Very Disappointed with All Star Sports

[all4fun]

We hated it and have vowed never to stay in a value resort again. They definitely are not for everyone.

After checking in we found our room had not been cleaned from the previous resident yet Had to go back to the lobby and got that straightened out. In reality it wasn't the biggest hassle ever, but just not something you want to have to deal with after a very long travel day. The rooms are small and the beds hard. One thing we did not have a problem with was noise, so that was a plus. We found the busses to be a pain to deal with (especially with the stroller). The bus ride was way too long. We never fully enjoyed the extra magic hour. By the time we'd arrive it was more like the extra magic 15minutes. Better planning on our part would have helped but it was just something we couldn't seem to get right. The long bus ride also made taking a mid-day break extremely time-consuming. The pool was closed for refurb so we had to either use the smaller Duck Pond pool or walk even farther and use the ASMu pool. There was other refurbishments going on too which diminished the themeing even more. The resort was terribly crowded - a result of the free dining offer and the fact its the cheapest place to stay on property, I think. The dining hall was always crowded (and noisy) and you couldn't walk three steps without practically bumping into someone. We packed light (well, for us anyway) and planned on using the laundry facilities...some of machines had out of order signs and the others should have. DH actually dealt with it while ds and I swam one day and after putting $14 in the machines to find out they weren't drying the clothes he finally complained to a CM. We got our money back but not the time that was wasted tryng to use machines that weren't working. It was just a pain. DME worked fine on arrival but when we went to check out we were 4th in line and had to wait for over 30mins to get our luggage checked for departure because one of their two computers was down. We felt we gave ourselves plenty of time to do this and then have a quick breakfast but found ourselves having to rush down breakfast in order to catch our catch DME to the airport. These were really little things in the big scheme however sometimes the little things can make all the difference. We went not expecting much but got even less.

If price and having a place to "crash" are your only concern then All Stars might be the place for you. If you have any desire for quality, comfort, and service, then run, run away.

 

[kimmikayb]

Dh and I refer to the values as "the slums"
Whenever we go down, we try as hard as we can to stay ANYWHERE else onsite. They really are our last resort.

Wow, the slums?

We like the values. We find them clean, friendly and perfectly fine for a good nights sleep. Beds are comfortable, pool and themes are fun. We choose values even though we can afford any resort. I don't feel like we are slumming.

 

[jchick]

I guess it's all just a matter of opinion. My view of a vacation is staying somewhere that is at least close to being as nice as home. Iwouldn't go to the beach and rent a rundown house, I want a nice condo that's clean and well decorated...I guess I just had the thought that any property on Disney would be "Disney quality". This was not the "Disney quality" that I had come to expect.

Anyhow, lesson learned. Ten years ago (pre-kids), I probably wouldn't have cared, but I'd also have been staying out late at Pleasure Island and drinking too much! Life sure changes with kids!

 

[Syrreal]

Wow, the slums?

We like the values. We find them clean, friendly and perfectly fine for a good nights sleep. Beds are comfortable, pool and themes are fun. We choose values even though we can afford any resort. I don't feel like we are slumming.

I think it may be because we do actually spend more time at our resort than teh average disney guest. We have been literally hundreds of times since we were little. We are the people that are never there for rope drop (we are lucky to get to the parks before lunch time!), who have no problems just going into a park to have lunch then head back to our resort to "hang out," that kind of stuff.

Now, that's not to say that we always stay at a deluxe or anything. Our faves are actually coronado (which is lots of people's least fave- so to each their own ) and WL. It really just depends on which resort we can get the best deal when we go.

That's not to say that we never stay at values. Last May we didn't have a choice. We went for Mother's day and I couldn't get a good price on anything besides the All stars so that is where we stayed. Did I like it? No...but (as I've said) bus service was fine (better than at other places). I was at disney though, and that ultimately is the important thing.

 

[Schmeck]

We've stayed at all levels of WDW resorts, and we found AKL to have the loudest toilets, BC to have the thinnest walls, and POR Riverside to have the moldiest rooms. CBR had the longest bus rides, as the bus goes all the way around the resort before it leaves, and CBR is very big!

We've never stayed at the All Stars, but if I was given a smoking room, and had requested non-smoking, I would have not agreed to sleep even one night in the smoking room. Of course, the odor of smoke makes me get a sick headache, and it triggers a coughing attack with my DD15.

