Which Value Resort and Why?

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Hi! I'd like to get everyone's opinion about their favorite value resort and why it is that one? Also, what is the best section to stay in at your favorite resort (want to be near bus stop and food court as we are NOT renting a car)?

I am planning two WDW trips for 2006- one in November which will be 9 nights and one in May for three nights. It will be my mom, me and three young kids. Mainly, I want a clean room (you always get that at WDW) that has easy access to transportation to the parks.

Thanks!

 

[boomhauer]

All Star Movies.

All Stars are ALL more Disney than Pop Century. Movies however, is the most Disney of all.

Has the biggest food court of the All Stars.

Bus service is execllent, and when it gets crowded, Movies will have it's own bus. Each time I've stayed at Pop, we had long waits for buses and had to stand.

Most importantly, it's the atmosphere. Even when back at the hotel, you feel like you're still at Disney. Pop doesn't really feel that way.

 

[DisneyGeek2000]

My favorites are Pop Century and All-Star Music.

We do like to be close also to the main buildings, so we spend the extra for the preferred buildings (Calypso at Music, 60's at Pop)

The Jazz building at ASMu is still pretty close while not being preferred.

Michael

 

[minnie61650]

Try the All Stars!

I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite.It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Clypso building. It is closer to the pool,food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay .
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland.
All Star Movies has pop up fountains now also.
The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 5 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
I know we did!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

All Star Music is my favorite, but if I were traveling with kids I would stay at the Movies section. Good food courts, good transportation, nice pools, and great theming. I haven't stay at POP, but there are always so many people waiting at that bus stop at the parks.

 

[bigmac5]

That's 5 of you. I think you will have to get two rooms, as values have a max of 4 per room. We got two rooms but our boys are 11, 13 and 14, so we liked the extra space and not to mention 2 bathrooms and 2 tv's.You could get a room at POR and get a trundle. Trundles are for kid under 9, I believe.

 

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Thanks everyone for some great input. I think I am leaning towards Movies. I want to feel like I am still at Disney. My kids love Toy Story so I would want to stay in that section- is it possible to request a section and what are the chances of actually getting a room (well, two connecting rooms) in that section.

How is POP compared to Movies when it comes to the buses?

 

[bigmac5]

You will be guarrenteed connecting rooms with the ages of the kids. Be sure to ask for connecting rooms.(not adjoining rooms)

 

[Stitch1404]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I stayed at All-Star Sports 4 years ago and it shared buses with Music and Movies as well. I remember this being a problem as buses were always full and we rarely got a seat. I stayed at Pop last May and LOVED it. Even though I mostly stay at Deluxe resorts, I found myself beyond thrilled at what I got from Pop considering how much cheper it was. I am now not sure if I could justify booking a deluxe after how much I loved Pop. I thought the atmosphere was amazing, the bus service was excellent (only had to stand once on the way back from MK after Wishes), and I just got a really good Disney feeling when I was there. I would HIGHLY recommend Pop, but I think it all comes down to personal preference since the rooms at all values are more or less identical. If your kids really love Toy Story, you might want to go for Movies, but my vote is for Pop!

 

[Ride Junkie]

DH and I stayed at All-Star Music last year and loved it! It was pretty quiet - which may or may not matter to you with 3 kids. Even if you stay in one of the buildings in back of the resort, it's not that far of a walk to food court / buses. But there should be no problem getting a close building - there are lots of rooms. The Movies resort does look really cute - the kids would probably like that one best.

 

[Mcmouse]

I like Pop Century the best! I do like the ASMo the best of the three All Stars resorts, but POP is better IMHO.
I really like the 60's section pool area. The food court is pretty good and the bus doesn't share with other resorts (as the All Stars do).

Be warned that the rooms are a bit snug (small), but all the Value resorts are the same size.

Mike

 

[bigmac5]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I stayed at All-Star Sports 4 years ago and it shared buses with Music and Movies as well. I remember this being a problem as buses were always full and we rarely got a seat. I stayed at Pop last May and LOVED it. Even though I mostly stay at Deluxe resorts, I found myself beyond thrilled at what I got from Pop considering how much cheper it was. I am now not sure if I could justify booking a deluxe after how much I loved Pop. I thought the atmosphere was amazing, the bus service was excellent (only had to stand once on the way back from MK after Wishes), and I just got a really good Disney feeling when I was there. I would HIGHLY recommend Pop, but I think it all comes down to personal preference since the rooms at all values are more or less identical. If your kids really love Toy Story, you might want to go for Movies, but my vote is for Pop!

