Planning a Disney vacation and looking for a fun and affordable resort? Be sure to check out Disney’s All Star Music Resort. This resort is great for a family on a budget and not looking to spend an arm and a leg staying at a Disney resort.
Disney’s All Star Music Resort shouldn’t be confused with the other two All Star Resorts (Movies and Sports). All Star Music is located in-between the other too resorts. However, all the rooms are basically the same except All Star Sports rooms have yet to be refurbished.
All Star Music Resort officially opened on November 22, 1994. It was the second All Star resort to open. All Star Sports was the first and it opened on April 29, 1994. All Star Movies was the last to open on January 15, 1999. All three resorts are in the Value resort category at Walt Disney World.
Rooms
All Star Music Resort has both standard rooms and family suites. The standard rooms come in at 260 sq feet. While the rooms might be a little on the small side. Everything is set up nicely to effectively use all the available space.
The rooms come with two queen beds. However, one is hidden from view. During the day you can use it as a table. At night you can pull the bed down and the table disappears.
Surprisingly the murphy bed is pretty comfortable. Of course, the stand alone bed is more comfortable but you can still get a good night of rest on it. Beside both beds are shelfing.
These shelves each have outlets and USB plugs. No need for the family to be fighting over the USB plugs to charge your phones. There are plenty all around the room to charge all of your electronics.
In the room before you pull down the bed for the night you will find a nice size table with two chairs. I wish there was two more folding chairs but sadly there isn’t. You can use this table however you like. I used it as a desk and there was still more than enough room for my daughter to eat.
Across from the beds you will find a large dresser, TV, and cabinet with a mini fridge and coffee maker on it. If you have a family of four, trying to unload all the clothes from your suitcase into the dresser will be a little tough. But it is doable.
The mini fridge also is not very big. However, you can fit plenty of bottles of water inside to keep cold for the next day. Oh, and you are going to want cold bottles of water to start your day with.
The coffee marker is your typical coffee maker you find at many hotels. It is nothing fancy and it will make one cup of coffee. If you don’t feel like walking to the food court. The room coffee will get you by.
Along the same wall you will find a door. This door will enter the room next to you. If you end up booking two rooms and request connecting rooms, you can use this door to enter the room next to you.
If you are not requesting connecting rooms. I suggest you make sure the door is locked. You don’t want your new neighbors coming into your room when you are at the parks or sleeping at night.
At the back of the room you will find the sink, shower, and toilet area. Thankfully, the sink is separate from the toilet and shower. The space is also large enough to change into. There is a sliding door into this area that you can close for some privacy.
The water pressure from the sink was a little lacking. I stayed on the second floor so they could have something to do with it. However, the pressure in the shower was good. So I am not really sure why it wasn’t that good in the sink.
The shower I did find to be a good size. The pressure coming out of the shower head was good. It could have been better but overall I was happy with it.
However, I did find the temperature a little difficult to control. I could never really get it to be to my liking. It was either too hot or cold. Now for reference I did end up getting a shower between 2100-2300 (9-11pm) at night.
The last thing to go over in the room is the toilet. This toilet did not lack flushing power. You could definitely flush many things down this toilet. I would be carful with young kids. You never know what they might try to flush.
Around the Resort
All Star Music Resort is very spread out. If you are in the Country Section be prepared to walk. From our room in the Rock Section on the second floor it took close to six minutes to get to the main building. We don’t walk slow either.
Around the resort you will find large icons from each of the different genres that are represented. You will find huge Cowboy boots, jukeboxes, drums, speakers, Maracas, and many other musical instruments. The value resorts are known for all the oversized icons around the different buildings. All Star Music is no different.
Be sure to walk around the resort and check out all the different buildings. It really is a cool sight to see. Even the railings musical notes on them.
All Star Music has two pools to choose from. You can take a dip in the main pool which is shaped like a six sting guitar. Or check out the smaller but still refreshing piano pool.
Both pools are staffed with lifeguards and are between three and five feet deep. Both have plenty of chairs around the pool for you to sit in and relax. However, I would suggest you jump in the pool.
The water is nice and refreshing. It is definitely a great way to end the day or do what we do and come back in the afternoon to cool off before heading back to the parks for the evening. Either way you can’t go wrong.
The main building at All Star Resorts has everything you need. You will not only find the check in desk but you will also find the arcade, store, and food court. This is also where you would go to catch the bus to the parks and Disney Springs.
I was surprised by the size of the arcade. It was pretty big and had tons of games to play. You or your kids could easily spend an hour in there playing all different kinds of arcade games.
Across from the arcade you will find the intermission food court. For the size of the All Star Music Resort the food court does seem a little small. However, I really only found it to be very crowded at the end of the day.
Here you will find items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can find your Mickey waffles, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and other breakfast related items. Lunch and Dinner have the same food for both meals.
You will find pizza, pasta, and burgers. Just like you would at any other WDW food court. However, All Star Music does have some things that are a little more unique to this location that I haven’t seen at the other food courts I have visited.
You can get either a hot dog or bread boule with Walt’s favorite chili. All the food looked very good. The cupcakes did look amazing. Unique to All Star Music is the Rock N’ Roll cupcake.
Out back of the food court and right across from the main pool is the Singing Spirits Pool Bar. They have you covered on all you adult beverage needs. You can find all different types of beer (over 20), wine, and cocktails.
Some of the more interesting cocktails they have include Melody Martini which has Absolut Vodka, DeKuyper Pucker Sour Apple, Midori, and Sweet-and-Sour. Or trying the Opening Act with Rum, Watermelon, Mint, and Lime Juice topped with Soda Water. I just love how they try and fit the names with the theme of the resort.
Transportation
Getting to the parks from All Star Music can take a good amount of time with the exception of Animal Kingdom. All Star Music is not far from Animal Kingdom and will take the least amount of time to get to. Magic Kingdom is the furthest away from the resort.
You have two option when staying at All Star Music on how to get to the parks. You can either take the bus or drive yourself. The buses come about every 20 minutes or so. In the morning they can be very crowded.
Sometimes you might have to wait for another bus since the first one didn’t have enough room. As the day goes on the line at the bus stop isn’t too bad. The one that does stink is there are no overhangs in the line for the bus. You either have to sit back against the wall or brave the hot Florida sun.
I prefer to drive to the parks. If you are a resort guest you get free standard parking at the theme parks. I find it better to drive and faster too. Just be prepared to walk a good distance if you drive.
The buses drop you off pretty close to the main entrance to the parks. I have found it to be about 50/50 on which mode of transportation is faster. Half the time I can beat my party to the parks by driving. The other 50% of the time they do. It just depends on how lucky you are with catching the bus.
Have you ever stayed at one of the All Star Resorts? Are the All Star Resorts the only Disney Resort you could stay at? I know if I visit Walt Disney World again I will have to stay at an All Star resort since the room rates are getting ridiculous. Do you also think the rooms are becoming too expensive? Let us know in the comments below.
Planning a WDW vacation and looking to stay at a different Disney Resort? Check out POP Century if you want to stay on site. If you are looking to stay off site you should check out Fantasy World Resort.
Kozmo Photos 