All Star resorts vs. moderates

[GaDisneyDad]

We have always stayed at a moderate rather than a value resort, feeling that the value resorts would feel cheap, crowded, etc. However, I see a lot of people who have stayed at the All Star resorts and have good things to say about them. I have heard others describe them as Disney's "Motel 6".

Can I get some opinions from people who have stayed at both the All Stars and a moderate (POR is our favorite) and can compare the two?

Thanks for any input!

 

[catwho]

Haven't stayed at both (but will eventually I'm sure) but wanted to give you "something to think about" How much do you stay at your resort? Do you sleep, change and shower or do you like to lounge at your resort and wander around and spend an entire day just at your resort?

We are sleep, change and shower people. Sometimes we may head back to the resort early and go swimming and walk around, but generally we leave in the morning and are on the last bus back in the night. BUT having stayed at Motel 6 (and Super 8 and Travelodge -ick!) what I can say is that although the rooms are the size of a Motel 6, it is the nicest prettiest, and most unique "Motel 6" I have ever been in. The colors are bright and beautiful. The decor is "Disney-fied" to the hilt. Detail, detail, detail. The pools aren't square with missing tiles. You can get a drink by the pool, visit the arcade, stroll through the gift shop, have extra towels sent to your room (as well as an ironing board and iron!), and made to feel that you are in a much-nicer-than-Motel-6 hotel. I tell you I have stayed in lots of Motel 6's and after one night at ASMu, I swore we would never stay off-site to save money again!

Now, you tell me why you like POR. I would love to stay there but my 3 kids say "It's too grown up looking! It's not *fun*!"

 

[GaDisneyDad]

My kids are older (14 and 13) so we haven't heard that complaint, but I understand your point, and I can see how the AS resorts would be more visually appealing to younger kids.

I guess what we love most about POR is the scenery - the trees, plants, river, animals, etc. - that make it such a relaxing place to stay. I believe your kids would find plenty to do from the Ol' Man Island pool (with slide) to the surrey bikes for rent, to the video game arcade, etc.

It's true we spend most of our time at Disney at the parks (although the rain on our last trip a couple of weeks ago caused us to spend more time at the hotel than we had planned), but POR seems to me to be more relaxed and quiet than it seems like the AS's would be. And I could be wrong - that's why I wanted to get some input. Thanks!

P.S. What has been your experience with the crowds at the AS's - bus stops, pools, food court, etc.?

 

[catwho]

Yes; POR does look more serene. We stayed at Music and I have to say that it didn't seem all that hectic and high strung, but then we go during the winter when it's more laid back anyway. Transportation was fine and so was service for meals. But again, we went off season. We did have a hectic time the last day and a half or so when all those blasted cheerleaders showed up. I heard it was worse at Sports, but I think it had more to do with the vastly unsupervised mass of teenagers than just the vast throng of people "doing Disney"

We also stayed in Jazz Inn which is the next set of buildings down from the preferred building. I noticed that the further back you moved from the main building the quieter and more serene everything became. I suppose it isn't too awfully hectic because there were bunnies all over the place and they weren't too spooked by the people.

 

[Prince John]

We have stayed in PO, CBR, CS, and AS-Sports...
We were in the same boat as you last year when planning our trip. We decided to try the All-Stars - and were very pleased. We liked them, and not just "for the money". We really liked them. Our kids (4 and 6) have asked to stay there next year when we go again (we were among the unfortunate that had our trip cut short due to the 9/11 terrorists/cowards). Here is my breakdown of moderates vs. All-Stars:
Pools: Mod-nice theme, slide AS-nice theme, no slide
Atmosphere: Mod-more detailed theme AS-less money spent on theme
Food Court: mod and AS are the same - both have great food
Restaurants: mod-never used them AS-no sit-down restaurants
Busses: same at both
Cost: half the cost at AS

Basically, it's your choice, but if you want to save $, go with the AS. I will say that we will stay in moderates again, just not when money is tight.

Hope this helps...

