A few All-Star Music Questions...

[FantasiaMagic]

Hello All!

Staying at ASMu for the first time this March. I tried looking on the main info page for these questions but did not find exact answers:

1. What type of coffee makers are in the ASMu standard rooms? I was wondering if they take coffee pods vs. a normal coffee machine. If pods are usable I was going to bring some from home...

2. How does the bus system work with the All-Stars? I have heard that the All-stars share buses. I am just wondering who gets picked up first out of the three?

3. Are towels available at the pools? This is my first time staying at a TRUE value (I have stayed at AoA before), just wondering how the towel situation works!

4. What is your favorite area of the resort to stay in? I put the Jazz section in the notes of my reservation. From the looks of the map - that seems like a good area to be in...close enough to the main building, but not too close where it will be too loud!

I'm really looking forward to staying at ASMu.

TIA for any help, comments, etc.

--Alison

 

[Arielfan98]

1. No coffee makers in the rooms at All Stars
2. The buses are rarely shared, so going to the parks/DS will not be an issue. The Magical Express is shared sometimes and the bus to the All Star Resorts from MK sometimes.
3. Yes, towels are available at the pools.
4. My family does like Jazz or Broadway. I would recommend a preferred room for this particular resort because it is a little bit of a walk. The Calypso buildings are better.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

1. No coffee makers in the rooms at All Stars
2. The buses are rarely shared, so going to the parks/DS will not be an issue. The Magical Express is shared sometimes and the bus to the All Star Resorts from MK sometimes.
3. Yes, towels are available at the pools.
4. My family does like Jazz or Broadway. I would recommend a preferred room for this particular resort because it is a little bit of a walk. The Calypso buildings are better.

Thanks for the response!

 

[StarSeven7]

We just stayed at All Star Movies a few weeks ago for 7 nights and we found that the All Stars did have shared buses - almost always if we came back in the afternoon (and in the afternoon on our way back from Disney Springs). We never shared in the morning on our way to a park or in the evening coming back from a park. When they shared, the order was ASSp, ASMu, ASMo. And they pick up people at each resort as they drop off so it can take a bit more time. This usually wasn't too time consuming when we came back from the parks in the afternoon but when we came back from Disney Springs on a busy Saturday afternoon it took a long time to unload at each resort and then try to shuffle people around as more guests came on, more got off, etc. It wasn't horrible though and it wouldn't deter me from staying there again.

 

[WEDWDW]

We just stayed at All Star Movies a few weeks ago for 7 nights and we found that the All Stars did have shared buses - almost always if we came back in the afternoon (and in the afternoon on our way back from Disney Springs). We never shared in the morning on our way to a park or in the evening coming back from a park. When they shared, the order was ASSp, ASMu, ASMo. And they pick up people at each resort as they drop off so it can take a bit more time. This usually wasn't too time consuming when we came back from the parks in the afternoon but when we came back from Disney Springs on a busy Saturday afternoon it took a long time to unload at each resort and then try to shuffle people around as more guests came on, more got off, etc. It wasn't horrible though and it wouldn't deter me from staying there again.

PERFECT description of All-Star Resort "bus sharing".

 

[FantasiaMagic]

We just stayed at All Star Movies a few weeks ago for 7 nights and we found that the All Stars did have shared buses - almost always if we came back in the afternoon (and in the afternoon on our way back from Disney Springs). We never shared in the morning on our way to a park or in the evening coming back from a park. When they shared, the order was ASSp, ASMu, ASMo. And they pick up people at each resort as they drop off so it can take a bit more time. This usually wasn't too time consuming when we came back from the parks in the afternoon but when we came back from Disney Springs on a busy Saturday afternoon it took a long time to unload at each resort and then try to shuffle people around as more guests came on, more got off, etc. It wasn't horrible though and it wouldn't deter me from staying there again.

Thank you for the info! I am totally prepared for the resort to be busy with the busses, but I appreciate hearing about how the system works between the All-Stars!

 

[KTR]

We found the busses only shared during the middle of the day too, and whenever we had a shared bus the busses were pretty empty. There were plenty of seats on board for everyone who wanted one and it took very little time to load or unload. Of course this was weekday in the middle of the day. I am sure the other posters experience on a Saturday going to Disney Springs was completely accurate as well. For that trip we were staying at Sports. I think my party of 6 and maybe 2 more people got on at Sports. Then another 4 or so at Music and none at Movies. That was heading to Epcot at 10 in the morning.

