Review: Disney’s All-Star Music Resort

Where to Stay    Resort Features by Price    Kid Appeal    Large Families

The Value Resorts    Art of Animation  Pop Century    Movies    Sports    Music

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

I’ve stayed at Disney’s Value Resorts Resorts more than a 15 times.

These stays confirm the order in which the value resorts are recommended.

 Art of Animation is number one among the values.

After Art of Animation, the rank is, in order, Disney’s Pop Century Resort , All-Star Movies, All-Star Sports, and All-Star Music.

These rankings of the three All-Star Resorts are very close. Of these three,

• All-Star Sports is the most convenient, but kid appealing only if your kids are into baseball, football, basketball, surfing, or tennis
• All-Star Movies is the most broadly kid-appealing, and the most comfortable of the three
• All-Star Music is the most compact, most lovely, and the only one with family suites

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort.

(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the value resorts are distinguished by having the lowest prices and smallest rooms.

You likely will never stay in a hotel with smaller 2-bed rooms.

I could not imagine staying in one of these rooms if I had to add a crib as well (the room sleeps four in two full-size beds, plus one more, younger than three, in a crib; a crib fits best between the credenza and closet area.)

However, if your family will fit, the values have much more kid appeal than the moderate resorts, the next higher price class (about twice as expensive, but with much bigger rooms and nicer landscaping.)

(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.)

Compared to staying off-site, the value resorts are distinguished by their higher kid appeal, convenience, and access to certain key perks that off-site hotels can’t provide.

DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.

On this basis, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is the fifth best value resort for first time family visitors.

However, for larger families looking for value pricing–up to six adults or kids older than three–the The Family Suites at All-Star Music are a wonderful choice. (See also the Family Suites at Art of Animation.)

The family suites were created from two standard-sized rooms.

A family suite fits two in a private queen bed.

A second living space has a couch, chair and ottoman that each convert into a bed–the couch into a full, and the other two into twins.

It also includes two baths and a kitchenette with sink, mini-fridge, and microwave.

See this for more on larger families.

Kid Appeal. Several of the deluxe resorts–notably, the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Resort–have spectacular kid appeal. None of the moderates do.

All of the value resorts–Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Art of Animation and Pop Century Resorts–have terrific kid appeal.

This appeal comes from the approach to theming they all share: bright and vibrant exteriors, framing much larger than life objects of interest to kids.

These objects reinforce that these resorts were designed for the sake of kids…and not necessarily for adults!

Of these, Disney’s All-Star Music is the least kid-appealing. ( Art of Animation has the most kid appeal.)

All-Star Music’s theme is…music.

Its ten three-story buildings (all with elevators) are grouped into five areas, each area themed after a musical genre (two buildings each): rock, jazz, calypso, Broadway, and country.

This musical theme is less about Disney than the movies theme at All-Star Movies, and less broadly interesting to kids than the sports theme at All-Star Sports.

(I do have to note that All-Star Music is the favorite value of many adults–including me.

The resort overall has the most simple and graceful layout of the values–see map below.

Moreover, the area between the two pools, flanked by the Jazz buildings, is the loveliest space in the values.

My photo of this space at the right hints at this, but does not do it justice.)

Convenience. Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is the least convenient of the Value resorts.

During all but the busiest seasons of the year, the three All-Star Resorts share buses, except for the Magic Kingdom, to which each has its own bus.

Shared buses stop first at Sports, second at Music, and last at Movies.

What this means for Music is that other than to the Magic Kingdom, all your buses in both directions have at least one more stop besides Music itself.

For shared buses, at Sports, you are the first stop back; at Movies, the last stop out.  At Music, neither.  This is why I rank it least convenient.

Best places to stay at All Star Music. This site suggests that first time visitors stay in standard rooms, and not specially seek preferred rooms (because they won’t be spending much time in their rooms, or going to the main resort food area often).

The single exception is visitors to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, who should always pay for savanna views.

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is divided into five areas.

Click the map to see the general layout.

Of these, a third floor room in buildings 2 or 9, the Jazz Inn, away from the pools, is the best place to stay.

Music has the same problem the other values do: it can be packed with teenagers who are at Walt Disney World as part of a tournament or other sports event.

As a result, the resort can be very loud and boisterous. Buildings around the pools are particularly so.

At All-Star Music, buildings 1 and 10 (the Calypso area) frame the main pool, and should be avoided.

Because of the layout of All-Star Music, no other buildings frame a pool, but many rooms are close to pools.

Of all these buildings, the Jazz Inn Buildings 2 and 9 are no worse than any others, but are the closest other than Calypso to the main dining, shopping and bus stop area.  They also have the loveliest landscaping, and are hence recommended.

Ask for the third floor because it is also the top floor, which makes it quieter.

BEST FOR:

Families than cannot afford a deluxe resort, or who are otherwise on a tight budget, who can fit into its small rooms, and find the Music noted an attractive theme.  Larger families looking for value prices.

WORST FOR:

Families who are tall or otherwise won’t fit into full-size beds, or who have more than two adult-sized people, or who will be using a crib.

This review continues here. 

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