Daughters 1st trip to Disney staying in AOA LM room

[Timber Wolf]

So I just booked my Disney trip for the first week of Dec 5 nights 6 days.my daughter will be 7 when her,my wife and I visit Disney.My wife and I celebrated our honeymoon in Disney and stayed at PO riverside spending our last night in AK we just had to stay one night in AK it was our honeymoon.we went for Halloween and went to the Halloween party it was so much fun.

We've been waiting awhile to wait for our daughter to get to that magical age to take in all of Disney we wanted to take her last year at age 6 but just did not have the money we will have the money this year to take her and were tossing around going around Halloween or visiting Disney with all the Christmas decor and we felt our daughter would be blown away anytime we went but going with all the Christmas decor would be all that much more magical the only disappointment is the discontinuation of the electrical parade our daughter would have loved it.

With that being said we booked the LM room this is the room she really wanted to stay in I know there is a lot of negative floating around these rooms this is where my daughter wants to stay and this trip is for her yes it's for us too but it's all about her so if that's where she wants to stay that's where we decided we were going stay.I thought about doing a split resort stay and booking a couple of nights in a po royal room but decided against it in my heart I knew she would probably like staying in a royal room though she only seemed luke warm on it when I showed it to her.she really wants to stay in that mermaid room even any hint of not staying in it got her upset,this trip is for her so that's where we are going to stay.

When I was thinking about doing a split stay someone made a comment on these boards about it that I really took to heart and thought long and hard about they asked if the extra money would be worth it for that little bit of extra magic,she is going to be in Disney for her first time surrounded by magic 24/7 shes going to be up to her ears in magic will it be worth the extra money that I would be spending then uprooting and transferring to another room when her heart is set on the LM room.I thought hard about it though it went smooth for us on our honeymoon and it was easy when we went did we really need to transfer to a royal room for maybe a little bit more magic and spend more money especially being her heart is all in in the LM room she may want to never leave it so we decided we were going to stay and put that extra money saved by switching to a royal room to use on her for souvenirs and of course bippity boppity boop.As much as I know in my heart she would have loved it her heart is set on the LM room and would not want to leave.besides we don't plan on spending much time at the resort with this being our first trip to Disney with her we are going to be spending a great deal of time in the parks.

The two main compaints I have heard about these rooms are

1) location
A fair amount of people have complained about walking distance while others have said it's not so bad I will judge for myself.heck you are in Disney you better be prepared to walk & walk a lot me I don't need to run back and forth to get coffee I will stop before we go back to the room if I need it or even take a walk at night it can't be much further than where we stayed in PO that was about a 8-10 minute walk to the boathouse and that was not bad it may seem like a long walk at the end of the day after being in the parks all day it gets to be too much & if we feel like not walking I'll grab a Minnie cab on the way back I'm saving about $500 by skipping on splitting my stay with the royal rooms so I can do that on a long day at the parks so the walking distance is going to be a wait and see,who cares about the walk you're in Disney take in the sights,the skyline should be up and running when we go hopefully if not what's a 10 minute walk

2)room size/no coffee maker
For some who may be spending a lot of time in their room this may be an issue we don't plan on spending a lot of time at the resort and the time we do spend there we will be too busy walking around and if it's warm enough going in the pool so we won't be spending a lot of time in the room other than really to sleep so room size is not an issue My daughter being happy and mesmerized is way more important.I repeat we are in Disney I'm not worried about room size if we were spending more time at the resort and not going to the parks everyday then maybe the room size may bother me a bit but that's not the case.this trip is for her.

With those two cons Which are not really cons in my eyes it's balanced out and over ruled by more positives from what I've read

1) the food I've read some of the food is very very good above avg for a resort

2) transportation I've read being AOA has their own dedicated buses though we are going off peak we really won't have to worry about them being over crowded where as other resorts such as po share buses sometimes leaving you to stand or wait for the next bus(we experienced this when we stayed in po)

3) The pools. I've also read AOA has some of the best pools in Disney not sure how much we are going to use them with the amount of time we are going to be in the parks and how the weather will be but I've read they have some of the nicest in Disney so they are right on the resort if we choose to go in them

4)it's geared towards kids. This probably ranks 1st on my list there are no moderate resorts that could hold a candle to the value resorts geared towards kids With AOA being as kid made as they come the moderate resorts are not even close!sure you have the royal rooms but that's a room AOA is a resort made for kids if we were traveling just us I probably would never stay at AOA but this trip is all about my daughter I tried getting her to bite on the Lion king suit or even finding Nemo I was going to put a hold on both rooms and if a discounted rate did not come in for a suite I would stay with LM but she insists on the LM so LM it it is.

This trip is for her the one thing that I thought she would adore with the royal room is the note from Tiana so I am going to do my own version and have something sent to our room welcoming her to Disney we are even going to decorate a bag to bring with us for tinker bells gifts she will be so excited getting something from tink every morning before going to the parks in her bag she made.

Value is just that value this trip is for my daughter yes it's for us too but she's our world and what's most important is her being happy and experiencing that Disney magic so walking distance,room size even noise is unimportant when it comes to this trip the more important part is her taking in and experiencing all that Disney has to offer.having great food,some of the nicest pools in Disney,a resort gushing with kid appeal with a magical room for my daughter & dedicated buses with a skyline outweigh's room size & walking distance by a landslide any day especially if it appeals to my daughter.

I know it's quite a bit away but we can't wait to go I have to say it again I am disappointed they don't do the Main Street electrical parade anymore she would have loved it.she would have loved every time tink wove that wand of hers and all the lights lit up in synch that was truly a beautiful awesome parade!!

