Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

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

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

Note: Rooms at All-Star Movies are being refurbed.  What follows describes a not-yet-refurbed rooms.  For a photo tour of a refurbed room, see this.

Rooms at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort have the same basic floor plan as you’ll find in the other two All-Star resorts.

When you enter, you’ll find two full beds on one side.

The bed side from the back.

There’s a small table between the beds, with room enough only for the most essential of books.

Here’s a closer shot of one of the beds…

…and of the art on the wall between the beds and the bath. This is from a Toy Story room…

…and this from a Mighty Ducks room. This art is the only ways the standard rooms differ among the themed areas.

The other side of the room has a table and chairs, and a dresser/mini-fridge/TV combo.

The TV side from the back.

Some value resort rooms have square tables, some round.  I don’t know why…must be magic, I guess.

Here’s a close-up of the dresser…

…and one of its three large drawers.

Here’s the mini-fridge with a scaling object.

Except for Art of Animation, there’s not a lot of visual difference among the rooms in the value resorts.  At All-Star Movies, besides the wall art shown above, there’s also a wallpaper border re-capping the movies highlighted at the resort.  Note also the coat-rack below it.

There’s als0 some kinda-interesting movie-film themed decor in the tub…

…although the space is more fun with the shower curtain closed than open.

This tub is a separate space in the bath/clothes hanging area at the back of the room, which also includes a sink…

…and an open closet area.

The sink-closet area is separable from the rest of the room by a fabric curtain.

PHOTO TOUR OF A REFURBED ROOM AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

This review continues here.

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

• Overview of All-Star Movies
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Movies
• Photo Tour of a Refurbed Room at All-Star Movies
• The Themed Areas at All-Star Movies
• Amenities at All-Star Movies
• The Pools at All-Star Movies

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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The Basics: Where to Stay

The Value Resorts   Art of Animation   Pop Century    Movies    Sports   Music

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS

Note: Guests at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort are eligible for Disney World’s Early Entry program, and have the ability to pre-book as early as  seven days before check-in Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass rides. They are NOT eligible for its Extended Evening Hours.

Among my 160+ stays (so far!) in Walt Disney World resort hotels, I’ve stayed at Disney’s All-Star Movies five times, most recently in September.

This last stay confirms that for those who can’t afford a deluxe resort, Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort is the third best place to stay among the value resorts (the best value resort choice is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort).

And All-Star Movies is the best choice for those on a budget, as on average it is $90/night less than Art of Animation, and $45/night less than Pop Century, the second-ranked value.

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. (See this for more on the value resorts at Walt Disney World.)

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

I’ve stayed at all five of Disney’s Value Resorts thirty times. These visits confirm the order in which the value resorts are recommended:

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

These last 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, It still mostly has full beds, but queens will be increasingly common, and likely everywhere by mid 2023.
• All-Star Movies is the most broadly kid-appealing of the three, and has queen beds and coffeemakers in every room
• All-Star Music is the most compact, loveliest, and the only one of these three All-Star with family suites (Art of Animation also has family suites). All-Star Music has queen beds and coffeemakers in every room.

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 two-bed rooms.

Refurbed rooms sleep four plus one more child younger than three in a crib, in a fixed queen bed and a second queen bed that folds down from the wall, eliminating the table when it is down. A floor plan is above,  and an image of the room with the second queen folded up is below. A full photo tour is here.

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 MOVIES 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 Movies Resort is the third best value resort for first time family visitors, after Art of Animation  and Pop Century.

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 Pop Century and Art of Animation 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 Movies is the third-most kid-appealing. Art of Animation has the most kid appeal.

All-Star Movie’s theme is…movies.

Its ten three-story buildings (all with elevators) are grouped into five areas, each area themed after a movie (two buildings each): Fantasia, the Mighty Ducks, the Love Bug, Toy Story, and 101 Dalmatians.

You’ll find scattered around the resort three story high statues of Pongo and Perdita, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, a pool shaped like a hockey rink, and more!

The kid appeal of All-Star Movies is based on its theme: because it is about movies, it presents more richly Disney’s visual world.

That said, of all the movies ever released by Disney at the time it was built, the resort taps into only a few with widespread, multi-generational kid appeal.

In a bit of bad synergy, the movies showcased were released, or had theatrical or made-for-television sequels released, between 1996 and 1999–when All-Star Movies opened.  As a result, the only reliably kid-pleasing themed areas are the Toy Story (buildings 9 and 10) and 101 Dalmatians (buildings 1 and 4) areas.

Your kids may differ–and be particularly charmed by Fantasia, the Mighty Ducks, or The Love Bug.  But most aren’t. Disney does much better at Art of Animation, which showcases Cars, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and the Little Mermaid.

