On site properties....Which? About This Page:

[JB0281]

I've usually stayed in POFQ, looking to save $$ I was looking at the AS Resorts.......how are they compared to moderate resorts? Noise levels...aesthetics.

[HiddenMickey]

I'll start this by saying that I like all the levels of resorts at WDW. (I'll leave out the Deluxes since they don't apply to your question).
I've stayed at Moderates CBR, POR, and CSR and also the Values ASMu, ASMo, ASSp, and PopC.

The difference you'll likely see and feel at at Value resort is the rooms are a bit smaller and may feel a bit more motel-like to you. The pools are less themed and the grounds are less 'fancy'. I actually like the food court set up at the Value resorts and don't find the food offerings all the different from the Moderates. They only have that one option. The buses share mid-day at the All Stars, but run their own separate buses in the morning and at close of the parks.

With you having stayed at POFQ which is a relatively small resort, the Values may seem big and spralling.

I think if you want or need to save money, the Values are a good place to get the Disney experience.

My choice for returning to a Value would be Sports or Music.

[yalibrarian]

I pretty much agree with what Hidden Mickey said. We love All Star Music, with nice pools, clean rooms, a good food court, mature landscaping and friendly staff. We are three adults dragging a dialysis machine and ECV along with us, and we don't have any trouble fitting into the smaller rooms. Most rooms have two double beds; accessible rooms may have a king bed, and of course, Music has the original family suites (Art of Animation the newer ones). When you stay at one All Star, you can use the pools and food courts at all three, something we do at least once per trip just for variety's sake (although the menus are similar, each food court seems to have at least one dish the others don't).

Since the All Stars are effectively one large resort, when someone says they share buses, that just means there are three potential internal stop, as at larger moderate resorts. You can easily walk from one to another in a few minutes as they are only separated by parking areas. In most cases, dedicated buses come to each All Star stop; midday as she said, they may make multiple stops as there are fewer people using the buses.

One thing my son loves is that there is a McDonald's right outside the All Stars gate, great for late night food runs.

[joelsmom]

The theming of the values is more fun Disney, whereas the moderates are more muted Disney themes. We really like the All-Stars. Pick your theme, sports, music, or movies, and have fun.

[Sue M.]

I’ve only stayed at Pop in the past for one night before moving to another resort. But for upcoming trip I chose to stay at Pop for all 11 nights.
I’d just go with the theming that appeals to you.
For me AS Sports would be my last pic. Lol.

[lindadarrall]

May I ask, in follow-up: Where does the shared bus stop returning to the All stars? Is it made clear that there is only the one bus returning to the property?

[Pax]

Originally Posted by JB0281

I've usually stayed in POFQ, looking to save $$ I was looking at the AS Resorts.......how are they compared to moderate resorts? Noise levels...aesthetics.

I don't know what the moderates are like, but the Values do have quieter rooms - especially those facing away from the main pool (and thus, less sound of kids shouting and playing during the day), and those on the second or higher floor (which means, less foot traffic passing by your door, especially in the morning and evening hours).

The aesthetics are, on the exterior, very theme-park-y over-the-top (which I happen to like about them), and inside much more subtle and ... calmer, is maybe a good word?

We stayed in the Little Mermaid buildings at Art of Animation in January of 2014; the "theming"outside was absolutely BRILLIANT (the whole place was landscaped to give a very, very good "sandy sea-floor" look, and the decor in the rooms was decent too. Keep in mind, I'm not a fan of the Little Mermaid myself, and I found the interior decor to be just fine. One poster, the headboards, the border around a mirror on the wall, I think the backing to the light sconces, and the shower curtain were all LM stuff. The carpet ... I remember blue, with some small design in it ... maybe seashells, but I can't recall clearly anymore.

If PhotoBucket weren't being such a poop lately, I'd post some specific pictures here. So instead, I'll just post links to the photo album for the 2014 trip. There are some pictures of Art of Animation, exterior and interior, right near the beginning:

http://s30.photobucket.com/user/GMPa...20World%202014

[Pax]

Originally Posted by lindadarrall

May I ask, in follow-up: Where does the shared bus stop returning to the All stars? Is it made clear that there is only the one bus returning to the property?

The All-Stars each have their own set of bus stops, near the main hall of each AS resort.

And busses there are only shared during low-traffic times of day - most of the time, each All-Star has it's own bus to/from each park. Certainly, the busses shouldn't be more crowded than those for Port Orleans (which, as I understand it, has multiple bus stops scattered among the buildings there, right ...?).

