help me chose a value resort

[drdrowsy]

About us: husband/wife, 2 kids 9 and 7. Usually visit every 2 years for a BLOW OUT trip, stay for 10 or 11 days on rented DVC points at a monorail resort, do "everything," did that in January.

Now we have the opportunity to be in the area for in october for just a couple of days and want to do the opposite, have a very small, focused, "low cost" trip-- plan on staying 3 nights, one day at DHS for Starwars, one day for MNSSHP (no park during the day), probably visit disney springs, resort pool.

Target hotels are All-Star Sports and Pop. Never stayed at either before, although have stayed at Musc years ago and found it to be fine. Sports is $30 cheaper per night, but i like that Pop will have Skyliner (hopefully) by the time of the trip. Also kind of concerned about bus service from sports to/from Disney Springs, and very late night back from MNSSHP. I'm also pretty sure that Pop will be significantly busier-- there's a competition at ESPN and i noticed that POP was the preferred resort hotel for it.

Help! Thanks

 

[CastAStone]

All Star Sports has double beds (for now). Pop (and All Star Movies) has Queen beds. Kids your kids age may prefer the food court at All Star Sports, which is more traditional.

Buses will be more or less the same at either. All Star Sports shares buses sometimes but not in the morning or after a party. This changed for the better several years ago.

Skyliner is promised to open 9/29 and a lot of folks seem to think that they’ll beat that.

I’d stay at POP if those were the 2 options because of the beds. But that’s me.

 

[igrsod]

I agree with @CastAStone . I would stay at POP. The small extra cost would be worth it for bigger beds, the skyliner and I just like the vibe of POP better as well.

 

[mamamelody2]

In your situation, I'd do POP, for the reasons PPs have said. Especially Skyliner and the updated rooms with queen beds.

 

[tstein12]

POP is our favorite of the Value resorts. Plus, POP has been recently renovated and All-Star Sports has not been yet.

 

[AZBronco]

I booked a room for 2020 at POP after looking at several value resorts. Recently renovated rooms, bigger beds, new food court with generally good reviews, skyliner, all were benefits of Pop.

 

[supitscarrie]

Pop is my favorite of the values and one of my favorites overall.

I've stayed during ESPN Wide World of Sports event weekends before and never found it to be any worse/busier than other times. You might just notice there being huge groups because they'll be in matching outfits, but given that the resort operates at close to capacity every other night of the year as well, it's not as though there's actually more people around. The resort pools are nice and the feature pool always has activities happening around it as well that'll be good for the kids.

I've always found that Pop has reliable bus service. Returning from party nights has never been a problem - buses are usually super quick! I also find that the bus to/from Disney Springs is also consistent and reliable.

 

[tguz]

I will also say POP. Just got back from there and loved it, same as last Summer. The beds were great. Skyliner a plus.

 

[a1tinkfans]

If I had to choose, pop

 

[Sarahleigh]

Pop for all the reasons mentioned above. We've always been fans of Pop even before the room refurbishments and addition of the Skyliner.

 

[drdrowsy]

thanks everyone. I was leaning towards Pop, didn't expect it to be unanimous!

 

[elbarto007]

I would go with POP. Beds are bigger and busses more numerous. All resorts will be crowded because of SWGE and MNSSHP. Have fun!

 

[Redarrow5150]

POP. Also you can cross over and use the cafeteria at AoA which does have a better menu selection.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

thanks everyone. I was leaning towards Pop, didn't expect it to be unanimous!

I'll keep it unanimous, but I just wanted to add that of the queen beds at Pop, one is a Murphy bed. I've slept on that one and it is just as comfortable as the other.

But, as an additional benefit you may also enjoy having more space to move around with the bed up during the day.

 

[drdrowsy]

I'll keep it unanimous, but I just wanted to add that of the queen beds at Pop, one is a Murphy bed. I've slept on that one and it is just as comfortable as the other.

But, as an additional benefit you may also enjoy having more space to move around with the bed up during the day.

Last couple of times we stayed on points at BLT, love the location, the views and the room, but the second bed there is a double pull out couch. A queen-sized murphy bed is an upgrade!

 

[Lewisc]

I'd pay the extra 30. No question pop is better. The question is how much extra is a guest willing to pay.

 

[sharadoc]

I love the All Stars. Pop has like 700 more rooms than an All-Star. Also with the All-Stars you can have 6 pools, 3 food courts, and lots of bus options. If you're at Sports and you just missed a Sports bus, you can grab a Music bus and walk across the parking lot. Less people jockeying for the spot on the bus at an All-Star due to less rooms especially at park closing. I know people feel the difference but it's only 6 inches between a full or queen.

More people at the food court, bus stop, pools at Pop vs. an All-Star. I feel the All-Stars are more intimate. Just overall like them as the value choice.

 

[poppinsmomof2]

POP is our favorite between that and the All Stars. Especially with the Skyline opening on 9/29, I think you will really enjoy it!

 

[mickeymom22]

We had the worst experience with other guests when we stayed at Pop. Parents were letting children run around and play baseball unsupervised while they hung out in a room with their red solo cups. They continually were putting trash in the stairwells. The poor CMs were trying their hardest to keep up with the mess. We also saw two people back their cars into other cars in the parking lot and just keep going.

We haven't gone back since. We haven't stayed at ASSp, but we have stayed at ASMo and ASMu. We got a room in the Mighty Duck section of ASMo. It was so close to the ASMu bus stop and food court. It was like a preferred room! When we stayed at ASMu we were blessed with some pixie dust and they upgraded us to a family suite.

So just from my personal experiences, I would give ASSp a try, but I do see the benefits of the bigger beds and skyliner at Pop.

I hope you have a magical time!

 

[Markal]

As everyone else has said, I also would stay at Pop. Enjoy your visit!