Resort Thread Disney's ALL-STAR MOVIES Resort

[Bondfan531]

there were tea bags [reg & decaf], but I'm not sure I saw a hot water dispenser.
...

There is a hot water dispenser --it's seperate from the other dispensers in the beverage bar and has a little sink attached to it. That's what I would rinse out our mugs with until I could get back to the room to wash them (we drove and brought a box of dish wipes with us).

 

[disneyfan55]

One thing we did to save money on breakfast was purchase a 6 pack of bagels in the store at the hotel and bring 2 each morning and toast them in the condiment area. Just any idea.

 

[luckyboy]

goofy's sis--you mentioned that SW was not in the pickup luggage service
as part of magical express. I did not know this and we are using SW.
Do you just board magical express with all your luggage in the morning when
you are leaving? BUt they do transfer your luggage on arrival right?
We have always flown Continental but SW was way cheaper in October
and the reason we booked a trip before the gas prices make the airline
prices climb, climb, climb. We have stayed in Movies and loved it also
for all the reasons listed especially the theming for the kids. We were
in the Dalmations building and it was very quite.

 

[jenseib]

goofy's sis--you mentioned that SW was not in the pickup luggage service
as part of magical express. I did not know this and we are using SW.
Do you just board magical express with all your luggage in the morning when
you are leaving? BUt they do transfer your luggage on arrival right?
We have always flown Continental but SW was way cheaper in October
and the reason we booked a trip before the gas prices make the airline
prices climb, climb, climb. We have stayed in Movies and loved it also
for all the reasons listed especially the theming for the kids. We were
in the Dalmations building and it was very quite.

Yes. You take your luggage with you ( on departure) when you are flying a non-participating airline. But on arrival, Disney is the one who gets your bags, so it doesn't matter which airline you fly in on.

 

[Goofy's Sis]

Yes, Southwest does handle your luggage airport-to-resort on arrival, and delivers it to the room--you don't have to be present. On departure, we did take our suticases to the bus, and then carry it in to check-in coubnter at the airport. But this is a big tour-type bus, with the luggagae compartment underneath, not the kind you ride to the parks in. The driver loads and unloads it for you--it' not like you're carrying suitcases in the passenger seats! It was not a big deal for us--as long as your family can pull/carry your bags to be checked. In fact, it was reassuring to see that our bags were safely delivered to the airport.

I like SW, and their new boarding pass procedure, with an assigned line number rather than just and A-B-C boarding group, was awesome. No more lining up and sitting on the floor to wait--your line place is marked on your boarding pass, A-1, A-2, A-3, etc, and there's a very clearly marked quequing space. You still choose an unassinged seat once your board the palne, but this is much better than the old way, IMO. From here, SW prices are generally unbeatable to Florida. More $$$ for buying Mickey-shaped stuff!

 

[luckyboy]

Thanks for the info Jenseib and Goofy's Sis! You both clarified for me what
we have to do. I forgot not all airlines participate when I booked with
SW. But since arriving will be no different we will just take our luggage to
the bus since we are leaving early in the morning. Once you get off the
bus at the airport we will just have someone help us with getting our
luggage to the SW terminal since we have 2 smaller kids. You are right
Goofy's Sis we will save more money for Disney. So you board SW now
with unassigned seats and sit anywhere?? I did not fully understand the
boarding procedure you listed. Really appreciate the input!

 

[Goofy's Sis]

Yes, when you check-in, electronically up to 24 hours ahead, or at the counter when you get to the airport, you are assigned a boarding sequence number. The seats are not assigned--you can choose from whatever seats are open when you get on. In the past, you were just assigned a boarding "group", A, B, or C, and people tried to get a good position within that group of 60 by literally lining up at the gate very early. Now you don't need to do that--but it is a definite advantage to check in by computer 24 hours ahead, or you will be one of the last to board. My friend's DH checked us in from home, using our confirmation numbers, and we got our boarding passes and checked our luggage at the electronic kiosk once we got to the airport. Last year, we had the front desk at the resort do that for us, they printed out our boarding passes and we checked our luggage at the curb. It sounds more confusing than it is--the SW website explains your options well!

