Disney's All-Star Resorts
The All-Stars are three neighbouring hotels at Walt Disney World, themed to sport, music and film. The theming itself is the draw, a Buzz Lightyear as tall as the buildings, a jukebox you walk straight through and giant football helmets children walk right up to, a free show around every courtyard. All three sit close to Disney's Animal Kingdom and share the same on-site benefits.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Three Value resorts sharing one complex, where the choice that matters is which of the three.
The All-Stars are three separate but neighbouring hotels, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music and All-Star Movies, sitting side by side in one big complex on the south-west edge of Walt Disney World. They're the most affordable rooms Disney owns on property, priced below the Moderate resorts and well below the Deluxe ones, and every one of them comes with the full set of on-site benefits. The rooms themselves are plain, and the theming is all outdoors. Each resort takes icons of sport, music or film and blows them up to four-storey scale, lit at night, so the courtyards are a free walk-around attraction young children tend to love.
Movies has the theming young children recognise and the only fenced toddler splash area of the complex, and it's the quietest. Music is the one with family suites, the only value-priced way to get a private bedroom and two bathrooms for a family of five or six. Sports has the newest standard rooms, and usually the cheapest to book because it sees the deepest discounts, but it's the noisiest of the three. The one drawback all three share is transport. Every park trip is by Disney bus, which is the main reason some families look at the two sister Value resorts instead.
Best for
Families who want the on-site Disney benefits at the lowest price, don't mind a simple room and are happy to use the bus.
Movies
The theming young children know, and the quietest stay of the three.
Music
The only value suite with a private bedroom and two bathrooms.
Sports
The newest standard rooms, usually the cheapest to book.
Maybe not for
Anyone set on a pool slide, a hot tub or a suite bigger than Music's. None of those are here.
Where is it?
Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort Area, on the south-west edge of Walt Disney World, with buses to every park.
Quick facts for UK families
Three resorts sharing one complex
They're neighbours built to the same plan, so the choice between them comes down to theming, suites and noise.
All three were built to the same idea. Each takes the icons of a subject, sport at one resort, music at the next, film at the third, and blows them up to full architectural scale, so the giant props are the buildings themselves, not decoration added to them. Sports opened first in 1994 and Music the same year, with Movies following in 1999, and they were the original Value resorts, the budget concept Disney later reused for Pop Century and Art of Animation. Underneath the theming the three are near-identical, with the same simple standard rooms, one food court and a couple of pools each, the same on-site benefits and the same bus transport. The differences come down to the theme, whether there's a suite and how much noise you're likely to get.
Best for young childrenAll-Star Movies
Movies is the one most families with young children pick, because its five sections are themed to films they'll know. There's a Toy Story courtyard built as Andy's bedroom, where you're shrunk to toy scale among giant building blocks with a Buzz Lightyear and a Woody towering over you. The other four sections each have their own oversized props: giant Pongo and Perdita from 101 Dalmatians, with paw prints and dog bones set into the pavement, a towering Sorcerer's hat and walking broomsticks carrying buckets from Fantasia, duck-billed goalie masks capping the stairwells in the Mighty Ducks section and a five-times-size Herbie the Love Bug crashing through one building and out of the next, with a giant tyre alongside that doubles as a misting fan switched on in hot weather. With no link to the sports venue it draws the fewest big groups, so it's the quietest of the three. The rooms are the one thing to check, since they're getting a cosmetic refresh through into early 2027, done building by building, though the resort, pools and food court all stay open while the work runs. Check the official Movies page for whether it falls on your dates.
The family-suites resortAll-Star Music
Music is the resort for a bigger family, because it's the only All-Star with family suites, covered below. Its sections run through the genres of music, from a Caribbean calypso courtyard with three-storey maracas to jazz, rock, country and Broadway, and two of its icons are passageways you walk straight through, a three-storey neon jukebox and a Broadway theatre marquee. Giant guitars, a drum kit and cowboy boots stand over the other sections, and even the walkway railings are laid out as musical staves, the bars as the staff and the posts as the notes. The theming reaches inside the rooms too, with a "Name That Tune" touch where the musical notation printed on the curtains spells out real tunes. It sits in the middle of the three, and it has the best food court of the complex, the only one with a gelato counter. That makes Music the choice for a family that needs the suite or wants the best food, whatever they make of the theme.
