All Star Movies Resort vs. All Star Sports Resort
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Planning a trip can be difficult and overwhelming, especially when you might be novice to Disney World preparation and planning. One of the biggest things you probably will think about first is what resort is best for you and your party? Where in the world are you going to stay during your magical vacation?
There are so many resorts to choose from on Walt Disney property, but in today’s article, I’m going to narrow it down to two resorts—Disney’s All-Star-Movies Resort and Disney’s All-Star-Sports Resort. Throughout this article, we will explore the ins and outs of both resorts, comparing the two and sharing what each one has to offer.
At the end of the article, I will give my final opinion as to why I would pick one of these resorts over the other, which should hopefully help you be able to decide which resort best fits the needs of you and your family.
So, without further ado, let’s begin by breaking down what the All Star Movies Resort has to offer Disney World guests.
All-Star-Movies Resort
The All-Star-Resorts are essentially three different resorts in the same area, and they are all connected via parking lots and walking paths. They are the All-Star-Movies Resort, the All-Star-Music Resort, and the All-Star-Sports Resort.
Something I want to express is that they are all separate resorts with separate ways of transportation and such, they are all just very similar and are in the same location. Just because you are booked for the All-Star-Sports Resort does not mean you can check in at the All-Star-Movies Resort.
All-Star-Movies is a beautiful resort that is themed to all things movies. It is a beautiful display of nostalgia while paying homage to everything in filmmaking. Everything from the doors, the signs, the walls, the pictures, the pool, etc. is themed to be about the movies, specifically Disney movies. The lobby is lined with multiple pictures of classic Disney movies that you can take time to look at as you stroll through the area. The “World Premiere” Food Court is a fabulous place to get something to eat, and it is super fun, because it looks like the lobby of a movie theater. It is just the perfect touch to a resort themed after the magic of the movies.
You have the option of getting things to go or eating your food in one of the many seating options they provide. The fun thing is that you can eat either inside or outside, whatever you want! They provide breakfast options from 7 to 11 AM. After you eat your meal, you can stop by Donald’s Double Feature, which is the wonderful gift shop at the resort.
There are so many souvenirs that you can buy here (very much like every other gift shop on Disney property, if I’m honest). What is also nice is that there is an area in the gift shop that you can have souvenirs and products that you buy in the parks sent to if you do not wish to carry them around with you.
If you buy something in the Disney parks that is perhaps a little too big or perhaps fragile, you can have it shipped back to you hotel. Inside Donald’s Double Feature is where you would be up these products! It’s a wonderful resort that welcomes you to the world of the movies as soon as you step through the doors. And we haven’t even made it to the rest of the resort yet!
Right across from the food court is the “Reel Fun Arcade,” where people of all ages can come and enjoy arcade games that are both nostalgic and brand new. Something to remember is that there is a portable charger station right outside the arcade, as well as an ATM for guests in case they are in need of either one of them. Most of the hotels provide these features just in case. Now it is time to explore the best part about the resort!
When you step outside of the main building and head towards your room, you are greeted by the Fantasia section of the resort. What do I mean by that? Well, the resort has five sections that are themed to a different classic Disney movie. The sections are Fantasia (with some aspects of Fantasia 2000), 101 Dalmatians, Toy Story, The Love Bug, and The Mighty Ducks. These sections are larger than life, with amazing features and statues that really bring you into the movie your room happens to reside in. It is so much fun and provides so many photo-ops. It is unbelievable and brings the magic right back to your room after your amazing adventures!
When you head outside to the rest of the resort, you see the main pool right in the middle of the Fantasia section. A giant Sorcerer Mickey is in the middle of the pool where water sprays from his fingers. Silver Screen Spirits is an outside, pool bar that is right outside of the main building of the resort. The bar is open from 12 AM to 12 PM, and you can enjoy drinks at the bar or at one of the many tables and chairs that surround the bar and the pool.
Feel free to also bring out food from the food court to enjoy by the pool or even just outside if it is a beautiful day! There are so many photo-ops that are available throughout the entire resort, which is why I love these resorts so much. If you go to the right instead of the left when you come out of the main building, you are heading into the 101 Dalmatians section, where the sidewalk is lined with “Kanine Krunchies” from the movie.
