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

[HLAuburn]

Just back from our stay at AoA in the LM section, so I wanted to post a few quick thoughts from the trip...

Check in and check out were quick and easy, and our room was ready when we arrived at about 10am. We were in building 7, facing the lake and POP on the 4th floor. I was worried building 7 would be far from the parking lot, but it was fine. We had no issues with noise at all, but maybe that was because we were on the top floor.

No issues with the thermostat in the room. For some reason, we were not able to set it any lower than 68, but it stayed at that temp the entire time and we never had any complaints with the temp. In fact, we were a little cold at night.

For those who are concerned with the walk from LM to the main building - don't be! It's not bad at all! It was just not an issue. Of course, other buildings are closer, but for the standard rooms, the walk in not bad at all. We loved the theming around the resort - the pool looked fun, even though we didn't swim, and the Cars section is amazing!

I am admittedly a deluxe-snob, so the things that bother me about the other values were the same at AoA:

~The room was really small. We are 2 adults and 2 little kids and it was short trip for us, and I still felt like we were bumping into each other all the time. Two sinks would have made things a lot easier.

~The values always seem SO much more crowded than other resorts. On our MK day, the line for the bus was so long, it overflowed past the line for the other park bus. It would have taken an hour just to get on a bus, so we ended up driving. It seemed to us that they should have done a better job of handling situations like that.

If anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them

[mjrusso45]

I recently got upgraded from a LM room to an AoA suite. My stay is Dec 9 -14. When we did the upgrade, they could not specify a theme for the suite. Any thoughts on which one we'll end up in? (i.e. I assume the least desirable/least booked suites). Lion King?

If so that's fine by me. Just curious and my daughter (9) and wife are much more interested. I'm just tickled for a suite.

[jeanylaser]

What is the Difference between a standard room and a Family Suites? It's the Family Suites has more room than the Standard room! and I forgot which animated films are the Family Suites! I hope we will take the Cars Wing in Feb 2013!

[KMcCP]

Ok I'm staying at LM right now and I have a gripe. I just went down to throw in a load of laundry- I wasn't able to since there are only 4 washers and someone was using them all. Really? 4 whole machines?

[stindall]

Originally Posted by jeanylaser

What is the Difference between a standard room and a Family Suites? It's the Family Suites has more room than the Standard room! and I forgot which animated films are the Family Suites! I hope we will take the Cars Wing in Feb 2013!

The family suites are the Cars, Lion King, and Finding Nemo buildings. They have a kitchenette, two bathrooms and an extra room with a queen bed.

[jeanylaser]

stindall for the info! We are going to stay in the Cars Wing for Feb 2013!

[lynn71092]

Originally Posted by jeanylaser

What is the Difference between a standard room and a Family Suites? It's the Family Suites has more room than the Standard room! and I forgot which animated films are the Family Suites! I hope we will take the Cars Wing in Feb 2013!

Also, suites are probably twice the price as a standard room per night.

[jenlov]

More than twice the price! We are getting two rooms, $105 each. A suite is like $260-270 ish for our dates.

[magic-camps]

Originally Posted by jenseib

You are the first I have heard to get upgraded.

I received a pin in the email. We were booked in LM for Thanksgiving and were able to upgrade for free to Cars Suites. That was a great unexpected treat!

[OceanStateKelly]

Cars - Jan 24 -30th can't wait

[mom2cgj]

Just made the final payment on our trip! Woo Hoo! LK suite in 53 days - Jan.27-Feb.1. This is the first trip for all 5 of us, so we are super excited!!

[levenhopper]

I'm debating doing online check-in. I know we'll be there during a time that they've been upgrading people (probably due to overbooking). I'm not expecting an upgrade by any means...but if one was available, would I have a better shot at it if I do standard check in?

FWIW, I'll be in a LM room Dec 14-21.

[lovingeire]

We are here now in a Cars suite and the resort is amazing! It's beautiful! We are in love!

Someone asked about room for a pack n play in the "master" and we ended up putting one up in there for DS (2) to nap by the bathroom and there is plenty of room!

[dansdad]

Originally Posted by levenhopper

I'm debating doing online check-in. I know we'll be there during a time that they've been upgrading people (probably due to overbooking). I'm not expecting an upgrade by any means...but if one was available, would I have a better shot at it if I do standard check in?

FWIW, I'll be in a LM room Dec 14-21.

Checking in online or in person has no bearing on whether you get an upgrade or not.

[HLAuburn]

Originally Posted by levenhopper

I'm debating doing online check-in. I know we'll be there during a time that they've been upgrading people (probably due to overbooking). I'm not expecting an upgrade by any means...but if one was available, would I have a better shot at it if I do standard check in?

FWIW, I'll be in a LM room Dec 14-21.

I know they say that how you check in online has nothing to do with upgrades, but my experience is that I have MUCH better luck when I check in online. Out of our last 3 trips, the 2 times I checked in online, I received upgrades both times. When we stayed at AoA, the system would not allow me to check in online, so we did regular check in when we arrived. I think LM was pretty booked that weekend, and we weren't upgraded.

Probably just a coincedence, but I still prefer to check in online!