Hi!
So in this will be our 4th Disney trip. We’ve only stayed at GF or Beach Club. My husband can’t come with to this next trip so it will just be me and DDs ages 9 and 7. We can save tons of money if we stay at AoA vs a deluxe, but just wondering if it will feel like a let down?? I figure with the money we save we can use Minnie Vans if buses are crowded. (This will be during the Christmas season). What are everyone’s thoughts?
Just want to warn you: Minnie Vans are difficult and often impossible to get when the buses are crowded, especially from MK at night. Especially during busy season.
However, you should try the cheaper hotels once. You never know how disappointed you will feel until you try. Everybody is different in this regard. You may be disappointed, or you may not feel any difference, or you may be disappointed at first but fall in love with AofA after a day! And if you do, imagine the savings that will provide for future trips! You know, give a guy a chance!
I've stayed at GF club level, BC, and Pop (right next to AofA, basically the same hotel), though mostly Pop. Here are the benefits of Pop over GF:
1. From MK (and other parks), we can catch either AofA bus or Pop bus back, cutting the wait time by half when the bus lines are short. When the lines are long this trick doesn't work.
2. Pop and AofA each has their own dedicated buses, whereas MK shares a bus with the Poly at times, like from DHS even at night when it's crowded. My DS12 got upset when he realized that we had to share a bus, being that he was used to dedicated buses. (But maybe they won't do that after SWGE opens in August.)
3. Pop and AofA will have the gondola by Christmas! Imagine your kids getting a kick out of that! And you won't have to worry about the heat in the gondola in winter!
4. Pop and AofA get to Epcot in about 15 minutes on the bus or the gondola. GF takes 3 times that long on the monorail, and then you have to change monorail going up and down the ramp.
5. Pop and AofA takes 10 minutes to Animal Kingdom, 10 minutes to DHS, 15 minutes to DS on the bus. GF takes much longer for each being that it's farther away from those locations. GF is only close to MK. Everything else is a long haul.
6. Pop has all refurbished rooms with murphy beds that you pull up and down the wall. They are queen beds with new mattresses, so just as comfy as regular beds. My kids think that the bed in the wall is magical! AofA also has murphy beds.
7. Pop has shower doors. (I don't like that, but it's fancier than the shower curtains at GF.) There's also a big shower head that's much bigger than the one in GF.
8. Pop has giant yoyos (and other stuff) that encases the outside staircase. My kids love running up and down the stairs "in the yoyo."
9. Pop has giant Mickey and other statues that screams "Disney magic!" I enjoy the luxury feeling of GF, but the overwhelmingly Disney feeling in Pop feels just as wonderful, maybe more so!
10. You have 2 food courts to pick from, so a large variety of quick service food. Just walk across the bridge (5 minutes) and you get to the other food court. The Hourglass lake is gorgeous, better than the Seven Sea Lagoon outside GF, because the lake is small and often glassy so you can see reflections of the other side.
11 Most rooms in Pop are much closer to the main building/bus stops than the buildings in GF.
12. Pop/AofA doesn't have a ton of visitors coming to eat at the 3 sit down restaurants or just milling around the lobby. Though there might be more visitors once the gondola opens.
13. Pop/AofA each has a large video arcade. GF has a tiny little pathetic thing.
14. Pop has weird shaped pools: one looks like a flower petal and the other one a bowling pin. AofA has a very themed pool with statues and music in the water (I believe). A lot of kids love it.
15. You can watch the fireworks at DHS (very close) from certain buildings and rooms of Pop/AofA, and don't have to pay extra.
16. You will have fairly easy, quick access via gondola to the Boardwalk area, the new Rivera Resort, and Caribbean Beach resort to eat at their restaurants.
Pop/AofA has the same basic amenities as GF: free DME, bell service, maid service, impeccable and spotless grounds, queen size beds, frequent elevators. Last summer my baby threw up in bed in the middle of the night at Pop. I called and they sent two maids with a full cart to help me clean.
Here are the benefits Pop has over BC:
1. No long walks in hallways to get to your room where you get to see countless doors. I prefer the Pop hallways which are just walking balconies, completely open with fresh air and scenery, but still covered on top to protect against sun/rain.
2-6. Reasons 6-10 above. Mostly importantly, there is plentiful food selection and seating in Pop/AofA food courts. There are 2 tables total at BC inside. Otherwise you have to eat outside. AofA food court uses real plates and silverware, not paper and plastic.
7. Reason 3 above: gondolas! Of course, you can walk to Epcot to take the gondola.
8. you can get to DHS and back faster. That boat is so slow that it drives me crazy, and at park closing, the line to the boat for 5 hotels is often much worse than the lines to the dedicated buses. And of course, now there's the gondola! Though you can also take the gondola in DHS to Epcot and then walk back, but that's more round about and takes longer, requiring a transfer and more walking.
9. Pop/AofA has more space and fewer visitors. Beach Club feels small and crammed with tons of visitors to eat at Cap May or whatever. Pop/AofA has plenty of people, but the lobby and other areas are much bigger and don't feel so crowded.
