2 Standard Rooms -vs- ASMusic Family Suites

[eswill]

My party includes 3 adults and 3 children. Would it be better to book 2 connected rooms at an All Star or get the ASMusic Family Suites? It would basically be the same $ wise. I havn't stayed in the suites before, so Im not sure if they can handle 3 adults and 3 children.

 

[not-too-old4fun]

I haven't been there yet either but we booked the AS suite. we'll be 3 adults and 2 children. I was uneasy about booking the 2 rooms because they told me they couldn't guarantee adjoining rooms.
I'm positive the suite can accomodate 3 adults and 3 children as long 2 sleep in the sofabed.

There is a queen size bed in the bedroom and then there is the sofabed that could sleep 2 and the 2 twin sized pull out chairs.

Basically the suite is 2 standard rooms opened up into one big suite.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

my cousins and their 3 children ages 7, 5, and 3 used the suites last summer and loved them, but i know when we were debating the suites or 2 rooms, we would have gone for 2 rooms because my brother is 20 and i'm 22 and we liked the appeal of having our own "bed" as opposed to a pull out sofa and pull out chair, but the pics of the suites are very nice and look nice to stay in, theres also the issue like the other post of making sure you have connecting rooms, for our family we are old enough to have our own rooms so thats not really an issue but for small children it might be nice to have everyone contained in one room if you arent 100% sure of a connecting room.

 

[Amy&Dan]

The suites have the queen bed in the master and a small kitchenette. In your case, you say "children" which leads me to think these are kids, not teens. I would totally go with the suite. Contrary to popular belief, WDW does NOT guarantee connecting rooms. There have been many times when disboarders who requested connecting rooms didn't get them. Which entailed splitting up families, not a good thing in my book. Now with your three adults that might not be a problem.

I also noticed a few days ago a thread where posters reported the pullouts in the suites slept adults and teens comfortably.

 

[tinkerbell615]

We are two standard rooms. The idea of two bathrooms as opposed to one is a great sell for us. Also, if you use AAA discount you can not get them on the suites, so we are saving a bit of $ also by doing two standard rooms.

 

[camouseketeer]

We are two standard rooms. The idea of two bathrooms as opposed to one is a great sell for us.

Don't the family suites have two bathrooms?

 

[mnasmom3]

Don't the family suites have two bathrooms?

According to the disney website, they do indeed have two full baths.

We're in a similar debate here....2 connecting rooms or a suite.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

ya the suites have two bathrooms, i guess its really up to the ppl you are with, children dont usually tend to mind sleeping on a sleeper sofa b/c they are on vacation and dont really see the difference but say you are traveling with your kids and maybe their grandparents, they may have different opinions about sleeping on a sleeper sofa. And for the time you really spend in your room which is really worth it?? theres also the issue with the kitchen if you are traveling with a baby and need to heat up a bottle, its nice to be able to do it in the comfort of your own room but if that is not an issue, is the kitchen in the suite worth it or is it better to have 2 rooms?? I think if disney could 100% give you connecting rooms, more ppl would trust it and try it, but the suites are a nice option for a family of 5 that need some extra space and more bathrooms too!!

 

[minnie61650]

Here is some info on the Family Suites:

*** They are 520 square feet.

*** The Family suites are located in the Jazz and Calypso buildings at All Star Music.(these are the closet buildings to the food court and the bus stop.

*** They cost less than a standard room at AKL or WL.

***1-6 adults may stay in a suite for the same set price.
(There is an additional fee of $10 per night for a 3rd or 4th additional adult in a standard value room.)

*** They have a QUEEN size bed (the other values and even the mods do not have a queen bed.

***The fridge is included (if you booked 2 connecting value rooms you would need to pay $10 extra for a night for a fridge if you wanted one.

*** They come with a microwave and coffeepot (If you booked 2 connecting value rooms you would not even be be able to rent a microwave and coffeepot.

***They have 2 TV's (if you book POR or a Deluxe room which sleeps 5 you will have 1 TV)

***They have 2 bathrooms (if you book POR or a Deluxe room which sleeps 5 you will have 1 Bathroom.)



For more info and photos please see the FAQ thread and feel free to PM me with any questions.

Here is the FAQ thread:*Note you can also find it on the resort sticky


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409

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Here is some info about the Family Suites:


The Family Suites will be located in the Calypso and Jazz Inn Buildings. When complete:

Calypso Building 1 has 32 suites
Calypso Building 10 has 54 suites
Jazz Inn Building 2 has 52 suites
Jazz Inn Building 9 has 54 suites

The suites are located on all three floors, and are near each other, but none offer connecting suites. There is no price difference between the buildings.