The Magical Express drops you off very close to the SW counter.

 

[luckyboy]

Thanks again Goofy's Sis. Doesn't sound like it should be a problem.
I will go to SW site and read about it too. You really helped me out
and gave me information I did not know I needed!!
Now all we need are some October general public discounts to help some
more!

 

[buzz1fan]

Okay, we are staying for one night next Friday. I wanted to stay at the POP but it was booked. Please tell me I made a good decision. I saw a recent post about a dirty room. Overall are the rooms pretty good and that was just bad luck? I requested a toy story room as my son is a huge fan!!


At the main pool do they have water squirting or anything like that? I remember Pop did. My boys are 1 and 4.

If we wanted to try the other hotels pools, are they close in walking distance?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Goofy's Sis]

Okay, we are staying for one night next Friday. I wanted to stay at the POP but it was booked. Please tell me I made a good decision. I saw a recent post about a dirty room. Overall are the rooms pretty good and that was just bad luck? I requested a toy story room as my son is a huge fan!!


At the main pool do they have water squirting or anything like that? I remember Pop did. My boys are 1 and 4.

If we wanted to try the other hotels pools, are they close in walking distance?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You made a good decision! Our room was very clean! Carpet was in good shape, bathroom tile was good too--I worried about that, because that cute filmstrip effect means millions of tiny tiles and lots of grout, but my worries were unfounded--all was well. These rooms are not plush, but it was claen and happy.

In the main pool, Sorcerer Mickey on his rock is spraying water out over the pool--you could carry your little one out to feel that "rain". In the baby pool, I think there was something squirting too, but I'm not positive. The baby area has an ice-berg-ish theme. Look back at the pictures earlier in this thread!

The Mighty Ducks pool has less going on, but there's a cute Goofy figure by a huge goal net that your boys would like.

The ASMusic pool is within walking distance, but it would take a few minutes to walk there unless you're in a Ducks building.

 

[buzz1fan]

In walking to the music do you think maybe 10 minute walk, or more, say from the Mickey Pool at movies.

 

[DEBBYIAC]

I know i saw this here but I can't seem to find it now, are the pools heated? also has any one stayed that ducks part recently I was thinking of seeing if we can stay there it has the one pool right there and the Laundry and the music resort seems pretty close too. thanks for any input.

 

[Goofy's Sis]

In walking to the music do you think maybe 10 minute walk, or more, say from the Mickey Pool at movies.

Yes, I think 10 minutes would get you there easily, maybe less for adults. If you haven't already, go to the first post of this thread, and click on the "resort map" link at the bottom--the ASMo map has a mini-diagram of all three All Stars in the bottom left corner, so you can see exactly how the buildings and resorts sit in relation to each other. The Ducks buildings are closer to ASMu than to Cinema Hall!

 

[Bondfan531]

I know i saw this here but I can't seem to find it now, are the pools heated? also has any one stayed that ducks part recently I was thinking of seeing if we can stay there it has the one pool right there and the Laundry and the music resort seems pretty close too. thanks for any input.

I don't know if the pools are heated or not, but we were there in June 2007 and the pool water was CHILLY! We were in the Mighty Ducks Building #3, with our room facing the Duck Pond Pool. It was under construction at the time, I guess getting refaced. Anyhow, yeah, there is a laundry section right there also and you're VERY close to the Music resort--we parked our car (we drive every time) in the lot next to our building and from the end of our building and lot, you can see all the Music stuff--right next to their bus stops and main hall. We used their stops half the time, especially when getting off the bus in the evenings after a long day at the parks--much less of a walk. I didn't think the walk to the movies food court and main pool was all that bad, btw, but in the evenings, this was our choice of pathways when we were pooped.

 

[Bondfan531]

Sorry for the blurry picture. We kept our room COLD and the day I took this was a really really really humid day and the condensation on my camera didn't clear up fast enough Our room was on the 2nd floor, right behind this first hockey stick and the big bushy tree

The pool is to the left of the shot, you can barely see the building with the restrooms and laundry area in it.

