When I think of a Disney Resort. I think of The All Stars.
I have been visiting since 1971 when it was brand new.
Most people would think I would equate the Poly or The Contemporary with Disney.
Not Me! The Poly and Contemporary may be nice resorts but they just do not seem Disneyto me.
I love the giant icons at the All Stars. The huge Coke cups with the straws in them at All Star Sports, the Giant Buzz and Woody and the Mickey pool at All Star Movies, and the pool with Donald at All Star Music. I feel like I stepped into a Disney Movie Fantasyland when I am at the All Stars.
Now that is Disney!
When we pull up to All Stars and I see those giant icons I get the biggest smile on my face. I know I am at Disney!
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I love The All Star Resorts.
I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.
All Star Music is my favorite. It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Calypso building. It is closer to the pool, food court and bus stop.
Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
The Calypso pool at ASMu has Donald Duck.
Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay.
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland.
All Star Movies has a Fantasia themed children's pool area.
The buses are wonderful.
Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com
All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min
It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.
A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING
To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.
In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back.
I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)
The pools at The All Stars are very kid friendly.
When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.
And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.
Here are a few pool photos.
All Star Sports pool.
All Star Music Donald pool.
All Star Movies Mickey Pool.
I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theming is pure Disney.
My last 5 visits have been at The All Stars and last fall when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic
at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
As noted above 7 minutes seems accurate. I found ASMO to be pretty compact...especially after staying at POR. You can also walk to the bus stop/food court at ASMU and its just about as close. This will have you getting on the bus sooner and a better chance of getting a seat.
