Disney All Star Hotel, Orlando > Reviews > You should have seen the size of those balls

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Quality of Rooms	Excellent
Standard of Service	Excellent
Quality of Facilities	Excellent

Advantages:	good value, plenty to do
Disadvantages:	a bit out of the way

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Back in 1996, my mum , dad, brother, his then wife, their kids and her parents planned to go to Orlando.
They stayed at the Grosvenor Resort near Disney Village.
We thought it was too expensive, so we booked one of the All Star resorts.
At the time there was a choice of All Star Sports and All Star Music Resort. Now I think they have expanded the resort to All Star Movies.
We chose All Star Sports, don't know why really, just picked it at the spur of the moment.
It was part of what they call a Disney Hotel.

It was going to cost me and my husband £799 each for two weeks and that included a 14 unlimited hopper pass to the Disney Theme Parks.
I thought that was excellent value as my parents had paid £899 and only got a five day pass.
The pass included days out to Disney World, MGM,Epcot Centre, Wet n Wild, Blizzard Beach and other attractions.
Oh sorry I nearly forgot Pleasure Island the place of many nightclubs and shops.

When we got to airport we were taken by shuttle, a posh name for a minibus, it started overheating and we had to call for help.
Within 10 minutes a new had been sent out for us.
We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the day. It was a little bit out on a limb compared to the other Disney Hotels, but because of the free shuttle buses, we felt ok about it.

There were staff there ready to take our luggage for us, they showed us to the check-in area, this seemed large compared to other hotels we had stayed in.
It was very organized with plenty of staff behind the desks.
We checked in with no trouble and was given a key for our door, this in fact was an electronic swipe card, this was the first time we had seen one of those.
We also got a credit card to use, we could put our purchases on there and pay it off at the end of our stay.
This was only a Disney style credit card, it was just a way of putting charges on your bill at no extra cost.
There was no interest added on. You could buy things at theme parks and with the card you got to use it as a privilige card and get discounts and free delivery to your hotel after your day out.

On the way to our room, we noticed the very large amusement arcade with everything from bowling alleys to shoot em up games.
Then there was a massive supermarket come gift shop which opened 24 hours a day.
You could buy Mickey Mouse things to Alcohol.
There was also a large food court which served breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There was something for everyone, they had cereals, pancakes, eggs, sausages, freshfruit cocktail for breakfast, along with as much coffee, as you liked.
You could buy a mug with All Star Sports written on and for $7.00 dollars you could refill it all week with coke, 7up, coffee, in fact anything you wanted except beer.

Our rooms were nice, they had lovely bedspreads with sporting themes on them, there were two queen sized beds, a vanity area with sink.
A seperate bathroom, with loo, bath, power shower, hairdryer.
There was a large TV, telephone with free local calls and free voice mail.
They were very comfortable, the only thing missing was an individual balcony, they were communal.

There were loads of swimming pools, I'm not sure if there about 5 or not.
We didn't go in, I'm not a good swimmer, even though we did sit round the pool on the many loungers.
There were massive gardens, with oversized features in them.
They had oversized baseball bats, footballs which were stood beside each building.
The hotel was in many sections, a bit like Butlins, but nicer.
There was a shuttle bus which was free going to the Disney attractions.
You just hopped on and off, you could even have a day out at the many Disney hotels, some are themed.

At night there was only a small bar just off the food court, you could still laze by the pool up until about 11pm, or play in the arcade.
Us, well we just popped down into the Disney Village. One day though we wanted to go into Kissimee old town, we booked a taxi, bewware of the prices, it then cost us $20 and that was one way.
The driver said it was because we were staying in a Disney Hotel and they thought that the tourists must have loads of money to stay there, hence the high taxi prices.
Even though we had a good holiday, we then went back a few years later and stayed in a villa for the same price, that's without the passes though.
But there again, that might be another op!!

Have a nice Day.