126: Everything You Need to Know About Disney’s Value Resorts (Before You Book)

If you are planning a Walt Disney World vacation and trying to decide which Disney value resort is best, this episode breaks down everything you need to know about Disney’s value resorts, including price, transportation, room types, and which resort is right for your family.

We are covering all five Disney value resorts: Disney's All-Star Sports Resort, Disney's All-Star Music Resort, Disney's All-Star Movies Resort, Disney's Pop Century Resort, and Disney's Art of Animation Resort. If you’ve ever searched “Which Disney value resort should I stay at?” or “Is Pop Century better than Art of Animation?” or “Are the All-Star Resorts worth it?” this episode is for you.

We start with the history of Disney value resorts and why Disney created them in the first place. Learn how Disney went from only offering deluxe and moderate hotels to building the All-Star Resorts as an affordable on-property option, and how that decision changed Disney vacations forever. We also break down the fascinating story behind Pop Century and Art of Animation, including how half of the original resort was abandoned after the September 11 attacks and later reimagined into one of the most popular family resorts at Walt Disney World.

Then we answer the biggest planning questions families have:

• What is the cheapest Disney resort?
• Which Disney value resort has the best transportation?
• Do Disney value resorts share buses?
• Which resort is best for a family of 5 or 6?
• Is Art of Animation worth the price?
• Is Pop Century the best value resort?
• Which All-Star Resort is best: Sports, Music, or Movies?

We break down what each resort is known for so you can choose confidently. From why Disney's All-Star Sports Resort is often the best budget option with the most convenient bus access, to why Disney's All-Star Music Resort is the only All-Star Resort with family suites, to why Disney's All-Star Movies Resort is the most Disney-themed resort for kids and first-time visitors.

We also take a deeper look at Disney's Pop Century Resort and why it is a favorite for adults, couples, and runDisney participants thanks to Skyliner access, easy navigation, and overall convenience. And we explain why Disney's Art of Animation Resort is one of the best options for larger families with its family suites, immersive theming, and functional layouts that make longer stays easier.

You will also learn about room sizes, building layouts, pools, dining options, transportation logistics, Skyliner access, and how each resort’s design impacts your daily park strategy.

Whether you are planning your first Disney trip, traveling with kids, deciding between Pop Century vs Art of Animation, or trying to stay on budget at Walt Disney World, this episode gives you a complete guide to Disney value resorts so you can book the right one with confidence.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Happy Tuesday, Disney family. Today I am going to be talking to you about value resorts, and I'm going to be very truthful about them. Not because I don't love them, but because I want you to have a realistic outlook on what you get at a value resort in case you need to have a budget-friendly Disney trip. I would rather stay at a value resort than stay off property. The only reason I would stay off property maybe is if I was staying 100% free. Honestly, in the last six years, the only time I stayed off property is at the Hilton Cygnia because we stayed on point, so I didn't pay for anything. Otherwise, I love to be in the Disney bubble. I love the perks, and I would much rather get a cheap room on property than stay off property just to keep some of those perks. On my recent trip to Disney, as you all know, I stayed at All Star Music and I was able to get a room for$140 that night because I forgot to book myself a room. So today we are going to take a deep dive into all of the Disney Value Resorts. I have a blog that also goes along with this podcast. So if you need more details, you can head to my website. But by the end of this, if you're not a value resort family, but maybe you're like, I want to sneak down there just for a party weekend, and this is a viable option for us, you will feel more comfortable in picking the right value resort for your family.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Welcome to Well, Hello Magic, the podcast for Disney lovers, busy parents, and anyone who wants a little more magic in everyday life, from the best tips for families to solo travelers going to Disney to real life moments. You're in the right place. Now, here's your host, Jessica.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Today we're going to talk all about the value resorts. But before we get started on this, for those people who are planning longer Disney trips, I would say the trip needs to be longer than maybe four nights to really get the use out of this. I always highly recommend getting a Disney Annual Pass. I know the Incredit Pass is expensive, but you will make that money back so quickly. And I'm gonna share how. First of all, if you're heading to Walt Disney World, you're buying a ticket anyway. So if in your head you're spending$700 a person for a five-day park hopper ticket and you go ahead and get an annual pass on instead of getting just the five-day park hopper, which you can always upgrade your ticket to an annual pass, you have to separate, like, okay, that the amount I'm actually paying for the annual pass is, you know, an extra is$600. Then when you are using that annual pass, once you go to the park 11 days total, you've actually paid off in terms of ticket prices that annual pass. But let me tell you why, if you're booking a once a year or once-in-a-lifetime Disney trip, why I really suggest for people to get an annual pass is because there's a lot of perks that come with it. And the reason I'm talking about this now with the Value Resorts is because when I forgot to book my room at the hotel when I was there in March, close to the airport. My plan was I was gonna stay close to Sanford. That way it could just Uber over in the morning. Well, I