im not sure how much of a help ill be, since im in a similar situation. I originally booked POP for my upcoming stay with my BF, we just went on a cruise and i havent been to disney in 6 years, he in 15 so when i looked at a value resort stay the price was just too good to be true..so we booked it. Then i got to thinking and lurking around the boards...and i came to the decision that as much as i believe the value resorts are great ( i stayed at ASMu once) im more of a mod. girl and im trying POR this time around, for amount of money, my increase is about $525 for the 8 days we are going, i think its worth it, i feel lits much more emersed in the experience, im excited for the boatride to DTD, the theme is more exciting to me....everything basically is just more exciting to me. The savings is huge, and im still kind of torn about spending the money since cash flow is always an issue with me, but i want to have the best time possible and if spending it at a slightly higher priced resort is going to make my stay more pleasant i think its well worth the money spent, so you really need to think if spending the money on the resort is something worth it to you, or is the resort just a place to toss your head at night. if you can spend it, i would totally say go for it...but if you are trying to make it on a smaller budget then POP may be the best choice....whichever you end up with i hope you have a fantastic trip
oh and ps hahah on the busses, i have heard horror stories with pop, another reason i happily changed