The cheapest rooms of the threeAll-Star Sports
Sports is themed to surfing, basketball, tennis, American football and baseball, with a football-field courtyard laid out with real turf and yard lines and giant football helmets capping the stairwells around it. Elsewhere there are giant surfboards and shark fins, whistles and megaphones over the basketball section, an enormous tennis racquet and a Mount Mickey photo statue with Mickey at the summit, the resort's own photo spot. Its standard rooms were refreshed in 2023, so they're the newest of the three until the Movies works finish, and it's often the cheapest room on the whole resort. The trade is noise. Sports sits closest to ESPN Wide World of Sports, so it's the default base for visiting cheer, dance and youth-sports teams, heaviest between January and May. It has no suite option and the theming leans least on Disney characters, which is why a 2026 Disney-fan poll voted it the worst of the five Value resorts.
Getting around a big complexHow they're laid out
Each resort is ten three-storey buildings arranged in five themed sections around a central hall, and the central hall is where the food court, the gift shop, the main pool and the single bus stop all sit. These are large footprints, so the furthest buildings are a real walk from the middle. For a family the building you're given matters more than which resort you're in, and the way to get a short walk to the food court and bus is to book the Preferred room category or ask for a section near the central hall. Requests are never guaranteed, but the sections nearest the hall are Surf's Up at Sports, Calypso and Jazz at Music, which double as the suite buildings, and Toy Story or 101 Dalmatians at Movies, and those last two also carry the theming a young child is most likely to know. Some sections come with a trade to weigh. Fantasia rooms at Movies face the pool and pick up noise until it closes around eleven, the Mighty Ducks buildings sit furthest from the Movies hall, and Country Fair at Music is the quietest section but about a third of a mile from the food court. A third-floor room has no footsteps overhead, and a room facing the car park or a service area can catch early-morning deliveries, so both are worth flagging when you ask. The rooms open onto outdoor walkways rather than internal corridors, so there's no balcony or private outdoor space, and the walls and doors carry sound from neighbours and the walkway.
The rooms
Simple rooms that sleep four, plus the family suites at Music that a bigger family comes here for.
The standard rooms are much the same across all three resorts, about 260 sq ft. They're motel-style, with the door opening straight onto an outdoor walkway and no balcony or patio. You get one fixed queen bed plus a queen table bed, which is a mattress that folds down out of a wall unit that doubles as a table and chairs during the day, and the room sleeps up to four adults plus one child under three in a cot. At Movies you can also book a version with a single king bed. The finish is laminate floors, a mini-fridge with no freezer, a coffee maker, a flat-screen TV, a safe, a hairdryer, an iron and board and free Wi-Fi throughout. The bathroom has a rainfall shower and no bath, so bathing a baby or toddler here means a shower rather than a tub, which is worth knowing if bath-time is part of your evening at home. Charging is easy, with USB ports dotted around the room, and there's a "Hey Disney!" voice assistant by the bed. A sliding door shuts the bathroom off from the bedroom, and a second sliding door separates the sink and vanity from the toilet and shower, which helps when several of you are getting ready at once. There's no microwave or toaster in the room, though every food court has free ones, and housekeeping comes every other day.
| Room | Resort | Size | Sleeps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Room | All three | About 260 sq ft | 4 + cot | One queen bed and a queen table bed, a mattress that folds down from a wall unit that turns into a table and chairs by day. Views of the courtyard, a pool or the car park. At Movies you can book a one-king-bed version instead. |
| Preferred Room | All three | About 260 sq ft | 4 + cot | The same room in a building close to the central hall, so a shorter walk to the food court, pool and bus stop. |
| Family Suite | Music only | About 520 sq ft | 6 + cot | A private bedroom with its own bathroom, a second full bathroom and a kitchenette with a freezer. The only rooms in the complex that sleep more than four. |
With a baby that floor space is comfortable for two adults and a toddler in a cot, and tight once both queen beds are down and a pushchair and cot are in the room too, with little floor left. A travel cot is free on request, one per room. Because the rooms open onto outdoor walkways rather than internal corridors, sound carries, so a lot of families rate a portable white-noise machine as the single most useful thing to pack for young children here. There's no fifth bed at Sports or Movies, so a family of five or six needs Music's suite, two standard rooms or a step up to a Moderate resort.
The complex's one big roomMusic family suites
The family suite is the single reason a larger family chooses an All-Star at all, and it exists only at Music. There are 192 of them, about 520 sq ft, roughly double a standard room, in the four buildings nearest the lobby, food court and bus stop, so they sit in the most convenient spot too. A suite sleeps up to six adults plus a child under three in a cot. The layout is the reason it suits little ones. A private master bedroom has a queen bed and its own full bathroom, so you can settle a baby or toddler to sleep in there and still use the living area, which a standard room can't do. Between the two rooms is a kitchenette with a fridge that has a freezer, bigger than the standard mini-fridge but not a full household one, plus a microwave and a coffee maker, though no stove. The living area has two more queen fold-down beds and a second full bathroom, and that one has a bath rather than only a shower, the only bath anywhere in the complex, since every standard room is shower-only.
