Thumbs down to All Star Music

[disneydancer2]

Just got back yesterday from Disney. Had an Awesome time!

However I do have one gripe. We were VERY dissapointed in hotel service at All Star Music Resort. I had never been there before and since I was with a group had no say in the choice. But I figured i was as good as the other moderate priced hotels Disney has. Wrong.
First, We had to drag all our luggage across both pool areas and fountain to the Rock and Roll which is in the back area of the hotel.. But I guess someone has to get stuck with the furthest rooms so no big deal just a little walk..we could handle it. Second, the first morning the cleaning lady came at 8am!:snore: We were going to the park for 9 so were just getting up. I figured they waited till about 10 ,most of the people are out by then since parks open at 9. Anyway, that was the last we saw of the cleaning lady our entire trip. They did not come in to make the bed or give new towels. There was a pile of used ones by the end of the week. Good thing we found the towel cart on the second floor so we took extra towels so we'd have enough. One of the other rooms, the cleaning lady emptied the trash and left the full trash bag in the room. There was a problem with the phone in one room..which was called into the desk and took over a day to fix.

The last problem was with the buses. They are usually supposed to run every 20 minutes..not for us..it took forever to get a bus anywhere not to mention there were too many people to fit on one so if you were in the back you waited for the next one. They should really have one bus for each of the All Star Resorts..but they only did for Magic Kingdom.. these are 3 fairly big hotels.
One night, we waited over an hour to get the bus to Pleasure Island..and when you asked one of the other bus drivers, their answer was the same...they're right behind us or they'll be here..
only one driver actually called to make sure the bus was on schedule. After that night, we found ourselves taking buses to other parks or hotels to get transportation which took less time.


Overall, we all had an awesome trip and are ready to go back tomorrow but I really would not recommend the All Star. I understand it is one of cheapest but just because its cheap does not mean they can't have good service. It did not have the Disney spark that the other hotels do.
I would not stay there on my own..I'd rather be at Carribean Beach or Port Orleans..a little more but the service is a lot better..

Anyway, now that I have my gripe out.

I'm already starting to think of when we'll be going again..maybe the fall who knows. I LOVE DISNEY WORLD!!

 

[Merlin]

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience. It is amazing how one bad experience at a place can really ruin that place's image in a person's mind. I think this has to be especially true in the hotel industry since there are so many choices. I only had one less than stellar experience at All Star a few years back. We had ants in our bathroom and we discovered that our bed linens hadn't been changed from the previous guest. Also our room key suddenly became deactivated after a couple nights. The hotel corrected all these problems immediately and were incredibly pleasant about it (which is more than you can generally expect from most hotels). But I guess I'm spoiled by Disney hotel service and expected some sort of "compensation" for our trouble...which we didn't get. But because I've had so many great experiences at All Star, I tend to think of this as an isolated incident. I hope your experience isn't an indicator that it might truly be going downhill.

Interestingly, I only have stayed at Caribbean Beach one time and it was a bad experience. Because of that, I've never wanted to stay there again. I'm wondering if it has improved since the rehab.

 

[Mission: SPACE]

Just to let you know, the All Stars are not considered moderate resorts... they are a step down at the 'economy' (or whatever) resorts.

I've never had an experience like that at any of the AS resorts... you must have just had no luck... Usually the maids are on top of most of the stuff...

My one complaint: Buses. The bus service here is not as good as other resorts for the reason you mentioned: three large resorts on one bus. However, they do this with FIVE of the top resorts: Boardwalk, Beach and Yacht Clubs, Swan, and Dolphin. This is even worse.

But overall, I've never heard of anyone having this bad of a time at the AS resorts... I wouldn't give up on them. They are a good value no matter how bad the experience seems... IMHO.

 

[Main Street USA]

It's a real shame that you had a bad experience at the All-Stars. I've stayed at both Music and Movies, and both places were awesome. Each had as much, if not more magic than I've experienced at other resorts I've visited. Of all the times I've used their bus transportation (always), I've never waited for more than 30 minutes, even for DTD, and we went every night during our visit.

I'd give them another try if I were you. It saves you HUNDREDS if not thousands of dollars that can be spent in the parks, or even kept in your wallet or purse, and all the conveiniences and perks of staying on property are right there for ya. Not to mention the AWESOME food courts!

 

[TURKEY]

Originally posted by disneydancer2
Just got back yesterday from Disney. Had an Awesome time!

However I do have one gripe. We were VERY dissapointed in hotel service at All Star Music Resort. I had never been there before and since I was with a group had no say in the choice. But I figured i was as good as the other moderate priced hotels Disney has. Wrong.

The All-Stars are value resorts. Pop Century will be too.


I've stayed at Sports and at Music. I had great service.

My maids weren't always great, but a call to the front desk and or housekeeping and it was fixed within an hour.


With the way hours have been (cut back), fewer people are working at a given time. In that case, a person has more to take care of, so cleaning probally starts earlier. Besides someone has to be first.

I've had housekeeping arrive at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, and even 2 pm.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've had a great experience every time I've stayed at an All Star resort, and I've been to all three of them on multiple occasions.

I've had reasonable bus service every time I was there.

The maids cleaned the room every time. FYI, if I am not mistaken, the towel and sheet policy is that they only change them every 3 days or for every new guest in the room. I don't know if this policy applies to all of the resorts on property, but I imagine that it does.

