Hi again everyone! Now that I’m home from our trip, I wanted to give an in depth follow up of our stay at All Star Movies. Take all of this with a grain of salt and know I’m sharing this in the spirit of being helpful.
If I have never stayed at a Disney resort before and had no idea of any of the renovations going on, I might not be so judgmental. (As a point of reference, I’ve stayed in value, moderate, and deluxe Disney resorts multiple times).
The All Star Movies renovated rooms really are nice hotel rooms – there are just some quirks to consider…
Did I hate them? No.
Did I love them? No.
Would I stay in them again? Depends on the size and age of my travel party!
Our travel party was a total of 8: We had three adults in one room, and my sister’s family in the other (her, her husband, and 3 kids - 6 year old, 2 year old, and 1 year old). We stayed in two renovated, connecting rooms on the first floor in Building 10 (Buzz) Aug 1-4. (They are really similar to the new Pop Century rooms.)
Pros:
- Queen beds. The size and comfort level were great. High off the floor, but comfortable.
- Coffee maker in room. Used only once, but it was nice to have the option.
- New and clean feeling (not run down).
- Lots of outlets and USB plugs.
- Slow closing doors, toilet seat, and dresser drawers.
- It was a Disney resort!
Cons:
- Hard wood (or laminate?) floors. Yuck. It wasn’t terrible the entire time, but our first impression was after a rainstorm and we had tracked in some dirt and grime from our shoes. We asked for more bath towels to wipe up the floor and for the rest of our stay we left a towel near the front door so we could wipe our feet when we entered. Also, I know carpet doesn’t add that much cushion, but boy – after being on your feet for 12 hours in the parks, I really wished I had carpet to walk on at the end of the day!
- No mirror in living area. In the old rooms, there was mirror over the table and chairs, which was nice to use for the other adult getting ready in the morning. Not anymore. I used a handheld mirror and we took turns in front of the sink a lot. Very minor, but worth noting.
- No alarm clock. I thought it was weird there was no clock in the room at all. I’m glad I brought my own with my bright LED numbers.
- Very small. It. Was. Cramped.
There especially wasn’t a lot of space with the pull out bed down. My brother-in-law had to shove the beverage island against the wall so their pack ‘n play could fit between that and the dresser. They actually had to keep their stroller in our room. (I saw a LOT of strollers parked outside of rooms around the Toy Story section! I wonder if Disney will put a stop to it?). We put 2 of our suitcases on top of the dresser, since it was easier to do that than try to find space to put everything. Yes, we knew that we could put them under the beds – but since we were only there for 3 nights, we lived out of our suitcases. There was very little walking space, and we had to zig and zag around corners and doors. We bumped into each other a lot. It gave new meaning to a "family vacation."
- Sliding door to the toilet area (between sink and toilet). I usually don’t have a problem with sliding doors. But this one has about an inch space between the wall and the door, so when you’re using the restroom and someone is in the sink area, it just doesn’t feel private at all.
It locks at least, so that’s a plus!
- Very “sterile” feeling. I asked my sister’s opinion of the rooms after we checked out (someone who does not follow these boards), and she said “I wish they didn’t feel so much like a hospital room.” Woof. I agree. Most everything in the room is white and hard.
Other notes:
- Both of our rooms had a shower/tub combo with sliding glass doors. It’s a thick glass, not really that see through. They have the permanent shampoo/conditioner/soap installed on the wall with an inset shelf above. The bath has ledges, so good for other bottles or razors.
- The walls are THIN. Bring a sound machine. We were on the first floor, so I’m sure that had something to do with it, but we could also hear between the walls.
If we didn’t know the family staying next to us, we would have been embarrassed to be overhearing some strangers’ conversations! (Have they always been that way? I can’t remember!)
- Our room had a couple of problems with the bathroom fan and our sliding shower door not staying closed, but we let the front desk know and they made notes for the maintenance people. (We didn’t realize our bathroom fan wasn’t working until our check out day when I went into my sister’s bathroom and heard the fan. Note: you should be able to HEAR the fan running. If you don’t, it’s probably not working!)
**If you are one of the first people to stay in these new rooms, if something doesn’t seem right – ASK! If you think a light is supposed to work one way or the shower has low pressure, make sure to let someone know. I’m sure there are kinks to work out when they finally get people living in the rooms.
- The artwork above the pull out bed is cute. Huey, Dewey, and Louie having All Star Resort themed dreams (sports, music, and movies). So a fair assumption would be to say that ALL the All Star renovated rooms will eventually look like the Movies ones. Other than the Mickeys above the other Queen bed and film reels on the dining chairs, there really wasn’t any theming.
- The construction around the resort wasn’t super evident until you walked right past it. Even then, it didn’t bother me. Just fences up, papers on the windows, and a few construction people walking around. I heard more noise from landscapers (leaf blowers!), than from the construction.
- I thought the TV was hilariously huge.
For such a small room, it made me laugh with how big it was.
Bottom line:
By just looking at the above list, it would seem I complained about everything and had a terrible time. But that’s not true – I really did enjoy my stay (I was in Disney World!), but I had to get past the new “quirks” as I mentioned before. I would stay in a renovated room again if it was just me or one other adult. You could leave the pull out bed up and have a table and chairs at all times with more walking space. If you have 3 or more adults, or 2 adults with kids…. it’s a toss up. It’s doable, but small. If the price point stays reasonable for the Value resort that it is, I'd be willing to try it again just to stay on property "cheaply."
If I do stay again, I’m bringing cushioned slippers.
Let me know if you have questions, and I’ll try to answer them!
