0203 950 7371If you’re planning a family-friendly Walt Disney World holiday and want to keep costs low while still being in the Disney bubble, you’ve probably considered the three All-Star Resorts. These are generally the cheapest (and we use that term lightly) official Disney World hotels, which is the main reason why they’re so appealing.
Having stayed at two of the three All-Star Resorts ourselves and visited the other resort on several occasions, we’re well placed to review this collection of Disney Hotels and help you determine which one is best for you. In this guide, we’re reviewing each All-Star Resort—All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports—so you know exactly what to expect and how they stack up against each other.
Why Choose an All-Star Resort?
Disney’s All-Star Resorts are Disney’s most budget-friendly resorts on Walt Disney World property, making them a firm favourite for anyone travelling from the UK who doesn’t want to blow their entire savings account.
Because they’re on-site Disney hotels, you’ll still get all the perks of staying at a Disney resort, like early theme park entry, free bus transportation to all four theme parks and Disney Springs, and even the occasional spontaneous character meet and greet. All the All-Star Resorts are in Disney’s value hotel class, so they’re not particularly fancy—but hey, you’re not spending all that much time at the hotel anyway.
If you’re traveling with kids, they’ll love the bright, colourful theming of these hotels, and the standard rooms are much bigger than the average UK hotel room, with two queen beds or a queen bed plus a pull-down murphy bed. All the hotels have their own massive food court for grabbing a quick breakfast or post-fireworks snack, along with several pool areas that are ideal for cooling off after you’ve been melting in the Florida heat all day.
The Three All-Star Resorts: An Overview
Disney offers the choice of three resorts: All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports.
All three are located right next to each other, just south of Animal Kingdom, and they’ve got a similar layout with themed sections and rooms located across three floors. The vast majority of the rooms in all three resorts have now been updated, with new flooring, two queen beds, a coffee maker, and a mini fridge. These renovated rooms feel a whole lot cleaner and more modern compared to their original designs.
Let’s take a look at the three resorts in more detail.
All-Star Movies
All-Star Movies Resort, as the name suggests, celebrates classic Disney films, with massive icons from Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, and more dotted about the hotel grounds. The Toy Story area is especially worth checking out, with the oversized Woody and Buzz figures making for an ideal photo opportunity.
Movies has a huge main pool that becomes the site of film screenings in the evening, so your kids can end their day bobbing about in the water while watching Moana or Inside Out. If theming matters most to you and you want that classic Disney magic, you might find that All-Star Movies is the best place to stay.
All-Star Music
All-Star Music is currently the only All-Star resort that offers family suites, which might make it the only hotel you can consider. These suites sleep up to six people and include a separate bedroom, two bathrooms, and a small kitchenette, making them ideal for a bigger family or anyone who just wants to spread out without stepping on each other’s toes.
As you’d expect, the theming here is music-based, with sections like Jazz Inn, Rock Inn, and Calypso, a cool guitar-shaped main pool with a nearby kiddie pool, plus a smaller pool shaped like a piano. If you want more room or a slightly quieter atmosphere compared to the other All Stars, we can confidently say from experience that All-Star Music might be exactly what you’re after.
All-Star Sports
All-Star Sports was the first of the three resorts to open, with (you guessed it) sporty theming. You’ll find massive football helmets, tennis rackets, and baseball bats decorating the grounds, along with a large surf-themed pool and a smaller Grand Slam pool.
One of the things we love the most about All-Star Sports is that it’s the first hotel you reach once entering the All-Star Resort area. That means it’s slightly quicker to get back to your hotel by bus, as you’re not having to drive past the other massive resorts too. Plus, it’s usually the cheapest of the three. The setback, however, is that it’s usually the hotel of choice for cheer comp guests and other sports groups, so it can get quite rowdy at certain times of the year.
Comparing The All-Star Resorts By Category
Now you know the basics, let’s take a closer look at the resort rankings for three All-Star hotels by category.
Transportation and Location
All three All-Star Resorts use Disney buses for getting to and from the parks, water parks, and Disney Springs. Don’t be put off by this—Disney’s bus service is regular, with one bus every 10-20 minutes on average and more buses during the busier park opening and closing hours.
There’s no difference in bus frequency between the three hotels, although as we mentioned, All-Star Sports is closest to the resort entrance, so you’ll be able to get back to your room a couple of minutes earlier after a long day.
If you prefer more transport options, you might want to have a look at Pop Century or Art of Animation Resort, which both have access to the Disney Skyliner gondola system. These cost slightly more, although, as Values, they’re still among Disney’s lowest-priced resorts. Having stayed at Pop Century ourselves, we can say from experience that being able to hop on the Skyliner to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot is a real game-changer, and might be worth the extra cost for you.
Food and Dining Options
Each All-Star Resort has a massive food court with multiple stations serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and snacks, so there are no real differences in dining between the three. You will find slightly different menu options at each resort, but menus change pretty regularly anyway, so it’s not worth booking a specific hotel just for a dish or snack you’ve got your eye on.
As in most Disney resort quick-service restaurants, you can mobile order through the Disney Experience App to save time and avoid queues, which can get pretty long in the mornings and evenings. You’ll also find refillable drink stations and grab-and-go options for when you don’t want to sit down and eat straight away.
Room Types and Amenities
Again, all three of these value resorts have near-identical standard rooms, with two queen beds or a queen and murphy bed, plus a mini fridge, a coffee maker, and a bathroom with a shower and tub combo. In all hotels, you can pay a bit more for a preferred room, located closer to the main building and bus stops, which can save your legs after you’ve been in the parks all day.
If you’ve got more than four people in your group, you’ll specifically need to look at All-Star Music, which is the only resort that has family rooms.
How All-Stars Hotels Compare to Other Value Resorts
While the three All-Star Resorts are some of the best Disney value resorts you’ll find, if you can stretch your budget that little bit further, you should definitely compare them to Pop Century and Art of Animation.
Pop Century is, in our opinion, worth the extra money because of its Skyliner access, but aesthetically, it’s pretty similar. Art of Animation has the most over-the-top theming, but it tends more than any of the other value resorts, and the Little Mermaid rooms are a long walk away from the main building (the Lion King and Finding Nemo rooms are closer).
Yes, we’d all splash out to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Grand Floridian Resort if we could. But if you want to save money and still enjoy all the benefits of the Walt Disney World property, the All-Star Resorts are a great choice. They offer many of the same perks as other Disney resorts without the eye-watering price tag of a moderate resort or deluxe resort
Final Thoughts: Choosing the Right All-Star Resort
So, which Disney All-Star hotel is the best? That depends on what you’re looking for:
- If theming and that classic Disney magic matter most to you, go for All-Star Movies.
- If you need extra space and don’t want to be cramped, All-Star Music wins with its family suites.
- If price and location are your top priorities, All-Star Sports usually has the lowest rates and is the closest to all the action.
No matter which resort you choose, you’ll still get all the benefits of staying at a Disney resort, including early park entry and buses that give you easy access to the theme parks and Disney Springs.
To help take the stress out of organising your Disney world trip, The House of Travel who are a Florida focused UK travel agency offers Complete Disney world packages at competitive rates. We’re a team of former Virgin holidays staff with decades worth of experience selling Disney Florida holidays. We know Disney world inside out. This ensures that you can enjoy your time here, with all of the planning in hand. After all, there’s no better way to explore Disney than by letting the experts take charge! Either give us a quick call on 0203 950 7371 or simply fill this quick form here for a call back request today.
