Photo Tour of the Family Suites at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort

For the first page of this review of Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, click here.

PHOTO TOUR OF THE FAMILY SUITES AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

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

On this basis, the Family Suites at All-Star Music are the second-best choice for larger families seeking value pricing, after the Family Suites at Art of Animation.

Art of Animation has much more kid-appeal than All-Star Music, and a bit more convenience. (For more on All-Star Music, the overall resort within which the Family Suites at All-Star Music are found, see this.)

However, the Family Suites at Art of Animation are not just a clone of those at All-Star Music.  There are differences in floor plans and livability that may make a difference to some families, and Art of Animation is on the order of 20% more expensive.

So I’ll do a space by space comparison by means of a photo-tour of the All-Star Music Family Suites. To avoid confusion, all the images on this page will be of Music; you can find the equivalents from Art of Animation here.

PHOTO TOUR OF ALL-STAR MUSIC FAMILY SUITES

Starting outside the room itself, the corridors at Music are outside, and the corridors at Art of Animation are inside. This means heated and cooled, so in general that’s a plus for AofA.

However, the design also means that any corridor at Art has twice as much traffic as at Music (because there are half as many of them…), and there’s more reason for people to use them (since they are heated and cooled).

This results in much more corridor noise at Art in general, and particularly on the first floor corridors that lead from the elevator bank to the direction of the main building, main pool, and bus stops.

Inside the rooms, Music has a larger and more livable living space than Art of Animation.

The smaller chair (the red one) is much larger than the equivalent chair at AofA, and as a result the chair and sofa together can seat 5, compared to 4 at AofA.

The two large, cushioned ottomans have no real equivalent at AofA.  Overall, the living room Music can comfortably seat a family of 6, while the living room at AofA can seat six, but not comfortably.

The other side of the Music living room has an area with drawers and a TV, and a small table and chairs.

The table is much smaller than the equivalent at Art of Animation, which has a real dining table, and  Music has only chairs for three (the third chair coming from the desk in the master bedroom).

The Art of Animation dining table will fit six–though two will be uncomfortable, as only four of its seating spots have knee space.

Art of Animation has a little more drawer space than Music, but this is a little deceiving, as Music has more overall storage space, with much larger closets, and many more storage shelves and cabinets in its mini kitchen than that in AofA.

Here’s an example of one of the two closet areas in the Music bath spaces.

The baths at Art of Animation win over those at Music in every way but one.  They have actual doors for privacy and quiet, and decor that’s both lovelier and more kid-appealing.

The dimension where some families may find a difference is that one of the two baths at AofA is entered from the master bedroom, while both baths at Music can be accessed without entering the parent’s room.

Some parents will prefer the AofA private bath; others, on the theory that the kids will use both regardless of their wishes, will prefer that at Music, where the kids don’t have to come into their room to use either bath.

The mini-kitchen at Music is much better than that at AofA.

At Art of Animation, it’s a 4×2 foot space in the corner of the living room; Music has an alcove mini-kitchen with much more counter and storage space.

For first time family visitors–who won’t be using this space much–it hardly matters, and both spaces have the same equipment–coffee maker, min-fridge, microwave.  But for families intending to really work out their microwave and store a lot of food, All-Star Music prevails.

Here’s the mini-fridge…

…and some of the supplies the kitchen comes with.

Overall, the master bedroom at Music is better than at Art of Animation. The beds are equivalent, but Music has both an easy chair…

…and a desk, both of which AofA lacks.

This lets the master bedroom serve better as a retreat from the kids than the equivalent space at AofA.

The master at Art of Animation has more in-room storage than Music, has closet rods in the room itself (at Music they are outside the room, in the bath area) and, as noted above, has “private” access to the second bath.

So here’s where we are so far: compared to those at All-Star Music, Art of Animation Family Suites have MUCH better kid appeal, and slightly better convenience; the dining space at Art of Animation is much better and the baths largely better.  Music Family Suites have more livable living rooms and master bedrooms, and a more flexible mini-kitchen.

THE FAMILY SUITE BEDS AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

One key difference between the Family Suites at All-Star Music and those at Art of Animation is the number of beds.

Each has a queen in the master bedroom and a two-person fold-out sofa. After that come the differences:

• The final two spots at Art of Animation are together in a fold-down dining table sleeping two
• The final two spots in All-Star Music are in two separate beds, one folding out of an ottoman, the other folding out of a chair

These last two sleeping spots are much more comfortable at Art of Animation, but–so long as one of your kids is short and light, and also has not named you in his or her will–much more flexible at All-Star Music.

THE OTTOMAN BED AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

The most challenging bed in the Music family suites is the ottoman bed.

The top cushion and fabric sides of the ottoman lift right off, revealing that the rest of the ottoman structure is a cot-like folded bed.

I measured the bed that folds out of the ottoman as 3o inches wide by 72 inches long.

I slept on each of the beds at All-Star Music for at least half a night except this one, as it took only seconds to discover that it’s far too uncomfortable for adult-sized people, and likely for anyone over 60 pounds or so.

The issue is the thin cushion–which I measured as 3 inches deep–interacting with the metal frame and suspension.

The cushion is suspended near the head on woven fabric (see the image of the folded bed above), in the middle on two metal bars, and near the foot on metal wire.

You can see all three suspensions in the image above.  The problem is with the two metal rails that hold up the middle part of the bed.  The cushion is so thin that these press right into your body if you are tall, heavy, or both.

A really little kid won’t notice these rails, as the first rail is 31 inches from the head of the bed–and a lightweight but taller kid won’t notice them either.  But I wouldn’t put a kid heavier than say 60 pounds on this bed, or there will be no end to the whining.

The bed that unfolds from the red chair has a similar suspension, but, with a four-inch deep cushion, is not nearly as uncomfortable.  I slept fine on this bed.

This bed pulls out–and has two pillows tucked inside the foot of the chair.

I measured this bed as 28 inches wide by 74 inches long, with a four-inch cushion.

The last bed in the living room is the sofa bed.

I measured it as 55 inches wide by 77 inches long.  Its cushion is also 4 inches thick, and comfort is fine.

Like the chair bed, this bed also has two pillows stored inside.

Figuring out where to put all three beds is tricky.  The ottoman not only is easily movable, but also has to be moved, as both its bed and the chair bed can’t take up the same space.

See the floor plan for the issue–you can easily block the bathroom with the ottoman bed, or, at the other end of the living room, block the door.  I found a way to tuck it in by the table.  See the photo that begins this page for how it fits there.

A less awkward layout is possible if you move the side tables away from the couch, and move the couch as close to the wall by the entrance door as possible.  This creates just enough room to put the head of the ottoman bed between the sofa bed and the chair bed.  But that sofa is heavy!

For families with odd numbers of boy and girls, having three sleeping spots can be a real advantage for All-Star Music Family Suites compared to the two sleeping spots for the kids in the Family Suites at Art of Animation.

But pragmatically, this will only work if your littlest kid is short or light enough for the ottoman bed to not be uncomfortable…

THE THEMED AREAS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

This review continues here.

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Family Suite at All-Star Music
• The Themed Areas of All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!