Check here for the 2007 rates:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disney-rates-2007.htm#VALUE


For comparison, the price of a Family Suite is $9-11 more then 2 Standard Rooms, or $13-15 less the 2 Preferred Rooms, depending on season.

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The new family suites offer an affordable and convenient option for larger families with the amenities of a studio apartment.

Families can be together in the suite while enjoying separate sleeping areas with added privacy. Having two bathrooms will not only save time, but makes getting ready easier for the whole family. Plus, extra amenities like a microwave enable guests to prepare warm snacks and meals. With the extra room, guests can relax and recount the memories of the day before falling off to a goodnight’s sleep.

They:

-Sleep up to 6 (plus one child under age 3 in a Pak-n-Play crib)
-Studio amenities and separate sleeping areas giving more privacy than a standard room.
-Queen bed, full-size pullout sofa, convertible ottoman & chair sleepers (4 separate sleepers)
-Private master bedroom and family room have 27” flat CRT TV and high speed internet access.
-Kitchenette with microwave, small refrigerator (4.3 cu. ft) and coffee pot
-Two-full bathrooms
Here is the layout:

Here are some link to photos from the DIS resort website:

** NOTE there is a wall mounted hair dryer next to the bathroom sink.




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For more info about the All Star Resorts Please visit the FAQ thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409

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Disney may say they guarantee connecting rooms but in reality....

As a mother of 4 (All grown now. My oldest is in her 30's and my youngest is 22) I often wished Disney had more options for larger families.
When the children were younger and we would go to Disney they did not have DVC or the family suites. In fact Disney did not have a Moderate until CBR opened in the late 1980's so if we wanted to stay onsite we either rented 2 rooms at a deluxe or stayed in the cabins.

I wrote to Disney many times over the years asking for more options for families so when I heard they were building the New Family Suites at All Star Music it just made me so happy!

In the late 80's I booked 2 connecting rooms at CBR for my family.
When we checked in there were no connecting rooms left but we were able to get rooms next to each other on the second floor.
Our two oldest were teens so I put them in one room and the 2 little ones who were 5 and 7 stayed with us. It worked for us because our older children were able to stay in a room without us but if they were younger DH and I would have had to split up.

Disney may say they guarantee connecting rooms but in reality Disney does not guarantee connecting rooms.

If there are 2 adults Disney can split the adults and children into two rooms that are not connecting. They try hard not to do this but it can and does happen sometimes. If however it is one adult with 5 children Disney should try harder to find connecting rooms since some of the children cannot be left in a room without an adult. But if you look at the threads posted below you will see that sometimes even Disney mixes up.


It does happen. Far too often IMHO.

From this thread;

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1145289

Just wanted to re-iterate what others have said:

We requesting connecting rooms at CBR in January--not really a busy time & we were early for check-in. They did not have us in connecting rooms. They said they could accommodate us, but it would be smoking rooms--which was our #1 request non-smoking.

We were side-by-side, so we just went outside to go next door, so it wasn't a huge deal for us. But if you definitely want to be together--I would go with a suite. You could also look into renting DVC points for a villa.

Here are a couple more threads about guests not getting connecting rooms:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1095679

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=785797&page=1&pp=15

From this thread:

http://disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=13528958

One of the threads that Linda posted a link to was my experience last March. I had many conversations with the higher-ups at Guest Services and was told that even if it says "guaranteed" it is not truly "guaranteed." It just has higher priority over the "requests." Because on a given day, there might only be 25 connecting room sets opening up, but 27 "guaranteed connecting rooms for families" ressies checking in. 2 of those families are not going to get their "guarantee."

I know, I was shocked that we had to fight so hard to get put in rooms that had just been fumigated for lice (they were taken out of the inventory, but re-opened because we insisted we needed rooms.) I sort of assumed that if they didn't have the rooms for us, they'd find rooms elsewhere on Disney property. For that stay, we were sometimes 2 adults and sometimes only 1. Now we will book offsite if we need to do that again. If there are 2 of us adults, we book connecting and hope for the best. Otherwise, we'll split the kids.

My point is to make backup plans if you are depending on connecting rooms.

That is one of the main reasons if my family were young I would choose a Suite over 2 connecting rooms or I would be prepared that I may need to split the family up and sleep in a different room than DH.

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From this thread posted in Feb. 2007

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12

Thanks for all your fast replies, I won't leave you hanging any longer, I just needed to cool out a bit before writing my rant.....

