Value Resorts?

[ms_mckenna]

We are going to probably do a suprize trip this summer for my DD and DS's bdays. They are 2 weeks apart so I am planning being there from the last week of July first week of August, all tenative at this point. This has to be a budget trip and bad as I hate it lol. It will just be me and the 2 kids. So I will get 2 doubles and can share a bed with one of them no problem. What value resort would be best for me to book? He actually does not need that much accomadation wise because I can help him by walking with him with my hands under his arms while in the room. We will probably spend very little time actually in the room, though this is the first trip I will have without DH to help lift and transfer. I would obviously rather have an accesible room and will try and book one so that way he can do everything himself. My question is more geared to where the best value resort for us to catch the bus and the rest of the area being more accesible for a w/c? Is it to late to get a accesible room booked for that time frame? I will probably call and actually book sometime in early Feb when I am for sure about the dates.

 

[SueM in MN]

There are people who know a lot more about the values than I do, but one that comes up pretty often for good accessibility is All Star Music.
I'm sure someone will be along soon who can help you, but you could start by doing a search for the All Stars or Values.
There is a Search This Forum button on the far right hand side of the dark colored menu band just above where the thread are listed (the band says "Thread in Forum: disABILITIES).

 

[pugdog]

POP would be your best choice IMO. Why? because you don't have to share buses like the ALL Stars do. It can be a pain to have to go to all 3 resort bus stops before going to the parks. As far as the rooms go they are exactly the same. And all of the values are fairly level and have about the same lay out, i.e. distance to main building, At POP try to stay in the 50's , 60's or 70's buildings they are the closest to the main building and bus stops. The double rooms have either a roll in shower or tub at POP.

 

[Michigan]

The double rooms have either a roll in shower or tub at POP.

We are staying at POP in just over 2 weeks and the CM at POP said they don't have rooms with double beds and roll in shower. They have wheelchair accessible rooms with a tub and 2 doubles.

 

[taekwondo mom]

I have stayed at POP with an ECV no problems.. We moved the table over closer to the tv stand so plenty of room to charge the ecv ,
Enjoy your trip.

 

[minnie61650]

There are people who know a lot more about the values than I do, but one that comes up pretty often for good accessibility is All Star Music.
I'm sure someone will be along soon who can help you, but you could start by doing a search for the All Stars or Values.
There is a Search This Forum button on the far right hand side of the dark colored menu band just above where the thread are listed (the band says "Thread in Forum: disABILITIES).

I agree. I have limited mobility and use an ECV. We always book a preferred room location at All Star Music.
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I love The All Star Resorts.

I am 56 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe and mod resorts are just another hotel/motel to me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

All Star Music is my favorite. It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Calypso building. It is closer to the pool, food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down. All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.

The Calypso pool at ASMu has Donald Duck.

The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot, MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

A WORD ABOUT BUS SHARING

To me Bus Sharing at the All Stars is really a non issue.

In the mornings during Park opening hours each All Star usually has a dedicated bus.
During mid day it is usually just our stop and maybe one more on the way to the parks. On the way back sometimes it is all 3 but often Sports and Music share and Movies has it's own bus back. Each of the All Stars usually has it's own dedicated bus back from the MK.
That is a big plus. It seems like the Music bus stop usually has the shortest of the three All Star bus lines.

I guess some people who stay at POP see all 3 All Star names on the return sign of our bus stop when they head to the POP bus stop and think All Stars also has 3 stops on the way to the park.
(Even when we stop at another AS resort to load up it has not taken more than 5 minutes and we are on our way!)

The pools at The All Stars are very kid friendly.

When staying at the All Stars you can use any of the All Star pools.That means 3 main pools ,3 quiet pools and 3 kiddie pools to chose from.

The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.

The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

And the Surfs up pool at All Star Sports has giant surf boards.

Here are a few pool photos.

All Star Sports pool.

All Star Music Donald pool.

All Star Movies Mickey Pool.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theming is pure Disney.
My last 6 visits have been at The All Stars and in the fall of 2005 when we took dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 (at the time) for 8 nights we stayed at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?

