Your best value resort secret?

[Darkside]

Ok, value resort experts. Is there a value resort you must stay at? Maybe for a particular reason? Section that is better or maybe a food court item or maybe pool that is better? Looking for some insider secret to the value resorts?

 

[diznymom]

Our favorite is AS Sports. I have boys, I'm the only girl, so I got outvoted. My boys love sports.

We stayed in the baseball section the first time. It seemed a bit far from the main blg and food court. We loved it. It was quiet and relaxing. There was a little "garden" area outside our room, and a little bunny rabbit was in there every morning.

 

[maxiesmom]

Whatever value you chose, request your room be on the back side of the building. The noise by the pool is incessant, thanks to the pool parties and the games they play (yell) all day long. Once you round the building, it is blessedly peaceful.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Lake view rooms at Pop are wonderful, We had a corner first floor room overlooking the lake and it really was heavenly. Very quiet, a beautiful view over the lake and at night you could walk over and stand on the bridge that connects Pop and AofA and watch the fireworks in the distance from DHS.

 

[Darkside]

Whatever value you chose, request your room be on the back side of the building. The noise by the pool is incessant, thanks to the pool parties and the games they play (yell) all day long. Once you round the building, it is blessedly peaceful.

Nice tip!

 

[Darkside]

Lake view rooms at Pop are wonderful, We had a corner first floor room overlooking the lake and it really was heavenly. Very quiet, a beautiful view over the lake and at night you could walk over and stand on the bridge that connects Pop and AofA and watch the fireworks in the distance from DHS.

Did not realize Pop and AoA connected?

 

[Pkltm]

We love sports, we enjoy the football buildings and have never had an issue with noise. We find the CMs fabulous (especially at the pool bar), and the transportation excellent.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

We like Pop because it feels pretty well situated for getting around the expanse of the property. AS just seem so far away from everything but AK.

 

[Liberator]

I might be the minority, but we loved the preferred pool view at Pop Century. This is still something like a hidden gem for me because I found a lot of negative comments regarding this category but for us it was just perfect.

Not because of the "view" but because of the proximity to the pool, the bus stop, the check-in and the food court.

These rooms are considered as noisy to very noisy.
In the afternoon you could hear the pool music and activities, not a big deal and not too noisy. At night it was surprisingly quiet.

A very convenient location, I would book this category again when maybe getting back to Pop someday.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Did not realize Pop and AoA connected?

Yes, they are separated by a beautiful lake. Very easy to walk between resorts or even to take the resort bus for the other resort if that one comes first. There is a walking/jogging path around the lake and it is calm and pretty.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Pop is our favorite. We love the lake and the proximity to AoA.

Last trip we had a lake facing room in the 50's and we loved that location. Quiet, but not a far walk to the food court and bus stops. We have also done preferred a couple of times and enjoyed that as well.

 

[joannamet]

Stayed at ASMu last fall and loved the size. Compared to POR it was wonderfully compact even from the farthest building. I would choose the AS resorts again just for that.

 

[1lilspark]

Did not realize Pop and AoA connected?

AOA was originally intended to be a 2nd phase of POP! until the imagineers realized that between the 2 world wars and the great depression a hotel themed around the 1900's-1940's really wouldn't be that magical

 

[EvilQueenT]

My granddaughter (now 12) and I travel alone to wdw pretty frequently and have been since she was 5 so I often just book us at the value resorts. 1 bed each and she's just happy we're at a disney resort. We've stayed at them all at this point including the AoA mermaid rooms, Pop, and all 3 all stars. We don't worry about the theme one way or another anymore and book at which resort has the lowest price but of all of them we like a preferred room at sports. The main pool, food court, buses etc...are all together and the preferred rooms are so close I really like it. Now that she's older either of us can run over to the food court, for example, and I don't feel like we both have to go simply because it's so close. I wouldn't do a mermaid room at AoA again unless I had a total mermaid fanatic in the group. It's soooooo far away from everything, they were the noisiest rooms I've ever stayed in, and the rooms are much higher priced but exactly the same size as pop and the all stars.

 

[tlcdoula]

Great question! I have only been to DW once and we stayed at Pop century in a regular room in the 70s building. Hubby and I are planning a trip the last week in August and are hoping for free dining so we can stay on site. This is an extra trip for us this year so it has to be on a tight budget. I have been trying to decide if we should be looking at the All Stars or go back to Pop, decisions... I was reading that staying at AS Movies and staying in the ducks building is good because you can walk over to AS Music and are closer to the buses etc. Has anyone done this?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Top floor, far from the pools, far from the food court. Ear plugs. And pack your patience.

 

[Disneymom1126]

I might be the minority, but we loved the preferred pool view at Pop Century. This is still something like a hidden gem for me because I found a lot of negative comments regarding this category but for us it was just perfect.

Not because of the "view" but because of the proximity to the pool, the bus stop, the check-in and the food court.

These rooms are considered as noisy to very noisy.
In the afternoon you could hear the pool music and activities, not a big deal and not too noisy. At night it was surprisingly quiet.

A very convenient location, I would book this category again when maybe getting back to Pop someday.

I agree with you! We stayed in preferred pool view at pop (after spending our last trip on the back side, 4th floor furthest from the elevator room at Art of Animation mermaid rooms the year before)..,LOVED the proximity to the pool, lobby, food court, and busses...the walk to Little Mermaid at AoA may not seem bad on day 1...but after a few days of walking all day in the parks, being able
To be so close to the busses at POP was great...we also were on the top floor overlooking where they show the outdoor movie and DD loved that...we watched most of Hocus Pocus last year from our balcony

 

[ADisneyQueen]

One year I asked for a lakeview room in the 60s section of POP and got it. The surprise was that it was 2 doors down from preferred rooms.

 

[MommytoaPrince]

Our families top picks are Pop & Sports!

Things we like about POP:
-They have the best food court out of all of the values, IMO
-We like that it is connected to AOA
-I like the fact that they do not have to share a bus with other hotels (The other values share a bus a lot times)
-Theming
-Our favorite section is the 50's/Bowling Pin section.

Things we like about Sports:
-Theming: I am a mom to boys so I tend to lean with whatever they like. ( If there were a Star Wars themed resort we would be all over that) Our favorite section is the football section. My boys love being able to bring their football and having a little fun on the giant football field.
-Staff: Some of the best CM experiences that we have had have been from the staff at Sports)

 

[KT0191]

If you go with an All Star, buses do sometimes get shared between resorts. It's always been rare for me and usually only happens during the slow time periods during the afternoons. A tip: Sports is first pick up/drop off. So you're always first on the bus and first off the bus (if you do share). It's also pretty small so no matter where you're put, you're not far from the lobby/bus stop.