We arrived on Feb 22 (thursday) early ---plane landed at 9 am-----we used the magical express bus, so they had our luggage, we stored whatever we needed to at baggage claim and went right to epcot for the day. With the new system of check-in, the gave me a card with a number to call after 3 pm to find out where our rooms would be . I didn't call, we came back at about 9 pm exhausted and went to the front desk, we had rooms 3214 and 3215----we always get two rooms due to our family size-----let me add this was never a problem before, we have stayed at pop the last three years........we get all the carry-on stuff and go to our room( which is in the 50's section facing the bowling pin pool) and I open one room door. That's when the nightmare started-----no connecting door inside so I call down to the front desk and tell them I requested connecting rooms and this was not them-------there was nothing they could do for me that night, but they did put someone on the case, and they would call back. So we proceed to dig through the luggage for jammies and get the kids washed and brushed for bed in one room, the phone rings------The front desk----they can not obviously find anything for tonight, but they offer to move me for tomorrow--to adjoining rooms in the 70's section......ok so I ask how this works........and this is where the story gets hairy..........we would need to check out by 11 am and not get back to the other room until after 3 pm

Doesn't sound too bad.....but I do have a fridge to re pack from the swap, and 9 luggage cases and various other bags, and we had the pirates and princess party on the 23, so I told the kids we could swim in am then come back to the room early and get dressed for the party(I had a Pan, Snow, and cindy to dress-up)so i explained all this to them that I would need a room to dress all the wet kids, and you can't have a room if you checked out-----and this was the only way they would change the room situation for me.......the guy I talked to on the phone even told me families travelling together are guaranteed to get adjoing rooms, he was going to go back and find out who made this mistake, but they really couldn't help me any further......

so.........after much crying on my part, I decided to keep the rooms we had and make the best of it.....the kids were really looking forward to the party, and I didn't want to ruin it for them................but this really killed my vacation. I have 5 kids , only the oldest two I trust with a room card, so we put the boys in one room , and we were (the girls ) in the other. I think I talked to my husband more on the phone this trip!!!!!!!and then the knocking began..........to tell each other what channel to watch, to get a drink from the fridge in the other room, what are you wearing today, can I borrow your comic book.....and they were just being excited kids and I can't blame them, but someone was running to the door to let someone in all the time........and then alot of time we were all cramped in one area....and I kept thinking I'm paying for two rooms here.... sooooo

Long-long story short----I think they could have let us use the rooms we were in and saved the other for the pm when we got pack-----I would have gladly gone thru the hassel of packing it back up, if they would transfer all of it over across the way , but it was really cut and dry from the two people I talked to over the phone, even though they admitted that they made the mistake......

We transferred to POFQ for the last three days of our trip, and yes, we had a connecting door inside, and yes it was pure bliss for me , and yes I called over there twice and talked to two seperate people who assured me that the rooms had a connecting door even before we left pop!!!!

I guess I was more angry that they didn't seem to care how put out I was going to be, anyone can make a mistake, but I always felt before that disney did everything in their power to even over-rectify bad situations.......it just left me with a bad feeling

thanks for listening

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Please do not shoot the messenger. I am only posting this because I do not want others to be as disappointed as we were.

Have fun at Disney!

 

[minnie61650]

ya the suites have two bathrooms, i guess its really up to the ppl you are with, children dont usually tend to mind sleeping on a sleeper sofa b/c they are on vacation and dont really see the difference but say you are traveling with your kids and maybe their grandparents, they may have different opinions about sleeping on a sleeper sofa......

Actually , the pull outs were the most confortable I have ever tried.

The pull out beds in the living area were very confortable.

This is a paragraph taken from the All Star Music Family Suites review this of the DIS resorts page:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/asm.htm

All Star Music Resort Family Suites

Review
by Kevin Klose
DIS Content Editor


........

Both the chair and the ottoman open into beds. The chair opens to a twin size bed and the ottoman opens to a “junior” sized bed….about the size of a cot. The bed and the chair are amazing designs. The kids will think they are cool and Disney’s competitors are going to steal this idea. Watch for different versions of this to spring up everywhere.

----------------------

The sofa opens into a double bed.

Here is a photo I took of the pullout chair when we stayed at All Star Music September 21.

Notice the seat and back of chair support the foldout bed.
There are no metal bars running under your back area.


I laid down on it and it was very comfortable.

In fact I was so happy with the fold outs that I wanted to buy a pull out sofa and chair for my spare room but they are made exculsively for Disney.

