OPINIONS PLEASE! (All Star Music)

[Luv4Disney]

I'd like to get some opinions on this resort before I book it. DBF and I had a bad experience at the Pop and vowed never to stay at a value resort again. However, we can get an awesome rate for 8 nights with our AP's. But if it's not that great, I'll shell out a couple of hundred more and stay somewhere we know we like. What do you think? Thanks in advance!

 

[NYMomof4]

I'd like to know also-we have this booked for 4 nights with the new package. I've tried AS Movies and POP so far, but we are normally hooked on POR fopr longer trips.

 

[Luv4Disney]

I'd like to know also-we have this booked for 4 nights with the new package. I've tried AS Movies and POP so far, but we are normally hooked on POR fopr longer trips.

Yeah. We stayed at the Riverside and loved it! After the Pop, we were seriously turned off. Now I don't know what to do!

 

[NCRedding]

I stayed at AllStar Music during the marathon weekend in January and loved it. It was very nice and quiet. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the stay. The people were extremely nice, and the food court was excellent.

 

[Luv4Disney]

I stayed at AllStar Music during the marathon weekend in January and loved it. It was very nice and quiet. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the stay. The people were extremely nice, and the food court was excellent.

That's good to hear, thank you! What was the bus service like? And how busy were the parks during the marathon? I seems like there was never anyone online for the ASMu when all the other lines were packed.

 

[Janet2k]

Luv4Disney, I don't know what your bad experience was, but if you think it is something that can only be duplicated by staying in a Value Resort, then definitely consider staying in a Moderate or Deluxe Resort instead.

As to the All-Star Music Resort, I stayed there for the first time this Summer. I have a few photos of my room: click here. There were three people in my party -- myself, my college-age son, and my grade school daughter. We had a lovely time at the resort, no complaints from me.

I know there will be plenty of Value Resorts vacations in my future. As long as I know what to expect from each of the Disney resort categories (Value, Moderate, Deluxe), and as long as I don't unfairly judge one category vs. another (it's not fair to assume that a Value Resort will have as many amenities as a Deluxe Resort), I know my family will have a wonderful time.

No matter what you decide to do, have a lovely vacation.

 

[Luv4Disney]

Luv4Disney, I don't know what your bad experience was, but if you think it is something that can only be duplicated by staying in a Value Resort, then definitely consider staying in a Moderate or Deluxe Resort instead.

As to the All-Star Music Resort, I stayed there for the first time this Summer. I have a few photos of my room: click here. There were three people in my party -- myself, my college-age son, and my grade school daughter. We had a lovely time at the resort, no complaints from me.

I know there will be plenty of Value Resorts vacations in my future. As long as I know what to expect from each of the Disney resort categories (Value, Moderate, Deluxe), and as long as I don't unfairly judge one category vs. another (it's not fair to assume that a Value Resort will have as many amenities as a Deluxe Resort), I know my family will have a wonderful time.

No matter what you decide to do, have a lovely vacation.

Thanks for the pictures. It was never really the room. I think it's a fine size and personally can't tell the difference in size between a value room and a moderate room. The bus service however, was atrocious. It was horrendous and the worst I've ever experienced. I feel it's because of the large size of the resort (a reason we probably won't stay at Caribbean Beach). The food court was also always ridiculously busy and noisy. We went the same exact time of year but one year was value and the other moderate. We don't do it for the amenities, it's more for the...convenience...if that's the right word.

 

[Janet2k]

It was never really the room. The bus service however, was atrocious. I feel it's because of the large size of the resort. The food court was also always ridiculously busy and noisy.

Luv4Disney, if you head to a theme park at the prime times of day/night, then it is safe to say there will be crowds. We experienced lots of crowds at those prime times (we were there in July/August). However, the bus service was bumped up accordingly because Disney plans for that. Our experiences were that if the first bus was too packed, to let others go ahead of us so that we could catch the second bus and have a seat to sit in (only if we needed one, otherwise we piled into the first bus and stood up for the ride). I hope that makes sense.

As to the food court, there were times when it was empty and times when it was crowded. When it was crowded, it never bothered us much. We always seemed to find a seat. I should also note that we did not eat all of our meals in the food court, as I'm sure you won't, either. We ate them in the Theme Parks, in other Resorts, in Downtown Disney, and wherever we just so happened to be at the time. Remember that most of your meals will probably be eaten elsewhere unless you plan on spending all of your time at your resort.

I hope that helped. I've stayed in 20 Disney resorts so far. I only have the All-Star Movies, Polynesian, Beach Club, and Dolphin to go. One of the Deluxe Resorts is my least favorite resort out of the 20 that I have stayed in. I won't tell you which resort it is because it is well-loved by lots of folks here on the Dis. However, I have stayed there a few times over the years and don't plan on going back anytime soon. I would pick all of the Values and all of the Moderates over it any time.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We have stayed at the ASMU 2 times and loved it both times (and I was a deluxe snob mind you!)

