ALEXandFAB
Disney. Doctor Who. Harry Potter. True Crime.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2004
Following along! Thanks so much for the AoA pics...my family and I will be staying there on our trip next year! Can't wait to hear/see more about your 2 weeks at WDW
I feel the same way about chips - don't really care for them, unless there is something special...or if they are Fritos. Glad the gamble paid off for you!I don’t even really like chips, but they looked different so I thought I’d give them a whirl.
Me too!I just love those guys!
AoA seems to really be a place that embodies the theming and detail that Disney is known for. The little bit of time I've spent there has just blown me away. Thanks for the little tour!The plants and other landscaping in the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo sections look like they came from the bottom of the ocean. If you look back at the pictures of the Lion King, the plants are very different! This is one of the things I love about Disney – their themes are completely immersive and no detail goes unnoticed.
Ahhhh, that's the one area I did see - and it was awesome!I look forward to checking out the Cars section of the resort next time.
I love the pictures of AoA. It's too bad you couldn't wander over to see the Cars section. The theming looks like a kids dream (and Disney loving grown ups ). I hope you two get well rested and ready for the next day.
Hi Jenny! I'm excited to join your TR! What a great graduation gift for Anika. I'm a big fan of rewarding special milestones with a WDW trip!
Wow! What a dream trip with 4 resorts! I loved the reveal video. Sounds like Anika's gonna want all the details before you are ready to reveal everything! Great job putting this all together. (I'm a big US fan now that we've ventured off-property starting last year so I'm excited to hear that part of your trip as well.)
I would love to tour AoA and eat at Landscape of flavors. Thanks for sharing your photo tour and dining experiences. Hmmmm ... caprese and house made chips, that sounds pretty good about now. The cupcake looked good - bummer that it wasn't as spectacular as the rest of the meal.
I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.
I absolutely love Art of Animation. It is by far one of my favorite resorts; I wish they gave discounts on the standard rooms because I would be staying these a lot if they did! I also really love the food court. I have been known to make special trips there just to eat.
Can't wait to read about resort reveal #2.
I wanted to do the same thing, but just never had the time!
So glad I can live vicariously through your posts!
And that's why you won't see that many great shots on my TR this time around.
I didn't want to make Kay wait as I took my time composing shots.
Really? For a graduation gift the first thing you do is take her to a school (of fish)?
What? I thought I was your favourite dude!
I'm crushed!
(See what I did there? Hunh? Didja?)
That looks like fun for an adult!
Whoa. It really is. I wonder if they still pipe the music underwater?
Ugh. I don't remember about the All-Stars... I don't think I ever ate there, even though we stayed there twice.
That first swipe... filled with angst and excitement.
Well.... of course you did.
It's not polite to brag, Jenny.
Seriously, I had to go back and look at your dates. I'm surprised it was already that hot in May!
No way! I really wish I'd known that!
Looks really nice!
Pretty!
I had heard about that, I think that's so cool.
I've seen that light on someone else's TR... it's really impressive.
They just may have been the best part of the movie.
Yes!!
Man... the theming just goes on and on and on...
Perfect!
Ah... There she is...
Funny. I saw the picture first, and was going to leave a comment like "That's huge!" and then read what you wrote about it.
But, man! It really is!
That just blows me away.
Incredible. Just, incredible.
Good call!
It's a nice bridge, I managed to set foot on it... once.
Didn't cross it, just stepped on it.
Can't wait!
It really is a great pool and a beautiful area. They really nailed it on this one!
I had one. I agree 100% with your opinion of it.
But it did look like Mickey, so that always makes it just a little bit better.
When I was a young warthog!!!
Look at Little Mermaid and then look at Cars... They really did an awesome job.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!! You missed the best part!!!!
But I get it.
I remember in 2008 when we stayed at Pop, DW, my sisters and I all sat out there one evening for a couple of hours just having a few drinks and talking. It was one of those random, seemingly non-memorable things that I always look back on as a great memory.
Following along! Thanks so much for the AoA pics...my family and I will be staying there on our trip next year! Can't wait to hear/see more about your 2 weeks at WDW
AoA is such a great resort! Your pictures really made me miss it! We've only been to DW once ( so far) and stayed in a Cars suite, it was fantastic! They really did do an amazing job at this resort!