The suite was made by knocking two standard rooms together, so it has two front doors and picks up more walkway noise as a result. Booking two standard rooms instead can also cost less and gives you four beds and two bathrooms, since the suites attract fewer discounts, though the suite is better if you want one connected space with a kitchenette. Art of Animation's suites are larger and have the Skyliner, but they cost meaningfully more, which leaves Music as the budget family suite.
Food courts and pool bars
One food court and one pool bar at each resort, with no table service and no character meals anywhere in the complex.
Each resort has a single quick-service food court in its central hall and one pool bar, and that's the lot. The food courts are walk-up counter service, so you order at the till or ahead on the app and there's nothing to reserve. What the complex doesn't have is table service or character dining, so a booked, sit-down meal means a bus ride to another resort or a park. All three accept the Disney Dining Plan on its quick-service and snack credits if you've added one to a package, sell a refillable drinks mug good for the length of your stay across all three food courts, keep a grab-and-go fridge and have free toasters and microwaves in the dining hall for warming a pouch or making toast. The wooden high chairs suit a baby who can sit up, children under three eat from a parent's plate, and adults are allowed to order from the children's menu, where the portions are generous.
Intermission at Music is the best of the three, with build-your-own burger, pasta and salad stations and the only gelato counter, including a warm-waffle-and-gelato sundae that goes down well with children. World Premiere at Movies has a coffee and ice-cream counter but the least seating of the three. End Zone at Sports has the most seating but the weakest reviews, and Walt's chilli in a bread bowl is one thing you can only get there. Mickey waffles are on all three breakfast menus and are the easy win with a toddler, and you can order a Mickey celebration cake at any of the food courts a day or two ahead for a birthday. At the pool bars the Mickey pretzel with cheese sauce is the reliable snack without trekking back to the food court, and the Dole Whip smoothie at the Movies pool bar is the one families single out. Each food court runs an allergy-friendly menu covering the main allergens, so ask for a special-diets Cast Member. There's no in-room food delivery at any of the three, though the third-party apps will bring a takeaway to the lobby for you to collect.
Pools and recreation
Two pools at each resort, all heated all year, and none of them has a slide.
There are six pools across the complex, a bigger feature pool and a quieter one at each resort, all heated year-round with lifeguards during posted hours and free life jackets to borrow. None of them has a slide, a lazy river, a hot tub or a zero-entry shallow end, which is normal for the Value tier. A guest at any All-Star can use the other two resorts' pools, handy if one is closed for a refurbishment. The feature pools each carry their resort's theme. At Movies a Sorcerer Mickey fountain jets water over the Fantasia Pool, Music's guitar-shaped Calypso Pool is one of the largest Value-resort pools at Disney World, with a Three Caballeros fountain, Donald and his two friends, spraying swimmers from the middle, and Sports' feature pool is the wave-shaped Surfboard Bay, ringed by giant surfboards and shark fins. The quieter second pool at each carries a character too: the hockey-themed Duck Pond at Movies has Goofy in goalie kit, the piano-shaped Piano Pool at Music has Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian at one end, and the baseball-diamond Grand Slam Pool at Sports has Goofy firing a water cannon from the pitcher's mound.
For the youngest children Movies is the pool that stands out, because beside its main pool is a small paddling pool and a splash pad on a soft surface, with the whole water-play area fenced. Music and Sports each have a shallow children's paddling pool but no fence around it, so the fenced area at Movies is the main reason parents of a wandering toddler steer towards it.
Campfires, film nights and the arcadeWhat else there is to do
Each resort runs a free nightly campfire with marshmallow-roasting, screens Disney films outdoors after dark and has a playground, an arcade in the central hall and a share of the one-mile jogging trail that links all three. Movies has a named spot for its outdoor film nights, and its Cinema Hall also runs Disney films continuously in a small indoor seating area, a useful bolt-hole for a nap, a feed or a wait out of the Florida heat or a downpour. Each pool runs Cast-Member-led games and crafts through the afternoon, and the poolside kit runs to cornhole, oversized Connect Four, giant checkers and ping-pong. There's no gym or spa at any of the three, though you can pay to use the gym at another Disney resort if you want one.
