I am coming for WDW Marathon Weekend (possible Solo trip) and I am looking at either POP or the LM std rooms at AOA.
It appears that the LM rooms are further away form main building housing Landscape of Flavors than some of the buildings at POP. Is that accurate? Does anyone have experience with both resorts?
I found it took less than 5 minutes to walk from the Ursula building to Animation Hall, where Landscape of Flavors is. All the family suite buildings are closer, but the walk didn’t bother us. The path goes right through the really cool themed Lion King area. 
But, sorry, no experience with Pop.
I would say Pop…you can get a preferred room that is close to the food court and transportation. I personally like the pop food court better than AOA.
I’ve been in both and the walk to Landscape from Mermaid isn’t bad at all and I really think that Landscape is by far the best CS at any resort on property. You also can’t beat the hyper-disney theming at AoA which also has one of the best pools on property. That being said, you can get great standard rooms at Pop that (seriously) have a lake view and a short walk to their food court; use TP’d room selector on their main website. I really think you can’t go wrong with either choice but I’d ultimately go with AoA.
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Being marathon weekend, I’d pick pop. If you’re running, its a closer walk to buses and the food court so you’ll save your legs a bit. And it’s most likely going to be too cold to swim so you won’t be taking advantage of the AoA pool anyway. And you’ll save a few bucks choosing pop.
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@J_ClaytonIII I’ve stayed at both resorts (PoP a few times) and while both are good - AoA has touches that make it great! The LM rooms are further away from the main areas so prepare your heart for a bit of a trek. My DH and I found that after a few days we discovered the path with “least resistance” which is the outside path along the parking lot. I absolutely loved Landscape of Flavours!
I’ve stayed at both resorts. I think it depends what you are more bothered about really. The theming in the little mermaid rooms is great. But it is a bit of a walk over to them - especially if your legs are going to be tired after running. The rooms at pop were perfectly ok - nothing exciting. The nemo pool at AoA looks great, but would you be using it? I agree with @Ilovedisneyworld I much prefer the pop food court to landscape of flavours at AoA - I found that with all the customisable options, the wait to give your order and then the wait to receive your order was really long at landscape of flavours. The shrimp lo mein at pop is great. Is a preferred room at pop cheaper? If it is, I’d go for that.
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Have stayed at POP several times and think it is great - very easy to walk over to AoA for another food option if you want.
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Some of the things I had at Landscape of Flavors were yummy! But several items missed the mark, including the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw, challah French toast, and meatball sandwich. My family reported that the pizza, burgers, and fries weren’t great, but they’re pretty picky, and I didn’t really try those for myself. But we all agreed the breakfast bacon was just really bad.
Our favorite items were things like the made-to-order/create-your-own pastas and salads… but you really do have to stand around and wait awhile in line for those things.
Toward the end of our trip, we ate a couple meals at the Pop food court, where we could get awesome fries and the kids could get a hotdog.
Hope this helps! 
Big AoA fan here… LM rms have become our home 
the theme and “newness” of the rooms is much better then pop IMO. The walk to main hall isn’t too bad, we ask for triton building to be closer and have better access to our car/busses. I’ve seen during busier times, they have a breakfast cart by the LM pool enterance for quick bagels,coffee,etc. also, I have found the price difference isn’t too bad, it’s worth it to stay At AoA 
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Thank you all for your help! Since it is a solo trip and I plan to spend as much time wandering the parks as possible, I may just go with the cheapest option and use the savings to check off more beers on my Beers and Ears App. If the family was coming I’d probably go for the better themed AoA suites or back to our “home” at POR.
I’d do Pop based on that fact that you might get a discount there. You will pay rack at AoA LM.
Good thinking on the beers. Curious, do you have a fav beer in the World? Guess I like the grapefruit beer. Can’t remember the manufacturer.
I really enjoyed the Saison DuPont served at BOG and the Schofferhofer hefeweizen at Biergarten.
The grapefruit beer is Schofferhofer Grapefruit which the Beers and Ears app explains is a mix of 50% of the Scho. hefeweizen I like at Biergarten and 50% grapefruit juice. I like grapefruits…so doing the math I’d probably like that 100% as well!
I had no idea BOG had a Saison. Nice!’
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Thanks pirategirl, I believe I did get a quote for Pop with a group discount so I am leaning in that direction…unless DW demands to come with me and we need to switch to POR.
@J_ClaytonIII OMG!!! I adore the Grapefruit Beer! 177 days till I can sit in WS with a GB and a pretzel yum!
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I’ve never stayed at AoA but I agree the theming is really amazing. We loved wandering around the resort checking out all the areas. I have stayed twice at Pop and we love it. Last time we stayed in the 50s in a 4th floor, lake view room. It was nice and quiet and we didn’t mind the walk to the main building at all. Pop sounds like a great idea if you’ll be in the parks more - and definitely to save some money for beverages
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I am at 166, so I’ll do some quality control testing on the Grapefruit Beer for you before you get there.
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