Here is a link to a thread about my quest for the pull outs.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1236271&referrerid=&highlight=


Here are a few reviews from some of our DIS members:

From this thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=17940866#post17940866

We stayed in the Family suites w/ 2 big teens 16(girl) & 17(boy) and a 7 year old. No problem sleeping on the pull-outs. We liked it better than 2 rooms for a few reasons: privacy for parents, couch and chairs to hang out on or watch tv, kitchen area. The kitchen was very nice for leftovers, snacks and drinks. We pulled the coffee table over to the table and had seating for 4 to eat. Walking to the food court for breakfast and bringing it back was our version of room service! Between the bedroom, kitchen and living room there is a lot of space to put 'stuff'. I would really prefer a family suite over 2 rooms for a longer stay.

Just returned Friday from a week long stay in the family suites and they were great. My family and I (DH, DB, DSIL and DNep) stayed in them. We were in room 2650 which was on the 3rd floor of Jazz building #2. I would ditto many of the comments that whetstone had previously posted, especially the air conditioning. My DH likes the room on the cold side and I don't think the temperature ever got down to the temp we had it set at. The resort was pretty crowded during the time we were there (lots of tour groups), but our room was in a good location where we didn't have a lot of noise (DNep took naps each day). The pull out sofa and chair were pretty comfortable to sleep on, but the ottoman was not as comfortable.
Mousekeeping was great and we even got some towel animals (little dogs). I didn't really take any pictures of the room because it looked exactly like the pictures posted on this thread. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to post.

I made a seperate post but I'll copy it here. I'll have pics in a couple of days after we sort through them all....



Me, DH, and DS11 just got back from 5 nights in the All Star Music Suites.

We were in 2436 in the Jazz building. The room was on one of the rows that shoot straight back toward the parking lot about 3/4 of the way down on the first floor. Basically you make a right at the drum set and head straight back.

The location was very quiet. I don't think we heard a single person the whole week. It was not far away from the pool or main area.

The room was perfect for us. DS slept in the living room area and DH and I slept in the bedroom.

DS had a lot of fun trying all the different beds in the living area. He proclaimed that the couch bed was great for at night but the chair bed was best for naps. He didn't like the footstool bed but said it would be good for a smaller kid.
The only complaint I have about the room is that the bathroom for the master bedroom area is on the other side of the kitchen. It would have been nicer for me if it was within the master bedroom area, or if there was a door to the kitchen area that could be closed. I had to be careful not to wake DS going to the bathroom at night, and no walking around nekkid between the bedroom and bathroom.

Mouskeeping did a great job all week. The resort was clean, everyone was very friendly.

We only used the food court for snacks but I did see people eating burgers and pizzas. They seemed to be enjoying them.

The bus service was excellent! I could not believe how easy it was. I was very concerned about this when I went but the longest wait we had for an all stars bus was 10 minutes. One night we left MK after wishes. There were a ton of people and I was worried we would have a long wait. Within 10 minutes 3 busses stopped. We were on the third bus and the line was empty after that.

Sharing with Sports was soooo not a big deal. It's right next door and added about 2 minutes to our trips on the way back. On the way to the parks we never had to get into a crowded bus, even though they had stopped at sports first.
We took a cab to Boma and hopped on the AK bus to Magic Kingdom. We did wait about 15-20 minutes there.

Having the extra space, a fridge, microwave, coffee maker, 2 tvs, these things made the trip so much nicer than being crammed in one room with 2 double beds. I would choose this over a moderate or delux if it's the 3 of us going again.

Couple of other tidbits.

The Bed - i think it is a queen. It seemed bigger than the sofa bed in the living room that was a double. I didn't measure it but both me and DHs assessment was it was bigger.

Coffee Maker - The coffee Maker takes 4 inch basket filters. We took the cones instead and they worked fine. We didn't take enough, but we reused them (for 2 pots in the same morning) We checked the gift shop and they do not sell filters, so don't forget to take them.

The room was wonderful. We were on the 3rd floor of Jazz 2. Not too terribly far from the food court or bus stops, in my opinion, and smack dab between both pools. We had plenty of room, and the beds were all comfortable. Believe me, I slept in them all, with all the bed changing and sleepwalking my DS and DD were doing. We had great mousekeeping, with towel animals or a window display every single day but one! Everyone was helpful and nice. The pool was never terribly crowded. The food court was crowded if we were there at 9:00 a.m. which we only did once. Bus service was great - we never waited very long and the buses were never too crowded except on the EMH morning at MK that we braved. We never heard noises from other guests. All in all it was a wonderful stay. I will be posting restaurant and dining plan info and reviews, too, in a few days, after I do laundry!

