Which Value Resort Should We Choose?

[Momoftwo9598]

Me, my husband and two children will be driving from Pennsylvania in June for my kids first trip to Disney World. I can't decide which value resort to choose. I was wondering if some of you could give me some recommendations. My daughter will be 9 years old and my son will be 6 when we are at Disney. We will be there for 6 nights. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Also we would like a room that would be close to a bus stop. Maybe someone could help with that too.

 

[stemikger]

I will be staying at the Pop Century with my nine year old. It's a brand new resort and it looks like they improved some things from the All Stars.

Good Luck.

P.S. no matter which one you choose I'm sure you will get pleanty of the Disney Magic.

 

[ripleysmom]

I've stayed at ASMu and was pretty impressed by it. I don't think you can go wrong whichever one you choose although I would probably choose Pop Century as well since it is newer.

 

[Magic2000]

We've only stayed at the All Star Movies for the value resorts, and we really enjoyed our stays there!! My little one LOVES this resort - in fact, when we stayed at the Grand Floridian, she kept asking to go to the Movies!

We've stayed in the Love Bug and 101 Dalmations (twice), and both areas are a very short walk to the bus stop/food court!! And our rooms were very quiet - we never heard our neighbors!

The Toy Story area is also really cute!!!

 

[Melann]

My BF and I stayed at AllStarSp, and I saw lots of kids there having fun! There were alot of kids in the courtyard trying to kick fieldgoals, and just running around (nothing disturbing though).
The resort was clean, and we had no problems during our stay! Be sure to get those refillable mugs!!

We stayed in the Touchdown Hall # 7, which was close to the foodcourt and busstops...whichever hotel you pick, try and look at a map to see which is closest!

We also drove from PA (Philly)...we stopped at a great hotel in Brunswick, GA on our way down (Red Roof Inn $55 for the nite, close to restaurants, etc)

Have fun!

 

[DisneyMin]

I'd suggest Pop Century. Its brand new. We just stayed there last week,and really liked it. The food court was very nice,and the arcade was really big. My kids (4&7)liked it. They also don't share a bus with any other resorts. We never waited more than 3-4 minutes for a bus. The 60's bldg is the preferred bldg,,its closer to the main pool/food court/busses. Its $10 extra a night. We stayed in the 80's bldg,but it was maybe a 3-4 minute walk to those areas. They have a neat outdoor twister game,and squirting flowers,and a playground area near the 70's bldg. The way the bldgs are shaped,,it also depends-you could be in the 80's and be close to teh bus,,or be at the other end and be further. It was nice,clean,new,,and thats where i'd stay!

 

[siac]

Pop Century is new, food court very good.
cool play ground and pools.

 

[FlyToDis1]

9 and 6 yesr old you need to stay at the movies it is a great resort and lots of disney large statues ot the dalmations, buzz lightyear etc. I found it to be much better then sports and movies
and would think pop century would not be as much fun for them

 

[jerseygirl17]

I agree- the ASMo was awesome - we stayed at the toy story building, in fact right next to woody- very cute and the pool is very nice. I thought the rooms were cool too (but how much time do you really stay in the room?!) I think I would definately stay there again when we go on our next trip! Have fun

 

[MAC3]

Although Music is my favorite (first one we ever stayed at), I would suggest Movies or Pop for your little ones!

 

[TerryU.]

We stay at All Star Sports. I always request the football area because it is by the main building, food court, busses. It sits in between the two pools. It is not considered a perferred area, but it is a short walk.

 

[lillygator]

POP POP POP!!!

 

[JKanownik]

I would go with one of the Allstar resorts as they seem more character oriented to me. DH and I always stay at ASMu because of the low rates during value season. If they offered the same discount at the other value resorts, I would probably rather stay at the ASMo because of the movie theme. It is more "Disney" to me.

