A request for advice from All Star experts

[AllyGirl_79]

One of my mother's dear friends is going to Disney for the first time in October. The whole party will consist of this woman and her husband, their daughter and son-in-law, and two grandsons, ages 8 and 4. For budget reasons, they would like to stay in a value resort and are leaning towards All Star Movies.

My concern is this: this woman's daughter is severely obese and has significant trouble walking for long periods of time. Is there any advice you can offer about which value resort might present the best situation for walking to buses, food courts, etc? Given the order of the bus pick-ups, is there an advantage to staying at one hotel over another? I've read good things about the Pop Century in my search of the boards today, but, not having ever been there, I can't convincingly say that the theming would appeal to little ones as much as the other values.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated. These kids really deserve a great trip, and I don't want their mother to be unwilling to do things because she is put off by walking distance, etc.

Thanks.

 

[minnie61650]

I would highly recommend The All Star Resorts. They are a little more compact than POP. They also have great bus service.
I would also suggest that because of mobility issues she should rent an EVC
from an offsite company.
I have a spinal condition and have rented mine from Care Medical (800-741-2282) and Walker Mobility (888-726-6837) in the past. I would recommend either one.The cost is about $30 a day. The ones at the parks cost $35 a day and are bigger and have 4 wheels kinda like a golf card. They are harder to steer and to control. If she rents from an offsite rental they will deliver the EVC to bell services at the resort. She can use it to go to the pool, and food court as well as the bus stop.
All Disney buses are accessible. I love using my EVC it gives me more indepence and helps keep my pain to a minimum. The rooms at Pop and All Stars are the same size but there is more room between the door and the bed than at POP. I just back my EVC into the room, plug it in and I ready to go to the parks in the morning.
Also the beds are bolted down at POP but you are able to move the ones at All Stars to give you a little more useable floor space.
If she decides to rent an EVC (which I highly recomment) she can practice using one at a local store such as Wal Mart or Target. Those are a little bigger than the rental ones but the practice will help.
I will give you more tips on a second post I will call Part Two.
It is so sweet of you to want to help out your mom's friend.
Linda

 

[minnie61650]

I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite.It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Clypso building. It is closer to the pool,food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay .
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland.

The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

The All Star resorts have 1960 rooms each.
Pop has 2,880rooms.
That means more people in the pools,food court and in line waiting for the bus at POP.
When phase 2 of POP is built it will be 2 bus stops at POP and the 2 POPs will have the same # of rooms as the 3 All Stars.

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING:

It is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes its all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

I love the All Star Resorts --they can't be beat. I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
Linda

 

[grinningghost]

I've stayed at ASMu and ASMo and would highly recommend either. They were both great. The one thing to consider is room size. The rooms are a little small, and I know when we went, we had 4 in the room and that was pretty tight. By mid-trip, we were overrun with "stuff" and didn't have many places to put it.

Obviously, with a party of 6, they will need 2 rooms - so perhaps they can "spread out" their "stuff" between the 2 rooms and it will be easier.

I do hope they enjoy their trip. The All Stars are really wonderful.

 

[Lizzybee]

We just got back from Movies and it was great! We were in the 101 Dalmations Pongo bldg (Building 1) and it was very close and convenient to everything. I had that bldg, along with 3 other close but not "preferred" bldgs and the CM checking me in just typed it in and gave us Mighty Ducks on the first floor. I asked very nicely if there might not be a 3rd Floor, non-smoking room preferably in Dalmations and there was AND it was READY at 1:30 when we were checking in. It was very nice, there were some waits for busses, probably 20 mins, although it's like an eternity when it's 90 some degrees out. Movies is the last on the bus route to get picked up and dropped off, Sports is first. Hope that helps!

 

[henrylovespooh]

If they stay at All Star Movies (which I love and highly recommend) ask for a room in the Toy Story or 101 Dalmations Buildings. They are close to the food court and buses. I love the theming of this resort and it was quiet when we went.