get on my phone, I check my Hilton app, and nothing is booked. I obviously thought I booked something, but I actually did not, which you all learned in the last podcast. Well, I looked for rooms on Disney property and there was a room at All Star Music for$140. So of course I booked that because it doesn't get better than that. And that was inclusive of taxes and fees and everything. So it was a pretty good deal. Well, I got the 40% discount rate with my annual pass. So that's how large the savings can be with an annual pass. But let me also tell you some other things. On merchandise, you get 20% off everything. Dining discounts range anywhere from 10 to 15% off. Then there's all these little perks like after hours tickets, you get percentages off. You have free standard parking at the parks. And so, like if you rented a car and you want to drive to the parks each day, that's a savings of$30 per park. I mean, that's a big savings. Then, like I said, the hotel one is the big one because you can save up to 40% on Disney Resort. And this varies throughout the year. And I was just really lucky that the same day I needed the book, I was able to do that. Now, if you wanted to pair paying your annual pass on a Disney visa, there's some little perks that come with that. You know, you get one to three percent back on Disney doll uh reward dollars that you can use on the parks. And then the one thing that's different, like the Disney Visa has its own discounts, but they're not as great as the annual pass. Like theirs is only 10% off merchandise, where the annual pass is 20%. But the one thing the Visa gift card has is that it has 15% off of like Disney tours, which an annual pass doesn't necessarily have that. And then there's also 0% financing for six months on your vacation. So let's say you get your annual pass and then you want to book your room with your annual pass discount 40%, and then you put this on the Disney Visa card, you have six months to pay that off. So it's there's all these like compounding things you can do to save money. So, since we're talking about the budget resorts, I was like, you know what, let's throw in some budget information that might make it a little bit easier for your family to get to Disney. So the first resorts we're gonna talk about are the cheapest resorts, and it is the All-Star Resorts. And the reason why the All-Star Resort are always grouped together, even though there is three distinct sections, is because there is one entrance that you take to get access to all three of these resorts. So once you come in, you are gonna pass All-Star Sports first. Then in the middle is All-Star Music, and then in the very back is All-Star Movies. I personally like All-Star movies the most. I don't know if it's just like a preference for the larger-than-life theming there. I do like some of the buildings that we stay in. We usually stay by the quiet pool. We can actually access All-Star Music's bus system easier. So sometimes you have to look out for that. I will tell you, I avoid all-star sports, especially around competition season. There's a lot of open space there, which means that cheer practices, dance practices, flag football, they are all out there practicing. And I know with cheers, sometimes they start as early as 8 a.m. So I avoid that. And then I really do like all-star music as well. I just like the theming there. One of the things that we are trying out this summer is we're staying in the family suite. So it is the only all-star resort that can sleep a family of six, which is very nice to have that now at the bottom in terms of value options available because there is another value resort option to sleep six, but it's definitely priced closer to a moderate resort. So it's nice to have a family suite that is truly priced as a value over in this area. Each of these resorts are designed similar to a U-shaped campus. In the front, there's going to always be the lobby, a food court, and that's where your bus stop is gonna be. Typically, like the lobby, you go out to the lobby, and the bus stop is gonna be to the right side of the building. And there's usually another double doors next to like either the dining or the shopping that helps you get go directly to the bus stop. And then from the lobby, the built the main pool is like typically directly behind the lobby, and then the rest of the campus like spreads out in a U. Some of the furthest buildings in on each All-Star Resort campus can take about eight minutes to walk to. All of these have bus transportation. I've had very good luck with all the buses here because typically, especially in the morning, you have the bigger buses that can hold up to three scooters in them. They're newer, or you have those really big ones that have like almost the accordion style thing in the middle, and they just have a higher capacity load. So don't be worried that bus transportation is the only transportation available to you with such a large resort because they do make it work and they're very mindful of that. And sometimes if they need to share buses like between campuses, they will do that to ensure people are continuously picked up. So now going to the parks, let's talk about how close they are to each of the parks. This resort is considered an Animal Kingdom area park. So you are going to be the closest to that park. It's about three miles away. The bus ride time is anywhere from five to eight minutes. So depending on when you get to the bus stop, you love the bus, you're looking about 15 to 20 minutes. I always tell people you need to leave your room or try to leave your room an hour before you want to be at the park, looking at the schedule. So when you check into these resorts, a bus times emblem will pop up. You cannot see it ahead of time. You have to be checked into your resort. When you look at that, it will tell you when the next bus is coming and they run about every 20 minutes. You need to plan to leave your room about an hour before that. One, if you have kids, it's hard to get out the door. Two, you want to make sure that you're in line early enough to guarantee that you will get on the next bus. Then there is loading the bus, actually sitting in it, driving to the location, going through the security checkpoints, the ticket booth, and then you are finally in the park. And as someone who is gone frequently, I have just said you need to leave your room an hour before because from the time you want to be in the park, because that's how long all of that takes. So, like I said, the bus ride time to Animal Kingdom is about five to eight minutes. Then Hollywood Studios is about five to 10 minutes. Of course, all this is depending on traffic. That's why there's like a varying amount. Then Epcot is 10 to 15 minutes, and then Magic Kingdom is the longest bus ride, is the furthest from Animal Kingdom, and that's about 15 to 20 minutes on the bus, depending on traffic in the area. So, once again, give yourself an hour. When you wake up in the morning to start getting ready, that is when you check the bus times. It is the first thing that you do in the morning so that you can gauge how many buses till you need to like be out there. So, like if you're getting up at 6 a.m. and you check and you're like, okay, the next bus is coming at like 6.28, just add 20 minutes on to you know the times until it gets to the time where you want to be on the bus. So then that way you are well prepared and you can make sure to make that bus so that you can start your journey to the park. So before we jump into each campus, let's talk about how we even got to the point of having all-star resorts. When Walt Disney World opened, they had three resorts. You had Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resorts, which till today are still some of the highest demand or most sought-after resorts at Disney in the deluxe category. And then they had Disney's Port Wilderness Resort in Campground, which at that time it was just a campground. So we all know exactly how I feel about this being your only third option, and that was your value option per se. Then they expanded and they brought the Grand Floridian in in 1988, Disney's Caribbean Beach, which was the introduction to its first new category of moderate, and then they brought Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter in 1991 and Riverside in 1992. So now you had more options to try to make Disney more affordable, but you were still missing that budget category. Because even at the moderate level, Disney trips are still pretty expensive for my family. When we started staying on property, we were still staying at Port Orlands Riverside because we got the military discount there. Before this, we never really stayed on property outside of cheer competitions because we were always status at Marriott's. And so we always stayed at Marriott's and then came over to the parks. So before All-Star Resorts, you really didn't have that true affordable pricing the way that we have it now. So All-Star Resorts came in, and the first one that was built was All-Star Sports in '94. Then All-Star Music was built in '94, '95. And then in 1999, All-Star Movies opened. So the resorts obviously got better with each one they made, which is why I think movies are some of people's favorite ones. They've all been remodeled now. So before they used to have two queen beds. So I have pictures in the early 2000s at these resorts, and they have like the two queen beds in them. Now they have changed to the one queen bed and the Murphy bedstyle, which I think that was such an upgrade in terms of remodeling. And like I said before, All-Star Music now has the family suite, which is the first true budget option for a family of six. So that is a huge improvement to creating affordability for a Disney vacation. So we're actually going to start with my least favorite, which is All-Star Sports. So this is the first property that you pull into in the All-Star section. It's also the first one built. The larger than life theming here is very unique because it is all sports themed with our favorite characters all over the place. They do have that large field. The last time I stayed here, I think I was here last year, and um I stayed right next to the field. This is a very heavy team and group space. I'm talking all the youth sports, cheer and dance, school trips, competition travel. It is very high at All-Star Sports. It is usually the cheapest resort. There is actually a deal going on right now for All-Star Sports during the summer that is$99 a night.$99 a night at Disney World. That is absolutely insane. So that is why All-Star Sports is the best one for any kind of deal. So if you're trying to get on Disney property, you want to stay there, All-Star Sports is where to go. They have, you know, their standard rooms, which is one queen, one Murphy bed. And this remodel was huge because it finally gave this room space because it has the smallest square footage on property. So it's not going to be a ton of room when it comes to square footage. There's about 260 square feet. But now with one queen and then the Murphy bed up, and the on the Murphy bed, there's a little table with two chairs, which gives you a place to actually like sit and eat, which is really nice. It's I think they did a great job because you again, you still have the tall bed, so your luggage can go underneath the beds. And then there are three drawers, I believe, in the room. If you're people who like to unpack, I we unpack, but I only unpack the packing cubes. Like I don't take the clothes out of the packing cubes and just put the packing cubes in the drawers. But now you can slide that suitcase under the bed. And a lot of times what we do is we just leave the suitcase open and just pull it out and push it back under as we need it. There are 1920 rooms at All Star Sports. So that's what I'm talking about. So you have to think 920 times four at full capacity. That's how many people can be on this one campus. There are 10 buildings. The themes here or the sections are surfing, basketball, tennis, baseball, and football. There are two pools here. There's the surfboard bay pool, which is the big main pool that's going to be right outside the lobby. And then the Grand Slam pool, which is in the baseball section. And it's a smaller pool over there. If you stay in on the like football field and just ask to be on the football field, but closest to the baseball area, that puts you in a pretty good location because you're in the building that's between another building and the lobby, and then also close to the quiet pool if you want that. And then their dining food court is called the end zone food court. Of course, there's a pool bar at every All-Star Res. So you have that as well. And again, All-Star Sports is always going to be the cheapest, but I'm telling you, you need to look at WDW Prep School. They are the crowd calendar that has when all the competitions are happening or when all the sports tournaments are happening. That way you can know, like, okay, if there's a dance or cheer or flag football or soccer tournament, you know it's going to be overrun by a lot of groups and teams. Let's keep this going in order. So the next place we are going to talk about is All-Star Music. Now, when I was younger, this was the resort that a lot of us stayed at during these cheer competitions, but it really has shifted more to sports, but you can still expect them to be staying at All-Star Music. So let me give you the details that make this one a little bit unique. So, as I said before, All-Star Music has opened the gates for larger families. So with the remodel, they now have a family suite that sleeps up to six. So it's a connected room. There is a kitchenette in this room as well, which has not a full-size fridge, but a priest pretty big fridge in there. It's a refrigerator fridge combo, lots of shelving, and it has like a sink area and a microwave. So full-on kitchenette. They have two rooms that are connected. One has a king bed in it, and the other one has two pull-down Murphy beds. So when the Murphy beds are up, there's a table that seats four, and then there is a couch in there. So it actually looks like almost a true living space. And the combination of the two really gives you a lot of open areas. So I think that that is a huge upgrade, way better than having two connecting rooms for sure. I have no problem sleeping on the Murphy beds at Disney. I think that they're great, you know, especially with having the full mattress on them, does not compare to pull-out couches. I'm so glad Disney is done with that as they continue these remodels. So I really am happy to try out this family suite. We are trying it out in July this year, so you can expect a room tour. And we're staying there for a week. So we will see how my kids feel about it after they stay there, especially being DVC kids. So this is the middle child resort. It's just in the middle of the two resorts. It's actually the least chaotic, I feel like, of all of them. So it's not as chaotic as sports, but it's not as crowded as movies. Like I said, movies tends to be the more popular of the three. And I'm not exactly sure why, because it's not the cheapest, but movies is super popular. Sports feels very chaotic, and music just feels a little bit quieter, and it definitely has like a very laid-back vibe. And I actually love the themes. So around their campus, there's jazz, rock, Broadway, Calypso, and country. I have a picture of myself, I think, in like 1999 in front of like the Western boot. So the big pool is the calypso pool, and it is a guitar-shaped pool. And in the middle of that pool, like where I guess like the circle thing and the guitar, sorry for not knowing these names, the three calibros are in the middle of the pool standing on that. So the the things about music is again, these are value, so they're not over the top by any means. But I feel like music is a great middle ground because now you have the family suites. It's a little bit more relaxed than the other two. And the price point is in the middle of movies and sports. And again, these price points don't range like a crazy amount in terms of like dollars, but any savings is a good savings. Like I said, in March of 2026, with my annual pass, I was able to book a room for$140. Right now, there's a deal at All-Star Sports where you can book for$49 or$99 a night. Well,$49, wouldn't that be nice if you could ever get a room at Disney for$49? But it's$99 a night during the summer. And so movies is just a little bit more expensive than that. So if you're looking for an all-star resort and you want a little bit more balance in terms of like the chaos there, maybe all-star music is where you want to be. So just to highlight some of the features, the Calypso building is going to be your preferred building. There are 1,604 rooms because this also has the family suite. So it reduces the amount of rule rooms here. Then you have the two pools. We have Calypso, which is the main pool I talked about. And then there's also a piano pool that is a quiet pool that's in the shape of a keyboard. Their dining is called Intermission Food Court. And of course, they have a pool bar available. Last but not least, of the value resorts, we have All-Star movies. And I've been thinking about it as I've been diving deep into all of these All-Stars. Why is movies the most popular? And honestly, it's probably because of the IP. So you've all-star sports that is based around sports. And yes, there's Mickey and Donald and everyone in the little statues, but we're like fabricating that story. Thinking of All Star Music, which is the background of Disney. So, like, yes, there's musicals, but a lot of little kids haven't been to The Lion King on Broadway or understand the references that they're seeing. Yes, there's larger than life, like characters and stuff, but it's not the Same. Then you go to All-Star movies, and not only does it speak to like our nostalgia as a kid, but the kids are actually seeing the characters that they are seeing on the screens for the first time in really large figurines. So I honestly think that that is the reason why All-Star Movies is the most popular, even though it's in the worst location of the three All-Star resorts. So Disney's All-Star Resort has 1,920 rooms. They're all approximately 260 square feet. They have the one queen bed and the one Murphy that pulls down. So they have like the table and there are two seats in it. They have no suites. So