 

[WEDWDW]

Thank you for the info! I am totally prepared for the resort to be busy with the busses, but I appreciate hearing about how the system works between the All-Stars!

This may be more info than you want!lol

I kept a "log" during one of my trips to All-Star Sports.

(Times are actual "Travel Times"-they don't include "waiting for the bus times").

It takes the Buses about 2 minutes to travel from Sports to Music and about 2 minutes
from Music to Movies

I also did some Park Hopping:

Monorail from TTC to Epcot----9 minutes.

Monorail from Epcot to TTC----7 minutes.
Express Monorail----4 minutes

Friendship between Epcot and DHS----20-30 minutes(We actually did make it in 20 minutes one day!)

Saturday April 18-
Sports to Epcot----8:23AM to 8:33AM----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----4:46PM to 4:58PM----12 minutes----Share

Sunday April 19----Sports to DAK(EMH)----7:44AM to 7:52AM----8 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:51PM to 12:57PM----6 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----5:37PM to 5:57PM----20 minutes----Share
MK to Music----10:31PM to 10:52PM----21 minutes----Direct
(Hopped on a waiting Music Bus and then walked back to Sports.)

Monday April 20----Sports to MK----6:49AM to 7:04AM----15 minutes----Direct
(BOG Breakfast!)
Epcot to Sports----12:31PM to 12:42PM----11 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----2:44PM to 3:04PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----7:00PM to 7:12PM----12 minutes----Share

Tuesday April 21----Sports to DHS----7:58AM to 8:10AM----12 minutes----Direct
DHS to Sports----11:01AM to 11:15AM----14 minutes----Direct
Sports to DTD----2:23PM to 2:50PM----27 minutes----Share
DHS to Sports----9:57PM to 10:09PM----12 minutes----Share

Wednesday April 22----Sports to DAK----7:33AM to 7:44AM(EMH)----11 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:29PM to 12:37PM----8 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----1:30PM to 1:49PM----19 minutes----Share
MK to Music----9:25PM to 9:40PM----15 minutes----Direct

Thursday April 23----Sports to Epcot----11:10AM to 11:19AM----9 minutes----Share
DTD to Sports----5:18PM to 5:37PM-----19 minutes----Share

Friday April 24----Sports to Epcot----8:06AM to 8:17AM-----11 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----10:27AM to 10:43AM----16 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----12:23PM to 12:43PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----9:14PM to 9:30PM----16 minutes----Direct

Saturday April 25----Sports to DHS(EMH)----7:20AM to 7:30AM-----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports-----4:16PM to 4:30PM----14 minutes----Share

Sunday April 26----Sports to MK----9:15AM to 9:30AM----15 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----12:20PM to 12:32PM-----12 minutes-----Share

Time to board THE SAD BUS!!!!BOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[siren0119]

This may be more info than you want!lol

I kept a "log" during one of my trips to All-Star Sports.

(Times are actual "Travel Times"-they don't include "waiting for the bus times").

It takes the Buses about 2 minutes to travel from Sports to Music and about 2 minutes
from Music to Movies

I also did some Park Hopping:

Monorail from TTC to Epcot----9 minutes.

Monorail from Epcot to TTC----7 minutes.
Express Monorail----4 minutes

Friendship between Epcot and DHS----20-30 minutes(We actually did make it in 20 minutes one day!)

Saturday April 18-
Sports to Epcot----8:23AM to 8:33AM----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----4:46PM to 4:58PM----12 minutes----Share

Sunday April 19----Sports to DAK(EMH)----7:44AM to 7:52AM----8 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:51PM to 12:57PM----6 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----5:37PM to 5:57PM----20 minutes----Share
MK to Music----10:31PM to 10:52PM----21 minutes----Direct
(Hopped on a waiting Music Bus and then walked back to Sports.)

