My ASMU review

[Sophie_2003]

Hello,

a little background: we have stayed on property several times, either at PO Riverside or the Wilderness Lodge. We also stayed at the HoJo in Anaheim to visit Disneyland. We are not hotel snobs, but we expect good value for what we pay for. I was a bit anxious about staying at a value for a first time and thought I would share our experience...

1) buses: this seems to be a major concern in these parts. The "sharing" with the other all stars is a non-issue, as it did not happen at park opening or closing, only midday, and even then the stops are closer together, than say the different bus stops at Riverside where there are 4 stops. We went to DTD, AK, MK and Epcot at all different times of the day, including peak opening times and after Wishes and never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus.

2) size: some people made it sound like you were out in the boonies if you did not book a preferred room. We were in the Rock Inn bldg 4, and our walk to the food court/buses was less than 5 minutes, again closer than most buildings at POR. We had a very quiet room facing the Country Fair buildings on the ground floor. I would not want a prferred room overlooking the pool because the music got loud during the day and the noise level was also high at night.

3) room: this is where our main concerns were. Double beds are snug when you are used to queen size, but we managed. No fridge or coffee maker, though I think yo can rent them. The towels were a bit "ratty" and we always got extras at the pool (yes, there were towels at the pool). Sound proofing is poor; you could hear people talking as they were walking by outside, and I am glad we were not in a high traffic area. The bathroom was better as they do not have the automatic fans that are at WL that go off as soon as you walk in. An dthe AC/heating was the quietest we ever had. Beds were ultra comfortable (mattresses)

4) food court: again a bit disappointing. Not much variety compared to POR, no fresh fruit for the yogurt and oatmeal in the morning. I would advise some meal planning is involved if you stay at this hotel because you will want something different to eat. We had not made ADR's because we were last minute and had not planned exactly which park we would be at. The last dinner we actually took a bus to Epcot to eat at the Morocco counter service, and it worled out perfectly. But I think as long as you make some plans to eat elsewhere, you will be fine.

5) pools: no slides or hot tubs, but we usually don't do those anyway; DD will go down a slide 4-5 times but can live without one.

So thats it. If we ever go back, we would absolutely consider booking a value again, as we can spend more on souvenirs and food/drink if we save on the room. Although I am intrigued by Coronado Springs now that our ME drove by it both ways. We'll see!

 

[KatMark]

Hello,

a little background: we have stayed on property several times, either at PO Riverside or the Wilderness Lodge. We also stayed at the HoJo in Anaheim to visit Disneyland. We are not hotel snobs, but we expect good value for what we pay for. I was a bit anxious about staying at a value for a first time and thought I would share our experience...

1) buses: this seems to be a major concern in these parts. The "sharing" with the other all stars is a non-issue, as it did not happen at park opening or closing, only midday, and even then the stops are closer together, than say the different bus stops at Riverside where there are 4 stops. We went to DTD, AK, MK and Epcot at all different times of the day, including peak opening times and after Wishes and never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus.

2) size: some people made it sound like you were out in the boonies if you did not book a preferred room. We were in the Rock Inn bldg 4, and our walk to the food court/buses was less than 5 minutes, again closer than most buildings at POR. We had a very quiet room facing the Country Fair buildings on the ground floor. I would not want a prferred room overlooking the pool because the music got loud during the day and the noise level was also high at night.

3) room: this is where our main concerns were. Double beds are snug when you are used to queen size, but we managed. No fridge or coffee maker, though I think yo can rent them. The towels were a bit "ratty" and we always got extras at the pool (yes, there were towels at the pool). Sound proofing is poor; you could hear people talking as they were walking by outside, and I am glad we were not in a high traffic area. The bathroom was better as they do not have the automatic fans that are at WL that go off as soon as you walk in. An dthe AC/heating was the quietest we ever had. Beds were ultra comfortable (mattresses)

4) food court: again a bit disappointing. Not much variety compared to POR, no fresh fruit for the yogurt and oatmeal in the morning. I would advise some meal planning is involved if you stay at this hotel because you will want something different to eat. We had not made ADR's because we were last minute and had not planned exactly which park we would be at. The last dinner we actually took a bus to Epcot to eat at the Morocco counter service, and it worled out perfectly. But I think as long as you make some plans to eat elsewhere, you will be fine.

