Photos & Video: New Rooms at All Stars
All Star Movies Resort has reimagined room designs that are coming soon to the Sports & Music hotels as part of Walt Disney World’s comprehensive overhauls. In this review, we’ll cover everything from our experience staying in these new rooms, and whether you might want to book here for your next WDW vacation. (Updated March 22, 2021.)
This is one of the projects we’ve been tracking in Hotel Refurbishments & Renovations at Walt Disney World in 2021 & 2022. Currently, work is entirely finished at All Star Movies, in progress at All Star Music, and has yet to begin at All Star Sports. It’s unclear how far along All Star Music is with the overhaul, since that resort is presently closed. The room reimagining could be entirely finished or stalled.
The other good news is that All Star Movies has reopened as of March 22, 2021 after being closed for just over a year! We haven’t done a stay at All Star Movies yet in 2021, but you can check out our Hotel Health Safety Protocol & Changes at Walt Disney World for a general idea of what’s different. Basically, lots of warning signs, plexiglass barriers, and “please wait here” markers for physical distancing. Of course, there’s also these new rooms, but this project was completed shortly before Walt Disney World’s closure last year, so they’re not really new-new…
With all the rooms at All Star Movies and half of the rooms at Disney’s All Star Music Resort now finished, we’d highly recommend those resorts over All Star Sports. The difference between a refurbished and non-refurbished room is so stark that we’d recommend avoiding All Star Sports at this point.
Well, our actual Value Resort recommendation would be Pop Century, but if room rates are more attractive at the All Stars, there’s absolutely no reason not to book Movies at this point…
I was excited to get back to All Star Movies to stay in one of these new rooms. In part for the room itself, but we had already experienced pretty close to the same thing at Pop Century. More so because the All Stars make me nostalgic, evoking old memories of our past commando touring, long weekend visits.
The last time we had stayed at All Star Movies was several years ago, when we attended the “Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th” event only a couple months after launching this blog. Tickets for that were a major splurge for us, so we stayed at the cheapest on-site hotel we could find: All Star Movies. I think we were at the resort for a total of about 5-6 hours per night.
We like nice hotels, but we’re pretty far from “luxury or die” hotel snobs. All you have to do is survey a few of the sketchy places we’ve stayed in Anaheim to know that isn’t the case. We find hotels of all tiers really fascinating, and it’s interesting to see how budget-friendly accommodations try (or don’t) to resonate with guests.
Another thing we enjoy about All Star Movies is World Premiere Food Court, which is surprisingly solid and offers great shakes and dinner specials. Obviously, this is not the epicenter of fine dining at Walt Disney World nor does it hold a candle to the undisputed champion of Value Resort food courts, Landscape of Flavors. However, it does have some tasty, comfort food meals at relatively reasonable prices.
The All Star Resorts do this pretty well for hotels of their tier via the oversized decor, pools, and landscaping. Some Walt Disney World fans are quick to criticize these are overpriced and sketchy motels–as someone with a lot of experience staying at actual sketchy motels, I’ll can say with some authority that these people have no clue what they’re talking about.
Like them or not, the All Star Resorts offer a slate of amenities far superior to what the average motel offers in a setting that’s also dramatically better. People can quibble over the ‘thematic’ quality of those oversized icons, but even that appeals to some families.
The most legitimate criticism of the All Stars has long been the guest rooms, which are small, dingy, and have little redeeming qualities or character. Thankfully, with this All Star Movies room overhaul, that’s finally being addressed, too…
Suffice to say, the new rooms are an unequivocal upgrade from the old rooms at All Star Movies. Thanks to our experience in this new room, All Star Movies will once again be in our regular Walt Disney World hotel rotation, particularly during long weekend ‘rope drop until park close’ trips or when deals are lacking elsewhere.
Before we get going with our thoughts on this experience, here’s a video tour of the new room we stayed in at All Star Movies to provide some context for what we’re describing:
The biggest change is a new configuration with a regular bed flanked by nightstands and Murphy bed that doubles as a table. Both of these beds are queen-sized, versus the double beds previously in these rooms.
There’s a lighter color scheme, dominated by white with hints of red, orange, and lime. There’s Mickey & friends art above the queen bed, plus Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck art above the Murphy bed.
There’s also a ton more storage space, including a dresser under the television, room for luggage under the bed, and a variety of random cubbies around the room. There are also a boat-load of USB-charging ports and outlets around the room, which is a huge plus.
In the corner, there’s a kiosk with drawers, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker. This is debuted with the new rooms at Pop Century as a Walt Disney World Value Resort first, and thankfully continues at All Star Movies.
