Disney All Star Hotel, Orlando

...resorts are the budget lodgings Disney World offers its visitors, but gives their guests good value for their money. For people going to Orlando to see the Disney attractions, I recommend staying at any one of the Disney resorts for that portion of their visit. The perks that come with staying "on campus" outweigh what appears to be outrageous room rates. For anyone who is trying to keep expenses down on their visit, this resort is the ...
...well as a pamphlet for Disney World. Russell wanted to arrange a package and the options were numerous. We briefly considered going to one of the "Disney partner" big chain hotels, particularly when we saw Embassy Suites was one of them, but in the end Russell decided to stay on its grounds. Our AAA package included our room rate as well as:

--a parkhopper pass good for entry into any of the Florida Disney attractions
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When the St. Augustine leg of our Florida trip ended, Russell and I went straight to Kissimmee and checked in at Disney's All-Star Movies Resort. The All-Star resorts are the budget lodgings Disney World offers its visitors, but gives their guests good value for their money. For people going to Orlando to see the Disney attractions, I recommend staying at any one of the Disney resorts for that portion of their visit. The perks that come with staying "on campus" outweigh what appears to be outrageous room rates. For anyone who is trying to keep expenses down on their visit, this resort is the way to go.

PLANNING AND ARRIVING

Since this was the Russell portion of the trip, I let him make the arrangements. He had just wanted to buy the plane tickets and wing it from there, but I insisted on having a room reserved before we left California. When I happened to be at the American Auto Association (AAA)* to expedite a payment to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, I picked up some maps and a travel book on Florida, as well as a pamphlet for Disney World. Russell wanted to arrange a package and the options were numerous. We briefly considered going to one of the "Disney partner" big chain hotels, particularly when we saw Embassy Suites was one of them, but in the end Russell decided to stay on its grounds. Our AAA package included our room rate as well as:

--a parkhopper pass good for entry into any of the Florida Disney attractions
--a choice of:
----a specially designed character poster
----one or two images left on a brick at Epcot
----a round of miniature golf, or
----$25 dining credit at Planet Hollywood
--a discount on food bought within the All-Star resorts
--two free lanyards with Disney pins and
--two AAA-Disney luggage tags.

This was my first visit to Orlando and Russell's second, his first taken when the Magic Kingdom was the only park Disney World had. Unlike Anaheim, where Disneyland is crowded by a plethora of motels and restaurants, the parks at Disney World are surrounded by spacious, open land. Navigating our way through its roads was confusing, since neither of us were familiar with the Orlando area. We eventually found ourselves at something that looked like a toll booth. An attendant asked Russell for ID, then we knew we were on the right portion of West Buena Vista Drive. All three of Disney's All-Star Resorts, Sports, Music, and Movies, can be found one right after the other. The movies edition is the most recently added. Like the other two resorts, it was a large cluster of buildings looking like a motel. Unlike most motels, the exterior was decorated with huge figures related to their themes. Outside the lobby entrance, letters several feet high spelled out ALL STAR MOVIES.

MY DISNEY'S ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT EXPERIENCE

The lobby was spacious and simply decorated. Opposite of registration, a big-screen TV was showing a Disney animated movie and had several seats in front of it. A long counter accommodated around dozen (maybe even two) informally uniformed front desk clerks. There was no line, so we were waited on almost immediately. There was no problem finding our reservation and we were handed two cards that would act as both our room keys and admission to any of the Disney attractions. We also opted to add credit card privileges at any of the stores and restaurants that Disney operated. It had a $500 limit, however, so the balance had to be transferred to another credit card if we ran it up and wanted to keep using it.

These All-Star resorts are obviously where the Disney Corporation really packs in families. The resort is divided into four blocks of sleeping rooms, each comprising two three-story, three-wing building complexes with specific movie themes of their own. Among the movies Disney chose to exploit were FANTASIA, TOY STORY, THE LOVE BUG, and 101 DALMATIONS. We were assigned the latter, room 4964. As instructed by the front desk "cast member," we drove from the front parking lot to the one closest to our room. Even at that it was quite a lengthy walk. Normally walking is fine for me, but after our long days in the parks, it grew uncomfortable. Between the heat, humidity, and lack of quiet time, my ankles started to swell. When that happens, just standing can be painful for me. Like it or not, I'm not as young as I used to be.

The courtyard of our block had huge statues of Pongo and Perdita sitting opposite of each other. And I do mean they were big. They were at least as tall as the three-story buildings. It was sort of like Piccadilly Circus; no matter how many pictures you see, you don't realize how big it actually is until you see it in person. (I've heard someone say the same thing about John Wayne.) On the ground was Lucky, watching a "television." The TV was just a frame that many guests stood behind to have their pictures taken. The outdoor stairwells at the end of the buildings had fire hydrant housing.

