All Star Music FAQ thread and tips

[tonilea]

We really enjoyed our stay at ASMu. My only advice would be to pony up the extra money for a preferred room*. The long walk back to the room at night seemed very, very long.

*This is the queen of cheap talking.

 

[Eli's 1st trip]

Anyone know where the Family Suites are located? I just looked at the map of the resort and it pretty big, we are booking a Family Suite and just wondering where they are in relation to parking, buses etc?

 

[kath1210]

Anyone know where the Family Suites are located? I just looked at the map of the resort and it pretty big, we are booking a Family Suite and just wondering where they are in relation to parking, buses etc?

They are in the Jazz and Calypso buildings - closest to the main pool, lobby, shopping, and food court.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

For the person who asked about pool hours (Sorry, I didnt quote!), it's open 8am-midnight, lifeguards on duty 10am-10pm. Depending on the time of year, there is usually a movie at the main pool at 8pm on 9pm. I dont think they are particularly strict about kicking people out after midnight, but don't quote me on it

 

[Eli's 1st trip]

They are in the Jazz and Calypso buildings - closest to the main pool, lobby, shopping, and food court.

Thanks!!

 

[hematite153]

We really enjoyed our stay at ASMu. My only advice would be to pony up the extra money for a preferred room*. The long walk back to the room at night seemed very, very long.

*This is the queen of cheap talking.

Just to provide the opposite perspective...

I asked for Country Fair in order to be further away from the noise and activity and was thrilled to get one of the 4 rooms that were as far back as possible. I commented several times during our stay that I couldn't understand why people would pay more in order to stay in a less desirable location.

So, I think it's really important to think about what makes your vacation and resort experience best. Do you want a quiet location? If so, ask for one of the back 4 buildings. Do you want to be close to the food court, buses, main pool? If so, pay extra for the preferred room.

Although Jazz is standard and close to everything it also sounds like the most common request and since it has the family suites it's probably only got about one-eighth of the stand rooms. Thus, if not getting into Jazz will detract from your vacation experience, it is worth paying for Calypso.

 

[winterman]

DH and I just booked our flights for Sept. We haved stayed at POP twice but I thought we might like ASMu this time. I'm thinking that the smaller resort would be better for us, as we will both be 60 by that time. We always rent a car so it is important to be close to the parking lot. Bus transportation doesn't matter. We never use it. We would use the food court probably just for (early) breakfast.

Does this sound like a good place for us?

 

[lookingforward]

Has anyone stayed at the All-Star Music in the family suite on that great (and most likely wrong) low rate of $96 per night yet? I booked it and its confirmed by Expedia but I am a little nervous about it. I check in 1/31.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

DH and I just booked our flights for Sept. We haved stayed at POP twice but I thought we might like ASMu this time. I'm thinking that the smaller resort would be better for us, as we will both be 60 by that time. We always rent a car so it is important to be close to the parking lot. Bus transportation doesn't matter. We never use it. We would use the food court probably just for (early) breakfast.

Does this sound like a good place for us?

DH & I wanted quiet & small last year (I'm 53, he's 62) and we chose ASMu and it was perfect! We couldn't have had a better stay. We had a ground floor standard room in the Jazz Bldg. Right next to the parking lot so it was perfect. (I think it was building 9). Close walk to the pools & food court, too. However, we never use our car once we get to a resort - we always use Disney transportation. We never had any issues with the buses. We only shared 1x and that was to the AK one morning. Other than that we always had our own buses coming & going to parks.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Jennifer in WA]

I'm so glad I found this thread. WOW 77 pages is a lot. Read about half of it.

My family is going to ASMu 3/31-4/7 and we are in a Family Suite. DH and I, plus DD14 (will turn 15 a few days before we go), DD11 (who will turn 12 while we are there), DS 9 and DD5.

Thanks for all of the info included here. We debated booking two rooms or the suite, but we didn't want to risk not being connected to the kids.

I have no idea whether we booked the preferred room or not, but being in Jazz would be just fine, too. We are on the 4/3 promotion.

So does everyone have the opportunity to book a bounce back vacation? What is the promo with that?

Keep putting in your reports! We are getting excited!

 

[Fantasmiss]

Hi!
Does anyone have or know where I can find an up to date list of which movies are shown when at ASMu and Beach Club in January? I've only found this one: http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-outdoormovie.html
but it's easy to see from the Beach C list that it's for November and not January.

I'd love to be able to plan any movie evenings soon as we go in only a few days, so any help would be much appreciated!

 

[timmac]

My family is going to ASMu 3/31-4/7 and we are in a Family Suite.
...
I have no idea whether we booked the preferred room or not, but being in Jazz would be just fine, too.

