All Star Resorts

I have stayed all of the All Star Resorts. They are all basically the same. I like Sports because bus service you are first to pick up/drop off. I think the theming is different. I prefer Sports, Movies, then Music.

I have not stayed there since the food court refurb, so I don't know how different it is now.

Out of all the times I've stayed there, only one visit was unpleasant. We stayed at Sports right next to the pool where the "pretend" football field is. There were small children, under 8, playing real football out there at 2AM several nights in a row. They were with one adult and were extremely loud. I called the front desk and they sent someone out to make them leave.

I will be honest - the beds suck at all of them. It is a full bed, so it is smaller than a queen and they are not the best quality mattresses, but that is how they keep the cost low. We thought the beds were very, very firm.

Pros about All-Star: Price - you can't beat the value, Food Court has lots of options for breakfast and lunch, Pool is decent size, very clean, and more buses roll in more frequently than some deluxe resorts (we found this to be true)

Cons: Rooms are smaller, Beds are firm, could be long distance from lobby/bus transportation, Bus transportation is ALWAYS packed, could be loud depending on location

I've stayed at the All Star Movies and I thought the beds were really nice and comfy and large. After being in the parks for like 14 hours or so there is nothing wrong at all with those beds.

There was quite a bit of choice at the food court, just not that much that was appealing to us, a lot of junk food. And if you want to use the toasters for breakfast, some of them take forever to toast your bread.

There was a lot of people around, the resort shop was the busiest at the end of the night once the parks are closing. But we had no problem with noise, didn't hear any outside noise at all. The rooms are quite small, but for 2 adults with 2 queen size beds it was no problem. Besides we were really only at our resort to sleep and do laundry.

I stayed at All-Star Music the last week of August in 2012. The beds were definitely small. I was there with two friends and we were meeting another friend there. One person from our group ended up staying with the friend that we were meeting and it was a good thing. The room comfortably accommodated 2 unrelated adults. A third would have been too tight for my preferences. Even sharing that space with one other person for a long trip would not be preferable for me.

I didn't notice the beds to be all that terrible, but I'm not a good judge of beds--I can sleep pretty much anywhere at the drop of a hat. Especially after spending the entire day in the parks, any flat surface will do.

We found the bus service to be pretty decent. I didn't feel like we got the shaft on buses just because we stayed at a less expensive resort. In fact, we had better service that week than we had a Coronado a few months earlier.

We didn't eat at the food court, so I don't know about the quality there. The gift shop a each value resort is nicely themed, as are the pools. I can tell you from visiting to look at Christmas decorations that the lobbies of all of the value resorts are virtually identical as far as layout and function. The theming is vastly different and is very well done in an over-the-top fun kind of way.

We stayed at All star Music in May '13. We loved it.

things everyone says:
Rooms are Small
Some rooms are too far away from the lobby
the beds are small
buses are a pain

our experience:
the rooms are a good size and when are you in them anyway
we were the furthest room from the lobby it was a 3 minute walk, i know because i timed it
Beds were huge compared to what we are use to in the UK
the buses come ALL THE TIME, we never didn't get on one going in to the parks, coming out we maybe waited 40 minutes

the food court was nice, basic but tasty food, gift shop was very good for a hotel of the size.

Look at the end of the day the room, for most people is just a base. I would rather save money on a room i hardly use and spend it else where. Saying that our next two trips are staying deluxe so i might change my mind.

I've stayed at All Star Sports twice so I would say it's manageable if you're traveling by yourself or with another person. But for 3 or more, it'll be a challenge unless you're willing to book two rooms for your party. The resort rooms are 260 square feet and most of them have twin double beds, so it's smaller compared to a king or queen size bed though the Music resort is the All-Star resort with suites. I think you can get a room with a one king bed instead of the two doubles at All-Star resorts but it's probably subject to availability as usual. In terms of comfort, it's subjective. For me, it was much better than college dorm room beds because my body would sink into the mattress and that was not comfortable but compared to my king size bed at home, no comparison there!