 

[Camden'smom]

We are returning guests that have stayed at All Star Sports 2 times and All Star Movie once. We just returned from our latest stay one week ago. We have never had any trouble with anything while we were there. I think that you have to see what your needs are and what your preferences are before you stay at a Value. For us we would rather save the money and spend it on other things during our stay as we are just in the room to sleep and shower. I guess it doesn't hurt being sports fans either.
One day we wanted to go from MK to Typhoon Lagoon and went to the Boardwalk to catch the bus. It was here that we waited 60 min for the bus to arrive.

 

[tiggersmom2]

We are huge resort loungers. We prefer to have many pool days mixed in with a few park days (we have been to WDW so many times that it just isn't important to do the parks commando anymore). That being said, I have to have a deluxe resort just for my own comfort. I won't stay at WDW if the only thing available is a value resort.

 

[stenickar]

We always stay at the values. I have never had a bad experience. I have been there with 2 of my children that have autism. I'm not sure that the mod. or deluxe resorts would be as understanding of some of the behaviors that my kids may exhibit. I don't feel like I have to be as concerned with trying to keep them quiet. I can let them be kids at the value resorts. I don't remember having to wait for buses,(my son may have been the kid who screamed the whole time on the bus!!!). My sister is a Contemporary person, I went and checked out her room. I didn't see that it was worth the extra $2-250 a night that she was paying. The room was a little bigger and it did have the balcony! But you are at Disney, who wants to stay inside? Especially when you are from Maine and have come from 3-4 feet of snow and -10 temperatures!! When I am in Florida and especially at Disney , I want to be outside.

 

[marcyinPA]

I was hesitant to read this thread because I am in the process of deciding between POP and Sports (my kids really want to stay at SPORTS)....I'll be booking this week.

We stayed at Movies last year and loved it. We've also stayed DVC, POR, and FWCabins in the past. All very nice.

The bottom line for us is that we stay where we can afford to stay. This time, because we need two rooms, it's Value for us....guess I'll have to take one for the team and "slum it" for a week!

 

[marcyinPA]

Dh and I refer to the values as "the slums"
Whenever we go down, we try as hard as we can to stay ANYWHERE else onsite. They really are our last resort.

The slums? Well that's slightly offensive! Not everyone can afford Deluxe accomodations...or even moderates for that matter! You are blessed that you can!

 

[DaisyD]

Dh and I refer to the values as "the slums"
Whenever we go down, we try as hard as we can to stay ANYWHERE else onsite. They really are our last resort.

LOL! My DH always threatens that we are going to stay in the "projects" as he likes to refer to the values! And for the record, he grew up in the projects!

 

[Syrreal]

The slums? Well that's slightly offensive! Not everyone can afford Deluxe accomodations...or even moderates for that matter! You are blessed that you can!

I never said that anyone had to agree with me. It's my opinion that yes, they are the disney slums (based on my not very good experiences). Do I think that people shouldn't stay there? No. Everyone has their own needs. The value resorts don't meet mine.
I am very thankfull that I can stay at the mods and above (mainly b/c of discounts) and I know that there are many who can't and I don't fault them or it. I haven't badmouthed anyone for liking the value resorts and instead have just noted that my personal experiences have made them slums to me.

I have storng opinions about lots of stuff- not just the values-
i.e. I think
-that Caribbean beach looks like key west got hit by a hurricane and that POFQ looks like a red light district at night (driving past when all you can see are red exit signs and faint building shapes it reminds me of a red light district)
-that the old decor of CR made the rooms look like belonged in a casino
-that I am afraid of breaking everything at GF and that it reminds me of a grandma's house
-that MGM needs a massive refurb of almost every ride there
-that everyone overreacts to the brazilian tour groups just because they don't undertsand anything any of them say except "brazil" when any large groups of teens/kids act exactly the same except that they speak english

and those are just a few of them. But again, I don't think that anyone else needs to agree with me.

 

[tripletots]

We just returned from the slums last month. We had two rooms to accomodate our 5 kids and we had a blast. Of course, we left our rooms by 8 or 9 every morning and we returned to our rooms between 11-1am at nights. We had a pool view staying in the Surfs Up building 6. We had 2 clean rooms, no smelly carpet and we didn't hear neighbor noise (except for showers). Not knowing what to expect being a value I did pack Fabreez for beds and carpets and Fabreez air freshner. We never used it!

 

[robinb]

LOL! My DH always threatens that we are going to stay in the "projects" as he likes to refer to the values! And for the record, he grew up in the projects!

