Stayed at Movies twice - convince me of POP?

[eveandlo]

I am a creature of habit. We have been to WDW twice, and both times stayed at Movies. I LOVE it there because it screams Disney. I love the larger than life characters, and the whole feel. There is no doubt you are at Disney. I would love to do a suite at AofA, but it won't be for this year (unless we could get a regular room).

That being said, I am considering changing it up and trying Pop. I am just scared, as I know we loved Movies. Anything to consider that would put me over the fear and book Pop instead?

Any pictures, advice, convincing would be appreciated! I have looked at a lot of threads, I just can't seem to make the leap. But I also want to try to get out of my comfort zone, lol.

 

[scidawg]

We have stayed at both. First trip was at Movies in the Buzz Lightyear building, then a couple of stays at POR. We then did Pop for budgetary purposes, and I really liked it. There is still plenty of Disney feel and I thought the location/proximity to parks was better than ASM.

 

[eveandlo]

We have stayed at both. First trip was at Movies in the Buzz Lightyear building, then a couple of stays at POR. We then did Pop for budgetary purposes, and I really liked it. There is still plenty of Disney feel and I thought the location/proximity to parks was better than ASM.

Thanks for your response! That's is what might sway me. It seems a nice location...

 

[WillowBelle]

We've stayed at both multiple times. Pop is where our hearts are. I love the music, the feeling of the place, the pools. They don't share busses. There is definitely Disney theming throughout.

 

[photos_101]

We have stayed at both. I think our first trip years ago was at Movies. My kids were 3yo & 6yo and they loved it. Next trip we stayed at POP and we have stayed there several times since. We just love the fun feel of pop and the rooms were newer and nicer it seemed.

Doesn't Movies have to share a bus with the other all-stars? That is one thing we have thought about last couple of times. I know pop has it's own bus so wait times may be less.

One of our favorite things about pop now is the bridge over to AOA. My kids are much older now but we still like to walk over to AOA and look around. We were at POP last week and requested a room at the end of 50/60's building so we could walk over the bridge quickly. We had an awesome room, ground floor right in front of the kiddie pool (closed for remodel) so it was only like 2 doors away from the bridge.

I am pretty sure any kid would love AOA. We stayed in the Little mermaid rooms in Dec and they were great! Although they are actually a further walk to the AOA foodcourt than our room at pop was. lol

There are quite a few disney statues at pop like there are at movies.

We are actually moving on to a Mod. resort next trip simply because with our two kids (16 and 20) the rooms are just too small for us now. But DH and I did not have a problem when we went on our adult only trip last week.

Picking out the resort is a chore for me, I can never decide. lol I want to stay at them all!!

 

[dpswift]

We are the opposite. Many stays at POP, one at movies and one AoA. Of the three my favorite was AoA. Dh and I booked a weekend at the movies for free dining and now I am getting scared. I loved the Movies the friendly cast members, the gift shop where my little one could play with the castle, until the last day Herbie the love bug was there. Overall it was a great trip. Now I am reading about long bus waits and I wonder if I should switch.

The POP is great and my kids love it there. It has a walkway called memory lane that has facts about the different decades. Other than that it is just a bigger Movies. Another plus is that you can walk to AoA which for a value is amazing. Going back to the room at night the bus waits for POP can be long and I do not like the fact that they fill them beyond capacity. That is the only drawback for POP that I can think of. If you are assigned to the 80s or 90s there is a short cut to the buses.


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[ls3015]

Best thing, is to jump on a Pop bus and go to the resort, set in the food court, go set by the pool, walk the grounds and see who you feel about it, it may be possible to transfer back over to the Movies if you don't care for the Pop.

 

[Nohal]

We have stayed at both. I liked them both but Movies is my favorite. I like the fact that the resort is smaller. At the end of a long day less walking to get to my room is a plus. Pop is bigger and more spread out. Also you may have your own bus but that doesn't mean that you will get on the one that shows up because there are lots of people in line for that bus. You have stayed at Movies before so you know that sharing a bus with the other All Stars only happens occasionally. If you aren't sure about Pop book Movies and take the bus to Pop. You may decide to book your next vacation there.

 

[carly chloe]

I agree- maybe you should check it out fist. 1,000 more people at that resort. Food court is a little better but very crowded. or just go for it and if you don't like it- next time go back to movies!! You never know!!

 

[blondie_k21]

I prefer Movies. It was nice not sharing a bus at Pop, but the resort felt bigger and more spread out to me. Maybe that's just me though. I just didn't get the 'hype' for Pop, but I'd have no issue staying there again if Movies wasn't available. I the theming just didn't do anything for me. Definitely stop over there and take a look to get a feel for what your family would prefer. :

 

[rachel09985]

I love Pop! Especially good because it is so close to AoA. You can walk over and tour Art of Animation and eat there also.

Pop is getting a little outdated but still better than the All Stars.

 

[Nohal]

I love Pop! Especially good because it is so close to AoA. You can walk over and tour Art of Animation and eat there also.