As for the buses, depending on the times, you may have to share a bus with the All-Star resorts to the parks. The Magic Kingdom, however, has a designated bus line for each All-Star resort. But to and from Downtown Disney, you'll always share it with the All-Star resorts and the Downtown Disney bus stop is Sports, Music and Movies and that order never changes. I can honestly say one of the positives is that there is a chain link queues for every bus stop at the resorts so you actually wait in line as opposed to having muscle around with other people just to be able to get on the bus.

Food court is pretty much average at best. A lot of options but don't expect it to be the best food you'll ever have. I've eaten the food court at All-Star Sports before their recent renovation so I can't really judge how good is their food nowadays and I think All-Star Music will be getting a food court renovation of their own in August through December, I believe.

As for quietness, well, it's all about location. If you're in a room close by the pool or close to the lobby, then it'll get noisy but that depends on the time of year and time of day. A room facing the parking lot or further away from the lobby will be more quieter. Plus also consider that All-Star resorts are extremely popular with large groups. Schools, South American tour groups, cheerleading and dance squads, Pop Warner, etc so during those times when they are most prevalent, the level of noise will be amplified.

My advice: If you're going to stay at a value resort, stay at Pop or Art Of Animation...if you can afford it and you're willing to pay a little bit more because those two resorts are priced higher than all of the All-Star resorts. From what I understand, AOA has the best food court out all of the values, no shared buses for either resort but has all the amenities as the All-Stars. (Art of Animation has a lot more suites from what I've been told.)

I've stayed at AllStar Sports twice. once with a view of a natural area & once on the "football" courtyard. We don't spend a lot of time in the room when we visit the mouse, so the small size of the room is a non issue. It's a place to crash at night and launch into the next day in the morning.

Bus service is great, being first on & first off is a big WIN. As to the noise level, we only do Disney in the off season (October, early November, or February) & while there were no shortage of kids running around, evenings were just fine.

We stayed at Music in May. Our room was facing natural area towards the back of the resort (Rock Inn building 5 I believe), and was very quiet and peaceful. My mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend all shared a room and had no problems. Granted, we have never been luxurious travelers (we usually camped of stayed in Super 8's on vacations growing up), so we are pretty easy to please. I was pleasently surprised by the decor and Disney touches of the whole resort
The buses were crowded on the way back from the park, but there were usually individual buses for each of the All Stars at that hour

We've stayed at AS Music and had no problems. There were 5 adults and Blondie. We had adjoining rooms and to be quite honest, I don't even really remember much about the rooms.
My only complaint was there was no microwave which when I CALLED and asked I was told there was. We brought popcorn and mac and cheese for Blondie and had no way to make it. Oh well, we had other snacks with us and we filled up the fridges with drinks.

We only use the room for sleeping and after staying at the parks until close, I would sleep on the bench outside. We don't use the transportation (personal preference) so we always parked close to our building. We were about a 5 minute walk from the gift shop/food court and after walking hours in the park it really didn't make a difference.

I would LOVE to stay in a high dollar resort but I would also much rather spend the moolah on fun stuff like tours, food, souvenirs, etc. Maybe one day...

Queen Beds? We were told All Stars doesn't have queen, only full/dbl beds? That's why we have been in moderates for last two trips.

They don't have queens. It is full/double beds only. At least, that is what I have been told and in my four sep. stays there, I've only encountered full/double.

As the others have stated, Disney still lists All Star Resorts as having double beds.
Here is a picture of All Star Sports from December 2013 when we stayed there.

The beds were firm, but not floor hard, they seemed newer and I thought they were
comfortable...but I like my mattress firm and I was so tired, I probably could have slept
standing up !

Agree with Sputnik, that Sports is great as you get on bus first, plenty of seats,
and off the bus first, - right to bed!

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They do list the family suites as having 1 queen bed.

