When you plan a trip to Disney World, you have to make a LOT of important decisions.

You’ll need to decide WHEN to go, but also where to eat, and what your priorities are since it’s impossible to do EVERYTHING in one trip. You’ll also need to think about WHERE to stay and if you’re on a budget, you’re probably looking at Disney World’s value resorts.

So we’re going to look at two value resorts, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort,  and compare them. Although one is a little more expensive than the other, when you look at things like transportation and theming, it could make you want to spend just a LITTLE more on your accommodations.

There’s no doubt that Disney vacations are expensive, and no one wants buyer’s remorse when it comes to what can usually be the most EXPENSIVE part of your Disney trip. We’re approaching this chaos-agent of a decision with as much logic as possible, so we’re breaking it down into five categories:

• Common Ground
• Theme/Rooms
• Pools
• Food
• Transportation

Common Ground

Both of these hotels fall into the “Value” category of Disney resorts. That means they’re among the least expensive hotels in Disney World. This means that they both qualify for Early Theme Park Entry, too, although neither hotel qualifies for Extended Evening Hours.

Both hotels also have strong theming, with All-Star Music focused on, well, music, and Art of Animation focused on Disney animation. Each resort is also divided into separate areas with names matching their themes to help guests easily navigate them. Both resorts are also HUGE, meaning if you get stuck in a room farthest from the main entrance, you could be in for a bit of a hike every evening coming back from the parks.

At All-Star Music, the rates start at $128 per night excluding tax for their Standard Rooms at the cheapest time of year when the parks aren’t as busy. The most expensive room rate here is $658 per night — that’s for a Family Suite around the Christmas holiday when the parks are very busy. Standard and preferred rooms sleep up to four adults, while Family Suites sleep up to 6 adults.

Art of Animation has slightly higher rates: $201 per night excluding tax for a Little Mermaid Standard Room at the cheapest time of the year. The most expensive room is $912 for the Finding Nemo Family Suites around the Christmas holiday season. A Little Mermaid room sleeps up to 4 adults, while all family suites sleep up to 6.

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Theme/Rooms

Theming is where these two hotels really differ.

All-Star Music

The theme at All-Star Music is all about different kinds of music: Country, Broadway, Jazz, Rock, and Calypso. Each themed section of the hotel has gigantic icons representing that music type. For example, the Broadway area has Broadway-like marquees featuring Disney musicals, while you find giant cowboy boots in the country section. Jazz has instruments like drums and horns, while rock has a giant jukebox. Calypso has huge maracas.

The rooms at All-Star Music were refurbished in 2022, and the new design is very modern with a few Disney touches, like art prints of Disney characters. 

The newly-refurbished rooms utilize the space well and have plenty of outlets for plugging in electronic devices, as well as USB cables.

Take a Photo Tour of an All-Star Music FAMILY SUITE here!

Art of Animation

On the other hand, Art of Animation has themes in each section dedicated to specific Disney movies. There’s the Little Mermaid section, with standard rooms. The rest of the sections are Family Suites and themed to Cars, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo. Each area has an impressive themed courtyard.

Note that The Little Mermaid part of the resort is the ONLY section that offers standard rooms and those either have 1 King Bed or 2 Queen Beds. All other sections are family suites that sleep up to 6 people.

Guests may also reserve a Lion King Family Suite, a Cars Family Suite, or a Finding Nemo Family Suite at Art of Animation. Each room is themed to its particular section. Family Suites include three sleeping areas with 1 Queen Bed, 1 Double-Size Table bed, and 1 Double-Size Sleeper Sofa.

As you can see, the theming here is ON POINT and a lot more DISNEY than the rooms at All-Star Music.

Click HERE for a PHOTO TOUR of an Art of Animation Family Suite!

Results

When it comes to theming, many guests prefer the more Disney touches found at Art of Animation. We get it — the Disney movie themes are absolutely fantastic, and if that’s a priority for your Disney World trip, we’d suggest picking Art of Animation over All-Star Music.

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Pools

The theming doesn’t stop in the rooms, though. Both of these hotels also have some pools with super fun themes!