Convenience. Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort is the fourth most convenient of the Value resorts.

During some less busy periods, 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 Movies is that you have a shorter trip to the parks, but a longer trip back, than Sports.

For me, a shorter trip out is more valuable than a shorter trip back.  On the other hand, shared buses may fill up before they even get to Movies, or, more likely, have standing room only.

This is why I rank Movies after Sports in convenience.

Best places to stay at All Star Movies. This site suggests that first time visitors stay in standard rooms, not 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 Movies Resort is divided into five areas.

Click the map to see the general layout.

Of these, a third floor room in buildings 1 or 4, in the 101 Dalmatians area, or 9 or 10 in the Toy Story area, is the best place to stay.

Movies 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 Movies, buildings 2 and 3 (Mighty Ducks) and 5 and 8 (Fantasia) frame pools, and should be avoided

This leaves buildings 1 and 4 in the 101 Dalmatians area, 9 and 10 in the Toy Story Area, and 6 and 7 in the Love Bug area. Of these, buildings 1, 4, 9 and 10 are closer to the dining area, bus stops, and main pool, and have themes more broadly appealing, 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 movies noted an attractive theme.

WORST FOR:

Families who have more than two adult-sized people, or who will be using a crib.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Destinations in Florida, can help you book your Disney World vacation at All-Star Movies or anywhere else–contact them using the form below:

A PHOTO TOUR OF A REFURBED ROOM AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT

This review continues here.

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

• Overview of All-Star Movies
• Photo Tour of a Refurbed Room at All-Star Movies
• The Themed Areas at All-Star Movies
• Amenities at All-Star Movies
• The Pools at All-Star Movies

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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

There’s two room types in Disney’s Polynesian Resort

• “Smaller”–but still quite large–rooms, with a floor plan and photo tour that begins here, and
• Larger rooms, in the Polynesian’s Tahiti, Rapa Nui, and Tokelau longhouses, which are covered on this page.

Tokelau is the only one of these currently fully refurbished as part of the Polynesian’s 2012-2013 updates, and the images are from a refurbed Tokelau room.

(Tahiti, and perhaps Rapa Nui, may not get refurbs–they seem to be headed towards being converted to DVC rooms instead.)

FLOOR PLAN OF THE LARGER ROOMS AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN RESORT

The main difference between the large and smaller rooms is that the bedroom component of the large rooms is about three and a half feet longer.

This adds ~50 square feet to the room size–making it on the order of 465 square feet compared to the smaller room’s ~415 square feet.

At least in the room I stayed in, there’s no extra furniture that comes with this extra space–just a little more breathing space in the room, especially on the TV side, where the furnishings don’t seem so crowded together as they are in the smaller room.

There’s also slight differences in the layout of the bath–not making any material difference–and two panels to the balcony window rather than three.

(It’s also possible that this room is an inch or two narrower than the smaller rooms.  Steve and I need to measure one of these together to agree on final dimensions!)

Because the differences are minor, the photo tour of this room is very similar to the photo tour of the smaller rooms.

But I did get a new camera between my two 2013 visits to the Polynesian…so the new photos of similar furnishings are much clearer!

PHOTO TOUR OF A RENOVATED LARGER ROOM AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN RESORT

The hall and bath area is almost identical to that of the smaller rooms, other than minor layout differences in the bath.

As you enter, there’s two closets separated by a mini-fridge and coffee maker on one side, and the bath on the other.

Here’s the closet nearest the door…

…the mini-fridge/coffee maker and closet further from the door…

…detail of the further closet…

…and detail of the mini-fridge–I don’t know why I forgot to take this shot with my usual scaling objects.

On the other side of the hall is the bath, with double sinks and a toilet on one side.

Here’s detail of the sinks.

On the other side is the tub/shower combo.

Deeper in the room, on one side you’ll find a couple of queen beds, a bed table between them, and an easy chair and ottoman.

Here’s a closer view of one of the queens…

…and a closer view of the chair and ottoman.

You can see to the right of the chair the window wall that separates the room from a large balcony–above is the view from mine.

The other side of the room has a desk with a moveable table underneath, a TV on top of a dresser, and a couch which flips down to create a daybed.

These fit much better in the larger rooms than the identically-furnished smaller rooms.

Here’s a closer view of the couch (I forgot to tuck the bottom in after I tried sleeping on it–it isn’t as messy as this photo makes it look)…

…and the dresser, TV and desk.

(You can find more detailed shots and measurements–e.g. of the couch bed–in the photo tour of the smaller rooms.)

The three buildings with larger rooms at the Polynesian–Tahiti, Rapa Nui, and Tokelau–are also the only buildings there where every standard room has either a balcony or a patio, and are the rooms from which one can most easily access either the Epcot or the Magic Kingdom monorails.

