WWYD: Family of 6 - Pop vs All-Star Music

[my523]

Family of 6 here (2 adults, 4 kids ages 3-11).

Looking at 2 standard rooms at Pop vs All Star Music family suites. Pop is about $300 more for a week-long stay. Going in late January.

Other than the skyliner at Pop and the full fridge & micro at All-Star, what main differences are there? Pop has 4 beds vs 3 at All-Star. Would have to put a bed up for the table at ASMu vs leaving it at Pop. I’ve watched room tours, but those things seem to be the biggest difference?

Why would you choose one over the other?

I feel like in Pop groups, people love the skyliner, but then All-Star groups love the family suites. The guaranteed connecting rooms always makes me nervous. Our very first/ previous stay was at GF.

ETA: Going to all parks (MK twice and likely an extra 1/2 day at Epcot).

 

[Wood Nymph]

If you decide to get two rooms at Pop then you want to book a multiroom reservation. You have to call to book it, but it will give you two rooms under one reservation number. Your Magicbands will be able to open both room doors. And it is the best way to guarantee connecting rooms.

And no one needs to mention that connecting rooms are not guaranteed. I know that already. But a multiroom reservation is the best way to do this.

 

[Disneylover99]

Going in late January.

I already gave you my thoughts on the Pop thread, but I just noticed your timeframe.

Nothing has been announced yet, but the Skyliner typically closes for maintenance the last week of January, so that might be something to consider.

 

[my523]

If you decide to get two rooms at Pop then you want to book a multiroom reservation. You have to call to book it, but it will give you two rooms under one reservation number. Your Magicbands will be able to open both room doors. And it is the best way to guarantee connecting rooms.

And no one needs to mention that connecting rooms are not guaranteed. I know that already. But a multiroom reservation is the best way to do this.

I actually already have it booked that way!

I already gave you my thoughts on the Pop thread, but I just noticed your timeframe.

Nothing has been announced yet, but the Skyliner typically closes for maintenance the last week of January, so that might be something to consider.

Yes. We actually have a reservation already for both Pop and ASMu for this possibility. However, I’m leaning toward thinking it won’t be closed since it hasn’t been announced yet.

Even so, if Pop is the better choice, then we could even move our trip dates.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

In your situation, I'd go for the family suite at All Star Music. I'd sleep a lot easier not having to worry about connecting rooms. And I'm a big fan of suites with kitchenettes so we can do cheap/easy in room breakfasts of oatmeal and coffee/hot cocoa.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I like using the skyliner but don’t want it to be the only mode of transportation at my hotel for the parks. I’ve seen the crazy long lines at park close that take almost an hour to get back to your resort. I’ve seen the skyliner close and people walk all the way to the back of Epcot and then find out it’s closed and now have to walk all the way up front to catch a bus.

I’m in the midst of planning a 2025 trip and MIGHT do a split with a few days at a value to start. The skyliner keeps taking Pop out of the running for us. I would rather go with ASM.

If the skyliner were closed and buses were the option for Epcot and DHS I would stay at Pop.

It would also be really nice to have a microwave and real fridge with 4 kids. When my kids were those ages (and they had real mini fridges) we always did breakfast in the room and it saved us a lot of money and time. You could do breakfast in the room and even decent snacks or lunches. You would have cold juice, water, soda, lunch meat, butter, cream cheese, etc. The beverage coolers at Pop (or any hotel right now) barely keep anything cold. You can’t store perishables in them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Do you have your own transportation? What is your touring and vacation style? Those factor in as much as anything else. You could easily make up the $300 difference just by, say, eating breakfast in the room via grocery order. I think if the kids were older teens and could go off by themselves I’d lean more toward Pop, but since you will likely mostly all stay together (for the most part), it might not matter as much. We always have a car, and enjoy visiting other resorts and such, so the Skyliner is less important to us, but we do love Pop. Our first stay was at ASMu and we visited there last year at Christmas, too. It’s lovely, too, and certainly had plenty of people there. I like the idea of everyone being in one room, together, and to not have to worry about whether two rooms would be together at Pop. I’d say that has disaster written all over it if, by chance, you get to Pop and your rooms aren’t near eachother. (But then again I’m someone that doesn’t even enjoy the split bathrooms on DCL.) i think you’ll have a good time at either place, with Pop having, perhaps, a little more oomph, but it also comes with a potential downside, even if the two rooms aren’t that far apart, since you have to be split up. Have you considered a suite at Art of Animation? Seems like it would be the best of both worlds for you. Maybe try to find a discount?

