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.
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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!
These have a little more personality than the new rooms at Pop Century at least, but now I have to cross one more place off my list. Stayed at the other hotel with my daughter who has sensory disabilities, and we had no idea the rooms were being changed. She had a panic attack when she stepped in the room–very bright lights, mostly white, echoed thanks to the flooring, and there’s a sliding door in front of the bathroom (at Pop Century anyway) that makes the room feel closed off, not to mention the “table” that touches the floor when it becomes a bed. Thankfully they were able to switch us to another room that had yet to be updated. I emailed the head of the resort with my concerns, and they basically said: “too bad”. I know plenty of people, old and young, who have these difficulties and find it sad Disney doesn’t seem to care.
We loved the new rooms at Pop Century, so when we saw that All Star Movies had the same type of room we jumped at it for our upcoming trip in Jan 2020. Laminate floors far preferred over carpet, it feels brighter, more clean & lack of color is restful after a over stimulated day at the parks. My husband loves the coffee maker, I love the sundries on the wall in the bath room & the ability to stow your suit cases under the bed, out of sight, makes it feel more homey.
With All Star Movies supposed to be finished by opening of Star Wars, what is the progress now that it is Aug 12? We are booked for Oct, 2019.
Any updates Tom?
I’ve just booked All Star Movies (preferred room) for November 2019. Initially I was told they all “preferred” rooms have now been renovated but I’m reading on your blog that rooms 1&5 have not yet been renovated (and are considered preferred)…I have also called the hotel directly and was given very different info. One person assured me 100% of the renovations are now complete…and another person told me rooms 1-5 still need to be done. Would you be able to provide the latest update on which rooms are done and when the whole project will be finished. Thank you! Any clarification is appreciated
We were just at All Star Music this past weekend and they have started renovations on rooms there. I would think that means All Star Movies is now completely renovated, as I would find it odd for them to start on another resort before one is complete. Hope that helps!
Brandy, do you know which building they are working on at All Star Music.
I am staying there very soon. Thanks. Vickie
We just stayed at Pop and loved the new rooms. I just booked a trip for April to stay in the newly renovated All Star Movies. Your article came at the perfect time for my planning. Thank you! I find the new rooms very comfortable. Although the queen beds take up more of the floor space in the small rooms, they made up for it by having the dresser and lots of shelves, drawers, counter space, etc. Much better than the old All Star rooms in that regard. We don’t miss the table at all as my guys usually use it as a place to pile up junk. Now they have to be better organized. My favorite new feature is the sliding door for the bathroom area. No more bright lights shining in someone’s eyes while they try to sleep. And it was a quiet gliding door too! Getting a newly renovated room was the reason/hope I booked All Star Movies for April 2020. Thanks so much for your updates! You’re timing was perfect for me.
We (group of 4 adults) stayed in one of these rooms but at Pop Century in January and had zero complaints. Even with all 4 of us showering/ getting ready it never felt over crowded and we were there for a full week. I can only speak on our experience but we found the fridge to keep our foods and drinks perfectly cold, the murphy bed to be just as comfortable as a normal bed and the bathroom space was great. Will definitely be choosing our next stay based on the renovated rooms!
We wanted POP in 2017, but it was booked cause Renovations were NOT COMPLETELY Done yet!!
We r hoping for POP in 2020. We stayed at All Star Sports in 2017 and Loved it. We r Huge Sports Fans, so Sports is a Fav of my Family. We go to Disney during Football Season, so we make sure our Teams r Playing week we go: Ohio State, LSU and SAINTS.
Just a comment, the frig is actually a wine cooler. Does not keep drinks cold at all. The same as pop century. I was disappointed.
I have reservations for All Star Movies in October. I made these in Oct with the thought that renovations would be complete. From what I gather they have stopped for several months. Our reservations are for Mighty Ducks. I really want the queen beds for my tall sil. With the announcement of the Star Wars opening phases do I need to change to another building or do you think Reno’s will be complete by October?
Louisa, I just got back from All Star Music. Renovations have not even began at this resort.
