All-Star Movies Resort and Your Special Needs Child
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All-Star Movies Resort
If you have decided that staying on Walt Disney World property is the best decision for your special needs child and family then let’s talk about Disney’s All-Star Resorts. This grouping of value resorts is a great option for families seeking a heavily themed resort that gives you a ‘Disney’ feel but with a price tag that won’t break the bank.
This post will focus on examining Disney resorts with your special needs or sensory challenged child in mind. This will help you, the parent or caregiver with an overview of the pools, quiet vs. active spaces, transportation and the food court. I hope this will help you make the best decision possible for your family’s needs.
Sensory Needs
Each post on the Value Resorts will focus on the sensory needs of most sensory challenged children. Some kiddos with SPD need more sensory input in order to feel organized and happy. While other kiddos are not able to take in a lot of sensory information and still respond in a happy, organized manner.
Overview – The All-Star Resorts
The All-Star Resorts are positioned in a row with little delineation of property lines. You can easily walk from one resort to another, accessing All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports with All-Star Music in the middle of the trio. Each resort is similar with a main lobby and food court area. The main pool is located on the other side of the lobby entrance.
Where the other value resorts buildings, Art of Animation and Pop Century, are 4 floors high, the All-Star resorts are 3 floors. This allows the large campus of the All-Star resorts to feel a bit quieter and laid back. Each resort has two pools.
The All-Star Resorts have a more ’boutique’ feel than Pop Century and Art of Animation. See my post about Pop Century here.
However, there is an exception to this. At times, large groups from schools and even other countries (band, sports, cheerleading, etc.) will congregate at these resorts resulting in extra noise and activity.
All-Star Movies Property
The property consists of 10 buildings. There are 2 buildings, in the shape of an L, per themed area. If your child especially loves any of the following movies, it may help to make your stay more enjoyable.
101 Dalmations Buildings 1 and 4
Fantasia Buildings 5 and 8
Herbie the Love Bug Buildings 6 and 7
Mighty Ducks Buildings 2 and 3
Toy Story Buildings 9 and 10
Rooms
Like all Value resorts, these rooms measure in at only 260 square feet. There are only 2 types of All-Star Movies resort rooms, standard and preferred. Each room has 2 double beds. They will also have a mini-fridge to store a small number of items you need to be kept cold. If your child should need an accessible room, it will have a King bed and an accessible bathroom.
Standard Rooms
These rooms face the courtyard, pool, and parking areas. They will be a further walk from the lobby and frequently accessed areas such as the bus area.
Preferred Rooms
These rooms will be more expensive as they are closer to amenities such as the lobby, pool and bus depot. These rooms face the courtyard, pool, and parking areas.
When choosing a building or section of the All-Star Movies Resort, I would recommend the following buildings based on your preferences and your child’s needs…
If a POOL is the most important amenity to your stay, and you do not want a Preferred room at a higher rate, then I would request Buildings 2 or 3. This gives you easy access to the Mighty Ducks pool. You are also able to walk a short distance to access the main ‘Guitar’ pool at All-Star Music and a short walk to the main ‘Fantasia’ pool. These are short walks to and from all 3 pools.
If ACTIVE spaces or QUIET places are the most important amenities to your special needs or sensory challenged child’s stay, then I would request Buildings 9 and 10 with Woody and Buzz. There is a playground close to these buildings, as well as open areas that are great for playing and resetting on your rest day or lunch break from the parks.
If PROXIMITY to the main amenities such as the lobby, food court or bus depot, then I would recommend buildings 5 and 8, with building 8 being the closest to all 3 areas. However, these rooms are most likely going to fall under the Preferred room category and may cost slightly more.
If you have a specific building you would like to request, please discuss this with your Travel Agent. You or Travel Agent will be able to request this, but it is not a guarantee.
Pools
At All-Star Movies (and all the All-Star resorts) there are two pools per resort. At All-Star Movies, the pools felt equal in accommodating the guests at this resort. No one pool seemed to be busier than the other pool. When I visited, I didn’t feel these pools were overwhelming in noise and activity.
All-Star Movies main pool is themed after Disney’s 1940 film, Fantasia and is located behind Cinema Hall, the main lobby, and the food court building. This is the largest pool located on the resort campus with a Sorcerer Mickey as the centerpiece.
To the left of the Fantasia pool is a splash pad for younger children. This area is secured with a gate and has a soft ‘flooring’ for smaller kiddos.
Located on the other side of the 101 Dalmations building is the Duck Pond pool, themed after the 1992 Disney movie, The Mighty Ducks.
Please be advised that towels are not provided at the value resort pools. You will have to bring your own beach towels or towels from your room. You may contact Mousekeeping to replenish the extra towels in your room.
Both All-Star pools do have lifeguards in attendance during posted pool hours with plenty of lifejackets available for use. If you would like to use your child’s preferred life jacket from home and are able to bring with you, you can. If not, don’t worry, there are always lifejackets in multiple sizes for you to use with your child. Please check the hours of the pools, as they fluctuate with the seasons.
