Which resort? POFQ, POP, CBR, or All-Stars

[Keladry84]

I'm looking at my first WDW trip the second week of March 2024. I've got my choice of resorts narrowed down to several and would like input from people who've stayed at them - I've researched pretty heavily but having feedback from people to confirm my ideas about them would be helpful. My priorities in lodging are:

- quiet/non-chaotic!!
- easy to get to from parks due to needing an afternoon break/re-set in the room
- cost
- would like different types of transportation options but may be limited due to cost

I don't really care about amenities, pools, food options/etc. as long as there is at least 1 decent QS on-site. Theming would be interesting but isn't necessary. I plan on 4 park days - 1 park/day, with possible park-hopping in the afternoon/evening when I return to parks from my afternoon break. Having the ability to be away from crowds/chaos is important as I get sensory overload.

The resorts I've got it narrowed down to in this order are:

1. POFQ - from what I've read it's fairly quiet and compact. It has buses that usually only service one resort, a boat to Disney Springs and an interesting QS restaurant. Cons would be the pool is being refurbished while I'm there (for me concern with noise) and cost as this is at the very top of my budget. My main question for this would be - how easy is it to get to the different parks with only the buses??
2. POP - my main interest in this one is skyliner, with a more affordable cost than POFQ. My biggest concern is how loud/chaotic is it?? It might be too much for me. Has anyone with sensory overload stayed at POP, and what was your experience?
3. CBR - has skyliner and interesting theming, but is only a little cheaper than POFQ. I'm not sure how well it would meet my needs of being easy to get around/quiet though with the size of the resort. Anyone have experience?
4. All-stars - only reason for here would be the cheaper price. Those who've stayed there vs. my other options - how do the buses compare with POFQ, and how bad is the chaos/noise?

Thanks for any input or experiences you all can give me!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I only have first hand knowledge of POFQ. We have stayed there twice. Once for 7 days and another for 10 days. I can easily say this is a very quiet, calming resort. The rooms are quiet and have soft colors with dark woods. As long as you don't book a pool view or river view room, I think your room will be insulated from both the pool refurb and the boat horns on the river.

We found the buses to be very good here. One bus stop at the front of the resort and it goes straight to the parks. A few times coming back from the parks around closing we had to wait for a second bus because the line was long but that happens for all of the resorts from time to time. There were a few times on our last trip in Jan/Feb that our family had a "private" bus to the parks.....LOL We left the resort late morning or early afternoon with no other passengers and the bus drivers were super chatty the whole ride and we went directly to the parks. POFQ used to share buses with POR in off-peak times but that was not our experience this year.

 

[SnowWhitee]

POFQ: Been there multiple times. Never had an issue with bus service.
POP: Never stayed there, only visited.
CBR: Never stayed there, researched for a prior trip. I would have requested building 41 near the skyliner and a bus stop, not too far of a walk from the main building.
All Stars: Stayed at Movies, getting ready to stay at Music. Never had an issue with bus service at Movies.

I will say that you could potentially have more noise at Pop or All Stars because those are common resorts for school and sports groups or tour groups. We did not find that over Thanksgiving when we went, but March may be a different story.

If you have not used it yet, check out the room finder tool on Touring Plans. You can look at resort maps and see where standard rooms are vs. preferred, a noise level estimator, sometimes pictures of the view, etc.

Good luck finding what suits you.

 

[LoveDaisy]

The value resorts tend to be louder and to me are very chaotic compared to other resorts, with their over the top theming I think they are just more geared for kids. Also with their motel set up I find you hear more outside noise too. It is also where the youth sporting groups tend to stay. You can see a list of upcoming events here. I do not see hotels listed but they normally stay at all stars and pop with some moderate hotels included.

 

[grapefruitjellybean]

I feel you on this one and it is a difficult choice.
I would say either one of the PO or CBR. I find POP and values to be very chaotic, lots of school trips and big groups. Plus theming and enormous cutout make me feel weird and anxious.
With either PO resorts you share amenities so you can use either pool which helps if one is closed. It’s a short 10 min walk from one resort to the other or you can take the boat but you’ll be waiting so walking is best. Also beignets!!!!
The quiet pools are boring but they are peaceful and there’s usually no one there. That was a plus for me.
The internal bus system is great. You can request a room close to the West depot bus stop, it’s the first one on and first one off.
CBR is also quiet and there are some nice chill spots around the resort. The one advantage over PO is that the main pool is super cool and it has the skyliner. There’s an internal bus loop here as well. You can request to be close to the skyliner in the Jamaica and Aruba buildings.
I don’t have an opinion about food because I found it all to be below average. I ate at the parks mostly and picked up groceries like fruit and yogurt for breakfast.
I’ve never had an issue with buses. I think the longest we waited was 15 min and that’s because we got to the stop right as it was pulling away. I found it very reliable in the mornings. Buses were slightly less reliable in the evenings at park close. I think the longest wait was 30, but average is 15. I didn’t mind because it was a chance for our group to stand still and talk about our day. People on the buses always gave up their seat when they saw me with two sleeping kids in my arms. I’ve never had a bad experience with the buses. If you’re concerned about buses you can always Uber or Lyft. Just know that you might have to order in advance especially busy periods, and they won’t drop you off directly in front on the park. At MK you’re dropped off at TTC so you’ll have to take the monorail or boat.

