[disyady]

We are staying at a value resort for the very first time next August. It is for the first 4 nights of an 8 night trip and we chose ASMu because the rooms there will be newly refurbished. I didn't choose POP because the theming didn't appeal to me as much (bowling pins, computers, etc. compared to ASMu which has Beauty and the Beast, Maestro Mickey's, etc.). There have been a couple of polls on other boards which show that POP is favored FAR more than the AllStars and I'm wondering why. Is it the food court, the bus service - what? If it isn't anything that would impact the enjoyment of our trip I will stick with ASMu for the newly refurbished rooms and more Disneyish theme. Am I thinking this to death? Any thoughts from someone more sane than me? Thanks in advance.

[Cavey]

There's more to the theming. Each decade has movie theming from that time period. Here's MY thoughts in order of importance:

1. PC does NOT get large groups of kids, like the AS resorts. It's families, not school groups with a 1-10 supervision ratio (or whatever is required).

2. PC has its own bus. The three AS resorts share the same bus line, which means more stops before reaching your destination (and fuller buses).

3. PC is in a different county. Tax rates will save you about $10/night at PC.

Of course, refurbished rooms are definately a selling point for your decision.

[Erin]

Yeah, everything Cavey said, plus the Pop is just better.

[Cavey]

Originally Posted by Erin

Yeah, everything Cavey said....

I've trained you so well. Have a treat.

[Soundgod]

Originally Posted by Cavey

PC has its own bus. The three AS resorts share the same bus line, which means more stops before reaching your destination (and fuller buses).

This is a little trickier than that. MGM has a shared bus for all three All Star resorts. Magic Kingdom is one per resort, not shared. Epcot, I'm not sure this second, but again, I think each resort has it's own bus. The water parks, DTD, and AK are all shared.
Generally, Cavey's correct that the three resorts, more often than not share buses. This is Dana's argument for AKLodge as well.
But even deluxe resorts share buses, the 5 Epcots share one or two buses to all areas and the three monorail resorts also share buses to MGM, AKL, DTD, and waterparks.

[Dana]

Someone just got back from ASMU and wasn't happy with it..the rooms smelled musty or smoky...something like that. I would go with pop if I had to choose a value. For the AKL reason of not sharing a bus. I like that there is one bus for just that resort..however, that place has serious capacity and there are a lot of people for that one bus...just sayin. Also, for the reason caver said, PC will save you a few bucks on the tax, no school groups which is a tad overwhelming when you just want to kick back and chill from the parks, and it's still fairly new. The customer service gets excellent reviews at PC too. There are many reasons to choose PC. The icons are just things to look at. The ones at music are just as big and just as obnoxious...lol I preferred movies over my stay at music when I did the the all stars a couple of times. I thought the movies was a bit more fun to look at then music, but that's just my opinion.

[vlogilvie]

I stayed at Pop in Oct and it exceeded my expectations. The room was nice and comfortable, it was very clean. We were in the 50's area nearer to the food court which was very good. The theming was fun, and overall I was very satisfied with what I got at a value price. I didn't know about the tax thing, so thankyou Cavey for mentioning that. I would highly recommend Pop, in fact we are staying there again in Januarary.

[dznygrl]

I have not stayed at Pop (or ASMu for that matter, just ASMo) but every review I have read on this board has convinced me that Pop far exceeds the All-Stars for cleanliness and convenience.

I have heard nothing but raves about Pop, whereas there seem to have been quite a few people disappointed with the All-Stars within the last year or two. That makes me sad, because we loved ASMo, but it has been 3+ years since I was in WDW and I imagine a lot could have changed since then!!

[LURK]

Originally Posted by Cavey

3. PC is in a different county. Tax rates will save you about $10/night at PC.

Isn't the tax savings more like a dollar per night?

[KingOMiami]

DW and I have stayed at both without a shadow of a doubt, PC is way better. As others have mentioned, PC is newer and the fact that it is families that are there as opposed to groups means it is alot quieter. I did not know about the tax deal, to be honest both stays cost the same amount so that was not a factor.

Once we have stayed at all the Value (Sports in Dec and maybe Movies in Feb.), we will pretty much stick with PC for our future trips.

Oh yes, feel free to read my reviews on PC and ASMu here...

Pop Century
http://www.mousebuzz.com/forum/revie...oduct/41/cat/8

All Star Music
http://www.mousebuzz.com/forum/revie...oduct/43/cat/8

[skwak]

Originally Posted by Dana

Someone just got back from ASMU and wasn't happy with it..the rooms smelled musty or smoky...something like that. I would go with pop if I had to choose a value. For the AKL reason of not sharing a bus. I like that there is one bus for just that resort..however, that place has serious capacity and there are a lot of people for that one bus...just sayin. Also, for the reason caver said, PC will save you a few bucks on the tax, no school groups which is a tad overwhelming when you just want to kick back and chill from the parks, and it's still fairly new. The customer service gets excellent reviews at PC too. There are many reasons to choose PC. The icons are just things to look at. The ones at music are just as big and just as obnoxious...lol I preferred movies over my stay at music when I did the the all stars a couple of times. I thought the movies was a bit more fun to look at then music, but that's just my opinion.

That would be me. Having stayed at both, I would pick POP hands down for all kinds of reasons like those previously described.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by skwak

That would be me. Having stayed at both, I would pick POP hands down for all kinds of reasons like those previously described.

I thought it was you, but wasn't positive...I was to lazy to look it up..lol thanks for clearing that up.

[chris5568]

$10 a night, or the whole trip? I thought the tax rate was only a percent or so different.

Originally Posted by Cavey

There's more to the theming. Each decade has movie theming from that time period. Here's MY thoughts in order of importance:

1. PC does NOT get large groups of kids, like the AS resorts. It's families, not school groups with a 1-10 supervision ratio (or whatever is required).

2. PC has its own bus. The three AS resorts share the same bus line, which means more stops before reaching your destination (and fuller buses).

3. PC is in a different county. Tax rates will save you about $10/night at PC.

Of course, refurbished rooms are definately a selling point for your decision.

[FireAngel]

Hands down PC

I it because of the theme and all the dif pools and open space....

[softychik]

We stayed at a value resort for the first time! We stayed at PC and we enjoyed it. We where glad we stayed there b/c all the AS were together on one us.