5) pools: no slides or hot tubs, but we usually don't do those anyway; DD will go down a slide 4-5 times but can live without one.

So thats it. If we ever go back, we would absolutely consider booking a value again, as we can spend more on souvenirs and food/drink if we save on the room. Although I am intrigued by Coronado Springs now that our ME drove by it both ways. We'll see!

Thanks for your honest review.

 

[redrosesix]

I'm curious about the noise issue -- we have stayed at ASMusic and had 4 different rooms. So you were facing the garden area? There is only one path to follow to get to rooms in those areas. This seems to be less of an issue if you are facing the open areas (where people don't necessarily have to walk past your room)

Also, some people who have stayed at Value resorts complained about noise from other rooms. We never found this to be the case, but we were staying on the ground floor (as you stated you were) So...any noise from other rooms there? Just wondering if this is yet another reason to request a ground floor room.

Thanks for the trip report.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you for your review! I am so glad you posted the thing about bus sharing and its non issue status. We have stayed at all of the All Stars, some more than once, and never had an issue with bus sharing either. That is a very over hyped thing and not a big deal at all.

I do agree the All Star food courts aren't quite as good as the moderate ones and Pop Century's. Not nearly the selection.

I have found the outdoor noise filters in at all the values and mods, I think its the concrete walkways. I take a small fan to combat that. I do think the All Star rooms are more soundproof as far as noise coming from other rooms over Pop.

In all it sounds like you had a great, last minute trip. Thanks again for posting!

 

[tinawv]

We stayed at ASMu last August, and even though we enjoyed our stay there we did have bus issues. One day leaving from Magic Kingdom we waited 45 mintues and still no bus. People were actually calling the hotel on their cell phones to complain. We ended up getting on an ASSp bus and walking to our hotel from there. This was not isolated either as there were other days we had long waits, but not as long as we had at the MK. We were located in the very last building at Country Fairs, and had no noise issues. I though the rooms small, but very adequate. The maid service was very good. It did see like a long walk on some days after a long day in the park, but the walking was good for us. I also agree that the food court has limited selections, but that wasn't too much of a issue for us as we only ate breakfast in the mornings there. We would stay there again, but probably not during a busy time of the year when you seem to have more bus issues.

 

[DisneySherpa]

Thanks for your review! ASmu became our favorite value after our September '07 stay.

Our room faced the pool (right smack in the middle) and noise could be heard. When the TV was on we heard nothing and the noise was by no means bothersome to us. We never heard our neighbors or people walking outside of our door (the joys of a thrid floor room!).

We had better bus service here then at Pop (and even a few other resorts) Rarely shared... but did have to wait a while at closing time. I will say that buses came often (more often than Pop's) and the line slow down was mostly due to an excessive amount of ECV riders... something the resort can't control.

Im glad to hear you'd return! The money saved is way we love the resort... you can really upgrade your overall disney vacation with that money!

 

[patches07]

My DH and I are staying there in September cant wait, This will be are first time . Hoping for free dinning

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

My mom and I stayed here for the first time in Dec 08. We really liked it. The food court has a wonderful design your own salad station. You get choice of chicken, beef or salmon, you pick your lettuce; either romaine or spring greens, then choose as many toppings as you like from tomatoes, cukes, corn, brocoli, craisins, golden raisins, walnuts, sunflower seeds, croutons to name a few. Pop did not have this offering on the same trip when we ate there one night (although they do have the frozen coke machine which AS do not have). Depends on what you like. but we loved the poolside games during the day and the outdoor movie at night at ASMu. Fun for the whole family really. We were on 3rd floor in Country Fair and there was the usual noise of people walking by or toilets flushing, but nothing more than usual. We loved the piano pool as well. It is the quiet pool and has classical music playing for relaxation. A great pool for adults, not really for kids. The main pool is definitely geared to children though.