Pop Century vs All Star Movies

[tmills]

We are going for a 3 day trip in late January & wanted everyone's opinion on which resort, Pop or Movies. We've stayed at Pop for a week & only at Movies for a night. It will be me, my dh, and my 10 year old ds. Does Movies have its on buses now or do they still share with the other All Star resorts? Thanks for your help/input.

 

[Babsy]

We prefer Pop Century, although All Star Movies is fun too. Pop Century is across the Bridge from AoA which is nice for the second food court and unique theming. We also prefer the decor in Pop, which is a personal preference thing, I know. Having the lake is also very pleasant to walk along or even to just enjoy for the view.

None of the advantages are big deals and we happily stay at either one, but we give the edge to POP when choosing a value resort most of the time.

 

[stinkpickle]

We prefer Pop Century, although All Star Movies is fun too. Pop Century is across the Bridge from AoA which is nice for the second food court and unique theming. We also prefer the decor in Pop, which is a personal preference thing, I know. Having the lake is also very pleasant to walk along or even to just enjoy for the view.

None of the advantages are big deals and we happily stay at either one, but we give the edge to POP when choosing a value resort most of the time.

Ditto.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I've stayed at both resorts several times. If you are only there for 3 days the resort doesn't make much difference, IMO, as you probably won't be spending any time there. The All Stars do share buses OCCASSIONALLY but most often they are dedicated buses.

Personally, I prefer the themes at the All Stars over POP.

 

[Pmlocke]

I to have stayed at both POP and All Stars. it drives me nuts when I read comments that the All Stars share buses. They do not share until the quiet time in the afternoon. If you stay at Movies, you would be the last pick up so there would be no noticible difference. Also, at that time there are usually only a few people on the bus so you don't need to worry about standing. When the ridership starts to escalate, the buses go back to direct routes. As for accomodations, POP has 2880 rooms while Movies and Sports have 1920 and Music has 1604. Put 2 persons in each room and you can see why I now stay at Music. Less crowds in the food court, the gift shop, the bus lines, the check in line, the concierge line, and in the pools.

 

[DM Minnie]

I to have stayed at both POP and All Stars. it drives me nuts when I read comments that the All Stars share buses. They do not share until the quiet time in the afternoon. If you stay at Movies, you would be the last pick up so there would be no noticible difference. Also, at that time there are usually only a few people on the bus so you don't need to worry about standing. When the ridership starts to escalate, the buses go back to direct routes. As for accomodations, POP has 2880 rooms while Movies and Sports have 1920 and Music has 1604. Put 2 persons in each room and you can see why I now stay at Music. Less crowds in the food court, the gift shop, the bus lines, the check in line, the concierge line, and in the pools.

We stayed at movies last year and yes they share buses beyond the quiet time in the afternoons. I really liked the hotel but did not like the bus situation at all. I had read the boards before going and knew they shared buses but thought it was just in the afternoon and was bummed when it was at night and in mornings as well. Movies was the last stop so it added a lot of time to our day and we started taking our car as the week went on.

 

[maxiesmom]

We stayed at movies last year and yes they share buses beyond the quiet time in the afternoons. I really liked the hotel but did not like the bus situation at all. I had read the boards before going and knew they shared buses but thought it was just in the afternoon and was bummed when it was at night and in mornings as well. Movies was the last stop so it added a lot of time to our day and we started taking our car as the week went on.

I am sorry you ran into so much sharing. I've stayed at the All Stars many times, and very rarely shared a bus with the other All Star resorts. but I'm not sure how the buses being shared could have added a lot of time, as the resorts are all right next to each other. A few minutes, definitely. Maybe 10 minutes a trip tops. Btw, Movies being the last stop on the way to the parks would actually make your travel time quicker heading out. So there is a perk!

My one gripe with Pop is that their bus stop at the parks is typically the one the farthest out. It became a joke during our stay to head to the stop the farthest out it was bound to be Pops! And it was!

 

[DM Minnie]

I am sorry you ran into so much sharing. I've stayed at the All Stars many times, and very rarely shared a bus with the other All Star resorts. but I'm not sure how the buses being shared could have added a lot of time, as the resorts are all right next to each other. A few minutes, definitely. Maybe 10 minutes a trip tops. Btw, Movies being the last stop on the way to the parks would actually make your travel time quicker heading out. So there is a perk!

My one gripe with Pop is that their bus stop at the parks is typically the one the farthest out. It became a joke during our stay to head to the stop the farthest out it was bound to be Pops! And it was!

They added about 20mins at night on top of travel time. Yes great being last pick up on the way there in the morning but at night with a full standing room bus is not fun when 2 resorts need to exit the bus and people need to rearrange to allow people to freely move off the bus. I like everyone exiting the bus at once at one stop way more!!

 

[SweetMissy]

I like both resorts. Hubby prefers Pop and I prefer Movies. Yes, Movies shares the buses but I really never noticed much difference....takes an extra few minutes, no biggie.

 

[photo_chick]

Neither. Art of Animation. We've done Pop and All Stars both and they were good, but we love AoA. Most of the time there was no bus sharing at All Stars when we were there, but we only go during the summer.

 

[karalecia26]

They don't always share even in The quiet of the middle of the day and there is no one else in line! We just got back from a stay at ASSports and my son and I had a double long bus to ourselves on our way to Magic Kingdom. We felt like we had a private ride!

 

[Pmlocke]

We stayed at movies last year and yes they share buses beyond the quiet time in the afternoons. I really liked the hotel but did not like the bus situation at all. I had read the boards before going and knew they shared buses but thought it was just in the afternoon and was bummed when it was at night and in mornings as well. Movies was the last stop so it added a lot of time to our day and we started taking our car as the week went on.

I too am sorry you had so many problems with the bus situation. Like everyone on this site, I can only relate from personal experiances. This year in February (we travel every year in February) we only shared one time in the eight days we were down there. Last year we shared twice. I don't know why they differ from month to month.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Tough call, as they're both great resorts! I'll give a slight edge to pop for the lake...lakeview rooms are sooo pretty. Plus i like to walk over to AoA sometimes. Although, I do find the bus service at the all stars to be a bit quicker going from the parks to the resorts. For some reason they ran a bit more frequent than pop did. And yes, during my trip a couple months ago the 3 all-star resorts did share buses sometime going to the parks. It wasnt too bad though.

And yes, i hate the fact that the bus stops at pop are always the last one. Lol.

OP, they're both wonderful resorts. I'd have a hard time deciding between the two. But most likely i'd go with Pop.

 

[stinkpickle]

I think the bus sharing happens more often during the slower seasons. When we stayed at Movies, the buses were almost full already by the time we could get on. I could count the dedicated buses we rode on one hand.