Any input on any of the all star resorts? I was looking at All Star Sports cause my son loves sports but which one is nicer? and it looks like all star music is about 20$ a night cheaper. not a significant amount really. any input would be appreciated.
We stayed at music a while ago.
I feel that the value resorts are best addressed by ensuring that expectations are set properly
They are clean and sufficient. No frills. Theaming in the room is mostly at the benefit of a wallpaper boarder and bed covers. Little touches here and there - but don’t expect to be “whisked away” to some far off destination based on the theming.
The outside is somewhat themed - but mostly by the plastering of large icons as compared to something like WL etc.
Corridors are exterior and although there are elevators - expect to take the stairs (really not a big deal)
As the resorts are larger - there are sometimes lines for buses etc.
As the resorts are larger - there are lines in the food courts
As the resorts are larger - there is sometimes a long walk between your room / pool / buses / front desk
They are a good option is you really want to stay on site and you have a budget (but lets be real - the cost of value is still pretty high).
As a whole they are nice - however I would personally opt to stay off site at a much nicer resort than stay at the all stars. I find their value “minimal” IMHO
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yeah I think I am only going to plan one or two nights onsite, then switch to a cheaper place. I think I just wanted to experience the bubble for at least a day or two. The two day price at this resort is about the same as a 5 night stay at another hotel. I am by far not picky when it comes to a room… I can easily do a travelodge or a days inn… for us it is just a place to shower and sleep, and take a mid day break if needed. I do want to feel safe of course but I dont need a fancy resort. Thank you for your input. There is a lot of planning and questions going into this trip. I want to cover all bases!!
Personally - I suggest the following
1 - if you already plan on staying off site - I would just stay off site. If you were going to splurge and stay at a Deluxe I would agree (not that me agreeing or disagreeing should have any impact - HA). But to stay at a value - IMHO has very little benefit.
2- Some may say "you get better ADR, FPP and magic band: yeah - but once again - IMHO it really isn’t worth it - if you want that - then get a throwaway at the campground for less.
3 - Spend the money at a nice resort off site that has a nice pool etc. I know it is just a place to sleep for you. But if you do plan on spending any down time it is nice to have a more resort feel. Additionally the room size is of concern to me.
4 - Buy your tickets at Undercover Tourist or other reputable place - you can save $$$
Have fun!!
I tend to disagree with this. I have stayed at the POP Century Resort and it was nice for a value resort. Yes they are smaller and that’s why they are value resorts. May I suggest you using the Unofficial guide room view feature. Here the thing. I and my wife will be going for two weeks in the first part of March. We will be staying at the Port of New Orleans Riverside. Now it’s a little more money as say the value resorts are over staying off property There are however benefits to staying on Property like advance dinning reservations and transportation and such. Let’s not forget why most people go. It’s for the Magic of WDW. If you have to cut a lot of corners it just seems to subtract from this. There are specials every now and then. Also may I suggest the travel agency call Magical Vacation Travel. I worked with Darcy for our upcoming trip. They might be able to do for you what they did for me. She saved me 50% on our room. Yes, I am not kidding. It doesn’t hurt to contact them and get a quote. You can also go to the UG and look them up in the Big Book. The Blog has much about them as well. I usually book my own vacation and I did online at Disneyworld.com. After contacting MVT, I went with them and saved $1000.00. I could not pass up the difference.
Thank you Doc, if i could save that much it would definitely make a difference. I was also looking at the art of animation. I did contact the agent you mentioned through email and I am waiting for a quote. Also looks like you get extra magic hours staying onsite? I might not use the morning ones but i would use the night ones. (3 hour time change from Cali )
Yes you get EMH onsite.
I know you were asking about All Stars, but thought I’d give my 2 cents about another value. We loved our stays at Pop. We knew it was a value resort but it exceeded our expectations. Food court had wide variety of tasty choices, pools were clean and refreshing and rooms were clean and adequate for sleeping and showering. Also has a great gift shop! For us, the transportation on property was a huge plus. On vacation, we do not want to drive and deal with directions and traffic. In 3 trips we never had any issues with a bus at Pop. Crowded at times, but no waiting. Getting certain ADRs or FPs may/may not be a factor for you (We have always been able to get what we wanted.) but the transportation and magic hours are indeed a plus!
