POP Pref Room vs AoA Little Mermaid

[tjknitz]

I am planning a trip with my two youngest children (who will be 7 and 5 - IMO PERFECT Disney ages) I'm super excited and want to give them the best experience. We are staying at a Value Resort because I think they have the better theming for this age group. I was tossing back and forth POR (which is a moderate of course) and POP: decided on POP because I think the kids would love the theme better. Now I'm questioning.....

POP Preferred Room vs AoA Little Mermaid Room?
We've stayed at POP back in 2009 and LOVED it - not sure if we want to try something different or go with what we know. Suggestions??? Input???

 

[Thickey]

AoA LM rooms are a long walk from the reception etc, but better themed inside. I have a reservation for Pop but don't have any children so the non-theming isn't an issues (it's more of bonus to be honest). Take a look on youtube and look at some room tours and see what you think

 

[smitch425]

I am planning a trip with my two youngest children (who will be 7 and 5 - IMO PERFECT Disney ages) I'm super excited and want to give them the best experience. We are staying at a Value Resort because I think they have the better theming for this age group. I was tossing back and forth POR (which is a moderate of course) and POP: decided on POP because I think the kids would love the theme better. Now I'm questioning.....

POP Preferred Room vs AoA Little Mermaid Room?
We've stayed at POP back in 2009 and LOVED it - not sure if we want to try something different or go with what we know. Suggestions??? Input???

Aside from the long walk, the LM rooms are excluded from all discounts. We always stay standard at POP. There are standard rooms that are just as close to the main building as some of the preferred rooms. If being close to the main building is important to you, you should book preferred pool view. We've never thought the increased cost would be worth it, though. Happy planning!

 

[tjknitz]

Aside from the long walk, the LM rooms are excluded from all discounts. We always stay standard at POP. There are standard rooms that are just as close to the main building as some of the preferred rooms. If being close to the main building is important to you, you should book preferred pool view. We've never thought the increased cost would be worth it, though. Happy planning!

I had no idea that the LM rooms were excluded from all discounts....honestly - that would make my decision for me.
I'm not too concerned with the decor of the room - because honestly we are very rarely in the room to notice - I was thinking about just being able to stay at "The New Resort". We love POP though - and so I will most likely end up staying there. Thank you everyone for your input though! 2015 seems WAY TOO LONG!!!

 

[AllyinWonderland]

I would choose POP. Little Mermaid rooms are excluded from discounts and therefore aren't worth the price difference for me. Also the LM rooms are a hike from the main building. POP has plenty of standard rooms that are still close to the main building. While staying at POP it would definitely be worth it to wander over to AoA to check it out.

 

[poooh]

Just stayed in a LM room and it was a long walk, especially for young kids. After a long day at the parks it was killer. However, the room was cute and themed very well. The food court was really nice as well. Even though it was excluded from the discount going on at the time I still think it was a good value. But if I was taking two kids I would definitely choose POP, if only to avoid that long walk.

 

[kaytieeldr]

People keep saying its a very long walk to the Little Mermaid rooms. I just compared the two resort maps, and there doesn't appear to be a substantial difference in a straight line (middle of 80s/90s = beginning of LM section). But the walkway is much more direct at AoA, pretty much straght between the Lion King buildings.

 

[dpswift]

If you are going alone with 2 small children I would pick POP and request close to food court. Having taken multiple trips alone with my son it is nice being close to the food court to grab a quick drink.

At the age my son is now (almost 12) I would not have a problem with the walk to LM. IMO the walk makes the room quieter because there are fewer people walking by to get to their rooms.

 

[dpswift]

People keep saying its a very long walk to the Little Mermaid rooms. I just compared the two resort maps, and there doesn't appear to be a substantial difference in a straight line (middle of 80s/90s = beginning of LM section). But the walkway is much more direct at AoA, pretty much straght between the Lion King buildings.

I agree however there is a shortcut through the parking lots at POP that is close to the buses. Other than that it seems about the same.

 

[sandyandcalvin]

LM rooms are too far. Pop resorts are great a great value and the buses run continulsly

 

[Ariel on Land]

I would love to stay in a LM room, but just can't justify the increase in cost.

