Value resort opinions

[Mkwarner]

What are people's reviews of the All Star Resorts?

[1DisneyNut]

You will get mixed reviews. Some people are fine with them as all they want is somewhere to lay their head. Others don't like them at all. I personally despise them. The bus service is horrible, in the summer months you bake in the sun in the morning while waiting for a bus forever. It is noisy around the resort, which is inherent due to there being a lot of young families with small children at the values. There aren't much in the way of amenities and honestly you are paying over $100 per night for what equates to a glorified cheap motel room. They just don't suit my tastes at all but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.

[Strmchsr]

I've enjoyed all of the All-Stars. They don't have the elegance of the moderates or deluxe, but they're just fun. My boys, especially, like all of the over-sized icons. All-Star Sports can occasionally have the issue of having a lot of little league sports teams there, but that's only certain times of the year. Definitely avoid it if it's one of those times though! (early Dec, late Jan and early to mid Feb)

[TinkerbellT421]

I personally preferred POP Century over All-Star Movies. But either one are fine in my opinion. I would stay again if I had too, not issues. They can be slightly noisy at certain times, the food courts can be overwhelming at lunch time, but for the money, nothing wrong with them. You will see various opinions from various reasons. So it depends on what you are looking for.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We have stayed at all of the values, except the new Art of Animation. They are fine for a place to shower and sleep, but I'd be completely happy to never stay at the values again.

As our kids get older (and bigger) we find the value rooms feel too small, especially the bathroom area. And since we go so often the resort has become more than just a place to sleep. We actually enjoy spending time at our resort (we are no longer open till close park goers), so we like the amenities of the moderate and deluxe resorts. We like having nicer pools, pool slides, nicer restaurants, more transportation options, and so on. We also find the value resorts to be so LOUD. Not sure why that is, but even at the moderate level the resort as a whole feels so much more quiet and peaceful.

[MargaretMessler]

I have never had a problem at any of the all stars, or any of the values. The only one I have not stayed at is AoA, and that comes in May.

The one knock (potentially) against the all stars is the shared bus system. If you are at the last one in the row, you can sometimes have to wait extra time if the bus fills up, etc. Me, I prefer to drive to the parks ANYWAY, since I despise buses, but I will use them on occassion.

Even though a PP equated the all stars to paying $100 for a cheap hotel room, as long as it's clean that's ok with me. Unless I lucked out on a deal for a mod, I only sleep and shower there. I'm ok with it.

The food courts, unless you're looking to eat breakfast in the 8-9 block or lunch at high noon...it's fine. I've never had a hard time finding a seat or waited a ridiculous amount of time for my food.

My fave value though, is Pop, it's just more fun and more spread out so there's lots of little areas to explore.

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and have stayed in ASMo, AQSMo, and Pop, both when we were by ourselves,or travelling w/ friends or family. We always had a car so did not use the WDW buses. Rooms were adequate, a bit smallish, and sometimes noisy. But we are in the parks every day and rarely spend much time at a resort so we don't really notice any problems.

[brownie]

We like the All-Stars. We've stayed at Movies and Music. Movies has a bigger food court. We've stayed at Pop Century, too, and really enjoy staying there. Movies and Pop Century have bigger food courts than Music and Sports.

[SandmanGStefani24]

here's my :twocents:

I absolutely love them. They have the true Disney feel IMO. I have looked online at the Deluxe resorts and while they look great they sometimes look as if you could be anywhere really. Values let you know, you could only be one place. :mickey:

There are minor issues to note, like sometimes noisy rooms attributed to thin walls. This always gets me in the morning, as I am usually up a little late and get woken up by kids running by my door and doors slamming at 7am. I never need an alarm clock, that's for sure.

Also, these resorts are targeted by the brazilian groups which can cause massive traffic jams in the food halls. Thankfully this is the only area they seem to congregate at, so can be easily managed.

The rooms are a little small, but I have everything I need and never feel like I am missing out on anything. I like the shower and bathrooms, and my beds have always been comfy. I also have rental cars each time, so the transportation which can be slow at times is easily avoided. I don't like waiting in the heat for a bus to get to the resorts, and waiting to go home in a long line is rough. But, if it was that bad, people wouldn't be using it, right?