I hope this helps! Let us know what you end up picking.

 

[migirl]

I’ve stayed at AoA and visited Pop. Pop colors/decor = sensory overload. POFQ is great for someone looking for peace and quiet (as much as you can get at WDW, anyway). I think you will love the relaxing boat to DS and should choose POFQ.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

I've stayed at 3 of 4 and only visited CBR. Resort theming is an essential factor for me. POFQ is my favorite of the four. Pop is my least favorite WDW Resort because I'm not too fond of the pop culture theme.

 

[loves to dive]

I've stayed at the two value and CBR, stayed at PORS but not FQ. As others have said, the values can get sort of chaotic since they are the less expensive and school groups and families tend to stay there. That being said, I've found that the noise is only a problem in the check in/restaurant/gift shop building. The grounds themselves aren't bad. Both the value and moderate resorts have outside hallways - think motel instead of hotel. So in all of them you are going to hear people walking past your room and if you are not on the top floor, will possibly hear people above your and if you have a connecting door, you might hear the people beside you.

The bus service is the bus service is the bus service. It is good and bad at every single resort and I've stayed at just about all of them including the Fort in our RV. CBR is a bigger resort so the bus does circle the entire resort letting people on and off so it does take a little longer. The values have an actual que for each park but are not covered. The moderates are covered but do not have que so it can be like the running of the bulls to get on one.

I like the fact that the moderates have a "quiet" pool and that most of them have a TS restaurant. I'm not a huge QS fan. All the QS locations can be loud and chaotic at peak times.

The sky liner. I'm not a fan. It takes as long if not longer in some cases as the buses do and can and will be shut down if there is wind/lightening or severe storms. That risk isn't as high in March but it is Florida and it does rain - a lot. So go with that as you think best.

I think if you have issues with noise but still want to save money, Pop might be the better choice in the value resorts because you can get in one of the buildings further away from the front and it will be quieter. No matter where you stay, stress you do not want to be near the main pool, you will hear the noise while it is open.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm looking at my first WDW trip the second week of March 2024. I've got my choice of resorts narrowed down to several and would like input from people who've stayed at them - I've researched pretty heavily but having feedback from people to confirm my ideas about them would be helpful. My priorities in lodging are:

- quiet/non-chaotic!!
- easy to get to from parks due to needing an afternoon break/re-set in the room
- cost
- would like different types of transportation options but may be limited due to cost

I don't really care about amenities, pools, food options/etc. as long as there is at least 1 decent QS on-site. Theming would be interesting but isn't necessary. I plan on 4 park days - 1 park/day, with possible park-hopping in the afternoon/evening when I return to parks from my afternoon break. Having the ability to be away from crowds/chaos is important as I get sensory overload.

The resorts I've got it narrowed down to in this order are:

1. POFQ - from what I've read it's fairly quiet and compact. It has buses that usually only service one resort, a boat to Disney Springs and an interesting QS restaurant. Cons would be the pool is being refurbished while I'm there (for me concern with noise) and cost as this is at the very top of my budget. My main question for this would be - how easy is it to get to the different parks with only the buses??
2. POP - my main interest in this one is skyliner, with a more affordable cost than POFQ. My biggest concern is how loud/chaotic is it?? It might be too much for me. Has anyone with sensory overload stayed at POP, and what was your experience?
3. CBR - has skyliner and interesting theming, but is only a little cheaper than POFQ. I'm not sure how well it would meet my needs of being easy to get around/quiet though with the size of the resort. Anyone have experience?
4. All-stars - only reason for here would be the cheaper price. Those who've stayed there vs. my other options - how do the buses compare with POFQ, and how bad is the chaos/noise?

Thanks for any input or experiences you all can give me!

I have stayed at them all. Some many many times.

1) POFQ. Moderate prices for a more value experience. It is like the stepsister to POR, no table service, sometimes share a bus with them, pool geared for very young children, very small hot tub. I just can't pay that much when it doesn't have all the amenities. It is very popular with young families and will find it to be noisy at times.

2) POP. Almost 40 stays there WITH A HIGH SENSORY, NOISE TRIGGERED, HIGH ANXIETY & PANIC ATTACKS triggered by human noise son. Spent many a day, hours at a time in room with him decompressing. Quiet pool, pretty landscaping and lake for walking, good transportation. This would be my pick booking Standard and adding a phone call (have done often) and explain sensory needs, decompress issues requesting 50's Lakeview (Bldg 3) Top Floor. It's a deluxe view, quiet and just minutes to main hub and buses. Walking AoA is nice treat, SkyLiner to lots of good dining.

3) CBR. Probably best bet for the best food court. Has great table service with Sebastians Bistro. Has had some renovations to main hub that make it a really nice resort, more upgraded than POR/POFQ. Downside is the spread out nature of resort and far location of SkyLiner to most rooms. I think the amount of travel I'd have to do might be additional stress.

4) AllStars. You will have large groups there in March. Most will be in Sports or Music. Food courts are okay, nothing special and we avoid eating in them. As below I like the queue system there for buses but hate being in heat ... March won't be so bad. They have quiet pools but they are small and always seem just as crowded. Individually; Sports is our favorite for footprint, layout, customer service and they are the newest rooms. / Movies is fine, LOTS of young families, not a fan of a couple themes and would hate being in Herbie. / Music is one we will not return to for many reasons, mostly safety. Footprint totally different and standard rooms can be very far from hub. It is a dark resort. I travel alone with my disabled DS and this is just not an option anymore. The only Allstar we have been bothered by noise and groups.

PS The WWOS is just groups staying that are participating in WWOS events. There are lots more, bands, education groups, large tour groups. DS#2 just got back from staying in Sports and Music with his high school group that was participating at a non-Disney event.

I've stayed at the two value and CBR, stayed at PORS but not FQ. As others have said, the values can get sort of chaotic since they are the less expensive and school groups and families tend to stay there. That being said, I've found that the noise is only a problem in the check in/restaurant/gift shop building. The grounds themselves aren't bad. Both the value and moderate resorts have outside hallways - think motel instead of hotel. So in all of them you are going to hear people walking past your room and if you are not on the top floor, will possibly hear people above your and if you have a connecting door, you might hear the people beside you.

The bus service is the bus service is the bus service. It is good and bad at every single resort and I've stayed at just about all of them including the Fort in our RV. CBR is a bigger resort so the bus does circle the entire resort letting people on and off so it does take a little longer. The values have an actual que for each park but are not covered. The moderates are covered but do not have que so it can be like the running of the bulls to get on one.

I like the fact that the moderates have a "quiet" pool and that most of them have a TS restaurant. I'm not a huge QS fan. All the QS locations can be loud and chaotic at peak times.

The sky liner. I'm not a fan. It takes as long if not longer in some cases as the buses do and can and will be shut down if there is wind/lightening or severe storms. That risk isn't as high in March but it is Florida and it does rain - a lot. So go with that as you think best.

I think if you have issues with noise but still want to save money, Pop might be the better choice in the value resorts because you can get in one of the buildings further away from the front and it will be quieter. No matter where you stay, stress you do not want to be near the main pool, you will hear the noise while it is open.

Agree with so much of this ^^^

Top floors are the best where you can - to avoid noise and yes groups can be in value & moderates ... and sometimes deluxe. No where is noise free, one of my worst trips for noise was Animal Kingdom Lodge from our neighbors.

I've stayed all over, never ever pick based on transportation because anywhere can have snags and even if you have part of it great, you'll pay for the rest. EX: MK Resorts have monorail to MK but all else is poor for what you pay.

Moderates have quiet pools but so does POP Century and Art of Animation. Allstars do too but we find them often busier than the main pool. We actually love the quiet Bowling Pin Pool at POP, big, never overcrowded and fairly quiet.

 

[Simba's Mom]

You're going to get all 4 resorts recommended. I'll pick POFQ. Not only is it not chaotic, and has relatively good food, but for variety you can always walk over to POR food court for variety.

 

[CynBeth]

We usually visit every few years around holiday season and of your list have stayed at POFQ and CBR. We did not have any bus issues with FQ even when it shared with RS. For CBR we were in a preferred room in Martinique. It was close to Old Port Royale where the food court is. After breakfast we took the internal bus to the Skyliner for our Epcot and HS days and the other times we went to MK and AK the bus service was just fine.