 

[hmp2z]

Hi! We've stayed at All Star Sports and Coronado Springs, and, frankly, I couldn't see much of a difference in the two. There were fewer children at Coronado, which was a plus for us. The buildings there are more beautiful, just looking at them from the outside. And there is a lake there, which is another exterior attraction.
As far as the rooms, though, the Coronado rooms were a bit bigger but not much. We had a king bed at our stay there, as opposed to 2 doubles at AS resort. For me, the main difference in resorts is that the deluxes have a balcony. Without the balcony, to me one hotel room is just like another. Coronado still has outside entrances like All Stars, so I found them extremely similar except for the superficial aesthetic differences that I've mentioned above.
We ate once at the Pepper Market and hated it; but then again, we don't go to Disney to eat overpriced fast food when there are so many wonderful sit down meals available.
For the bus service, it seemed pretty similar at both resorts, except that the Coronado Springs buses had fewer children and more adult conventioneers. The bus for All Stars stops at the Sports resort first, so we were glad we picked that one over Music.
To me, the difference is minimal. I suppose the extra $ was worth it to us to avoid the loud crowds of children, but as far as the rooms themselves, I didn't notice any difference except for a change in decor.
Cheers!
Heather P

 

[GaDisneyDad]

Prince John,

Did I hear (I guess technically, read) you correctly that there are NO slides at the AS pools? Is that absolute - no slides at any pool at Sports, Music, or Movies? This would be a big negative for my kids.

 

[#1 Mickey Fan]

We have stayed at both POR and ASMu and really enjoyed both places. ASMu was generally a little noisier and more crowded, but we also thought it offered more frequent transportation to and from the parks and it wasn't such a LONG walk to the bus station like it was at POR. This was probably just a result of our room location at POR, but after being at the parks all day it was nice to know that you didn't have a long walk when you got back to the hotel

We didn't notice much difference in the rooms themselves between the two resorts, had plenty of space both places, and that was with 4 adults sharing 1 room at ASMu!!!

I think the choice really depends on how much time you spend at your hotel and in your room. We do not spend hardly any time at all in the room, as we tend to do Disney "commando style" and are typically on the first bus to the park in the morning and catch the last one home at night.

If you are traveling with young children, I can tell you that we thought the pools and the food court at AS was a little more "kid friendly" than at POR, and there was more for the kids to see and do at AS. Just our personal opinion.

Finally, as with all things Disney, the AS is a far cry from Motel 6. Even though it is value priced, the attention to detail is amazing and the magic abounds! We were not disappointed staying at AS.

 

[CamColt]

We stayed at POR twice and really enjoyed it(obviously, if we went back a second time). Then we stayed at ASMO and fell in love! IMO, everything(buses, lay out, theming, pools, etc...) at ASMO was better than DXL. The only thing I preferred at DXL was Bob the piano player...and with 2 young kids, lounge entertainment isnt top priority.
To my kids DXL was just a hotel. They dont care about nice landscaping and water. ASMO was WOW to them(and me too)!
After staying in all 3 levels, I can understand paying more to stay in a deluxe, but I would have a hard time staying in a moderate over a value again. Even if money wasnt an issue I would choose ASMO over a moderate.

 

[MJames41]

I agree with CamColt, although my daughter loves the moderates over the All Stars. No, the pools at the All Stars don't have any slides, so, that might be a consideration. But I prefer the All Stars to the moderates because of the distance walking. The moderates are much more spread out than the All Stars. You might consider a split, just to see if you will like them. As one poster said on another post, you're still at Disney. Enjoy.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

In my opinion, the moderate resorts are MUCH nicer than the All Stars. I usually avoid these AS threads because "if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all"!

 

[SQUIGGLE]

We have stayed at POR FQ & RS, CBR and all 3 All Stars. We enjoy them all for different reasons. The moderates seem to be a bit quieter on the whole; but I still enjoy the All Stars. In fact we'll be at the ASMO in December.

 

[mat2672]

The allstars are a little more "cold" and "basic" when it comes to atmosphere as compared to the moderates Ive stayed at in my opinion, but I dont think theres a huge difference. If you like the theming at the allstars, I would stay there and save the money. They are far superior to motel 6, trust me. When we first checked into the allstars, I kind of got that "cheap" feel that some people talk about, but I soon realized that even though the allstars did not have some of the amenities of the moderates, they still have the disney magic that youll never get at the nicest of hotels offsite. If you dont need a sit down restaurant or boat & bike rentals, I dont think theres too much difference as far as rooms or foodcourts, etc.