Monday April 20----Sports to MK----6:49AM to 7:04AM----15 minutes----Direct
(BOG Breakfast!)
Epcot to Sports----12:31PM to 12:42PM----11 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----2:44PM to 3:04PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----7:00PM to 7:12PM----12 minutes----Share

Tuesday April 21----Sports to DHS----7:58AM to 8:10AM----12 minutes----Direct
DHS to Sports----11:01AM to 11:15AM----14 minutes----Direct
Sports to DTD----2:23PM to 2:50PM----27 minutes----Share
DHS to Sports----9:57PM to 10:09PM----12 minutes----Share

Wednesday April 22----Sports to DAK----7:33AM to 7:44AM(EMH)----11 minutes----Direct
DAK to Sports----12:29PM to 12:37PM----8 minutes----Share
Sports to DHS----1:30PM to 1:49PM----19 minutes----Share
MK to Music----9:25PM to 9:40PM----15 minutes----Direct

Thursday April 23----Sports to Epcot----11:10AM to 11:19AM----9 minutes----Share
DTD to Sports----5:18PM to 5:37PM-----19 minutes----Share

Friday April 24----Sports to Epcot----8:06AM to 8:17AM-----11 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----10:27AM to 10:43AM----16 minutes----Share
Sports to Epcot----12:23PM to 12:43PM----20 minutes----Share
Epcot to Sports----9:14PM to 9:30PM----16 minutes----Direct

Saturday April 25----Sports to DHS(EMH)----7:20AM to 7:30AM-----10 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports-----4:16PM to 4:30PM----14 minutes----Share

Sunday April 26----Sports to MK----9:15AM to 9:30AM----15 minutes----Direct
Epcot to Sports----12:20PM to 12:32PM-----12 minutes-----Share

Time to board THE SAD BUS!!!!BOOOOOOOO!!!!

This is great! I had always mentally figured on 20-30 minutes for a bus ride but never really broke it down.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

I have stayed at ASMu twice, once in the Calypso and once in the Jazz section.

I switched rooms in the Calypso section from poolside to landscape before even trying them, because I generally don't like poolside. We enjoyed our stay, nice and quiet. But, that was our first trip to WDW as well as our first onsite stay, so we didn't know that we don't really care about the preferred room amenities--we don't mind walking a bit, for example.

The second time, we stayed in Jazz, again choosing landscape view. We didn't mind the walk to the food court or the main pool. I think I read somewhere, though, that Jazz has since been upgraded to preferred status. If I were to pay for preferred, I would definitely go with Calypso. Jazz is too far to pay more for.

It's been a few years since our last stay, so I can't address your other issues, but I love the All Stars! Maybe because they were our first, second, and third experiences in "the bubble" (we've also been to ASMovies), but the over the top theming, the food courts, and the pools (interactive even without a slide) really mean Disney to us. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Elle23]

We stayed in the Calypso building poolside in November (that was my request....we didn’t want to be facing the parking lot).

It was amazingly close to the food court and transportation, but there were times it got very loud being next to the pool (once around 5pm we were trying to sleep before DAH and they were having some kind of activity at the pool and it was LOUD).

Having said that, however, I would definitely stay in Calypso again because the proximity to the lobby and transportation couldn’t be beat.

I found the buses to be great overall (there were a few not so great moments but I think you’ll find that anywhere). We rarely shared with the other two All Stars (maybe twice the whole 8 day trip and it was during the middle of the day as others said).

Overall, we loved ASMu and would definitely stay there again!

 

[Disneylvr1971]

The 3 resorts are also very close together. We have many times gotten on a bus for one of the other 2 resorts if ours had a big line, and took it to one of the other resorts and just walked back to ours.

 

[Disneypro1]

Not sure about coffee
We like Rock building
And the busses are GREAT. sure they can get crowded...but they are free and they always get us where we want to go.
Music is the best all star. Grounds and all it just seems a bit more upscale that the other two all stars.

 

[Disneypro1]

The 3 resorts are also very close together. We have many times gotten on a bus for one of the other 2 resorts if ours had a big line, and took it to one of the other resorts and just walked back to ours.

True..the resorts are small...no long walk anywhere at all stars

 

[siren0119]

I heard that the All Stars were getting coffeemakers when the rooms are renovated, but as of right now they had only partially completed renovation at Movies and haven't started up the work again. I keep watching the construction thread hoping that they might finish Movies and start on Music before our trip!