ASM - is the "preferred room" really worth it??

[Mrs Lapo]

Hi All, we're taking our first family trip to Disney and we're staying at All Star Movies. I was highly disappointed to find out that I have to pay an additional $10 per night in order to get a room in the 101 Dalmation, Toy Story or Fantasia rooms because they are considered preferred. If I don't then we'll be in either Herby the Love Bug or Mighty Ducks. My kids are younger and have absolutely no idea who Herby is & my older two are girls so they could care less about Mighty Ducks but I am having a lot of difficulty shelling out another $80 to stay in a "preferred room" when all we're really going to do is sleep there.

Has anyone stayed there? Can anyone give me their thoughts? I'm trying to keep us within budget and I'm wondering if the money is worth it or if I should put it towards something else. Thank you in advance!!

 

[Honeybee83]

We are staying in ASM and I shelled out the extra $$ for preferred really only to be closer to the commissary and bus stop. The embellishments are on the outside of the building only and you'll have to walk past some of the ones you'd like just to get to your room anyway. If you don't mind a little extra walking and you aren't a morning coffee drinker who plans on filling up your refillable drink mug every morning and heading back to your room, then you should be ok.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Yeah, it's more about location than theme. As PP said, you walk through the other sections anyway. For us, we liked being closer to the food court and buses. With little ones, it might be worth it to you. But that's something for your family to decide. We liked a short walk to refill our mugs. And nothing like a short walk after a long day at the parks!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Won't do it for theme, but for location...it's worth it to us. The walk back to your room after a long day in the parks can be VERY long. Love being close to the bus stop and main building.

 

[TMWilson7196]

We do it for location. We like to be near the food court to refill our mugs and the bus stops. After a long day at the parks a short walk to our room is so much better.

 

[SweetMissy]

We never get a preferred room because we don't mind saving the money and just walking a little bit further. However, our last trip to Movies was last year and I discovered that you can ask if an upgrade is available....well we did and sure enough we got a preferred room for free. It was definitely nice being closer to the buses and main building but would I pay the extra, no. Now at AKL...heck yes I'd pay the extra, that resort is just too big, which is one of the reasons we'd never stay there again. We missed the "small" values.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Like others said, I would not pay extra for a preferred room just because of the building... All the big movie themed stuff is outside the building. So, spend some time just walking around and taking pictures and enjoy. The All Star Resorts are not that big so it's not a far walk to the pool or the main building (food court) and buses. You can always request to be close to the main building if that is important (call and have it noted on your reservation, and request again when you check-in in-person at the resort). I'm almost 100% certain that the theming inside your room is the same not matter which building you are in.

But.... I did appreciate having a preferred room at AS Movies, our room was as close as could be to the buses... and one night, I was carrying DS (asleep) and he was quite heavy..... But if you are not planning on carrying sleepy kids, it doesn't matter!

Now, at Pop Century.... you could be far from the buses and main building... I would definitely book preferred there but not again at any of the All Star resorts.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

It is very very worth it for location, especially at the end of a long day. We did non-preferred once, and say never again. It is well worth the extra money, especially with LOs!!