Golly! All Star Music was SWELL!

[Goes4FastPass]

I admit it. I've always been a no-value-resort snob. I was almost embarrassed to tell the CM at DME check-in 'All Start Music'.

Last week we found everything at ASMusic to be swell!

CMs were energetic and anxious to help. One lobby concierge CM I chatted with told me it can sometimes take more than an hour to get WDW first timers from "Where's Mickey?" to a complete itinerary.

Our room was spotless and housekeepers asked us if we needed anything else before we had a chance to ask.

The food court CMs were constantly cleaning an refilling and checking with everyone to make sure they were getting what they needed.

We were near the 'guitar pool' which had non-stop activities all day long.

We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus going anywhere.

Ya know, I keep hearing terms like "All the comforts of home" OK, fine. I have a 50" plasma with dozens of HD channels I watch at home every night. At ASMusic, Stacy was plenty perky pitching her 7 Must See's on the 27" flat CRT in our value room.

My wife and I left our separate bathrooms at home to, dare I say it, share a single sink.

Then there was the group of CMs caroling through the food court. After they sang I said, "I thought this was the Candlelight Processional - then you started singing!" and after a few moans I followed with, "I knew after the first song this was a group that belongs at All Star (wait for it) Sports!" More moans then one CM told me she had heard Mr. Potatohead had escaped from Toy Story Mania and my wife said "touche!" and there were high fives all around.

Yes. We did have a gaggle of tweenage cheerleaders pass our room noisily telling each other to be quiet. As I've said before, if you can't enjoy oHana try Las Vegas.

I know 'moderates' are better than 'values' and 'deluxes' are better than both but so much of WDW is available to all resort guests. You know the list, EMH, FastPass, HDDR, PhotoPass, etc. etc. etc.

So Will I stay at moderates and deluxes again? Certainly. Will I stay at a value again? Absolutely.

[stitch34]

Glad you had such a great time!!!

[jennsky]

Well put! It's wonderful that Disney has the option for those who wish to stay on Disney grounds and not break the bank. I'm glad you had a magical time!!

[Mickey'sGirl]

Fantastic. We have always had terrific stays at the All Stars. I don't know why people slam them. Thanks for the positive post!:mickey:

[mouseketeer mom]

Loved your review of All Stars! I haven't tried a value...there are 5 of us, and we started at deluxes..my DH has no desire to try a value, Me, on the other hand, am curious to try POP. Your review was what I would imagine it to be like! Thanks!:mickey:

[illini]

That's wonderful! I've always been a bit hesitant on the values (beyond the fact that we have 5). When the kids get a bit older, we'll probably be doing two rooms at a value so this makes me feel SO much better!

[Dawneeeey]

That's great!! I'm glad you tried the All-Stars! You never know until you try right??

I will say that I have stayed at All Star Movies a few times and it was great! We only one small issue during Pop Warner football week, and know that if we go and stay there again we need to avoid that week. Other than that, it was great!!

:thumbsup:

[PirateLover]

Thank you for this nice post. We have stayed at Pop Century before and it was nice enough. This June we are trying an All Star for the first time- All Star Movies. One can only hope that we have a similar experience to yours!:mickey:

[teambricker04]

I am glad to hear that you had such a good experience at AS. Our couple of past stays at them have been severly tainted... maybe they are on an upswing which would be GREAT!

[Disney Lynn]

We just returned from a week there also. We too had a great time, except we weren't so lucky with the buses. We did have a rental car, so we ended up driving every where (after waiting over 30 minutes for the bus to the MK- with the line through the corrals and down the sidewalk into the lobby!) When we complained, we were told that buses only run every 30 minutes; years ago they were much more frequent, especially in the morning.

Our room was clean and in excellent condition. Check-in was quick and easy. We were in Broadway building 7 which was very quiet except for one car racing it's engine one night (but that stopped by 11& can happen at any resort). The resort seemed full. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of activities at the main pool- the kids seemed to be having a wonderful time! The piano pool was not as busy, although we only sat there one day due to the cool weather.

We usually stay at the POP, but I would certainly stay at AS Music again!

[TinkerbellT421]

Very great to hear you had a good time! :thumbsup: DBF and I stayed at All-Star Movies our first trip, it was last minute planning (like maybe two months before we were going lol) and we were low on cash and DBF made all the plans and surprised me :cloud9: Then our second trip we went to POP Century which I found I preferred a lot more than All-Star for a number of reasons. Though dont get me wrong I enjoyed my frist stay with DBF @ All-Star but we both preferred POP way more. And now we get the opportunity to be DVC memeber. WE scrimp and scrape every penny now, but it is more than worth it for us! :thumbsup: Glad you had a great time! Values arent all that bad now are they?? lol. I was thankful for the Values, because I never would have been able to enjoy the past two year trips with DBF if they didnt have that option for us. We never would have been able to make it. :mickey:

[MOJoe]

I really know how you feel. Last spring we also stayed at our first value - Music. Having previously stayed at only the deluxe level, except for one stay at POFQ, you can well understand my anxiety as i contemplated at stay at a .....VALUE! :thedolls:

Will we be able to relax? Will it be too noisy and crowded? How about having a drink by the pool? And i too was embarressed to tell the CM at Disney Dining, after i had made ressies at Flying Fish, Brown Derby, Coral Reef and Cali Grill, that we were staying at All Star Music. "We are saving money so we can eat at the fine places." i explained.