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I just stayed at All Star Music, for the second time, a few weeks ago. I had a king sized bed and was in one of the Jazz buildings. I had requested a top floor room but when I was checking in, they were going to put me in a first floor room...I asked to be moved and although it took a little while, they were able to accommodate me. Not sure if it was the time of year but I think I only had people in the rooms on either side of me on the first night. Was in the back and it was very quiet. Was near the smaller, "piano" pool which was also nice. My main complaint with the All Star Resorts - and also Pop Century - is that there is no coffee maker in the room. I am an early riser and all I want first thing when I get up is my COFFEE!!!! And I don't want to have to get dressed and trudge to the Food Court to get it. So this last trip, I went to my local thrift store before I left and found a nifty little 4 cup Mr. Coffee maker which fit perfectly in my carry on bag. Took my own coffee and a mug that was going in a yard sale...enjoyed my coffee every morning and just left the coffee maker and the mug in the room. Only grabbed a salad from the Food Court one evening so can't really address the food quality. Buses were OK. For the price, I would definitely stay there again.

We were told, when deciding where to move our reservation during the Free Dining Frenzy this past spring, that we could get preferred Kings (if still available) at POP (or possibly All Star) and then buy up from Quick Service Meals to the DDP. But when we added it all up, we didn't save anything doing that as opposed to Moderate standard queen with the DDP included. So now, we are at CRS, instead of POFQ, and from what we are hearing from "unofficial" sources, they are planning a refurb to the buildings we would be staying in... so we have no idea where we will really be staying.

Mark - (or anyone in the know) - if they would move us to a different resort, do you know if they will ask us or tell us before we get a notice to check in at a different resort at landing? How would they do that? We have time fast turn around after landing to get to DS for dinner. Since my DH and I are both tall, it's queens for us and a bit of moving room.

We have stayed at All Star Music and we had a pool view (standard) which was fine for our first couple trip, but we could hear the kids in the pool all the time and when they ran the night movies, we could clearly hear the music and dialogue; in addition, the busses were PACKED. On night after park closing, we waited over an hour at the stop to finally get on a bus and they packed us in like sardines.

We also stayed at POP with our DSs, again with standard double beds but got two rooms, and it was much quieter but still tight in the room; there was a separate bus (I believe that has changed now for All Star), but the following trip two years later we went moderate to get two queens since our sons are very tall too and we needed to moving around room.

I agree with Magic, for the most part, about the beds. We found the queens to also be firm, but we were so tired by the end of the day, they could have been boards and I wouldn't have noticed. Their pillows there were wonderful enough for DS2 to take home the flyer to purchase some (he didn't after he realized the price tag).

Jessie Belle - You are right about coffee. In our family they all want it but no one wanted to make the walk so I ended up doing it so I could drink one cup before returning. In the moderate, I still had to make one water (DH drinks tea) and two more pots to get three mugs of coffee. I love the value of the mug, but I really prefer my coffee in a real ceramic/glass mug, so I too sneak one on my carry on or buy one in the park first night out.

We are booking for All Star Sports just after New Years. A couple of things 'sold' me on this particular resort, in particular that it is the first of the all stars for bus service and that the food court was recently refurbished. I don't pretend to be much of a sports fan, but who doesn't love giant props! We will be requesting home run hotel (my wife likes baseball).

Pro tip, sports is first out and last in but all the resorts are super close, if your block is next to all star music you can save time getting off there and walking to your room through music

Good to know. I'm staying at Sports for the first part of my trip next month.

The hubs and I typically stay in the All-Stars because:

Price - we take a shower and sleep there. period.
Beds - I have had no complaints plus we are both so tired we usually just each take a bed and sleep.
Food - the Food Courts offer a variety of choices - I am a picky eater so that is saying something.

As for where to stay. Regardless of which All Star we always ask for a room away from the pool and the lobby, facing the woods/landscaping if possible. I am not afraid of walking so I don't mind being farther away.

The only caution is if there is a cheer convention in town ALL OF THE KIDS will be in these hotels. Always ask. When we have gone during those events, we opted to stay in Port Orleans.

My parents hate these hotels because they are small, but they are super picky.

So far so good for my first stay at Sports. I have a king size bed. I was worried about the kids playing on the football field last night. I was so tired I was out pretty quickly and didn't hear anything.

Unlike Pop and AoA the room safe is very small and does not fit my laptop. It barely has room for anything.