My review of All Star Movies/POR split stay

[gillenkl]

Just returned and thought I'd give my review of these 2 very different resorts.

We stayed at ASMo 8/13-8/18 - we arrived around 1pm and the checkin line was pretty long. I didn't do online checkin because I was under 2 different reservations due to the room discount which started on our 3rd day. I wanted to make sure we didn't have to change rooms. Our room wasn't ready - no big deal. We ate lunch at the food court and then took a bus to MK to pickup our YES tickets. We got back around 3pm - room still wasn't ready. We walked around the resort a bit. Now it's 4pm - room still isn't ready. We were tired and really wanting our room since we'd been in a van for 2 days. By 5pm DH was about done and he went to the front desk again. Our room was ready and had been ready since 3pm - but they didn't type in our correct cell phone number so that's why we never got a call. OK, mistakes happen....but a little apology might have gone a long way.

We settled into Toy Story preferred room 733 and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It was on the corner, close to the bus stop and a short walk to pool/main building. It was very clean all week, very quiet (ok except for those delivery trucks that arrived around 5am) since we were on the end hardly anyone walked by our door. The pool was nice and we always found seats. The laundry room was very crowded in the AM - so we went back in the PM and it was empty. The food court was fine - we all found something we liked and we always found a seat. The buses were ok - I wish the bus stops were covered but I was prepared with an umbrella to give some sun/rain protection. If it's summer I highly recommend you pack a small umbrella to keep the sun off it was a life saver. We shared buses the whole time with the other All Stars and often we had to stand - but I prepared myself for that so it wasn't a big deal. We also saw them replacing the beds in the Toy Story section while we were there - they hadn't gotten to our room before we left.

I had heard so many negative things about the values that I was very reluctant to stay at one - but it was fine. We are booked to stay here again in December.


NOW on to POR. We stayed here 8/18-8/24. I did online checkin and requested early checkin. We arrived around 9am and were assigned our room. Alligator Bayou Room 2628. The room was lovely and we liked the large bathroom, queen beds wer so comfy, double sinks and closet. We had a corner room which allowed extra light in. It was clean and very nice. We had requested first floor and close to bus stop. We were close to one of the small pools. Let me say, the walk to the bus, main pool and main bldg were quite a hike. It had been fall or winter I think it would have been fine - but after walking in the parks all day in the heat - the walk around POR was pretty tiring and hot. The food court was very nice and had a good selection of foods. Covered bus stops are a plus. We also walked over to POFQ on our no-parks day to eat at that food court. I had an excellent PoBoy Shrimp Sandwich. It was nice, but we preferred the one at POR. We would stay here again, just request a room closer to the main hub of things.

Each resort had it pros/cons but we enjoyed what each had to offer. We tried to go in with a good attitude and I think that helped alot. My kids preferred All Star Movies. DH and I liked the room at POR better - the beds were much more comfortable and queen size.

There you have it folks. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Just returned and thought I'd give my review of these 2 very different resorts.

We stayed at ASMo 8/13-8/18 - we arrived around 1pm and the checkin line was pretty long. I didn't do online checkin because I was under 2 different reservations due to the room discount which started on our 3rd day. I wanted to make sure we didn't have to change rooms. Our room wasn't ready - no big deal. We ate lunch at the food court and then took a bus to MK to pickup our YES tickets. We got back around 3pm - room still wasn't ready. We walked around the resort a bit. Now it's 4pm - room still isn't ready. We were tired and really wanting our room since we'd been in a van for 2 days. By 5pm DH was about done and he went to the front desk again. Our room was ready and had been ready since 3pm - but they didn't type in our correct cell phone number so that's why we never got a call. OK, mistakes happen....but a little apology might have gone a long way.

We settled into Toy Story preferred room 733 and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It was on the corner, close to the bus stop and a short walk to pool/main building. It was very clean all week, very quiet (ok except for those delivery trucks that arrived around 5am) since we were on the end hardly anyone walked by our door. The pool was nice and we always found seats. The laundry room was very crowded in the AM - so we went back in the PM and it was empty. The food court was fine - we all found something we liked and we always found a seat. The buses were ok - I wish the bus stops were covered but I was prepared with an umbrella to give some sun/rain protection. If it's summer I highly recommend you pack a small umbrella to keep the sun off it was a life saver. We shared buses the whole time with the other All Stars and often we had to stand - but I prepared myself for that so it wasn't a big deal. We also saw them replacing the beds in the Toy Story section while we were there - they hadn't gotten to our room before we left.

