Value Resort Rankings at Disney World
Which Walt Disney World Value Resorts are best & worst? This list ranks Art of Animation and Pop Century, plus All Star Movies, Music & Sports. Our #1 hotel might surprise you, but we’ll cover why it’s our top pick–plus pros & cons, photos, transportation, and other info. (Updated January 22, 2024.)
If you’re unfamiliar with Walt Disney World resort pricing or how far your money will go, start by consulting How Much Does Walt Disney World Cost in 2024? That should help you narrow down your search to a tier or two of different on-site or off-site hotels. Walt Disney World can be unexpectedly expensive, so be sure you calculate all costs before booking.
For those who have a bigger budget or want to splurge (as always, we’re big fans of split stays!), you might also consult our Moderate Resort Rankings and Deluxe Resort Rankings. If you really want to be inundated with info, check out our Rankings of ALL Walt Disney World Hotels from Worst to Best. (Spoiler: #1 is a Value Resort!)
If you’re trying to do Walt Disney World on a tighter budget, the good news is that the Value Resorts can be great hotels. They’re excellent options for people who won’t be in their rooms much, families with small children who enjoy animated characters, guests doing Disney on a dime, or even those who are frugal and don’t think the higher-tier hotels offer sufficient bang for buck. (As much as we enjoy the Deluxes, they’re tough to justify without great discounts!)
To be sure, the Value Resorts are more expensive than off-site accommodations, but the added perks like park transportation and Early Theme Park Entry can tip the scale in their favor from a money-saving perspective. In Are Walt Disney World’s Cheapest Hotels Actually Good? (second spoiler: yes, they are!), we make the case for choosing Value Resorts over off-site accommodations or more expensive on-site ones.
Frankly, we love the Value Resorts and think they’re tough to beat from a cost-benefit perspective. If money is no issue or you’re able to splurge, looking at more luxurious accommodations is a good idea. But if you’re saving for months just to make the trip happen and you’ll need to make difficult budgetary choices, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Value Resorts.
We’ve stayed at every single Walt Disney World hotel numerous times, and like them all for different reasons. A lot of diehard fans are passionate about their favorite resorts and turn their noses up at the Values. Sometimes there’s good justification for this, but there’s also a lot of snobbishness. Point being, don’t blindly buy into the hype and splurge on an expensive hotel solely because of FOMO or to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak.
Let’s begin the breakdown of Value Resorts by discussing the single biggest differentiator among them, which is transportation. Previously, this simply focused on bus transportation, which tends to be better at Pop Century and Art of Animation. This is the case because the three All Star Resorts sometimes (but seldom) share buses.
Now the much bigger reason is the Skyliner gondola transportation. This offers aerial transportation from a shared station between Pop Century and Art of Animation to Caribbean Beach, where guests transfer for either Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Total Skyliner transit time from Art of Animation or Pop Century is under 10 minutes to DHS or under 15 minutes to Epcot. This is a considerable improvement over buses.
We’ve used the Skyliner countless times, including from Pop Century to rope drop both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. In our view, this transportation system is an absolute game-changer. Instead of relying on inconsistent and unpredictable buses–which can be frustrating if you’re in a hurry–you can take the smooth Skyliner for efficient transportation to two of Walt Disney World’s most popular parks, plus a whole bunch of hotels.
With that said, the Skyliner hasn’t been free of problems. It goes down regularly between the months of June and September due to storms, and bus transportation often is not efficiently deployed as a backup. Due to this, and the nature of the transportation, those with fears or heights or other concerns may not wish to use it.
For those guests, it’s less of a perk and more of a drawback for both Pop Century and Art of Animation. The Skyliner is built into the cost of both hotels, and is a huge advantage that justifies the premium pricing…but only for those who will use it. If you will not use it, you’re paying extra for no reason.
It’s also fair to point out that the Skyliner can be a liability instead of an asset sometimes during storm season. We typically do not book Skyliner resorts in August or September due to the heightened possibility of the gondolas going down due to thunderstorms and lightning. If you do book then, be very mindful of the weather forecast. When the Skyliner goes down, “backup” bus transportation often isn’t as efficient or well-communicated to guests.