Our last trip was 8/31-9/5. The bus service was great. Each time we got to the stop at ASMU, a bus was there within minutes. Sometimes we shared a bus with another All Star resort, sometimes the bus was just for Music.

The food court is excellent. There may be lines at peak times of day and peak times of the year, but I have never seen them. One trip was at the end of June and there still were not long lines. Lots of choices, especially at dinner.

If I were going to spend a lot of time at the resort, I might choose a moderate over the ASMU because there are more activities (boats, bikes, etc) Roomwise, they are almost the same.

From what I have seen, there are less children at the ASMU, probably because of the themeing. Both times of the year we visited, the pools were never crowded.

 

[pampam]

We've stayed at ASMu 4 times now, and are leaving on Tuesday for our 5th time. We love it. We've stayed at Deluxe many times and moderate 3 times, but for the price, we love the values. The food court choices are far superior to the cs places in the deluxe resorts. The food court is huge, and if you need space, just go to the end near the large screen TV and you will be fine. Of course, a lot depends on the time of year you go, as to crowds, busses, etc, but we had no problems.

 

[Luv4Disney]

That's why we were considering the All Star Music. There was never any line for the bus, no matter what time of day, even if all the other lines for resorts were packed. It also seems very quiet and relaxing compared to the other value resorts. Thanks!

 

[dawgfan]

I have stayed there twice. Once with the kids and once with just my wife. I would not charecterize the All Stars as quiet. At least not the common areas around the pool, food court and lobby. It is busy and vibrant. Not too loud but not quiet. You seem to know what to expect from the rooms. The pool seems to be geared toward children. There is no slide. I have never seen an adult in the pool now that I think of it. I am sure they get in. I have only had one time period during one day when we were going to Magic Kingdom where the bus took entirely too long to get to ASMu to pick up. Other than that it was as good or better than any bus service at WDW. I think we went to the other All Stars resorts to pick up once during the two trips. The rest of the time we went straight to the parks. The food court is large and busy as well as noisy. My stays were prior to Pop coming on line and the crowds may have shifted some. You may find less crowd now depending on the time of stay. The grounds are nice and have all the icons Disney is known for at the budget resorts. Check in was fast and efficient both stays. In short you can't beat the All Stars for the money if on a budget. If you get a King bed room it will be handicapped accessible. No big deal but the bathroom has a sliding door and the shower has a curtain to separate the toilet area from the shower. The floor gets soaked through out the bathroom often. Anything on the floor will get wet. Not a big bother but something that we had not known or thought about. It is a good deal for the money to be on site.

 

[mattsdragon]

I prefer POP to AllStar anything. We couldn't stand the wait for the buses, and not getting a seat leaving the resort because AllStarSPorts had already filled it. If you think you had bus problems at POP, you've not seen anything up to this point.

 

[Luv4Disney]

If anything could possibly be worse than POP I may as well give up. We don't use the value resorts for the pool. In fact, we've never been in one pool at any of the resorts we've stayed in. I know that may sound weird, but it's not something we do. Maybe we'll starve until we get to the parks in order to avoid the food court. However, how can you beat $544.33 for 8 nights?

 

[OzFan]

My sister is there right now, I just talked to her today. She told me that last night (Monday) they waited an hour for a bus from the Magic Kingdom back to the resort ASmusic. She said they left the park at 10:30 and got back to their room at Midnight. It was the worst night of her trip. Other than her room mix up at check in, the resort itself is really working out for her. The crowds are light and she hasn't waited to ride anything. I'm sure she'll tell you guys all about it when she gets back.

 

[Luv4Disney]

My sister is there right now, I just talked to her today. She told me that last night (Monday) they waited an hour for a bus from the Magic Kingdom back to the resort ASmusic. She said they left the park at 10:30 and got back to their room at Midnight. It was the worst night of her trip. Other than her room mix up at check in, the resort itself is really working out for her. The crowds are light and she hasn't waited to ride anything. I'm sure she'll tell you guys all about it when she gets back.

Thanks for the info! One of our biggest peeves was the bus problem. It's just that in May it seemed like we were waiting an hour for Pop and there was never a line at ASMu. Weird right?

 

[taylorl25]

I just got back from ASMu and was a little nervous about what to expect, but i really liked it.

Food court only seemed to be busy around 9 in the morning, but we were already at the parks then so it didn't really bother us. I think the longest we waited for a bus was 15 minutes.

ASMu was definetely quieter than AS movies in terms of food court and bus lines. Although I think it has the best theming of the 3 and nicest gift shop/ food court it appeared to have a double the people there so I probably wouldn't stay at that one.

Although the hotel wasn't busy most of the time it was fully booked on the 1st Oct. It still seemed quiet then although more people were definetely queuing for buses, we still experienced no problems.