Movies 5 buildings are done, the other 5 have not been renovated yet. Also was just at Sports last couple months, from what I am told, Sports will be renovated last. It will be awhile. But we love All Star Music and Sports is perfectly fine also. Actually liked the food
choices at Sports better than Music.
right note to self stop ringing Disney they clearly have no idea. Thank you for all the wonderful info on here. We have stayed in Music and the last time Movies I was just looking forward to upgrading this year but in UK we could not book any where in our price range. I,m sure we will love Sports just as much and the way we see it its just a bed and we have eaten in Sports when the Music restaurant was closed and we did enjoy the food. This time we are going to try and eat at different hotels as we didn’t do a lot of that the last 2 times
“in a budget-rate motel, we’re down with as little bodily fluid-retaining surfaces as possible.”
That is quite a bit of nastiness there. Sorry, all your assurances that you aren’t a snob are obviously lies. As a single mom for whom a 5 day trip to WDW is a month’s pay, and on behalf of all the other folks like me who stay at Value’s, please feel free to NOT stay there anymore. We don’t need you looking down your patrician noses at us.
I had other comments, but they really don’t matter now that I see what your POV REALLY is!
We stayed at the Love Bug Building, we liked the room, the new configuration is good, more space in the bathroom area, bigger tv, more storage area and the beds are good. However, we had two big problems, first the air conditioner, we had to buy two fans to sleep well. The AC was bad, not able to keep the room temperature cool.
And our second issue was bugs, in the bathroom area we had a lot of these small bugs jumping in the floor, we where scared to had bed bugs but they are not, they are just tiny and weird.
Just finished a two night stay in the Fantasia section at All Star Movies. The room is indeed small with very little walking space especially if the Murphy bed is lowered. But the beds were very comfortable and Queens – not doubles which makes a huge difference for me. The bathroom was very nice and we had a really nice little view of the pool. It was my first stay in a value resort and it was quite pleasant. The bus service was timely and efficient although I don’t know how it would be during a more crowded season. Overall I liked the room and would return. I liked that we could store our luggage until the room was ready and head over to the park. Arrived back to the room with our luggage waiting for us. I wish the pools had a little more to offer though. Check in took a really long time. Thank goodness I decided to use the auto check out.
I’m really confused about this we are staying in All sports this October we have rung WDW and they have told us that the sports has finished its upgrade but on here it says it’s not even started let alone finished. We had no choice but to choose Sports as at the time of booking we wanted Pop but Movie Music and Pop was not available because of the upgrade
I just left WDW and stayed at Sports. My room was not renovated. I asked the front desk if I could move to a renovated room and was told that renovations haven’t started yet for Sports and she wasn’t sure when they would start.
thank you that is the most help we have had. We have rung up again and they have said that sports should be starting very soon as Music has just finished. We are just very disappointed as we were unable to book our 1st Choice Pop and our 2nd and 3rd choice which was movies and music so had to book Sport hey ho nothing we can do about it
These rooms are similar to the ones at pop century. I personally liked them
It was my husband and i. They are more spacious. They don’t have as much Disney theme in them buy overall I liked them
Do you have any photos of the new handicapped rooms? I’d like to see the roll-in shower configuration and drop down seat. Are those also 2 queen beds? My husband has his own scooter which he brings in the room at night to charge. Is there room enough to park it and be on a charge with both of the beds in place? Thanks Tom for any help here.
The door is glass so you can see what’s inside at a glance.
I am hugely disappointed with the new rooms. I find it interesting, Tom, that you feel “experienced” enough to knock down other people’s opinions on the rooms when it comes to decor. The old rooms may have been dingy
, probably due to a lack of decent clean g., however they did most certainly ja e more character perhaps this co e from more color.. or a mix of things if I wanted to stay on a sterile, European style room, I will just go to Europe. The lack of a permanent table, the horrendous Murphy bed, hardly makes this good choice for families. Frankly, I could care a less about “couples’ comfort as I highly doubt the extra bed was much of an inconvenience. With priced constantly on the rise at Disney, value hotels are a must for many. Sorry, two thumbs down Disney
Stayed at POP with my family in Sept 2018 and loved the renovated room. The lack of a permanent table took a little getting used to, but their wouldn’t have been room for a table with 2 queen beds. The two queen beds was the entire reason we booked Pop over the All Star Resorts. I had no interest in sleeping in a double bed with my spouse, both of us very tall and not rail thin. So for my family, the renovated rooms was a huge plus!
Where was the door to the mini fridge?