All-Star Music Resort ????

[mamasita04]

We are staying at the ASM can anyone share any hints on using Disney transportation or is it easier to drive our own car to the parks.

Also, any other pros and cons that you can share would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[koolaidmoms]

We love the All-Stars.

This will be our first trip coming up that we haven't gone to an All-Star in quite awhile. We have done a combination of driving and buses to get to parks. We tend to drive if we are staying late or until closing. Buses can get really backed up sometimes especially when the parks are closing. If you can't get on the Music bus depending on where you are staying in the complex the Movies bus isn't too far a walk to get on or ride back on. (We have done this several times).

We just like being able to get to our car and not have anyone leaning over us or bumping into us like on the bus at night. Plus being a resort guest you park for free so you are not out anything by taking your car.

 

[SarahKate]

We were just there 11/28-12/5 and did NOT like the bus situation there. Shared busses between the 3 resorts. We were at Movies, which is the last of the 3 and by the time the bus would get to us, it was always full. Luckily we did have a rental car most of the time so just had to ride the bus 2x. BOTH times, we had to stand.

Even if the busses would have been better, we still would have driven. We're spoiled that way.

The one exception for us would be Magic Kingdom. If you drive, it's kind of a pain, whereas if you take the bus it lets you out right in front of the park.

We thought the All Stars were ok, but we'll be going back to Pop Century next time.

 

[daleswife]

I dont like how they share buses between the three all star resorts either. I think its foolish and a bit dangerous too. Packing that many people in the buses is horrible. especially for people like us who always take a very large double jogger stroller for our two kids to ride in. IF we are at the last resort then we have to try to move it out of the way so people can get off the bus.....I just dont care for it and thats the reason my DH says NO MORE ALL STARS....He likes pop though.

 

[jackie101]

We were there 12/11-12/17 and we loved it - very clean, pool was warm, & laundry room was great. I think out of the whole wk we only shared with the other all stars twice.

 

[mamasita04]

We will have two strollers (light weight and compact but two) would you suggest driving??? Since parking at MK is a pain what if we parked ar TTC???

 

[DisneyDad64]

We have used Disney transportation in the past but we prefer to drive whenever possible. The only park I would consider taking the bus to would be MK. It would be faster to take the bus there but avoid staying until the close as the buses will be very backed up.

 

[daleswife]

We will have two strollers (light weight and compact but two) would you suggest driving??? Since parking at MK is a pain what if we parked ar TTC???

I just read something about driving to the parks that I didnt think of before.....even if you do drive to the parks, you more than likely will have to load onto the trams and still have to pack the strollers onto the tram....so just do what we are gonna do....take the buses and if people give you ugly looks, just smile at them and say I have two kids.....it is Disney....

 

[jackie101]

We will have two strollers (light weight and compact but two) would you suggest driving??? Since parking at MK is a pain what if we parked ar TTC???

We had a dbl jogger 5 children & 2 adults & we had no problems. I walked on the bus with the children & asked the driver to open the back door for my husband & the stroller.

 

[Elmo888]

We were there in January (ie, not crowded), and we didn't find the buses to be a problem. They actually seemed more efficient than they did the year before at WL. We only seemed to share buses with the other AS resorts during "off peak" times. For example, when we were headed back after Epcot's fire extravaganza (the real name escapes me), we had our own bus (there were actually two ASMusic buses in a row).

Lightweight and compact strollers are the way to go. And a plan. How old your children? We only had one in stroller, so DH would man the stroller and I (wo)manned the kids and the bag. I good sized bag helps so you can throw everything in it before you fold the stroller(s).

If you drive, I did read (somewhere?) that it was easier to just walk the stroller to your car instead of folding them and getting on the tram. It probably depends on your walk!

 

[clutter]

We were just there 11/28-12/5 and did NOT like the bus situation there. Shared busses between the 3 resorts. We were at Movies, which is the last of the 3 and by the time the bus would get to us, it was always full. Luckily we did have a rental car most of the time so just had to ride the bus 2x. BOTH times, we had to stand.

Even if the busses would have been better, we still would have driven. We're spoiled that way.

The one exception for us would be Magic Kingdom. If you drive, it's kind of a pain, whereas if you take the bus it lets you out right in front of the park.

We thought the All Stars were ok, but we'll be going back to Pop Century next time.

We just got back from Sports. We loved the busses. We were the first stop on the shared busses, but because it was such a busy time, we didn't always share. Especially to/from MK. We did fill up a couple of times by the time we got to Music. Sometimes, they skipped Movies, but said they were sending another bus. (I believe it, they were sending busses really quickly because of how busy it was over Christmas and New Years.)

Personally, I felt sorry for the Pop crowd, because you wouldn't believe how long some of the bus lines were. Even for the mods and deluxes. When they split up the All Stars, we had the shortest bus lines and got busses at the same rate.

 

[megthewonderful]

We were just there 11/28-12/5 and did NOT like the bus situation there. Shared busses between the 3 resorts. We were at Movies, which is the last of the 3 and by the time the bus would get to us, it was always full. Luckily we did have a rental car most of the time so just had to ride the bus 2x. BOTH times, we had to stand.

Even if the busses would have been better, we still would have driven. We're spoiled that way.

The one exception for us would be Magic Kingdom. If you drive, it's kind of a pain, whereas if you take the bus it lets you out right in front of the park.

We thought the All Stars were ok, but we'll be going back to Pop Century next time.

This is the exact reason we stopped staying at the All Star Music. We switched to the POP for our last two trips and we love it even more than the All Stars. The bus situation is much better and the food court is better too!

 

[all4fun]

I just posted on another thread about this. We stay at ASMo a couple of years ago during the free dining promo (read: very busy time) and the busses were almost always packed. We really wished that we had rented a car that trip but by the time we got there, it was too late (not going to pay an expensive last minute rate when it was a "budget" trip). I think if we had been there during a less busy time, it may have been OK, but because of the crowds, i just thought riding the bus to and from the resort was miserable most of the time. Our experience with the busses when we stay at BWV or SSR has always been much more pleasant. JMHO.

 

[C&G'sMama]

We will have two strollers (light weight and compact but two) would you suggest driving??? Since parking at MK is a pain what if we parked ar TTC???

We have stayed at All Stars since 1996 (see below) and we love them (April will be our first time not at an All Star).
We have 2 children, DS now 5 and DD now 8. We have been taking them since DD was 18 mos old. We just have never had luck with the buses. Some people have no problems with them.
My preference is driving, including Magic Kingdom. You have to park at the TTC to reach MK with a car. If you take a bus from the resort you don't have to take the boat or monorail to get to the park. But I haven't found that to be a big deal. Still busy at closing time but for us, soo... much better than the buses. I also like having the car in the lot to store sweatshirts if we are going to be in the park all day or when we want to go from park to park. We have had no problems with strollers on the trams. And you can just push them on to the boat and monorail.