Earlier this year I took a mini vacation and stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Recently I toke another mini vacation and I stayed at All Star Movies. Both of these resorts are considered “Value” Resorts. Don’t let the title of ” Value Resort” fool you, both of these hotels are very reasonably priced but they are very well-kept and clean and you get the same level of service that you would in any other standard room on Disney property.
Both of these resorts have a great theme to them and are very child friendly. Children and alot of adults will love the larger than life replicas of your favorite Disney movies at All Star Movies and you can travel thru time at Pop Century. They also have different activites scheduled for everyday so if you want to take a day off from the parks you will still be able to find something to do. Something I thought was funny and a tad bit ironic, the other 2 All Star Resorts show movies at night by the pool but the All Star movies Resort does not.
Here are some of the good and bad from each resort:
- Pop Century is located near Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Pop Century has 5 different theme buildings. 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 90’s. We stayed in the 80’s room and I loved being that I am a child of the 80’s. When you check in be sure to check out the wall in the lobby they have toys and different memorabilia from each decade. Alot of the things you will see will bring back some awesome memories and make your vacation a little more magical.
- All Star Movies is at the very end of the All Star Resort section so it is kind of far out there. It also has 5 different themed buildings. Toy Story, 101 Dalamations, Herbie Love bug, The Mighty Ducks, and Fantasia. I did like the food Court here because it looks like a movie premiere. We stayed in the Toy story room, which does cost extra because it is a “Prefered Room”, I will explain more about that later on. I loved the courtyard of our room because it had larger than life figures of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Rex and Little Bo Peep. I also love how they have Andy’s window and door which are also larger than life so you can get the feel of how a toy sees things. Fun fact: Buzz Lightyear stands at 35 feet tall and Woody stands at 25 feet tall.
Tip: A prefered room means that you are closer to the lobby/food court/gift shop. It doesn’t mean you get a better view. I know this because my Toy Story room overlooked grass and trees. Some people feel this worth the extra $15.00 or so per day and soem do not. If you drive there then it may not be neccesary for you but if you will not have a car then you may feel it is worth it because I hear it can be a fairly long walk from some of the other buildings to the lobby.
- The preferred building in All Star Movies are, Toy Story, Fantasia, and 101 Dalamtions. The prefered buildings at Pop Century are, 60’s, part of 70’s and part of 50’s.
- All Disney resorts have the option of buying the resort refillable mug or if you get the dining plan this will be included. For around $15.00 you can get a mug that you can refill as much as you want with soda, tea, coffee. The free refill offer is only good in your resort. You can not use it in the parks for free refills.
- Each standard room in each of these resorts is 260 square feet. They are the smalled of all the rooms on Disney property but if you will just be sleeping and showering then what more do you need?
- Both food courts we equally as good they both had typical and some not so typical food court food. Ofcourse the food is a little pricey but it is good and that is coming from a picky eater.
- A big downfall of the All Star resorts is that they all share a bus which means that when I stay there I have to drive to the parks. All Star Movies is also the last stop so by the time the bus gets to you it can be beyond full. I have complained about this and I am sure many other people have too. It really doesn’t make sense considering these are all huge resorts and due to the price they are usually pretty packed.
- Pop Century has its own bus line but that is no guarantee that you will find a seat. It does mean that you will proabably less of a wait for a bus.
- Pop Century also has the infamous tie die cheesecake, which is really good and if you have never tried it you must if you will be there.
- Both resorts have themed pools, which I can not elaborate much on because I am not a pool person.
- All Star Movies rooms we recently refurbished so it is nice to get a fairly new room.
- Each resort has an aracade which my daughter loves. The aracades use a swipe card system, which does make it much easier than carrying around a ton of change like when I was a kid.
Tip: Be sure to do online check in 10 days or less before you arrive. You can make requests as far as what building you prefer or any other special requests you need and it makes your check in time much shorter when you arrive.