 

[Tulip]

We've only stayed at the AS Sports but we had such a good time. We ended up at the Baseball section and it was such a bonus. Even though we were the furthest away from the main building, Baseball has the smaller pool and it was less crowded and noisy by far then the main pool. Next time I think we're going to try the AS Movies. We want to stay at all 3 AS before moving on to the Mods. The only complaint I have about the AS is no hot tubs.

 

[wdisneelvr]

I've stayed at both Allstars and POR...basically the only difference is in the mods you have two sinks and a ceiling fan. You hardly notice the difference in the size..maybe a couple feet bigger in the room.

The pools are great at the Allstars, and they are always busy with swimmers. They have squirting fountains and are themed well for the children to play in. The food courts are the best on disney property. They have a great selection and you can eat quickly if your in a hurry to get to the parks.

The buses were fantastic at Allstars....since the resort is so huge, they have several running every few minutes. The children absolutely adore the Allstars and I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to stay there with them. Especially the Allstar Movies for the little ones. I usually choose Music...it's totally your own preference.

As far as mods, I only stay there when I'm not spending so much time in the parks and want to enjoy more things at the resort. Such as when I stay at CBR, I like to use the water mice etc...It is quite a bit more money to stay at a mod, so I usually pick the Allstars since I am hardly in my room anyway.

You just can't beat the price and still be onsite...have fun whatever you decided!

 

[MineeBaby]

I stayed at AS sports when i was 13 turning 14 when we were there, and i ABSOULTELY loved it! I had never stayed at a moderate resort though, so the huge pool, the huge footballs and baseballs were awesome and the idea that we could just hop on the bus and go was so fantastic...but you get that at a moderate too..the pool was never crowded when we went at night to swim, and it was the best. I dont remember what the room looked like or anything..hahaha..it probably wasnt important to me then!

 

[DMRick]

We have stayed at AllStar Music, Movies, and Sports (several times at Sports, twice at Music). We stayed in May at POR-Riverside and have ressies for them for August. In May (I have a trip report somewhere) we had grands with us, and we went back to visit the Sports, because they really missed them.The pools don't have slides (but they used the slide at POR so little that we woudln't pick for that just that reason). The food courts are almost the sam,e except the one at Sports seemed to be kept cleaner. No sit down restaurant at Sports, but we didn't use it at POR anyway. The pool area has more kids at Sports, but finding a place to sit seems easier, as the lifeguards and people seemed to pick up their towels, instead of leaving them around. We prefer the cute Disney theming at the AllStar pools. We got a great price at POR, only a bit more than the All Stars for these two trips, and there is more shade at POR, although I still think we are wasting our money staying at POR, rather than AllStar. The rooms are not very much different. I actually think the bathroom at Sports was bigger, although there are two sinks and more room outside the bathroom, which was convenient when there were five of us at POR.
We were in a non smoking area of POR, but they had ashtrays outside and we had to go through a cloud each time we walked down the outside corridor.

 

[Dodie]

I think we'd be a good test case for you.

Our favorite resort has always been Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside). As you can see from my signature, we have stayed there many times.

One year - to save money - we stayed at All Star Music. It was PERFECTLY FINE and very comparable to the moderate in my opinion. They say the rooms are a little smaller, but we really didn't notice it. They do have a somewhat "tackier" feeling about them because of the over-the-top theming, but, it's Disney after all. This didn't bother us either. The foodcourt was very similar to the foodcourt at DxL/POR. The transportation was fine, in our opinion.

If we wanted to go really badly, and the budget called for a value resort, we would do it again without hesitation. Would it be our first choice under normal circumstances - maybe not, but don't read too much into that. We don't have kids - so the theming was a little overpowering. That's all though.

 

[musiccitymermaid]

We loved AS Movies - BUT we also love the water slides in the pools!! We are heading back in Dec. and that is really the only factor that is keeping us from the All Stars... if they added a slide we would definitely consider a repeat visit!!