Often Sports and Music share, howerver when we were there the end of Aug/first of Sept. Sports almost always had its own bus going to the parks. On the way back we shared with music. Movies seemed to always have its' own bus all the time

 

[minnie61650]

Often Sports and Music share, howerver when we were there the end of Aug/first of Sept. Sports almost always had its own bus going to the parks. On the way back we shared with music. Movies seemed to always have its' own bus all the time

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING:

It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

 

[slduck]

If you have Toy Story Fan then All Star Movies is a must! We stayed in the upper section near the playground and that was a perfect location. The Dalmation builing is close to the food court/bus stop too.

 

[boomhauer]

Thanks everyone for some great input. I think I am leaning towards Movies. I want to feel like I am still at Disney. My kids love Toy Story so I would want to stay in that section- is it possible to request a section and what are the chances of actually getting a room (well, two connecting rooms) in that section.

How is POP compared to Movies when it comes to the buses?

If you want to feel like you are still at Disney, then hands down, stay at All Star Movies. You are IMMERSED in it. I didn't feel that way at all at Pop.

Both resorts have LOTS of buses servicing them. The problem with Pop is, there are so many people staying there, you generally have to wait for at least 2 or 3 buses to get on in the morning, and at night - Forget about it. You'll be waiting a good 30 minutes. Plus, you'll find yourself standing an awful lot.

Don't believe this nonsense about All Stars sharing buses. I've stayed there several times, and I always use the buses. I think I've stopped at the other All Stars about a total of 5 times. At night, you almost always get your own bus. Also, when staying at Movies, when you get picked up, you go right to the parks. Trust me - You won't know the difference.

 

[spiceycat]

I love the Pop.

the lake - I love water views. the all stars don't have a lake the pop does.

I like the building in the 50 section.

I like the food court. It has a frozen coke with the free mugs. the all star didn't when I stayed in them.

and last but probably the best for me - Lady and the Tramp was the first Disney movie I remember seeing as a child.

so staying in a place that has BIG Icons of Lady and the Tramp - well I will also love Pop Century.

 

[jtdl]

We stayed at Pop during what was supposed to be one of the least crowded times of the year, 5 days of which were spent in the parks, using the bus system. The only time we got a seat on the bus is if we arrived at the bus stop at Pop just as another bus was pulling out and on the way back, only if we stayed at the front of the line, let people bypass us and waited for the next bus. We had DS3 with us who was usually sleeping on the way back, so at least one of us had to have a seat. At the evening EMH at MK we waited well over an hour for a bus. Our line went well past the All Star lines - their buses were waiting at the stops for more people! I, personally, did not like Pop, I found there were just too many people packed into too small a space. I have stayed at ASMu and the only place I found it to be crowded was at the main pool. I know one night at Epcot there was a long line at the bus stop and after one regular bus left they sent a huge transport truck-type bus and I think most everybody fit in it. I have never since seen one of those - but Pop sure does need one!

 

[spiceycat]

sorry you had problems at the Pop.

I have stayed there 3 times - use only their buses and I haven't.

I can generally walk up to the bus stop and within 10 minutes most of the time less there is a bus.

 

[boomhauer]

I experienced the same problems at Pop. Got out fo the Magic Kingdom after Wishes one night and waited close to an hour for a bus as well. Never had that much of a probelm at All Stars.

 

[disneynewbee]

I love the movies!!!! The dalmation and toy story buildings are very close to the food court without being preferred and extra $. We never had any problems with the buses. We shared with the other all stars I think mabe 3 times on a two wk vacation and it was not a busy time of year. When it is busy I'm sure they share even less. We are staying there on our next visit too- the kids won't have it any other way. The main pool did get crouded sometimes but when that happened we just headed over to the other pool that was near empty. No matter what I don't think you could make a bad choice, they are all great. We went to several deluxe and moderates to eat and while they are beautiful they are the type of place me and dh would go on a romantic vacation alone, the values provided more of what the kiddies wanted.