Overall I would reccomend Pop Century for a few reasons but one big reason, the bed at All star movies was horrible. I could not sleep because I kept waking up in such pain. My mom and daughter agreed. I should point out that I have arthritis and several back problems. I have heard some people love these beds so everyone is different. I loved the Pop Centurys beds. they are pillowtops and let me tell you, you can feel the difference. I like the layout of Pop much better. Another big selling point about Pop is the dedicated bus service, that is big one for me.
Tell us what is your favorite value resort and why?
Sunshine is a Disney fanatic. You will find her counting the days unitl she goes back to Disney, while annoying her daughter with everything Disney.
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Just got back from a week staying at Pop, our first time. We had stayed twice previously at All Star Movies, and liked Pop sooooo much better. The biggest thing for us was not having to share a bus – that is HUGE and reason enough to stay at Pop just for that. But, I did like the beds better and overall it just seemed less chaotic and crowded. We will definitely be returning!
Disney is usually really good at making things right and making sure you have a magical vacation. I agree with you about Pop !!
Many people take the shortcut that you did. so it’s totally ok. I would have done the same thing.
Yes I checked out the beds when I got there and they are pillowtop matresses :). I have only stayed at the value resorts and so far Pop is my favorite. I have a feeling that Art of Animation will be my new favorite after I stay there next year.
We just got back and stayed at the Pop Century. In years past we always stayed at the All Star Resorts but once we found the Pop it was no turning back. When we checked in this time there was a problem with our room being too far from the parking due to my disability they fixed this problem right away by giving us a new room , there were a few other things that were wrong but they fixed everything right away. LOve how they handled everything
We have stayed at POP twice now, and will be heading back for a third time in December. We love POP. It’s the only place my kids want to stay. I’m sure as my kids get bigger we will have to upgrade to the moderate resorts. For now, it’s POP all the way!
Oh my gosh – we could not agree with you more! We couldn’t always afford to stay in a Deluxe Resort and would sometimes stay in Moderates… But my husband and I agreed that we’d rather not go to WDW if we had to stay in an All-Star Resort. And we LOVE Disney World! But that’s how much we dislike the All-Star Resorts. As you said, the list of complaints is long, but most of all, the inconveniences are what really kill The Magic for us. That being said, the All Star Resorts suit a lot of people just fine and I’m grateful that Disney provides a value option on their property. Still, value or not, I think Disney owes it to their guests to provide more buses to those value resorts!
I didn’t know Pop Century had pillowtop mattresses! So, that explains it…anyway we stayed 1 night at Pop Century this past January and then spent a week at Port Orleans (a moderately priced Disney resort) and we preferred the beds at Pop. I’ve stayed at 2 value resorts so far and had great stays both times. Yes, even as nice as the moderately priced resorts. I had a great week long stay at All Star Music too my previous trip, but yeah the beds at POP Century were the best I’ve slept on at any WDW resort so far.
ThE only value resort I’ve stayed at is AS Sports. The All Stars are great, especially for price. You do have to contend with a lot of school groups which makes me cranky:/. Other than that they are clean and adequate. I do pay for preferred so I’m close to the bus stop as they only have one.
We stayed at the all star movies in 2009, husband and 3 boys (5,3,3). We wanted toy story but were put into fantasia. Our rooms were beyond disappointing. The problems we encountered with our rooms and requests are long. We will never stay in another value again. I won’t even recommend them to my friends unless i know they are on an extremely tight budget. The bus service was terrible. The only up side was that as a family of 5 we were guaranteed adjoining rooms. It was nice to be able to put the boys in one room and have time to unwind while they got enough sleep to get up and go the next day. In Jan we stayed in the Yacht Club and the difference was well worth the money we paid!
I stayed in the All Star Movies resort a couple of years ago. I loved it. We were in the Mighty Ducks building. The pool was about 10 feet from our door. The bus was full by the time it got to us. However, we found a short cut through the bushes to the front of the other resort and were able to get on the bus a lot quicker. After a visit to the parks we got off at that resort and were right at our rooms a lot quicker. (Dont know if it was ok to do that but we did and were not the only ones.)