What are the cons (if any) of AOA?

[newfiegirl]

I hear it has the longest walk to the bus stop? Is this true?

 

[Bryce]

I stayed there in September in the LM section, which is the farthest away from the bus station. I've stayed at all the other values and it's no further from the buses than a similar spot at any other value hotel.

My guess is that the main gripe people have is that if you are staying in the value portion of AofA, you are guaranteed the longest walk. At the other values, you at least have a shot at being closer. I didn't think it was too bad. It probably feels worse than it is because you're typically making the walk back after a long day at the parks when you're most likely to be drained.

That said, if you are in the family suites, it can be closer than the LM section.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using DISBoards

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'll be honest that after reading comments about the distance I was concerned about staying at AoA in a LM room.

We were there in November and it's wasn't as bad as I thought. Yes, it was long but it wasn't too long in my opinion. We stayed in the Ursula wing and it was about a 5 min walk to the main building. As the poster above said, if you stay in the LM rooms there is no chance to be closer to the buses but if you don't mind a little walk it's a beautiful resort!

 

[smitch425]

I think the biggest gripe is that the LM room are always excluded from discounts. With them being new and having so few of them, they are easily filled and Disney does not need to offer a discount to stay in them.

The gripe about the suites is that they are not cheap.

You will find that every resort has its pros and cons. Things some people love, others hate. It is all about personal preference.

 

[dawnhaze]

For me, the major con of the Little Mermaid rooms wasn't the walk, but the truly abysmal cellular service inside the rooms! I had perfect signal on my phone right outside my door, but inside, nothing. The wifi was terrible too.

Overall I liked the resort and didn't mind the walk but I wouldn't stay there again. I don't like not being able to receive calls or texts while I'm in my room, and I really don't like not having reliable internet access.

 

[Disneylover99]

I hear it has the longest walk to the bus stop? Is this true?

I went for a walk around the resort last August before the LM section was open.
It's a far walk in the August heat to the LM section. It wouldn't be a bad walk for a few days in the cooler months, but if you are planning to be at Disney for a week or more in the summer, the walk would drive me crazy!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Are you meaning from your resort room to the buses or from the theme parks to the bus stops?

 

[Amunet]

We stayed at AoA this past October, in the LM rooms (King Triton). The walk was a bit of a trek. I think it just seems farther because your destination is blocked by all the cool resort buildings and characters

The BIGGEST thing for me were the beds. I don't know if it was just our room or what but the beds were not like the normal disney beds (which are so comfy!) and the comforters were so scratchy. Course, I could just be crazy sensitive.
We also had a problem when we checked in. All day traveling to find that there's no toilet paper in the bathroom! None, we checked the whole bathroom/room and nothing. We called to ask for them to deliver, but it took them about 45 min!

Not sure what was going on that day but I don't think I've ever been into ANY hotel that didn't have at least some sort of toilet paper readily available.


Those were our only issues. We only stayed a night and then transferred to POR (which was already planned).

 

[LisaCM614]

Our family stayed Lion King Suites at AoA in October. We loved it. Our previous WDW resorts were all deluxe (Poly, BC, BWI). As far as the walk - I think we felt we walked more at the Poly and BWI then we did at AoA. My dad has knee issues, they stayed LM and thought the walk was fine. It is an interesting walk if anything!

Buses were far more frequent than the deluxe resorts - and if one bus was full they had a new bus there so quickly.

We all loved the pool and found the food court to have great choices for a pre RD hot breakfast.

My one complaint - smoking area right outside the foodcourt. I really disliked walking through that area.

There are lots of resorts to choose from - enjoy!

 

[goofyintoronto]

I was excited about AoA until I found out how far the walk was to the LM section. Honestly, there's no way i'd walk that distance every day after a long day in the parks in the heat. No way. I'll try AoA for a night, but thats it.

 

[Rahjeir]

When my wife and I saw it back in June of 2012, we noticed a lack of trees. On a hot day of baking in the parks I would like some shade at a resort.

 

[JennyDrake]

AoA is beautiful and has INCREDIBLE theming. With that said, I won't be back anytime soon.

We were in LM rooms and while I am a runner and don't mind walking, it was a HIKE to the main building. A senior with us (mobility impaired) using an ECV and we found it faster to load her up and drive a car.

The food court is BEDLAM, loud, not very clean at peak times and it took a long time to get food. I also bristled at having to bus my own table, sort of the silverware from plates and try to scrap trash into WAY too small openings.

Room noise was a factor--could have just been where/when we stayed--I am a sound sleeper, yet most nights I was aware of babies crying, children talking, etc.

It was not a significant issue for me because I go on vacation to *escape*, but with Verizon I had ZERO cell reception in the rooms.

I was at AoA late September and booked back for Dec. but I changed Dec. to Pop and in May I will again be at Movies.....

 

[goofy4tink]

I stayed there in September in the LM section, which is the farthest away from the bus station. I've stayed at all the other values and it's no further from the buses than a similar spot at any other value hotel.

My guess is that the main gripe people have is that if you are staying in the value portion of AofA, you are guaranteed the longest walk. At the other values, you at least have a shot at being closer. I didn't think it was too bad. It probably feels worse than it is because you're typically making the walk back after a long day at the parks when you're most likely to be drained.

That said, if you are in the family suites, it can be closer than the LM section.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using DISBoards

When you say the 'value portion of AoA' you must mean the LM section, right?? Not what I would call the value section..not based on what I've paid in the past, and what I'm paying in June!!

Is it a longish walk? Sure. Is there a lot of shade? Nope. But the walk isn't a trek!! It takes about 8-10 mins, depending on your pace, to get from the food court to the furthest LM bldg. It took my friend and I about 6 mins from the first LM bldg, on the left, but we are peppy walkers. I had no issue with the walk.
But, I've had longer walks at POR and Pop.

 

[ronnie2hotty]

The distance thing to the LM room is kind of subjective. My wife and I stayed there last October. We were on the first floor of the Ursala building. I didn't find it that long, but after a long day of walking at the parks, it did seem to drag a little bit. I wouldn't think it was longer from the main building to LM than it was at Pop, from the main building to the 90's rooms. Or, at ASMo from the main building to the Mighty Ducks rooms (when we stayed there in 2010, we always walked to the ASMu main building because it was shorter).