 

[Newsies]

I don't have firsthand experience staying at POFQ, but with everything you've mentioned, I think booking CBR and requesting a room close to the Skyliner would be my rec. It has a bit of everything you're looking for.

I'll say that my expectations were pretty low for CBR because I knew it was a huge resort with an internal bus system, which I had previously had a bad experience with at OKW, but CBR ended up blowing my expectations out of the water. We were in the Aruba building closest to the Riviera Skyliner depot and it was like a little slice of heaven-- the grounds were quiet, it was a 2 minute walk to the Skyliner hub, and we would even walk to Riviera to eat at their awesome QS restaurant/coffee bar since it was much closer to us than the CBR lobby and food options (although we were also satisfied with the quality of food at CBR's pool lounge and QSFB court when we visited!)

I think Pop could potentially also be good for you if you really want to save those dollars, but I preferred my CBR stay to either of my Pop Century stays.

I wouldn't book at any All-Star resorts if you're concerned with noise level and quality of transportation, my loudest resort stay was 100% a weekend getaway where I stayed at All-Star Sports in a Preferred building.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Out of all you have listed POFQ is the only one I would personally stay at….

Have you looking into renting DVC. My guess is you could rent at SSR or OKW for the same price have a nicer resort, and still be able to boat to the springs …

You may also be able to get AKL. The a nice quiet view of the animals….

Again, without looking those three resorts can usually be rented for about the same price as the moderates..

 

[sponica]

I've only stayed at POFQ and POP. Somehow CBR we always book but move somewhere else.

If you're going to want the feature pool, I believe those are both closed in spring 2024 for POFQ and CBR but if the pool doesn't matter, I'd go with POFQ.

It's bus only, but usually it has its own bus. Midday it might share with POR but I only encountered that at AK when we went. The longest drive is to AK, but the others are reasonably short.

It's super small so even the farthest flung standard room is not a long walk.

I have fond memories of Pop but I remember the food court being a chaotic loud mess and the 70s courtyard blared disco music. I wouldn't recommend with sensory overload.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

I'm looking at my first WDW trip the second week of March 2024. I've got my choice of resorts narrowed down to several and would like input from people who've stayed at them - I've researched pretty heavily but having feedback from people to confirm my ideas about them would be helpful. My priorities in lodging are:

- quiet/non-chaotic!!
- easy to get to from parks due to needing an afternoon break/re-set in the room
- cost
- would like different types of transportation options but may be limited due to cost

I don't really care about amenities, pools, food options/etc. as long as there is at least 1 decent QS on-site. Theming would be interesting but isn't necessary. I plan on 4 park days - 1 park/day, with possible park-hopping in the afternoon/evening when I return to parks from my afternoon break. Having the ability to be away from crowds/chaos is important as I get sensory overload.

The resorts I've got it narrowed down to in this order are:

1. POFQ - from what I've read it's fairly quiet and compact. It has buses that usually only service one resort, a boat to Disney Springs and an interesting QS restaurant. Cons would be the pool is being refurbished while I'm there (for me concern with noise) and cost as this is at the very top of my budget. My main question for this would be - how easy is it to get to the different parks with only the buses??
2. POP - my main interest in this one is skyliner, with a more affordable cost than POFQ. My biggest concern is how loud/chaotic is it?? It might be too much for me. Has anyone with sensory overload stayed at POP, and what was your experience?
3. CBR - has skyliner and interesting theming, but is only a little cheaper than POFQ. I'm not sure how well it would meet my needs of being easy to get around/quiet though with the size of the resort. Anyone have experience?
4. All-stars - only reason for here would be the cheaper price. Those who've stayed there vs. my other options - how do the buses compare with POFQ, and how bad is the chaos/noise?

Thanks for any input or experiences you all can give me!

I honestly haven't stayed at All Starts since 06, but I would never do it again. It was chaotic even back then. I know others love it, but it just wasn't for us. It was loud, the QS back then wasn't great, and it was huge.

I didn't stay at POFQ, but I did stay at POR. We walked over to the FQ. Both resorts are sooo quiet, and it was the most relaxing area. You are welcome to use the Riverside pool too, and as long as you don't pay for a water view room, you will probably be away from the pool noise from the construction.

I don't have much to say about the other two, but one thing to consider for CBR is even though it has the Skyliner, it is very very large, so it has an internal bus system just to get from one area of the resort to the other. If you want to be near the dinning hall, or the skyliner (opposite side of the resort mind you), you will need to either pay for a premium location for the room, or take the internal bus system.

Honestly, I would stay either POFQ, or POP is your better bet. I haven't stayed at POP, but when I visited it didn't seem too chaotic outside of the main Dinning hall area.