Now, let’s cover some commonalities of the Value Resorts. All of Walt Disney World’s Value Resorts are large and spread out, and don’t have internal transportation. We don’t consider it that long of a walk, but if you are trying to herd a slew of kids, you might disagree. At every Value Resort except Art of Animation, preferred rooms are available that are located closer to the lobby, but they have an additional cost.
Standard rooms are all fairly similar, too. It cannot be stressed enough that the Value Resorts are very basic accommodations in terms of the rooms. These rooms are small and along the lines of what you’d find at a nicer Best Western or Motel 6.
Disney fans may gasp at that comparison, but we feel it’s true–at least to an extent. The big way Disney’s Value Resorts deviate from other budget accommodations is that they include Disney decor, which alone is probably enough for the average Disney fan or guest to consider them a great deal superior to those other brands of hotels. The point is, at their core, these are not high-end hotel rooms.
Design, in general terms, is pretty consistent among the Value Resorts. All are very plain buildings that are dressed up with oversized icons that relate to the hotel name. They’re decorated, not themed. While the Moderate and Deluxe Resorts attempt to transport you to another time and place, the Value Resorts look more cartoonish. Their style is very divisive, with some Disney fans finding them garish clutter tacked onto low-rate motel buildings and other fans finding them to be fun and whimsical ways to experience a Disney hotel on the cheap.
If you are in the former camp, you probably already know Value Resorts are not for you, and there’s little point to this list of rankings for you. Regardless of how you feel about the Value Resorts, the fact is that they have plenty of fans. Many people, especially small children, prefer this larger-than-life style to the more elaborate and nuanced design of the higher-tier hotels.
We’ve stayed at each of the Value Resorts on numerous occasions, most recently in Winter 2024 with a stay at All Star Sports. This includes stays at every single Value Resort in the last 16 months, including 4 times at All Star Sports. While their style isn’t our favorite, we can understand why they appeal to kids. We find the criticism to be a bit over the top and cynical. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
The All Star Resorts have more in common, too. They also use shared buses to get to the parks during slower seasons (or times of day), which can be a big issue and time drain. While kids who are fans of sports, movies, or music may disagree, we feel that the decor is pretty much the same across the three resorts.
Movies and Music seem very similar to one another (most Disney movies are musicals, so this makes sense), with Sports differing more. The All Star Resorts are also older than Pop Century or Art of Animation, and in many places, the age difference really shows.
With that said, let’s take a look at the rankings!
5. All Star Movies
All of the Value Resorts have received very similar reimagined rooms, with the All Stars getting completely identical designs. Above is a photo of the new room from the opposite perspective as the new room (below that) at All Star Music. We’ve stayed in these new rooms several times, and find them to be huge upgrades. They’re not perfect–you can read about the pros & cons in our Photos & Video: Newly Reimagined Rooms at the All Star Resorts post.
These new rooms are definitely a step in the right direction, but All Star Movies could still use some more help. The Mighty Ducks are still heavily showcased, despite no longer being relevant. Photos in the lobby are faded, as is hotel signage. It also doesn’t help that All Star Movies was the first to receive the new rooms ~4 years ago, whereas Sports and Music have received their updates mostly in the last couple of years. That means the same style is fresher at Sports and Movies.
4. All Star Sports
All Star Sports has now received the new room upgrades that are huge improvements in terms of utility and aesthetics. If you’re booking a room at All Star Sports going forward, you’ll receive a new room. Of our three stays here in the last year, all of them have been in new rooms, and these have had noticeably less wear and tear than their counterparts at All Star Movies. That makes a big difference, and is pretty much the reason why Sports ranks higher than Movies.
It’s not just the rooms. As a whole, Sports looks like it has received more TLC than the other All Stars, with freshly-repainted icons and well-maintained grounds. In years past, it was common to see faded and dirty details; that’s not the case now. Beyond that, the food court was never overly-crowded and the recreation options were surprisingly good.
