Pop Culture Value at Disney's All-Star Resorts

September 25, 2006 at 12:04 PM | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: Last weekend, Hotel Maven Tim Leffel was dragged to Disney World, a notorious wallet-buster, but he was able to make lemonade out of Mickey-shaped lemons. Here's his story.]

Disney World can suck a mom & dad's wallet dry in no time. One-day tickets to any of the parks will cost a family of four over $200 and nightly rates at some of the Disney-owned resorts can top $400. Plus you've gotta eat, right?

You can get a little relief on the lodging side though by staying at one of the three Disney All-Star Resorts. These are basically tricked-out motels, but they've gotten the full Disney treatment and attention to detail, so they end up being a surprisingly good value. This is especially true outside of holiday times, like now, when rates drop to $90 a night for a regular room and $190 for a two-room suite with two baths and a kitchenette. This includes express luggage and bus service from the airport, transportation to the Disney parks, and admission during extra hours.

More on the All-Star Resorts post-click.

The three themes to pick from are sports, music, and movies. The movies featured at the movie resort are strangely B-list though: Herbie the Love Bug, 101 Dalmatians, (hence the giant dalmation statue) and Fantasia. And if schlocky movie score music gets on your nerves, you'll be in trouble here in the public areas.

The music resort has the most greenery and the best swimming pools: one shaped like a guitar and one shaped like a piano. Plus the music soundtrack in the lobby and dining area is refreshingly eclectic: 50's do-wop to current pop hits. Disney is not too subtle about promoting its own acts on the Lyric Street label though. A row of photos in the lobby features greats like the Beatles, Bob Marley, and...Kortney Kale? Miles Davis, Johnny Cash, and...SheDaisy?

Rambunctious boys can work off some energy at the sports resort, where two pools are joined by a fake grass football field in the middle, complete with goalposts. The three-story Coca-Cola cups encircling the stairs seem a bit much, but it's an ad ad world we suppose.

Toiletries in all three are minimal, but kids love the fact that Mickey is on everything. Even the art and wallpaper trim in the rooms are Disney-themed. The dining choices are food court style, but not nearly as bad (or bad for you) as you would expect. More than a few guests look like the last thing they need is all-you-can-drink soda in a souvenir cup, or in-room pizza delivery, but both are there if you want them.

We're happy to see there's a full bar on site to help frazzled parents unwind after a day of winding through theme parks. Plus each resort has a big game arcade to send the kids off to at the same time. Guests report that the level of service is not on par with that at the upscale Disney resorts, but at 1/4 of the price, not a bad trade-off.

Related Stories:
· Stair-wells at the All-Star Movies Resort [HotelChatter]
· All-Star Movies Resort reviews [TripAdvisor]

Tags: Disney Hotels / Family Friendly / Hotel Deals

by Tim L.

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