Mal6586
Southern Disney Spinster
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2016
Hello! Welcome to M&M's Magical Disney Christmas Vacation Trip Report!
The cast:
Me - Mal (30)
Roomie (33)
Occasional appearances by my extended family and some local friends!
Travelling from Northeast Mississippi by car. (10 hours!)
Resort: Disney's All Star Music - standard room
We received our ready room text at about 2:15pm or so, which might seem late to some, but I had indicated on our online check-in we wouldn't be arriving until after 5pm, so I doubt we were high on the early check-in priority list. We actually arrived at the resort somewhere around 6pm, used our magic bands to zip past the massive back up at the resort gate and made use of the returning guest lane, and headed straight to the room.
After requesting a room in the Broadway section (local community theatre geeks here!), we were actually surprised to get a room in the Jazz section. I was previously under the impression that the Jazz section only had preferred and family suites, but after poking around the Touring Plans room selection tool, I discovered our room was indeed a standard. We were in room 9633, which is in Jazz Building 9, third floor, back corner by the parking lot. I like to think we got a little pixie dusted on this room, because it was SILENT All. The. Time., and if you looked at my dates, we were indeed staying in a Value resort during (gasp!) the dreaded Pop Warner!
After bringing up all our bags, we took a little walking tour of the resort and then headed to the concierge to get a map and recreation schedule. I had intended to watch the "Movie Under the Stars", but we ended up having dinner in the resort with a local friend and just hanging out in the room, catching up on everything.
As for Pop Warner, I've got to say, it was not as terrible as I thought it would be. We were fully prepared to just suffer through it because the only reason we were getting to vacation this long on property was because we were staying in a value resort. The pools stayed pretty covered up and kinda loud when they were open, but honestly, we were in the parks when they were having pool time for the most part. The only reason I even know they were like that was because on our Animal Kingdom day (park closed at 7pm), we were back at the resort for supper and generally relaxing during the evening pool hours. The kids were relatively well behaved, no shenanigans after "lights out" with the exception of one prank phone call somewhere around 12:30am, but we had actually just arrived back in our room after MVMCP, so we were still up. After Roomie unceremoniously hung up on them without engaging their antics, they didn't call back. Of course, this is just me assuming it was Pop Warner kids. It could have been regular kids for all we know, but it was the only time that happened.
The food court did stay pretty packed, but we didn't eat there much at all. We had supper there on arrival night and then again on our Animal Kingdom day, and both times were not really prime supper times. It was after 8pm both times, so while it was busy, it was far from unmanageable. I had pizza for supper both times, and it was delicious.
As for the bus service, I found the service FROM our resort to parks was great. We never had to wait for a second bus, most of the time a bus arrived going where we needed within 5 minutes, and I love that there are now the times boards posted by the bus stops so you know when to expect the next bus. When we stayed at Pop Century 2 years ago, I don't remember having these. The only time we picked up at an additional All Star resort was our last park day, and it was probably just because it was super early (somewhere around 7am since we had a tour scheduled at Magic Kingdom). We encountered a few rude guests trying to do things like save seats for part of their group that was 20 people behind them in line, but that was definitely the exception, not the rule. Most people had their parties together and were pretty prompt. On the other hand, the bus service TO our resort from the parks seemed to take 8,000 years. We weren't sharing buses really from the parks, so I don't know what the problem was, but there was almost never a time where the bus was there within 30 minutes, much less 20 minutes as is advertised.
We did make use of the laundry facilities by the Calypso pool a couple of times, because let's be real, your girl does not have enough pants and/or other unmentionable bits of clothing to make it through 9 days without doing laundry. The machines were all in good working order except I think one which was clearly labeled as out of service, and using the credit card machine to choose your machine was very easy. We took our own Tide pods and dryer sheets, but there was vending for both if you needed it. The washer cycle was $3 per machine for about 40 minutes, and then I think the dryer was $3 as well for 1 hour, which was plenty of time to get a load dry. We did laundry on a Tuesday afternoon and a Thursday night, and while Tuesday was a ghost town, Thursday night was apparently a popular laundry time.
Overall, I'd absolutely stay here again. Is it the greatest resort and/or room ever? Obviously not, but if you're on a budget, and really just need a clean room with a comfy enough bed and shower, it fits the bill. It does show its age and dare I say neglect in a few areas. Not all the neon was working on some of the signs, and not all the walkways and stairwells are pristine like they would be in a newer resort.
So that's the low down on our resort experience. There is much more to come, including play by plays of each day and ALL THE FOOD we ate. Seriously, so. much. food.
The cast:
Me - Mal (30)
Roomie (33)
Occasional appearances by my extended family and some local friends!
Travelling from Northeast Mississippi by car. (10 hours!)
