We had booked the All Star Movies with an annual pass holder discount rate of $126.85 (tax inclusive) two nights before our arrival. This was a one night booking in advance of meeting the rest of our family for a week stay in an off-site villa. Other than a few night stay in the All Star Sports family suites a few years ago, this was our only experience staying in the All-Star properties. All of the All-Stars are “motel” style accommodations as you enter the room from the outside.
I’m generally not one to use online check in as I like to talk to the cast member at the front desk, plus we had magic bands to pick up for this short stay. When we arrived, the standard check in line was very long, and there was a separate line for “online checkin.” I didn’t feel like waiting, so I opened the My Disney Experience app, checked in, and then walked right up to the cast member to complete the checkin process. Our room wasn’t immediately available, so we headed to Animal Kingdom to activate our annual passes and ride Flight of Passage.
We received our room information shortly there after and found out that we were in building 6 “Love Bug.” These rooms had been recently refurbished and I was surprised at how nice they were. While the room is small, the Murphy bed/table does open up the room dramatically. The flooring and decor were clean, nice and comfortable and there were several USB outlets. I will note, however, that the beds here are “doubles” and not queens. Rooming here with two people was perfectly fine, and perhaps if you had two adults and two small children it would be ok as well. Two adults with two teens would be a struggle, however.
We generally avoid the bus service at Walt Disney World primarily because we haven’t had much luck timing it right. I was pleasantly surprised at All-Star Movies in multiple respects. First off, the pick up area at the resort (as well as all other resorts) had wait time estimates for each of the destinations. While these didn’t seem accurate on previous trips, this time the appeared to be on point. We did, however, use the busses at off hours, so we didn’t personally experience long wait lines, but I do know that this is prevalent at many of value resorts in the morning before park openings.
The big selling point for THIS value resort, in my opinion, is that you have TWO available drop off destinations depending on building. We took either the Music or the Movies bus… which ever arrived first. The reason this was possible is the proximity of these two resorts (note that this doesn’t work with Sports as it is further away). The bus stops for these resorts are only a quarter mile from each other. Had we been familiar with this resort, we would have requested either Mighty Ducks or 101 Dalmatians as they sit right between the two lobbies AND have a separate pool (note that while we were there one the buildings in each of these two areas were under refurbishment).
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with this resort given its recent renovation. Clean and comfortable, albeit small. The price is hard to beat for those who are traveling on a budget and it is a very quick bus trip to Animal Kingdom. Dining options here are limited and the food court is extremely busy most of the day. For those choosing to stay in the All-Star properties, I would strongly recommend Mighty Ducks and 101 Dalmatians at Movies based on the flexibility of return busses. If you are looking to book a vacation, we can assist in your planning every aspect of your trip including choosing a resort.
