking speed of an adult being somewhere between 2.5 and 3mph, a slow pace would be like 2mph, so quite surprisingly, from the figures a guest should never have to walk more than 10 minutes, at a slow pace, to go from their building to the food court. Most of the buildings offering a less than 5 minutes walking time ... I wouldn't have bet a penny on that ...

 

[shazzaz]

I have stayed at POR twice and music once. Riversides food court is the best I've seen and obviously the rooms are bigger being a moderate resort. The buses can be a bit crowded and queues long when the parks just close however if you think smart just jump on either riverside or French quarter bus as they are only 10 minutes walk away, we did this a lot. There are several bus stops around the complex but the main buildig picks up first a lot of the time.

Do think about the upgrading on the dining plan as we are going to carribean beach this year and have opted for just paying the table service meals as extra which is saving us a lot of money.

Also the complex is big but we never had preferred room and it was never a problem, actually it was nice to just stroll around.

Hope this helps

 

[disneyholic family]

you can play around with Google Earth and the path tools, I just did, because I also go preferred at POR to avoid walking (stayed at 14 last year, perfect location) and I was curious about the walking time from remote buildings.

What I found out stunned me a bit, as there is never more than 600 yards from a building to the entrance of the food court, no matter where you are in the resort.

600yds = .35 mile

the average walking speed of an adult being somewhere between 2.5 and 3mph, a slow pace would be like 2mph, so quite surprisingly, from the figures a guest should never have to walk more than 10 minutes, at a slow pace, to go from their building to the food court. Most of the buildings offering a less than 5 minutes walking time ... I wouldn't have bet a penny on that ...

wow!! that is surprising!!!! although a third of a mile is pretty far if all you want to do is fill up your mug...

well...in the end, i booked POR, a royal room....
but now i might have to change their reservation to march..
so i might have to switch from the US free dining to the UK free dining...

it would mean getting a stardard POR room for slightly more than the royal room in the package i have booked now..
not nearly as nice and even for a bit more money..
but still it's a possibility..

now i have to figure out how to book a UK package...
i've only bought UK tickets before, not a package..
i'll have to book through a TA, since we don't live in one of the countries permitted to book online....very annoying..