Value Resort Recommendation

[maddiesdaddy]

Hi. I am looking for a value resort recommendation for our upcoming trip. We have always stayed at either the Grand Floridian or the Contemporary or their corresponding DVC properties. See, when our oldest (now 10) went on her first trip at 4, we stayed on the monorail for ease of naps, strollers, etc. Same for our 2nd (now 7). Then, we were blessed with what was supposed to be our 3rd, but got our 3rd AND 4th ...they are now 2 so, of course, that necessitated a monorail resort.

But, after our trip that ended yesterday , we realized we need to split the kids for a trip. So, next year will be 2 shorter trips, one with the bigs, as we call them, and one with the littles.

2 trips requires some careful planning. And since the bigs will go without a need for monorails or naps, we feel we should stay at a value resort and just enjoy doing full complete days at Disney using the room for sleeping at night.

Now, our bigs love to swim sometimes at night, but we are planning on going to the water parks this trip.. and we plan to eat on the dining plan just because it's easier and our kids love characters and Teppan Edo!

So, we know nothing of the value resorts only because we never needed to research them.

Would love to know people's favorites and things that may make one stand out more than the other. I know that what's 'great' is always subjective, but we are typical Disney lovers and the DIS advice has never failed us.

Thanks.

 

[Disneylover99]

Pop is our favourite value! Buses are great and there is just an energetic, upbeat vibe all around.

AofA is our second favourite value. There is a bridge that connects AofA and Pop so you can easily dine at either Foodcourt or take an AofA bus to one of the parks.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Pop is our favourite value! Buses are great and there is just an energetic, upbeat vibe all around.

AofA is our second favourite value. There is a bridge that connects AofA and Pop so you can easily dine at either Foodcourt or take an AofA bus to one of the parks.

Thanks for the comments. We're already looking at info and getting excited. Planning to call and book tonight. Thanks for commenting.

 

[sbrost13]

We've stayed at AS Movies twice and AOA LM room once. I'd highly recommend AOA. It's a bit of a walk from the LM rooms to the Nemo pool and the food court/bus stops, but we absolutely loved it. The Nemo Pool was a huge hit with our kids (9 & 6). AS Movies was good too, but I won't stay there again unless we're really never planning on being at the resort. We got spoiled with the awesome theming at AOA.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I would get on youtube or allearsnet and look at videos of each of the values. I love doing this, to me its the best way to get a feel for a resort. We have stayed at all of the values (except AoA) and we have enjoyed them all
I have to say Pop is probably my favorite, I love the lake, its more central location (over the All Stars). That said, we do love the All Stars as well. Movies is about as Disney themed as you can get.

Art of Animation looks great, but we need two rooms (or a suite) and the suites at AoA were much higher (like $800 total for our stay) than just getting two rooms at Pop.

There are a lot of great youtube videos of the grounds, food courts and lobbies of each value on youtube. And allearsnet has actual room videos as well.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

We've stayed at AS Movies twice and AOA LM room once. I'd highly recommend AOA. It's a bit of a walk from the LM rooms to the Nemo pool and the food court/bus stops, but we absolutely loved it. The Nemo Pool was a huge hit with our kids (9 & 6). AS Movies was good too, but I won't stay there again unless we're really never planning on being at the resort. We got spoiled with the awesome theming at AOA.

Thanks for the information. Sounds great. We will definitely look into AOA.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

I would get on youtube or allearsnet and look at videos of each of the values. I love doing this, to me its the best way to get a feel for a resort. We have stayed at all of the values (except AoA) and we have enjoyed them all
I have to say Pop is probably my favorite, I love the lake, its more central location (over the All Stars). That said, we do love the All Stars as well. Movies is about as Disney themed as you can get.

Art of Animation looks great, but we need two rooms (or a suite) and the suites at AoA were much higher (like $800 total for our stay) than just getting two rooms at Pop.

There are a lot of great youtube videos of the grounds, food courts and lobbies of each value on youtube. And allearsnet has actual room videos as well.

Thanks for the advice. It's a great idea. We will eventually need a suite for sure, but for now, just a regular room with just the bigs.

Thanks again.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We love all star movies

 

[Steelers5895]

Hi. I am looking for a value resort recommendation for our upcoming trip. We have always stayed at either the Grand Floridian or the Contemporary or their corresponding DVC properties. See, when our oldest (now 10) went on her first trip at 4, we stayed on the monorail for ease of naps, strollers, etc. Same for our 2nd (now 7). Then, we were blessed with what was supposed to be our 3rd, but got our 3rd AND 4th ...they are now 2 so, of course, that necessitated a monorail resort.

But, after our trip that ended yesterday , we realized we need to split the kids for a trip. So, next year will be 2 shorter trips, one with the bigs, as we call them, and one with the littles.

2 trips requires some careful planning. And since the bigs will go without a need for monorails or naps, we feel we should stay at a value resort and just enjoy doing full complete days at Disney using the room for sleeping at night.

Now, our bigs love to swim sometimes at night, but we are planning on going to the water parks this trip.. and we plan to eat on the dining plan just because it's easier and our kids love characters and Teppan Edo!

So, we know nothing of the value resorts only because we never needed to research them.

Would love to know people's favorites and things that may make one stand out more than the other. I know that what's 'great' is always subjective, but we are typical Disney lovers and the DIS advice has never failed us.

Thanks.

we stayed at Pop Century last year in Mid August. The place was great. Rooms were clean. we stayed at French Quarters the year before and were a little concerned with going to the value but we were very happy.

The food court is great, service is great, pools are huge, nice arcade and huge gift shop.

Big issue was the buses. The lines are not under cover so you could stand in the heat for 20+ minutes before you get to the park. They jammed you in which is fine , at least you are on a bus but its uncomfortable. I also noticed that they had no rhyme or reason to the buses. you would see three for Epcot, then for the water parks, 2 more for Epcot then finally Magic Kingdom or 4 straight for Magic Kingdom etc you get what I am trying to say.

we are going back to Disney in 2015, same time frame and Pop is in the mix but we are looking at other options based on busing alone.