At Christmas each resort dresses its lobby and food court with a feature tree decorated to its own theme, sports balls at Sports, instruments at Music and film reels with a clapper-board at Movies, along with theme-specific wreaths through the central hall. Because the three link up by the walking trail, a family visiting in winter can see all of it on one stroll. The decorations go up from around mid-November, with the specific ornaments changing a little year to year.
Getting to the parks by bus
Disney buses to everything, and that shapes your park mornings.
This is the one big drawback the three share. On Disney transport the parks are served only by bus, with no Skyliner gondola, no monorail and no boat, whereas the two sister Value resorts, Pop Century and Art of Animation, both have the Skyliner to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Buses run roughly every twenty minutes, and the drive is about twenty-five minutes to Magic Kingdom, a little over twenty to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios and about twenty to Disney's Animal Kingdom, which the All-Stars sit closest to. Every pushchair has to be folded and carried onto the bus, and car seats can't be used on Disney buses, which is worth knowing if you'd be holding a baby in your arms.
In the middle of the day the three resorts are often combined onto one bus in the order Sports, Music, Movies, the arrangement that draws the most complaints. Movies guests board last, so they can meet a busy bus and an extra wait at park close, while in the mornings and after about 5pm the buses usually run per resort. Because the three are linked by the walking trail, families sometimes walk to a neighbour's bus stop when their own queue is long, and the Mighty Ducks buildings at Movies are actually nearer Music's stop than their own, so that's the walk to make if the Movies line has built up. At the parks the All-Star stop is often a long walk from the gate, a fair push with a tired toddler at the end of the day, so a Minnie Van, Disney's car service booked through the app and charged separately, is there for a direct or late trip.
Checking in and getting in earlyArrival, MagicBands and Early Entry
You can check in on the My Disney Experience app before you arrive, and every guest gets a MagicBand or card that works as the room key, the park ticket and a way to pay around the resort. As a Disney hotel guest you get Early Theme Park Entry, which lets you into any park ahead of the general public on every day of your stay, currently around thirty minutes early, though the exact figure can change, so check the app for your dates. You can also buy Lightning Lane ride access up to seven days ahead, which our tickets and passes guide sets out in full. The Extended Evening Hours that some resorts offer are for the Deluxe and DVC hotels only, not the Values, so they aren't part of a stay here.
Booking the trip from homeBooking from the UK
UK families usually book an All-Star as a package with flights, either through Walt Disney Travel Company International or a Florida specialist such as Ocean Florida or Charter Travel. Booked that way the holiday is ATOL and ABTA protected, so your money and your flights are covered if something goes wrong. All three resorts cost the same per night and are the cheapest rooms Disney owns, and within the complex Sports tends to see the deepest discounts while Music's family suites attract fewer, so a suite can sit closer to full price than a standard room. It's worth pricing up the two sister Value resorts, Pop Century and Art of Animation, at the same time. When they come out only a little more per night a lot of families pay the difference for the Skyliner, and when the All-Stars are clearly cheaper they're the stronger value for a family happy to use the bus. Which weeks you travel matters as much as which resort, since the same room is cheapest in the quieter value-season weeks and dearest over the school holidays and other peak dates, so flexible dates are where the savings are. Our tickets and passes guide has more on the UK booking route and how the seasons are priced. You book through the official UK site or a travel agent, not on this page.
Babies, toddlers and the day-to-day
What's lent, what's stocked and the one summer perk the All-Stars don't get.
A travel cot is free on request, one per room, from housekeeping. The gift shops carry nappies and basic baby and over-the-counter supplies for a pinch, though the range is modest and rotates, so anything specific is cheaper shipped ahead through Amazon, held at the front desk, with Music the one resort that has Amazon lockers, or through a grocery delivery. There's no pushchair hire on site, though the Sports shop sells a basic fold-up pushchair as a backup and you can book a length-of-stay hire from an outside company for delivery to the resort. Babysitting is arranged through an outside firm, Kids Nite Out, for children from a few weeks old, booked ahead.
If you travel in summer, one thing to weigh is Disney's summer resort programme, Cool Kids' Summer. It has run at Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside rather than the All-Stars. For a family with a baby that means missing the free bottle-warmer, infant-bath and nappy-bin amenity kits those resorts hand out over the summer, so it's worth checking whether it's running when you go. All-Star guests still get Early Entry, the parks and the free buses.
For the rest of the day-to-day, self-parking is free, there are 24-hour self-service launderettes by the pools, a 24-hour cash machine sits near each front desk and the desk itself can exchange currency, and if someone's unwell the front desk arranges help, with the nearest walk-in clinic over at Lake Buena Vista. There's no staffed nurse at the resort itself.
