A little disappointed...

[Foghorn_NC]

Hi Everyone, Before I begin I'd like to put in a little history. My Wife and I spent out honeymoon at WDW in Dec of 95. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort for a week. We enjoyed our stay and new we'd be back... About 2 years ago we started talking about going on a family trip with both sets of grandparents and my son... Well, we were delayed due to a new bundle of joy. Fast forward to last week.. We booked our trip and all 8 of us went. All the grandparents, my wife and I and my son(5) and daughter(1).
In the planning stages we decided to get the most bang for our buck and chose the All Star Movies resort. Our thoughts were "Hey we'll just be there mainly for sleeping at night and afternoon for naps." I guess we just figured that we'd still get the quality of service that Disney was known for. (Quality not level, we did pick a value and not moderate resort.) Well we were very let down.
We arrived on Saturday August 11th and Departed on Saturday the 18th. We decided to use the "Magic Express" to take us and out luggage to the resort. We arrived at the airport and checked in at the Magic Express counter and waited to be "wisked away" on our disney adventure... and waited, and waited... Ok here's something to note... Wisked away must mean "expect to wait about 40 minutes before we get you on a bus". We arrived at the hotel at the resort about 1:30PM.. and finally checked in around 2:00. (Checkin is officially 4:00pm and we were not expecting to actually get into a room...) They did actually have 2 of the 3 rooms ready and we were very pleased. We dropped off our carry on stuff and headed over to the park. (Note: the movies resort is the farthest resort from the magic kingdom... With shuttle bus wait times expect about an average of 1 hour to the Magic Kingdom)
Wow this is longer than I expected... Let me try to cut to the chase. We got back to our rooms around 9:00 that evening to find that only 1 or 2 peices of luggage there. My family had 5 and I think that's pretty good considering we packed for 4 including an infant for a week.
On Monday morning I stepped out of My room door and into wet paint. Yes, wet paint. It was 7:15 and we were planning on going to MGM for the extra magic hours... We called to complain but I might as well have called California to complain about tea prices. (Its the first time I've personally had a "Monday" on vacation).
On the upside, we did enjoy the parks... There's a trick to the Fast Pass (Get them early), the early hours are good (especially at the water parks) , Character meals are the best way to get autographs, My wife and I took our son to the "Pirate and Princess party" and had a blast. it was a late night but we only waited about 10-20 minutes for anything. (Worth the money). On the last day I received a dream fast pass for Epcot!!!
On the whole we enjoyed our stay we were just a little disappointed with the quality of service that we received(or didn't) while at the Movies resort. I'll be happy to elaborate on any questions anyone has. I will stay on the property again but it will not be at a value resort.

 

[kelscross]

How long did it take to get all of your luggage?

 

[rcraw45425]

Foghorn_NC, to the DIS! Sorry about your ASMovies experience, Hopefully you won't have the same the next time. I can't comment on Magic Express, we are lucky enough to beclose enought to drive down, which saves the price of air fare too! I also recommend the deluxe resorts, specifically the Wilderness Lodge, for it's close proximity to the MK (boat service) and it's theming. Kids love the park service theme and the views are awesome!

That was our view from the balcony of our courtyard view room.

Anyway, now it's time for you to start planning your trip back to the "World". Believe me, it's an obsession!

 

[DisneyNotes]

That's a beautiful shot of the WL. Imagine waking to that every morning of a vacation?

I'm disappointed to hear about the ME experience. I hope that's rare.

 

[LindyN]

I am not a fan of ME, especially for afternoon flights. Morning flights "whisk" you away pretty quickly, but things tend to get delayed in the afternoon.

But at least the price is right. (But sometimes you get what you pay for too).

 

[DisneyNotes]

Hmm - I'm arriving mid-day (12:20). Hope I get the morning treatment with ME.

 

[simonkodousek]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay at the ASMo. We experienced some problems with the ME service also, mainly because the bus dropped us off at the resort at 10:00 AM and we didn't get our luggage until 8:00 PM.

 

[DisneyNotes]

I've never heard of it taking that long to receive luggage.

 

[PrincessAlways]

Wow, sorry to hear that you had difficulty with ME & the resort staff! Luckily, we tend to travel early flights & have not had a problem with ME. My brother did have a problem once arriving later in the day. However the CM at SSR could not have been more helpful. The luggage was "lost", so the manager had my brother & SIL go to the resort store & buy what they needed to get through the night. Supplies like toothpaste, toothbrushes, diapers, etc at no cost! The bags arrived later that evening. When you complained about stepping into the wet paint, they didn't give you any satisfaction? That would be disappointing!

