All Star Resorts (Need Help!)

[Richie v.]

G'Day All....I'm in search of an overall unbiased rating of the All Star Resorts.Has anyone had the opportunity to stay there? and if so which one was your favorite? Is there plenty of activity for the children at the pool?Are the accomodations comfortable for a family of 4 - 2 Adults and 2 Children ages 6&8?How about transportation?and overall appearance?What type of Hotel/Motel may I compare it to.We have been tinkering with the idea of changing our ressie with The Nick Hotel (Think all the perks they offer may be to overwhelming in addition to our 7 day hopper pass at WDW.)and switching to a Hotel/Motel on the DIS property not to mention we don't want to miss out on all that DIS MAGIC.
Thanks, Richie V.

 

[mattsdragon]

We stayed at Music in June. The rooms overall are comperable to something along the lines of a holiday inn express. No frills, but still comfortable and plenty roomy. The pool areas are big, at Music the guitar pool is the busy one, and the piano pool is called the "quiet" pool, although it wasn't very quiet, just smaller. We stayed in Jazz fortunately, because it was not actually overlooking either pool because the pools stay busy and noisy even after midnight. You don't want a room overlooking a pool.

The food courts are big, as are the arcades. The gift shop is a nice size as well, and sells more than just souvinears.

The biggest problem with the All Stars is that the busses are for all three resorts. They stop at all of them, so if you get Movies, you will likely be standing all the way to the park, and if you are at Sports, you'll likely get a seat, but you then have to wait while it stops at Music and Movies. And the line home at the close of parks (except MK, which has busses for each of the 3 resorts) is long and tedious. We sat in line for an hour at EPCOT one night.

Value resorts are nice, but I would go to POP Century, we stayed there in October and enjoyed it much more than we did All-Star, solely because of the transportation.

I recommend staying at on site, just because (and a lot of people disagree) EMH at night really were a benefit to us at night.

 

[Rella Bella]

We stayed at All Star Sports last November... and found it quite nice. As with all the Disney resorts... it is huge. So your room may be a bit of a walk from the main part of the hotel. But the rooms were nice, clean, quiet and about the same amount of space as the moderate hotels have.
My friends have been to Pop Century and said it was great too!
The pools were fine... but no water slide. We rarely spend much time swimming anyway. After getting to & from the park and walking all day about all we want the pool for was to cool off & relax anyway. Plus pools and water parks we can find at home... I'm looking for Disney MAGIC!
The food court was big and has a good selection... but we only ate breakfast there. We found even when we stayed at a moderate hotel we only went to sit down resturants at the parks or the Deluxe resorts... not where we were staying.
I always recommend staying on site, Disney transportation is great! Off site transportation is SO much more limited... and if you rent a car you pay for parking, plus have extra time getting into the parks... (especially Magic Kingdom).
In regard to Disney buses going to all three All Stars... it's not that big a deal since there is just one stop at each hotel. It was not that different than when we stayed at one of the big moderate resorts and had to go around to 8 to 10 different bus stops on property to get to the one near our room.
As for waiting in line at night... we always hang out in the park untill they clear us out... but that would depend on the age of your children.
For example at Magic Kingdom, after the last parade when everyone is high tailing it for the exit. We always go to the Hot Dog place on Main Street (it's on the corner, close to the Crystal Palace). They are open late... and after you get your food they have a back room with a big screen that plays OLD Mickey Mouse cartoons... mostly in B&W! We love this because it's an unwinding spot. The kids love seeing Mickey, Minnie and Pluto in action. My hubby stays with the kids and I wonder in to the Main Street shops which are connected and are still open too. We usually spend an hour or so with all this and when we do go out there isn't much of a line left.
At Epcot, we get a dining reservation late... say 8:45. If you ask they will let you leave your table to go out & watch Ulluminations... then we go back in enjoy our late dinner, dessert and relax... and go out to catch the bus.
Ahh... brings back such great memories!! Just 2 months till we go back!!

 

[AJKMOM]

If you check out the "Disney Resorts" here at the DIS, and use the search feature, you should find a bunch of stuff, good and bad!

 

[allaboutmm]

G'day to you too ! Last year we stayed at the All Star Sports. We had no problems with our stay. The room size was fine for 2 adults and 2 children(5&8), but we really only used our room to sleep. Average pool, no frills- but did cool us off. No problem at all with the buses. Food court was fine, pretty good choices for all. We are heading back in December, but will be staying at the POP, only b/c we got a great deal through AAA. Which ever you choose I am sure you will have a great time!

