Concern About All-Star Sports

GoofyGroupie

GoofyGroupie

New Member
Original Poster
After reading several articles and listening to a few podcast it seems the consensus is All-Star Sports is the worst resort at WDW. The first of June I am taking my two children, their spouses, and three grandchildren to Disney. We have a very nice three bedroom condo off property about twenty minutes from WDW. However, I also reserved two standards room at All-Star Sports, so our grandkids (and Grandpa) could take a break from the parks in the afternoon to nap or swim and not have to leave, travel to the condo and then travel back to the parks. I felt we'd spend more time traveling then we would enjoying the parks. Since reading about All-Star Sports I am wondering if I should change reservations to another resort. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
nickys

nickys

Premium Member
GoofyGroupie said:
After reading several articles and listening to a few podcast it seems the consensus is All-Star Sports is the worst resort at WDW. The first of June I am taking my two children, their spouses, and three grandchildren to Disney. We have a very nice three bedroom condo off property about twenty minutes from WDW. However, I also reserved two standards room at All-Star Sports, so our grandkids (and Grandpa) could take a break from the parks in the afternoon to nap or swim and not have to leave, travel to the condo and then travel back to the parks. I felt we'd spend more time traveling then we would enjoying the parks. Since reading about All-Star Sports I am wondering if I should change reservations to another resort. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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Not stayed there, but if you're not sleeping there then I don't think it'll be a problem will it? Are you meaning it is noisy with lots of large groups? I imagine most of the noise from tour groups etc would be in the evening. I would think using it as a base through the day would be fine.
 
DisneyDreamer08

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
We stayed in Sports for 8 nights last September and hated it. We will never stay there again. However, we spent a lot of time there. It sounds like you might spend a few hours there over the course of your vacation. So I can't imagine it really matters where you book. For a quick nap or swim, it will be fine. The main Surfs Up pool is obnoxiously loud with blaring music and constant games and activities (which my daughter did take part in one day) but the baseball pool is quiet and nicer for a calm swim.

Our issues with the resort were with the cleanliness and customer service. The grounds were very dirty. There was a big storm the Monday of our trip. The sidewalks and walkways were covered in sticks, mulch, random trash and debris. When we checked out Saturday, they were still a mess. They were never cleaned.
The main pool had a strong sewer smell all week. The water was kept too warm. It was 90+ degrees and super humid every day of our trip. The pool was kept so warm we actually had to get out one day because it was making us more hot.
The self serve drink station was always out of something. Coffee, ice, iced tea, cream. There were times the cream would be out at 8am and we'd have to ask several times for it to be refilled.
We had connecting rooms with my parents. There was a broken piece of metal between the two doors and both myself and my baby cut our foot on it and were bleeding. When I told a manager I was told maintenance would be there that day to fix it. No one came the whole week.
And finally, we found a live cockroach in our bathroom.
The worst part was that when I spoke to a manager about our issues he barely mumbled an apology and offered us free fastpasses. He didn't seem genuinely concerned or sorry at all. So it was more the poor customer service and lack of empathy than the actual issues.

But again, we were there A LOT- for meals, naps, pool breaks etc for several hours each day. For your needs, I don't think you will have much of an issue.
 
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LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Frankly, I'd switch to Pop Century. Better food court and you won't share a bus with other resorts, like all the All Stars do. And you're a short walk from AoA.
 
Dana223

Dana223

Member
LAKid53 said:
Frankly, I'd switch to Pop Century. Better food court and you won't share a bus with other resorts, like all the All Stars do. And you're a short walk from AoA.
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I also have a reservation for All Star Sports but in August. My concern with Pop is that it has construction going on now...
 
LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Dana223 said:
I also have a reservation for All Star Sports but in August. My concern with Pop is that it has construction going on now...
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When we've stayed at an All Stars, we always chose Music over the other two. It's the 2nd resort on the combined bus...and the food court was updated a couple of years ago. We just liked the theming better.
 
SSH

SSH

Well-Known Member
Music has the advantage when it comes to buses back from the parks late at night - if sports or movies has a shorter line, you can grab either and just walk to music from there - since it's right in the middle of the two. I thought that added a lot of flexibility, but don't see that advantage mentioned too often.