Because of all these points, they’ve always been the buildings this site recommends.

Now, however, since Tokelau is the only one renovated, it is the recommended longhouse.  Stay there, and you’ll have a room quite like the one shown in the photos above!

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

ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is one of 5 value resorts at Walt Disney World:

• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, opened in April 1994
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, opened in November 1994
• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, opened in January 1999
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort, opened in December 2003
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, opened in May 2012

Among the five, for most first-time visitors who may never return, Art of Animation is the best choice, followed by Pop Century. All-Star Music comes in last among the values.

Two value resorts also have six-person family suites–

• The Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Family Suites at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort

–and for family suites, too, for most families, Art of Animation is the best choice, although in some circumstances those at Music are the better choice.

Among the five value resorts, for standard four person rooms Art of Animation rooms are the most expensive, and next Pop Century.  Standard rooms at all the All-Stars have the same, lowest pricing, on average $45 less per night than Pop Century, and $90 less per night than Art of Animation. Family suites at All-Star Music are much less expensive than Family Suites at Art of Animation, on average $185 per night less.

All-Star Music completed a room refurb project in 2021, replacing in its standard rooms the old full beds with queen beds, and adding coffeemakers to the rooms.

All-Star Music Family Suites were also renovated, switching to much more comfortable fold-down queen beds in the living room area, and re-shaping the second bath and kitchenette area so that the second bath now works as a private master bath.

Standard Four Person Room

Four person room sizes are similar across all five value resorts.  Art of Animation has the best theming, and All-Stars Sports and Music the weakest (unless your family particularly resonates with the depicted themes at these two).

Until recently, all four person value resort standard rooms offered two full beds (the beds at Music are shown above), but you will now find queen beds in Pop Century, All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and in refurbed rooms in All-Star Sports.

Above is the floor plan of a refurbed standard four person room at All-Star Music. There’s a full photo tour of a standard room at All-Star Music here.

There’s two price classes of four person rooms here–preferred rooms and standard rooms. Preferred rooms are closer to the main pool and the central services in and bus stop outside Melody Hall.

Family Suite, Living Room Side

Family Suites at All-Star Music accommodate six in a space twice the size of a standard four person room.  Half the space is a living area and bath that includes two fold-down queen beds–one behind the couch, and a second behind the table.

The other half of the All-Star Music Family Suite space includes a kitchenette and a master bedroom with a queen bed with a private bath. The floor plan above is out of date, but gives a sense of the proportions of the spaces.

Family Suites are available in the Calypso and Jazz areas of All-Star Music. A detailed review of an All-Star Music Family Suite begins here.

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

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort officially pays homage to “classic music genres—including Broadway show tunes, calypso, country, jazz and rock n’ roll…Guest rooms are divided into 5 pairs of 3-story buildings—each bright, whimsical pair is themed after one of the featured music genres and decorated with massive musical instruments.”

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort has 1604 rooms in ten identical three-story buildings, all with elevators.

These buildings are in five areas, each themed with external decorations and structures about a different musical genre:

• Buildings 1 and 10, Calypso
• Buildings 2 and 9, the Jazz Inn
• Buildings 3 and 4, the Rock Inn
• Buildings 5 and 6, Country Fair
• Buildings 7 and 8, Broadway Hotel

The buildings don’t distinctly draw fans of their genres.  Line dancing does not spontaneously break out at Country Fair, nor is there the equivalent of the Notting Hill Carnival at Calypso.

Rather, the distinction among these areas is the tradeoff of distance from the main services at Melody Hall versus peace and serenity.

Calypso is closest to the main services, and is thus sold as “preferred” rooms.

It offers both standard rooms and family suites. I don’t recommend Calypso for two reasons:

1. Unless your family has mobility issues, the nearness to Melody Hall isn’t worth the extra money
2. About a third of the rooms in each building face the main pool, and hence suffer from noise issues

All-Star Music (and the other values) is often dinged for being “too large and spread-out.” This is an inaccurate criticism, as each of the values fits into a much smaller footprint than any of the three larger moderates, leading to much less walking than at the moderates.

Moreover, All-Star Music has a particularly compact and charming layout.

The Country Fair area is the most distant from Melody Hall–see the map. It and the rest of the building areas other than Calypso are symmetrically built around the lovely walkway from Melody Hall to Country Fair, and equally surround the smaller Piano Pool.

This design leads to a more understandable layout, and also yields a strong central axis to the resort that makes it feel more coherent than the other All-Stars.

The Jazz Inn is the first set of buildings along this axis after Calypso.

It combines the loveliness of its courtyard, nearness to Melody Hall, and distance from pool noise into the better choice among the two preferred areas here. Like Calypso, you’ll find both standard rooms and family suites here.