However, All Star Sports still ranks below Music because it’s frequently the home base for groups attending ESPN Wide World of Sports events. If you consult the ESPN Wide World of Sports Calendar and you’re completely sure there are no groups, you might decide to opt for it. We stayed at All Star Sports during a recent youth event and had a room in the “Touchdown” section right above the football field where kids often play, but had zero issues with excessive or late night noise. That has not been our experience in the past, so we generally recommend avoiding All Star Sports during these ESPN events.
The other big upside to Sports is that when the All Star Resorts are sharing buses, it’s the first stop the buses make. During busy hours, the bus will often fill up completely at All Star Sports, skipping All Star Music and Movies completely. For this reason, the bus service at All Star Sports is the best of the three. (During our recent stays, we’ve found this is most commonly an issue at the end of the night when the parks are busiest; transportation ops will pack everyone heading to the All Stars on the same bus, and have another ready to go when one is full.)
3. All Star Music
All Star Music has now been totally updated with the new rooms, pictured above. Again, these are a significant upgrade from the old rooms, as they have numerous functional and space-saving improvements. All of that is incredibly useful given the small size of Value Resort rooms.
Other upsides to All Star Music are that it’s less expensive than Pop Century and Art of Animation, it has a refurbished food court, it’s rarely (if ever) overrun with pre-teen athletic groups, the decor is good and not too dated (by All Star standards), and it’s the middle bus stop. Another point in the favor of All Star Music is that it’s the only one of the trio to offer family suites, which are far cheaper than their counterparts at Art of Animation (but not as good as those Lion King, Cars, or Finding Nemo family suites).
Finally, none of the All Star Resorts is better than the others by a wide margin. If your kids are most interested in sports, movies, or music…stay in the “topic” that appeals to them, especially if decor is a big deal. The only time we might caution against that is when a large group event is happening at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, in which case you should probably avoid All Star Sports–or at least request a room away from the football field.
2. Art of Animation
For the sake of this comparison, we’re only looking at the common areas and standard rooms in Art of Animation, all of which are in the Little Mermaid section of the hotel.
The family suites are incredibly nice and worthy of consideration for families who want more space, but they arguably don’t even belong in the Value Resort category. Their nightly rate is considerably higher, making them more comparable to the Fort Wilderness Cabins and other unique room categories.
When it comes to rooms, the Little Mermaid rooms fall short of the newly-redesigned rooms at Pop Century and All Star Movies. The Little Mermaid rooms have received a light refresh recently, but nothing on par with Pop Century. You can read all of our quibbles with these in our Little Mermaid Room Review. Suffice to say, these are minimally decorated, a long walk from the lobby, and way overpriced.
However, the common areas make Art of Animation winners among families and elevate it further. This is especially true of the Cars wing, which is the best area at any of the Value Resorts. The Nemo, Lion King, and Little Mermaid grounds have fun decor and some interesting design touches, but they don’t have the depth of the Cars wing, which feels like a low-budget Radiator Springs.
Art of Animation also scores points for the Finding Nemo pool, which is the best pool at any Value Resort, and one of the better pools at Walt Disney World (if you don’t mind the noise). For a quieter option, the Cars pool is also exceptional, and has a Cozy Cone Motel vibe to it.
That’s ultimately what weighs Art of Animation down to the #2 spot for us. You’re paying a significant premium for inferior rooms (unless your kids are diehard Little Mermaid fans), and for being just as far from Art of Animation’s main amenities as you would be if staying in some rooms at Pop Century. Why not just pay less, have a better room, and walk over to Art of Animation Resort to enjoy it?
1. Pop Century
In the course of discussing the other Value Resorts, we’ve more or less touched upon the biggest upsides of Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which has been the long-time top pick for Value Resorts among Walt Disney World fans. To reiterate: new rooms, Skyliner transportation, lower price points, and convenience to Art of Animation via Generation Gap Bridge all make Pop Century a winner and our #1 pick.
Pop Century’s biggest downside is that the cartoony, oversized icon style simply works better in the context of Disney animation. This style appeals primarily to kids, and Disney characters will resonate with them more than pop culture references.
Personally, I think in terms of overall ‘value’ (not simply what’s cheapest), Pop Century excels. It is worth the slight premium for superior dedicated bus service, better dining options, and far superior rooms. If you’re a couple without kids simply looking for the cheapest way to stay on-property at Walt Disney World, Pop Century should be your top pick.
So there’s our take. Whether a Value Resort is right for you in the first place is something you should also consider. If money is no object and you don’t have kids, you’re likely better off in a Moderate or Deluxe Resort. If money is an issue or you think your kids will prefer the Values, give them serious thought.
If you’re still undecided after reading this or overwhelmed by the complexity of planning a Walt Disney World vacation, you might want to consult an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner (Disney’s term for a travel agent). They receive commission from Disney, so most authorized planners will not charge you for booking the vacation package and planning services. The fee-free Authorized Disney Vacation Planner that we recommend is Be Our Guest Vacations. Their services don’t cost extra, they’ll help choose the right resort for you, book your vacation, help you with dining reservations and itineraries, and apply the best discounts to your reservation.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Is it worth it to you to stay at a Value Resort, or would you rather just splurge and stay at a Moderate or Deluxe Resort? Which Value Resort is your favorite? Do you agree or disagree with our WDW Value Resort rankings? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m probably not a voice that will get much props here, but I think staying at Disney’s motels (unless they are vastly discounted) is pretty insane.
They are very basic and have no theming, just decoration, gaudy and over the top. They are loud and did I say basic?
They are legitimately worth about $39-69 a night, but I believe the least expensive room in value season is now over $80 a night and most folks pay $100 or more. The convenience factor you mention is highly overrated unless you love standing on buses with folks who don’t all believe in the same levels of hygiene.
Sure, you can save money on a rental car, but then you can’t visit UNI or SWO or BGT or even the local Chick-Fil-A for a reasonably priced quick meal.
I know this is a DISNEY blog, Tom, but I believe in presenting the entire picture. The reality is people can Priceline hotels that blow away Disney’s deluxe resorts in service and amenities (no, MAGIC doesn’t count as an amenity) for the same price or less.
I don’t know how you or anyone can advise staying at a Disney value resort when people can stay at resorts like DD Hilton, Bonnet Creek Hilton, Gaylord Palms, Sheraton LBV, Marriott World Center, Hyatt Grand Cypress, Omni Championsgate for the same or less by using PL — or renting a nearby vacation home or even just booking a resort like Swan/Dolphin. There is very little value in a Disney value resort. Sure, when they were offering them for $49 a night, maybe. But no savvy Mouse traveler would ever choose one at $100-plus a night. It isn’t a smart choice, it’s the opposite of that.
And anyone spending that amount of scratch for a WDW value motel is never going to be wise enough to save money to visit the international parks.
I think these are fair points, and most of them have been made in the article. Especially stating that these are basically motel rooms (along the lines of a Best Western, but with Disney decor). In looking back, I think I’ve been pretty fair–I hardly gush over the value as the best option for guests. If I threw every piece of info about visiting into every post, each post would be interminably long (in other words, full detail on PL bidding is way beyond the scope of this post). However, since I do mention some benefits of staying on-site, I’ve gone back and edited the post to include a link to our ‘frugal travel tips,’ which covers that.
I understand that you’re down on the Disney hotels, and I get that. By and large, they ARE way overpriced. With that said, many people–even informed ones–are just going to swallow that high price because that’s how they want to do Walt Disney World. I don’t think that makes them insane.
amen….
“They are legitimately worth about $39-69 a night, but I believe the least expensive room in value season is now over $80 a night and most folks pay $100 or more.”
It’s hard to say what they are “worth”. It’s all supply and demand. I just stayed in a Best Western (of comparable or slightly lower quality than the WDW values) for just under $100/night. Was it “worth” that? Hard to say, but it was 2 miles from a ski resort during spring break, so that was the best price available.
My family loves Pop. Great pool activities, Petals Pool Bar, running trail around hourglass lake, solid food court, great bus service, and some great values on rooms for AP guests. I’ve stayed at Art and Pop and feel Pop is the better deal for regular rooms. We can get a preferred pool room at Pop for the same price as a Mermaid room at Art.
I’d keep Pop narrowly over AoA for 2 reasons – 1 is the long walk to the Little Mermaid rooms that Laura mentioned. It’s a haul at the end of the day. And the other is that there is still often a significant price premium for AoA (it hasn’t been included in any of the recent discounts, to my knowledge). At the same price as POP, it would be my #1, but for the higher price I’ll take POP.
The food court at AoA is great, but we’ve eaten 2-3 meals at the food court in 4 WDW trips, so that’s not a big deal to us (and there is the bridge!).
Good point about Art of Animation being excluded from many discounts, making it’s effective price even higher for many times during the year. Totally forgot about this. I’ve gone back and edited the post to mention it. Thanks!
I have friends with small boys who tend to suffer from a bit of “princess exhaustion” when at Disney if they aren’t careful. I recently recommended All Star Sports, the Cars section of Art of Animation, and the Toy Story area of All Star Movies for their next WDW trip to help counteract some of that. These resorts are really great for little guys! I know there’s a ton for boys to do at WDW, but in terms of marketing and character greets, there is defiantly more emphasis of the ladies, so some planning ahead really helps.
Thanks for the tips on recommended rooms if you have boys!
I let my 5 year old son pick the hotel for his first DWD trip(between All Star Sports and Caribbean Beach-I thought he would love the pirate ship pool) and he picked All Star Sports. He even saw pictures of AOA and asked if we could stay there next time, but he didn’t want to switch now. I agree it is a great place for boys and with being the 1st bus stop for the All Stars and with the renovated food court I am so glad that it is the value we picked.
We are accidentally going to be there the weekend that Star Wars Weekend and the Flower and Garden festival overlap, hope the crowds are manageable!
Two friends and I stayed at the Art of Animation resort last May, and I LOVED it. I’d never stayed at a value resort before – only other Disney resorts were Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans Riverside and Polynesian (but when I was about 5 yrs old). Every other time, my family stayed at the Doubletree.
Yes, the decor at AoA is cheesy and clearly kid-oriented, but it’s DISNEY cheesy, so I love it. We were in the Little Mermaid rooms, so we had the farthest walk to the food and the buses, but it only took 5-7 minutes. And – bonus! – you get to walk by giant-sized snarfblats and dinglehoppers, which are both perfect photo ops.
I do think that the Cars area has hands down the best themeing at that resort, but the Little Mermaid rooms were really cute. Landscape of Flavors had delicious food – seriously. And the Finding Nemo pool… awesome.
I would DEFINITELY go back. Since I’m probably never going to have enough money to stay at a deluxe resort, I’m going with Art of Animation every time I’m at WDW.
My husband and I have stayed at both moderate (Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside)and value (All Stars, Pop Century) resorts. While the moderates are prettier and better themed and offer some slightly better amenities, we just can’t justify the price tag. We spend very little time at the hotel; we literally use it as a place to sleep, shower and store our stuff. We almost never eat at the food courts and we don’t spend much time by the pools. Since we spend so little of our time at the hotels, the values are a good fit for us. We prefer Pop because of the bus system, the proximity to Art of Animation (more than once, we have taken the Art bus and walked across the bridge to our rooms at Pop)and we thought the rooms were slightly nicer/newer than All Stars rooms. We would love to stay at the Deluxe resorts if money was no option, but the cost is too prohibitive. We can’t justify spending that much on a room, when we could use that money for food, souvenirs or just more days in the parks!!
Also, I should mention that we have never stayed at Art of Animation because the Little Mermaid rooms have been excluded from the deals we have used the last two times we went. However, we have visited the resort and it looks lovely! We certainly plan to stay there some day soon.
Good point about the rooms being excluded from discounts. I’ve gone back and added this to the post.
We stayed at Art of Animation in November with our two young children (5 and 1) and couldn’t have had a better experience! This was our first trip to Disney and we loved everything about this resort. Yes The Little Mermaid rooms were a bit of a hike but we knew that when we booked. Obviously the least expensive rooms were going to be the farthest away. The beautiful décor made the walk a fun one for us & our children. The food court was wonderful & everything was pretty tasty We walked over to Pop Century one evening and I couldn’t even believe that was a Disney resort. Everything was old & dated. It was very rundown and almost dirty looking. We ate in the dining area to change it up. The food choices were weird and very lacking. Many drink selection had run out and there were bags of trash sitting around. By the way that the common areas look I wouldn’t want to see the inside of the rooms. I am so happy we stayed at AOA. It was absolutely perfect in every single way.
To an extent, Pop Century is dated as compared to Art of Animation (it’s over a decade older than Animation), but it sounds like a lot of your negative experience with the trash and food court isn’t the norm. If you had a great experience at Art of Animation, I’m not trying to suggest you should do Pop Century next time, just saying that it’s not as bad as your experience made it seem.
The thing I love about Pop Century is the bus service to and from the parks. Not having to stop at other resorts before I get to my destination has been the deciding factor for my last few trips. Art of Animation wasn’t open the last time I went so I don’t know if they have the same ‘1 resort only’ shuttle system like Pop Century does.
Yeah, Art of Animation has dedicated bus service, too.
Thanks, dude!
Bonnet Creek resort located adjacent to the Caribbean Beach and Pop Century offers 900 square ft 1 bedroom suites with California king sized beds, jacuzzi tubs, full kitchens, balconies, living and dining rooms, several pools, a lazy river, hot tubs, a spa, mini golf, and can be had for $99 per night. A mid-size rental car for at week in orlando runs about $125.
The values cannot compete. Moderates and Deluxe are worth sacrificing the low cost and extra space and amenities of bonnet creek. All star sports… not so much.
If you’re looking at it solely from true value, most of the time off-site hotels are going to blow Disney hotels out of the water, even when you factor in rental car and parking (on the flip side, you can save more money by eating off-site if you’re so inclined).
Regardless, some people are never going to stay off-site, so that never enters the equation. We’ll do off-site at every other location (especially Disneyland, where it just makes more sense), but the immersion at Walt Disney World is one of its strong selling points. That might be crazy to some people, but it’s a strong enough lure for us.
In my 50 years on this earth I have probably been to Disney World a dozen times. Growing up we always stayed off grounds, eating off grounds and saving money. In 2007 I decided to finally bite the bullet and stay on the grounds. We stayed at ‘Music’ in the family suite. Loved the room and hated the buses! Still hate those buses! But having spent that time on ‘grounds’ I will never venture off staying outside again. That lack of hassle, parking, traffic, traffic, traffic made it far better. Yes the meals are pricier by far, the hotels are pricier (even the ‘value’ hotels) but the experience was far better.
While noone enjoys deluxe accomodations as much as i do, I find spending a ton of money for a place I am hardly in to be foolish. I am very happy to plop my bags at any of the value resorts (AOA being my fave)and get to the parks as soon as possible. For me, I am very happy staying there- and by the way, the beds are super comfy!
Yeah, if you’re never going to be in the room, staying at a Deluxe Resort is crazy, even if it is closer to the parks. You’re paying A LOT for that proximity, and you could just stay in a significantly less expensive hotel and just take a cab everyday if time were an issue. Even with the cost of a cab, you’d still come out ahead!
Anyone know what’s going on with the painting of Cinderella castle? The blue was a silver metallic last time I saw it.
The silver paint is just a primer, it will be back to the original blue color soon.
I know you are asking this question because value resorts immediately make us wonder about the current color of the castle spires
Mitch, your comment about the castle has caused me to laugh so hard, I have tears in my eyes.
Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! This is great!!!!!!!!!!!!
We stayed in the Lion King section with our 5 kids (one under 3) in July last year. The Grandmas also shared a room on the Little Mermaid section(standard room). It was wonderful! I’m not a big fan of typical kid food so I was really happy with the food selection. Our building was really close to the bus stop and buses came frequently. The Nemo pool was a lot of fun and the music under the water was a fun touch. Everything about our stay was wonderful and I liked this resort more than any other one I’ve stayed at. I would love to stay here again but our family will have outgrown the family suite by out next trip.
