Disney’s All-Star Sports Review

We recently traveled to Disney World and stayed for our second time at Disney’s All-Star Sports hotel. The value level hotels at Disney are a great option if you want to get all the benefits of staying on-site, but want to stay on budget at the same time. A Disney value hotel has fun theming for the kids and will serve your needs if you do not plan to spend a lot of time in your room. We like to spend a lot of our time at the parks and only use the room to sleep or take a quick nap, so staying at a value often makes a lot of sense for our family. The general range for pricing for this hotel is anywhere between $99 USD to $145 USD per night.

 

In this blog post, I’ll share with you our All-Star Sports review so that you can get a clear picture of what to expect if you are considering this Disney hotel.

 

Check-In/Arrival

Prior to our arrival, we did do online check-in. Doing that allowed us to specify which area we wanted to be in and what floor we wanted. We had booked a Preferred room, which means that you are closer to the Main building and transportation. Our request was that we be in the Touchdown area on the 3rd floor and they satisfied both of those requests.

 

 

We were arriving around 10 pm at night, so our room was ready hours before we arrived. I received an email before we arrived letting me know that our room was ready and what our room number was. If we already had our Magicbands, we would of been able to go directly to our room and bypass the front desk when we arrived. However, we needed to get our Magicbands from the front desk, so we did have to stop there to check-in.

 

They offered us a promotion while we were checking in to forego housekeeping in return for a $60 USD Disney Gift Card. I believe they offer $10 USD/per night that you would normally use housekeeping. We decided to take advantage and throughout the week we just called in to request new towels and toiletries when we needed them. We didn’t really notice the difference in not having housekeeping and made good use of our extra $60 USD 🙂

 

Room

Our room was very clean when we arrived and had everything that we would need for our stay. The rooms are a bit on the small side (260 square feet), but will serve your needs if you do not plan to spend a lot of time in your room.

 

 

Each room has:

• 2 double beds (sleeps 4)
• table with 2 chairs
• dresser with 3 drawers
• mini fridge
• hair dryer
• in-room safe (small, will not fit a laptop)
• TV

 

Since the space is small, I bring some items along with me to keep the room organized for the week. I like to completely unpack all of our suitcases and put them on the top rack in the washroom so that we are not tripping over them all week. That really helps to make it a more livable space for the week. For our clothing, I bring along these Hanging Closet Organizers. There is enough space to fold your clothes in to them and store some toiletries in the bottom level shelf. That way we can keep the dresser drawers for underwear, socks and any souvenirs that we may bring back to the room throughout the week. I also bring along a pocket shoe organizer to hold all my toiletries. The bathroom vanity is really small, so you want to try and keep it clear of your stuff as much as you can. You can also check out A List of the Top Items to Bring to Disney World for suggestions of other items I highly recommend to pack for your trip.

 

 

Sections of the Resort

The resort is separated in to 5 sections, 2 of which are considered Preferred:

• Surf’s Up (Preferred)
• Touchdown! (Preferred)
• Homerun Hotel
• Center Court
• Hoops Hotel

 

 

We were staying in a Preferred section, but the grounds of the resort are really not that large, so you are never very far from the main hall. We took a walk around the grounds and I was surprised at how easy a walk it was and the property overall felt small.

 

The theming on the outside is different in each area, but the rooms are all the same. The areas that face the pools (Surf’s Up and Homerun Hotel) may have a bit more noise. If you prefer a quieter area, then you may want to stick to one of the other sections or request a garden/parking lot view.

 

 

Pools

There are 2 pools on the property – the main pool in the Surf’s Up section and the smaller/quieter pool in the Homerun Hotel section.

 

The main pool is where you will find the most activity. It is larger and it is right in front of the main building. It is close to the food and bar. They also have activities that they offer for the kids all day long, you’ll find the schedule for that in the arcade.

 

 

 

Next to each pool is a guest laundry facility and changing rooms/washrooms. If you would like to do some laundry during your stay, then you can do so for a small fee. The cost to use the machines is $2.00 per load and you can pay with your debit/credit card. You can also use the LaundryView website to check the status of your wash/dry so you’ll know when it’s ready!

 

 

Recreation

If you do want to hang back at the resort for a bit of downtime, there are things to keep you busy and entertained. You’ll find an arcade right across from the food court. You purchase a points card and then use that to play the arcade games. There are massage chairs for parents to sit in and relax while the kids play.

 

 

Also in the main building, you will find the hotel gift shop. You’ll find mostly souvenir type items, like what you would find in a lot of the park shops. You can also purchase some food/snack items and personal essentials. They sell some basic pharmacy items as well, such as tylenol, band-aids, tums etc. This is where you can get the items I mention in my blog post about What To Do When You Are Sick at Disney World. If you have had anything that you bought at the parks delivered back to the resort for you, then the gift shop is where you will pick it up.

 

 

As you can see from the photo below, the hotel has a lot of fun activities all throughout the day for kids. On select evenings, they show Disney movies by the pool. We participated in the campfire evening. It was set up right outside the main building. It is free to roast marshmallows, but if you want to make Smores, then it will cost you $5 for a kit. We opted to just roast marshmallows and they were super yummy!

 

 

Food

The hotel has one main Food Court for all guests. The selection is pretty good and you can find something for any taste. It has your standard burger, fries, pizza etc., but we really enjoyed some of the healthier options as well. Our favourites were the carved turkey dishes and the power salads. You can take a look at the full menu on Disney’s website.

 

 

Along with meal options, the food court also offers a wide range of snack items and beverages. You can purchase a refillable mug for $18.99 which will be good for your entire stay and it will give you access to unlimited refills at the drink station at your hotel. It includes soft drinks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and water. They also have wine and beer available for purchase in the food court and gift shop as well. If you prefer to enjoy a cocktail, then there is a bar right outside the food court.

 

 

The hotel also offers an in-room menu that you can order from. You can order anything from a pizza to salads and meatball subs. You just give them a call from your in-room phone and they bring it straight to your room.

 

Transportation

The main form of complimentary transportation available at this resort is bus, which is common for a value hotel. We found them to be very convenient and there always seemed to be a bus coming along shortly. They have a screen outside that will tell you when the next bus will be coming for each park.

 

 

Sometimes the All-Star resorts share buses, but I have only seen that happen once in the two times I have stayed there. They will only share if you are using the bus at a slow time of day and there are not a lot of people on board. The Sports resort is also the first along the route, so when coming back, you will always be the first stop. That means if you are sharing buses, then it won’t really affect you at the Sports resort.

 

If you don’t like the buses, you could opt to use Uber or Lyft for an additional fee. Those services are very popular in the Orlando area and you will always find a driver nearby. Just download the app on your phone and request a ride!

 
All in all, we really enjoyed our time at the All-Star Sports resort. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a fun Disney themed hotel. It has everything you would need at a budget price. If you plan to spend most of your time at the parks, then a value hotel is a great place to stay. You’ll get to stay in the “Disney” magic all the time and get access to some great benefits – 60 Day Fastpass+ reservations, Extra Magic Hours, complimentary transportation, complimentary Magic bands and so much more!

 

What is your favourite Disney hotel? Tell me in the comments below!

 

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