 

[stinkpickle]

Based on your criteria, it would probably be worth the cost to stay at POFQ.

 

[Keladry84]

Thank you everyone for the feedback and info! This is extremely useful, and confirms a lot of what I was thinking about the different resorts. I also hadn't know about the touring plans room finder!! This thing is golden! Thank you!

I'm very heavily leaning towards POFQ garden view room with request for a top floor, building away from the pool/center of resort. I know I'll still want to ride the Skyliner so might pop over to POP sometime during my trip to check it out to see for myself if it is something I could do on a future trip. It seems possibly a request in a top floor with one of the rooms facing the water might be doable.

Another question - do any of you have experience booking lodging through Undercovertourist? I saw I could save close to $100 booking through them over direct with Disney, but I'm always leary of using a 3rd party because of difficulty if anything goes wrong. I got burned on airline tickets about 10 years ago that way and on the same trip witnessed another person get burned on their hotel room because of it. Since then I've always booked travel (flights/hotels/tickets) directly with the business, but $100 is quite a bit of difference......

 

[jlk0809]

Thank you everyone for the feedback and info! This is extremely useful, and confirms a lot of what I was thinking about the different resorts. I also hadn't know about the touring plans room finder!! This thing is golden! Thank you!

I'm very heavily leaning towards POFQ garden view room with request for a top floor, building away from the pool/center of resort. I know I'll still want to ride the Skyliner so might pop over to POP sometime during my trip to check it out to see for myself if it is something I could do on a future trip. It seems possibly a request in a top floor with one of the rooms facing the water might be doable.

Another question - do any of you have experience booking lodging through Undercovertourist? I saw I could save close to $100 booking through them over direct with Disney, but I'm always leary of using a 3rd party because of difficulty if anything goes wrong. I got burned on airline tickets about 10 years ago that way and on the same trip witnessed another person get burned on their hotel room because of it. Since then I've always booked travel (flights/hotels/tickets) directly with the business, but $100 is quite a bit of difference......

Have you checked your dates for the "up to 25% off" offer Disney has going right now?
At least one of those resorts should qualify. Look under the special offers tab on the WDW website.

I stayed at All Star Movies in August and didn't find it chaotic. I also have kids though, so maybe I'm used to it. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside in February, but I would have much preferred Caribbean beach for the Skyliner. The 2 things that made us choose POR were 1. The main pool at CBR will be closed, and 2. I couldn't get my 30% off bounceback offer for all 6 nights at CBR, so it would have cost $350 more than POR. Didn't think that was worth it with the pool down.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I'm very heavily leaning towards POFQ garden view room with request for a top floor, building away from the pool/center of resort. I know I'll still want to ride the Skyliner so might pop over to POP sometime during my trip to check it out to see for myself if it is something I could do on a future trip. It seems possibly a request in a top floor with one of the rooms facing the water might be doable.

FWIW, we had second floor rooms at POFQ in Bldg 5 for 10 days in Jan/Feb and we never heard our neighbors above, below, or beside us the whole trip. We only knew we had neighbors when we saw/heard them walking and talking on the walkway outside the rooms.

If booking a garden view room, I would just keep it simple for the room assigner and request "quiet room." The more requests you add, the room assigner is more likely to pick and fill one of the requests which may not be your most important. At most, do 2 requests like "quiet room, top floor."

 

[SnowWhitee]

Thank you everyone for the feedback and info! This is extremely useful, and confirms a lot of what I was thinking about the different resorts. I also hadn't know about the touring plans room finder!! This thing is golden! Thank you!

I'm very heavily leaning towards POFQ garden view room with request for a top floor, building away from the pool/center of resort. I know I'll still want to ride the Skyliner so might pop over to POP sometime during my trip to check it out to see for myself if it is something I could do on a future trip. It seems possibly a request in a top floor with one of the rooms facing the water might be doable.

Another question - do any of you have experience booking lodging through Undercovertourist? I saw I could save close to $100 booking through them over direct with Disney, but I'm always leary of using a 3rd party because of difficulty if anything goes wrong. I got burned on airline tickets about 10 years ago that way and on the same trip witnessed another person get burned on their hotel room because of it. Since then I've always booked travel (flights/hotels/tickets) directly with the business, but $100 is quite a bit of difference......

I have booked tickets and hotel rooms through UT multiple times. Never had an issue. In fact, for my upcoming trip I got tickets, rooms and a rental car through them. But I do check Disney's prices as well just to be sure I have the best deal.

I have seen posts by others who have had excellent customer service if/when anything went sideways (usually no fault of UT, but they still helped). It's a reputable company.