While I’ve stayed in most Disney resort hotels over my many years visiting Walt Disney World, I had never stayed in one of the All-Star resorts. These three value resorts (All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports), are kid-friendly and can be a great deal without sacrificing the fun and quality you expect from the Disney World resorts.
During a recent trip to Walt Disney World as the first part of my Disney Land and Sea vacation, I spend two nights at the Disney All-Star Movies Resort. It was a great experience and such a good way to save money while still getting the fantastic benefits of staying at a Disney property.
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Disney All-Star Movies Resort Review
The Location of the Disney All-Star Movies Resort
The All-Star Movies resort, like the other two All-Star Disney resorts, is located in the Animal Kingdom section of the park. However, despite that location, you’ll still need to take a bus to Animal Kingdom. It’s not walkable to any of the theme parks.
Buses will take you to all four theme parks (the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom), as well as Disney Springs and the two water parks. There is one bus stop for the whole resort, and they aren’t covered.
So, in the sun, they can definitely get a little hot while you are waiting. You can see wait times for the next bus time on your My Disney Experience app.
Parking is available for resort guests. I prefer to forgo the rental car when staying at Walt Disney World because I just take the free transportation and let someone else do the driving.
The Rooms at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
The rooms at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort are relatively small but are still comfortable. These All-Star Movies renovated rooms feel brand new and are clean and inviting. They are very similar to the newly renovated rooms at Pop Century.
Most of the rooms have two beds, including one standard queen bed and a queen pullout bed that doubles as a table. Despite being a Murphy bed, this pullout bed is still a very comfortable mattress.
I was especially impressed with the number of pillows in the room (9 total!), and the comfort of the bed. These queen beds replace the double beds that used to be in the rooms before the renovation.
There is plenty of space in the rooms, with a small open closet and drawers. If you are bringing along your electronics, you’ll find numerous outlets and USB ports. Instead of carpeting, you’ll find laminate flooring which stays much cleaner than carpeting.
The rooms include a mini-refrigerator, safe, coffee maker, hairdryers, iron with ironing board, and television. You will be able to use your MagicBand to open the door to the room if you have one. Otherwise, you’ll be able to use the app or get a key card.
Guest rooms are all located in various buildings scattered throughout the resort. These are motel-style rooms, with an exterior entrance to the room. There are stairs and elevators to get you to the upper floors.
There are five separate sections to the resort, themed for various popular movies. These include 101 Dalmatians, Toy Story, the Mighty Ducks, Herbie the Love Bug, and Fantasia. While you’ll see decor for these Disney movies along the exterior of the buildings, the rooms themselves aren’t themed.
In addition to the rooms with two queen beds, there are some rooms available with king beds. There are standard rooms and preferred rooms at the resort. The difference between these rooms is the location – preferred rooms are in more convenient locations. I do like having the preferred room because you’ll have less walking to do, but if you’d like to save money, the standard rooms are a great option.
Amenities at the Disney All-Star Movies Resort
All-Star Movies has larger-than-life characters dotted throughout the resort, making it lots of fun for little kids. While I was traveling without my children for my visit, I saw so many kids enjoying the decor.
There are lots of amenities and activities at the resort for the time you spend there. While some guests prefer to spend their vacation time at the parks, sometimes you’ll want to enjoy your resort. You’ll find two pools at the All-Star Movie resort. The pool area in the center of the resort is the Fantasia pool, which includes the main pool, a kiddie pool, and a water play area. Note that the Fantasia Pool will be under construction starting in January of 2024.
During our stay, the Fantasia Pool was bustling, especially since the weather was very hot. There’s also a second pool, the Duck Pond Pool is themed after the Mighty Ducks movie. It’s made to look like an ice skating rink and is located toward the back of the resort. Towels are available at both pools.
When I stay on property at Walt Disney World, I usually try to spend at least one afternoon at the pool. It’s a great way to cool down and get away from the crowds of the parks.
There are other amenities and activities at the hotel. These include laundry facilities, an ATM, Donald’s Double Feature gift shop, a concierge, and bell services.
Online check-in is available. If you check in to your resort in advance of your stay, you can bypass the cast members at the front desk and go directly to your room. You’ll receive a text message when your room is ready, and you can choose to either use the app or your MagicBand to open your room.
My flight landed at 12:30 pm, and my room was ready when I arrived. Check-in time, however, is 3:00 pm, so be prepared for that. Bell services can always hold your bags if you’d like to go directly to the theme parks without waiting for your room.
The resort offers other activities, including Movies Under the Stars. There’s also the Reel Fun Arcade, located in the main building (Cinema Hall) as well as a playground. Disney Value Resorts do not have water slides at the pools, or hot tubs, however.
As a bright, fun resort, All-Star Movies will definitely appeal to kids. If they are fans of the various themes, they’ll love it even more. It’s a fun place.
Food at the Disney All-Star Movies Resort
Food is always a big part of any of my Walt Disney World vacations. I typically eat most of my meals at the parks and Disney Springs, but it’s always good to have options at the resort.
As a value resort, All-Star Movies does not have a table service restaurant. They do, however, offer plenty of food options. The All-Star Movies Food Court, called the World Premiere Food Court, has five separate areas where you’ll find various entrees.
The World Premiere Food Court is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It also has a large center beverage refill area where you can fill up your refillable mugs (if you choose to purchase one from the resort).
We had breakfast at the All-Star Movies food court and found there to be plenty of food options. It was busy, but we were able to quickly get our food and easily found a table. While we didn’t have lunch or dinner there, I did notice that there were lots of food choices for those meals as well.
Mobile ordering is available from the app if you’d rather not wait in line. I noticed many guests picking up mobile orders to bring back to their rooms. That’s a great option for breakfast if you are in a hurry.
One member of the family can go pick up their breakfast while everyone else is getting ready. With the bed folding up into a table, there’s space to eat in the room before you head out to the theme parks for the day.
Choosing an All-Stars Resort
Wondering which of the All-Stars resorts is the best? If you are trying to figure out which of the resorts to choose, you may be wondering which is the best.
In general, the resorts are all fairly compatible. Amenities at the two resorts are similar. If the buses are using a shared route (they didn’t during my stay but sometimes do), All-Star Movies will be the last stop.
See more Disney All-Star Movies Resort reviews here and see the official website here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, there are actually two pools at the resort – the Fantasia Pool and the Duck Pond Pool.
Yes, it was renovated in 2019.
No, it doesn’t. Bus transportation is available to the theme parks.
