A few days at AoA

[cleophus12]

We have been to WDW many times and have stayed at a variety of resorts. One of our favorites is Pop Century. We have always felt it was a good value for the money and have been very comfortable there. So when AoA opened we were ready to give it a try. We arrived on Saturday, 5/25 about 9 am. Since we were really early, I wasn't surprised that our room wasn't ready, but the CM took my cell phone number and promised I would receive a text when our room was ready. I had done online check in, and although I had called to verify that it had gone through (the website was acting crazy the day I did it), I discovered upon check in that it had not gone through. So off we went to MK where we spent the whole day. We had dinner ressies at BoG which was amazing, but after dinner we were tired and were ready to return to the room. We still had not gotten a text that the room was ready and it was 7 pm. We went back to the desk and received our room number. We were in LM building 8 in a standard room. The newness of the resort is nice, and landscaping and theming is terrific. We had a little hike to our room, but it is not a bad walk. We walked it many times over the course of the next few days, and it was never bad. There is so much to look at, that the walk passes quickly. Our room was on the 3rd floor looking out on the Flipping Fins pool. Since the resort is so similar to Pop, we felt a certain level of comfort there. However, since we have stayed there once, we will probably return to Pop for our value stays. Pop just seems easier to manage somehow. I will say that bus transportation to and from the parks was great. No problem at all. Longest wait was about 10 minutes to leave Epcot one afternoon. The food court is very similar to Pop, but they don't serve Mickey waffles. They do serve "character" waffles and they taste the same, but I love my Mickey waffles every morning. I agree with other posters who have said that if you are in the LM section, don't get the refillable mug because it's too far to walk for a refill. There is apparently some talk about placing a permanent snack station on that end of the resort. The breakfast cart at the Flipping Fins pool ended its trial run on Monday, 5/27, and no firm plans have been made for anything more according to the CM who was operating the cart. We liked AoA just fine, but unless we are going to spring for a suite, we will probably just go back to Pop.