Disney's All Star Music Resort

[Allstar Music Satellite Map]

Overview

The All Star Resorts are the bargain basement of Disney-owned resort hotels, but still offer comfortable, clean accommodation ideally suited to those that wish to stay on property, yet keep a close eye on the budget.

The main advantage in staying at one of the All-Star Resorts is one of economy, since Room rates are the lowest available on Disney property, yet while being affordable, they also offer the same privileges as other Disney properties, including convenient bus transportation throughout Walt Disney World; early entry privileges (resort guests can enter the parks 1 ½ hours before official park opening time); affordable food court; great Disney service from the front desk clerks to the Guest Services desk; and clean, themed pool areas.

The All-Star Music Resort, which opened in November 1994, consisting of 1,920 rooms, has been carefully, though garishly, themed, with accommodation areas named Broadway Hotel, Country Fair, Jazz Inn, Rock Inn, and Calypso, with the main building containing the reception area and food courts named Melody Hall. Giant musical icons adorn the hotel buildings, with a three-story pair of Cowboy Boots at the Country Fair area, Three story Juke Boxes and electric guitars at the Rock Inn. Sax and Trombone players silhouetting the top of the buildings, a large pool area in the shape of a guitar, a giant Broadway theater marquee, and an oversize walkthrough neon jukebox.

Rooms

There are 1,920 rooms in total at the All-Star Music Resort, each of which is 260 square feet in size (the smallest of all rooms on the Disney property). 1,344 of the rooms are designated Non-Smoking, and 96 designed for people with disabilities.

All rooms are En-Suite, with two double, or one King-Sized bed, table and chairs, vanity area with sink, and a separate bathroom. Small refrigerators, large enough for a couple of drinks, and a few other items, are available for an extra fee of the order of $5 per night. The supply refrigerators are limited though, so if you want one request one when making your reservation.

Rates vary based on the view from the rooms, with 'Pool View' rooms generally costing around $10 per night more than 'Standard View' rooms, which may look out over the parking lot, or into the courtyard area. Generally however, it is accepted that despite the slightly higher cost for a Pool-View room, these rooms are likely to be more noisy than rooms with a standard view, so if you value quiet, it may be better to opt for a Standard view room anyway.

Rooms are equipped with one sink and one mirror. The sink area is outside the bathroom. The one sink/one mirror can cause a logistical nightmare in the morning (especially is you are traveling with teenagers), so plan accordingly.

Some rooms feature one King-Sized bed rather than two double beds, and generally have facilities for the handicapped, including enlarged areas to allow easy access for wheel-chairs. They also generally have refrigerators built into the dresser units as standard. Again if you require a room designed for the disabled make sure you request one when making the reservation.

Every room at the All-Star Music has a small key operated safe. Larger safekeeping boxes are available at the Front Desk.

Adjoining rooms are available, however, you must request adjoining rooms when making your reservations. Adjoining rooms are not guaranteed, but every effort will be made to honor your request.

The closest area to the bus stop, food courts, and pools are located in Calypso buildings 1 and 10, with Country Fair buildings the furthest from Melody Hall (approximately a 3 to 4 minute walk).

Vehicle Parking surrounds the exterior of the buildings, so parking is convenient to all buildings.

Coin operated laundry facilities are located near both the piano and guitar pools. Additionally, laundry bags are available in each room. By completing the attached laundry list and dropping the laundry off at the Guest Services desk by 8:30am, same day laundry/dry cleaning is available. This laundry service is offered 7 days a week, including holidays.

Food and Drink

The All-Star Music food court is open from 6am to 11pm and offers the a reasonable selection of fast foods including Breakfast from bagels, to pancakes, to grits and fresh biscuits, Lunch and Dinner - grilled sandwiches, specialty pizzas, pastas, salads, and rotisserie chicken and prime rib.

Pizza delivery is also available from 5pm to midnight. Special dietary needs can be met at the food court by dialing 7-6026 from your resort phone.

Refillable mugs are available at the food court. These mugs cost around $7 and allow resort guests unlimited refills at the ASM food court during their stay. Mugs can be refilled with coffee, fountain drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Orange, Mountain Dew, etc.) or iced tea. Fruit juices and milk are not available for refills. Technically, the mug cannot be used at other Disney resorts. The mug cannot be used in the theme parks.

Activities

Each of the resorts has a couple of pools (shaped according to the resorts theme). There is also a small playground for the kids and an arcade for the older kids in each hotel. There is also a gift/sundries shop at each establishment.

Recreation

Recreation facilities are limited to the pool areas, a small playground, a game room, and shopping. However, you can visit other Disney resorts such as the Contemporary, the Beach Club, Fort Wilderness Campground, or the Downtown Disney area to participate in a wide variety of water sports and other activities such as tennis, horse back riding, and fishing.

Additionally, Disney movies play in the front desk lobby area and in the food court. Karaoke has been available in the past on Wednesday night.

Shopping

Maestro Mickey offers a variety of Disney merchandise from character merchandise and souvenirs to All-Star Music sports wear. A small variety of grocery items are also available, such as snacks, liquor, sundries, and beverages. Some of the grocery items (such as juice and milk) are cheaper if purchased in the gift shop rather than the food court.

Checkin/Checkout

All-Star Music check-in time is 3pm, and check-out time is 11am. Late check-out of 1:00 pm can be requested if required. Express check-out is available to all guests paying with a credit card. A detailed hotel bill is delivered to your door by 7am. If the bill is correct, all you have to do is call the front desk as you leave. Your room key serves as a Disney souvenir.

If you arrive early, go ahead and check in at the ASM front desk. If your room is not ready, the All-Star Music luggage service will store your bags for you and deliver them to your room when you return. The front desk will give you a resort charge card, even if your room is not ready. The Guest Services desk will provide your room key when you return and your room is ready.

Guest Services

The Guest Services desk in Melody Hall can arrange dining reservations, sell park admission tickets, and can answer a variety of questions regarding the WDW property. Foreign currency can be exchanged at the Front Desk. They will also help you rent a car, send flowers and help you out with maps.

Disney Transportation

When you stay at the All-Star Resorts you travel by bus. Everywhere. It's not bad service, but the large number of people at these resorts sometimes mean long waits at the bus stops.

Bus riding time (not including wait times) are:

• Blizzard Beach - 5 minutes
• MGM Studios - 10 minutes
• Epcot - 13 minutes
• Magic Kingdom (MK) - 18 minutes

The posted wait-time for a bus is up to 20 minutes, but generally you're unlikely to have to wait for more than 10 minutes for a bus. Buses operate one hour before and after park closing for The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and the Disney-MGM Studios.

Directions to the Resort

Take the I-4 to Exit 25B (WALT DISNEY WORLD) and follow the signs to The Magic Kingdom. Take the 1st exit (signed All-Star Resort / Blizzard Beach) and continue until the road ends. Turn left at the stop sign, and the All-Star Resorts will be approximately 1-mile on the right. The All-Star Sports Resort is first, followed by the All-Star Music Resort.

The resort is located at 1801 West Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000 in the Epcot - MGM Studios resort area. The telephone number for the resort is (407) 939-6000.