I would gladly stay at any All Star no problem. You should do more than ok.

[Katzateer]

I wouldn't say I prefer the values but that is where we always stay. If we want to go every year and eat at nice non- counter dining that is what our budget allows. I do prefer POP - the buses are great since they don't share. AoA is my new favorite but is more than the other value resorts for now.

We not eat in the food courts often- prefer going to Poly for breakfast and various other resorts and Downtown Disney or the parks. I find the value and moderates food courts loud and avoid them.

[DisneyorBust]

We have enjoyed the All STAR Sports resort on a few occasions. As we didn't spend much time in the room, the small size was fine with us.
The counter service options were ok, nothing spectacular. We found the bus service to be very good, rarely had long waits and never shared stops with the other All Star resorts.
We will be returning in March, staying here again.

[JerseyDad]

...we did All Star Music ...once ...the same year after having gone to POP for our very first WDW trip. After that visit to ASM ...we decided right then and there that POP would be OUR resort at WDW. Nothing 'bad' to say about ASM, only that we just thought POP shined with the Disney Magic a lot more. Maybe it was the dedicated buses, or food court, or that the staff was really great at POP ....it wasn't just one thing ...but an overall sense of heightened 'magic'.

[Dopey's Girl]

I've stayed at all the values, and while I prefer Pop, All Star Music is very nice. It's busy, but for the most part, when I have been there, it's never been overwhelming!

[larjani]

We've been to Disney world twice. Stayed at POP both times. We liked it enough the first time to book again. Our next trip next month we booked at All star Movies to try something different. POP was nice. The room did feel small though for a family of 4. Plus our last trip on 2009 didn't have coffee makers. Not sure if that has changed. The kids and I like the refill coffee mugs and getting breakfast in the food court so the lack of coffee maker was okay.

We are the type family though that spends the whole day in the parks. We don't swim so that isn't an issue. Plus our kids are teens. They don't need to nap.

Maybe someday when the wife and I go by ourselves we can afford a nicer resort, but for now Values are where we stay.

[Itchy]

I have stayed at All Star Movies and Sports, of the two I prefer Movies. We just love the theming and I think the food court is larger.

We also stay at POP Century a lot as you can see from my signature.

Happy planning... Hope this helps..:mickey:

[TheVBs]

We've stayed at ASMusic and AoA. We've stayed at Music several times and always had a wonderful stay. Yes, sometimes the food court can be packed, but it's easy to avoid peak times. And I've occasionally heard noise from people walking by the room, but not from other rooms. We've always had a good experience with the bus service too. Don't know why some people have such a doom & gloom view of the values. But, we are in the parks all day, we do take the time to swim, but don't hang out at the resorts for any amount of time otherwise. So perhaps that's the difference in opinion? AoA was wonderful! We've just stayed there once for a couple of nights and the only drawback was the walk back to the regular rooms after a late night in the parks. What we loved was that AoA has a covered bus area.

[BigRedDad]

Personally, I love the AS resorts. However, I hate the shared buses. I will not stay there again without a vehicle. The 1-hour to get to Animal Kingdom was ridiculous when you can walk there in 10-15 minutes.

[magicofdisney]

I absolutely love them. They have the true Disney feel IMO. I have looked online at the Deluxe resorts and while they look great they sometimes look as if you could be anywhere really. Values let you know, you could only be one place. :mickey:


I agree with this. The values simply resonate Disney with me. You will never be confused with where you're staying when at a value. Not to say the others are misleading, but I equate the Disney charm with the values. :mickey:

As for the other resorts, I don't feel anyone themes as well as Disney, in my limited experience. If a particular theme is what you're shooting for, go with that.

[roses]

I've stayed at AsMo and AsMu before. Honestly, I had no issues with them at all. I thought they were well themed and clean. We weren't there much since we were at the parks most of the time, so it was perfect for the price. From what I can recall, the food court was excellent. Pool was great. They didn't have some of the amenities the moderate or deluxe resort have, but I didn't find that to be a big deal. We just stayed at the Caribbean Beach in Oct, and really - I didn't find any difference except for the theming.