After the Jazz Inn, you’ll see the Rock Inn on your right.

Rock Inn guitars.

On your left is the Broadway Hotel.

It has a charming little garden right at the edge of the parking lot.

Country Fair is ahead…

…with a large cactus-garden area separating its two buildings…

…and banjos.

The symmetry of these three sets of buildings around the Piano Pool makes them about equally preferable. Country Inn feels more remote–particularly its woods-facing rooms in the back–but the rooms in Rock Inn and Broadway Hotel nearest to the parking lots are only a little bit closer to Melody Hall. The Rock Inn parking lot can be subject to noise from youth groups that stage here, making Broadway Hotel a better choice than it.

Because of the family suites, All-Star Music can hold a slightly smaller number of people than the other two All-Stars.  This can make it a tad less crowded.

Moreover, its lower kid-appeal, and higher adult-appeal, can make it a tiny bit less noisy and boisterous than the other All-Stars.

Among the All-Stars, Music’s strength for first time family visitors is the availability of family suites.

Its negatives compared to the other values include less broadly interesting theming and sometimes inconvenient transportation.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT

This review continues here.

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

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Accommodations and Theming at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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

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

AMENITIES AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort includes an arrival building called Melody Hall, where you will find most of its amenities.

You are greeted at Melody Hall by a charming red carpet–you’re an All-Star, after all!

You’ll find inside Melody Hall all the key resort services–the check-in lobby…

…gift shop…

…and food court, renovated in 2014 but still too small at peak times.

The addition of alcoholic drinks to the dining plan has led to a change in morning moods.

Between buildings 9 and 10 you’ll find this playground.  More play opportunities (including the bar) are round the main Calypso pool.

Outside on the street side you’ll find the bus stops.

Between the two pools, framed by the two Jazz buildings, is a lovely courtyard that sets much of the tone of All-Star Music–since everyone except those staying in the two Calypso buildings will walk through it on their way to the main pool and the services at Melody Hall.

None of my images really do this area justice…

…so I’ve posted four, trying to capture the overall feel!

And then there’s the pools…

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

This review continues here.

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

• Overview of All-Star Music
• Accommodations and Theming at All-Star Music
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at All-Star Music
• The Family Suites at All-Star Music
• Amenities at All-Star Music
• The Pools at All-Star Music

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

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

The Value Resorts   Art of Animation    Pop Century    Movies    Sports    Music

DISNEY’S ALL-STAR MUSIC RESORT FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS

I’ve stayed at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort six times among my 30+ stays at Disney World’s value resorts (so far), most recently in January 2018.

These stays confirm that All-Star Music, although it’s my own personal favorite among the value resorts, is the lowest-ranked value resort for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.

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 standard rooms.

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

Like most other standard rooms at the value resorts, standard rooms in All-Star Music sleep four in two full-size beds, plus one more, younger than three, in a crib; the crib fits best between the dresser and the closet wall. (Refurbed rooms at Pop Century have queen beds, not full beds.)

However, if your family will fit, Disney’s All-Star Music resort, like the other value resorts, has 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).

Moreover, All-Star Music is one of two value resorts (Art of Animation is the other) that also offers family suites–spaces twice as big as standard rooms, that sleep 6.

For a detailed review of the All-Star Music family suites, and a comparison to other large family options including at Art of Animation, see The Family Suites at All-Star Music.

(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.

Note that the long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at All-Star Music or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499.

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.

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 Art of Animation resort, Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Pop Century resort–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–like the cowboy boots in the image above from the Country Inn area of All-Star Music

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 overall has the simplest layout among the values. Moreover, the area between the two pools, flanked by the Jazz buildings, is the loveliest space in the values. The photo at 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 some slower periods, the three All-Star Resorts share buses, except for the Magic Kingdom, to which each has its own bus.

When operating, 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.

See the map for the general layout (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it).

Of these areas, a third floor room in buildings 7 or 8, the Broadway Hotel, 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.  These are also two of the four “preferred” buildings–the other two are the two Jazz Inn buildings, 2 and 9, which I used to recommend before they were designated as “preferred.” (Note that Disney changes these designations from time to time–if Jazz is available to you, take it.)

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

Of the six non-preferred buildings, all are about an equal walk from the shops, dining, transportation and main pool. The Broadway Hotel and Rock Inn have more convenient parking, but the parking lot near the Rock Inn is commonly used as a staging area for noisy youth groups (see above, taken from outside my room at the Rock Inn.  So pick the Broadway Hotel if you have a car, and either it or the Country Fair if  you don’t.

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.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at All-Star Music or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499, or use the form on this page.

PHOTO TOUR OF A STANDARD ROOM AT ALL-STAR MUSIC

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

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