Disney's Art of Animation Resort (Part II)

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Yep! Our family was going back and forth on whether we were going to stay at AoA or Pop--it really didn't matter to us. We finally decided on giving AoA a try and, of course, it was booked up. And, like many of us know, nothing makes you care about something you didn't care about before than not being able to get the thing that you picked.

Anyway, I checked online probably about three times a day after we booked at pop for an opening in LM. It was about five days of doing this before I found an opening. Very lucky. This was probably 2-3 months ago for an August trip.

Good luck!

We also got a cancellation last December. You just have to be persistent and check online for availability every day. We had a week booked and were looking to add a few days at the beginning. We booked the Pop as a fallback and would have changed resorts if needed, but it was really nice to just check in and stay for 10 straight nights. It was an awesome feeling when that last night finally showed up for us.

Thank you I'll keep trying!

 

[Newbie123]

I know this has been talked about on previous threads, but I can't seem to piece together a great answer! we're staying in the LM section in October; we have 3 rooms with 2 sets of grandparents in 2 rooms, and myself, husband, and 2 kids (ages 5 and 2) in another room. What would be our best bet as far as a room request? Specific building? top floor vs bottom floor? Anything else I should add?

Thanks so much!!

 

[lovingeire]

Wow! I'm with the guy wanting his coffee in the morning. The suites are a tad expensive to me. They should at least supply a coffee maker!

The suites do have a coffee maker. It's the same Cuisinart one featured at other resorts. I've seen the same coffee maker at POR and Contemporary. Our housekeeping staff was very generous in giving us extra pods, even though there's only so much coffee my husband can drink & I don't drink coffee! But if you love your coffee, there is a coffee maker in the suites.

 

[Disneyforus]

Are there shampoo/conditioner and body soap in the Suite's bathrooms? I assume bars of soaps for handwashing just wondering what else...hopefully the O2 brand.

 

[mom2dina]

Anyone not like the automated bathroom fan, the fan comes on via motion detection in the bathroom?

It kept freakening me out at night! and disturbing everyone.

We needed some "Magic" to get it to stop!

 

[paradesintherain]

We just booked a room at the Lion King suites for August 9-17! Very last minute, but I am so excited. The Lion King may be my all-time favorite movie. The buildings all seem pretty close to everything, but are there any building/room requests to make?

 

[tink15823]

We just booked a room at the Lion King suites for August 9-17! Very last minute, but I am so excited. The Lion King may be my all-time favorite movie. The buildings all seem pretty close to everything, but are there any building/room requests to make?

How exciting we stayed in Lion King last year we requested a upper floor courtyard view. Something else to think about the back side of building number 6 would allow for a lake view from some rooms.

 

[Marblies]

Anyone not like the automated bathroom fan, the fan comes on via motion detection in the bathroom?

It kept freakening me out at night! and disturbing everyone.

We needed some "Magic" to get it to stop!

I second that!

 

[ali in wonderland]

We are headed to AoA in August for two nights prior to our cruise. We are spending the day at AK, then would like to spend some time swimming at BBP. Walking is hard for me, so a room close to buses would be nice. Right now we have a Lion King suite booked. What should I request as far as building? Would you recommend switching to Nemo or Cars instead? We are DVC and have never stayed at a value resort, but I thought my kids would appreciate the theme of AoA.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Can anyone give me some info about the drawing lesson at the resort? My dd12 really wants to do this. Is it similar to the one at Hollywood Studios?

 

[im4kycats]

We are headed to AoA in August for two nights prior to our cruise. We are spending the day at AK, then would like to spend some time swimming at BBP. Walking is hard for me, so a room close to buses would be nice. Right now we have a Lion King suite booked. What should I request as far as building? Would you recommend switching to Nemo or Cars instead? We are DVC and have never stayed at a value resort, but I thought my kids would appreciate the theme of AoA.

I would go with a Nemo room. There is not a room in those buildings that is too far from anything. You can request a ground floor or, if you prefer higher floors, you can request near the elevator. The elevator are in the center of the buildings.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bluezy]

We are headed to AoA in August for two nights prior to our cruise. We are spending the day at AK, then would like to spend some time swimming at BBP. Walking is hard for me, so a room close to buses would be nice. Right now we have a Lion King suite booked. What should I request as far as building? Would you recommend switching to Nemo or Cars instead? We are DVC and have never stayed at a value resort, but I thought my kids would appreciate the theme of AoA.