 

[susy]

POP does have some characters and giant Play doh!!!! Check out the pictures at wdwig.com

The room decor was much nicer than the AS adn teh resort does not share buses-soemthing to consider in the sweltering heat. POp is more centrally located and is newer. I have stayed at ASMo, ASSp, and POP. The AS just don't compare. Over that many nights, I would pay the extra $10 for the preferred section.

 

[susy]

Another thing to consider in summer is that POP has three pools, not two.

 

[mecook]

10/1999 - 6 nights at Music in the Jazz section, courtyard view. Fine except for passersby that are coming in late.
Didn't hear next-door neighbors.

10/2003 - 7 nights at Movies in the Dalmation section, courtyard view. Same comments. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Movies for the theming. Very Disneyesque. Worst for bus pickup since busses get full at Sports, or Sports and Music, then go on.

3/2004 - 3 nights at Sports in the Hoops section, courtyard view.
Same comments for the most part, but the Spring Breakers (college) and high school ball teams were out in force. We had some below and down from us, but the CM at check-in said that I didn't really want a room on the backside of Football like I had requested. I saw the reason why....that's where the majority of the young people were. As for Football, I'd heard that kids and adults would try to play on the courtyard field, so that's why I requested the back of the building. In Hoops, I thought..."how many people travel with a basketball in their luggage or car, so who'll be trying to play with a 4-story tall hoop?" Believe me, they tried with the little MM balls AND with the MM little footballs!
Bounce, bounce, bounce...
Bus service was the best here because the busses come empty and you get to sit UNLESS it is afternoon and people are coming home. Then you have to stand until you dump the Music and Movies folks off.

 

[Chris Sullivan]

Were heading to All-Star Sports in July.....My wife and I, three boys (9,7, and 5), and three grandparents....any tips?

 

[Momoftwo9598]

I finally booked our room. We will be staying 5 nights at Pop Century. We wanted to stay at all star Movies but with the code I got from mousesavers they didn't have any rooms so we went with Pop Century so we could get the cheaper price. I also booked two nights at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Studios.

We are so excited. We will be at Disney from June 12-16 and at Universal June 17-18.

 

[lindajo]

We stayed at the ASMo resort in December 2003. After staying in moderate and (at a deep discount) a deluxe in the past, I must say that this resort had just as much attention to detail as the more costly ones. For the little kiddies, I would suggest you stay at the Toy Story part of the resort. (You can request it when you place your reservation) We stayed right alongside the 5-story Buzz Lightyear, and we overlooked Andy's bedroom. It was so magical, it touched my heart every morning. The kids can climb on some of the giant toys in Andy's room, so it is a great place to work off some nervous energy before heading to the nearby bustop. All of the Value resorts are configured so that you do not have to walk more than a few minutes to get to the bus stops, food court, pool, lobby, etc. On one of our "off" days we walked from the ASMo resort to the other All Star resorts, and checked them out for future reference. (the surfing theme at the
AS sports got a big thumbs up!) We returned in January 2004 (Wilderness Campground with Grandma and Grandpa) and drove over to the Pop Century to see what that was like. Although the kids liked all the big oversized things, I agree with a previous poster, they don't really get it. But every one of the Value resorts was imaginative as only Disney can do it. My only complaint was that none of the pools had a water slide in it, which is something my 6 year old loves. The room was a bit smaller than the moderate/deluxe resorts, but we were only in the room for sleeping anyway. I am so glad that the folks at Disney built these Value resorts for families on a budget without sacrificing the magical attention to service that we have come to rely on. You may be paying a smaller price for a room, but you are still treated like a first class guest! (I guess, I have never actually stayed at the GF, which I figure would actually be first class!) Have a good trip!

 

[ead79]

I have stayed at All Star Music and Pop Century. We preferred Pop Century, though both resorts were fine. I love Pop's theming and the overall atmosphere. I really enjoyed touring the resort to see how they had decorated for each decade. Plus, I think it has some small improvements over the All Stars since it's a newer resort (for example, the curtains are on seperate tracks so they overlap and no light gets through). Really I think any of them would be very fun though.