Today, I’m going to start with the on-property accommodations available at Walt Disney World.  There are a lot of options at a variety of price points available to people.  There are four main classifications: Value Resorts, Moderate Resorts, Deluxe Resorts, and Deluxe Villa Resorts.  Today, I’m going to discuss the five value resorts at Walt Disney World.

I’m going to keep it simple and go in alphabetical order for these five resorts.  Give readers some perspective as to where these five resorts are located in Walt Disney World:

Starting with the three All-Star Resorts, they are located down by Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and numbered 26-28.  As a result, guests will need to take a Disney Bus or their own car for transportation to the parks.

All-Star Movies Resorts

The first thing I will say about all of the these resorts is they are huge.  There are a lot of rooms – 1920 of them.  So, I’ll lead off with a map of the resort:

There are 10 buildings with hotel rooms grouped into five “pods.”  101 Dalmatians, Fantasia, and Toy Story are the three “pods” closest to the main Cinema Hall which houses the food court.  The Mighty Ducks and Love Bug “pods” have a further walk to Cinema Hall.

In terms of space, the rooms at the All-Star Resorts and Pop Century are the smallest on Disney property at only 260 square feet putting it on par with a standard hotel room at a national chain.  The rooms sleep four people.  Five people can stay in a All-Star Movie room provided one of the five is under three years old AND sleeps in a crib.

I know a family who stayed at one of the All-Star resorts recently and had to leave their stroller in the car because with two adults, one child aged 3-9, and another child under two years old with a crib….there simply wasn’t enough room for everything and everyone.

Even though, they are the smallest rooms on Disney property, they are also the least expensive on Disney property.  Rack rates run as low, depending on the season, as $90/nt during the week and $110/nt on the weekend.

Guests check in at the Cinema Hall which also houses the food court for the resort.  The food court has five different stations (marquee venues) for guests to choose from.

There are two pools at the All-Star Movies Resort: the Fantasia Pool which is located centrally in the resort between the Cinema Hall and the Fantasia “pod” and features a kids area.  The second pool in The Duck Pond Pool in the Mighty Ducks “pod” of the resort.

All-Star Music Resort

The second All-Star Resort guests can choose from is the All-Star Music Resort.  This resort is slightly smaller than All-Star Movies with only 1604 rooms but still large compared to other resorts.

All-Star Music has a very similar set-up to All-Star Movies with 10 buildings broken up into five “pods.”  The central hall, here, is the Melody Hall and the Calypso “pod” houses the closest buildings to the hall followed by the Jazz Inn, Rock Inn, Broadway Hotel, and Country Fair are the furthest from the Melody Hall.

The rooms are music-themed (obviously – thanks Dad!) and are 260 square feet like in All-Star Movies.

Rooms, like at All-Star Movies, are available with two double beds or one king bed.

There are also family suites available at All-Star Music which are not available at All-Star Movies.  These suites are double the size of a standard room are 520 square feet and can sleep up to six people.

The rooms have one standard queen-sized bed, a queen-sized sofa sleeper and ottoman/chair sleeper.  Each of those can sleep up to two people.  The room also have a kitchenette and a fridge and two full-sized bathrooms.

The Melody Hall is where guests will check-in and is home to the Intermission Food Court.

Like All-Star Movies, All-Star Music has two pools.  The Calypso Pool located directly in front of the Melody Hall and between the two Calypso “pod” buildings.  The Piano Pool is located deeper in the resort and surrounded by the other four building “pods.”

There are two different rack rates for All-Star Music.  The Calypso “pod” is considered “preferred location” are cost roughly $15/nt more than the standard locations which run as low as $90/nt during the week.  The family suites are more expensive but start as low as $216/nt.

All-Star Sports Resort

The sports-themed All-Star Sports is like All-Star Movies with 1920 rooms but does not have family suites like at All-Star Music.

It has the familiar 10-building/five-pod set-up like All-Star Movies and Music.  The Surfs Up and Touchdown pods are closest to the main Stadium Hall while the Center Court, Homerun Hotel, and Hoops Hall have further walks to the Stadium Hall.