these are going to be the ones that sleep families afford, and they do have connecting rooms. So if you wanted to do the two-room option, um, you definitely can do that. There are five themed sections with 10 buildings in total. You have the preferred section, which is going to be 101 Dalmatians, and that's going to be closest to your lobby. Then the Fantasia buildings, which are four and five, also kind of considered preferred because they're pretty close. There's Love Bug, which is building six and seven, Mighty Ducks, which is building eight and nine, and then Toy Story, which is 10 and 11. So it's the furthest buildings. But the kids who love Toy Story or you want to build a trip that is based on Toy Story, that is where they're going to have the most fun staying, seeing that giant buzz light year. So definitely keep that in mind. I do love how we still have our Mighty Ducks. They did do a reboot of that show, so but my kids were never really into that area. The main pool is going to be the Fantasia pool with Sorcerer Mickey with his hands stretched out, and there's like pool fountains that come out. And then the duck pond pool, which is near Mighty Duck section, is going to be your smaller and quieter pool. Their dining is called World Premier Food Court, and it kind of looks like a movie theater with marquees, which is really fun. And they have like pizza and pasta, burgers and fries, and of course, grab and go in a bakery. So I didn't really talk about what's in all the food courts at the other resorts, but they're all pretty similar. You're not gonna find that difference of stuff. But there are a few little things that are different at each uh resort. A lot of times when we stay there the last time, we were walking to the All-Star Music Bus because we were in the Mighty Duck section, which is only about five minutes from their bus station, where it would take us forever to get to ours, like maybe like five minutes more. So, like 10 minutes to it. So that was a strategy we used all the time. And it was nice because we felt like we had the option of the food court over there as well. So the reality of All-Star movies is it is the least convenient because it's at the back of the resort. It is going to be one of the most crowded, but not as chaotic as All-Star Sports, because All-Star Sports is going to have a lot of big bodies that is there. And I have found when you have a lot of big bodies, like teen bodies in an area, the parks do feel different. I'll never forget being at Hollywood Studios the night that the cheer competition was having their night. And it felt so weird because there were so many big bodies and not enough little kids around. And so with movies, you're gonna have the crowds, but you can have lots of families, lots of little kids. You're gonna have the most magic at this resort because it's gonna be the Disney IP that we all know and love. It is gonna be a large resort, there's no family suites, it's the least convenient of the three, but you're gonna pay a little bit more for this one because it's definitely gonna be the most popular of the three all-star resorts. Usually I would be ending my podcast here, but a lot of you have said lately, no, Jessica, we love the long podcast. So I am going to continue on and we are gonna finish off the last two value resorts. So this will be a very comprehensive tool that you can use to decide which value resort is best for you. And I know I have a lot of travel agents here who follow me. So if you have a client that's trying to decide, you can send them this podcast and it will be extremely detailed over all of them. So let's jump into Pop Sentry and Art of Animation. So, first of all, these are also sister resorts. I know, totally different themes. You have Pop Century on one side and you have Art of Animation on the other. But did you know initially they were going to be one resort that was meant to be connected? Disney did not plan on building two resorts initially. They started one side and then they were gonna finish the other side. So on one side was the classic years, which we know as Pop Century. This celebrated Disney from the 1950s to the 1990s. Then they were gonna have another side called the Legendary Years, and that was gonna focus on the 1900s through 1940s, which would have been pretty cool. So they started working on this resort. They kind of picked the same layout as what they did with All Stars, but made it a little bit different. And then, of course, there was gonna be the bridge that is there that connects the two resorts, which is over our Glass Lake, which is now our Skyliner station, which is really cool. But before there was just a bridge that was connecting the resorts, so they start building what we know as pop century, and then September 11th happens. And tourism overnight just drops. I remember actively, like my parents were like, We are not traveling anywhere, and we were a traveling family, but everything paused, and so Disney also paused all major projects, and the legendary side of the resort was completely abandoned, and it was in the middle of construction. So it wasn't like they hadn't started it, they had started building like the buildings and the shell, and there are pictures you can find of that resort just sitting unfinished, the buildings were just sitting there being dilapidated. Pop Century did open in 2003 and only that half opened as what it was supposed to be. But across the lake, you literally just saw buildings there that were untouched, which had to be so weird. We never stayed in Pop Century during that window when we were going, because that would have been the cheer windows. So I was always at the All-Star Resorts during that area from 1999 to 2002. I was staying at All-Stars for cheer competitions twice a year. So I would have never seen this, but I wish I did because it had to be weird because they sat there for over a decade, just abandoned, they weren't doing anything with them, just sitting there. So eventually Disney was like, okay, we need to do something with these buildings. And they decided instead of continuing the legendary years, because we had had like the 90s renaissance of