In the bathroom, you have a vessel sink, illuminated bathroom mirror, and make-up mirror.
There’s also an actual sliding door separating the bathroom area from the main room (instead of a thin curtain), glass door in the shower, and rainfall shower fixture in addition to the standard one.
All of these things, to us, are upgrades to the room with zero downside. Each individually might be a minor thing, but collectively, they make for a room that is significantly “plussed” over the Value Resort defaults.
One of the biggest complaints that we’ve heard about the rooms is that they are sterile and thematically lacking. We can understand the sterile complaint, as a few more splashes of color (cough*bed runner*cough) would’ve done wonders.
However, these All Star Movies rooms being less themed than their predecessors is not really a valid critique. These have always been low on theme. In looking through my old photos of these rooms, the only thing that could arguably pass for “theme” are framed Mighty Ducks movie posters, film strip wallpaper border, and bed runners with stars on them. That’s it.
Setting aside how laughably dated two of those things are, the old rooms felt dingy and claustrophobic. They were “All Star” in about the same sense that a 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity is “Hollywood.” I get that Walt Disney World fan opinions about literally everything are colored by nostalgia, but there’s no good reason to be sentimental about the old rooms. They are not good.
Now, you have the character art, chairs with various symbols from the All Stars, and vaguely star-looking curtains on the window. It’d be nice if there were a bit more, but at least the rooms are nicer now.
The biggest valid criticism, I think, is the aforementioned lack of color. Even having one red or some other colored wall would go a long way in giving the room warmth and a bit of flavor. As it stands, the complaints about this room looking clinical, sterile, or “hospital-like” have a degree of validity.
If I had to choose this or the old look, I’d pick this in an instant. I feel Value Resort rooms have always been too dark and drab, and this brightens them up. Perhaps it was an over-correction to the old style, but I’ll take a hotel room that looks crisp and clean over one that’s dark and drab any day. Still, I can appreciate the desire for something of a happy medium.
Another complaint is that the removal of carpet and addition of laminate flooring makes the room louder. This has yet to be an issue for us with any of the new rooms (here or at Pop Century), but perhaps we’ve been lucky.
If you end up on a lower floor with a herd of cheerleaders, football players, or bison above you, perhaps you won’t be as forgiving of this change. Noise aside, we prefer the new floors. They are easier to clean and keep clean; in a budget-rate motel, we’re down with as little bodily fluid-retaining surfaces as possible.
The space that the pull-down Murphy Bed opened up for us was huge. It made the small room feel less claustrophobic, and that plus the brighter look of the room made it easier for us to spend time in the room without going stir-crazy. We think this change makes the new rooms at All Star Movies a significantly better option for couples and solo travelers.
For families, the layout with the Murphy bed not be ideal, especially since it means not having any table in the room when the kids are sleeping. That’s really the only downside for families that immediately jumps to my mind. There’s always concern that Murphy beds will be less comfortable, but we did not find that to be the case. I’m sure there are other changes that could be legitimate negatives for some parties, but I suspect that’ll largely be on a circumstantial basis.
Overall, we view the new rooms at All Star Movies as significant upgrades. This should be somewhat unsurprising given that these are essentially a clone of the Pop Century rooms, which we also really liked. While nothing that’s done here is going to revolutionize the hotel industry or earn accolades as the pinnacle of themed design, the new rooms at All Star Movies are a considerable improvement over their predecessors. In addition to visually looking better, they now feel more spacious, which is a huge victory given how small the Value Resort rooms can feel.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of these new rooms at All Star Movies? Excited for the room redesign, or are you not a fan of the Murphy bed style? Do you agree or disagree with our take on the changes being appealing to couples or solo travelers? Any thoughts of your own to add? Have you stayed in one of the new rooms? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
We came at the end of November hoping to stay with Woody and Buzz, but we were given a room in Fantasia. I made quite a stink…. however, after staying one night in the newly refurbished room, we LOVED it. The layout with the Murphy bed is amazing. And while plain, after the visual/audio stimulus of MK all day, it was relaxing. I recommend the new rooms. You will love them.
To comment on the flooring and noise: We stayed at All Stars Movies during Pop Warner this past December and would do it again. We requested a renovated, first floor corner, courtyard-facing room in the Love Bug section and were right next to the stairs between the two buildings. I regretted that for about 15 minutes early one morning when a gaggle of clearly-excited-sounded-like-teen-girls gathered on the other side of our wall (while waiting for team mates?). But then they moved on and I went back to sleep. We’re also used to budget accommodations (my kid thinks Disney value resorts are super fancy and awesome) and may be pretty tolerant, but we weren’t bothered by noise during our stay.