Active Places
Near the Fantasia pool is a playground area that is somewhat shaded and close to the splash pad, main lobby, and food court.
If your little one needs some active time outside to help with modulation then these areas at the All-Star Movies are right for you.
Quiet Spaces
The feel of the All-Star Resorts is a bit more relaxed and calm than at Pop Century and Art of Animation. There is more mature landscaping with open areas of grass. There are shady trees around play structures and areas providing more comfort for kids and parents.
In between the buildings, there are many quiet, green spaces for a sensory break. Some examples are outside of the Fantasia building.
Food
The World Premiere Food Court opens at 6:30 a.m. and serves breakfast, lunch dinner and some late night dining through 12 a.m. If you or your special needs child benefits from an allergy sensitive diet, you will find items that are gluten, dairy, shellfish, egg, soy, and milk free items on the menu. In order to plan ahead, refer to glutenfreedairyfreewdw.com. Sarah provides full menus of allergy-friendly items from all the Disney parks and resorts.
Transportation and Buses
During peak times of year and crowd level, the All-Star Resorts will have their own bus system. However, during off times of the year, and even mid-day, you may share a bus going to and from the All-Star Resorts. Dependent on the time of year, this can increase your time to wait on the buses at the Bus Stops as well as traveling to the parks. If your child has difficulty with waiting, this may be a hard way to start their day.
When waiting for your resort bus to transport your family to the Disney parks, look for the monitors Disney has installed in the covered bus depots to display wait times for buses to all the parks, including the water parks and Disney Springs. Utilize this information to help your child understand how long the wait may be for the bus. Try utilizing an Uber, Lyft or driving to the parks yourself, if possible.
In June of 2018, Disney announced they were adding bust wait times to the My Disney Experience app. As of this writing, the bus times are only for resort guests heading to the parks and Disney Springs. Simply click on your resort reservation on your app and click on ‘Bus Wait Times’. This is an especially added benefit for your special needs child. This can help to give parents peace of mind when planning the transition to the bus depots from your room.
Approximate Bus Drive Time to…
Magic Kingdom – 5.2 Miles, 15-20 minutes
Hollywood Studios – 2.9 Miles, 10 minutes
Animal Kingdom – 3.3 Miles, 15 minutes
Epcot – 4.5 Miles and 10-15 minutes
Touring Plan Note! The All-Star Resorts are closest to Hollywood Studios.
Sensory Suggestion!
In order to start your day’s park touring plans outright, I suggest investing in an app called the Time Timer. Putting this $2.99 app on your phone can be an easy and smart investment in your day. The Time Timer works to help a child understand the concept of time, especially if they are preschool age or on the spectrum. It is especially helpful since the wait time for a bus at Disney can be up to 20 minutes!
Since children with special needs often process visual information better and faster than auditory information, the timer shows a red dial that reduces in size as the time counts down. I use this app every single day with my special needs kids I see in the clinic. They love it and it helps them to get through harder tasks, the transition between activities and understand how much longer they have until they are finished with something (like waiting on a bus) much more easily.
Time Timer has many customizations to help with easier implementation. If your child is too focused on electronics and using the phone or iPad would be too distracting, then purchasing a physical TimeTimer, such as with this Amazon affiliate link, to be very beneficial.
Overall Rating for All-Star Movies for Special Needs and Sensory Challenged Kids
- It’s FUN! – All-Star Movies is highly themed with big, fun, and bold characters. This can enhance your special needs child’s experience when staying on site.
- Value – All-Star Movies is one of the least expensive resorts for staying on Disney property.
- Size – All-Star Movies is low-key, quiet and on a smaller scale than most other Disney properties, including other value resorts such as Pop Century. This may allow your special needs child the refuge they need when resetting from a busy day in the parks or when taking a mid-day break.
- Quiet Spaces and Active Places – All Star Movies has many green grass spaces and shady areas beneath a tree for finding some quiet time and resetting an overworked sensory system. There are also several of these areas that are accessible by wheelchair as they are off a concrete path.
Overall, I feel that this resort (and all the All-Star Resorts) are a great option for families looking for a sensory-friendly option for their special needs child. However, there are some CONsiderations to these resorts as well…
- Size– The difference between a Value resort room and a suite or even a moderate room makes a big difference in the comfort of your stay.
- Transportation– Depending on the time of year or even the time of day, the bus transportation may take longer if you have to share your bus with other All-Star Resorts.
- Outdated– Some of the themes of the building are outdated. Considering Herbie the Love Bug (1968), Fantasia (1940) and The Mighty Ducks (1992) are not recent films, it may be difficult for your child(ren) and family to feel a connection with them.
If you have any questions, leave them below in the comments. Have you ever stayed at All-Star Resorts with a special needs child? Let me know about your experience!
Thanks for reading!
Courtney, The Kid OT