films, right? Like now things like Lion King and Nemo, all of the things that they have had become these like legendary movies. They also knew where they lacked in the value, because you have to remember value family suites just happened at All Star Music in 2025, I believe is when they did the remodel there. So either 2024 or 2025 is when the value suites remodel was done. So they didn't have anything at the value budget for family. So that's why they decided to build a resort that had mostly family suites. Now the Little Mermaid building, which was the closest to completion, they didn't change that layout, which is why it is the standard room still, and they didn't convert that into family suites because with Pop Century across the way, it doesn't make sense that the whole resort wouldn't be family suites. But that one was too far done. So that's why they kept Little Mermaid as standard, and then they made the rest family suites to kind of bridge that gap and have a moderate price priced option. And they picked the themes Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. And then that eventually connected the two resorts as planned, and then that's how we have Pop Century in art of animation. Diving into Pop Century, this is a super popular resort. It is also a Run Disney favorite. I think it's because it's a value-priced resort, it has very reliable transportation during Run Disney with the buses. I always feel like you get there so early if you're staying at Pop Century, and it's very efficient. You have the Skyliner there, and so you'll see a lot of runners there during races, but it's also great for families. And if you want that Skyliner access at a budget price, there are 2,880 rooms at this resort. They are valued, so the square footage is still roughly about 260. And they have the design of the one queen bed, one Murphy bed. They have 10 buildings total, the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 90s, all based on pop culture. The buildings that are closest to the Skyliner and the lobby are gonna be the 60s and the 50s. There are three pools here. So at the main building, which is the 60s, you have the hippie dippy pool. Then there is the bowling pool, which is the 50s, and then the computer pool, which is over by the 80s and 90s. You have everything pop food court. There's also the rainbow cheesecake here that's very delicious. Again, food court style, there's mobile ordering and lots of options for you. The biggest advantage is having the skyliner, especially at this price point. But when it comes to like actual Disney magic, I feel like this resort lacks the most just because it is based off of pop culture. And the references, I just don't think the kids know. Do I think that Disney will ever change it? No, I think it'll always be like Pop Century. It's the last kind of styled resort of its kind, and it's not super crowded with a bunch of like Disney characters and Disney magic. But for me, it's not gonna be a favorite resort to stay with my kids. Now, on a couples trip, a friend's trip, that kind of stuff, if I'm going, I think that this would be a great resort. Not deterring families from staying there. I'm just saying, like, if you're going to a value resort because you want larger than life theming and magic, at least even at the All-Stars where there's sports and music, you're getting Disney characters still infused in that. But if you don't want that, if you have teenagers, this actually would be a great resort to stay at because it's cool to see the pop culture references for the teenagers. And you don't want a whole bunch of like Mickeys and characters all over the place. This is a great resort for that. So just a recap on Pop Century. It is going to be one of the easiest resorts to navigate. It has a simple layout, clear sections. You can identify your room easily. It is really nice being next to Hourglass Lake, and there's a walking trail next to it. So it's like pretty peaceful. It's a lot quieter than any other of the value resorts. Again, I think it has to do with the theming. And also it's not one of the resorts where you have teens and sports clubs staying because it's a little bit higher in price than the All-Stars, but it's definitely not even close to like moderate. I believe every time I've stayed here, I was paid around$200 and something dollars to stay here. It's just an efficient resort. Again, that's why I run Disney people love it. I think the teens, I didn't even think about teenagers whenever I had written this podcast out, but I do think this is a great place. Like if you have older kids and teens, they're gonna love Pop Century because it's gonna be cool and create this nostalgia that they've never experienced. And it has like the neon colors, giant icons that light up, the quiet pathways. It's not drenched in Mickey character, like Disney character magic, but it's still pretty magical. And obviously the setup is nice with the Murphy bed and the Queen bed. And so I definitely think that this is a great place to stay, especially if you have teens, if you're here for Run Disney, if you're doing an adult-only trip but want value, if you're doing Run Disney, it is a resort that works and having the access to the Skyliner is always a bonus. We are finally to our final value resort, last but not least, and definitely my favorite of all of the five value resorts. We are at Disney's Art of Animation Resort. So before I even start talking about this resort, this is a value resort with a moderate price. And I'm gonna be honest about that. It is not priced at value, it is expensive to stay here compared to other resorts in this category. And I have only stayed here when I get a deal. I do not stay here if I'm paying full price. I will never pay full price for this resort. But usually when the rooms are on sale, which is why I never know which room I'm gonna stay on because they're on sale at different times. I usually pay anywhere from$400 to about$550 a night, but I won't pay full price for this resort. So keep that in mind. And there are like summer deals that happen for sections of the resort. Lion King always seems to be on sale. There are military