I also thought Landscape of Flavors was great, lots of space and great food choices. Funny when we were there we walked over the bridge to check out Pop Century! I love that it's such an easy walk between the two.
Caught up. Thanks for all of the great AoA pictures. I'll have to remember that about the chips...that could be something I would totally overlook and pick cole slaw as a side instead. (And end up living an unfulfilled life. )
I feel the same way about chips - don't really care for them, unless there is something special...or if they are Fritos. Glad the gamble paid off for you!
Me too!
AoA seems to really be a place that embodies the theming and detail that Disney is known for. The little bit of time I've spent there has just blown me away. Thanks for the little tour!
Ahhhh, that's the one area I did see - and it was awesome!
I can't get the freshly made chips out of my mind....yum!!! I think I'd take a trip there just for them
Awesome pictures of AoA, Jenny! I was also so excited to get to explore so much of that resort given the proximity to Pop. My only regret is that I never did venture over to actually eat But there's always next time!
I'm excited to hear more about the next reveal(s)... and who might you be meeting up with at your Dismeet?!
Yes it is!
Once.
And a few.... a very few... know what it is.
I guess you'll just have to remain nameless.
The final big surprise is that we were spending several nights at her dream Disney resort, the Grand Floridian.
To say I was excited was a MASSIVE understatement.
I made a deal with Anika that we would split the window seat for our two flights – she got it on the Chicago flight and I got it on the Orlando flight. (I may have twisted her arm slightly to get the Orlando leg – I wanted a chance to spot Disney World from the air! And I did! )
What can I say? We walk pretty fast.
Here we are! Welcome to room 5418:
This was our view from our room:
I was SUPER excited about exploring the Art of Animation Resort! I was hoping to make it there on our 2013 trip, but there was never a good time to squeeze it in. Although I was excited about finally seeing (and staying!) at Pop Century, another big reason for booking there is so I could finally see Art of Animation!
Here’s our food… Anika chose the Mongolian Beef Stir Fry, with multigrain rice, some sort of spinach (you could pick a side, so I'm not sure exactly was it was!), and Naan:
I decided to get the Caprese Sandwich, which was tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and balsamic on ciabatta bread. I choose to get the chips instead of the coleslaw:
We also had to get our first cupcake of the vacation:
The restaurant wouldn’t be the same without its namesake… landscapes!
The restaurant is full of background pictures from the four movies featured at the resort - Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.
I really loved this light fixture in a skylight near the entrance of the Ink and Paint Shop:
What’s so impressive about each section of Art of Animation is their attention to detail, all the way down to the plant life:
Loving your trip report so far! I always travel to WDW with my sister, it's great that you were able to organize all this for her with surprises along the way.
Excited to read more!
GIRL I'm finally here! What an awesome TR this is going to be, I'm enjoying it already
First of all, this is so precious and I think I see Anika wearing my sweater
He's very cryptic, I'm glad somebody called him out on it
I'm going with Pedro.
Eeee I'm so excited for you I bet this blew Anika's mind
HOW do you both looks so fresh after a 3:15am wake-up call ?!?!?
You seem like such good sisters Jamie and I have such a battle determining who gets the window seat.. Including one of us quickly moving all our belongings and swapping seats when the other is in the bathroom
Yes... You "walked fast" through the airport...
I really like the rooms at Pop! I actually prefer them to the standard Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation, so I think staying at Pop and walking over to AoA to explore was a good call
Awesome!
We went to explore AoA last month too, I really like the grounds and the lobby/shop building.. It smells SO good and clean!
* salivating *
I quoted this above to ask if they were supposed to be landscapes from the four movies, but you ended up answering it already
In that case, I love this!
Yes yes yes, how do I get that light fixture in my home?!?!
Totally noticed this too! They did such a good job with it
Loving this so far, excited to hear more
I used my magic band for my first food purchase of the vacation – that was pretty exciting! Not to mention, oh so easy!
it was large, comfortable, and had tons of tasty and interesting choices. I look forward to returning one day and getting a chance to explore the Cars area (and perhaps eat more chips!)
It was going to be our first visit to the legendary Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
Sounds like something my family would say.We’re Meeting a Stranger from the Internet?!
