Disney's Art of Animation Resort Info Thread! Mouseketeers welcome!

[dnsmills]

I think it's funny that when there is an inch of snow in the south that schools close and people run to the store for food (well according to my many friends who live in the south and post on FB).

It's not the snow that's so much a problem as it is the ice. It will snow and then warm up during the day & melt some snow. Then at night it will drop below freezing and freeze everything solid. That's the problem we have here. But we may get 1 or possibly 2 snow falls a year do its not a constant problem.

 

[KapBoy77]

Depends on when you are renting. We rented a full size car for 8 days last week and the total cost with taxes and all was $160. Generally, I would expect around $200 unless you are going over a holiday.

Wow that's actually not bad. Now I'm debating if it would be better just to rent a car or depend on the buses...

 

[sixkristy6]

It's not the snow that's so much a problem as it is the ice. It will snow and then warm up during the day & melt some snow. Then at night it will drop below freezing and freeze everything solid. That's the problem we have here. But we may get 1 or possibly 2 snow falls a year do its not a constant problem.

We have that happen here and it sucks, makes it harder to drive.

 

[stindall]

That's one of my dilemma's... should I rent or just rely on the buses? Does anyone know how much renting a car would be for about a week?

honestly, I'd save the money but that's just me. You'll have to pay for parking too which I think is $15. Like others have said, AoA currently does not share busses with any other resort so it'll be better than if you stayed at some of the deluxes.

 

[EpcotBill]

honestly, I'd save the money but that's just me. You'll have to pay for parking too which I think is $15. Like others have said, AoA currently does not share busses with any other resort so it'll be better than if you stayed at some of the deluxes.

If you're staying at a Disney resort like AoA for instance you don't pay to park at the theme parks.

 

[Jessij25]

I think it's funny that when there is an inch of snow in the south that schools close and people run to the store for food (well according to my many friends who live in the south and post on FB).

We had a hot summer, all of my flowers died. We used our new pool a lot though.

I am here in GA so when it snow, I don't care if it don't stick to the ground, I call off from work and I let the kids stay home!! Lol I know crazy right!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[stindall]

If you're staying at a Disney resort like AoA for instance you don't pay to park at the theme parks.

good to know. Still not enough for me to rent a car.

 

[deedee2177]

We had a horrible summer, also. I can't believe how many pages I've missed on this thread nor how close my trip is getting. The weather is something I have to watch closly because we have never gone after Thanksgiving before and I guess we're going to have to pack a little of everything for the weather. I am, however, hoping for some good swimming weather.

We are going the week after Thanksgiving and I am having the same concerns. I'm originally from Florida and I know at that time of year it can still be very warm or it can get very chilly. Guess I will be visiting the weather channel website quite often closer to the trip!

 

[TinkandPooh]

Its been great keeping up on this thread to keep us going until our trip.
Its getting closer and I am getting more excited by the day
We just paid our final payment on trip about a week ago and now just waiting for about another week o get our packag in the mail
Now off to Disneyland for the rest of this week to tie us over until we can get to Florida

Quick question for hose of you that have had to fly to get to WDW.....
If you had a baby around the age of 16 months would you buy a seat for him or her or would you choos the on the parents lap option???

Not used to flying and have never flown with little ones.
Last time we were at WDW was in 2006 and we didnt have babies back then

 

[popcenturylover]

Where were the buses horrible? From the parks to AoA or from AoA to the parks? Was it worse during AM EMH? Was it better first thing in the AM?

In our experience the buses were pretty bad the whole time compared to the last time we stayed at POP. They were best in the AM. Our last 2 days at POP the bus service was MUCH better! I think that we waited a max of 15-20 minutes with 5-10 being the norm. At AOA we ALWAYS waited at least 15 min. for a bus with the max being about 30 min.

 

[popcenturylover]

This is exactly true for all values! Sometimes they're great and sometimes they're not. They can't be perfect and there are numerous issues as to why there'd be issues. Disney tries it's best and it's a free service for you so there's not much room to complain.

I know that it's a free service & that Disney tries it's best! Not really complaining just stating what the negatives were about my stay at AOA!!!

 

[popcenturylover]

I was there a week ago and wanted to chime in about the buses-- I experienced great bus service. Going to the parks, I think part of it is just good timing. Coming back from the parks, especially the MK after Wishes, the lines were long but they had buses coming and loading one right after the other. I found they were much more efficient in this way than some of the mod and deluxe buses.
We were there this past summer with great bus service too but only 1/2 of the resort was open so there was not the demand that they have now.
I just wanted to share a positive experience with the buses and would not want people's opinions on choosing if AoA is the right resort for them on some negative bus experiences. There will be positive and negative experiences for every aspect of each resort.

