What's Your Favorite Value Resort?

[Dani314]

Leaning toward All-Star Sports or Music and Art of Animation. I've never stayed at a resort before - only off site, so I'm pretty excited. There's so much information to take in. The hope is to stay for a week and in the park for 4 days. I want to make the most of the time we are not in the parks and utilize the amenities offered. Also, are all of these outdoor entry? Anymore helpful info regarding resort stays for this first-timer would be greatly appreciated also!

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I'm pretty sure all of the values are outside entry. I've stayed at All-Star Movies and Pop Century. Both were comfortable rooms with decent food courts, cool theming, and good value for the price. The pools were just okay, no slides or hot tubs, etc. You'll have to stay at a moderate for a better pool. For better amenities in general, you really do want to look at a moderate like Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, etc.

I suppose the Skyliner access at Pop and AoA could be nice, the bus lines can be dismal.

The general consensus is that All-Star Sports is frequently the cheapest and is more likely to be filled with youth teams (roving bands of 15 year old hooligans). But I've seen teams at other values and some moderates as well.

EDIT - Forgot to answer the most important question. Favorite. I really do like All-Star Movies. The Fantasia wings surrounding the main pool are so pretty. The food court is really tolerable, especially for breakfast. The movie theme really appeals to me. If you don't plan to spend a bunch of time in your room, it's great bang for the buck.

 

[Shellbells]

By far POP is our favorite value. We like the new rooms, queen beds and the skyliner. The view of the lake is nice too.
If I HAD to choose an All-star it would be a preferred room at Movies since they renovated the rooms.
Unless we needed a suite I wouldn't pick AoA because the mermaid rooms are so far away from everything. Although, once their done with the renovation and they all have queen beds and more outlets/usb ports I might consider it. The resort itself is super cute.

Yes, all values have outside entry. I think the cheapest inside entry would be the tower at Coronado.

 

[CastAStone]

Leaning toward All-Star Sports or Music and Art of Animation. I've never stayed at a resort before - only off site, so I'm pretty excited. There's so much information to take in. The hope is to stay for a week and in the park for 4 days. I want to make the most of the time we are not in the parks and utilize the amenities offered. Also, are all of these outdoor entry? Anymore helpful info regarding resort stays for this first-timer would be greatly appreciated also!

They started a project to put Queen beds in all of the Value rooms a couple years ago. Anything not renovated has Double (AKA full) size beds. Here is the status:
Pop - Completed 2018
All Star Movies - Completed 2019
Art of Animation - 1 of 3 Little Mermaid buildings (Standard rooms) are complete. All Family Suites are complete.
All Star Music - 3 of 10 buildings are complete
All Star Sports - not started

Pop, All Star Movies, All Star Music, and All Star Sports are all getting the same renovation with a murphy-style bed (with a real mattress) that has a large table underneath. The rooms to me look identical between Pop, Movies, and Music, save for like the picture on the wall and the fabric on the chairs.

The renovated Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation are more of a traditional Disney setup with a small separate table and are MUCH more themed than the others. If you want fun and cute in your room to me there's no question that you pick Art of Animation. That said the standard rooms are all a bit of a walk to the lobby and bus stop. All Star Movies has basically no bad rooms - the ones that are farthest from the All Star Movies lobby and bus stop are really close to the All Star Music lobby and bus stop. It would be my pick if you are looking to save a few more dollars.

 

[Helvetica]

All-Star Movies is my personal favorite. It's fully refurbished, I like the theme the best, the layout is the least spread out of all the values, and I really like the secret burger. Also if you get a standard room at Mighty Ducks, the walk to the bus stop at Music is shorter than the walk to the one at Movies, so that's a good option.

Music has the least rooms (due to the suites) and it's partially refurbished, but the resort layout is a long line so it can be a really long walk if you get a standard at the back of the resort. Sports is usually the cheapest, but they haven't started refurbishment yet and it's the most likely to have large groups (they're normally fine). The Little Mermaid Rooms are very expensive, partially refurbished and they're very much out of the way. The theme is really cute, so if you're a Little Mermaid fan it's fine so long as you keep that in mind.

I know people prefer Pop over Movies because the resort itself is newer and nicer, but the rooms are the same and Pop has more rooms than Movies. The Skyliner may be worth the difference in price to you, but I'd rather save the money and use an Uber when I find it necessary. I just personally prefer Movies over Pop.

 

[Sue M]

Pop would be my pic for a value.

 

[Dani314]

I'm pretty sure all of the values are outside entry. I've stayed at All-Star Movies and Pop Century. Both were comfortable rooms with decent food courts, cool theming, and good value for the price. The pools were just okay, no slides or hot tubs, etc. You'll have to stay at a moderate for a better pool. For better amenities in general, you really do want to look at a moderate like Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, etc.

I suppose the Skyliner access at Pop and AoA could be nice, the bus lines can be dismal.

The general consensus is that All-Star Sports is frequently the cheapest and is more likely to be filled with youth teams (roving bands of 15 year old hooligans). But I've seen teams at other values and some moderates as well.