I had heard so many negative things about the values that I was very reluctant to stay at one - but it was fine. We are booked to stay here again in December.


NOW on to POR. We stayed here 8/18-8/24. I did online checkin and requested early checkin. We arrived around 9am and were assigned our room. Alligator Bayou Room 2628. The room was lovely and we liked the large bathroom, queen beds wer so comfy, double sinks and closet. We had a corner room which allowed extra light in. It was clean and very nice. We had requested first floor and close to bus stop. We were close to one of the small pools. Let me say, the walk to the bus, main pool and main bldg were quite a hike. It had been fall or winter I think it would have been fine - but after walking in the parks all day in the heat - the walk around POR was pretty tiring and hot. The food court was very nice and had a good selection of foods. Covered bus stops are a plus. We also walked over to POFQ on our no-parks day to eat at that food court. I had an excellent PoBoy Shrimp Sandwich. It was nice, but we preferred the one at POR. We would stay here again, just request a room closer to the main hub of things.

Each resort had it pros/cons but we enjoyed what each had to offer. We tried to go in with a good attitude and I think that helped alot. My kids preferred All Star Movies. DH and I liked the room at POR better - the beds were much more comfortable and queen size.

There you have it folks. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for your review! We are staying in a Royal Room for 2 nights in April prior to 8 nights at the Poly. I am looking forward to trying POR for the first time!

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--in case you are unaware, you now have to pay for a preferred room in order to be placed close to the main buildings at POR. I'm kind of surprised it was a long walk for you to a bus stop, what building were you in? Having 4 bus stops around the resort I wouldn't think any room would be too far away, but I know well how winding some of those paths are!

 

[gillenkl]

OP--in case you are unaware, you now have to pay for a preferred room in order to be placed close to the main buildings at POR. I'm kind of surprised it was a long walk for you to a bus stop, what building were you in? Having 4 bus stops around the resort I wouldn't think any room would be too far away, but I know well how winding some of those paths are!

I am aware preferred rooms cost more. It was a long walk to the bus stop compared to other disney resorts we've stayed at. As I said, this was just my opinion based on my experience.

 

[maddiemacsmommy]

Thanks for the review! We stayed ASMo on our last trip and really like it. We leave in 9 days for our stay at POR and cannot wait! We did not request a preferred room, as we always drive ourselves to the parks. We will be in AB, as there are 3 adults and 2 children this trip. Hope our experience is as pleasant as yours.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thanks for that great review! I enjoyed reading your in depth report. I'm glad you liked your stay at the Movies and to hear you're staying there again. ASMovies and POP is my favorite value resort.

Did you make any bldg request? I'm thinking of requesting bldg 16 so we will be close to the main bldg.. that is if the 5th person is coming. If not, I think I prefer to be in the Mansion.

 

[maxiesmom]

I am aware preferred rooms cost more. It was a long walk to the bus stop compared to other disney resorts we've stayed at. As I said, this was just my opinion based on my experience.

I wasn't being critical, just wondering where you ended up. Though to be fair you did say you would request a room nearer the main buildings next time. You can't request that, you have to pay for it. I just wanted to make sure you knew that. Our last stay at POR we ended up heck and gone from the main buildings. The path was so winding it took about 15 minutes to get up front. The only blessing was the bus stop that was 2 minutes from our room.

 

[lightmoonstone]

I stayed at Movies and I love it-will be doing a split stay in Nov.

Can I ask you, how did you find the move to the other hotel? Was it easy? I am frightened that it will be a major hassle...

 

[gillenkl]

I stayed at Movies and I love it-will be doing a split stay in Nov.

Can I ask you, how did you find the move to the other hotel? Was it easy? I am frightened that it will be a major hassle...

we had our own transportation and made the transfer ourselves

 

[BMWTeamLeader]

I stayed at Movies and I love it-will be doing a split stay in Nov.

Can I ask you, how did you find the move to the other hotel? Was it easy? I am frightened that it will be a major hassle...

I took a trip with my DD5 back in 2007. Through a series of unintentional circumstances, we did a split stay: One night in ASMo, One night at the Swan, and three nights at FW campgrounds. All we did was bring our bags to the Front desk and all three resort hotels worked together and luggage just up and moved almost by itself while we were playing in the parks...

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Thanks for the review. That's great you and your family enjoyed both resorts. Both look very nice, but very different. I hope to stay at both one day...