Travelling with additional needsAccessible rooms and getting around
Accessible rooms are available at all three resorts, with a roll-in shower in place of the bath, and they're usually the king-bed rooms. Hearing-accessible rooms add visual alarms and a knock or phone alert at the door. There are single-stall companion restrooms, with room for a guest and a carer, in the central halls and by the pools alongside the standard facilities. The Disney buses kneel and have ramps, though a pushchair still has to be folded to board as everyone else's does. If you're travelling with a disabled child or an older relative it's worth booking the specific room type directly and flagging what you need well ahead, since these rooms are limited.
Loves and gripes
What families praise most, and what they flag most, from our research.
Children react to the giant icons more than anything else here. The scale and the characters they recognise land straight away, and walking a toddler into the Toy Story courtyard built as Andy's bedroom, shrunk to toy size among oversized blocks, is the moment parents mention again and again. The free evening extras get singled out too, the nightly campfire with marshmallows to roast and the Disney films screened outdoors after dark, both of which fill an evening without spending anything. Intermission at Music comes up for its food and the gelato sundae, and a large pizza with a family salad there is rated one of the better-value meals on the whole resort.
Transport tops the list of complaints. Because the three resorts often share one route Movies ends up waiting longest, a fuller bus on the way out and an extra wait at park close. After that come the standard rooms, tight once the cot and pushchair are in beside both queen beds, and the outdoor-corridor walls that carry noise from neighbours and the walkway. End Zone at Sports draws the weakest food-court reviews of the three.
Questions parents ask
A few things families check before booking.
How do we avoid the youth-sports crowds?
Check the ESPN Wide World of Sports event calendar before you book. The big cheer and dance meets run mainly from January to May and fill All-Star Sports first, then Music, so if your dates land in a competition week, lean towards Movies or ask for a section away from the pool and the grassy practice fields where teams warm up.
Will the building works at Movies spoil our stay?
You're very unlikely to be placed next to live work, and a request to be away from it should hold. Guests report the odd bit of daytime noise or a walled-off walkway rather than a spoiled stay, and everything bar some rooms stays open. If it still worries you, the simplest fix is to pick Music or Sports for those dates.
We're a family of five, will a standard room fit?
A standard room takes four people plus one baby under three in a cot, and that four is a hard cap. A child of three or older counts as one of the four, so two adults and three children over three won't fit. For five you're choosing between Music's family suite, which sleeps six, or two adjoining standard rooms, which can work out cheaper than the suite and still give you two bathrooms.
Is there anywhere to sit down for dinner or meet characters?
Not in the three resorts, so for either you're booking at another Disney resort or in a park. Dining reservations open sixty days ahead in the My Disney Experience app, which is worth doing on the day they open for the popular character meals, as those fill fast. Disney's Animal Kingdom is the closest park if you want a park-based sit-down meal without a long trip back.
How do we warm a bottle or baby food?
Use the free microwaves in any of the food-court dining halls. Disney lets you bring a cool box into the resort, so you can pack your own milk and baby food and warm it there, which helps because a standard room has only a mini-fridge and no microwave, and staff can't heat food you've brought in for you. A family suite at Music is the exception, with its own microwave and a freezer in the kitchenette.
Can we get to the parks without the bus?
On Disney transport, no, the bus is the only option here. If you're hiring a car, though, standard theme-park parking is free for Disney resort guests, so you can drive yourself to any park and skip the shared bus route altogether. Without a car, a Minnie Van booked through the app is the paid option for a direct or late-night trip.
Should we pay up for Pop Century or Art of Animation instead?
It comes down to where you'll spend your park days. The Skyliner those two add only runs to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, so it's worth most to a family basing several days at those two parks. If you're leaning towards Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom, the park the All-Stars sit closest to, the Skyliner is worth less to you and the cheaper All-Star room is the stronger pick.
All-Star Resorts photos
The giant icons, the courtyards and the pools across all three resorts, all in one place.
Open the All-Star Resorts photo gallery →Useful links
- Disney's All-Star Movies Resort: the official page for rooms, dining, live prices and the current refurbishment notice.
- Disney's All-Star Music Resort: the official page, including the family suites.
- Disney's All-Star Sports Resort: the official page for the sports-themed resort.
- Tickets and passes: how tickets, Lightning Lane and UK booking work.
- Walt Disney World with little ones: our guide to the resort, its parks and getting there.
Last updated 9 July 2026.
