Scared about staying at Value now..Should I Upgrade?

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

Okay, I booked us at the All Star Movie Resort and **requested** (with fingers crossed) the Toy Story section. Now I have never stayed at a value and have only stayed at, SOG, Moderates or higher.

I have been going over post after post and now I am scared that we are going to have a terrible experience, loud rooms, overrun with kids etc (after reading so many posts riddled with complaints).

I am travelling with my husband and our 5 and 2 1/2 year old, who I thought would get a kick out of the resort and when we went last year, we spent so little time at SOG and in our room (naps, pool and bed).

Should I upgrade completely?, Do half in a value and half in moderate? or cross my fingers and hope for the best....I am travelling with an HFA (high functioning autism) child (DS5) and I sort of need the room to be a quiet place he can come down from all of the stimulation and to read some of these post..the values are like Animal House.

Thanks for your help..

 

[MiraDawl]

If you didn't spend a lot of time in your room, why spend the money? With your children's ages, the resort will be cute and they probably won't do much besides fall asleep each night in the room.
If they were older, I would spring for a moderate or higher because they'd be into the pools, and as teens, would want time away from Mom and Dad anyway!
Save the money and use it towards the things that matter to the kids most: Mickey bars, character meals and souvies!!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

Dont worry-everyone has an opinion. Take it with a grain of salt. We had no problems when we stayed at All Star Sports, couldnt hear anyone else in the rooms around us, theming was a little much for us (as a couple with no kids) but it is fun and light and the kids will enjoy it. You will have a great time!

 

[sjw4870]

I stayed at ASM once and although I thought outside near the pools was crowded and loud until rather late, I found the rooms to be well insolated from the noise. I didn't hear anything when I was in my room.

 

[Sheaboys]

We have stayed at the All Star Sports 1x, and Movies 2x. We just love it. It was not over run with kids etc. We even went at rather busier times, not bad at all. One being the week of Thanksgiving for a few days and another being a slower time after labor day. We loved the icons in movies! Your kids will love it. I am saddened to say, that my all star days are over, since now, the kids are going to be 7, 5 and 3, the next trip, so we will be experiencing POR-Riverside.

 

[dawgfan]

The All Stars are great. You will have a great time especially with the age of you kids. The noise level is not necessarily in the rooms but in the common areas of the resort. Even with that it is only at certain times of the day. The theme of these resorts is perfect fro small kids and you really should give them a try.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We stayed at ASMo last fall, and I had read the same type of posts, but it was fine. As long as you know there won't be a slide at the pool, etc., you'll be fine. We stayed in the Toy Story section.

We were with our two boys (almost 4 and 15 months) and we didn't have one problem at all. They loved the resort, the icons, etc., they loved the pool (didn't know there wasn't a slide, lol), they just thought it was great. We didn't hear any noises except for the one family that went running down the outside corridor screaming at each other in another language during the hurricane (the entire family, not just kids), and an occasional toilet flushing. The toilets weren't a problem, I didn't hear them at night, but sometimes in the morning we'd hear one. We didn't hear noises from other rooms unless our door was open. We were on the second floor if that makes a difference. We had great CM's, even during the hurricane, food court was pretty clean, we liked the food there, the resort itself was clean, our room was cleaned every afternoon when we came back from the parks for our nap (around 1 or so).

We're staying at Pop this trip, just for something a little bit different.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Crazy Kanga]

I also have a son with Autism. We stayed at ASMovies our first trip and both boys loved it. We have found that for our money values are the way to go, because we spend way more time in the parks than in the room. I think your family will love it!
Have a Magical Trip!
We will be at Pop in one week. Can't wait!

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

SheaBoys,

If you haven't stayed at Riverside yet, you will love it - I just posted elsewhere how much I loved Riverside, cause in addition to all of the things that they have to keep the family entertained (If they still do it, ask about getting the cane fishing poles and go fishing...) Walking around at night is so romantic, especially by the bridges connecting the two resorts together and where they have the weeping willow trees.

 

[aubriee]

Boy, does this feel familiar. I plan on making four trips to WDW this year. I took my son and GD in January and did a split stay at WL (courtyard view) and AKL (Savanna View). Both were wonderful. I went solo in May and because I knew I was taking my younger son and D-I-L in Sept and also going back solo in Dec (or maybe with my mom) I decided it only made sense to stay at a value for my May trip (since I was solo).

I looked at all four value resorts and thought 'my goodness how gaudy', but made myself book POP for 10 nights. After reading some of the reports and cont. looking at the pictures I just decided I couldn't do it, so rented DVC points at BWV for five nights and booked POP with an AP discount for the first two and last two nights of the trip. Well, when I came back I had to apologize for my thoughts about POP. I loved my stay at BWV, but had absolutely no problem returning to POP for those last two days. POP was so cute and so much fun. The CMs and even the guests I spoke to seemed so happy. The CMs there obviously love their jobs and were so helpful and friendly. It was just a happy place to be. I had a great room on the third floor right next to the stairwell in the 50's section in the Lady's building. It was so quiet and only a couple of minutes to the food court and buses. I also loved walking around the lake at POP. I have never stayed at the All Stars, but I know POP was wonderful and just full of the Disney magic. Staying solo (plus planning two more trips this year) I just couldn't see paying those high prices for a deluxe resort and I am so glad I didn't. Instead I spent the money on sit down restaraunts and souvineers.

