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

[saxman]

Originally Posted by EpcotBill

Yes I know. But the LM rooms are listed as 277 square feet and the other Value resort rooms are 260. I don't know how they squeezed an additional 17 sq ft out of the LM rooms. Maybe the walls are thinner. That extra 17 sq ft doesn't make them suites though.

For those who have stayed in both, can you tell much of a size difference between the two?

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by saxman

For those who have stayed in both, can you tell much of a size difference between the two?

We stayed in a LM room in December after staying at Pop 5 trips in a row. And I honestly didn't notice the difference.

[saxman]

Originally Posted by mom2rtk

We stayed in a LM room in December after staying at Pop 5 trips in a row. And I honestly didn't notice the difference.

Maybe Disney is using a different tape measure "under the sea". That's a horrible joke I know.

[rachallyy]

Hi, Just booked our reservations for May after school lets out at AOA in the Cars suite. very excited! It will be the first trip for my husband, two sons 8 and 6, and for me my first in 10years, love this site

I'm mostly concerned with getting a request filled for bldg 1 which would be closest cars/Mater bldg. to the food court and buses, how backed up the food court will be on a Holiday weekend, and how backed up the buses will be for the same reason. Any thoughts?

Anyone stayed in building 1? I would like to know a room number to request. We want upper floor which will hopefully be more quiet and in the leg of the "T" shape closest to the parking lot.

What is the earliest the buses start running ususally? thanks

[dansdad]

Originally Posted by rachallyy

Anyone stayed in building 1? I would like to know a room number to request. We want upper floor which will hopefully be more quiet and in the leg of the "T" shape closest to the parking lot.

What is the earliest the buses start running ususally? thanks

The best way to get your requests met is to NOT ask for specific room #s. It's best to word your requests so the room assigner knows WHY you are making a request. Such as "Upper Floor close to food court". There are rooms in building #1 that will be further from the food court and bus stop than some rooms in building #3. So if you word your request the right way, you will basically double your chances of getting close to the food court.

[kbarrett]

We stayed at LK family suite in October 2012 and it was amazing! and we waled to both the Nemo pool and LM and like LM the best (less crowed)! The theming is wonderful!!! Plus I didn't think any building was much of a walk even after a long day at the parks with 4 young children!

[disadventurer]

Does anyone know of a low-cost transportation option one way from Art of Animation to Hilton Bonnet Creek. I know it's pretty close, but I want to make sure I budget the correct amount. Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[katiegirl]

We just got back from 7 fantastic nights at Art of Animation!!!

We were in Mater (building#1) on the first floor. I made no requests and the location was perfect!!! Even though we were right outside the pool and the "road" to the "wheel well" building we didn't hear a thing and the walk was only a couple minutes to the food court, buses, giftshop and the Big Blue pool.

The suite was more than enough room for the 4 of us, having 2 full bathrooms was awesome in the mornings!!! There was plenty of room in the fridge and the area around the kitchenette. It was great having a separate area with a dining table, though we didn't find the table bed to be all that comfortable. My DH and I slept on the pullout couch while my DS's shared the bedroom. I have no complaints about the pullout and they certainly didn't complain about the queen bed in their own room!

There was a fantastic amount of storage room for all of our stuff and we were able to keep it clutter free and organized with very little effort. Mousekeeping was great and we got the best towel animal ever...a monkey hanging on a clothes hanger!!! It was cool and a little creepy all at the same time! The free WiFi was great in the room and around the main pool but our cell reception in the room was horrible. We ever only had 1 bar in the room unless we had the phone on a corner of the dresser near the window, then we would get 2 whole bars. Everywhere else reception was just fine.

The food court had great food! We really enjoyed the "make you own..." options, didn't feel the disney gut bomb from eating there ever.

We never had any issues with buses except leaving Epcot after Illuminations on night but that was more a tour group/crowd control issue than a transportation issue. We also used the POP buses at times and just walked over the bridge, it was kinda relaxing in the evening.