 

[Sharpie]

I will stay on the property again but it will not be at a value resort.

I am sorry for the experience, me and DH will be staying for the 1st time and going for the 1st time to WDW and staying at All Star Nusic. Wish us luck,

 

[Suzanne74]

Sorry your stay wasn't as good as you thought it was going to be. We stayed at POP for our last trip and it was our first value stay. We loved the POP, the rooms were clean, service was good BUT the buses and Magical Express are super slow. We made a decision that we love the values but will do a rental car every time we stay there. There were times we waited 60-70min for a bus at the end of the night at a park and once we waited 45min at the hotel for a bus to DTD. It just took up so much time. Then our last day, our Magical Express bus never came. We and other families had to go to the front desk multiple times until the manager that day finally called someone. We finally got a Disney Cruise Bus to come and get us and it was so packed, there were people standing. It was just frustrating. I rather rent a car and come and go on my own time at the values.

 

[goinback]

If you do choose to use a rental, do you have to pay for parking at the parks?

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

If you do choose to use a rental, do you have to pay for parking at the parks?

If you are staying on Disney property you don't have to pay for parking at the parks. When you check in, they will ask if you have a car. You are then issued a parking pass good for all of the parks and it must be displayed prominently on your dashboard.

I find having a rental car while staying at any of the values is a must. This is just my preference as I have very little patience to wait for buses.

 

[fla4fun]

No, resort guests can park at the parks for free. I often drive to Epcot, Studios and AK. It's a toss-up whether to drive to MK, as you have to take either the ferry or monorail to get back to the car vs waiting right at the gate for a bus. If I'm not staying until closing, I usually take the bus.

 

[Suzanne74]

As other posters stated it is free. The other benefit for Epcot and AK is that the our car is always closer then the walk to the bus zone, especially a value bus zone. The toss up for MK is true and I agree with the above poster. If you plan on closing the park it is still better to drive. Walking back from Illumination right in the middle of the countires (America) one night with a tired 5yr old, first time without a stroller at WDW - only to get out of the entrance and walk even more the bus zone and then to stand in a line for 45min and then stand on the bus for 20 more minutes is just torture. It was at that moment I decided no more!!

 

[hobbester]

Hey Foghorn, I live right beside you in Wendell. Sorry about your ME experience, my DH always wants to drive. We stayed at POP last year and drove also, I just wanted to say hi neighbor and hope your next trip goes a little smoother.

 

[winterman]

On Monday morning I stepped out of My room door and into wet paint. Yes, wet paint. It was 7:15 and we were planning on going to MGM for the extra magic hours... We called to complain but I might as well have called California to complain about tea prices. (Its the first time I've personally had a "Monday" on vacation).

I guess I'm thick, but what does this mean? Did they paint the sidewalk and you walked in it? And what exactly were you complaining about?

We always rent a car. It just seems to make things easier.

 

[Foghorn_NC]

Sorry for the delay.. What happened is this.. We got up to go to the early EMH, since it opened at 8:00, we just wanted to get a head start. I opened my room door and stepped out and onto the wet paint on the walkway. No sign just open, step, and squish. the painter was probably about 15 feet away but didn't speak till I had already stepped out. Its not like I just walked past the painters and right into wet paint.
Here's my problem... a there was no notice that they would be painting. That's fine but you don't paint the walkway in front of hotel rooms at 7:00AM when you just might have people trying to get out to the parks by 8:00. When my wife called.. {while I was washing my feet off in the tub} she was assured that it would be the person's top priority and they would call her back and they would give her a $25 credit for the trouble... 1. nothing was done. 2. No call to my wife. 3. Theycredited my inlaws instead and when my wife asked about it at the front desk she was told " I can't do anything about it". Now to me.. that's poor service... or rather no service.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'll find most of the "on stage" maintenance occurring early in the morning or at night. The "back stage" maintenance occurs during normal day time hours behind screens, walls, etc.

 

[oldbay]

We also arrived on Aug 11 at 2 pm. We had no wait for ME but were staying at the Poly so maybe that made a difference. I think some of the luggage problem may have been the airports though. They were late with our luggage, although we did get it all by 8 pm (6 hrs after landing and one stop at the front desk). However, we ran into some fellow plane passengers at MK the next day and some of their luggage had been lost (not recovered as of that run-in) and they were staying off-property. I am not as experienced here but have heard sometimes Disney will find your lost luggage for you and you never know the airport was the one with the problem and not Disney.