Trying to Decide... POP, CSR, other?

[TheDisneyCampers]

Tentatively planning a trip for April 2019 (prior to Easter) and need some help!

We've done several long trips over the past 8 years, most recently 10 days in April/May 2017. ALL of our prior trips have been camping in a large 5th wheel at Fort Wilderness, as we love being able to sleep in our own beds, grill, etc. It's also always been a larger group of us- 6-10 people on 2-3 campsites. (I'll really miss Fort Wilderness!)

For our next trip, I'm thinking it will be just us girls (66, 36, and 7). Since I haven't stayed at a Disney resort hotel since the late 1980s, I have no idea where to stay. Deluxe is out of the budget. I'd rather spend less on the room and more on fun things like Early Morning Magic. I'm considering Pop Century for a value or Coronado Springs for a moderate. Are the Little Mermaid standards at AoA decent? I'm also considering renting DVC, maybe at AKLV, but don't really have a great understanding of that process yet.

Any advice from the pros?

Thanks!!

 

[Shellyb84]

How long is your trip, and will you be spending time at the resort or mostly at the parks?

 

[TheDisneyCampers]

We are looking at Sun-Fri (flexible, 4-6 days-ish). We will spend more time at the parks than the resort, although we may take a couple of short pool breaks.

 

[buzznina]

POP will be done with it's refurb so all rooms will have queen beds, which (to us) is a big plus over the other value resorts, including the Mermaid rooms, and would be the less expensive option. We personally like the mods for their theme, pool slide, hot tubs... and the more relaxing feel. Renting points you would have to get a studio )to stay in the same price bracket as a Mod resort) and they only have 1 queen bed and then a pullout sofa, which may or may not matter. But that resort is fantastic and very unique to stay at.

 

[loves to dive]

I'd go CS, the rooms are a tad larger than POP and the public areas a little less noisy and crowded. The main pool has a hot tub so if one of the adults wanted to spend a little time there while the other watched the kiddo, bonus. We love the restaurants at CS and it's just a peaceful resort. As far as renting points, you pretty much have to either do it through a broker, which in most cases you are going to have to pay for in advance and there is no cancelling or from an individual and you run the risk of getting taken. They book up pretty fast so you usually need to rent them at least 7 months in advance.

 

[Shellyb84]

I honestly have a hard time recommending one over the other! We love both Pop and CSR. Those are our favorite value and moderate. We love the grounds, theme and pools at both. I think the biggest negative is that the rooms at Pop may feel a little tight. We are a group of 3 (me, DH and DD8) and they feel a little cramped by day 3. The new rooms do have queen beds and the sliding barn door for the sink area which is great for some privacy. The rooms are adorable and are a little more appealing for the kiddos. If you go with CSR you would have double sinks and a nicer pool with a slide and a hot tub. Also more dining options if you decide to eat at the resort. Covered bus stops are also a plus for moderates. You just have to think about if the extras like double sinks, pool slide, hot tub and covered bus stop is worth the price difference.

 

[TheDisneyCampers]

Thanks for all of your help!

What about transportation for these resorts? While staying at the Fort, we’ve always relied exclusively on the boat to MK and the buses to other parks, and only rarely had to share with wilderness lodge. We’ve never experienced any issues or long waits with the buses as others have. Do both Pop and CSR have dedicated buses or do they share with other resorts? Would we possibly experience lengthy delays due to full buses at either Pop or CSR?

I’m fine with a studio if we wind up doing AKLV. It will be me, my mom, and my daughter, so we don’t mind being a bit cramped!

 

[Accidental Magpie]

Not sure of the progress on the construction at CSR, but it was a lovely stay last August. The food was very good, the room was lovely, and the pool was terrific.

 

[Shellyb84]

Thanks for all of your help!

What about transportation for these resorts? While staying at the Fort, we’ve always relied exclusively on the boat to MK and the buses to other parks, and only rarely had to share with wilderness lodge. We’ve never experienced any issues or long waits with the buses as others have. Do both Pop and CSR have dedicated buses or do they share with other resorts? Would we possibly experience lengthy delays due to full buses at either Pop or CSR?

I’m fine with a studio if we wind up doing AKLV. It will be me, my mom, and my daughter, so we don’t mind being a bit cramped!

They do not share with any other resorts. There could be delays and bus issues at any resort. Last time we stayed at the Fort we had terrible bus service actually. We've always had great experience with buses at CSR, while I've read others haven't. We haven't used the buses at Pop very often, but when we did we didn't have any issues.

I don't know the first thing about renting points, but we did stay in a standard room at Jambo house last June and loved it!

 

[pixiegoose]

Having stayed at both Pop and CSR, we prefer CSR. We’ve never had issues with buses and just prefer the resort overall. Pop isn’t our favorite but we’d certainly stay there again if that’s what the budget called for.

If you’re interested in renting points, you’ll need to decide SOON so you can get your request in to one of the rental sites just before the 11 month mark, which greatly increases the odds of getting what you want. We’re renting (from a friend) for the first time for our December trip, so I researched ALL the things! The biggest thing to remember is that you’re renting from an owner (either directly or indirectly, if using a rental site), not Disney. As such, you don’t have control over your reservation and the same cancellation policies don’t apply. Everything must be done through the owner and payment in full is generally required at the time of booking. You can have the Disney dining plan added, if you desire, but again, payment in full would be required at the time it’s added and it can only be added by the owner. You would also need to purchase tickets separately, either directly from Disney or from a third party (we got ours from AAA). There is also not daily mousekeeping if you’re staying dvc- there’s now trash service every day, clean towels on day 4, and complete clean on day 8. You can request daily cleaning/towels but there is a daily charge for those ($30ish/day, I think).

 

[HopperFan]

We are looking at Sun-Fri (flexible, 4-6 days-ish). We will spend more time at the parks than the resort, although we may take a couple of short pool breaks.

POP. The rooms will be done with 2 Queen beds, the 7 year old will love the Disney touches and you'll have that extra money to spend on fun stuff.

I've stayed there as long as 12 days and it was fine!

POP and CSR are our favorite value & moderate.

I just booked POP for 4 nights in September. I could have gotten CSR for only $50 more per night but that $200 is paying for our MNSSHP tickets. We too are mostly in the parks or resting/sleeping in the room. Beds were more important than all the hotel extras this trip.