 

[jenseib]

Yes, Southwest does handle your luggage airport-to-resort on arrival, and delivers it to the room--you don't have to be present. On departure, we did take our suticases to the bus, and then carry it in to check-in coubnter at the airport. But this is a big tour-type bus, with the luggagae compartment underneath, not the kind you ride to the parks in. The driver loads and unloads it for you--it' not like you're carrying suitcases in the passenger seats! It was not a big deal for us--as long as your family can pull/carry your bags to be checked. In fact, it was reassuring to see that our bags were safely delivered to the airport.

That is not correct. Southwest does not handle your luggage and take them to your resort. It is Disney that does that. So if you have yourtags on the luggage, then they will be pulled off and set to a special area fo Disney to pick up. If you personally want to take your luggage to the resort with you, then you don't put the ME tags on. Also if the ME drivers are handling you luggage on the way back (whihc they did for us as well, since our airling was not a participating one too) then you are to tip the driver. I told DH this and he was appaulled for some stupid reason. And then I found out her only gave her a $3.00 tip. We had 3 larger suitcases, a stoller and a couple of carryons. Gotta love my Mr Cheap! LOL!
Also, when we got to the airport we rented one of those carts to take the luggage in. There will be guys there all trying to help, and in fact it can be annoying at times, as they always seem to jump at you and try to get in between you and the rental carts. They want that tip too. We did use a guy when we arrived at our local ariport, and to me the tipping for 5 seconds of help is really ridiculous. I mean the guy did next to nothing, except wheel the cart in and take the bags off. And I mean it was ONLY 5 seconds worth of work, but yet I think they expect a couple bucks per bag. So I told DH, from now, just rent a cart. It's cheaper.

 

[jenseib]

I know i saw this here but I can't seem to find it now, are the pools heated? also has any one stayed that ducks part recently I was thinking of seeing if we can stay there it has the one pool right there and the Laundry and the music resort seems pretty close too. thanks for any input.

All Disney pools are heated. But if you ask me, they are still pretty cold.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Also, when we got to the airport we rented one of those carts to take the luggage in. There will be guys there all trying to help, and in fact it can be annoying at times, as they always seem to jump at you and try to get in between you and the rental carts. They want that tip too. We did use a guy when we arrived at our local ariport, and to me the tipping for 5 seconds of help is really ridiculous. I mean the guy did next to nothing, except wheel the cart in and take the bags off. And I mean it was ONLY 5 seconds worth of work, but yet I think they expect a couple bucks per bag. So I told DH, from now, just rent a cart. It's cheaper.

When we flew SW we thought using the skycap was a HUGE help! The lines for checking luggage were HUGE that day and the skycap took care of our bags in just a few minutes. Well worth the cost of the tip.

 

[Goofy's Sis]

Thanks Jen for fixing that--of course I meant it's Disney that gets the bags from SW and to your room, not the airline itself! I actually think if I were to do this again, I'd just use the ME for the ride but skip the luggage part on arrival. It was really no big deal to pull our own, and then there wouldn't be any delay in getting your stuff that first day. But then, I never did this with little kids and strollers, and suitcases outnumbering adults--that would be very different--we always did the minivan voyage at that stage! Two days on the road, we would practically explode out of that van when we got there, fast food debris, crayons and action figures spilling out onto the pavement!

And we certainly did tip the ME driver appropriately for handling our bags, although I noticed many did not. I don't get that--this is a fabulous deal compared to any other method of transportation from the airport! There's even a sign posted inside the bus that gratuities are allowed for exceptional service. Our drivers both ways were exceptionally pleasant, patient and helpful, compared to cab drivers and rental car staff. The departure guy gave very explicit information about where to go for what once we arrived at the terminal--as a nervous, inexperienced flyer, I really appreciated that hand-holding! Ditto for the Disney ME personnel inside when we arrived--no way to get lost, they practically escort you onto the bus, it was very orderly and happy.

And I agree about the cool/heated pools--air and water were about the same temp last week, which was cool at night! But I wish I was back there right now, instead of here in the stormy muggy midwest...

 

[Bondfan531]

All Disney pools are heated. But if you ask me, they are still pretty cold.

Yes they are!!!!! Brrrr.