All Star Movies Help!!!

[WeBelieveInWishes]

Has anyone recently stayed at All Star Movies? Please share the pros and cons with me about your experiences at this resort. It's such a great value, but I've heard rumors about the long bus lines, no fridge or coffee pot, etc., but I've also heard it's such a fun place for the kids. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! :mickey:

[madenny]

The two kids that went with me enjoyed the All Star Movies. There are giant statues all around outside. The pools are nice. The food court offered enough variety (even for the picky eater.)
The cons are the buses, they are always full (we were always standing)(but there was a Brazil convention when we went too) so maybe its not always that bad. The upside of that was being close to 3/4 parks, so we weren't on the bus very long. Best os luck and have fun in the "world".

[brownie]

We've always had good experiences staying at Movies, but have never used the busses; we've always had a car to use when we've stayed there. I like it, but bus problems would be an issue for me if it affected us.

[teambricker04]

I never saw the buses as that big of a deal, until I traveled with small kids. The get rather testy having to wait.

There are no fridges, no hairdryers (You can ask for one), no coffee pots (that I remember).

The biggest deal for me was that all the All Stars share some buses and it gets annoying because the movies is the last stop. It really isn't that big of a deal, but I have stayed at both the sports and the music as well, and preferred them better.

My favorite was the family suite at the Music. Worth the money.

[Camden'smom]

We just recently stayed at the Movies in September. The downfalls of this resort or any All Stars would be that there is no fridge or coffee machines. If we wanted coffee or something cold in the morning one of us would just walk to the food court and get what we needed. As for the buses, yes they have lines at times but not all the time. If it was an early opening or something going on at that particular park it might be crowded. You might have to wait for the next bus. But they were usually there within minutes. My son,3, absolutely loved the huge statues of Buzz and Woody. Definitely worth the price to stay there. Good Luck making your decision.

[crazykids]

We stayed at all star movies last month for a couple of nights before switching over to the Poly for a week. We stayed in the toy story bldg. because my kids are huge fans - they loved it! It's a great value if you don't plan on spending much time at the resort. We had a car, so we didn't take the busses. They only have a food court & it is insane busy in the morning, we had trouble finding a seat. There are no coffee pots, refidgerators, or hair dryers & the room is on the small side. They had a large pool, playground & arcade.

I would definitely stay there again if I was on a short trip.

[Jenemmy]

I have stayed there twice and can honestly say it is my favorite of the values (I've been in 3 out of 4 of them). It is really just such a fun atmosphere and my kids absolutely adored the themeing. We stayed in the Toy Story section and the Dalmations section. Too, too cute!

I don't recall ever having a major bus issue, but having said that -- we tend to go in the off season, so maybe that makes a difference??

[Disney Doll]

We stayed at ASM a couple of years ago and had a great experience. The theming is absolutely wonderful for kids. We had a 3yr old and a 5 year old who absolutely loved the large character statues everywhere. We elected to rent a fridge for an extra $10.00 a night. I thought it was worth it especially if you have little kids. We ate breakfast in our room every morning which saved time and money. We're not coffee drinkers so I didn't even notice if we had a coffee maker or not. We had a pretty good experience with the buses although we were there in Feb when crowds tend to be lighter. I can't really think of any cons.

[momof3+twins]

If you look below at the trips that we have taken, you will see that we have stayed at the Movies alot!! My husband and I love it as much as the kids. Go and have fun, you will love it.
The bus is difficult with strollers but if your kids are older you if be good. And I would not ride the bus after Illuminations. Go to the Boardwalk to eat and then walk over from there (if you have a car.)

[Marker]

You can request a fridge if you need one, for a nominal fee.

During our September trip, the buses returning to the resort had individual stops (at least in most cases), so we weren't having to share buses on the way back. We were actually staying at Music, and one time took the Sports bus back to the resort because it the line was shorter than the Music bus, then we just walked over.

I've never found the buses to be a problem. Sure, a little patience helps sometimes, but that's ok. I know when I've stayed at other resorts I've made the commet "geez, another All*Star bus" while waiting for the bus to my resort. So even when they are busy, and if they are sharing buses, there are typicall more buses serving them.

[pixiesmimi]

I have to have my coffee in the morning too and have never stayed anywhere that there wasn't a coffee pot. But we were close enough to the food courts that we had the refillable mugs and someone always went for coffee in the morning. The food courts are always a zoo in the morning no matter where you stay so this one was no exception. But we always managed. It's WDW! :mickey: I always carry my own hairdryer so don't ever worry about one being in the room. You can rent a fridge if you need one. We loved ASMovies and had DGD 1, DGD 2, DGS 8, and DGS 14 when we went. They all enjoyed it. We never had a problem with the buses even with the little ones. Someone always gave us a seat with them. If one was full, another was right behind it. I think you will enjoy it.

[EJS-Houston]

If I were picking a Value Resort for the theme I'd stay at All-Star Movies, no question...but because the All-Star Resorts share buses, I stay at All-Star Sports because the buses pick up there first and drop off there first.

