AoA, give me the real story!

[houstonmama]

It's awesome!!! We usually stay deluxe because we're not park commandos (have special needs kiddo) so we spend a lot of time at our resort. We thought we might miss some of the things that values don't offer but we totally didn't. I thought DD would miss the slide but the Nemo pool is soooo cute she didn't at all. We stayed in a LM room and yes it's smaller but it's adorable! DD loved it . The walk is not bad and walking through the Lion King section makes it go by quickly. We stayed in the Ursula section facing Pop and the view was lovely. We weren't there during a super busy time but didn't notice the resort being too noisy. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[I Love Pluto]

We found the Lion King suite to be wonderful in including two full bathrooms. But - we were completely disappointed in the sleep surfaces. We were 4 adults, and we needed beds - not pull-outs.

Maybe AoA will get smart & include BEDS for 4 or 6 in some of the suites??!!

We loved the pools & food court. We did our laundry in the Cars section. It was clean - very clean! Nice section to walk around. Well designed!

 

[AliceandAriel]

Stayed in a LM Room October 2013, and it was enchanting. Quiet, a little far to walk to after the parks each day, but worth it. The rooms are decorated magnificently, and the food court was amazing. My only complaint was that housekeeping kept trying to clean the room!

Well, that, and the food court one morning reeked of something gross, like barf. I could barely fill my cup of pop before I had to dip out, gagging.

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

I stayed at Art of Animation in 2012 in a Lion King building. I liked it and noise-wise, it wasn't so bad. The food court was good I thought. I liked the pizza and create your own pasta.

 

[michashell]

Is there a lot of noise in LM?

We stayed October 2012 and the crowds were at about a 5 or 6. We were on the ground floor of LK near the ice machines. Right outside our bedroom window was were they had the evening movies. I was pleasantly shocked that we didn't hear any noise from either ice machines or movies - and I'm a very light sleeper. Noise level was important to us because we had a little one that still took afternoon naps which is why we chose LK (no pool).

I thought the food court had a nice variety of food choices, but I really missed having a table service restaurant.

Otherwise we loved the resort and would stay again. Our kids were young (5 and 3), so the pools worked well for us. They didn't miss having a slide. The theming was great and it was not nearly as spread out as I expected.

 

[tnd]

We stayed in a Cars suite this past August and absolutely loved it. The suite was comfortable for 4 people (2 adults, 8 year old, and 2 year old) and had everything we needed. We did rent a car, which I really loved, but on the days when we took the buses, they were fine too.

We were very happy with the food court, other than the slowness of the lines at checkout, but we were there right when they were introducing the RFID mugs, which may have had something to do with it. The pools were excellent, especially the Big Blue Pool.

Before this stay, we had stayed in Bay Lake Towers, the Contemporary, and the Polynesian, and while this does not have the same amenities or location, for the price, it's really excellent. We will likely stay there again this year if we end up back at Disney.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We had a ground floor LM room on the back T section of the Triton bldg. We had noise the first morning when it sounded like a dozen children running back and forth in the room above us. They must have left that day because we never heard another sound.

I thought the walk was a bit far in the evening but I have a lot of foot pain anyway. I ended up driving back and forth to the main bldg with dd9.

My adult dd had a ECV and she and ds12 always "walked" back and forth.

We swam 4 times - 3 times in the LM quiet pool and once in the Big Blue Pool. I thought the main pool was colder than the quiet pool. The music was neat but it seemed low and I really couldn't understand what they were saying.

We only ate at the food court once - at midnight one night and it was delicious.

We all loved the decor of the resort. I took dds ECV the last evening and went and looked at everything.

The bus service seemed good for the amount of people they serve. We did board early with the ECV but if we arrived when a lot of people in line, we always held back and let a bus load first. Every bus we were on the entire 9 days was standing room only.

 

[xoangelxo]

Oh, sorry one more thing.... Are the pools heated?

 

[dansdad]

Oh, sorry one more thing.... Are the pools heated?

Yep, 82 degrees.

 

[lizzyb]

We absolutely loved AoA. Stayed in the cars suite which was beautifully themed. No complaints whatsoever.

 

[kgreen]

I'm enjoying this thread. My family will be staying here next Christmas, in a Nemo suite. We choose Nemo, because I had read it is pretty close to the lobby, food court, & buses. We are traveling with my mother in law who has mobility issues, & can only walk short distance.
Our first trip we took in 2012 we stayed at the Animal Kingdom lodge, & had a really good price & a wonderful time. This time we will have 5 in our party, 3 adults & 2 kids. AKL was just too expensive for 5 people. And at AOA we can all stay together in 1 room. Are the pull out couch/beds comfortable for an adult who is of larger size? I agree the Resort looks Great, and I know the family will have so much fun!
Do you know if free dining, has been offered in the suites at AOA in the past?

 

[polyfor4]

We really like AoA! The cars section has the best theming IMO. The suites provide awesome space- 2 bathrooms on early mornings is awesome. My only advice/ "the real story" would be that it is still very much so a value. The food court, gift shop, and bus stops still have nice theming but you definitely feel like you're at Pop or any of the others. As my family has grown up the resorts mean more and more to us- down time, places to relax and AoA doesn't really meet those needs. Also something new I learned when booking 2014- the suites on weekends during the summer are the same price as some of the Deluxes. So instead of a AoA/ Poly split stay we'll be doing BWI/ Poly for the same price! We have a party of 5 but if you're looking for space the suites are perfect. AoA is by far the best value resort. The little mermaid rooms are a hike but I would still stay there over Pop or any of the All Stars!

Side note: I still think the walk from LM rooms to the lobby is less than some walks I've had at POR and CSR.

 

[Enchanted Minnie]

We stayed in the Nemo suite when we went July '12. Granted it was barely opened and the LM and LK rooms weren't ready yet but it was awesome. It was our family of 5 and my mom. We had a top floor corner room kind of close to the lake but we could see the Nemo pool area. In front of Mr. Ray and the squirt playarea, sorry can't remember the room number. Our only complaint was since the doors are in the hallway, we'd here families running down the hall either very early in the morning or very late at night. Little kid screams and laughs echoed!

The kids loved Nemo's pool! That's where my little one learned how to swim Every night after coming home from the parks we'd go swimming and they had the big screen set up for a movie. I think they've changed it now to be near the Lion King rooms though. It was nice to have the kids swimming while I did laundry next to the pool.

If we could we'd stay there again but the price is not value for a suite! We stayed there before because my mom was able to get the military rate since my dad's retired military. But if we go just the 5 of us we'd have to pay full price.