Have a great time at Disney wherever you choose to stay!

 

[pugdog]

We are staying at POP in just over 2 weeks and the CM at POP said they don't have rooms with double beds and roll in shower. They have wheelchair accessible rooms with a tub and 2 doubles.

I'm not sure who it was but someone on here has stayed in a double room with a roll in at POP. Hopefully they will hop on soon and confirm it.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. We were considering POP but I am looking at ASM now as well. There are way to many choices (My mind keeps wondering over to AKL as well ... not a good thing )

 

[Charleyann]

Do the king size room in values have a king size bed and pull of sofa? Most hotel rooms with kings size beds have sofa or love seats which flip out to beds. I think with 4 people and a wheelchair and fridge...this would be a better solution? I'm worried as we are staying in a value with two double beds, wheelchair, fridge and 4 people....wondering id it is doable? We ahve a room with a roll in shower and I read the that makes your room even smalller? Does anyone one for sure? Any pictures of room with roll in shower?

Thank you

Charleyann

 

[kaytieeldr]

No. The king-bed rooms in the Value (and Moderate) resorts each have a king-size bed, period.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Well I may have done a bad thing or a good thing you tell me. I booked today had a bad feeling AKL would get the best of me and it did. I called and told her I could not decide between Pop and AKL she was rolling about the difference. Anyway I dropped a day and went to AKL so we are July 30 to Aug 3 in a standard view. She assured me that we were in a w/c room with a roll in shower. Do I still need to call guest services? And am I ok in AKL? The kids really liked the way it looked so I figured for the experience it was worth it. DH is a big Dolphin fan so this was an oppurtunity for us to do something different. Given we will not have a view, and I highly doubt that we will get an upgrade in that time frame.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

As soon as you get the written confirmation make sure that it says accessible room with roll-in shower guaranteed. If it does not, call Special Reservations (407-939-7807) because generally they are the only ones who can block an accessible room.

 

[Charleyann]

As soon as you get the written confirmation make sure that it says accessible room with roll-in shower guaranteed. If it does not, call Special Reservations (407-939-7807) because generally they are the only ones who can block an accessible room.

I called the 1-800 number to book our room. He had to leave for a moment becasue he said something about special reservation having to see if they had a room available. Theytold me for sure non-smoking was guaranteed, but didn't ay so about roll in shower.

Does the All Star Movies only have roll in showers in King size bed?

Thank you

Charleyann

 

[xKYLiEEx3]

well i stayed at ASMR and i thought it was very nice. I had stayed in the toy story secton and loved it! I highly recomend All Star Movie Resort

 

[ms_mckenna]

I have AKL booked for 5 days 4 nights have the dining plan and no park hoppers with 5 days of park tickets. I cannot decide if I should stay with what I have or change it to Pop. With pop I would have 6 days 5 nights with dining and hoppers and 6 days of tickets. Do you guys think I am any better off at a deluxe with DS's chair issues? We have stayed in great hotels and not so great ones and honestly pop looks more "disney" like. But DD wants to be a zoologist so AKL would be really cool for her. I cannot decide for the life of me. I would love any input on what you think and why.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would go with AKL. First of all everything is inside corridors. Second you don't have screaming teens running around. If you are driving, as long as you have a HP tag there is no charge for valet parking, although don't forget the valets are tip positions. If he likes to go swimming, or in the water, AKL has a "zero entry" pool and usually water wheelchairs available.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks for the push Cheshire figment. We are staying with AKL then. I am going to catch the latest flight out anyway so they will have all day Friday to hit a park.

 

[SueM in MN]

We have not stayed at AKL, but we have visited it on almost every visit to WDW in the last few years.
Besides the pool that Cheshire Figment mentioned, there are also a lot of neat animal viewing places inside the hotel (really nice covered porches with rockers) that are open to everyone, a nice observation trail and some special things like a storyteller by a bonfire in the early evening.
There is both a food court (with really good food) and full service restaurants.
All without going outside.

Whether you do POP or AKL, you will still need to drive or take the bus, so I don't think it will be all that different getting to the parks.