Well all my fears vanished after just a few hours at the resort. While it did seem busier than any other, we were able to relax and even have that drink by the pool. So i too am a converted deluxe only snob. Don't get me wrong, if i have a good year, it's the Epcot resorts for me. But if the choice comes down to staying at a value, or not going to WDW at all....... never again will i hesitate to make that reservation.

[BMan62]

Thank you for the great review. :thumbsup:

It does get a bit tiresome to read some of these reviews that berate the Value resorts because the don't 'stack up' against the Deluxes very well, but unless you are used to the 'perks,' you don't miss them.

Besides, I would much rather have the savings to spend on more days/nights and excellent food!!!

[SpecJoe Magic]

I was almost embarrassed to tell the CM at DME check-in 'All Start Music'.

No offense intended, but that's a little silly. They take people to the value resorts on a regular basis, so they don't think anything of it. Besides, even if they do, why should it matter to you?


And i too was embarressed to tell the CM at Disney Dining, after i had made ressies at Flying Fish, Brown Derby, Coral Reef and Cali Grill, that we were staying at All Star Music. "We are saving money so we can eat at the fine places." i explained.


Once again, I just don't understand this. Maybe it's me, but I don't see how it's even the least bit embarrassing to tell a CM that you are staying at a value resort. In the case of dining, it actually makes more sense to stay at a value resort because the money that you save can be used on more expensive dining. Of course, there is nothing wrong with explaining that to the CM, but you don't owe them an explanation.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you both enjoyed your stays at a value resort. We enjoy them as well. Granted, staying at a moderate or deluxe is great if it's financially possible, but a value resort is just fine when money is tight. They still provide a nice Disney experience. We've stayed at value resorts more than anywhere else in WDW over the years.


It does get a bit tiresome to read some of these reviews that berate the Value resorts because the don't 'stack up' against the Deluxes very well, but unless you are used to the 'perks,' you don't miss them.

I agree. Obviously, value resorts aren't meant to stack up to the deluxe resorts. That's why they are so much cheaper. As for the extra perks at deluxe resorts, I've stayed at several different resorts over the years, and I sometimes think that the extra money for deluxe accommodations isn't worth it. So I don't always miss the deluxe resort perks when I'm staying at a value resort.

[Sylvia]

My favorite Disney Resort will always be Caribbean Beach - probably because it was my first on-site vacation. I've stayed at a number of resorts over the years. POP Century was my first value, and I really liked it a lot. As POP became more popular, it was difficult getting a room at POP that fit my travel plans, so I reluctantly agreed to stay at ASMusic. After a couple of days, I realized that I was constantly comparing ASMusic to POP, instead of enjoying the resort, so I stopped comparing and instead concentrated on Music. By the end of my 2-week stay, I had a new favorite!! This was also before the rooms were refurbished. Since then, I've spent several wonderful vacations at Music. I'm planning to stay there again on my next vacation. Oh, and I really like the rooms since the refurbishment.

The rooms may be a little smaller than at other resorts, there may not be a table service restaurant, etc., but the theming is outstanding. The CMs are some of the best I've ever encountered at a Disney resort. The food court hours are great. The recreation staff has developed some great activities. I could go on and on, but I think you understand. Magic is everywhere. :magic::magic:

I can afford to stay at moderate/deluxe resorts and also occasionally stay at Shades of Green. But, I choose to stay at ASMusic because I can have the best of both worlds - quiet location and entertainment. The Country Fair section is my favorite because it's at the back of the resort. On my last trip, my room overlooked the woods, and with the daily activities at the main pool providing entertainment options, I was definitely a happy guest.

I'm glad you had a great time at Music. Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other in the future.:thumbsup:

[lightyearfan]

i couldn't have said it any better. me and dw love staying at the ASMU, on our upcoming trip it will be our 5th time. as i've stated before in other posts that pit mods vs values, with the excepeption of a sit down resturant, there not to far apart, glad you enjoyed yourseleves, i know that me and dw will also enjoy ourselves yet again

Victor

[ShanPooh]

Glad you had a good time at All-Star Music!
We enjoy it there - especially staying in Jazz and walking by the fountain :cloud9:

[goofy for pluto]

We stayed at AS Music and enjoyed the new rooms.
They are so much nicer now that they have renovated. I hope to hear that the other Value resorts will be upgraded as well because we still have not been able to stay at AS Movies and we need to cross it off our list.

[SandmanGStefani24]

is there a poolside bar like at POP at ASM?

[Goes4FastPass]

Yes, open 'til midnight.

[disneydeb]

After a couple of years staying at The Cabins at Fort Wilderness and Carribean Beach we stayed at AS Sports and have stayed at a Value ever since. We got back earlier in December after a weeks stay in POP. Loved it there too!
It seems we always need to save that extra dollar.:thumbsup:

[Tink#64]

:thumbsup: I loved this post and all of the following comments! It's not as often that we hear good things about the "Values". We stayed at ASMo's our 1st trip & we loved it, but then wanted to try Pop for our next trip since it had only been open for 6 months, and now it's our WDW home! We have had thoughts about trying a different resort, but we're a little concerned that we'd be disappointed in comparing them to Pop! :funny: :blush: Just the opposite of everyone else's concerns! :funny: Pop is a perfect fit for the 4 of us right now, DS's will be 13 & 11 for our trip in June. Pop is so vibrant, and fun & I can't see us spending more money for a place to sleep & swim right now, we'd definitely rather spend that money on lots of other fun stuff when we're at WDW! :D :spend: :eat: :shop: