Pop Century vs All Star Movies

We are deciding between Century Pop and All Star Movies. I think All Star Movies would be great for my young kids because of the pools and theme, but have read more than a few negative reviews on Trip Advisor. Things about the resort being run down and buses unreliable because it is the furthest away? I know they have refurbished the Toy Story building so I put in a request, but am not sure how the buses will be to and from the parks. We will be there during Easter week.

Century Pop seems to be done with all its buildings and seems larger. But, the buses are more frequent because they dont share with anyone else? Or are the waits longer because there are more people because the resort is larger?

Any advice or preferences?

Thank you in advance.

Definitely Pop, no contest.

Ditto. Pop.

Hands down, POP - even if the room rates are a bit higher. POP is my “go-to” if I’m not renting DVC points.

I was in ASMov last September and it was not run down in any way, I was in dalmatians building. Everything looked brand new though I know it probably wasn’t refurbished. No complaints whatsoever. The buses were ok, not splendid, just ok, but I didn’t wait more than 10 minutes for any bus.
I have not stayed at Pop but I would definitely re-book ASMov if I could.
Have a great stay!

2 Likes

Most of ASMo is refurbished, and it will all be finished soon. I stayed there last Jan, and will be there again this Jan. Buses didn’t seem any worse than any other resort. GS5 loved the theming. I have no inclination to spend more to stay at Pop.

2 Likes

Good to know as I’ll be there soon ! :smiley:

How soon? There’s an exclusive day of the dead coco cupcake there next week! AsMov exclusive!

1 Like

Not soon enough I guess cause its after Halloween. Nov. 3rd.

Day of the dead is nov 2 amiga! Maybe you’ll get a leftover one??? Either way I hope you have a great time!

1 Like

You may want to check these exclusives out @jflafond!
ASMov exclusive munchies!

2 Likes

Awesome, thanks !!!

I have stayed at music about 4 ir 5 times now. I love it there. No worries about the all stars. They do not get a lot of love but they are good resorts. Also muisc is very close to the movies. In sone cases it might be easier ti walk to the music buses over movies.

Most of the time each all stars has their own bus. Early moring it late at night sonetimes they share and spotts is first followed by music then movies. They have also been known to share disney springs busses and maybe the water parks.

Do not be discouraged. I for one love the all stars.

4 Likes

I may come across as an AH for saying this, but here goes… I’ve only stayed at AS once, and the resort itself was OK, but the people who were there at the time I was were awful. Never have I experienced so many perpetually drunk college kids who partied into the wee hours of the AM (I could go into nasty details of the nights and mornings after, but for the sake of decorum, I’ll pass), pushy tour groups (none of whom seemed to speak English), unattended kids running around everywhere, and pissed off parents who muscled strollers through the inescapable crowds like Carthaginian battering rams. And the best thing I could say about the CMs is that they were “resigned” and gave the vibe of “sorry dude, you chose the AS, this is what you get”. This is in NO way a blanket statement about people who stay at AS and maybe I just hit the jackpot of rude guests that week, but I’ve NEVER experienced any of this at POP - or at any other WDW resort.

1 Like

I have stayed at the All Stars for several years for our family trips and I also visited moderate resorts for girls trips. I have a great trip no matter what. Every single time I book an All Star resort, and then I read the reviews, I always think about changing our trip to stay at a moderate resort.
And, every year I tell myself that it’s always been a great trip in the past and I always go and get there and have a great timeb(again!). I find it so funny that so many people dislike it as we’ve always had exceptional service and good experiences. We request rooms that are quiet and even though we have stayed in the middle of a cheer/dance competition, have never had any issues with noise or inappropriate guests. The husband and I are teachers so we can we go during Spring break time and that’s pretty telling although it’s not college Spring break. I have never experienced rowdy crowds, just happy families to be there! The all stars are basic but we spend our time at the park so to us it’s a no brainer to save our money to have a full week at Disney rather than 4 days. I have no experience staying at pop as we’ve always take at the cheapest option but I can tell you we have never been disappointed in all stars. Movies is getting a facelift and we’ll be there april 2019.

3 Likes

@kzwally07
Thank you. I am a teacher too and can only going during peak times which is why I was a bit worried. It seems like you either love it or hate it.

1 Like

@bswan26 This is what I’ve read on trip advisor and was a bit concerned about the “noise.” People have complained about the very thin walls. Thanks for sharing your opinion. It seems as though people either love it or hate it.

What do you love about Pop? Or do you just like pop better than AM?

1 Like

We’ve never done Pop as it is always more.

I will say one of the reasons for going back this Spring break is because it’s so late that the crowd calendars were so good that we decided to take our family vacation again to Disney! :slight_smile:

Originally I was a little worried about going during Spring break time but honestly going at rope drop ( 1 morning 7am, another 8am) leaving after lunch (3ish) and coming back at night we really don’t wait for any rides that long. We ride all of our favorites 1st thing at rope drop, we fast pass them late morning/ early afternoon to ride them a second time, and at night we just enjoy walking around the park, seeing what fast passes are available, or what walk in lines are not that bad. This plan does not let us usually get the chance to watch a parade or the projection on the fireworks screen (we use that for ride time) but you can always plan to work it in. I’m not sure I’d ever do Christmas and it seems a much more busy time, but Spring break was actually a very nice time to go. Something else I read was sometimes going during busy times, even though it might seem that the lines will be outrageous, they staff the park accordingly so sometimes even during those low crowd days the staffing accommodates those low crowds and so you end up with just the same kind of waits. I usually keep an eye on the Disney app for wait times just to kind of see what is a good wait time to grab or a typical wait time for a specific ride. Going in with research and knowledge really helps to make a good plan. For example 45 minutes standby on 7d is a good wait time but 45 minutes for small world not so much.

1 Like

I should also add with the All Star noise issues that we do hear sometimes hear noise from the hall, but we also always request a top floor room which helps eliminate noise from staff. We can hear phone’s ringing at times and toilet flushing from other rooms, sometimes a baby crying. But nothing had so bothersome, especially coming back tired and falling asleep and we are up early to get out there for rope drop. Now trying to sleep in and enjoy a noon brunch that might be a whole different story! :slight_smile: The walls are definitely thin but never heard people talking or even a TV from another room. Also probably depends on the type of guests you get next door but we’ve been lucky.

2 Likes

Dude, I WARNED you not to hang out with my Mexican family!!!

2 Likes