We just got back from Art of Animation (Little Mermaid room) about 2 weeks ago and we LOVED it! While the room was a little bit of a hike from the food court, big pool, and buses, the decor and staff were fabulous! We have 2 children under 6 and they loved it. My only regret is that we did not have more time to take advantage of all this hotel has to offer. The 8pm poolside movies are fantastic for the whole family, the kids can enjoy the movie/pool while the adults unwind with a nightcap from the pool bar. The food at landscape of flavors was delicious, something for everyone. I couldn’t believe the amazing desserts they had! The Mickey Cupcake was adorable and delicious! The room was a little cramped for 4 people, but we were barely in it. With older kids, or more than 4 people, I would recommend a family suite. I heard the Nemo ones were the nicest. And don’t forget the awesome arcade! So fun!
Just wondered if you could answer a question for me please.We are staying in a little mermaid room for 2wks. I no the rooms don’t come with a fridge or tea and coffee facilities but are you able to hire them once you are there. We are flying from the UK so bring our electrical cool box is not an option. If you can reply i would be so grateful
When we were there in 2013 the Little Mermaid rooms DID have a fridge, definitely. But there wasn’t a coffee machine – we got our swill from the AoA food court in the mornings.
Also, you can have groceries sent to your room via Peapod or other local grocery services.
Planning a trip to Art of Animation is it noisy
Correction to previous comment…I am NOW a big fan of your Pinterest page!! Sorry about the typo!
OMG..
Hi there,
Thanks for all this info!
My husband and I have been to Disney World three times so far and have only stayed at the Value resorts. We stayed at All Star Movies the first time, Pop Century the second time and All Star Music the last time. We actually really liked All Star Movies and would not be opposed to staying there again. Music was okay but we probably won’t go back. We absolutely hated Pop Century!! We got horrible service from a lady at the front desk (I think her name was Stacy from New York! Still remember because that’s the one and only time we ever got a rude Disney employee!). The quickest way to get to our room was to walk through a parking lot. Also, we found the bus route to be sooo long to get to any parks (maybe it isn’t but it just seemed like it took longer to get anywhere). We’re from Canada so when we go to Disney we are on somewhat of a budget and don’t really spend significant time on our room so the Value resorts are fine with us. We were thinking of trying the All Star Sports next time and after reading your review I think we’ll do just that. Thanks again for all the info…I am not a big fan of your Pinterest page! Your photography work is amazing!!
Thanks for the feedback! Sorry to hear that you had a negative experience at Pop Century. Did you contact Guest Relations about it? If not, you should (unless it has been a while).
Two words explain why I will never stay at a value resort again: Tour Groups!! Especially the teenage ones!
Ha, nothing is worse that All Star Sports during Pop Warner weekend. Thankfully, we haven’t encountered any of the other tour groups at the Values! Knock on wood.
We stayed at Pop Century in January 2013 and the place was over-run with 15 year old girls from South America. They took up all the buses and overwhelmed the food court. Between them and the full size beds we’ll never go back to a value resort again.
We stayed at Art of animation for a week in Early December, we LOVED it! Yes, it’s basic, but it had everything we needed with 2 young children. Never had an issue with buses/transport. Only complaint was the wifi was very patchy, which makes planning and making dining reservations and fast pass selections hard! But overall we loved it, we stayed in a suite and found that was great as everyone had their own space 🙂 thanks for another great review.
We love values. We stayed at a Moderate one time and hated it. I love the over the top theming and the basic food court.
One of the things that has made me veto art of animation is the fact that all the regular rooms are in the Lion King section which is really far away (at least it looks far away on the map)from the food and the buses. It seems like a long way to walk with a small child after being in the parks all day. We just stayed at All Star Movies and, while we liked the icons, we didn’t enjoy the food court and how it was always filled with tour groups. I think Pop Century will be our number one choice from now on.
Oops, cold medicine issue. I meant the Little Mermaid rooms are a hike from everything (the regular rooms)
we stayed at most of the values, and the busing issue alone is why we stay at moderate resorts. I remember we were staying at All star Sports, and closed DHS we waited for 2 hours for a bus. Of course at the time we didn’t think about a taxi?