[mulderxcoltrane]

I think the bus issue is always present - but depending on what time of year you're planning to visit - they could be worse/better.
When do you plan on visiting?

[Tink's Mom]

I am one of those people that REALLY needs my coffee in the morning. :coffee: When we stay at a value, I just buy a small 4 cup coffee maker, for around $12.00, and take it with me. Then when we check out, I just leave it in the room. This next trip, we are staying for 19 nights. If I stay in a moderate, just to have a coffee maker, then that will cost me an average of an extra $1000.00. We do buy the refillable mugs for the kids, but I do not even want to have to walk to the food court for my morning coffee. As far as the fridge, we never really need one. If you have small ones that need bottles chilled, then you can rent one for $10.00 a day. Or if you have access to a car, then just go to wal-mart and buy a styrofoam cooler for $5.00, and keep it filled with ice from the ice machine. Yes, I am very frugal. :blush: (We do stay at mods and deluxes, but only when we plan on spending alot of time at the resort, or if it is a special occasion)

[Bethis26fan]

We stayed at movies, last year the weekend after Thanksgiving :turkey:and loved it. We are going back this year. We only had one day where the bus was an issue and that was coming back our last night from the MVMCP:santa:. It was just packed :crowd:then and we had to wait on a second bus, but our driver more than made up for it with jokes and stuff. The coffee pot :mcoffee:thing was a little of something for me to adjust to,I'm use to drinking a cup while I get ready in the mornings. The stuff they have with the mugs isn't coffee. This year we are just taking a 4 cup coffee maker with us. Like I said we loved and are going back again this year. :yay:

[heidi614]

We have stayed at movies 5 times, Sports 1 and Carribean Beach 1. Sports is OK, Movies is GREAT. Last year was CB, my kids were NOT happy, they wanted Movies! So this year back to Movies! No problems, the bus is the bus, if you can't stand, wait on the second, you'll be first in line! :mickey:

[thrillme]

Busses...I found issues at ALL the resorts during "peak" times. If you head out to the bus stops a little earlier or later in the afternoon it's not bad but you still often end up waiting for up to 15-20 minutes.

All of the All-Stars are really cutely themed. The biggest question you have to ask yourself is "How much time will we spend in the resort?". If you plan quite a bit of time at the resort then you might want to pick with with a really fancy pool, hot tub, spa and other amenities.

If you plan on simply a place to cool off with a quick dip in the pool, SLEEP, shower and change clothes...WHY spend the extra money.

Hairdryers...I thought they had them...:confused:

Refridgerators...You can rent one if you REALLY need one but...in the early times I used to just fill the sink up with ice and cover it with a towel. This kept stuff cool till morning. Later I just packed a soft sided collaspable cooler in my suitcase fill that with Ice and I'm good to go. I often lug a couple of six packs of Propel along so I don't have to buy water early on. NOW I just take a waterbottle with a strap or a fanny pack with a waterbottle compartment and refill it.

Coffe Maker...Not really a HUGE deal to me. If I really want coffee or tea I can pack a box of those coffee brewing packs and get some hot water from the snack bar.

Microwave...Not sure what you're supposed to do with this on vacation. I might bring some "breakfast bars" or pastries and chips for snacks.

[Marker]

Hair dryers don't mean much to me, so I just asked my daughter. She said that our room at ASMusic in September did indeed have a hair dryer. And she also said our room at POP in June '06 also had one. According to the Disney website, under room features, "Pak-n-Play Cribs and hair dryers available ".

So hair dryers shouldn't be problem.

[wedway76]

Sorry I’m a little late getting on board this thread.

The last time I asked at the front desk, the Values were charging $10 a day for a fridge.

Except for our 2003 trip where we stayed in the Contemporary, we always stay in Values. We didn’t have a refrigerator in the Contemporary and I don’t remember a coffee pot.

Do all the Moderates and Deluxes have refrigerators and coffee pots now?

[gerald72]

We just stayed at All Star Movie (Love Bug) in Septemter. The kids loved it and asked if we could live there.
The place is themed wonderfully. We actually returned from the park early the first day because they wanted to go back to the hotel.
Most days the only thing we did at the hotel was sleep and a little swimming.
But I think we took as many pictures walking around the different areas of the hotel complex as we did at any of the parks.
It's a really nice place.

[NewmanFamily6]

We stayed at movies in 2005 during Easter and loved it! Our experience with the bus system was better at movies than at Pop in 2006. We stayed in the Fantasia building and it was nice and close to everything:mickey:

[Vinny]

I enjoyed staying at AS Movies before switching over to POP a few years back. The food court at Movies is the best (in terms of menu offerings/variety) of all the value resorts IMO. On the downside, the buses are the biggest negative for us at ASM. When we would be standing in a bus line to go to one of the parks, it would only move a few people at a time because guests at Sports and Music had already loaded.