discounts for this resort. And then, of course, when I talk about that annual pass, annual pass up to 40% off sometimes on some of the rooms of this resort. So just know the pricing is going to be higher. It's not gonna be true value, which is why I was so happy that they added the family suites at All Star Music, because that actually gives you a true value price for a family of six or out of animation. It's definitely priced like a moderate, but still in the value category. So you already know some of the backstory of how we got here. So majority of the rooms here are gonna sleep six. There's only one section that does not sleep six, and that is the little mermaid room. And that is where you are going to have the two queen beds. The layout of the family suites is when you walk into the room, they're all the same layout, just different themes, by the way. So when you walk in, the first thing you're gonna see is a table with four chairs on your left side. That is gonna be a pull-down Murphy bed as well. On the right side, there is a door, and that is your first full bathroom, which is so nice. And that is always for us designated as the kids' bathroom. You continue to walk in on the left side, there's like a little shelf. And of course, if this is flipped for some of the rooms, but I'm just visualizing one of the rooms we've stayed in. There's like a little shelf area and hanging area as an open closet. On the right, there's a small kitchenette. You will always have a full mini fridge here, like the tall ones, not a small one here, because a lot of the smaller ones they've replaced with cooler fridges. Just keep that in mind. But here they still have a full tall mini fridge. There's a microwave, there's some paper products there. You have a little, very, very mini kitchenette. Then there is a couch there that looks like the theme. So if it's cars, it looks like seat. There's finding Nemo and Lion King. And that is a pull-out bed. Now, I don't know if these rooms are also gonna get a refurbishment. They're not as old as some of the other resorts. So maybe it's in line to be touched very, very last. So I don't know if ever it's gonna have a second Murphy bed. But what's wild to think is these were some of the first resorts that ever had Murphy beds because that kitchen table has always been a Murphy bed where most of these value rooms were two clean bed styles, and same thing at all the other resorts. They had pullout couches, but this has always had the one Murphy bed that pulled down that was the table area. So it's it's interesting now that that concept has really been pushed into every resort. So you still have the fold-out couch and there's gonna be a TV there and a dresser, and there's usually like a little, like uh like a little cushion or something that's like an extra chair or seat in there. Then when you come back towards the front, there's another door to the primary room. Now, the one thing about this resort is all the beds are doubles, so there's no queens in this bed, in this room. They are double. So the pull-down bed's a double, the uh pull-out couch is a double, and in the primary room, it's also a double-sized bed. So it's smaller. Then in the primary room, you have a dresser, another TV, you have another open closet, and you have a secondary bathroom in the primary room. So it's nice because there's two full bathrooms in here. So when it sleeps six, it truly sleeps six, and there's enough room for all of you. There are approximately 1120 suites, and then there's 864 standard rooms in the little mermaid area. You have the primary building or the preferred building is always going to be finding Nemo, and that is the closest to everything. The big blue pool is in the center of that. There's also a squirt playground in the center of that, it's closer to closest to the skyliner as well. Then Cars is like if you're looking, if you're outside of the lobby looking straight at finding Nemo, on the right side is cars, and on the left side is Lion King. So Cars is really cool because it's set up as like a mini radiator spring. You have the cars that are full size. It is a dream. Like, I cannot wait to take my nephew here when he's about two years old and really walking and really knowing what cars is. I just introduced him to cars and he just turned one and he's like, car, car, room. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I get to do this one more time. And so I cannot wait until next year because I'll wait till next year when he's like fully in it and we go stay in these rooms. But people love it. People come to this resort just to visit, like the Radiator Springs area, and then the middle distance area. Well, and quick side note, cars does have its own quiet pool called the Cozy Cone Pool. Then the middle area is Lion King. So Lion King doesn't have its own pool, and it's kind of this weird middle section because it's the last section before you go out to the buildings of Little Mermaid. It is very well themed as well. Typically the cheapest price of the three family suites. So you usually will get a cheap price in Lion King, then it's cars. Then finding Nemo is always typically the most expensive one just because of the location and proximity of the Skyliner. Then you have the standard rooms, which is the Little Mermaid area, and it is a seven-minute walk from the lobby to the Little Mermaid area. Actually, I think it's seven to ten minutes. We calculated it, it's in the blog, so definitely check. But it is kind of a far walk to Little Mermaid, and they also have their own quiet pool over there called the Flipping Finns Pool, but it's a distance and it's not Little Mermaid themed like the Trinidad rooms are. This is actual like Linet Little Mermaid Ram. The rooms at Caribbean Beach are kind of like that quiet-themed Little Mermaid, kind of like the Grand Florida Iridian has like the Mary Poppins themed, where this is loud. Like you have a giant Ursula, a giant King Triton, a giant Ariel, any little mermaid fans, they are gonna love this resort. This is where they're gonna want to stay and enjoy their time. It's gonna be so much fun for them. So Little Mermaid Tweets are over in that