All in all we were more than satisfied with our stay and would gladly return to stay there again!!:love struc

[twopearls]

Originally Posted by kbarrett

We stayed at LK family suite in October 2012 and it was amazing! and we waled to both the Nemo pool and LM and like LM the best (less crowed)! The theming is wonderful!!! Plus I didn't think any building was much of a walk even after a long day at the parks with 4 young children!

Agreed. We were there same time - LK in October. After walking all over the parks all day, walking from one end of the resort to the other to check out different pools was nothing!

Also, I had worried so much about which building, which view, etc. We were there EARLY on check-in day, like 11 AM. They had two rooms available, one on 3rd or 4th floor in building 10 (nearest parking lot) facing into the LK courtyard, and one in the other building (forget the number) facing the lake on the first floor. We took the lake view. It was so nice. I was worried about the 1st floor being noisy, but we never heard anyone in the hallways. Never heard any little feet running or jumping above us. Loved it! My DH was at Coronado Springs last weekend for a work thing. That was my other hotel option, but even he said how glad he was that we spent the extra money to have more space and privacy in the suite. I have a DH6 who needs a lot of sleep, so it was nice to not have to tiptoe around a hotel room after she was asleep for 8 nights!

When we do shorter trips somewhere 2-3 nights, we're fine in a regular room. More than that, and we try to get a suite.

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by mom2rtk

We stayed in a LM room in December after staying at Pop 5 trips in a row. And I honestly didn't notice the difference.

Me too. I didn't really notice any difference. Maybe a little tiny bit bigger but nothing substantial.

Originally Posted by rachallyy

Hi, Just booked our reservations for May after school lets out at AOA in the Cars suite. very excited! It will be the first trip for my husband, two sons 8 and 6, and for me my first in 10years, love this site

I'm mostly concerned with getting a request filled for bldg 1 which would be closest cars/Mater bldg. to the food court and buses, how backed up the food court will be on a Holiday weekend, and how backed up the buses will be for the same reason. Any thoughts?

Anyone stayed in building 1? I would like to know a room number to request. We want upper floor which will hopefully be more quiet and in the leg of the "T" shape closest to the parking lot.

What is the earliest the buses start running ususally? thanks

The food court will be busy at 'busy' times....from about an hour prior to park opening until about an hour after. Midday, it gets busy at normal lunch times, and dinner wasn't an issue for us.
As far as a specific room number? Best to just ask for a room on an upper floor, closer to the parking lot.
As far as buses go, they start running about 6:30 in the morning...but they come a bit less frequently than the regular buses do, so plan accordingly. They can get crowded an hour prior to park opening. You have to figure that everyone wants to do the same thing you're doing!! And at park closing, all buses are crowded.

[pjfranklin]

I'm sooo excited for our trip in August.... Almost official ADR time!!!

[LisaTN]

Looked through about 40+ pages before asking... but I have a question:

How far of a walk are the little mermaid rooms from the bus stops. My mom does not want to rent a scooter, but at the end of the day I know she's not going to want to walk way far.

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by LisaTN

Looked through about 40+ pages before asking... but I have a question:

How far of a walk are the little mermaid rooms from the bus stops. My mom does not want to rent a scooter, but at the end of the day I know she's not going to want to walk way far.

If your mom is back and forth about a scooter, then the LM rooms will be a very unwelcome surprise at the end of a day in the parks.

If she's unsure, but erring on the side of no scooter, I'd stay at POP in a preferred room. If she goes for the scooter, I'd try the LM rooms.

[LisaTN]

Originally Posted by mom2rtk

If your mom is back and forth about a scooter, then the LM rooms will be a very unwelcome surprise at the end of a day in the parks.

If she's unsure, but erring on the side of no scooter, I'd stay at POP in a preferred room. If she goes for the scooter, I'd try the LM rooms.

Perfect information!!!! THANK YOU!

[LSANTI]

Just a thought we had a double stroller in our room which was hard to collapse so we left it open and found the floor space a little tight. As it seemed that you opened the door and hit the bed