 

[Mousemom]

We love Pop but our last trip we decided to give AofA a try. We will be going back to Pop for our visit in October. We loved the shorter walk to the food court, the theming, and pool at Pop. We always get a preferred room in building 6. I think your kids would like the theming at both but remember you can always visit AofA while staying at Pop to eat and walk around. Little Mermaid rooms are quite a hike to the food court or drink station for little ones after a long day in the park.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I agree however there is a shortcut through the parking lots at POP that is close to the buses. Other than that it seems about the same.

Good point although the sidewalks are safer than the parking lot.

LM rooms are too far. Pop resorts are great a great value and the buses run continulsly

Again, the difference in distance overall is minimal. In a straight line from Animation Hall, the first Little Mermaid rooms are about the same distance as getting from Classic Hall to the Computer pool. In a straight line. The sidewalks are pretty direct at AoA, vs how they curve and wind at Pop.

 

[Disneylover99]

Good point


Again, the difference in distance overall is minimal. In a straight line from Animation Hall, the first Little Mermaid rooms are about the same distance as getting from Classic Hall to the Computer pool. In a straight line. The sidewalks are pretty direct at AoA, vs how they curve and wind at Pop.

Not everyone is going to be able to stay in the first LM rooms though. I'm going to assume that most people will request a room closest to buses or food court. If you get placed in the furthest building, and you don't have your own vehicle, the walk can be brutal.

 

[EmersonNZ]

We just came back fro a trip staying both in Pop and AoA LM.

While I think AoA LM was well worth doing and we are glad we did I don't think we'll be doing it again unless we are going with nieces and nephews etc.

The AoA LM rooms are certainly a slight step up from Pop rooms. The decor is better themed and furnishing newer and fresher etc. The AoA pool is spectacular and for some might be worth the extra price (If you have kids who love to swim it probably is a deal winner).

The AoA LM rooms are as mentioned a long way away from the main pool, buses and the food court etc. In reality parts of Pop are probably closure to the AoA Buses and Food Court than some of the AoA Lm rooms are.

If you were staying at Pop of course there is nothing stopping you taking the quick walk over to AoA and having a look around or to eat in the food court etc (Unfortunately the pool is room key only).

 

[shyjade]

When we stayed at POP last October, we would take the AoA bus from the parks to stop and eat in their food court, then walk the bridge back to our room at POP. After seeing how far the LM rooms are, and watching a video of the walk on YouTube, we've decided we are much better off returning to POP than trying out LM. If I'm going to have that far of a walk, I might as well stay at a Mod and enjoy an upgraded resort!

 

[dpswift]

Not everyone is going to be able to stay in the first LM rooms though. I'm going to assume that most people will request a room closest to buses or food court. If you get placed in the furthest building, and you don't have your own vehicle, the walk can be brutal.

When we stayed there we were lucky enough to get one of the closer rooms without a request. DH still complained to me about the distance.

If I were going alone I would chose AoA LM because I love the resort, however because OP is going alone with 2 young kids I think that the walk would be to far.

 

[Disneylover99]

When we stayed there we were lucky enough to get one of the closer rooms without a request. DH still complained to me about the distance.

If I were going alone I would chose AoA LM because I love the resort, however because OP is going alone with 2 young kids I think that the walk would be to far.

Luckily, we were in building 7 Lakeside.....Very pretty view. But the walk was too much after awhile. If my room was in building 8, it would have been way worse so I'm thankful that I got a reasonably close LM room.

 

[kaytieeldr]

When we stayed at POP last October, we would take the AoA bus from the parks to stop and eat in their food court, then walk the bridge back to our room at POP. After seeing how far the LM rooms are, and watching a video of the walk on YouTube, we've decided we are much better off returning to POP than trying out LM. If I'm going to have that far of a walk, I might as well stay at a Mod and enjoy an upgraded resort!

Okay, understood. But unless you were staying in the 60s before the Hippy Dippy pool, your walk was longer from AoA to Pop than any walk within AoA.