side, and it has a flipping fins quiet pool. Now, of all the value resorts, Landscape of Flavors is definitely the best food court out of all of them. It has the best food. So I love the cheesecake over at Pop Century, but Landscape of Flavors is going to be your best value resort food court of all of them. With Skyliner access, it just is so awesome. Now in the morning and late at night, it is super busy and we actually avoid the Skyliner. Art of Animation is one of the resorts I do call a minivan in the morning. If our objective is to be at the park early, when we don't have an early morning or we're not planning on rising early, I do not need to get a minivan. The Skyliner is truly only busy, or those lines that you see that are like so sensationalized, that is truly in the morning and at night. The rest of the day, the Skyliner basically has no line. You just walk into. The kids love the theming here. I showed a post, I think it was last summer. We had taken my niece to Disney twice in six months. So her first and second trip to Disney were within six months of each other. This girl had stayed in a contemporary one-bedroom theme park view, okay, watching fireworks from her room. She had then stayed at an Animal Kingdom Lodge, Savannah View Room, two-bedroom suite for a week. Okay. We walk into art of animation and the girl flips out. She was nine years old at the time. She was like, this is amazing. This is what I'm talking about. This is the Disney resort I've been waiting for. And I'm looking at this girl like, you have stayed in some of the most luxurious rooms on Disney property, but it was not until you walked into art of animation that you were like, this is what I'm talking about. This is the best resort we've ever stayed at. So sometimes, as much as you want to be bougie and have luxury, you need to stay where the kids want to stay. They want this larger than life theming of the IP that they know and love. And That is what Art of Animation gives you. So it gives you the space, it gives you the best quick service, food court type food out of all the values. It gives you the themes that the kids know and love till today. And it just is so well done with the family suite. But again, it is moderately priced. I always try to stay there during sales because that's like the best way to get the price a little bit lower. It just the big blue pool is the largest pool on Disney property. And it does have underwater music. So make sure you're watching those kids. I always feel bad for those live cards because I'm guards. I'm like, surely it is annoying to see those kids dive down to those speakers and be like, okay, they haven't come up yet. They haven't come up yet. And so I always think about that. But yes, they're underwater speakers. So if you ever wonder what your kid is doing, they're probably trying to dive deep to see hear the sound of the music. But it is such a fun pool. Now that pool gets really hot, like around the walking areas. You should do this at all pools. You should have water shoes anyway. But that pool gets so hot. Like our feet were burning when we were staying there last July. And granted, it was like July, so it's hot in Florida, but it was just like we could not go two steps without it. So, and everyone else was feeling the pain as well. One other thing that people don't think about until they stay here is how cool this resort looks at night. Radiator Springs lights up with neon, and it is just, you know, our own little piece of Cars Land Heaven there. So definitely like take advantage of this resort. Take the pictures, especially when they're little. I love looking back at the pictures. Now that we don't stay here as much, I try to stay here once every couple of years just because I think it's really important for me to stay up on resorts, especially if I'm creating content for people now. But I do love coming back here. Our next trip will definitely be next year, and it will specifically be to stay in the car suite and probably Little Mermaid rooms as well, because my niece is obsessed with Little Mermaid. And just like any Disney trip, I build it around the people who I want to enjoy the trip the most. And for me, right now, is I want the kids to enjoy all of this magic. And maybe it's because I go a lot by myself, but we always work in, you know, date nights. There's Theme Park Nanny and all of these other things to make sure the adults are having fun too. But Art of Animation really hits the nail on the head for the IP that they use, the magic they give the kids and the theming of the rooms. Even though at this point it is, you know, hitting, I think it's about 20 years old now. It just doesn't even feel like it needs to be remodeled. So it'll be interesting when it does come time to get its refurb, if they just like clean up any like kind of you know rough edges versus like changing the interior so much that it doesn't look like the carstein rooms. So, but anyway, great resort, my favorite of all of the value resorts. I hope this podcast really broke down the value resorts for you. I will do one over the moderates and then I'll break the deluxe into like the sections that the resorts are in since there's a lot more deluxe resorts on Disney property. But for value, you cannot go wrong. You just need to know when you need to stay there and when to avoid it, especially during those cheer and dance competitions. We really love all of these resorts. And if you're listening to this before July 2026, definitely look out for us whenever we are there over the Fourth of July holiday and staying at the All-Star Music Family Suites for the first time. And if you're listening to this after by then, you should have a YouTube video up that gives you a room tour of that family suite. But we love a good value resort, it helps us get to Disney more frequently, especially when we're out of Disney Vacation Club Points. And they have so much to offer, and that is where all of the magic really lives. Thank you so much for joining me today. I know you have a lot of Disney podcasts to listen to. And so I'm glad you chose to spend this time with me. And I hope you have a magical rest of your day.