Disney World's All-Star Movies Resort Review: Cheap and Fun
We recently stayed at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort at Walt Disney World. This was our first experience at one of the All-Star resorts. We’ve heard a lot of things, most of them negative: small rooms, overrun with teenagers, few amenities, long waits for the buses. But we wanted to give it a shot because it was just my wife, me, and our 3-year-old, and the price was SO low compared to the other resorts at Disney World.
And it was WAY better than we expected. Here are the pros and cons in case you don’t feel like reading the whole article.
Pros:
-extreme Disney theming
-free parking at resort and parks
-fun lobby, arcade, gift shop, and cafeteria
-low price
-comfortable bed
Cons:
-transportation issues
-small rooms
-no waterslides or hot tubs
-possible long walk
-no table service restaurants
If you’re still reading, I’ll break down our experience at All-Star Movies. It was perfect for what we wanted it for: an ultra-Disney experience with our toddler. The one caveat is that the pool was closed for renovation. Otherwise, the pool would have been awesome, too.
Overview of All-Star Movies
Disney World’s All-Star Movies is a large hotel at Disney World consisting of 1,920 rooms. It’s classified as a value resort at Disney World (as opposed to moderate or deluxe), meaning that it has lower price points (usually $200 or lower per night) but has fewer amenities and other features. Namely, it lacks a hot tub, water slide, onsite restaurants outside of the food court. Like most value and moderate resorts (except Gran Destino), the rooms open out, motel-style. There are three All Star resorts, All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports, and they are considered the cheapest of the Disney value resorts. Also, a value hotel will have less square footage in the standard rooms, more on that later.
What makes All-Star movies interesting it the theming. It has enormous, 3-story high statues of Toy Story, Fantasia, Mighty Ducks, 101 Dalmatians, and Love Bug characters. The oversized Disney characters are what drew us here, since we were having a fun vacation for our 2-year-old turning 3—his last Disney vacation before he costs us money.
Buzz personally guards the rooms at night. Zurg will not enter.
Transportation to Disney Parks
One of the downsides to staying at All-Star Movies is the transportation. It’s one of the few resorts that is only accessible by bus in the free Disney transportation ecosystem. And unlike other bus-only options at moderate resorts like Coronado, Port Orleans, or Animal Kingdom Lodge (deluxe), the All-Star Resorts are a long way from the parks. Also, many guests report that the wait time for buses is extreme because it’s serviced less than the nicer resorts. So, if you’re taking the bus, get there early, and be prepared to wait in long lines.
The other problem is that there is only one bus stop for all 1,920 rooms, as opposed to multiple stops at similar sized resorts like Coronado, which can create large crowds waiting for the buses.
The bus stop is a pain, but it looks cool (and the letters provide a lot of shade).
However, Disney currently offers free parking at both the resorts and the parks for guests staying at Disney property resorts and select Good Neighbor hotels. Therefore, if you decide to drive a car to All-Star Movies, you can set your own transportation schedule. The major downside to driving is that at Magic Kingdom, you have to park at the Transportation and Ticket Center, then take the monorail or ferry to the park. If you take the bus, it drops you off at the entrance of Magic Kingdom.
We always try to take the bus to Magic Kingdom, and it usually has the most routes to and from the resort.
Pools
All-Star Movies has two feature pools, a Fantasia pool with awesome Mickey water effects just behind the lobby (which is considered the main pool), and the Duck Pond Pool shaped like a hockey rink near the Mighty Ducks rooms. All-Star Movies also has a tiny splash pad to the side of the Fantasia pool.
The Mighty Ducks pool. Did you really quack at your teacher? By the way, the lifeguards at Disney are the best.
Both pools are just pools. Because it’s a value resort, there are no features like hot tubs, water slides, or zero entry. And the splash pad is just a couple of small sprayers, nothing like the play structures at the nicer resorts.
When we were there, they were refurbishing the Fantasia pool, so we were given permission to use the other All-Star pools and the Duck Pond. We had plenty of other things to do, so we never went swimming.
Hey, don't forget that currently (as of writing), Disney is offering free access to water parks on your arrival day.
Rooms
As a Value Resort, the rooms at the All-Star Movies are small. The good news is that they don’t feel small compared to other resorts because the main difference is the bathroom (which is very tight, especially the toilet/shower area) and closet space. The distance from the foot of the bed to the opposite wall is also smaller. You will notice the size also because there is less storage, so if you brought a lot of luggage, it's tight. You still get two queen beds, though. The queen bed won't feel small.
That being said, we booked a preferred room with a murphy bed, and the murphy bed was perhaps the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in at Disney World. It might just be because I got to sleep by myself while my wife slept with our three year old, but I loved it.
Little guy is mesmerized by the Huey, Dewey, and Louie cartoon on the murphy bed headboard. History of their naming can be found in this TikTok video.
The theming of the preferred room was great as well.
There are no suites at All-Star Movies, and all the rooms open out like a motel. The hotel is enormous, so where your room is matters, since it could be a long walk to the bus stop or pool.
Restaurants at All-Star Movies
All-Star Movies only has one restaurant (World Premiere) and one bar (Silver Screen Spirits). The World Premiere Food Court is a giant cafeteria connected to the Cinema Hall lobby with several different options for quick-service food. It’s not amazing, but it’s not bad either. We only used it for breakfast (got a good breakfast sandwich and coffee) and a couple of snacks like yogurt, fruit, and drinks.
Here’s the menu. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/all-star-movies-resort/world-premiere-food-court/menus/lunch%20and%20dinner/
I can’t offer any recommendations because we mostly used it for snacks and fruit items. We ate in the parks or grocery orders to our room for the most part.
It's pretty easy to get in and out of, with several cash registers and a mobile order option, so it’s good for food on the go. It’s not a dining experience like you might find at a moderate resort or deluxe resort.
The Silver Screen Spirits Pool Bar is a small bar just outside the pool with a couple of stools. It has signature drinks that are mostly of the fruity, tropical variety, but they have a full bar that can give you most cocktails, a selection of wine, and a selection of beer.
They also have a small selection of food. Here’s the menu. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/all-star-movies-resort/silver-screen-spirits-pool-bar/menus/
Amenities
There’s not a lot of amenities at All-Star Movies or any value resort. There’s a pool. There’s laundry. There’s a gift shop and and the Reel Fun Arcade. That’s about it. No spa. No fitness center. No golf course. The benefit is being at Disney World and seeing the cool, themed structures. There is, however, a massage chair in the laundry room, which is pretty epic.
I managed to lose both room keys in one trip to the laundry room. As you can see, I found them.
Conclusion and Further Reading
All-Star Movies is a great resort for its Disney theming, price, and Disney perks. It’s ideal if you’re trying to save money and aren’t planning on spending much time at the resort. However, the lack of amenities, pool features, dining options, and good transportation might be enough of a reason to seek a different Disney resort (seriously, even Art of Animation and Pop Century have the Skyliner). Don’t forget that the room is small, too. Staying near the main building and front desk is absolutely essential for food and transportation.
I can’t get over how cool the theming is for our toddler.
The only reason I stayed here was because I thought my 3-year-old would love the theming, and this particular trip was just 3 of us instead of all 5 of us. Paying less than $200 a night for a room was also a huge plus. The cast members are amazing, just like everywhere.
If you want more information on other Disney resorts, check out my articles on
