which do I choose...Pop or AOA (little mermaid room) in Feb?

[barefootMom]

Hi all,
I have stayed at AOA but never Pop. I thought it was "fine" but this is a choice mostly to stay as frugal as possible on this trip and so it is hard for me to get excited about either one and I want to be! I will be going in February with my two daughters (15 and 18). I guess the main pool at Pop will be closed for refurbishment? We do like to use the pools (yet I would prefer a hot tub!) so I'm not sure if we should care that it is closed? Are the food courts comparable? Thank you!!

 

[DisLiss]

As far as I recall the Little Mermaid rooms are the most expensive standard value resort rooms. I'm sure others will either confirm or set me straight if I'm mistaken. If you previously thought AoA was just "fine", then I wouldn't personally opt to spend more to stay there again if the pool refurb (Just Hippy Dippy, of course, the others will be available.) isn't a deal breaker. I'd probably give Pop a try just to give it a try.

My only other thought, and again, I'm not sure of my facts here, but are the Little Mermaid rooms larger than the the standard Pop rooms or the same size? If they are larger, then that may be one reason to lean towards AoA if you think any amount of extra square footage might be better for you and your girls.

With all of the recent menu changes, I can't really speak to the food court situation, anymore. People have been mentioning Disney making the menus more similar between resorts, so I don't know what special AoA food items still remain---if any.

Have a great trip, whatever you decide!

 

[AllieBoo]

I did a split at POP and AOA in May, and I would choose POP. We were in a Little Mermaid room at AOA, and it was a hike to the main building and bus stops. The rooms were cute, but a little outdated. The renovated POP rooms were a lot nicer to me. We were in the 70's building and it wasn't a long walk to the main pool or food court. For me, there wasn't much difference between the pools at either resort. I prefer a hot tub too, and was disappointed when I found out values don't have them.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I'd pick POP over AOA every time, but to be as frugal as possible I'd pick the All Stars.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I prefer pop over AOA , AOA are cute themed but not worth the price.
We prefer all star movies over pop, you can take the savings and head over to Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[Moliphino]

My only other thought, and again, I'm not sure of my facts here, but are the Little Mermaid rooms larger than the the standard Pop rooms or the same size? If they are larger, then that may be one reason to lean towards AoA if you think any amount of extra square footage might be better for you and your girls.

LM rooms aren't larger (the buildings were built with Pop to be part of the "Legendary Years" and sat unfinished for years until AoA was built), but they still have full beds where Pop has queens so they have more open floor space. Personally, I prefer queen beds to more floor space.

You can use both food courts no matter which resort you stay in. You can also use buses to and from either resort, as it's an easy walk between them.

 

[merry_nbright]

Pop Century!
Recently stayed at the Little Mermaid room at the AoA and HATED every second of it. Everything was run down, the carpets were awful, the shower made me feel claustrophobic, and to top it off, we ended up having a frog in our that ended up dying. Horrible experience and worst I’ve ever had at Disney. The suites might be better, but I highly suggest Pop over AoA.

 

[DisLiss]

LM rooms aren't larger (the buildings were built with Pop to be part of the "Legendary Years" and sat unfinished for years until AoA was built), but they still have full beds where Pop has queens so they have more open floor space. Personally, I prefer queen beds to more floor space.

I did know the backstory, but since they rearranged the space to make suites, I wasn't sure if they kept the standard rooms the same size or not. Thanks for clarifying. Also, I didn't realize they still had double beds. For me that would definitely be a reason to pick Pop. I like to have a queen bed.

 

[Moliphino]

I did know the backstory, but since they rearranged the space to make suites, I wasn't sure if they kept the standard rooms the same size or not. Thanks for clarifying. Also, I didn't realize they still had double beds. For me that would definitely be a reason to pick Pop. I like to have a queen bed.

The buildings with suites are all new. Only the LM buildings (and the main lobby) had been built before the second half of Pop was put on hold.

 

[DisLiss]

The buildings with suites are all new. Only the LM buildings (and the main lobby) had been built before the second half of Pop was put on hold.

Thanks! I apparently need a refresher on Pop & AoA history!

 

[Heather07438]

AoA does have a create-your-own pasta station which is actually better than we expected. Even if you go for Pop, it might be worth it to walk over and check out that food court too.

We've tried AoA and Pop each twice. Since Pop has the newly refurbed rooms I personally would go there even if both resorts were the same price. I like that you can fold one bed up to be out of the way, plus there's room to throw stuff under the beds.

 

[nkereina]

Not to hijack, but how far/long is the walk from AOA Little Mermaid rooms to Pop main building where the food court is?

 

[Heather07438]

AOA Little Mermaid rooms to Pop main building

10 minutes or less. I'd guess about a kilometer or half mile.

 

[unrequited23]

Pop hands down. The remodel has tons of USB ports, queen size beds and nearly double the storage options of a LM room especially in the sink area.

 

[goofyintoronto]

POP for sure!! The rooms are new, fresh, and modern. Love the 2 Queen beds. AoA LM has double beds. Even if you stay at Pop you can still walk over to AoA to take photos and try out their food court.

 

[LizGirl]

The queen beds at Pop seal the deal for me. Sharing a double with my husband is just so uncomfortable.

We stayed LM at AoA a couple of years ago and it was fine for us - no issues but Pop is cheaper and newly renovated.

 

[Mal6586]

After spending a week in a Little Mermaid room last week, I would go Pop for sure. The beds at LM were terrible. I was prepared for the hike, but I was absolutely not prepared for how awful the beds would be. Luckily, it was just my roommate and me, so we didn't have to share them, but the mattress was hard as a rock and squeaked and groaned with every little movement.