If you read my whole post it wasn't just about the buses! I posted ALL of my negatives about the resort! I also said that overall it was a good stay but, wanted to post the negatives as opposed to all of the positives!

 

[lolobug]

I have a question for a 1st time visitor w 2 little kids- our top destination will be MK. Will we be inconvenienced staying here if we have to go
Back and forth to the room? Also, if we are on the bus should we bring our bob double stroller or 2 singles? Thanks!

 

[bookgirl]

That's one of my dilemma's... should I rent or just rely on the buses? Does anyone know how much renting a car would be for about a week?

My rental is in Late October, Sat to Sat with Thrifty. After taxes (and Florida has a bunch) for a full sized car it was $208. This is one of thier "hot deals" prices, they also do a wild card rental where you only know you're getting standard or larger and that usually runs about the same. That one you can get anything from a small 4 person car(four door) to a suv, it just depends.

Since the deal for a full sized was the same price as the wild car I just decided to stick with the known on this trip, but I've done the wild car a lot and it was fine for three adults.

I tend to rent cars because I go off site to shop or eat or this year make a run over to IOA. Once on site I use the buses 98% of the time. I however am not lugging kids, strollers or a daypack that could be used to trek a mountain.

 

[buffalogirl]

Hi everyone! 2 quick questions for anyone~

I'ver heard they have caffine free diet coke in the food court, but do they sell the bottles in the shop for your room? Debating whether to order from Garden Grocer or just buy it in the shop.

Also, we're doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour in MK at 8 or 8:30 when we're there & the parks don't open until 9 and there's no MM that day. Are the buses running that early, or should we just taxi it over?

Thanks!

Regarding caffeine free diet coke, looking at easywdw pics, I don't think they have it. Here's the link:
http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...u-food-seating-condiment-pictures-aka-part-2/
It looks like the Coke options are regular, diet and coke zero. I'm also a fan of the caffeine free diet coke, so I'm hoping someone else comes on to say that it's been added.

 

[PeachesDoesHair]

We were there 9/22-29 and found the buses to be pretty good. There were only a couple of occassions we just missed a bus or it was standing room only (I have 4 kids 9, 7, 3, and 10 months so I'd rather wait for a second bus since we have a stroller too). There was one instance at Epcot where we waited probably 15 minutes. Several empty buses drove by, did not pick up anyone, and continued on. Pop had two buses in that time frame. Just remember, Pop has had a lot longer to get a feel for their transportation requirements compared to AoA. I was very satisfied with our experience though. It was pretty on par with Pop aside from one instance.

 

[stephie1012]

Checked out on 10/5. Stayed in lm section building 8 facing parking lot ground floor. Room request was building 7 ground floor. Checked in on the 29th. It was insane! A cm wrote our name down while we were in the online check in line and brought our package. He couldnt even tell us where abouts our room was. I was really disappointed. Room was adorable! Very far! It wasn't worth the walk to refill mugs lol. Food court was ok. Our food was always cold though especially burgers. We walked over to pop one night an really enjoyed the food court there much better. Busses depended on your timing. On our mk day we got to bus stop by 7am and was in mk by 730ish. Not bad at all. We enjoyed the nemo pool and cars pool. We prefer a quiet pool and spent the most time at the cars pool. We had issues with our neighbor and the cms weren't very helpful at all. We had plenty of towels. No bday card or nothing in room for dds bday on the 30th. It was nice staying in a new resort but wouldn't stay LM again. If we stayed at AoA again it would be in the cars section.

 

[TempusFugit]

Thanks for all the recent reviews. DW, myself, and two DSs 7&2 will be staying in Nemo suite the end of January. Most of the recent feedback has been for LM. Any suggestions for Nemo or other suites? TIA

 

[princessap]

Thanks for all the recent reviews. DW, myself, and two DSs 7&2 will be staying in Nemo suite the end of January. Most of the recent feedback has been for LM. Any suggestions for Nemo or other suites? TIA

I am curious too...Nemo suite here for March! Make sure you call tomorrow and get discount applied!

 

[jcarwash]

I have a question for a 1st time visitor w 2 little kids- our top destination will be MK. Will we be inconvenienced staying here if we have to go
Back and forth to the room? Also, if we are on the bus should we bring our bob double stroller or 2 singles? Thanks!

Going back and forth to your AoA room from MK is going to be a decent amount of time...between waiting for a bus and taking the bus, it could all add up to some hours.

Certainly if you wanted to build a break into your day, it would be fine, but the resort is not convenient to MK so you really can't go back and forth with a lot of spontaneity. If someone said "I need to run back to the room" you won't expect to see them for an hour or more.

As for the stroller choice, I would advise the two singles. You need to be able to fold your stroller(s) plus have it be relatively convenient for you on the bus while you are sitting or standing.