Pongo and Perdita are giant statues in the section, along with a vintage looking television that is an adorable photo-op. If you continue to walk to the back section of the resort, you enter The Mighty Ducks section, so everything is very hockey themed. This is where the second pool in the resort is located. Giant hockey masks and hockey sticks line the railings of the buildings, and there are two goals at either end of the pool, making you feel like you are in a hockey arena.
I do not know that much about The Mighty Ducks, but I still feel like I’m in the middle of the movie due to the excellent theming of the section. The last section is themed to the movie The Love Bug. I love this section, because I loved this movie when I was younger. It is all about Herbie, the racing love bug that has a mind of its own. It is an older movie, and it is extremely unique and lovely that they chose to pay homage to this movie in this newer resort.
The rooms in All-Star-Movies are absolutely spectacular, because they have recently undergone amazing construction. Whenever I’m getting ready in the morning and I don’t want to take the time to run down to the food court to grab a cup of coffee, this coffee maker works wonders with saving time. To-go cups, lids, creamer, sugar, and stirrers are provided for you to make your perfect cup of coffee, and it’s FREE. Who doesn’t love that? The coffee maker, along with a small refrigerator, is located on an additional storage space that stores little knick knacks and souvenirs you may have.
Any options for storage are absolutely welcome. More storage is provided in the large dresser underneath the huge television in the center of the room. I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for more space on table tops in order to set things upon. The space that this dresser provides is absolutely immaculate.
I’ve set everything from mouse ears to popcorn buckets, Disney bags, snacks, bottles of water, and clothes on it. Honestly, it’s amazing what you can fit on it. There is also a coat rack for anything you need to hang up such as coats, hats, or bags of any kind.
One of my favorite features is the sliding door in the bathroom, separating the bedroom from the bathroom sink area. This is incredibly useful for privacy reasons. It’s also useful for blocking out light and noise from those in your party who are still sleeping while you are getting ready in the morning.
Extra closet space is provided with multiple hangers for clothes you perhaps do not want to fold up in a drawer. Below this is more storage space. In the sink and vanity area, there’s even more storage! Whenever my family of four has stayed in these rooms, we have been able to separate all of our toiletries and belongings into separate cubbies in order to stay organized and so nothing would get lost. The toilet and shower are separate from the sink area, which is super convenient, and the shower is a sliding glass door.
All-Star-Sports Resort
Now that we are moving on to All-Star-Sports, this resort is just like All-Star-Movies, except that it is themed to all things sports. In the lobby of the main building, there are beautiful pictures, historical and current of different sports legends throughout the walls. I love looking at all of them, talking with whomever I am traveling with about them all. (I like sports, but I am not the biggest fan, so I do not know many sports legends).
It adds an elegant touch to the resort, and sports fans can look at all the different legends on the wall and hopefully can find their favorite one. The gift shop there is called Sport Goofy and holds so many souvenirs. The entire gift shop is sports themed, of course, with goofy as the main star.
The End Zone Food Court is an excellent place to grab something to eat, whether it’s on the go, or you are sitting down to relax. Different options are provided for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served from 7-11 AM, with lunch and dinner options served after breakfast.
They also provide options for dessert and things you can take to-go whenever you are on your way to your next destination. Trays are provided for carrying everything you could possibly need, and a variety of drinks are available as well. Coffee and tea are also available any time you would like them. Across from the End Zone Food Court is the Game Point Arcade, which provides so many games, old and new for guests of all ages.
There are five different sections of the resort where all the rooms are located. Each of these sections are themed after a different sport, and the sports are:
- Surfing
- Basketball
- Tennis
- Football
- Baseball
The themes are fantastic, providing larger than life aspects and statues of each sport, such as a small football field in the football section. It’s really fun because some guests actually will be outside playing football for fun on that field!
Both All-Star-Movies and All-Star-Sports are absolutely unique and wonderful, and they both are similar but have very different aspects about the both of them. They both deserve to be explored at least once.
How Far Away are the Parks?