Hopefully the Christmas parade is nice I'm sure she'll love it what's not to love we'll be in Disney

 

[clayfolks]

The theming at AoA is amazing. Take time to walk around the whole resort and check out the other sections. The food at the food court is so good that we have gone there to eat when staying at other resorts. I’m sure you will have a great time there.

 

[unrequited23]

It sounds like you made a great choice for your family.

 

[trishadono]

My kids loved the values when they were young. We did just fine as a family of 4 in the rooms too.

The walk wasn't a big deal. The kids loved to look at everything, AOA has lots to see and you'll want to explore it all. You can also cross the bridge to see POP too. She may enjoy that.

We take a bus from a park back to pop then walk over the bridge back to AoA if the AoA bus isn't there and pops is.

Also we like the food at pop better so go there at times as well. It's nice to have options!

We stay in deluxes now that my kids are in their 20's but we all agreed the values were the best ever when they were young. It really felt DISNEY!

I think you made a great choice!

 

[smiths02]

We didn't stay in the Little Mermaid rooms (family of 5), but we really enjoyed AoA. We even stayed there twice!
Obviously room location and size wouldn't be the same.

If we only had one 7 year old daughter, we would definitely not hesitate to stay at AoA in a LM room...especially if we were saving money (vs moderate or deluxe)!

 

[discookiemonsta]

We love everything about AoA. The LM rooms are not as far as some make them out to be. The foodcourt is amazing. The close proximity to Pop is an added bonus...another arcade, gift shop, food court and bus stop for your use.

 

[mom2rtk]

We stayed for 10 days a few years back. The distance was a problem for me. It altered how we experience the resort. I like to pop in to the food court and gift shop when we have a few minutes. We just didn't do that with the room so far away. We found ourselves just making do with what we had in the room to avoid taking that walk again. It was especially hard after a long day in the parks. I'm glad we did it. The resort is gorgeous. But we probably won't do it again.

 

[Diane♥Disney]

Your daughter will love AoA. We stayed in a Cars suite this past summer and loved the resort. My two adult kids loved it and requested we stay there again next time. The food court is really good especially the pasta. PoP is good too we ate there a few times too. Noise wasn't really an issue. We never heard a peep when we were in our room and the there were only a few people in the Cars pool every time we went. Housekeeping was great our room was always cleaned in the morning. I found the bed to be really hard but other than that no complaints.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Thank-you everyone for posting your experiences it's good to hear that I probably made the right choice,just a little bit change of plans not a total shocker but my wife works for a bus company as a matridee and being she gets off when the kids are off they are giving her a really hard time about taking off the week we want to go so we are going to book the trip for the last week of August we are both quite disappointed in this but there's really not much we can do about it,we would rather not go in the smeltering heat but it is what it is we are going to make the best of it we would rather not go on any school breaks as We would rather deal with the heat vs the crowds we are actually going to stay for an extra day being with the fun & sun discount it's going to only cost us a little bit extra for one more day at the end of August versus the first week of dec I don't mind the heat as much as not seeing Disney all done up fir Christmas that's the real disappointment the silver lining is less crowds being able to enjoy the pools getting an extra day for just a touch more and though we preferred the Mickey Christmas party we will be there to enjoy the Halloween party as it starts the week we will be there.going there in the heat changes things a bit but we will still have a great time we will just have to go at a slower pace and take a lot more breaks.I'll probably start another thread to gather some experiences from others on their late August stays.

Thanks for all your thoughts,opinions & experiences

 

[hammie59]

We stayed in LM rooms last trip at the end of our split stay. The walk to the fc and main pool is farther than I prefer, but not horrible. LM has its own pool as well which is literally in the middle of the LM section. Your daughter will LOVE staying there. You made a good choice.

 

[cassie58]

LM room is perfect for your daughter, theming is so well done in the rooms, and all around the resort as others mentioned - I think Cars section is amazing! We stayed for one nt to check it out and my DD(14 at the time) loved it. Walk to front is a little long - not bad, just more so for walking back at the end of a long park day - at that age we still had a stroller along where kids could grab a quick rest if tired of walking or sit in for parade, etc , and rest of the time could throw our bags, jackets in - this was a great fix for end of night when they were crashing and had long walk to bus stop and back to room, so you might consider that, even though you'd probably never use one at home.

End of August is of course hot, but it is a great time to go with low crowds, with many kids back to school. If you take advantage of early hours/rope drop and take afternoon breaks to swim or nap, then head back for evening it is very manageable. You can also make good use of FP so you don't wait in long lines in the afternoon, and can do indoor shows and exhibits to duck out of the heat, like The Seas in Epcot or Monsters Inc and Philharmagic in MK. Planning is the key, and sounds like you are already on your way!

 

[Stefani P.]

The theming is simply WOW! She will truly be in heaven. Take some time to explore the resort. Pools are so nice. She will have wonderful memories with you. Enjoy!

 

[mickeymom22]

We have stayed in the LM section before and had a great stay! My daughter was nine at the time. She loved the main pool area. We ordered pizza late one night and ate it by the pool. She thought that was great that she was eating pizza late by the pool. She also loved the walk to and from the room. You walk through the Lion King section to get to the Little Mermaid section. There are some great areas that your daughter can explore while you are making your way back to the room so the walk really isn't that bad.

Don't worry about your trip having to switch to August. I am sure your trip will still be magical and you will make many special family memories!

Happy Planning!