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Is this the one with the Cars themed rooms?
No. Art of Animation has Cars themed rooms, as well as Lion King, Nemo and Little Mermaid. It’s right by Pop though.
I think I fall somewhere in between the opinions here. I would rather stay in a value as opposed to being off property. I just don’t like the idea of staying outside the Disney bubble. I like being picked up at the airport in the Magical Express; I like having our bags delivered straight to our room; I like having on site transportation. There’s just so many perks to staying on site that I can’t imagine ever staying off site again.
Now, that being said, I would not want to stay in a value again unless our budget was absolutely set so that there was no other way we could go to WDW unless we stayed in one. I knew what we were getting but every day, we waited in VERY long bus lines and ran into some VERY rude people a time or two (which I know has nothing to do with the resort and is more about the luck of the draw). This is also probably a weird complaint but I felt like there were SO many smoking sections we had to walk by every morning to get to the buses. No offense to those who do (as I’ve been a closet smoker a time or two) but definitely not a smell I enjoy first thing in the morning. I don’t know, we just were not impressed.
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We just stayed at ASMusic a couple of weeks ago. I really liked it (we’ve stayed at several deluxe resorts and one moderate in the past). The caveat I have is that the room is very small. Bathroom area is super small. We stayed only one night because we wanted to be able to use bus to MK for MNSSHP. It was the same price as the offsite hotel that we stayed at for the previous 2 nights so it was a no-brainer.
It was just me, DH and DD11. Any more people than that/any more than a couple of nights, and it just is not enough space for us personally.
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I stayed at the All-Star Resort years a ago when I chaperoned a high school group, but can’t imagine taking my family there. One thing you need to account for is cost of food. Expect to pay at least $15 per meal per adult and $7 per child. That adds up. For us, the benefit of staying in a condo offsite for less than the nightly cost of a value report with a kitchen to cut down on food costs and much more room far outweighs staying in “the bubble” 24 hours a day.
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It will be just me and my DS8 so the room will be ok for just the two of us.
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You’ll enjoy it. We stayed in the Rock Inn section. It was close to one of the pools and very quiet overall.
I was just re reading this post. We have been to WDW twice since I wrote this. Because of MVT I was able to stay onsite both times, first at pop and then at french quarter. Now I know what you guys mean about the bubble. I enjoyed that feeling. This last time we came in two days early and stayed at Red Lion. It served its purpose just fine, but it was not Disney, and when we got to French Quarter I was blown away by the charm! I am planning a 3rd trip and once again trying to decide where to stay. Once again looking at the All Stars. I hear they are refurbed now. A refurb room isnt that important to me. I didnt have one at Pop and I loved it there, but right now all stars has the better deal.
Personally staying onsite at All Star Movies burst the bubble for me. It was the smallest and most cramped room I have ever stayed in. I had a larger room at the Econo lodge. I only stayed one night and I am gald of that. I could nto wait to get out. I think I paid something like 169 a night with parking, taxes, etc. I then went to Bonnet Creek which is right next to Caribbean Beach. I paid $131 a night and I had a 1 bedroom with pullout couch, two bathrooms (including one with a jucuzzi), full kitchen with icemaker, washer/dryer, five pools (including a lazy river), and activities. (I rented through expedia and did not have to attend a timeshare presentation.) I will never stay at Disney again. For me they give too little. The “perks” don’t compensate for the small cramped room. I could barely turn around. Now we were two children and 2 adults. So perhaps it feels much bigger with fewer people.
If you feel you have to stay at Disney and you are on a budget then an ALL Star is your best choice. I did enjoy the pool at All Star. It had no slide or anything but it was nice and big. If you only plan to sleep in the room then it will be a good choice.
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For me the room size isnt that important. We stayed at Pop and from what I understand the rooms are the same size. I have stayed at plenty of embassy’s and homewoods and the extra room is nice but when I go to disney its just me and my son and we really like being on property. just makes the vacations a little more magical.