All Star Resort questions?????????

[Jennie in TO]

1. Which one is best? Or are they all the same? I've heard that Sports can get a little nuts because of school groups. We are going the end of January.

2. If we rented a fridge or brought a plug in cooler, how far away is a grocery store for stocking it up, or is it better to bring everything in at the beginning? The All Stars look fairly close to a highway. Anybody know how close?? Are there groceries near by?

3. How expensive is the food at the food courts on the All Star Resorts? As I say, we are not big eaters and would not like to pay for more than one meal a day. Is there a board for "eating cheap tips". There are five of us, and we are Canadians, so the exchange might kill us. We are getting our tickets and UPH tickets at par.

4. How bad or slow is the transportation within the parks from the All Star Resorts? Can you take your own car from park to park or is it better to just take the bus/whatever? Are they on regular schedules?

Thanks all!!

 

[crazelion]

Some people save money by eating breakfeast in there room. For example:
ceral and milk
fruit
grits and oatmal made with a coffe pot

Rent a fridge and just put all the persiable stuff in the fridge.

I happen to like WDW transportation. It's easy to use and it save me from get lost from the parks. I let them do the driving.

 

[HappyMommy2]

Welcome to the boards!
You have come to the right place. Definitely check out the Budget board--they always have super tips for saving money on everything, especially food.

Can't answer all your questions, but we did stay at All Star Sports in July (it was fully booked!) and, yes, it was BUSY--but the resort seemed to be well equipped to handle the crowds. There was some noise from kids running by outside the room late at night, but I put the pillow over my head and I slept just fine.

The food court had a nice variety of foods. It was definitely on the pricey side compared to a shopping mall food court, but the portions were quite large. Instead of buying a separate kids' meal for DS 3 I was often able to share and adult meal with him and we were both filled up.
Sometimes the service was a bit slow; DH always ordered a chicken sandwich and since they grilled it fresh it took a few minutes. The lines for food were usually pretty long at peak periods.

We made one grocery stop and bought some breakfast foods, bottled water, etc. Our towncar service was driving us so I'm not sure of the distance to that store (Publix) but it was just a very few minutes' drive from Sports.

We found the bus service to be more than adequate. Even with two small kids and a big stroller we were fine. Never had to wait longer than 15 minutes for a bus, and usually it was just 5 minutes. Occasionally it was standing room only, which was a bit uncomfortable, but this wasn't too common. We just went to and from Sports and the parks each day and that simple; going from resort to resort (for dinner or whatever) would be pretty complicated via bus.

Have a wonderful trip!