Disney Parks Rewind – All-Star Sports Turns 25

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Walt Disney World’s All-Star Sports Resort opened twenty-five years ago, the morning of April 29, 1994.
The first phase of Disney’s first economy resort, Surf’s Up, had 384 rooms.

Disney had eyes on chipping away at the value-priced hotels on International Drive and US 192. Rooms
started at just $69 per night, which was more than those outside of the park, but with more safety and
convenience. Florida’s tourism was hurting after multiple reports of crimes against tourists.

A few facts about the hotel:

  • It was designed by a Miami company called Arquitectonica,
  • Rooms were 260 square feet each, and both of the two double beds were taller than normal, to allow storage underneath,
  • Most entrees at the food court were less than $5.50, the Orlando Sentinel reported,
  • Each of the three-storey surf boards at Surf’s Up cost $70,000,
  • The courtyard of Hoops, the basketball hotel, features five palm trees and five palm trees, both in formation as if basketball teams ready to face off,
  • The nightly difference between the All-Star Resorts and the moderate-priced Caribbean Beach
    Resort? “Up to $20.”

The remainder of the resort—basketball, football, tennis, and baseball—would bring the resort to 1920
rooms by the autumn, a number that would double with All-Star Music Resort in spring 1995. Pop
Century also had the same number of rooms.

The resort was featured on Walt Disney World Inside Out, in August 1994.

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