Okay, I'm not an experienced All-Star guest, but I have stay at quite a few other disney resorts (most during this past year because of the WDWCP). My one description of the All-Star resorts is that "You get what you pay for". I know that some of you are trying your best to stay on property and the Value resorts seem to be the least expensive on the forefront (and please don't come back biting my head off), but there are lots of ways to go one step up and stay at one of the moderate resorts. As always, check for specials (local newspaper travel section, disney website, boards such as these, and the infamous
www.mousesavers.com). Also, remember that you can save a lot of money by packing snacks and eating breakfast in the room. I planned a trip for a group of 30 people for the marathon this past January. We all stayed at CBR, and here is the story. One of the marathoners was a single mom working on a teachers salary. She was just going to go to the marathon by herself, but thought that she could fatham the idea of leaving her 2 young daughters behind (since they had never been on a family trip). So, she saved for 10 months, and was able to stay in CBR for 5 nights, eat a meal and some snacks at resort/park restuarants, and get the tickets for park-hopping. We payed $105/night at CBR and it was lovely. She took snacks into the parks, ate breakfast in the hotel room, and occasionally had sandwiches in the hotel room. And she was able to have money left over for spending. So.... I know that you can do it if you want to. I'm not putting down the All-Star resorts, but just saying set your goals higher! See what you can do. Okay, I've gone around on several different thougts in this posting, and I barely ever post stuff here. So.... I'll end there... whereever I am ending!
I can provide valuable information if you need it!
Cheryle