:)
Has everything you need. Good value. Close to Epcot, AK and HK.
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- rooms quite noisy, you can hear the toilet upstairs flushing. You can hear people upstairs walking around and dropping things on the floor which wakes you up. Only real quiet hours are 12-630
Tip:
Ask for a top floor room to avoid noise
This is the best choice of the three All-Star hotels.
The buildings in the hotel are laid out such that, on average, they're closer to the lobby, restaurant, and bus stop. So, you're less likely to end up with a long walk early in the morning or late at night.
A plus is that the buildings on the north side (Mighty Ducks and 101 Dalmations, buildings 1-4), are also close to the bus stop at All-Star Music. This gives you two options, which can be especially handy if you're coming back at park close.
And, unlike Music and Sports, Movies isn't the default home for any special visiting group, so you're less likely to have issues with large groups of children/teenagers using the pools or buses.
The above also means that, unfortunately, Movies tends to book up faster and get to higher rates before the other All-Stars. So, plan ahead.
Rooms are basic, and pretty much identical to the other value resorts at Disney World.
If you plan on taking advantage of Early Entry, I strongly suggest trying to get on one of the first few buses of the day. Although the buses are set to start going to the park one hour before Early Entry starts, there is usually a bus the leaves the resort ten to twenty minutes before that.
If I'm staying on property on the cheap, this is as cheap as I'll go.
Pros- Resort is clean. Rooms were very nice for a value resort.
Cons- very limited kids menu for all meals. Pool staff is very unfriendly. Some of the rudest staff we’ve come into contact with.
Would’ve rather paid more and stayed somewhere with a larger kids menu and nicer staff.
The room was super clean, and the beds were comfortable. Service was excellent and speedy. Everyone is so friendly! The in-room Disney Echo box is really handy especially for ordering linens, pillows, blankets, cups ...
I did notice a mildew smell coming from the vent when the AC was on, so we kept it off. Luckly it was not very hot out. The carpet in the dining area has a not so pleasant odor. Tile flooring might be better :-) It's a beautiful resort. My son loved the outdoor movie each night.
Lovely resort for first time Disney World family visit as a UK traveller.
Pull down bed with pop out dining table:
This was fab. With a young family, being able to push the 2nd bed out of the way was essential, especially to allow for space for the stroller/pram if you dont want to collapse it each time you bring it indoors. With the bed down, the room is cramped, we kept whacking our shins on the metal frame, so great to be able to fold it away.
Con was our pull-bed's sheets never got changed over the 2 weeks, even though the main bed sheets did (they weirdly only changed the top 2x pillowcases though - which we'd moved from the pull out bed) We thought it might have been because we folded the bed away every morning and cleaner might not have realised it was in use. (Or maybe you're supposed tip the housekeeper at the start of the stay, not the end in the US?) We requested sheets using the room's Alexa Echo Show's room services app and changed them ourselves.
Mini fridge:
Essential for storing medicines and fussy toddler drinks and snacks. Our eldest has strict dietary requirements the food court cant manage so we were able to get a cereal/food delivery and store milk here.
Other room electricals:
TV huge and great, cant adjust the brightness at night when kids are sleeping though.
Air con was great, no problems at all.
Hairdryer perfectly fine.
Iron: was there with ironing board but didnt use.
Bathroom extract: works with light and motion sensor, dried our swimwear fine over the bath pull out washing line over night.
Safe: ours was reaching the end of its life. A few numbers on the keypad didnt work at all and lock button didnt work unless you push and hold down very firmly.
Alexa Echo Show: for disney related queries say "Hey Disney". For generic ones say "Alexa" like you would at home.
Food court:
Ok but main meals are VERY unhealthy, barely any vegetables in sight which was hard for us when we were staying for 2 whole weeks. Consider packing Lactulose/Movicol laxatives if you/your child has ever needed it in the past and not used to a fast food mostly fried diet. To supplement, there is a fruit stand of apples bananas and oranges but be warned each individual item is expensive. There are cups of chopped fruit and large salads in the fridges to purchase too: these are large Mains size salads, no cheaper smaller "sides" portions.
For those with specific dietary/medical needs, there are 2x microwaves and toasters at the end around the corner of the ice-cream/cake bar.
Drinks:
If you dont purchase the dining plan, you can still purchase the Disney refillable mug (around 21/22$) which has a chip in the bottom to allow you to use at the self service drinks stations in the food court for the length if your stay. Water is available here too in addition to an array of sodas, tea and coffee.
Coffee/tea machine in bedroom with supplies for it in drawer. You can make any hot drinks with it as can leave pod drawer empty and use it for boiling water.
Recycling:
Plastic plastic plastic everywhere, both here and the parks MOUNTAINS of plastic cutlery, food containers and themed drinking cups. We were blown away with the mass of polluting waste and lack of clear recycling instructions, makes ny home recycling efforts seem futile. Can they recycle the millions of pieces of plastic cutlery, if so can they improve the bin signage. Same with the disposable cups etc.
Laundry:
Vending machine for boxes of powder and laundry sheets. Only €1 each. I'd already brought my own non-bio capsules with me from home.
Washing machines and dryers about €3.50 per session payable online via QR code on machine sticker/app. Doesnt state what temperatures each mode runs at so do quick google of appliance model to not ruin/melt your clothes.
Pools,
Lifeguards operate till 10pm, good for teens. Not much shade.
The first day our kids used the duck pool, they caught a pool bug and spent the night vomiting after accidentally ingesting the tiniest bit of water when splashing around. Its hard with little ones. I dont know how much chlorine is used, but cant have been enough to fight against the bacteria from the obscenely lazy people who cant be bothered to use the toilet block next door to the pool. The whole time we were there, everyone's drinking sodas etc but appear to never need to leave to use the toilet apart from our family. If the toilet block was within the pool fencing/gates and didnt require access card to get in then it might encourage the lazy people to use them more. We never used the resort pool again after this.
Playground:
Outstanding!! Partly tree-shaded, partly sand floored and fully accessible for toddlers or those with mobility issues. Safest toddler park I have ever seen even in whole of UK.
Only sad there wasnt one of these in any of the Parks.
Tip: try to de-sand yourselves before re-entering your room and always leave shoes by door. We did this but still somehow have sand everywhere which is not ideal when you dont have a vacuum as it inevitably gets into the beds which isnt comfy. For a 2-week stay I'd like to be able to borrow a vacuum just for the sand 😂
Shuttles: very convenient and frequent. All direct except to Typhoon Lagoon water park. Apparently previously used to stop off at other hotels but this is not the case.
Sad the airport bus service no longer exists. After an expensive taxi from airport due to UK sim card problem, we used an online car service on the way back.
Tip: avoid sitting in any disabled zone in the shuttle buses ever. Scooters and wheelchairs normally enter first, but if they arrive to the bus stop late and you are sitting in their zone then you'll have to move, which sucks if all the other seats are already taken and you have to stand.
Tip 2: acknowledge that strollers with red tags on the handle are for disabled children so please dont give them dirty looks for using disabled zone.
Tip 3: when you are already hot, dont sit on the back seat on the bus which is like sitting on a stove.
Activities:
Free Cinema showing every night near food court, free marshmallow roasting every day, various crafting sessions with supplement charge.
Don't forget to keep back enough dollar currency at the end of your stay for the housekeeping tips and the post checkout suitcase hold (approx €5 per bag).
