All Star Resorts Comparison: Which All Star to choose as a UK visitor?

Disney’s All Star Resorts are popular with UK visitors because they offer an on-site option at the cheapest prices. However, choosing between the three options can be hard, especially if it’s your first time to an All Star hotel. Having stayed on-site at All Star resorts multiple times, the main differences between the three lies not in location, or amenities, but in theming, room options, and size of resort.

Quick pick All Star Resorts comparison

• Choose Disney All Star Movies if you’re a couple or family looking for a quieter experience

• Choose All Star Music if you’re a family on a budget

• Choose All Star Sports if you’re looking for the cheapest on-site option to get Disney perks.

All Star Resorts location

What a lot of first timers to All Star resorts don’t realise is that the 3 hotels all sit on one site of about 300 acres, you can walk between the three, and when you access the hotels by car and bus there is one main gated entrance that serves the All-Star Resorts as a whole. Each hotel has it’s own parking areas, but there is no fence and we found ourselves parking next to guests staying at All Star Music while we were staying at All Star Movies.

This was a surprise the first time we drove on-site as there is a price difference between the hotels when you book your holiday. The buildings all have a similar aesthetic and rooms open out into the outside rather than an indoor hallway. You get from building to building outside and it looks like a traditional American motel with Disney theming no matter which hotel you choose.

What are the rooms like in All Star resorts?

The rooms in All Star Resorts are very similar across all three resorts; the most significant difference lies in the room options available. Here are the main room options at each of the All Stars:

Rooms at Disney's All-Star Resorts are simple, practical and designed to offer a comfortable base for a Walt Disney World stay. Across Disney's All-Star Music Resort, Disney's All-Star Movies Resort and Disney's All-Star Sports Resort, the main room types are Standard Rooms and Preferred Rooms. Standard vs preferred rooms in Value and Moderate hotels at Disney World: is it worth it for UK visitors? is a deep dive into which of these room choice is best.

Both Standard and Preferred rooms sleep up to 4, and are around 260 square feet, with two queen beds: one fixed and one pull down. Inside, you find essentials such as a mini drinks cooler, coffee maker, TV and private bathroom. It’s not overly Disney themed inside, apart from a picture above the bed, and behind the Murphy bed when it is pulled down.

The room feels practical with everything you need if you are eating out all the time. Plus, the beds are very comfortable in my experience. Rooms are ideal for couples, but do feel a bit cramped if there is four of you when the Murphy Bed is down.

The one bigger-room option is the Family Suite at Disney's All-Star Music Resort. These suites are around 520 square feet and are designed for larger families who need more room than a standard or preferred All-Star room layout can offer.

Family suite vs standard/preferred rooms at All Star Resorts

The biggest difference between these options is not style, but space, amenities, and price.

A standard or preferred room is usually the best fit for families of up to four who want to keep costs down. Both standard and preferred room types offer the same layout and facilities, with the only difference being location.

A Family Suite is a significantly different room and available only at All-Star Music. It is the better choice for families who need more space, want more amenities, and who don’t want adjoining rooms. These suites sleep up to six guests and include a separate bedroom, living area and two full bathrooms. That extra bathroom can make a real difference for families trying to get everyone ready for the parks in the morning.

For many UK families the decision comes down to whether:

• you need a separate bedroom

• you want a kitchenette area

• you have more than 2 young children

• the amount in your budget

The price difference and availability of family suites in All Star Music can also be a significant deciding factor. If you are not booking with a 12-18 month timeline, you are less likely to find a family suite as they sell out quickly.

When it comes to cost, the value of a family suite is questionable, even with the additional amenities. Two standard or preferred rooms with connecting doors is usually a better money saving approach. Here is the price difference on a two-week 2027 holiday between 11th and 25th September.

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A £3,000 difference is not worth it. If the amenities are important to you, a villa would be a better option for a similar or lower price point.

Dining options: a comparison

All 3 All Star resorts offer one on-site dining option each that offers food court style dining and is classed as a quick-service restaurant at Disney. There is very little difference in the food on offer, and all three have the staple burgers and chicken tenders. The differences are:

• A selection of themed food items unique to each food court including an All Stars signature burger

• Theming and layout of the food court

That’s it. There are around 5 meal and snack options that are unique to each food court, and you can eat at the other food courts no matter which All Star you stay at. You can also refill your resort refillable mugs in any of the Food Courts.

The big plus of the All-Star’s food courts is the late night opening of around 11:00PM which means that you can easily still grab something to eat after a late night in the parks. This is not something that I have found as easy to do in Deluxe and Moderate resorts.

All-Star food courts, the differences:

No matter which All Star resort you choose, there is not a sit-down meal option on-site, this dining option only becomes available in Moderate resorts. You can find out more about the differences between Value and Moderate by heading to Disney Value vs Moderate resorts: is is worth spending more? If resort dining is a big part of your holiday and you want the convenience of an on-site table-service option, you may find the All-Star Resorts more limited than Moderate or Deluxe Disney hotels.

All Star hotel pools: a comparison

Each Disney All-Star Resort has a main feature pool and a quieter secondary pool, giving guests a choice between livelier themed swimming areas and more relaxed leisure pools. All three resorts provide free towels, free life vests on a help yourself first come, first served basis, and lifeguards on the main two pools. There are no water slides or hot tubs at the All-Star Resorts, so the biggest differences are the theme, atmosphere, and family appeal rather than the facilities themselves.

There are also smaller toddler sized slash areas in separate gated areas. The main two pool options range from 3ft to 5ft deep across the resorts. The largest pools are at All Star Music, but this is also the biggest resort, the smallest pools are at All Star Movies, but this is the smallest resort. My favourite pool at the All Stars, is the Fantasia pool because it is a great size, and Mickey Mouse adds true classic Disney vibes to your swim.

Pools are usually open between 10:00AM and 10:00PM at all three resorts, but times can change. Activities happen around the main pool for children during the day sometimes, and the main pools can get busy during the summer. At All Star Music, films are screened on a huge screen by the pool nightly. This free, movies under the stars, resort activity is a much better experience at All Star Music than at All Star Movies or All Star Sports.

Which All Star Resort has the best transport options?

There is no difference in the transport options at all of the All Star Resorts. The only Disney free transport option available from the hotel is the Disney bus.

One benefit of the 3 hotels being located on the same site is that you can hop on any All Star’s bus to get back to your hotel most of the time. Then just walk over to your room. When you stay in buildings that are on the edge of an All Star resort, you can find you are closer to the amenities of the neighbouring All Star. For example, we got the bus from All Star Music a couple of times when staying in Ducks because that bus stop was a bit closer.

Picking an All Star resort for your holiday

Choosing an All Star Resort comes down to cost, theming preference and the space you need. The All Stars are very similar, but on paper but your experience in each is different.

Which All Star Resort was most recently renovated?

A new room refurbishment cycle has however been announced for All Star Movies beginning in May 2026 and expecting to complete in January 2027. It is likely that once this is completed, Disney will follow the same pattern as before and move onto All Star Music rooms, although this has not yet been confirmed. This refurbishment is why you should read: Why All Star Movies is the value resort to choose for 2027.

While all three resorts have previously undergone a major room overhaul to a new, modern functional design, that was completed in phases across the following dates, a new round of soft furnishing refurbishments is set to begin:

• All Star Movies: Was the first to finish in late 2019.

• All Star Music: Was the second to complete the process during 2020.

• All Star Sports refurbishment was not completed until 2023.