AoA family suite verses POFQ - I am asking the hard questions :)

[LovesTimone]

Here's the cast for out upcoming trip. My mom (70) DD (24) and Myself (? )
This is our The Queen and 2 princess, no men allowed trip.
We are going in January 2014 for 4 or 5 night depending on FD or other discounts that should come out.

We have never stayed at a Value, the one time we were going to try, when we got to the room, it was awful, moldy smell, you could not even open the door all the way, there was trash in the room and waste cans, so we moved over to CBR. So I am pretty one sided with the idea of staying at a value. But I also realize that is not the norm, so to speak. So I am willing to give it another try.

The reason that I am looking at a Family suite is that with 3 women--- 2 bathrooms will be very helpful when getting ready!! 3 beds no sharing, My DM and DD are wild sleeper's The extra floor space will be nice, as we have lots of stuff.

So here's the hard questions.

1) On the fold down bed, is it possible for an small adult to sleep on it, my mom is very small only 5'2 " just a bit over 100 pounds would she fit on it? and how comfortable is it? it stated double but is it really a double? or a wider single? Is it easy to pull down?

2) The pull out couch is it comfortable? I mean can you sleep on it several nights without feeling like you slept on a bed of nails?? Is it easy to pull out? In other words can 3 women do it. I have had a pull out before and only DH could get that heavy thing out of the bottom of the couch. My DD would be sleeping here, she is super thin but around 5'9" will she fit comfortably?

3) Will mousekeeping make up the beds and put then away each am?

4) Food court? Just tell me the Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

5) Buses to and from the parks? how bad in the evenings? We will have a car, but we would like to have a cocktail with dinner at night. I don't mind standing but at the end of the day I would not want my DM to have to stand.

6) Would you suggest us requesting a higher floor for a bit more quite at night?

7) I know this is a large resort, so a lot of walking, I am looking at Lion King, how far from the bus stop? and is there parking close to Lion King?

Overall - what are your thoughts on this resorts, and any comparison to POFQ. Or any other need to know things?

 

[LovesTimone]

Please I need these questions answered!!!

 

[bluezy]

We stayed in a Lion King suite a few weeks ago (6 people -- 5 adults/teens, 1 8 year old child). I'll see if I can answer your questions. My responses are in green.

Here's the cast for out upcoming trip. My mom (70) DD (24) and Myself (? )
This is our The Queen and 2 princess, no men allowed trip.
We are going in January 2014 for 4 or 5 night depending on FD or other discounts that should come out.

We have never stayed at a Value, the one time we were going to try, when we got to the room, it was awful, moldy smell, you could not even open the door all the way, there was trash in the room and waste cans, so we moved over to CBR. So I am pretty one sided with the idea of staying at a value. But I also realize that is not the norm, so to speak. So I am willing to give it another try. I think you're wise for giving them another try. We've stayed at Value Resorts 5 times in the last 10 years or so and we've always had clean rooms and enjoyed our stays.

The reason that I am looking at a Family suite is that with 3 women--- 2 bathrooms will be very helpful when getting ready!! 3 beds no sharing, My DM and DD are wild sleeper's The extra floor space will be nice, as we have lots of stuff. I agree! 2 Bathrooms is a great feature of the suites. I also found that there is more than ample storage space. Even with 6 of us in the room, I was able to put away all of our clothing and still have an empty drawer. There is plenty of hanging space as well. And several shelves to store things on. And I was able to stack the suitcases in out-of-the-way nooks. Even with 6 people in the room along with an air mattress and all of our stuff (and I'm the queen of over packing), we never felt crowded in the room and there was always plenty of floor space.

So here's the hard questions.

1) On the fold down bed, is it possible for an small adult to sleep on it, my mom is very small only 5'2 " just a bit over 100 pounds would she fit on it? and how comfortable is it? it stated double but is it really a double? or a wider single? Is it easy to pull down? The fold down table bed is a standard double bed (or very close to it -- two standard pillows fit side-by-side on it.). My 24 yo DS slept on it for the week we were there and he said it was very comfortable. He's about 5'10", so your mom will have plenty of space in that bed. It's very easy to pull down.