 

[HopperFan]

If you end up booking POP I suggest you pack your suitcases by who will be staying in each room. That way if your rooms are not connecting you don't have to waste time scrambling which clothes go with which room/parent.

My vote is ASMU even though POP is one of my favorites. I want my family to be all together in one suite, and the new renovation of the Music Suites is VERY WELL done!

 

[Disneylover99]

I like using the skyliner but don’t want it to be the only mode of transportation at my hotel for the parks. I’ve seen the crazy long lines at park close that take almost an hour to get back to your resort. I’ve seen the skyliner close and people walk all the way to the back of Epcot and then find out it’s closed and now have to walk all the way up front to catch a bus.

Yep. Totally agree. The Skyliner can be great, but also a huge headache, and often a longer ride then the bus. There’s something to be said for the ease of a simple bus ride. Get on, go directly to your destination. No transferring lines required.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I like using the skyliner but don’t want it to be the only mode of transportation at my hotel for the parks. I’ve seen the crazy long lines at park close that take almost an hour to get back to your resort. I’ve seen the skyliner close and people walk all the way to the back of Epcot and then find out it’s closed and now have to walk all the way up front to catch a bus.

I’m in the midst of planning a 2025 trip and MIGHT do a split with a few days at a value to start. The skyliner keeps taking Pop out of the running for us. I would rather go with ASM.

If the skyliner were closed and buses were the option for Epcot and DHS I would stay at Pop.

It would also be really nice to have a microwave and real fridge with 4 kids. When my kids were those ages (and they had real mini fridges) we always did breakfast in the room and it saved us a lot of money and time. You could do breakfast in the room and even decent snacks or lunches. You would have cold juice, water, soda, lunch meat, butter, cream cheese, etc. The beverage coolers at Pop (or any hotel right now) barely keep anything cold. You can’t store perishables in them.

A few corrections to above:
1. When the Skyliner is unexpectedly closed, there are buses that run from a location behind International Gateway to the Skyliner resorts. No need to walk to the front of the park.

2. We stayed at Pop in August and left from Epcot 6 different nights. Our longest wait was 40 mins but there were many nights it was 20 mins or shorter.

3. The beverage coolers keep food as cold as a fridge. After multiple trips to Pop and various rooms, we have never experienced items not being kept cold.

You have many good points in your post @mi*vida*loca but I also wanted to share our experiences which are different.

 

[leebee]

With no guarantee on connecting rooms, a suite at ASMu gets my vote. Think about how much fun vacation won't be if one parent and 2 kids are in one room, the other parent and 2 kids are in another room. Even if they are on the same floor/wing... really not much of a vacation, to me. However, I have read that the door from the outside to the suite is in the living area, where presumably the kids would be sleeping, and that some people aren't comfortable with that. I'd be fine... dead bolt lock and chain/bar lock, both engaged, and I'm good.

I like ASMu. I am staying there for my solo trip in November. It's smaller, so you aren't as exhausted dragging back to your room after a day in the parks, and I like the more 'intimate' feel of everything being so close together as opposed to POP, which is spread out all over the place. I'd also want the suite for the kitchen facilities, even if just for breakfasts.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

A few corrections to above:
1. When the Skyliner is unexpectedly closed, there are buses that run from a location behind International Gateway to the Skyliner resorts. No need to walk to the front of the park.

2. We stayed at Pop in August and left from Epcot 6 different nights. Our longest wait was 40 mins but there were many nights it was 20 mins or shorter.

3. The beverage coolers keep food as cold as a fridge. After multiple trips to Pop and various rooms, we have never experienced items not being kept cold.

You have many good points in your post @mi*vida*loca but I also wanted to share our experiences which are different.

We stayed at CSR and the beverage cooler didn’t keep our stuff very cold at all. Beverage coolers have temps in the 40s which is not a safe temp for a lot of food items. I had to throw out our butter and cream cheese as it didn’t feel safe to me. I would never store lunch meat in one. My daughter wouldn’t drink the OJ since it wasn’t what we consider cold. My protein shakes were not cold at all but they can be room temperature so I still drank them.

I’ve read reports that this is how the coolers are at all resorts now (maybe not dvc studios). There are no more mini fridges as they remodel the rooms. Maybe I just had a bad one because it most definitely did not keep our stuff cold. Cool yes but not cold.

Was your skyliner wait 40 minutes plus additional time to get to your resort? I heard people complaining that they waited an hour to even get on the skyliner and heard CMs tell folks it would be an hour before they boarded. Then add in the time to get to your resort. I have read numerous reports on people being told to catch a bus at the front of the park.

I’m sure it all depends on the time of year and how busy the parks are that day. We went during Jersey week which was also Veterans Day weekend and food and wine. Skyliner lines were crazy!

