Questions about the All Star Movies???

[pmurphy713]

Since everybody helped soooo much on our last trip. Here we go again! This time we want to stay at the All Star Movies (DD picked. They are 8 & 9) What do we need to know about staying at the ASMo? We really don't have a desire for the preferred rooms as the children are old enough to walk wherever they want to without a problem. Also, we will have our own car and a parking lot view is not a problem because we just don't spend a lot of time in our room. We have planned the trip in November to miss the summer crowds.

Please give your advice on the food court, check in (we will be checking in after 11 pm) and when to request anything special (like certain buildings, views, etc.) and any other likes, dislikes you or your family may have.

Were there any problems and really great things??? What were your favorite things about it? What did you really dislike??

In short any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks!!!

 

[Eeyoreloverforever]

twice before and will be staying there for part of our next trip.
We love it there. The room is small with two double or queen beds (can't remember which size). There is not a lot of dresser room or closet space. The sink is in the same area as the open closet. The table is extremely small. We didn't really mind any of these things because we were only in our room to sleep and get ready in the morning.We did a lot of eating in the parks, but the food court was good for the times we did eat there. We had bought the mini boxes of cereal at Wal-Mart and dh would go to the food court every morning for milk. We had also bought cans of coke, water, juice and snacks for in the park. I love the housekeeping. They never disturbed us if we had the sign up, if they didn't get a chance to clean our room because we were in it napping then they would leave a bag on the door with fresh towels and stuff. They would also arrange dd toys in a different way each day, it was a nice surprise when we came home from the parks.We stayed in Andy's room and that is where we will request again. It isn't noisy, but close to the food court, pools and laundry.The laundry is in a small building by it's self near the pools and food court. It is a bit pricy, but we need it since we go for 11 days and can't possibly pack enough clothes for that long. It has a machine in it to make change and a machine to buy soap and stuff, plus a vending machine. I usually sit on the counter or take a chair from by the pool and sit in the room while doing my laundry. I think there is about 6 washers and 6 or more dryers.Check in is usually pretty fast, but you may find since it is late at night that the kids are tired and even five minutes is too long. We make any requests we have when we call to book and then a week before our trip we call to confirm everything. Have a wonderfull trip and I hope I was of some help.

 

[Magic2000]

We've also stayed at the Movies twice now, and its really a very nice hotel!! My little girl LOVES the All Star Movies!! (She even asked about going to the Movies when we were staying at the Grand Floridian this past Dec.)

The first time we stayed here was Nov/Dec, 2000; we arrived around 9:30 AM, asked for Toy Story but got Love Bug. At first I thought my DD would be disappointed, but we headed off to Epcot. Anyway, when we got back later that night, they had brought our luggage to the room, and we loved our room! My girls loved the lights above the bed that look like boxes of popcorn! The room was VERY quiet, and a short walk to the food court/bus stop. We had great bus service - only once or twice stopping at the other All Stars. The food court was really pretty good, prices weren't too bad, and we enjoyed our mugs! We did walk all around the resort - stopping to take pictures in Andy's room, and playing around by 101 Dalmations.

In Nov/Dec, 2001, we went back (the decorations at Disney for Christmas are absolutely breathtaking!). We arrived around 12:30 AM, we asked for 101 Dalmations and got it!!! My daughter was so excited! Again, our room location was perfect! It was a quiet area (we never heard our neighbors), and a short walk to the food court/bus stop. Again - excellent bus service!! We ordered pizza one night and although it was a little pricey - it was delivered to the room, with salad and drinks, and we could relax while enjoying our late dinner!!!

My DD and I are headed back in Oct (our first time trying MNSSHP) and she has requested to stay at the All Star Movies!!!

The gift shop at the hotel is also pretty nice - we did some last minute Christmas shopping! So far, both times we've stayed here its been too cold to swim, but the pools look really nice.

We didn't have any problems with either of our stays - very nice CMs and housekeeping!

Enjoy your stay!!!

 

[pigletpooh123]

We stayed in the Dalmation area when we were there in 2001. We very much enjoyed this resort and I would stay here again. The section we were in was facing the little court yard, you could see the mighty ducks pool from our balcony as well as the main pool area. We used the mighty ducks pool the whole time we were there, it was alot less crowded. The rooms are small but really not that much smaller than your average hotel room and I don't know about you, but I can't see spending a ton of money on a room,when most of your time spent in it is with your eyes closed! The food court was good and reasonably priced for disney, but this is fast food so if you don't have high expectations you shouldn't be dissapointed The only draw back we had was at check in but we were cheking in around 1pm and it was very crowded and took a looong time! I think the all stars get a bad rap because they are the "value" resorts and not "the" place to stay but I have never had any problems the 3 times I have stayed at them. I think you will enjoy this resort. Have a great time!!!!

 

[pmurphy713]

Eeyorelover - thank you so much for the information on the laundry. I didn't even think to ask about that. I always do one afternoon of laundry while we are gone, we just don't have that many clothes or room for clothes!

All of the advice is wonderful! Was there anything that anybody would have changed about their stay at AS? Anything you wished for but weren't able to get??

Any negatives?

Excuse all of the questions, I'm just trying to be thorough! And I do agree that the room isn't everything. We spent a good bit of money at Polynesian (and really enjoyed it!!) but I felt a little bit guilty because we just didn't spend enough time there!

Thanks again!

 

[Eeyoreloverforever]

for the information. I am glad that I can help someone. I know I have recieved lots of info and help from these boards and appreciate it immensly.

The only thing that we did different last time that I enjoyed, but don't know if it would be worth it to pay for, was having a fridge in the room. We didn't pay for it because they screwed up our room reservation ( we asked for two adjoining rooms and we didn't get them originally and had to move our luggage twice, so I complained and asked for a fridge free of charge for the week we were there). But I did enjoy having the fridge, it allowed us to keep drinks cold and keep milk in it so we didn't have to go to the food court in the morning. Other than that I wouldn't change anything.

 

[photobob]

Of the three All Stars, I've stayed at two, Movies and Music and muchly preferred Movies. The theming is wonderful, your kids will really like it and the layout is much better. We stayed in the one of the dalmations building on the parking lot side which was fine because it was very quiet. It was fairly close to everything, food court, swimming pools. We liked the smaller swimming pool which is near the Mighty Ducks buildings. AS far as theming I'd like the Toy Story and Fantasia Buildings, But I really don't think you can go wrong with any. It's not a far walk from even the farthest buidlings. If i had to do it over again I'd stayed at Movies the second trip but we are trying to do a different resort each trip. So far we've done CBR 97, ASMovies 99, ASMusic 01 and have ressies for POFQ for May, but with it closing I'm not sure yet where we'll go..but I can't wait!!!

 

[dansyr]

We've stayed at ASmovies 2x. We love it.
I would suggest requesting a room at dalmatians or Toy story. Both are pretty close to the pool and main building w/o being preferred rooms.
We really enjoyed the food court too. Try the Mickey waffles for breakfast. They are a tradition of mine. I would also purchase the refillable mugs. We always get our money's worth from those.
Also, if you are planning on using disney transportation. Always leave an hour travel time. The bus service is usually very good but there are generally long lines in the morning...especially for MK.
Have a great time ...I'm sure you will love it