All Star question

[mom2febgirls]

I have a room at the All Star Music booked for 2/4-2/8. I just got my copy of the unofficial guide and he really doesn't say much nice about the All Star hotels. Is it really as inconvenient as he makes it sound?

We will have an almost 2 year old and do plan on returning to our hotel every afternoon for a brief respite.

Would it be better to stay at another resort, or is the transportation to/from the park going to be the same unless I choose a monorail connected resort?

Thanks

 

[dansyr]

We have always stayed at AS. The only time we encountered a long wait for transportation was a Sat. morning going to MK and after Illuminations getting back to the resort. Usually the transportation is pretty good.

 

[DrKnow77]

I thought All Star Movies was great. People that write these books have probably stayed at each resort and is probably comparing the All Stars to some deluxe resorts, in their minds.

The All Star Resort isn't The Grand Floridian, but in my opinion, is still a great place to stay! I wouldn't worry about this person's comments... Just my opinion

 

[MelanieC]

The only bad thing about the All Stars is that they are a ways away from MK, Epcot & MGM. Especially MK. It's not real far from AK. It will take a bit of time, but it's doable.

Melanie

 

[Spaceman Spiff & Co.]

We returned this past tues. from ASMu and the buses were fine. We returned to our hotel 5-6 afternoons ( we were there 8 days). Going to parks the wait was only over 5 min. once-- about 15 min that day.
Returning to the hotel at the endd of the day we did have to linger behind in the parks or stand. We chose to linger in the parks after one day of standing on a crammed bus.

Yes, I will definately stay at ASMu again.

The food courts at the AS are far better than the nicer resorts.
Just my opinion.

HAve a great trip!

 

[ripleysmom]

I just returned from the All-Stars and found it to be a good value for the dollar.

The busses to the All-Stars were very convenient.

You might want to put in a request for a building close to the main building if you have a young on though to minimize walking. It is a little spread out.

 

[CamColt]

Weve stayed at ASMO 2x and have always taken a midday break. The busses were great...even better than we experienced at POR(DXL).

 

[webray]

We have stayed at the all stars many, many times.

The buses are great...not much waiting at all.

This is a great resort with an excellent food court...I wouldn't change!

 

[bkcwilliams]

We stayed at the ASMo Thansgiving week and I would waste my money staying anywhere else! Each All Star resort gets its own bus in the mornings and nights, but during the day, they share one bus. We have a four year old and went back during the day a couple of days. It did take longer, probably because ASMo is the farther resort. Yes, the All Stars are farther from all of the parks. A few times we did have to stand on the bus rides, but it really wasn't that bad. I don't think we waited for a bus more than 10 minutes. The Food Court was excellent... probably the best conter service at WDW I feel. I wouldn't worry about what the guides say. Yes, the Deluxe resorts are much nicer, but are you really there for the hotel room? The moderates will have the same transportation situation as the All Stars and the rooms are not much bigger.

Keep in mind, WDW runs itself like its own city. The transporation engineers really know what they are doing. Disney does an excellent job of moving people around very quickly. It always interests me to watch the transportation CMs at work handling the crowds and the buses. I spoke to one driver and he said that they do not have a set schedule or runs. When picking up, each driver radios in the number of people waiting and the closest bus in dispatched to that location. I guess if you think about it, when the parks close, getting that many people out and home in the time that they do it is quite a feat.

I think you will love the All Stars!

 

[iwannabeminnie]

We have never stayed at the All Star, but will be our next trip because we are taking my two sons (22 and 20) and they will need their own room (I can't see 4 adults and a teenager sharing one room and one bath!). I was doing research on the ASMo and read somewhere that the bus transportation from these resorts is actually MORE efficient than at the other resorts (in the 2003 Birnbaums Official Guide). Anyway, that made me feel a lot better about staying there.

 

[justhat]

I stayed at Sports, Movies, and going back to an All Star (probably Music this time) in February. I think they're a great value and did not think the transportation was bad. We did have some waits getting back to the hotel midday from MK on our December trip to Movies, but there were plenty of busses at that time to Music and Sports, so we eventually took the Music bus and walked from their stop. Other than that we didn't have any major transportation problems. The only thing we did notice (since we didn't have any kids with us) was that families with small children often had to carry their sleeping kids back to the room since the bus rides were long enough for tired little ones to fall asleep. This shouldn't be a problem for you since you just have the one child to carry back, though the ones that didn't fall asleep just got grouchy and cranky, which didn't make for the most pleasant bus rides. But really, if you'll be returning to the room late at night, this would probably be an issue no matter where you stay. Also, since your child is only 2, it won't matter much where you stay since he won't be able to eally appreciate the theming and luxury of the deluxe hotels. In fact, he'll probably like the theming at th All Stars best since everything is large and geared towards kids.

 

[mom2febgirls]

Thank you all. You've made me feel better about where we're staying. We will also have an almost 7 year old with us and I think the AS resorts are best for her age so I didn't really want to switch.

 

[goofy4tink]

We have friends who have been to WDW many times. If they are going on business, and someone else is picking up the tab, they stay in Swan/Dolphin. They have the money to spend, but feel that the AllStars are terrific and if they are paying for it, they think it's a waste of money to stay anywhere else. We were also told that they think the bus system is wonderful at the AllStars.

 

[wvjules]

I liked the All Stars for the most part. My biggest complaint is NO COFFEE POTS!!!!!!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

One thing I'd like to add about Transportation...


The All-Stars do have the BEST transportation on property. They recieve more busses than any other resort. This means lower intervals between busses. During peak seasons and peak portions of the day, All-Star busses can potentially run every 5-8 minutes. All other times, typically 10-15 mins.

(On a side note... the reason they recieve more busses is because they have the highest demand on property. Despite popular belief, "Value", "Moderate" or "Deluxe" has no meaning with transportation... you pay deluxe prices for for a deluxe Hotel Room... not for transportation)


As for distance... Yes, the All-Stars are located on the opposite ends of property as the Magic Kingdom. HOWEVER... the bus ride is only 12-14 minutes long, depending on traffic. Studios is only 7 minutes away, and Epcot is only 10.