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

I have stayed in both resorts and both are great, Music more so because on average it is around $50 per night less per regular room.
I vote for the family suite at Music for all the reasons previously mentioned. Not mentioned is that you are guaranteed preferred location close to the food court and busses with a lot less walking. That is around maybe $20 per night per room extra at Pop (don't know if preferred location was in your final calculation?) Also, in the main room in the family suite where one bed becomes a table when up the other becomes a sofa so your family would have a living room to sit to watch t.v instead of lying on the beds.

 

[Disneylover99]

A few corrections to above:
1. When the Skyliner is unexpectedly closed, there are buses that run from a location behind International Gateway to the Skyliner resorts. No need to walk to the front of the park.

After 4 years of the Skyliner being in operation, there is still confusion regarding this and still reports of people being sent to the front of the parks by CM’s.

2. We stayed at Pop in August and left from Epcot 6 different nights. Our longest wait was 40 mins but there were many nights it was 20 mins or shorter.

Those waits suggest it would take almost an hour to get back to Pop.

3. The beverage coolers keep food as cold as a fridge. After multiple trips to Pop and various rooms, we have never experienced items not being kept cold.

Beverage coolers do not get as cold as refrigerators. So while many use the coolers as regular fridges, (including myself), I’m always leery of storing certain perishables like cold cuts and milk. The Mini fridges have temps. lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit while the coolers typically only get as low as 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Shellyred8]

One of the things I like about staying at Pop is that you can utilize the buses to AoA too. If we are heading back to the room during the day from MK or AK, we will take the AoA bus if it shows up first.

If you are going to be doing open-to-close at HS and EP, the longest lines you will experience for the skyliner are at the beginning of the day and the end of the day. If you want to go back to the room outside of those times, you will most likely be able to walk on the skyliner with little to no wait.
In my experience with the skyliner, it's great when it's working. When it goes down for weather, they are slow to get buses rolling as backups. But with your trip being in January, there are probably fewer weather issues. During the summer when they get storms almost every afternoon, that can be a pain.

 

[madzy]

We are a family of 7 with 2 adults and 5 kids and to keep costs down we get 2 rooms at a value. Because we are one family with two adults , its considered one reservation with a guaranteed connecting door. Our most recent stay was in August at Movies. I personally would rather have the extra bed but save some money and stay at one of the All Stars.

 

[tguz]

A few corrections to above:
1. When the Skyliner is unexpectedly closed, there are buses that run from a location behind International Gateway to the Skyliner resorts. No need to walk to the front of the park.

2. We stayed at Pop in August and left from Epcot 6 different nights. Our longest wait was 40 mins but there were many nights it was 20 mins or shorter.

3. The beverage coolers keep food as cold as a fridge. After multiple trips to Pop and various rooms, we have never experienced items not being kept cold.

You have many good points in your post @mi*vida*loca but I also wanted to share our experiences which are different.

Awesome corrections. We left from Epcot 3 nights on our Honeymoon trip and the Skyliner was MUCH faster than leaving by bus in previous years. We have not had any issues with food not being kept cold in the cooler. I did not know about busses from the International Gateway as the Skyliner has never been down on our Epcot nights. Good info for 2024.

 

[tguz]

One of the things I like about staying at Pop is that you can utilize the buses to AoA too. If we are heading back to the room during the day from MK or AK, we will take the AoA bus if it shows up first.

If you are going to be doing open-to-close at HS and EP, the longest lines you will experience for the skyliner are at the beginning of the day and the end of the day. If you want to go back to the room outside of those times, you will most likely be able to walk on the skyliner with little to no wait.
In my experience with the skyliner, it's great when it's working. When it goes down for weather, they are slow to get buses rolling as backups. But with your trip being in January, there are probably fewer weather issues. During the summer when they get storms almost every afternoon, that can be a pain.

Great underrated but tip about using either POP or AoA bus. We have used that many times and saved a lot of time hopping onto the AoA bus that was loading instead of waiting for the next Pop bus where you may have to wait for 2 busses depending on the line.

 

[Bella Paige]

Great underrated but tip about using either POP or AoA bus. We have used that many times and saved a lot of time hopping onto the AoA bus that was loading instead of waiting for the next Pop bus where you may have to wait for 2 busses depending on the line.

It’s also a great tip when staying at one of the All Stars as there are separate buses running to each of the three resorts which gives guests several options of lines are long.

 

[Disneylover99]

It’s also a great tip when staying at one of the All Stars as there are separate buses running to each of the three resorts which gives guests several options of lines are long.

Especially when you stay at the middle resort, Music.