Well, I'm back from our fabulous belated Mother's Day Mommy and Me trip! I thought I'd pop in and share our experiences after our first stay at All Star Sports. For a little background, we've stayed at BC, BWI, POFQ, CBR, and Pop. I'm not particularly a fan of the values in general mostly because they tend to feel a bit crowded and chaotic to me, but we use them because they are generally a cheap and clean onsite room, and for short trips, that's all I'm looking for.
The CMs upon arrival were great. Very friendly and took an interest in DS, bringing him coloring books and crayons and chatting him up while I checked in. Compared to Pop I think most of the CMs here took more of an interest in interacting with the guests. Especially those in the gift shop and at the front desk. But even the cashiers in the food court seemed friendlier.
We requested close to transportation and landscape view with online check in and got the landscape view. We were given a room in the baseball section. As we were entering the room I was assaulted with a chemical smell that seemed very pesticide like. I decided to give it some time and propped the door open a little before going to dinner and see if it helped. Upon doing my usual bed bug check I also found some evidence that there at least at some point had been bed bugs in the room. One of the mattresses top right corner was sprinkled with red marks all over it exactly like they describe from bed bug infestations. I couldn't find any droppings but it made me really nervous. Add to this the very mildewed grout on the bathroom floor and and overall very run down looking room, I requested to be moved. I didn't mention anything but the smell because really with my migraines it wasn't something I could have handled.
They were very nice about it and moved us to the Hoops section building three. This room was definitely in better condition although still could have been cleaner. There was sticky stuff on the table and they didn't vacuum very well. The bathroom wall also looked like something had been spilled on it behind the toilet paper. But it smelled fresh and clean. Even a hint of bleach, so much better than the other room. Mousekeeping was good otherwise good during our trip. Left us extra towels and toiletries every day and arranged DS's toys on the bed.
The food court offerings didn't have much that I was interest in and definitely seemed a lot less than I was used to at Pop, particularly in regards to baked goods. I had spoken to a chef ahead of our trip because of my son's multiple allergies and we made some plans for foods for him. Which included special ordering his safe "ice cream." Unfortunately, he said he was unable to get it and I didn't know this until after excitedly telling my son he was going to have dessert that night. He was okay but I was bummed that I was told it was being ordered and not that they "might" be able to get it. It seemed like a done deal.
It also seemed like they were regularly understaffed at the registers and items at the condiments station were frequently empty (napkins, knives, spoons, etc.). I mostly grabbed snacks and packaged items, but did try the pot roast which was pretty good w/Mac & Cheese. The Mickey waffle sundae was pretty yummy.
The weirdest thing happened our first night. First my phone was ringing in the middle of the night. Whoever it was hung up but it jolted me out of a sound sleep. But then at 4:50am someone was knocking on my door! Scared the crap out of me. I ignored them and they knocked 3 times. By the time I finally got up to look out the peephole they were gone. About 10-15 minutes later I heard a lot of talking and it sounded like a family nearby was checking out so I assume someone just went to the wrong room. Whoever it was, there was no falling asleep after that.
We also heard a LOT of noise around us throughout the trip. I thought I was used to this at Pop, but it just seemed like a lot more people were hanging out outside late at night talking (or even yelling) full volume and it was a bit much for me.
And last but not least the buses. On the upside we only shared a bus once on the way back from MK and we were the first drop off. But the waits for buses seemed far longer than we have experienced at other resorts. Several times while waiting in line I started conversations with other guests and asked what their experience had been with the buses and most seemed to agree that week the buses waits seemed long. One family even mentioned they had been there last year and thought everything was fabulous but this trip they weren't as happy and the bus wait was one of the reasons.
So all in all, I don't regret having tried it, but I don't think it's a resort we will be returning to. I might consider giving it another shot if they get a refurbishment at some point but in the meantime we'll be returning to Pop when we need a value resort. I just wish we could take the CMs with us, lol.