In general, we were barely aware of the Pop Warner crowd. This may be partly because we didn’t eat in the ASM dining hall at all and were out most evenings, but we did spend a morning at the pool. I felt like I saw more groups of teens in matching uniforms at the parks than the resort.
(I have a particular affinity to the Love Bug movies because I was a child of the Disney Sunday Night Special era btw.)
You mentioned buildings 6-10 are complete and 1-5 not yet started. Is there any indication when this work will resume? Or when 1-5 are due to complete?
While I like the more open plan with the Murphy Bed and the lighter color scheme helps too, it sort of looks like a room at a hospital in choices in the stylings. You are right – some color on the bed would help eliminate this. I am just thinking add an in-wall oxygen systems and a drip line stand and we have Grey’s Anatomy here.
The whole design is clean and fresh. Going to the white bedding in DVC resorts makes the guest feel it’s cleaner and they will wash it between guests. Those old heavy bedspreads were thrown on the floor and probably not washed anew for each guest change.
Any chance for a toaster in these rooms? No microwave either but they probably want to discourage cooking in the room. Years ago we always kept butter and bread in the room at Caribbean Beach. I think they started out with the pay as you go mini-fridge?
You can keep cereal and milk too. The refrigerator is a great addition if this is a new amenity.
We recently stayed in a new POP room and will never look back!!! This is coming from a Disney freak who fears the changes. The conveniences so far outweigh the nostalgia factor that we didn’t feel even a twinge of longing for the old rooms. They were bright and clean and honestly BETTER themed than the old rooms imo.
We are fans of the All-Star resorts (we think the bus service is so much better!), and we stayed in an updated room at Movies for the first half of our visit in October 2018. It was fantastic! We moved to Yacht Club for the remainder of our trip, and aside from the awesome pool at Yacht/Beach, we were just as happy at All-Star Movies.
You mentioned these rooms are very similar to Pop. Are the beds and bedding just as comfortable? I heard the original All-Stars bed and bedding was thinner and less comfortable than Pop. Is that still the case?
I’ve stayed in both, and while I wasn’t specifically comparing the bedding, I didn’t notice a difference. Mousekeeping provided way to many pillows for us in both rooms (we are only 2, so didn’t even need 4, let alone 8 huge pillows).
We just got back last night from staying at Pop. The beds are very comfortable–on the top side of the mattress–pillowed topping and the feel is semi-firm. The Murphy bed has a flat surface bed base and so does the stationary bed so they are essentially the same. It’s really easy to lower and lift the Murphy bed. I slept well for two weeks there!
Agree…the upgrades are nice. We stayed in the refurbished room in November and enjoyed it for the most part. We have young kids (5 and 1) and we had a problem with the glass shower door… it was hard to give the baby a bath. We were on the first floor and had a few small cockroaches. Ick! Overall, for the price we were happy, but I think we’ll upgrade for future trips.
Thank you for this review, so excited to stay there this spring now! Question for you regarding the coffee maker….did it come with filters or pre-packaged coffee serving? Just wondering if I should bring/buy extras because with two college kids now, we drink a lot of coffee in the mornings! And is that the same for Pop Century?
Thanks!
They have the pod-style coffee maker (I think it makes one cup). You can call housekeeping and ask for more – as many as you need! My husband did this and was given more than enough for the rest of our week there!
We stayed in one of the new rooms at ASMo (Fantasia) last month, and added a few days at the end of the trip in an old room at ASSp.
My room at ASMo was not as spacious as your wide angle lens makes it appear in these photos. With one or two people in the room, and leaving the Murphy Bed up, there is enough room to move around and leave things on the table, but the minute you add a 3rd person it is a very tight fit. I don’t like having to constantly put the bed up in order to use the table, and not being able to use the table whenever the other person is in bed- very inconvenient. Also the table is in a fixed position so you can’t move it around to a better space.
In the BR the seats are high and you have to be a contortionist to reach the tp which is mounted on the wall behind you.
When I moved over to ASSp ( split stay due to room availability) I felt like I had much more room.
Hoping Music has some refurbished rooms for our summer stay. Wanted Pop but wasn’t available, neither was Movies. With a family of 5 (one still in crib) we loved Pop last year. The extra space you gain folding up the Murphy bed is wonderful. The queen beds give you a more comfy sleep when bed sharing with a kid or two! I also like not having carpet…makes cleaning up the messes from the kids a lot easier. But we were also fortunate to be on the top floor (i.e. no upstairs neighbors). Crossing my fingers on the Music refurb!