I didn't grow up in the Projects, but that's what we call the Value resorts too .

My very first WDW resort was All Star Music. We were not impressed with ASMu, but we were impressed by the other resorts and WDW. We had such a great time that we bought into DVC and Old Key West within a month of returning home. After that, I became a Resort Snob. I would look down my nose at the people who were massed like lemmings waiting for their bus. Poor poor people! My demeanor changed when I realized that bus after bus came for them. Individual buses for each All Star resort would load two and three at a time. Those "poor people" were whisked away to their "tiny" hotel rooms while my shared resort bus (BC/YC/BW/Swan/Dolphin) took forever to come and even longer to get me back to my one-bedroom villa. Those "poor people" were able to refill their mugs conveniently get a snack until midnight at the food court. I had to go all the way down to the Boardwalk and stand in a long line to have a CM refill my mug for me and my quick food options were very limited. Hrumph.

The thought that the Value resorts were not all that bad started began to peculate in my brain. Then, my DH had a last-minute conference in Orlando and he had to stay at the Hilton. My DD and I tagged along, but it was a budget trip after we paid our airfare. We wanted to arrive a couple days before the conference and stayed a couple days after. We booked at All Star Sports on both ends of the trip. We liked ASSp so much that we couldn't wait to leave the Hilton and get back to it! That was one of the last times we stayed off-site. For us, the amenities of the off-site hotels just didn't hold a candle to the Disney resorts ... even the Values.

So, now we stay where ever our budget allows. I have stayed at every WDW resort except for one at each price/quality level and my goal is to complete the list by the end of the decade. Our last trip was 9 days at Pop Century with free dining. I went with my family who was on a budget. I used to say that I couldn't stay more than 2-3 days at a Value but I ate my words. Pop was great! The previous trip was in a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at OKW with only 7 people. The Grand Villa was bigger than my house!

Does that mean that the Values are for everyone? Nope. I understand the desire to be on the monorail. I know the relief of slipping into a hot tub at the end of a long day. I admit that I bought at BWV so I can walk to Epcot. My DH and I fit in a Queen sized bed better than a Double and my DD loves the bunk beds at AKL. But "The Projects" will still be a-okay with us. What began as a term of derision has now become a term of endearment.

 

[DaisyD]

Robin, I wouldn't like not being able to get a drink late at night either. I hadn't realized DVCers had no access to a 24 hour food court. The Poly has a great food area that is 24 hours along with most other deluxes. Fortunately I don't have to stay at a value to get a drink in the middle of the night!

 

[all4fun]

Robin, I wouldn't like not being able to get a drink late at night either. I hadn't realized DVCers had no access to a 24 hour food court. The Poly has a great food area that is 24 hours along with most other deluxes. Fortunately I don't have to stay at a value to get a drink in the middle of the night!

True, but you have a kitchen. When we're at BWV we only have to walk to the fridge, not all the way to the food court. Obviously this requires some planning as you either have to stop by a store or order in some groceries so I admit there are definite trade offs.

 

[hollyb]

Honestly you sound like an overtired spoiled brat who didnt get her own way. If you didnt' ask for a smoking room and they gave you one. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do. That was your fault. Are you pised because you were stuck in the room with a toddler or what? Sheesh!

 

[DaisyD]

True, but you have a kitchen. When we're at BWV we only have to walk to the fridge, not all the way to the food court. Obviously this requires some planning as you either have to stop by a store or order in some groceries so I admit there are definite trade offs.

I was responding to Robin's comment about missing being able to have a drink in the middle of the night when staying at DVC. We don't have a kitchen in our room. I don't do DVC. I prefer the deluxes so we are left with a small fridge which works out great for us. We never eat anything in our room except what room service brings us.

 

[beattyfamily]

Honestly you sound like an overtired spoiled brat who didnt get her own way. If you didnt' ask for a smoking room and they gave you one. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do. That was your fault. Are you pised because you were stuck in the room with a toddler or what? Sheesh!

OP is just giving an opinion. Sheesh.

 

[DaisyD]

Honestly you sound like an overtired spoiled brat who didnt get her own way. If you didnt' ask for a smoking room and they gave you one. No one can make you do anything you don't want to do. That was your fault. Are you pised because you were stuck in the room with a toddler or what? Sheesh!

Goodness can't we discuss how our trips go without getting called names? The OP isn't the one acting like a brat, you know.