Resort: Disney's All Star Music - standard room
We received our ready room text at about 2:15pm or so, which might seem late to some, but I had indicated on our online check-in we wouldn't be arriving until after 5pm, so I doubt we were high on the early check-in priority list. We actually arrived at the resort somewhere around 6pm, used our magic bands to zip past the massive back up at the resort gate and made use of the returning guest lane, and headed straight to the room.
After requesting a room in the Broadway section (local community theatre geeks here!), we were actually surprised to get a room in the Jazz section. I was previously under the impression that the Jazz section only had preferred and family suites, but after poking around the Touring Plans room selection tool, I discovered our room was indeed a standard. We were in room 9633, which is in Jazz Building 9, third floor, back corner by the parking lot. I like to think we got a little pixie dusted on this room, because it was SILENT All. The. Time., and if you looked at my dates, we were indeed staying in a Value resort during (gasp!) the dreaded Pop Warner!
After bringing up all our bags, we took a little walking tour of the resort and then headed to the concierge to get a map and recreation schedule. I had intended to watch the "Movie Under the Stars", but we ended up having dinner in the resort with a local friend and just hanging out in the room, catching up on everything.
As for Pop Warner, I've got to say, it was not as terrible as I thought it would be. We were fully prepared to just suffer through it because the only reason we were getting to vacation this long on property was because we were staying in a value resort. The pools stayed pretty covered up and kinda loud when they were open, but honestly, we were in the parks when they were having pool time for the most part. The only reason I even know they were like that was because on our Animal Kingdom day (park closed at 7pm), we were back at the resort for supper and generally relaxing during the evening pool hours. The kids were relatively well behaved, no shenanigans after "lights out" with the exception of one prank phone call somewhere around 12:30am, but we had actually just arrived back in our room after MVMCP, so we were still up. After Roomie unceremoniously hung up on them without engaging their antics, they didn't call back. Of course, this is just me assuming it was Pop Warner kids. It could have been regular kids for all we know, but it was the only time that happened.
The food court did stay pretty packed, but we didn't eat there much at all. We had supper there on arrival night and then again on our Animal Kingdom day, and both times were not really prime supper times. It was after 8pm both times, so while it was busy, it was far from unmanageable. I had pizza for supper both times, and it was delicious.
As for the bus service, I found the service FROM our resort to parks was great. We never had to wait for a second bus, most of the time a bus arrived going where we needed within 5 minutes, and I love that there are now the times boards posted by the bus stops so you know when to expect the next bus. When we stayed at Pop Century 2 years ago, I don't remember having these. The only time we picked up at an additional All Star resort was our last park day, and it was probably just because it was super early (somewhere around 7am since we had a tour scheduled at Magic Kingdom). We encountered a few rude guests trying to do things like save seats for part of their group that was 20 people behind them in line, but that was definitely the exception, not the rule. Most people had their parties together and were pretty prompt. On the other hand, the bus service TO our resort from the parks seemed to take 8,000 years. We weren't sharing buses really from the parks, so I don't know what the problem was, but there was almost never a time where the bus was there within 30 minutes, much less 20 minutes as is advertised.
We did make use of the laundry facilities by the Calypso pool a couple of times, because let's be real, your girl does not have enough pants and/or other unmentionable bits of clothing to make it through 9 days without doing laundry. The machines were all in good working order except I think one which was clearly labeled as out of service, and using the credit card machine to choose your machine was very easy. We took our own Tide pods and dryer sheets, but there was vending for both if you needed it. The washer cycle was $3 per machine for about 40 minutes, and then I think the dryer was $3 as well for 1 hour, which was plenty of time to get a load dry. We did laundry on a Tuesday afternoon and a Thursday night, and while Tuesday was a ghost town, Thursday night was apparently a popular laundry time.
Overall, I'd absolutely stay here again. Is it the greatest resort and/or room ever? Obviously not, but if you're on a budget, and really just need a clean room with a comfy enough bed and shower, it fits the bill. It does show its age and dare I say neglect in a few areas. Not all the neon was working on some of the signs, and not all the walkways and stairwells are pristine like they would be in a newer resort.
So that's the low down on our resort experience. There is much more to come, including play by plays of each day and ALL THE FOOD we ate. Seriously, so. much. food.
)
We've been down 3x during the Xmas season including this past Thanksgiving week but I've never thought about doing the Ft. Wilderness sleigh ride. It actually looks really fun! And we do enjoy the Winter Summerland golf course, we've done the winter side twice and need to get back and do the summer side.
Stupid sexist question but did you happen to notice if there were any men there? I know DH will basically do whatever I want down there lol, but he'll feel more comfortable if he's not the only guy in a room full of women and young girls having tea and small sandwiches!
We've done the Christmas party a couple times but really, I don't think it holds a candle to MNSSHP. We saw the Candlelight Processional with NPH narrating which was phenomenal! It's not something I think we'll do again but he certainly "made" it and also shared personal anecdotes. His family was in the audience which was cool, too!