We were there in Dec - the resort was very clean, management seemed very service-oriented and responsive. We had an issue with our assigned room and they found us another that was terrific.
 
belledream

belledream

Well-Known Member
Relax. It'll be fine. Everyone has run-ins with customer service or issues with rooms - that's not an outlier with Sports. As for the buses, the All Stars rarely share in my experience, though it is possible in middle of the day they would. And with Sports being the first stop, there you go! Lastly, since it's just for taking a break and it staying overnight over the course of a week...I really don't think it will make or break your vacation.
 
Baldy

Baldy

Well-Known Member
We have actually stayed at Sports a few times without problem. The theming is nothing exciting, but it's always been clean and we don't do much more than sleep there. If you're going at a time when the busses are shared, Sports is the first stop so you don't end up waiting for a bus that arrives with all the seats taken. You can ask for a room near Music if you prefer that pool. Pool hopping between the all stars is permitted.
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
I've stayed at all 3 All Stars and Sports is my favorite of the 3, Movies is my 2nd. I have never encountered any issues with it being clean, in fact I had more issues at Port Orleans Riverside and the Caribbean with bugs and things left unclean. Noise was never an issue, and we were near some cheerleader groups last time at the Sports and Movies. And the cast members were all friendly and helpful to us, hubby's suitcase broke and they helped find something that would fix it enough to get it home.

We have stayed at the Pop many times too and like that as well. We will be staying there next and even though there will be construction we aren't that concerned about it bothering us.
 
M

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
I will be back at All-Star Sports again this October just as I have been for the last 9 years. I've stayed all over WDW and find Sports to be the best bang for my bucks, especially since I love AK and can get there by bus quicker than any resort. I've never had an issue at the hotel and the cast members have all been great. I always think I'm going to stay at a moderate again but then I remember I love twice as many nights more than twice as many sinks.
 
19FW72

19FW72

Member
 
MickeyMomV

MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
We stayed there last April and had a great time. There were shared buses from HS, EP, and AK during the mid day but early morning and evening they were dedicated and MK was always dedicated. The pool can get a little loud with the games but ALL of the pools are this way mid day. During our last couple of stays Coronado, Caribbean, Movies, and Music all had games going pool side and could be loud during the day.
I do have to say that 2 of the best cast member interactions we have had in the last couple of years was during our last trip to AS-Sports. Just goes to show that it does not matter what level of resort you stay at people are people and sometimes you will talk to somebody who is having a good day and sometimes you will talk to somebody who is having a bad day. You just can't count out a whole park, restaurant, or hotel just because you talk to that somebody who is having a bad day.
 
Takeitforgranite

Takeitforgranite

Active Member
We've stayed at Sports at least 6 times. We've stayed at Music, Pop, POR, and OKW. Sports is just fine for us because we spend very little time at the resorts, other than sleeping. We've never had a problem.

I've seen the shared bus thing come up hundreds of times, but it's never been a big deal. I can count on one hand the number of times we had to go to the other All Stars. It's got to be be the most exaggerated WDW complaint I have seen. The only times I can even remember going to the other All Stars was going to AK early in the morning and the bus isn't full.

Like others have mentioned, there's always a chance for flexibility with the All Star buses. For example, if you are staying in the baseball area of Sports, the Music bus stop is about the same distance as the Sports. If you have the chance to jump on a Music bus when leaving the park, you can save time.
 
RRDallas

RRDallas

New Member
I've stayed at AS Sports multiple times over the years and personally from someone who works in the hospitality industry they are awesome! Every request we made was met and then checked on. Our room was always clean and fulfilled. As well when we go its during one of our biggest cheer competitions and the food court and front desk and mousekeepers are always pleasant and accommodating. I wouldn't let some few random peoples one time bad "services" sway you from going! was just there in April at AS Music and it was some of THE best customer service I've received from any Disney Resort Hotel.
 
Nickels5

Nickels5

Well-Known Member
LAKid53 said:
Frankly, I'd switch to Pop Century. Better food court and you won't share a bus with other resorts, like all the All Stars do. And you're a short walk from AoA.
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Why do people continue to say the all star share buses? When I was there this past September over the course of the week we did not share a bus with any of the other two and we stayed at movies.
 

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