Pop is getting a little outdated but still better than the All Stars.

Just curious if you have ever stayed at the All Stars.

 

[polyfor4]

I haven't stayed at movies in years but I have very fond memories of it. We stayed at Pop our drive in day last year and it was just okay- I would rather be at movies or AoA with more over the top Disney. Pop is getting dated, I use to want to stay there over all stars because it was newer but thats not really the case any more. Every time I get cold feet about trying a new resort, I usually end up wishing I had stayed at my favorites. It's definitely a catch 22 though because you don't know until you try it.

 

[ToddyLu]

We stayed at Movies our first few trips then switched to Pop. DH and I do not have children so I think we liked the decades theming at Pop. They are more similar than different. I feel the bus waits are the same. I believe the gift shop and food court are bigger at Pop. I really do not see the difference in either. We always try to get a room on third floor towards the back of resort where it is quiet. I think you and your DH will enjoy the theming of Pop for a change. It is fun to try something new and then jog back to the old reliable the next year.


You are at Disney, there really is no wrong resort.

Maybe stay one night at Pop--first night--and see if you like it for other trips.

 

[cheesemouse]

Hands down, stay at Pop! The dedicated bus service is so worth it!

 

[eveandlo]

Thanks for all the food for thought... I might be ready for a veering out of the comfort zone. It will be great no matter what. This will be our first time at the World during peak season. Exciting!

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Yes POP of course...Someone else said it....POP has heart that the All stars don't.....another reason i haven't (besides all the great things about POP) it is also a bridge walk away from AOA, not only can you enjoy all that is POP but you can talk a walk over and enjoy AOA (besides the big pool)

 

[magicbob]

I'll chime in for the minority. We prefer ASMo to POP. Nothing against POP, but the "icons" respresenting the different eras, just seem too generic and not related to Disney. What we love about ASMo is that the place oozes Disney! Buzz and Woody, Sorcerer Mickey, 101 Dalmations, etc. Give me that over a Rubik's Cube and a bowling pin any day.

I haven't stayed there yet, but AoA looks amazing. If we do another value stay, that's almost certainly where I would pick. Again, it just screams Disney to me... Little Mermaid, Nemo, Lion King, and Cars. I'll take that over a Walkman or a Yo-Yo in a heartbeat.

The other thing that's a bit of a let down about POP, is that is "unfinished." The second half of the century was abandoned (and eventually re-purposed for AoA). So it's really the "Pop HALF Century" resort.

 

[trishadono]

I am a creature of habit. We have been to WDW twice, and both times stayed at Movies. I LOVE it there because it screams Disney. I love the larger than life characters, and the whole feel. There is no doubt you are at Disney. I would love to do a suite at AofA, but it won't be for this year (unless we could get a regular room).

That being said, I am considering changing it up and trying Pop. I am just scared, as I know we loved Movies. Anything to consider that would put me over the fear and book Pop instead?

Any pictures, advice, convincing would be appreciated! I have looked at a lot of threads, I just can't seem to make the leap. But I also want to try to get out of my comfort zone, lol.

My kids loved the Puppy Hotel aka/ASM until they tried POP! I agree with most responses about bus service. The resort is just very conveniently located. What I haven't seen listed is one of my grown up favorite things, the fact that POP has a lake! Sometimes I just sit on a bench near the water and it is very peaceful. I got to stay there nov '12 and was happy to finally get to cross the bridge to AoA. One day my aunt and I took bus from MK to AOA and walked around then across bridge back to our hotel. That was a nice benefit.
If possible when you check in ask for a room facing lake. I have done that a few times and very nice. Also POP has 3 pools and we loved to do 20 minute rotations and walk from one pool to the other. I really could go on and on. I have stayed at POP 7 times and ASM 4 and love both so either way at Disney so all good.

 

[brockash]

I am a creature of habit. We have been to WDW twice, and both times stayed at Movies. I LOVE it there because it screams Disney. I love the larger than life characters, and the whole feel. There is no doubt you are at Disney. I would love to do a suite at AofA, but it won't be for this year (unless we could get a regular room).

That being said, I am considering changing it up and trying Pop. I am just scared, as I know we loved Movies. Anything to consider that would put me over the fear and book Pop instead?

Any pictures, advice, convincing would be appreciated! I have looked at a lot of threads, I just can't seem to make the leap. But I also want to try to get out of my comfort zone, lol.

We've stayed at both (ASMo twice and Pop once), and we prefer ASMo. Pop just doesn't seem Disneyish like ASMo's does. We love feeling totally immersed in the Disney feel, and Pop just doesn't do it for us. I remember checking into Pop, and they were playing a Diana Ross song. Don't get me wrong I like the song, but it's not what I want to hear while I'm at Disney. We're going back to ASMo's this year!

The only plus to Pop, for us, was the bus system. They don't share and I'm not gonna lie, that was nice, but apparently not nice enough for us to give up ASMo's lol. We also prefer the food court at ASMo's and the fact that the resort isn't as big as Pop.