Just stumbled upon this PTR. Sound like you have a great trip planned!
We are also planning a September trip. Well, 8/29-9/7. We are staying at POP. DH and I stayed there November 2017 and loved it. Basically we are staying there again this year as I would be really disappointed if we stayed at an All Star and the gondola happened to be open by our dates. Not planning on it, but just in case.
We stayed at All Star Sports last Labor Day week with our boys. It was great! We really loved it! I was concerned because some people are really down on the All Stars, but we had no issues. Great bus service. Longest wait was 15 minutes once, but usually 5 or less. Loved our room! Standard room, but it was only 2 minutes from the bus and pretty much totally silent. Pool was never crowded even though it was super hot when we were there. They would usually throw in some beach balls for people to use, and we never had a problem getting our hands on one. My plan was to pretty much never eat in the food court, but my boys had different ideas, so we ended up having dinner there like 5 times. We were happy with the choices and never had to wait too long to order. Tables were plentiful and that was with part of the food court being renovated. That was at 6PM, though. After the parks closed, at 10 or 11 PM that place was crazy! LOL. Our 15 year old used an air mattress. Plenty of room for it to be placed and not have to ever move it. In POP, an air mattress would have to be kind of wedged partially under a bed and would need to be put away during the day if you want to be able to walk through the room.
Anyway, I hope you guys have a great trip!