 

[Missytara]

OP--in case you are unaware, you now have to pay for a preferred room in order to be placed close to the main buildings at POR. I'm kind of surprised it was a long walk for you to a bus stop, what building were you in? Having 4 bus stops around the resort I wouldn't think any room would be too far away, but I know well how winding some of those paths are!

I think one of the greatest pluses about POR over other mods, is the closeness to the bus stops and the fact they planned it out a bit better as to their locations to the buildings. You can walk on sidewalks and then duck under the coverings of the walkways to the resort room. Places like CBR, and even when we were at SSR, we had to walk through the parking lot and it was very hot.

Looking at the layout I cannot imagine many rooms far from any of the 4 bus stops.

 

[danceintherain]

Just returned and thought I'd give my review of these 2 very different resorts.

We stayed at ASMo 8/13-8/18 - we arrived around 1pm and the checkin line was pretty long. I didn't do online checkin because I was under 2 different reservations due to the room discount which started on our 3rd day. I wanted to make sure we didn't have to change rooms. Our room wasn't ready - no big deal. We ate lunch at the food court and then took a bus to MK to pickup our YES tickets. We got back around 3pm - room still wasn't ready. We walked around the resort a bit. Now it's 4pm - room still isn't ready. We were tired and really wanting our room since we'd been in a van for 2 days. By 5pm DH was about done and he went to the front desk again. Our room was ready and had been ready since 3pm - but they didn't type in our correct cell phone number so that's why we never got a call. OK, mistakes happen....but a little apology might have gone a long way.

We settled into Toy Story preferred room 733 and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It was on the corner, close to the bus stop and a short walk to pool/main building. It was very clean all week, very quiet (ok except for those delivery trucks that arrived around 5am) since we were on the end hardly anyone walked by our door. The pool was nice and we always found seats. The laundry room was very crowded in the AM - so we went back in the PM and it was empty. The food court was fine - we all found something we liked and we always found a seat. The buses were ok - I wish the bus stops were covered but I was prepared with an umbrella to give some sun/rain protection. If it's summer I highly recommend you pack a small umbrella to keep the sun off it was a life saver. We shared buses the whole time with the other All Stars and often we had to stand - but I prepared myself for that so it wasn't a big deal. We also saw them replacing the beds in the Toy Story section while we were there - they hadn't gotten to our room before we left.

I had heard so many negative things about the values that I was very reluctant to stay at one - but it was fine. We are booked to stay here again in December.


NOW on to POR. We stayed here 8/18-8/24. I did online checkin and requested early checkin. We arrived around 9am and were assigned our room. Alligator Bayou Room 2628. The room was lovely and we liked the large bathroom, queen beds wer so comfy, double sinks and closet. We had a corner room which allowed extra light in. It was clean and very nice. We had requested first floor and close to bus stop. We were close to one of the small pools. Let me say, the walk to the bus, main pool and main bldg were quite a hike. It had been fall or winter I think it would have been fine - but after walking in the parks all day in the heat - the walk around POR was pretty tiring and hot. The food court was very nice and had a good selection of foods. Covered bus stops are a plus. We also walked over to POFQ on our no-parks day to eat at that food court. I had an excellent PoBoy Shrimp Sandwich. It was nice, but we preferred the one at POR. We would stay here again, just request a room closer to the main hub of things.

Each resort had it pros/cons but we enjoyed what each had to offer. We tried to go in with a good attitude and I think that helped alot. My kids preferred All Star Movies. DH and I liked the room at POR better - the beds were much more comfortable and queen size.

There you have it folks. Just my 2 cents.

I agree with the others about your room "request." While it used to be that you could put in a request for a room close to the main building, they've since filled most of the rooms that are close to the main building, but not preferred, with princess rooms. So now you HAVE to book a preferred or princess room in order to be close to the main building.

I'm glad you enjoyed your stay!

 

[hfuellgraf]

We love MOVIES. We always stay at Toy Story-close to Food Court/Busses and Pool. They have started Movies at night by the pool and we have never Shared a Bus within the past 5 years. I find it a bit of inconvenience, but no more than a 10 minute one. We never stand, we wait for the next bus, due to bad knees. Movies was doing upgrades in March with fridge included, new spreads, curtains and carpet. It was due for some upgrading. Glad to see a good report, since it does get a bit of a bad wrap on here. We could go to any resort but the KIDS love it. I figure I will check out the Deluxe resorts when the kids go to college in a few short years....

 

[Nala126]

which do yo prefer in all star movies ? First time going there in October ?