All-Star Music

Looking to take a dip in a pool that also lets you practice your scales and arpeggios? Go for a swim in the Piano Pool, which is shaped like a piano and even has black and white keys.

However, the showstopper pool here is the Calypso Pool, which is shaped like a guitar and is themed to The Three Caballeros, who all sit in the center of the pool as a fountain — water shoots from their guns at swimmers passing by!

For the smaller kiddos, you’ll find a kiddie pool behind Melody Hall.

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Art of Animation

If you want to visit the BIGGEST pool in all of Disney World, head on over to The Big Blue Pool, which takes you under the sea with some SERIOUSLY fun theming.

You’ll find the Cozy Cone Pool, with cabanas shaped like cones, in the Cars section of the resort.

The Little Mermaid section has the Flippin’ Fins Pool.

It’s kinda’ nice that three of the hotel’s sections have their own pool so you don’t have to walk TOO far if you feel like taking a swim and you’re staying in those sections.

Results

This one is tough — both resorts have pools with a lot of fun theming, but you DO have the biggest pool on Disney World resort property at Art of Animation, so it could win by just a hair. However, we love The Three Caballeros at the pool at All-Star Music, so let’s just call this category one a toss-up.

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Food

Both hotels, like all of Disney’s value resorts, have a bar and a food court, but which one is better when it comes to food? Let’s take a look.

All-Star Music

The food court at All-Star Music is called Intermission. It serves breakfast (yes, you can get Mickey waffles here), lunch, and dinner.

You can grab food court classics like hot dogs, burgers, and chicken tenders, but you can also get other entrees here like Shrimp and Grits, Seared Salmon, and Sesame Chicken Stir Fry. Also, be sure to check the resort-exclusive Rock and Roll Cupcake and be on the lookout for specialty snacks during holidays and events.

You’ll find Singing Spirits Pool Bar over by the Calypso Pool. Here, you can order specialty cocktails, draft beers, sangria, and wine. 

The pool bar also has some snacks, including salads and sandwiches.

Find our COMPLETE GUIDE TO EATING at All-Star Music Resort HERE

Art of Animation

The food court at Art of Animation is called Landscape of Flavors. The food here is very similar to what you’d find at All-Star Music — classic food court items like hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken nuggets. The menus are almost identical at both resorts.

However, Art of Animation has the Mermaid Tail Cupcake, which is an exclusive there.

If you’re looking to wet your whistle, head on over to The Drop-Off Pool Bar by the Big Blue Pool. This bar also carries a menu of specialty cocktails, draft beers, sangria, and wine, as well as snacks.

However, you’ll find some fun drinks of the month and seasonal cocktails here, too.

Results

There’s no clear winner here either, although if we had to choose based on bars alone, we might choose The Drop-Off Pool Bar first because of its fun drinks of the month and seasonal cocktails. So we’ll give this one to Art of Animation.

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Transportation

Transportation is another area where these hotels are decidedly different.

All-Star Music

If you need to get to Disney Springs or the parks, you only have one option when it comes to Disney transportation: Disney buses. But buses pretty much go everywhere you need to go.

So you’ll have to keep that in mind when you get ready to travel to and from the resort.

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Art of Animation

Here’s where Art of Animation is different: In addition to Disney buses, the resort is also close to a Skyliner station, meaning you can use Disney’s newest mode of transportation to get to and from EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and several other Disney World resorts.

However, you will still need to use Disney buses to get to other locations in Disney World.

Results

We’re going to give this one to Art of Animation. Having a second mode of transportation, the Skyliner, makes getting around Disney World a lot more easier and convenient.

Winner

Although both resorts are a solid choice for a Disney World vacation, we think Art of Animation is just a LITTLE bit better with theming, especially INSIDE the rooms, although that might just be up to your own personal preference. We also like being able to have access to a Skyliner station, because it’s way more convenient than buses.

However, if price is a factor, rooms at All-Star Music are usually a bit less, so if that’s your No. 1 priority, you might just want to book your stay there.

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Do you have a favorite between these two hotels? Where would you choose to stay? Let us know in the comments!