pixleyyy said:
We loved our Feb. trip to
Disneyland so are planning an early December trip to WDW. We are looking to stay at a WDW property. We have a party of 7 and were hoping to share a room. In addition, we are looking for a resort that has good transportation options for us all, which includes transportation from my MIL, who is in a wheelchair. Can anyone suggest one or two good resorts that might fit this bill? And I'm not looking for the cheapest but I don't want the most expensive either ... something moderately priced would be good. Thanks in advance!
And one more question ... how far in advance can you reserve rooms?
I would like to suggest two connecting rooms at the All Stars.
I know you said you were not looking for the cheapest but you also
mentioned that MIL uses a wheelchair,
I have limited mobility and use an EVC (electric
scooter) when I am at Disney and I have found the All Star Resorts to be very accessible.
It is my favorite resort to stay at,
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 Clypso 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.
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.
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 gift shops are seperate from the food court at the All Stars.
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.
Pop has 2,880 guest rooms. 4 floors in each building.
Each of the All Stars have 1,960 rooms. 3 floors in each building. That means more people in the food courts,in the pools and waiting at the bus stop at POP than at the All Stars.
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 theaming is pure Disney.
My last 5 visits have been at The All Stars and this 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 fun wherever you choose to stay.