I'm the same way... Too much to see and do!I’m terrible at sleeping at Disney (I can sleep at night just fine, but I have to be pretty darn tired to nap during the day) so I turned on Stacey. Ah, how I've missed you and your must-dos!
You were totally sitting next to her staring at her in a stalker-ish way while she was sleeping, weren't you?Once I was finished speaking with Mom, I snuck back into the room and found that Anika was still sleeping. I thought it might be fun to reveal the next resort this afternoon so I started preparing the gift bag that would accompany this reveal.
And honestly, I just couldn’t bear to keep the secret much longer.
I sat on the bed and waited. And waited. And kept waiting.
Because who doesn't want to wake up to a camera in their face?Keep in mind that she’d just woken up when I filmed this:
Well done! I'm glad it was a success!She was completely and totally baffled followed by complete shock. Total win!
It turns out that being a theatre major can in fact be useful later in life!
I might have to give them a chance. I've seen the first movie... I thought it was alright, but it didn't exactly make me turn around and watch the rest. I do enjoy reading though so I might have to download a book or 2 and give it a chance.*Not an exaggeration. I LOVE Harry Potter. I’ve read every book multiple times – I have them in both hardcover and Kindle form and read them all at least a few times a year. (For the record, my favorites are book 3, 7, 6, 4, 5, 1, and 2, in that order.
Sorry, this is a Disney board.(Where is a flying broomstick smilie when you need it?!)
I know the feeling. I think I'll finally pull a Dismeet off in January.I’ve been on the boards since 2011. I’ve read many fabulous trip reports and have always been amazed by how many people seemed to meet in-person after “meeting” on the boards. It was something I’d always wanted to do but not yet had the opportunity. As my luck would have it, several DISers were planning trips in May and I was finally going to be able to meet a few of them. I was SUPER EXCITED!!!
Yeah... I could never do a Dismeet with the family.The thought of making plans to meet strangers was not at all appealing to her. Add in the fact that these were strangers that I knew from the Internet? Anika was not buying into this DISmeet business. She thought I had lost my mind.
It took months of planning and coordination.We even matched! How awesome is that?!
That would be so hard to do! I always want to get into the parks as soon as possible!It was tough to arrive at the Magic Kingdom only to veer right past it and onto a boat headed elsewhere.
We’re Meeting a Stranger from the Internet?!
Since Anika was kind enough to allow me the first opportunity to open the door using out magic bands, now it was her turn:
We were shocked to find that our bags had already been delivered to the room – way to go, Magical Express luggage delivery!
I’m terrible at sleeping at Disney (I can sleep at night just fine,
(doesn’t everybody get sucked into the wonder that is Stacey?!)
A room down the way from us had this fabulous sign in their window:
I also wandered around the corner and watched the action at the Hippy Dippy pool – this is the advantage of being on the 4th floor!
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and prodded her awake. It’s easy to prod someone awake when you tell them you’ll reveal the next resort on their mysterious vacation.
Keep in mind that she’d just woken up when I filmed this:
It turns out that being a theatre major can in fact be useful later in life!
*Not an exaggeration. I LOVE Harry Potter. I’ve read every book multiple times – I have them in both hardcover and Kindle form and read them all at least a few times a year.
although very well done, the movies do not even COME CLOSE to the wonder that can be found in the books
WHERE IS MY BROOMSTICK? GET ME TO THE WIZARDING WORLD!!!
The item she pulled out of the bag was her Platform 9 3/4 lanyard that I'd purchased for the Universal leg of our trip.
Anika was not buying into this DISmeet business. She thought I had lost my mind.
We headed out to the Hippy Dippy pool to meet the sweet and fabulous @Tracy161 .
(And if you have the chance on a future trip, meet up with Tracy! She’s awesome!)
With our first successful DISmeet in the books and about an hour to kill before heading to dinner, we decided to go back to the room, change into swimsuits, and sit by the pool.
That’s exactly what we did. It was glorious.
I love the first bus ride of a Disney vacation!
It was tough to arrive at the Magic Kingdom only to veer right past it and onto a boat headed elsewhere.
I also managed to grab a picture of this elusive spot, Disney’s River Country:
They had cleverly placed a merchandise cart right across from the Hoop-Dee-Doo location and we saw many parents coaxed into stopping by their kids.
The Frozen madness is far from over!