 

[pocahontas79]

You know, I have always given my luggage to the luggage people (can't remember the name) in the front entrance. They would hold the luggage until you got your room and upon that, you could call or they would automatically bring your luggage to your room at a certain time. I am sure that service was available, i got it at Music 2 yrs ago.
The buses aren't always the best, but that is something I think you just have to accept with only bus transportation to the All Stars. If not accept, I guess what can you do?
I think the maids can be annoying anywhere. They probably have a certain amt of rooms to clean in a certain amount of time.
just in January I was at Coronado Springs and a cleaning lady woke us up about 8:00 knocking to clean. It is a nuisance especially when they disturb your sleep.

Not everything can be perfect at Disney, but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives!

 

[Erika]

I have stayed at all 3 AS Resorts, most recently the Movies last month and Music a few months before. They do bring your luggage to your room upon request.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience We have been lucky with them so far.

Edit- we're usually up pretty early but when we want to sleep in, we just stick the Do Not Disturb on the door just to be safe.

 

[EmeraldDolphin]

wow... we must have had a real cranky CM when we stayed at All Star's Music... when we asked to have our luggage brought up to our room, he told us to bring it ourselves... it took over an hour back and forth to our vehicle...

my bad experience at All Star's Music was the reason we stayed only the one time about 10 years ago... when we got to our room, it was supposedly cleaned... but we found trash in the container from the previous guest... but then... even better, the previous guest had NOT flushed their toilet... and the cleaning lady didn't clean the toilet... much less flush it! When we wrote to Disney about it, after we had gotten back home, they offered us 2 free nights at the All Star's (at the time it was just Music & Sports) and my husband said "no way!"

I was considering it for my daughter & I for this summer... only because of the price... but we thought we'd try Movies...

 

[Yellow Shoes]

Re: Re: Thumbs down to All Star Music

Originally posted by turkey leg boy

With the way hours have been (cut back), fewer people are working at a given time.

....and you were there on one of the most busy weeks of the year.

And that is not an excuse, but at busy times everything takes longer.

However, the housekeeping issue is a big deal to me. I would have called and kept calling until the room was cleaned. After the fact is too late.

 

[Dwarful]

well, I must say I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. I would write Disney a letter with your complaints. I don't know that anything will be done for you personally but they should be aware of the problem so others don't get a bad impression as well.

We are frequent all star guests. Last visit was to movies..2 rooms in Dalmation Bldg. My husband and I had 5 kids with us plus the luggage, car seat (for airplane), stroller etc. We arrived late at night and asked about luggage assistance and we had no problem getting help at arrival and departure..well worth whatever my husband tipped.

 

[Dwarful]

Oops I forgot to say that disney must adjust bus scheduels according to the "expected" crowds. Because each time we have been to the All~Stars they have never shared buses, each resort had their own buses running to each of the parks, now say mid day leaving the parks you might drop off at the other all stars but that only takes a few minutes..not a half hour or anything like that.

 

[Becky]

I stayed at Movies 12/29-1/5 Super Service

Music 3/2-8 Super Service

I put the do not disturb on each night and was Never disturbed. When I left for the Parks I took the DND off the door and my room was always fully serviced when I returned.

A couple of times I forgot to take the DND off the door. Upon returning I found a plastic bag on the outside of the door. In it (both times) were several towels, wash cloths , soap and toilet paper.

Luggage service is provided and instructions are on printed material they give you at check in. Luggage delivery to your room takes place several times a day. If you want your luggage taken to your room right away you must do that. I pay the extra $10 a day for a perfered room (closest to the lobby, bus etc) and take care of my own luggage.

Bus service. I never waited more than 10 minutes including NYE.

I am sorry you had a bad experience. I have had bad experiences at non-Disney hotels. I do not wait to get home. I ask the front desk to correct a problem as soon as I know there is a problem and if that doesn't work I ask for the manager on duty or general manager if it is M-F days. That has always resulted in corrective action within a few minutes.

 

[VinnieG]

I never had a peoblem with any of the All-Star resorts I stayed at all three Movies,Sports and Music 3 times each and never had a bad experience. They are a great place to stay.The CMs at all three are great very curtious and friendly thumbs Up:sohappy:

 

[RandeB]

I used to try to counter people who dislike the All Stars, but after having such a hard time booking a room last time, hope that more people refuse to stay there so we can. After Pop Century opens maybe it'll get easier.

 

[Dwarful]

I was wondering the same thing, if the opening of Pop Century will lighten the load on the all stars. I still recommend these resorts to family & friends who are going to WDW, nice place, good price, and you get the Disney Magic!

 

[mwitkus]

i've never stayed at the all star resorts myself, so my information is second hand and subject to interpretation... but when we were on the cruise last year we met a family who had stayed at the all stars in the past and said that they didn't like it at all.... they said it was "motel like" and that the crowds there were usually louder and wilder than at the other resorts... it could have just been their one experience, but based on that review, we have vowed to never stay at one of the all stars if we can avoid it.... so far we have been very very lucky and been able to stay at the WL (once in the hotels and once in the DVC villas) and have had great service..

 

[TURKEY]

The All-Stars are usually louder than any other resort. Whether it's groups of Brazilians or just cheerleader or other sports groups for competitions at WWoS, most of them will stay at the All-Stars.

They are more motel like than any other Disney resort. They're like that so prices won't be as expensive.

 

[Dwarful]

no its not the cheerleaders and band groups its all the middle class working parents out celebrating with their kids LOL~

 

[disneydancer2]

I'm not going to let this experience sour my future trips. If I had to stay there again I would try it. It very well could have been caused by the busy crowd last week.
I did like the food court a lot. Their muffins were very good :slurp: