Just booked ASMu for Christmas - will I regret it?

[MegaWoman]

I mostly lurk here, but I've decided to come out of hiding!

We just booked a Christmas trip for our family (Me, DH, DS (5) & DD (3.5)), we've never gone anywhere for the Holidays! Now I have to break the news to my parents that we won't be there for Christmas dinner!

Anyway - we're driving from the Toronto area, over two days. We booked a standard room at ASMu for nine nights. We're going to drive to the parks, so the busses are a non-issue. Other than the busses and the size of the resort, are there any problems? How tight is the room going to be with four of us? Is there enough storage space for suitcases? Can I put stuff under the beds or is the bed on a platform?

I'm thinking of trying to request a room in the Jazz building - any specific rooms to avoid, or recommend?

Peace

Stephanie

 

[domestic goddess]

The rooms are on the smaller size but you have small children so it shouldn't be a problem. There isn't room under the bed and not much room to store suitcases, but if you keep things organized it will help. You might get a couple of the hanging shelve units that hang from the closet bars and fold up flat. That way you have more space for folded clothes. We have found that even some of the deluxe resorts don't have enough drawer space for our 5 people and these comein very handy.

At that time of year it may be easier to take the Disney transportation. We have never had a problem with it, even at that time of year. It may take a little time but you are not having to deal with all of the traffic and parking, etc.

My biggest tip is to remember that the closer it gets to Christmas Day, the busier it gets. Pick out your top 3 things that you want to do at each park and do those things first. Then anything else that you get to do is a bonus. Also, avoid MK on Christmas Day. If you really want to go to a park pick another one, AK or EPCOT are usually good ones. Also, it is fun to book a character breakfast on Christmas Day as a special treat.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip and enjoy WDW at Christmas time!! It is wonderful at that time of year!!

 

[minnie61650]

All Star Music is my favorite resort. It tends to be the quietest of all the values.


All Star Music just underwent a refurbishment of all of the rooms and was completed in June 2007.


Here is a website with photos of the newly refurbished rooms at All Star Music.

Look at the Jazz Inn section with new posted:

http://allearsnet.com/acc/g_asmu.htm

Jazz is great section to request. That section is the closest standard section to the main pool, food court and bus stop.

Buses run every 10-20 minutes in the morning . Sometimes even more during busy times. We usually had a deicated bus in the morning. The buses were empty when they picked us and then they headed stright to the parks.
We were there 9 days and there was only 1 time that we did share a bus with another resort. Since the bus before us had just pulled out when the new bus showed up our bus only half full. WE continued on to All Star Movies topick up more guests before we continued on to the park.

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 Movies share and Music has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.


All Star Music is my favorite Disney owned hotel.

Please see my info thread For the reasons why I enjoy All Star Music so much.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18641909#post18641909

Have fun at Disney!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Since you are driving you can un pack and put your empty suitcases in the car if they are too bulky for the room.

 

[kikiq]

Minnie 61650, I love your info. We choose ASMU this last visit to add one night and we were very pleased with our room. Thank you for all your great information.

 

[tinkerbell615]

We stayed at ASMu this past June and loved it. As mentioned in earlier posts, it has just gone through refurbishment and is amazingly clean. We we amazed at how clean everything was there. You could not walk anywhere throughout the resort that you would not find someone cleaning, emptying trash, picking up something on the ground etc... Of course, you see this pretty much anywhere you go at Disney.

The greenery is pretty awesome. It has much more greenery than the other All Star hotels and I really enjoyed that.

I think you will have a wonderful time.

 

[minnie61650]

Minnie 61650, I love your info. We choose ASMU this last visit to add one night and we were very pleased with our room. Thank you for all your great information.

It was my pleasure.
I am glad you were pleased with your room.

We stayed at ASMu this past June and loved it. As mentioned in earlier posts, it has just gone through refurbishment and is amazingly clean. We we amazed at how clean everything was there. You could not walk anywhere throughout the resort that you would not find someone cleaning, emptying trash, picking up something on the ground etc... Of course, you see this pretty much anywhere you go at Disney.

The greenery is pretty awesome. It has much more greenery than the other All Star hotels and I really enjoyed that.

I think you will have a wonderful time.

I am glad you enjoyed your stay at Music.

I also enjoy the greenery and I love the rose garden which is located near the Broadway section of All Star Music.


Have fun planning your next trips to Disney!

 

[MegaWoman]

Does anyone have photos of the decorations at Christmas? There are lots of photos of the Deluxe resorts at X-mas time, but I can't seem to find any of the Values.

I'm sure now that we've chosen the right resort! Thanks for the tip about storing the empty luggage in the car.

Are there lots of hangers in the closet area? And are the drawers fairly big?

Thanks - you've all been so helpful!

Stephanie