[joelsmom]

Originally Posted by lindadarrall

May I ask, in follow-up: Where does the shared bus stop returning to the All stars? Is it made clear that there is only the one bus returning to the property?

If you mean when leaving the park to return to the resort, the answer is there is almost never a single shared pickup location at the parks. At the end of a park day, Disney is running many, many buses to the value resorts. I don’t think I have ever seen a shared pickup, or drop off back at the resorts.

Maybe in the middle of the day

Never at the end of the night

[sk8mom6]

In less busy times of the year, they will share even in the morning. If the bus isn't full at ASSports, it will proceed to either Music or movies. I remember sharing buses at park close, but there was only one bus stop at the park. I noticed that they are separate now on our last trip.

[yalibrarian]

May I ask, in follow-up: Where does the shared bus stop returning to the All stars? Is it made clear that there is only the one bus returning to the property?

By "shared" people mean it makes more than one stop. So the "shared" bus stops at all three All Star stops: Sports, Music and Movies in that order. The very few times I have been on a shared bus, the driver asked if anyone was going to that resort before pulling in. A couple of times, late at night at MK, there was only one bus waiting for an All Star, but the driver said hop on, that he would take us to whichever stop we needed so we didn't have to wait for a specific bus (thus there can be benefits to the shared thing). However, the All Stars are only separated by parking lots, so it is no different than catching an internal bus at one of the larger resorts; you can walk from one to another in a couple of minutes.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by yalibrarian

[...], the All Stars are only separated by parking lots, [...]

Actually, even that overstates the separation by a little bit.

Sports is separated entirely from it's neighbor, Music, by parking lots.

But Music and Movies "touch" up near the Main Building for Music, and the Mighty Ducks section of Movies (buildings 2 and 3) - separated only by "Melody Lane", the road giving access to the parking lot towards the rear of Music and Movies. It's possible to walk from one to the other, and almost not realize you've done so.

Indeed, those two buildings are actually closer to Music's main hall _and bus stops_ than to their own - heck, closer to both, than anything in Music except buildings 1 and 10 ... and neck-and-neck with Music 2 and 9. IOW: Movies 2 and 3, should almost count as being Preferred Rooms for Music.

[HiddenMickey]

Originally Posted by Pax

Actually, even that overstates the separation by a little bit.

Sports is separated entirely from it's neighbor, Music, by parking lots.

But Music and Movies "touch" up near the Main Building for Music, and the Mighty Ducks section of Movies (buildings 2 and 3) - separated only by "Melody Lane", the road giving access to the parking lot towards the rear of Music and Movies. It's possible to walk from one to the other, and almost not realize you've done so.

Indeed, those two buildings are actually closer to Music's main hall _and bus stops_ than to their own - heck, closer to both, than anything in Music except buildings 1 and 10 ... and neck-and-neck with Music 2 and 9. IOW: Movies 2 and 3, should almost count as being Preferred Rooms for Music.

When we stayed in Movies in Mighty Ducks, it was closer for us to go to the buses and food court at Music.

[yalibrarian]

Actually, even that overstates the separation by a little bit.

True, in that one instance the Mighty Ducks section is just across the street from Music's food court, but it is easier, I think, for people to visualize the distances if they think of a parking lot rather than half a mile of separation. Just trying to get them to understand that even if the buses made all three stops, it would take maybe five minutes, not twenty.

[thinkpink]

We have stayed at all the Mod's and like them. We really liked POR and CSR and can't say enough about the lovely grounds, great food court, ammenities, and theming. I would highly recommend the Mod's (especially POR and CSR). I would also recommend the Deluxes that we have tried because (although expensive) they offer above and beyond what one might expect.

Having said that, I would say our one stay at a value offered less than we expected.
We recently stayed at POP for our first Value Resort Stay. We had heard so many good things about POP that we were a little disapointed with the actual experience. However, we were still at Disney and had a great trip so I don't want to sound like I am complaining. I would not be able to recommend it as whole heartedly as I would recommend the Mod's.

In fact, we have definitely stayed off property at resorts/hotels that were way better than Pop and cost less. There are benefits to being on property of course. However, the theming (60's section) was dated and the rooms were small. The food court was small and had limited offerings...however, we walked over to Animation and enjoyed the variety of foods offered there. The hippy dippy pool and bowling pin shaped pools were fun and offered lots of family fun activities; however, they are small compared to the pools at the mod's. This was fine for our visit but we were not there at a busy time of year...and I wondered what the pools might be like at peak season. Could be crazy busy.

So, although providing on-property benefits and Disney-immersion, I would not likely choose values again. Unless, of course, that is the only option -- then sign me up! It's Disney after all!!