All of the family suites are in Calypso and Jazz, basically the same locations you could get if you booked a preferred room, as there is no distinction in category for the family suites.

We stayed in one last April, and loved it! Enjoy your stay!

 

[momtoA&H]

My family is staying in the family suites in May and very excited to find these as my DH is tall and needed more that a double bed. Can't wait.

 

[Mckys#1Fan]

We will be arriving at ASMu in only 4 days... ... It is our first stay at this resort. I would love to see some photos of the resort.... Anyone?? Is there anything else important that we need to know about the resort

 

[EpcotBill]

We will be arriving at ASMu in only 4 days... ... It is our first stay at this resort. I would love to see some photos of the resort.... Anyone?? Is there anything else important that we need to know about the resort

There are a bunch of ASMu pix in this thread
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1849588

 

[GrumpyFamilyof5]

please help, I don't know what to do. There are 5 of us this go around. In Nov. we stayed here in the Rock Inn, but only our 2 youngest were with us, now it's all of us. We can either get 2 rooms, try a suite or just go with POR??
My DSis might be going and she can only afford 1 room which means if I got 2or the suite I'd need to put one of my nephews in one of ours.
I guess my question is if I go ahead and make my ressies and she decides to go, can I call and add my nephew to the ressie???


**and please anyone with insite, what would be better or cheaper for us,2 rooms or the suite?** Thanks!

 

[Koda]

In response to Looking Forward; Yes, we had the ASMu family suites booked through expedia from 1/3-1/7/09 for the $97/night rate. We had originally booked through CRO for 1/1-1/7/09, but then found the deal (or mistake?!) through expedia that was available for 1/3-1/7. We kept our reservation through CRO for the first 2 nights. When I called to cancel the last 4 days, I explained that we had a continuing reservation with expedia. The CRO rep I talked to didn't seem phased by this at all, like it happens all the time, and made a note on our reservation. When we checked in, I again explained the situation, and they said "no problem", just come back on 1/3 in the a.m., to re-check in. We got to stay in the same room with no hassles.

I was a little worried about the whole thing because of comments that I had heard on these boards, but it all went very smoothly. I'm sure you won't have a problem.

 

[lookingforward]

In response to Looking Forward; Yes, we had the ASMu family suites booked through expedia from 1/3-1/7/09 for the $97/night rate. We had originally booked through CRO for 1/1-1/7/09, but then found the deal (or mistake?!) through expedia that was available for 1/3-1/7. We kept our reservation through CRO for the first 2 nights. When I called to cancel the last 4 days, I explained that we had a continuing reservation with expedia. The CRO rep I talked to didn't seem phased by this at all, like it happens all the time, and made a note on our reservation. When we checked in, I again explained the situation, and they said "no problem", just come back on 1/3 in the a.m., to re-check in. We got to stay in the same room with no hassles.

I was a little worried about the whole thing because of comments that I had heard on these boards, but it all went very smoothly. I'm sure you won't have a problem.

Thanks Koda! I can't wait to get there! I also booked a great boardwalk dvc studio for the first night. Its going to be fun!

 

[tripplanner2]

Koda and Lookingforward: Thank you so much. I also booked this wonderful rate and have been a bit nervous too. I am so glad to hear that it worked out for you Koda. Did you have any special requests? I have a daughter with allergies so I need it noted on the reservation but I think I need to wait until we are closer.

 

[lovesdumbo]

please help, I don't know what to do. There are 5 of us this go around. In Nov. we stayed here in the Rock Inn, but only our 2 youngest were with us, now it's all of us. We can either get 2 rooms, try a suite or just go with POR??
My DSis might be going and she can only afford 1 room which means if I got 2or the suite I'd need to put one of my nephews in one of ours.
I guess my question is if I go ahead and make my ressies and she decides to go, can I call and add my nephew to the ressie???


**and please anyone with insite, what would be better or cheaper for us,2 rooms or the suite?** Thanks!

I have done both POR and ASMu Family suite with my family of 5 and the suite was a MUCH better experience for us! I have also done connecting rooms at a value resort when traveling with friends and the suite was preferable to that too.

You could probably book 2 rooms cheaper because if they offer any special discounts you get the discount off both rooms instead of off just 1 suite. I booked with a AAA discount which is a % off. I felt like the suite was SO worth the extra cost.

I LOVED the queen bed in the bedroom, the desk in the bedroom, the kitchenette and the convenience of the suite. My kids really enjoyed the suite also. It was really nice to have a sofa to sit on when we got in from the parks instead of just beds. We ordered some food from www.gardengrocer.com so we saved some money there but more than just the money it was nice to have a quiet meal in the room occasionally.