Room 4964 was on a third floor corner. It was nice with some cute touches, even if it was cookie cutter and on the plain side. The walls were off-white and trimmed with a stripe of wallpaper depicting the Disney dalmatians. Different shades of blue or teal predominated everything else. Stars could be found on the curtains, carpet, and the shades of the lamps by the beds. A framed one-sheet for 101 DALMATIANS was the wall's sole piece of art. The two queen-size beds had quilted bedspreads with a dalmatian print. Over a small table with two chairs, was a grilled sconce. When the light was turned off, it looked like a popcorn bag. A simply designed nightstand and modular chest of six deep drawers completed the suite. The closet was an open one, with lots of room to hang clothes and a shelf over the rod.

The resort also provided a television that showed 11 stations twice on its dial. One was a standard broadcast and the other included closed captions. (I guess the management wanted to save either guests the hassle of setting up that feature or themselves the grief of explaining it.) It also had a few resort-originated stations with news and info on Disney World. The room automatically supplied a clock radio, phone, iron with board, safe and three wastebaskets.

As with many American hotels, the bathtub and toilet had a room of their own. The shower curtain and wallpaper had that star print. A movie reel trim lined the walls of the shower tile. The sink vanity was found on the wall between the bathroom and the closet. An ice tub was set out with a few disposable cups. The toiletries that were provided were minimal. All that was set out for us was a small bar of soap with Mickey Mouse's image. A dispenser was bolted to the wall of the shower, containing both liquid soap and shampoo. Hairdryers were available, but guests had to request them from housekeeping.

The room may have been basic, but it was clean and in good condition. It was designed to accommodate four people comfortably, so for two it was spacious. I do question how management concluded what towels to put in the rooms, though. Our cup runneth over with bath towels and washcloths, yet we were only provided one hand towel. One request to the chamberperson brought us even more of the bath size, which is difficult to work with for some ablutions.

Room cleaning service was good. Once again, I surprised to find we had a chamberMAN cheerfully cleaning it. First the St. Francis Inn in St. Augustine, then Disney. It must be a Florida thing. I feel as though women are now truly liberated. When I left requests with my daily tips, they did their best to fulfill them. We accidentally left our do-not-disturb sign out one day. Although we had wanted our room tidied, I was relieved they left it alone. I remember staying at one hotel in Vancouver, BC, years ago when my exboyfriend wasn't feeling well. I went out for a while when he was sleeping. Housekeeping had called earlier that day and I had told them not to bother cleaning our room, yet when I returned I found the door wide open with the maid scrubbing the bathroom as my ex slept. I was outraged. She would have been too, if he had gotten up. He slept in the nude. Never before had I been to a hotel that would invade a guest's privacy so much just to clean a room. I was glad to see the Disney resort to respect that. When I returned after a long day in the park, I found a plastic bag containing clean towels and anything else he would have replaced.

Despite the simplicity of the room, the resort has other features to make up for its lack of luxury. First and foremost for families is its two pools. It has a large one with a FANTASIA theme. A Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey fountain statue was at the top of its design, spouting water like he was casting a spell. The second, smaller pool is "reminiscent of the Mighty Ducks Pond Hockey Rink." Russell came to Disney World to see the parks, not go swimming. We never took advantage of it, but I found the idea of being seen in a swimsuit rather scary, too.

Second was its food court, which had four or five kitchens where each served a different type of cuisine. Although it was open from 6:30 a.m. to midnight, we only used it for breakfast and even that was a bit of fun. Plastic thermal souvenir cups were sold for around $12, which sounds steep, but guests could use them for unlimited refills of sodas, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate for the rest of their stays. Waffles were served in the shape of Mickey's head and his face imprinted them too. One of the kitchens made a breakfast pizza. The "individual" crust was topped with homestyle gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, and I believe it had cheese, too. It was good but more food than I could handle. Anyone who has a not-so-big appetite ought to arrange sharing. The food court did not have gourmet food, but it wasn't bad either. Anyone planning a meal around it should find it acceptable. The 10% discount we received was another bonus. Disney also has arrangements where guests can order a pizza brought to their rooms, but we never used this service.

The courtyard wall of the dining room has a bar that opens at noon and serves at the pool as well. The breezeway from the dining room to the lobby had a few penny crushing "art" machines and an artist drawing portraits, so no one has to spend time at one of the hot parks to for that. In the lobby, guests can find a mailbox, ATM, gift shop, arcade, and some form of internet access that I never used.

