Art of Animation of Moderate (newbies)
 

We are hoping to take our boys to WDW in April, that is if I can talk DH into going that quickly. We had decided on Coronado Springs, but now that the trip is so close and we have less time to save, I am wondering if we should go with Art of Animation instead to save some money. I don't anticipate spending a lot of time in the room, likely just sleep and naps and maybe breakfast. Our boys are 4 and. 6 if that matters.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Are you talking about the suites or the Little Mermaid rooms? I think the suites are more than one room at a mod. The Little Mermaid rooms are often not discounted because they are new. I have also heard they are a long walk from the main building/food court.

If you are looking for a value, I would recommend Pop Century. My Mom and I stayed there for the first time last October and I was surprised at how much I loved it. Your kids will love the theming.

I think a preferred room is worth the extra expense. Keep in mind the values are going to have double beds instead of queens. I don't know if that makes a difference for your sleeping arrangements, but it might matter so I like to mention it.

The AOA is awesome. The rooms are perfect. Especially if you are just in your room to rest. They have fridges in them too! We will be returning to AOA for sure in future trips.

Here is a video tour I took of our Little Mermaid room:
http://youtu.be/H1Gnima3Abg

If you can all stay in one room together, you might want to consider Pop Century, just across the bridge from Art of Animation. Since Art of Animation is the newest resort, it's slightly more expensive than any other value resort. You'd get lesser rates at Pop Century but could walk over and see Art of Animation at any time. Just understand you cannot use the Art of Animation pools but Pop Century has three of their own.

And All Stars are slightly less expensive than Pop Century but you could have shared buses there.

We just got back yesterday from a split stay at POP and AoA. AoA is amazing, but the standard rooms are Little Mermaid themed, so that may be an issue with 2 young boys. I know my 6 year old son felt very strongly about staying in a "girls" room. :rotfl:

With 2 little boys and just needing a room to sleep in, I agree with the others and suggest POP. You could always walk across the bridge to visit AoA

If your main uses for the resort are naps and sleep then save the money and stay at AoA or Pop!

There are definitely great things about CSR...the food court is awesome, the rooms are gorgeous IMO, and the resort itself is beautiful (especially at night).

However! It's a big resort, and if you don't have a preferred room it can be quite a hike to the food court/main building or main pool depending where you are.

The advantage of staying at AoA or Pop is that you're saving money, and you're at a resort that is themed with your boys in mind (minus the Little Mermaid rooms at AoA). I'd save the money and do a value.

Have you priced both of them up? From my experience, A of A comes up at around the same price as the moderates. Before you consider changing your plans, I would price both up on the website and see if there is a price difference and how much that difference is.

My Big Blue Pool video tour at Disney's Art of Animation Resort. This pool is huge and the underwater speakers are super cool!
http://youtu.be/Sov9jQCmZoA

Thank you so much for your replies. The CSR and AoA price difference is currently around $500. I guess that my concern with AoA is (1) only full size beds, (2) Little Mermaid rooms, and (3) lack of a really cool pool, but I am not sure that we will use it all that much.

The LM rooms aren't overly girly...more of an under the sea theme than in your face Ariel (except for the shower) and my family thought Big Blue was an awesome pool ;)

Another video I have made of the resort. lol. This one is a tour of the Cars wing and pool area:
http://youtu.be/bEHo_97ABwc

I just wanted to add to check and see if when you are going is in the new promotion coming out this week. We were able to book a moderate with that promotion for $16 CHEAPER than what it would cost at AoA in a standard room because of the room and ticket discounts and the fact that they aren't offered at AoA.

Did you call to check the rate or did you find the rate listed somewhere?

The new promotion is currently available only to those with Disney Visa. It will release to the General Public on Jan. 3. At this moment it will not apply to AoA Little Mermaid rooms (value) or POFQ (mods). It will apply to Pop and CSR (while inventory lasts). Because of the difference in the amount of discount (higher discount for mods) it is quite possible that a mod resort will be nearly the same price as a value.

I wouldn't put too much faith in the website right now, given the problems it is having. You can call on Thursday. Just be prepared for a very long wait when you do- since that is what just about everybody else will be doing too.

I called to book with Port Orleans Riverside (which IS eligible for the promotion), and then compared that to what I added to my cart online, same dates and tickets, with AoA. Since AoA Little Mermaid is not included in the promotion, you can view the standard price online. Once the promotion is available to the public starting on Jan 3, you will be able to view the price online through the promotion link for Coronado.

As I said, doing this, Riverside actually turned out to be $16 cheaper than AoA for a standard room for us.