You can find this info on the Family suites FAQ thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1072409&page=1&pp=15



Have fun at Disney wherver you choose to stay!

 

[fla4fun]

You see a lot of people commenting on the lack of privacy when going from the bedroom to the bathroom in the suite. Has anyone ever tried taking a tension rod and a sheet to make a privacy curtain between the two? Just wondered if it would work. It looks like it should, if you put it straight across where the walkway is between the living room and the kitchenette.

 

[coastermom]

we are a family of 5 with the same problem . We usually stay at the POR but it is a small room for 5 people. At least it was to us the beds are full size beds and kind of small and there is only one full bathroom. We were also happy to see a microwave and dorm size fidge in the room. We like the atmosphere at POR but after seeing the ASMU Suites we were convinced it was for us. Our kids are 15,12 and 5. They are looking forward to the suites , before our 5 year old was born we stayed at the regular all star rooms and enjoyed the resort then so we are going back now. Our trip is the end of july begining of aug. I have read good reviews and am looking forward to the suite. Keep searching the web for more reviews and information everyone i have asked has had a good review .

 

[tinkerbell615]

According to the disney website, they do indeed have two full baths.

We're in a similar debate here....2 connecting rooms or a suite.

Thanks guys for clearing that up for me. I better make sure I keep asking everyone on here with all the info I need. You all have given me some great info and really cleared up some things that I originally had wrong! I would say the idea if two bathrooms in the family suites really makes a difference !

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[minnie61650]

You see a lot of people commenting on the lack of privacy when going from the bedroom to the bathroom in the suite. Has anyone ever tried taking a tension rod and a sheet to make a privacy curtain between the two? Just wondered if it would work. It looks like it should, if you put it straight across where the walkway is between the living room and the kitchenette.

I though about that also. Like some guests have used at Pop and the other values by the vanity -closet area.

There are privacy curtains by the vanity-closet areas in the Suits and the newly refurbished rooms at All Star Music just like the mods have.

Also if a family was sharing one room at a value,mod , or a deluxe there would not be any privacy on the way to bathroom. There would not even be a private sleeping area for a couple.

Have fun at Disney

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

~ Minnie

really?? maybe we should have looked into this better b/c we love the rooms at like an embassy suites, I just wish that the suites at AS had 2 queens in the bedroom like at ES and then the couch in the living room b/c my brother is a HUGE night owl, even in disney and loves to sleep w/the tv on which I cant stand and its always an issue when we are in 1 room at WL when we stay there lol. Thanks for the info tho, we are thinking about trying them on our next trip but my dad just loves the lobby and hotel feeling at WL so I have a feeling that he will prolly not switch and we cant afford a deluxe there but we're getting to the point where 4 adults in 1 room (even w/bunk beds) is getting to be too much.

 

[minnie61650]

~ Minnie

really?? maybe we should have looked into this better b/c we love the rooms at like an embassy suites, I just wish that the suites at AS had 2 queens in the bedroom like at ES and then the couch in the living room b/c my brother is a HUGE night owl, even in disney and loves to sleep w/the tv on which I cant stand and its always an issue when we are in 1 room at WL when we stay there lol. Thanks for the info tho, we are thinking about trying them on our next trip but my dad just loves the lobby and hotel feeling at WL so I have a feeling that he will prolly not switch and we cant afford a deluxe there but we're getting to the point where 4 adults in 1 room (even w/bunk beds) is getting to be too much.

Just an FYI

If you have 4 adults staying at WL than you have to pay the extra adult fee for 2 adults. $20 a night per extra adult ....so $20 x 2= $40 extra night.


There is no extra adult fee at the Family Suites.
I-6 adults can stay for the same set price!

Have fun at Disney!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Just an FYI

If you have 4 adults staying at WL than you have to pay the extra adult fee for 2 adults. $20 a night per extra adult ....so $20 x 2= $40 extra night.


There is no extra adult fee at the Family Suites.
I-6 adults can stay for the same set price!

Have fun at Disney!

figures, and my dad is paying 300+ a night for one bunkbed room which i'm kinda curious to see if my nearly 6'5''+ brother will fit in the bed, 2 yrs ago when we went he seemed a little smushed, I can only imagine what it will be like now lol, but when dad is paying $$$ for the trip, I really cant comment, i tried to convince them to stay at BC but the prices were much higher and we were going for cheapest deluxe which was WL or 2 rooms at POFQ, now I'm starting to think we should have done a little more convincing about the suites and I am just thankful we're going b/c after our last trip, dad said we'd never go back and well hopefully the light May crowds will please him!!!