The rooms are 260 square feet like the All-Star Movies and Music resorts and can sleep a maximum of five guests.

The Stadium Hall is home to the newly renovated End Zone Food Court.

The resort also has two pools.  Surfboard Bay is located directly in front of the Stadium Hall and the Grand Slam Pool, completely with Goofy water-spout in front of the Home Run Hotel.  The kids pool is located at the Surfboard Bay Pool.

The pricing is similar to the other two All-Star resorts with rooms starting as low, depending on the season, as $90/nt during the week and $110/nt on the weekend.

Each of the resorts has its own bus (except during small crowd periods).

How often do the buses run from these resorts: Usually every 5-10 minutes unless the parks are really crowded or not crowded

How long of ride is it to the parks? (All times approximate)

Animal Kingdom – 15 minutes

EPCOT – 18 minutes

Hollywood Studios – 15 minutes

Magic Kingdom – 18 minutes

Art of Animation Resort

The newest of the Disney Value Resorts.  The family suites opened in May 2012 and the standard rooms opened later that year in September.  The resort has more family suites (1120) than standard rooms (984)

Looking at the map, Disney has stuck with 10-building system for the rooms with a central Animation Hall.  Unlike the All-Star resorts, there are only four pods: Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.  The Little Mermaid has standard rooms whereas the other three pods have the family suites.

In a previous visit, I took some time out to tour the newest value resort.  Though, I did not walk down to the Cars section.

The rooms at Art of Animation are slightly larger than the All-Star resorts.  Standard rooms are 277 square feet and the family suites are 565 square feet.

Art of Animation has three pools.  The central pool is the The Big Blue Pool between the Finding Nemo buildings.  The Cars area has its own Cozy Cone Pool and the Flippin’ Fins pool is located down by The Little Mermaid buildings.

Animation Hall is where guests check-in.  The Landscape of Flavors is the resorts’ food court.  Like the All-Star resorts, there is no table-service restaurant at the Art of Animation just the quick-service food court.

Being a new resort, the rack rates are a little higher than the All-Star Resorts.  Rates, depending on season, start as low $110/nt during the week for one of the standard Little Mermaid room and $262/nt for one of the family suites.

Art of Animation has its own bus service to and from the parks.  Boat or monorail transportation to and from the parks is not available from Art of Animation.   The shortest bus ride would be to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the furthest would be to the Magic Kingdom.

Pop Century Resort

The largest Walt Disney World resort with 2880 rooms.  Only half of the resort was actually built.  The original plan was two main resorts – 50s through 90s and a 1900s through 40s.  However, only the 50s through 90s section was built.  The area that was planned for the 1900s-40s was eventually converted into the Art of Animation Resort.

There are five main pods in the resort.  The 50s and the 80s are largest pods with three buildings while the 90s pod, at one building, is the resort’s smallest area.

Rooms are the same size as the rooms at the All-Star resorts – 260 square feet – and are themed by decade.

Guests check-in at the Classic Hall which is also where the Everything Pop food court is located.  Like the other value resorts, there is no table-service dining available at Pop Century just the quick-service food court.

Guests have three pools to choose from.  The Hippie Dippie Pool is located between the 60s buildings.  The Computer Pool in the 80s and 90s area and finally the Bowling Pin Pool in the 50s area.

Rates for the Pop Century Resort are lower than the Art of Animation but higher than the All-Star Resorts.  Rooms start, depending on season, as low as $100/nt during the week and $120/nt on the weekend.

Pop Century Resort has its own bus service to and from the parks.  The shortest bus ride would be to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the furthest would be to the Magic Kingdom.  There is no boat or monorail transportation to and from the Pop Century Resort.

That concludes part two of my look at accommodations at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  Tomorrow, I will move on the moderate resorts at Walt Disney World.

Please like us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dad-For-Disney/567114656737603 or on the like button on the right side of the home page

Or Follow us on Twitter @DadForDisney or on the follow button on the right side of the home page

Thanks for reading!