We took advantage of the four-item choices right away after checking in on Tuesday night. We met up with friends and used the $25 credit toward a meal at Planet Hollywood. The food was good, and I love the movie theme that exhibits props, costumes, and photos from movies, but this location was so fricking noisy. Music was turned up to top levels making conversation extremely difficult. The globe shape on the outside was kewl, but the difference between the Orlando and San Francisco locations was even bigger. It was obviously geared to a young crowd who appeared to have little interest in movies. The Orlando location must be doing something right, though, since the San Francisco one is now closed.

The first morning of our stay, Russell and I headed straight to the gift shop to pick up our lanyards and Disney pins. Little did we know at the time that we were on the way to financial ruin. These are high quality lapel pins of Disney characters ranging anywhere from $6.50 to $15 each, depending on how fancy they were. Many cast members at every Disney resort and theme park, including those outside of Florida, can be found wearing lanyards with several different pins on them. Whenever one of their guests requests a trade, they have to make the exchange. The two restrictions I ran across was that the cast members will only accept Disney pins and when their lanyard was green they dealt only with children. I always found that when I participate I tend to enjoy things more. Since I was there, I plunged right into this one. My mistake was not purchasing more pins there at the shop. When we reached the monorail, one cast member asked us if he had anything we wanted to trade for, but I wasn't ready to give up my AAA pin, which was only available through the package or by trade. This cast member had several large plastic ones that doubled as small electronic games and they were hard to find after that. When we reached the Magic Kingdom, I surprised Russell by being the first between us to purchase a few more. That was the beginning. Russell kept saying like all good pushers they start you out with one freebie, then you're hooked. Throughout the rest of our time at Disney World we were constantly eyeing cast members with lanyards. Zazu and Stitch were the characters I took a particular interest in, but my favorite is Mickey dressed in a ghost costume. I even ended up buying a second lanyard to accommodate the crowd of pins I was accumulating. Boy, did I become caught in the moment. (I'm fine now that I'm back at home, but that's only because the cast members at my local Disney store do not wear lanyards.) (Russell has his doubts.)

I was sorry I was unable to make a little more time for the arcade in the resort. It was a little nicer than the ones that can be found in the lobbies of movie theatres. It had an attendant and games that awarded tickets for prizes available on the spot. I like pinball games and it had a couple amongst all the video machines. However, from what I remember, the price of a game was high and only offered three balls, so it may have been just as well my time was limited.

One morning, Russell went off to Epcott on his own when I chose to take a little quiet time. I later took the resort's motorcoach to meet up with him. These came every 15-20 minutes and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that when it said Epcott, it went straight to Epcott. There was no tedious stopping at all of the other parks or attractions. I never took it back, so I don't know if it stops at the other two All-Star resorts before it comes to Movies.

Being a resort guest and having the AAA package had its perks at the parks as well. We were given a parking permit with privileges to park in the diamond lots. When we bought something in one of the park stores, Disney offered a delivery service to our resort so we didn't have to schlep a bag around the rest of the day. However, our items would not arrive until the next day, providing we made the purchase before the courier made his pickup. If it was late in the day, it would take two. It seemed that at least one park every day stayed open 2-3 hours longer just for resort guests. We were required to show our card keys to have a band tied to our right wrist. I have to admit that I paid little attention as to how well they enforced these special hours. Our AAA package also gave us the opportunity to visit the special VIP lounge in Tomorrow Land, but its hours were shorter than the Magic Kingdom's so we missed it.

Russell let our account default to express check out when we rushed off to Disney MGM Studios our last morning there. He hasn't mentioned any problems with our bill, so I assume it works well.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Disney's All-Star Movies Resort has 1,920 rooms available to let. It has two swimming pools, food court, gift shop and arcade. Handicap rooms and facilities are available. The hotel offers babysitting and child services. Cots are available on request. Laundry facilities can be found by the pools. Refrigerators are available at an additional fee. Check-in time is 4 p.m.; checkout is 11 a.m. Our extracurricular room key privileges lasted from the time we checked in until the end of the day we checked out. The total for our double-occupancy, four-night package was $929.70 U.S. The UK nightly room rate I give below is approximately 75% of the median daily average calculated from this total. Checking the Disney website, 2004 room rates range $77-$126 U.S. per night without a package, depending on the room and time of year. I also learned that staying at the Music or Sports themed All-Star Resorts was a little cheaper. Not by much, but anyone wanting to save yet a few more dollars might want to consider those.

As it turned out, we ended up spending so much time at the parks that if we had stayed at one of the more expensive hotels it would have been a waste of money since we weren't there to indulge. The monorail stop in the lobby of the Contemporary Resort was kewl, but its rates were something like three or five times what we paid. Disney's All-Star Movies Resort suited us very well. People who complain about how little it provides need to open up their pocketbooks for one of the mid-range or luxury hotels.

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Originally posted at Epinions.com on 27 July 2004.

*The UK equivalent is the Auto Association (AA), http://www.theaa.com. 

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