The All-Star-Movies and All-Star Sports are in the same location, so it takes about the same amount of time to travel to different destinations on Walt Disney World property. Now, the All-Star Resorts are considered “Animal Kingdom Resorts” because they are the closest to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They are about five minutes away from this park. The second closest is Disney’s Hollywood Studios is about seven to ten minutes.
The distance to EPCOT is about ten minutes. The time period to get to Disney Springs is about twelve minutes. The farthest park is Disney’s Magic Kingdom. This park is the farthest from most resorts however. Unless you are a deluxe Disney monorail resort with the exception of a couple others, none of the resorts are really that close to the Magic Kingdom.
Transportation Options
There are really only two options of transportation to park destinations when it comes to the All-Star-Resorts. There’s the Disney Bus Transportation System and then having the option of driving yourself. Now, obviously, you can’t drive yourself to the parks unless you have driven to Walt Disney World. If you do drive to Disney, then what you should know is that parking at the parks is totally free if you are staying on property.
When you drive to the parks, you do not have to wait in line at the bus stops and be on a crowded bus first thing in the morning. You can leave on your own time and drive directly there yourself. In my experience, it is so much faster to do this and is so much easier to travel on your own time.
The only thing is, in order to park your vehicle in the resort parking lots, you have to pay thirteen dollars a night. This is an added expense, but if you happen to be driving to Disney World, it’s really not that bad when you consider the positive things you get out of it.
Now, of course, not everyone can drive to Disney, which is totally okay because the bus transportation is on par as well. The bus station is out front of the main building of both of the resorts. The bus stations are very self-explanatory; for there is a designated section for each of the destinations on property to stand and wait for a bus. Up on the wall, there are TV screens telling how much longer guests have to wait until the next bus to their destination.
The turn around goes as fast as it possibly can, depending on things such as traffic and how many passengers there are. I believe the longest I’ve ever waited for a bus is about twenty minutes. It’s never really that long. They try to have as many buses come through as possible when there are a lot of people waiting, such as first thing in the morning when the park opens and when the parks close and everyone is ready to go back to their resort.
There is limited seating on the buses, so be prepared to stand during crowded times. There is loading and unloading of wheelchairs and scooters as well. For passengers who need this service, they are the first to be loaded onto the bus. This just takes a few minutes, and then the rest of the passengers are loaded.
A Valued Price
The price is usually the first thing that can determine whether people continue to look at a resort or not. The amazing thing about these resorts is that they are an amazing price, which is why they are labeled as value resorts.
The service and quality of everything at these resorts does not diminish just because the prices are lower. Because both All-Star-Movies and All-Star-Sports are in the same section and are very similar, their pricing is very similar as well. Having stayed at both resorts multiple times, I usually find the pricing to be about $170-$180 per night on average at both of these resorts.
Now, something to keep in mind is that the prices of the hotels are not fixed all year long. They go up or down depending on the crowds that are traveling there.. At the more crowded times of the year, the pricing will go up, especially at these resorts because they are some of the cheaper and more fun options. One of the best things to do is to look at a crowd calendar online somewhere in order to estimate what the crowds will like at the time you and your party are considering going to Walt Disney World.
The time periods that the crowds usually go up is around the holidays due to all the special activities and events that are going on at that time period and also during the summer since school is out.
The cheapest time of year tends to be right around the beginning of the year: January through March because this can be the least crowded time of year. The prices usually go down at this time of the year because of this reason.
My Favorite Resort Out of the Two
Both the All-Star-Movies and the All-Star-Sports Resorts are two hotels that are worth the exploration. Having stayed in both of them, I can honestly say that they are both excellent resorts with quality service at an extremely valuable price. They are both very similar, and my favorite out of the two would actually come down to the theming and the rooms.
In that case, my favorite resort out of the two is the All-Star-Movies. My reasoning is because I love movies so much, especially Disney movies, so I’m going to want to stay where films are represented. The rooms are so wonderful, and since I’ve stayed in them, it’s hard to go back to the older rooms. The magic is brought to All-Star-Movies the most for me, but both the All-Star-Movies and All-Star-Sports are amazing.
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