We stayed in building 8 (Fantasia) the first week of Dec of 2018 and we had a remodeled room. We were so extremely impressed with it. We loved the murphy bed, which I slept in, and it was totally comfortable. The laminate flooring was wonderful and extremely clean. There was no worries about walking around barefoot on dirty carpeting, as there was no carpeting. The bathroom was large and clean, and there was plenty of drawers to put our clothes in. We also loved having a ton of electric outlet plugs available to recharge our phones, computer, and kindle. We loved having the mini fridge in the room. We could buy 1/2 gallons of milk in the gift shop to store in the fridge and there were lots of other basic non cook foods and snacks that we could also buy there. We also enjoyed the very large food court area. We visited other resorts on our rest day and none of the other resorts had such a large food court area. We would definately come back to the All Star Movies again.
We love the fresh, clean look of the new rooms, but having stayed at Pop Century recently I can attest to the face that inconsiderate upstairs “neighbors” can lead to some VERY annoying conditions. Granted, maybe the folks upstairs weren’t doing anything outlandish, and the floors are just loud. Either way, we’d take carpet over struggling to get to sleep on vacation any day, but we know that’s not realistic! Thanks so much for all y’all do!
We started using white noise when our kids were born and we stayed in hotels. My husband and I traveled alone for a get away and as (bad) luck would have it we got a room next to a crying baby. We turned on the white noise app we use when the kids are with us and it worked great blocking out the baby noise. There are apps or small (very packable) machines you can buy. Give it a try!
You mention it towards the end of the post that these are essentially a clone of the Pop Century rooms, but looking at the pictures, I was actually surprised how they are almost identical. We stayed in the Pop rooms for one night last year, so I want to look more closely – I’m going to have to pull up the review of the new Pop rooms and compare side-by-side the pictures – but I am still somewhat surprised at how nearly identical these are.
Which buildings have these updated rooms? I had always enjoyed the Fantasia building when my daughter was a toddler. Wouldn’t mind giving this resort another try.
~Erin
Buffalo, NY
I love these rooms. Same with pop. I’m not paying a ton of money to sit in this hotel. I shower and sleep. If I want to hang out around a resort, I’ll pay for a nicer resort.
These are terrific. We stayed in All Star Movies last January and felt flat-out uncomfortable in the room, given how worn down it was at the time.
My only complaint with the room is the artwork. I do appreciate the color the art provides – just wish that the art was themed to the section you were staying in. But I felt semi-similarly (although less so) with the art at Pop.
That being said, we had sworn off All Stars after last time but this has definitely put at least Movies back on our list.
Agreed on the art. It’s going to be really disappointing if they do every single room in each of the three All Stars exactly like this. It can’t possibly cost that much extra to mix up the art a bit.
Do you know if there is an option for connecting rooms at All Star Movies? We usually stay in 2br villas on our dvc points (we are a family of 7) but I can see wanting to stay at an All Star once in a while.
Thanks for a great blog!
All of the Value Resorts have a good number of connecting rooms.
If you haven’t done Pop Century and the prices are within $10/night of ASMovies, I’d probably choose that over these, for what it’s worth.
Yes! I would choose Pop if the prices are similar. When the kids were a little younger and we could put 7 in a suite (we had 2 kids under under 3 on that trip) we stayed at AoA and loved it. For those trips where there is little hotel time, sometimes you still want a value.
Honestly, I think the biggest upgrade to these rooms is the in-room coffee-maker! I’ve packed a french press and electric kettle before to keep my wife happy. 🙂
I like the murphy bed, and our daughter thinks it’s cool.
I’m curious how many people connect with the Love Bug or the Mighty Ducks these days. I’m on my 40’s and can just barely remember the Love Bug. Not that it’s probably worth a re-theme, but it’s not quite the classic that Fantasia or Toy Story is.
I wonder how many people connect with the Love Bug even when this resort was built. I get the Mighty Ducks–that was the hot property of the day–but the Love Bug? At the time, Herbie: Fully Loaded was still over a decade away, and the last Love Bug movie was over a decade old.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Disney making ‘deep cuts’ rather than just sticking with the same dozen or some properties and milking them to death, but it was a really odd choice even then.
I’m still hoping for a Mighty Ducks reboot, so hopefully someday that’ll be the hot thing once again.