EDIT - Forgot to answer the most important question. Favorite. I really do like All-Star Movies. The Fantasia wings surrounding the main pool are so pretty. The food court is really tolerable, especially for breakfast. The movie theme really appeals to me. If you don't plan to spend a bunch of time in your room, it's great bang for the buck.

Ahhh perfect! I didn't even think about travel youth teams, so may be taking sports out of the running. Thank you!

 

[Dani314]

By far POP is our favorite value. We like the new rooms, queen beds and the skyliner. The view of the lake is nice too.
If I HAD to choose an All-star it would be a preferred room at Movies since they renovated the rooms.
Unless we needed a suite I wouldn't pick AoA because the mermaid rooms are so far away from everything. Although, once their done with the renovation and they all have queen beds and more outlets/usb ports I might consider it. The resort itself is super cute.

Yes, all values have outside entry. I think the cheapest inside entry would be the tower at Coronado.

Perfect! I've been comparing resorts for the past couple of days so when the pkgs are released I have a bit of a hunch of what we want. But figured I'd post and hear from the people who've stayed there. I'll check out Coronado though! Thanks

 

[hes122]

I've only ever stayed at Pop, but I love it and would recommend it to anyone. I stayed twice before the renovations and once after. You can't beat having access to the Skyliner.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I vote POP preferred pool ! The SkyLiner is a bonus too!

 

[mamamelody2]

I have stayed at AoA, POP, and Sports. I liked them all. AoA has the cutest grounds and the best pool. Skyliner was great! However, the Little Mermaid rooms are FAR from the pool/buses/food court and it is the most expensive. Of Sports and Music, Music is more spread out so if you have a standard room, you can be very far away. We had a standard Sports room and were very close to buses it was awesome! I've stayed twice at POP and really enjoyed it. Skyliner was not yet running but that would be a big plus.

Now, if price is important to you (it very much is for us) All Stars are cheapest, then POP, then AoA. For example we are currently booked August 6-15. Here is the rack rate for a standard room on those dates: Sports $155, POP $195, AoA $233. We need two rooms, so we are definitely doing Sports as it saves a ton of money. I checked for the week after Christmas and it was Sports $214, POP $276, AoA had no Little Mermaid rooms available but I'm sure over $300. Ouch.

Just to let you know, we were very happy with the bus service at all three resorts. POP and AoA bus stops are usually farthest away from the park gates so it's a looooonnnngg walk after a long day! During slow times of the day, all three All Stars will share a bus. Sports is the first stop which is a big plus.

 

[sheilafri]

Ahhh perfect! I didn't even think about travel youth teams, so may be taking sports out of the running. Thank you!

Stayed at Sports in November and wasn’t impressed—tired decor, dated layout, crowded lobby and frenetic food court. I am, however, more of an off-site person. Stayed 10 years ago at a moderate, POFQ, and liked it better.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

Ahhh perfect! I didn't even think about travel youth teams, so may be taking sports out of the running. Thank you!

Also, the 15s like to stay at values. I have encountered them at both All Star Music ( my favorite All Star because it was our first stay and the main pool is a little more interesting) and Pop Century, during July.

 

[WelshMorgan92]

stayed at all but movies and it's POP all day!

 

[garris3404]

Another vote for Pop Century

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Our favorite is Pop. We have stayed there 5 times over the years and also a few times at Music. However, the price difference between Pop and AOA, because of the skyliner, really stands out as compared to the All Stars. Last time I checked for our dates it was around $35 Pop and $50 AOA more per night for the same room category vs at All Stars.

 

[Abigail Broughton]

Pop Century!

 

[mickeymom22]

I have stayed at all of them except Sports.

We have stayed at Movies twice and both times we were in Building 2 in the Mighty Ducks section. It is an awesome location. It is so close to the Music resort it could be considered "preferred" for its bus stop. We used the Music bus stop to go to the parks and used either resort bus to get back to the room when leaving the parks...whichever one showed up first. The renovation of the Movies rooms is super! I really liked being able to put one bed up and the queen sized beds. The theming at Movies is so much fun...love the Toy Story section for theming.

We didn't care for our Pop stay. There were sport teams there and they were running wild all around the resort.

When we stayed at Music, we got some pixie dust and they upgraded us to a family suite. It was great to be that close to everything. Originally, they had us in the Country section, and I felt like we had walked all the way to Miami by the time we got back to our room. If you choose this resort, request NO Country section room!

Art of Animation has totally awesome theming. The Nemo pool is one of the best. We stayed in the Little Mermaid section and it is a walk from the main lobby, but you get to walk through the Lion King section so it makes it fun.

For cost, I would go for the Movies and request to stay in the Mighty Ducks section!

I would carve out time to visit the Art of Animation to see the theming and take an animation class during some down time, but I wouldn't feel it necessary to stay there.

Happy Planning!

 

[buzznina]

Once the Skyliner opened POP jumped ahead of ASMO. We really like AOA but not until their prices come in line with at least POP.

 

[Dug720]

If you choose this resort, request NO Country section room!

Better to make a proactive request - like pick a section and request that. It's far too easy for them to miss "No" or "Not" and assume that is what you want.