We just got back from a week in a Lion King suite at AoA. We were originally booked in a Nemo room so that we would (in my opinion) be close to everything but there were no Nemo rooms available at the discount rates when they came out a few months ago so we switched to Cars. My plan was to try to switch to Nemo at check in but there were no rooms available when we checked in. I asked the CM for a room close to the main building and bus stops in either Cars or Lion King. He said, "I have the perfect room for you. It's one of the best locations in the resort!" We ended up in building 10 of Lion King in the wing that's closest to the main building. We were on the 4th floor, 2 doors from the end of the hall (right by the stairs). It was a very quick (as in a minute or so) walk from our room to the main building and the Big Blue Pool when using the stairs. Using the elevator added a little more time (I usually only used the elevator when going up to the room). The bus stops were also a very quick walk either through the main building or by using the sidewalk along the parking lot. Our room was closer to the main building than many of the rooms in the Nemo buildings and I was once again reminded of the importance of telling the CM what's important and not necessarily telling them what building you want to be in. We quickly realized that 2/3 of the rooms in the Nemo buildings were much further from the main building and bus stops than our room in Lion King was.

I would tell the check-in CM your needs and see what rooms are available that will work for you. You might also want to keep in mind that the elevators are in the center of each building so if you can't comfortably do steps, it might be good to request a room near the elevators if you can't be on the ground floor.

 

[jdcthree]

We are headed to AoA in August for two nights prior to our cruise. We are spending the day at AK, then would like to spend some time swimming at BBP. Walking is hard for me, so a room close to buses would be nice. Right now we have a Lion King suite booked. What should I request as far as building? Would you recommend switching to Nemo or Cars instead? We are DVC and have never stayed at a value resort, but I thought my kids would appreciate the theme of AoA.

I would call and request "close to Animation Hall." We were in a Lion King suite at the end of building 6 (facing the lake), close to Animation Hall. We didn't make any requests, but that location was great!

 

[Ivonne]

Hello,

Leaving in 30 days!!!!! Staying at the lion king suites... Excited!!!!!! Do they provide soap, shampoo, conditioner, towels???????

 

[bluezy]

Hello,

Leaving in 30 days!!!!! Staying at the lion king suites... Excited!!!!!! Do they provide soap, shampoo, conditioner, towels???????

Yes, they provide a small bottle of shampoo/conditioner combo, a bar of bath soap, and a bar of facial soap in each bathroom every day. If you need more, just call housekeeping and they will bring more or leave a note in the room for them. We always needed extra shampoo/conditioner. While I liked the smell of it, it didn't lather up very well and I needed about 1/2 a bottle just to do my hair (and I have a short bob). My daughters have long thick hair and needed almost a whole bottle to do their hair each day. And then there were 3 guys in the room, too.

They also provide towels. The standard in our Lion King room was 8 bath towels, 4 hand towels, and 6 washcloths every day. We used the bath towels at the pool as well so I called and asked for extra bath towels. Some days there were carts of fresh towels by the elevator. I grabbed some extras and stored them in one of the drawers so we had them for the pool throughout the week.

Have fun! We loved our Lion King suite!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hello! Has anyone come across the August outdoor movie schedule for AoA? Thanks in advance

 

[jdcthree]

Hello! Has anyone come across the August outdoor movie schedule for AoA? Thanks in advance

I don't think they release the movie schedule until the month starts. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Ariel on Land]

We're staying in Cars in Oct, but I haven't put any requests in yet. We will have our car and will likely be driving most of the time. Any recommendations as to which bldg. or anything other specific requests that I should put in? I'm guessing bldg. one or two, but anything else to specify? Does it really matter? We've never stayed at a value before so I really have no idea how the resorts are set up as far as elevators or stairs or anything.

 

[LaurenRenae]

I have the same concerns and we are going in Aug. Some people on here say the walk isn't that bad and others say it's a long walk after a day in the parks. I guess we won't know until we try it! Does anyone in your group have mobility issues? LM rooms might not be a good choice if that is an issue.

It's all subjective. I was not worried about the walk when someone said they timed it at about 7 minutes and we are active with no issues walking. But wow, it is a hike. We were in LM building 7. Asked for a room near the elevator but we were still about halfway down the hallway, with a stroller. You are really not near anything. Parking lot is closest, but forget running to get food. By the time you order and get to your room, half an hour is gone. There are no short cuts anywhere. We needed a solid 15-20 minutes to get to the buses (with a double stroller). And I don't think it was a building choice issue. I think they'd all be about the same. The only way to save time is if you can use the stairs and get an end room.

I'm glad we experienced it for our first resort stay, but we won't stay again. My red-headed Ariel-loving five year old liked the room theme on first glance, but after day one, she could care less. We'll probably try a value resort when there's a discount next time. Maybe POP so we can walk over and take pics with the giant statues, which seemed to be the best part of the resort. Oh, but for all the complaints about the bathroom fan, it actually never bothered us!

 

[jenjie]

We just booked a room at the Lion King suites for August 9-17! Very last minute, but I am so excited. The Lion King may be my all-time favorite movie. The buildings all seem pretty close to everything, but are there any building/room requests to make?

We had room 6610. It was lake view but had a great view of Pop Century! We were maybe 3 doors down from the stairwell closest to the big blue pool, landscape of flavors etc.