Why do you love the values?

[Minerva]

I had planned to stay at AS Sports for our first night because it will still be the expensive Tgiving prices but then switch to WL for the last 6 nights of our stay. I may not be able to do that now because I was laid off from my job 2 months earlier than I had hoped I would be this spring. I can still afford a moderate but I don't think I want to do one because of the distance from the buildings to the main building. I wanted WL so that I would feel more comfortable letting my kids go to the arcade or to fill up their mugs without me but I just don't think I will be comfortable with them doing that at a moderate. At a value I'll be able to get a preferred building so it won't be so far and once I'm sure they know the way I may be comfortable letting them out of my sight for a half hour or so at a time as long as they are together. If we end up at a value we'll either just stay at Sports or move to Pop. I really didn't want to spend 7 nights at either of them so now I need some people who love the values to convince me I'll survive without the relaxing theming of WL or POR and tell me why they love it at Sports or Pop.

 

[timandlesley]

We LOVE POP. It is such a fun resort. Great pools, great food, great atmosphere. You really don't need a preferred. Some of the buildings in 70's and 50's are closer to the food court that the preferred 60's section, check out the map in the POP thread. We loved it as a family of four and will be returning this summer to POP. Transportation was very efficient as well.

Lesley

 

[Evil Queen]

Me, personally, I don't have money for "other" resorts, but that's just me......

Plus my DS 8 LOVES them!!!

 

[elosoloco]

Great value for your money. Allows our family to plan more character dinners and breakfasts. Also frees up more money for souvenirs. The decor is wonderful. My kids love The POP century and Allstar Movies the best.

 

[the kabuki]

Love the values, never stay anywhere else, the price is just too good. Skip the preferred building, you won't need it at POP, ask for a 50's or 70's bldg. and you'll be just as close, in some cases closer than the preferred.
For as much as you're in your room, I just can't see spending so much $$ on the mods or deluxe's

 

[CamColt]

We have only stayed at ASSP and ASMO for the values, but we love them! The theming is great! If your kids are sports fans, they should love just walking around and checking out all the icons.
We love the convenience of a food court for our picky eaters and the bus service has always been great for us at values.
We have found CMs to be just as friendly and helpful as the CMS at moderates and deluxes. We also dont find the rooms to be that much smaller than the moderates.

 

[newholidayx2]

we can extend our vacation!
our 9night vacation became 14nights

 

[disneyjunkie]

I love POP. You can't beat the price. The bus service is great. You can see some of the fireworks from the resort. The foodcourt has something for everyone.

I'm looking forward to returning to PC next month.

 

[Controversy]

I'm staying at POP the first and last night of my upcoming May trip and even though I don't like the rooms enough to spend my whole trip there, I adore the busy atmosphere, food court, and just everything about it! It's so Disney and I can't imagine WDW without it- it seems like yesterday everyone was making fun of it when it was under construction

 

[henrylovespooh]

We just got back from an 8 night stay at ASMo yesterday - me, DH and our 2 and 3 year old kids. This was our first stay at a value resort, and our previous stays had been at WL, CSR, the Swan and Poly. I liked ASMo and would do it again.

Having read the boards and UG, I was prepared for a tiny room and braced myself when I opened the door. I had already told my husband that if we hated it we could try to transfer. But that was not the case. I didn't feel the room was small at all - it worked for our family just fine. In fact, other than a double sink, the room didn't seem any bigger to me than the other rooms we stayed in.

We don't spend much time in the room or at the resort. We're out of the room around 7 or 8 a.m. depending on what park is having EMH and we sometimes come back for a nap for the kids (staying 1-2 hours), and then we're back out for dinner and return in time for the kids' bedtime at 8 or 9 p.m.

The kids loved the theming at ASMo and so did I. We didn't walk all around the resort, but the giant Buzz and Woody characters in our section were awesome. They had a great playground for the kids and a nice kiddie pool as well as a big pool in our area. I thought the food court was really good - lots of variety to suit everyone's needs. Burger, shicken sandwiches, salads, good pastries and cookies. Lots of beverage choices. Great alcoholic drinks for DH and I at the pool bar. The gift shop was large and had lots of cool stuff.

Mousekeeping for our room was outstanding. Being in the Toy Story building, we were pretty close to the food court and bus stop - no complaints about that at all.

Transportation-wise, we never had any problems with the buses. They came quite frequently and we never waited more than 5 minutes at the resort for a bus and no more than 10 minutes at a park. Ride times to the parks from ASMo were not long at all like I had imagined. We also liked the convenience of taking a taxi to AKL from ASMo to hang out and eat at Boma. The fare was only $7.

I would say that if my kids were older, I might wait for a code and get two adjoining rooms instead of trying to all stay in one room. I can see it being cramped for a family of four with pre-teens or teens. But if you get a code for $59, getting two rooms isn't bad at all.

Sure, I love the Poly and having seen AKL I would love to stay there too. The restaurants at both are outstanding and they have activities for the kids. But when I go to WDW, we go to the parks so I'm not sure the extra money spent on the hotel would be worth it.

That's my two cents.

 

[Minerva]

Thank you all for the encouragement. I'm sure my kids will be happy no matter where we stay and I'll be happy to be out of IL in the late fall for a week no matter where we stay. LOL It's nice to know I don't need to go with a preferred building. I'm not wild about the theme of either of them at either Sports or Pop so it would help to be able to pick another one too!