Day 1- Saturday, December 29th: I was so excited to check out Art of Animation and it has beyond exceeded my expectations! I am in LOVE with this resort and if I weren't headed to 2 amazing deluxe resorts, I would be sad that im not spending more nights here. I had done online check-in and checkin was a breeze. If I had done regular checkin, there was only 1 person in line so it didn't look like it would have been a long wait to check in for either method. Check-in receives an A rating. The theming of AoA sets this resort apart from the rest. The amount of detail they have put in to everything is just amazing. We walked over to all sections (cars, lion king and finding memo) and took pictures. I had heard that the walk from animation hall to the LM section was bad but I did not find it to be a bad walk at all. Theming for the resort overall gets an A rating. I had seen pictures of the LM rooms so I knew what to expect but the room just took my breath away! It was just so cute and gorgeous! We got our request for a king bed and we are in building 9 which is right next to the parking lot (conveniece for getting to our car). I want to bring the bathroom home with me - I love the shower curtain and the ariels grotto mural inside. Pleasantly surprised to have a nice size flatscreen TV and the wifi worked perfectly for 80% of the time. Last night and early this morning, I had trouble getting on as there were too many users utilizing the wifi. The towels are thin but it's not something that would change my opinion about staying here again. The mattress and pillows were comfortable and we had no problems with the comforter falling off the bed (it was stiff but only because it's new still). The room gets a B ONLY for the thin walls, as I can hear every noise outside next to and above our room. Had a sangria at the pull bar The Drop Off which was very tasty. Didn't use the pools but they looked very nice and not crowded. Had a great time in the expansive gift shop. Had dinner at landscapes of flavors- DH had the bacon cheeseburger and I had the pepperoni pizza. Everything was good, nothing spectacular, typical food court food- I would rate the food court an A. There were a lot of food options and no lines for paying. Last night, we drove to the Wilderness Lodge to see their beautiful Xmas decorations and then took a boat over to Fort wilderness for a sleigh ride. I would highly recommend doing the sleigh ride. For $60, we got a 30-minute horse drawn sleigh ride through the campsites to see the Xmas decorations and I appreciate the driver offering to take a picture of us together in the carriage. Overall it was an amazing 1st night in Disney!!!! We will be checking out of AoA and heading to the Beach Club today. We honeymooned at the Beach Club 5 years ago so I was very happy to be able to rent a reservation through a Dvc member and stay here for 2nights to celebrate 10 years together! We head to epcot today for our 1st experience with the crowds and we have a 230 lunch reservation at Biergarten with the candlelight processional dining package. More to come!
we are resting up now and plan to head to the MK later tonite for the pre-NYE fireworks and go into the park for the EMH hopefully while the rest of the crowds are leaving!!! Day 2 and so far, we are having a magical time!!
