Category — d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
Review: Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, Continued
To go to the first page of this review, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S ALL-STAR SPORTS RESORT
Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort officially celebrates “the fun and excitement of sports–including baseball, basketball, football, surfing and tennis…Guest rooms are divided into 5 pairs of 3-story buildings—each bright, whimsical pair is themed after one of the featured sports.”
It includes an arrival building called Stadium Hall, where you check in, buy tickets, catch the bus, and find the gift shop, the food court, etc.
Just outside Stadium Hall you will find the main pool, Surfboard Bay. See photo.
All-Star Sports has 1920 rooms in ten identical three-story buildings, all with elevators.
These buildings are in five areas, each themed around a different sport. (See the first page of this review for a resort map.)
- Buildings 1 and 6, called “Surf’s Up” (surfing), grouped around the main Surfboard Bay pool, and very close to Stadium Hall
- Buildings 7 and 10, “Touchdown” (American football), grouped around a playground designed to look like a football field, and close to Stadium Hall
- Buildings 8 and 9, “Homerun Hotel” (baseball), grouped around a second pool, the Grand Slam pool, and far from Stadium Hall (see below for a photo)
- Buildings 2 and 3, “Hoops Hotel” (basketball), quieter than those above, but more distant than the first two from Stadium Hall–most rooms in building 2 are closer than those in building 3
- Buildings 4 and 5, “Center Court” (tennis)–like Hoops Hotel, quieter than the first three, and like i,t further than the first two. Building 5 is mostly closer to Stadium Hall than building 4.
All-Star Sports (and the other values) are 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.
Like the other values, All-Star Sports has no sit-down restaurant. In Stadium Hall you will find a somewhat small food court and gift shops.
Among the values, Sport’s strength for first time visitors is a slightly higher degree of convenience than the other two All-Stars, as buses stop at Sports first both on the way in and the way back from the parks, and its theming, which will work great for kids interested in the sports it highlights.
Its negatives compared to the other values include thin Disney theming (All-Star Movies and Pop Century are both better with this, and Art of Animation much better) and a smaller food court than at Movies and Pop.
See this for more on distinctions among the values.
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S ALL-STAR SPORTS RESORT
MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
- For where to stay, see this
- For your next best choices, in order, see this
- For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
- For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
- For where not to stay, see this
- For what you get in each resort price category, see this
- For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
- For resort reviews, see this
- For the value resorts, see this
- For the moderate resorts, see this
- For the deluxe resorts, see this
- For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
- For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this
- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
- Military/DOD families should look at this
- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
April 25, 2010 3 Comments
Review: Disney’s All-Star Sports 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 SPORTS RESORT
I’ve stayed at Disney’s Value Resorts more than a dozen times, at All-Star Sports most recently the week after Easter.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is number one among the values.
The rank of the rest for first time visitors is, in order, Pop Century, All-Star Movies, All-Star Sports, and All-Star Music.
These last three All-Star Resorts are very close in their rankings. 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
April 19, 2010 7 Comments
Review: Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S SARATOGA SPRINGS RESORT AND SPA FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay. However, for first-time visitors, it ranks at the bottom of the Disney Vacation Club resorts.
THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS
April 18, 2010 4 Comments
Review: Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Continued
To go to the first page of this review, click here.
MORE ON DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT
Disney’s Pop Century Resort officially salutes “many of the 20th-century popular culture crazes—including toys, gadgets, music, movies, fads and catch phrases.”
It includes an arrival building called Classic Hall, where you check in, buy tickets, catch the bus, and find the gift shop, the food court, etc.
March 31, 2010 5 Comments
Review: Disney’s Pop Century Resort
The Value Resorts Pop Century Movies Sports Music Art of Animation
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S POP CENTURY RESORT
We’ve stayed at Disney’s Pop Century Resort half a dozen times, most recently earlier this year.
This stay confirms that for those who can’t afford a deluxe resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort is the second best place to stay.
March 22, 2010 26 Comments
Review: Shades of Green Resort at Walt Disney World
SUMMARY: SHADES OF GREEN RESORT
My family has made a number of trips to Shades of Green.
We visited most recently last month, in a trip sponsored as always by my father (retired career Navy) that included my test niecelets—that’s them in the photo.
Based on these visits, Shades of Green is a wonderful choice for eligible returning visitors to Walt Disney World.
However, for first time family visitors, it is not the best choice.
It does not participate in key programs that Disney owned and operated resorts offer, especially the Disney Dining Plan and Disney’s Magical Express. (It does participate in Extra Magic Hours.)
Shades of Green has little kid appeal, and despite a great location across the street from Disney’s Polynesian Resort, so-so convenience.
Families who need to take advantage of Shades of Green’s great value—it is indeed one heck of a bargain—will have their best first family visit to Walt Disney World by staying in it as part of a “split stay.”
That is, they should split their visit into some time at Shades of Green, and some at a more highly recommended Walt Disney World resort.
See this page for more on the best way to fit a stay at Shades of Green into a first family visit to Walt Disney World
Another great option—though much harder to pull off—is to get overflow rates from Shades of Green for a recommended Walt Disney World resort. See this page on MilitaryDisneyTips.com for more on overflow rates.
POSITIVES OF SHADES OF GREEN
February 22, 2010 15 Comments