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

I've stayed at the All Star Movies and Music and I love them. Every time we've stayed there we've never really had a problem. The only prob we had was that they gave us a smoking room after we requested a non smoking but as soon as we brought it up the problem was fixed. Food is great and the food court is big and has a lot of options. The arcade is cute; my brother and I always found time to go in and play for a bit. The pools are nice, the only thing is that there are only two pools for the whole resort (however, out of all the times i've visited i've only been in a resort pool once). I don't think the walks to the food court is too terrible for anyone. The store inside the hotel is nice and has everyone someone might want/need (in my opinion). Staff is very friendly ofcourse. Bus transportation is good, sometimes a little slow but that happens everywhere and the lines aren't terribly (IMHO). We've never really had to wait more than 20 minutes for a bus and that in itself was rare. We usually walked right on the bus or just waited 5 or 10 minutes.

 

[JobeeC]

we stayed at Music in '04. It was just wonderful! We had towel animals every day waiting for us when we got back to the room, & when we asked for extras we got them within 20-30 minutes. The only think I noticed, is the CM's in the food court were a little less than friendly.

 

[byoung]

We stayed in Al Sports once. Would not stay again like the moderates better.Looked into DVC by renting there from members. We are now DVC members and happy about it.

 

[Gumby]

Forgive me for being an idiot but what is "DVC"?

 

[Rella Bella]

Just wanted to draw your attention to a Disney special that just came to my email box! They are having a sale at the value resorts! $84.00 per night 10/23 to 11/23 and $64.00 per night 11/27 to 12/25 (small print says 'most nights' & 'limited number of rooms at this price').
But WOW! That would really make it worth it to stay there! And compared to the $140.00+ (at least when I've researched) to stay a Nickelodeon it's fantastic!

Call 407-939-7795 or contact your Travel Agent.
You need a: "PIN required when you call: 05437 03756 04907"
I'm calling... see you there!

 

[jtopp]

visited ASM once with DW. Enjoyed our stay, nice room , food court, pool, etc., but lacking just a little in disney magic. I was disappointed in transportation(although I should have expected as much with a value resort) in that all the all star resorts shared a bus, making them very crowded even off hours. Also, instead of soap and shampoo bottles, in the bathroom at ASM they were dispensed in an industrial style canister, very impersonal(made you think you were in a public restroom, instead of a disney hotel). None of these things are major problems, but after staying at other WDW resorts, you tend to hold them to a higher standard, as they usually are some of the finest hotels you will find.

 

[taekwondo mom]

We have stayed at the all star sports and the music... I love both of them You have all of the Disney feel .. No problems with transportation... I even had an ecv and everyone was so helpful...
Have Fun and enjoy...

 

[thefloewrladee]

have stayed at both movies and sports, never had a problem with transportation, my 5 year old loved the fantasia pool at movies and
my 11 year old loved the baseball pool in sports. we think the
movies has a little better selection at the food court. we are members
of dvc and usually stay a few days before we check into the villas.
we are going this thanksgiving and staying, again, at movies before checking into bcv. my 5 year old is looking forward to going into andy's room and
seeing buzz and woody again. i would recommend all stars and pick the
theme and building based on your childrens fav. disney movie. have a
great time

 

[metsfan11]

Forgive me for being an idiot but what is "DVC"?

dvc is the disney vacation club
if you join you get exclusive deals on disney vacations

 

[MHTeacher]

We have stayed at the Sports. It was fine, nothing spectacular, but a clean room to sleep. The next time, we stayed at a moderate. For what little price difference there is, the theming is so much better and the grounds are landscaped beautifully. I would definitely try to stay on Disney property, the perks are just so much better than staying off site. Good luck, and enjoy your trip no matter where you stay.

2001-All Star Sports
2003-CSR
Nov./Dec. 2005-WL

 

[pamouselover]

We just got back from staying at All Star Movies. We love it..the kids loved it. It was very nice for the price.

 

[Lesleyluvdisney]

hotel is most like you think WDW should be stayed theres 5 times - alaways try All tar movies (newest hotel) ask for fantasia block-pool view. nearest reception. weve been twice with our 4 year old loved it