 

[bicker]

What some folks complain vociferously about, others consider not to be a problem at all. Also, many of the issues you mentioned are things that may or may not be the case in your specific building during your specific visit. So rather than interpreting the complaints on face value, evaluate the factual descriptions and judge how must you'd consider it to be a problem. Then consider how many people complain versus how many people don't, and judge how much risk are you willing to take. If you want perfection, and your concerned about the things the complainers mention, then perhaps you might want to consider some place else. However, you may rather take your chances and save a shipload of money!

 

[aubriee]

I just thought of something else. The loudest experience we've had was at the AKL. We had the kid from h**l, next door to us. He woke up screaming and hitting on the wall and went to bed screaming. He also screamed anytime they were walking down the hall outside our door. We loved the AKL, but was ready to choke that kid. Depending on your neighbors, you can have loudness at any of the resorts, Deluxe as well as Value.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I am glad to see so many people responding, I am thinking about how many other families who lurk (don't post but look at the responses) on the boards and are looking for helpful advice not flames. I am much more confidant now about our stay, besides, I just called to see how much more it would cost us to upgrade and it would be $600.00 for the week and I would rather spend that on my children (renting boats, souviners, doing special things) than the room. I just got us Cinderella's Castle Breakfast ressies (don't ask me how..I am telling you I've NEVER GOT THEM BEFORE) and Hoop De Doo ressies, it seems to be turning into a great trip.

 

[bicker]

I just thought of something else. The loudest experience we've had was at the AKL. We had the kid from h**l, next door to us. He woke up screaming and hitting on the wall and went to bed screaming. He also screamed anytime they were walking down the hall outside our door. We loved the AKL, but was ready to choke that kid. Depending on your neighbors, you can have loudness at any of the resorts, Deluxe as well as Value.

Good point -- I don't think anyone can definitely show that the value resorts have more disruptive guests than the deluxes, but even if they could, I'd bet it's a pretty small difference. It's just a matter of chance. The main difference is things like the amount of personal space, the thickness of the walls, how readily the hotel's facilities can absorb a certain amount of disruption. You pay dearly for those things. They're surely worth it for some folks, but for others it's not.

 

[aubriee]

Oops, duplicated post, instead of editing it!

 

[NancyK]

Have to agree that you may or may not have problems no matter what resort you stay at. We've stayed at All Stars a number of times in the summer and at other times of the year and never run into out of control kids or found the noise level bad at all. I'm not saying that it never happens, just that it never has in all the times we've been there. Yes the food court can be busy, but we've found that at the mods as well. My DH and I did a couples only trip about 18 months ago and we stayed in POP when it was first opened. That's where we're staying this September as well. Have a great trip!

 

[4theloveofdisney]

While the rooms are small, as you pointed out, you don't spend much time in them anyway. As long as you know and are prepared for that - you will be fine. The gounds of ASMo are so cute! Your kids will love it there. The courtyards are filled with all kinds of icons and fun things for the kids to climb. Take your camera and be sure to explore each of them! As for kids running around, well you are probably going to see a lot of them but this is Disney after all - lol! I would say, go for it and if you still have doubts, then split your time between two resorts. Disney makes it so easy to transfer your luggage.

 

[PoohGal05]

We stayed at the All Star Movies on our first trip and as two adults we thought the resort was terrific! We stayed in the Mighty Ducks 2 buliding and I don't know if they did that because we were two adults traveling or if it was just pure coincidence. I work with young children daily, so noise wouldn't have bothered me. I knew from reading on this board as well as some others what to expect. Once we closed the door to our room, we never heard anything. We were too tired from being on Disney-overload! Quite frankly, I hear a lot more noise in my apartment than I ever heard while staying at the Movies.

When we booked out trip 9 months ago, I asked my mom if she wanted to stay in the moderates, but she said that for no more than were in our room the previous time, the resort was perfect.

Good luck in whatever you choose.
Angi

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

I let these boards scare me away from value resorts for years. Don't let them. Everyone has an opinion, and some take it WAY too far IMO. The posts that dog on the people, and not the resort are just mean spirited. Every resort has its issues.

Previous trips we always went with Moderate resorts, and 1 trip to a deluxe. In April, we wanted to get the dining plan, so we went with Pop Century, since we were paying rack. Boy, my opinion has done a complete turn around. We really liked it, and now prob. won't ever stay at a moderate again. They are not worth the extra. There is a huge difference from a mod to a deluxe, but not between the values, and mods.

Sure- I would love to stay at deluxe resorts every trip. We could if we wanted, but choose to spend our money differently, and take more trips.

I think you will be fine no matter what you decide. Have a great trip.

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

Bumping