2) The pull out couch is it comfortable? I mean can you sleep on it several nights without feeling like you slept on a bed of nails?? Is it easy to pull out? In other words can 3 women do it. I have had a pull out before and only DH could get that heavy thing out of the bottom of the couch. My DD would be sleeping here, she is super thin but around 5'9" will she fit comfortably? The couch was also very comfortable according to my 14 yo 5'9" DS who slept on it. I spent a little time on it one evening to watch some TV and I found it comfortable. It's not your standard sofa bed. It's not heavy and I could easily open it and close it by myself. My son's only complaint about the bed was that the a/c vent in that room blows directly on it and since my DH likes to keep the room very cold at night (only one thermostat for the suite), DS was cold the first night. We got extra blankets from housekeeping for the rest of the stay and all was well in teen world.

3) Will mousekeeping make up the beds and put then away each am? Yes. We usually folded up the table bed (unmade) every morning so we could eat breakfast. Every afternoon/evening when we returned to the room, the two beds in the main room were remade and converted to their "other jobs" as a table and couch.

4) Food court? Just tell me the Good, the Bad and the Ugly? We enjoyed the food court. Found that there were plenty of options for us. It was never overly busy when we were there. The lines moved quickly (even if they looked long) other than the create your own pasta station. That one always seemed to move slowly since everything is custom ordered. The custom burger line was sometimes a little backed up as well but moved faster than the pasta line. There was plenty of seating and we never had a problem finding a table for our party of 8.

5) Buses to and from the parks? how bad in the evenings? We will have a car, but we would like to have a cocktail with dinner at night. I don't mind standing but at the end of the day I would not want my DM to have to stand.We had our car there but always used the buses. We found the bus service to be very good. We used the buses several times each day (going to a park for rope drop and usually returning to the resort at some point during the day and heading out to a park again in the evening. I would say that 99% of the time we waited less than 10 minutes for our buses whether we were going to a park or returning to the resort. There were a few times that we took the bus back to Pop Century from a park and walked back to AoA from there simply because that bus showed up first. It seemed like any time there was a long line for a bus to AoA, 2 or 3 buses would show up within a minute or two of each other. I don't think I had to stand on the bus more than once the entire week. And even that time, we could have just waited for the next bus, but chose not to.

6) Would you suggest us requesting a higher floor for a bit more quite at night? We were on the fourth floor of our building. It was definitely quiet. Sometimes it felt like we were the only ones on the entire hall. Just keep in mind that if you need to use the elevator to go up to your room, that can add a little more walking to your day depending on your room location since the elevators are in the center of the building while the stairs are on the ends of each wing. We were 2 doors away from the stairway which was great when we were leaving the room, not always great when we were getting back. Some nights I would take the 4 flights of stairs to our room and other nights I preferred to walk down to the elevators.

7) I know this is a large resort, so a lot of walking, I am looking at Lion King, how far from the bus stop? and is there parking close to Lion King? We were in building 10 in the Lion King section in the wing closest to the main building. It was a very quick walk (as in about 2 or 3 minutes) to the Big Blue Pool, Landscape of Flavors, and the bus stops. The parking lot is right next to Building 10 and we were able to get a parking spot right on the end closest to the building. There were plenty of open parking spots. I will most likely try to get building 10 again the next time we go. We had originally wanted a Nemo room but there weren't any available when the discounts came out so we switched to Cars. When I saw the location (on the map) of the room we were assigned in Cars, I asked the CM if there was anything available closer to the main building in *any* section. He said he had the perfect room for us -- one of the best locations in the resort. He was right. It was closer to the main building and bus stops than most of the rooms in Nemo.

Overall - what are your thoughts on this resorts, and any comparison to POFQ. Or any other need to know things? I can't compare to POFQ as we've never stayed there, but we LOVED this resort. It looks like a huge spread out resort but the suites are all pretty convenient to the main building. It's beautifully landscaped and themed and really gorgeous at night. We loved just wandering around the resort to look at everything. The pictures you see on the websites or blogs really don't do the resort justice. It's really a very nice resort. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Hope that helps a little!

 

[PMart]

I have stayed at both resorts this past dec stayed at AoA. And this past April POR riverside. Hands down AoA wins the beds were way more comfortable and it was so awesome to have the extra room. Plus in the rooms at AoA is a coffee/tea etc maker, a kitchenette and you get two bathrooms lol makes it much easier when getting ready

 

[LoriC1964]

We stayed in the lion king section last year on the very first day it opened! So cool to be the first in the room.

-- my teenage daughter slept in the fold down bed. She was 100 lbs and 5'3" last year and she fit fine. The bed seemed quite comfortable. I would call it a true double size.

-- my college age daughter slept in the pullout with no complaints. She is 5'6" and 125 lbs. I don't remember problems opening it.

-- we may have different mousekeeping everyday, because some days the fold down bed was put back up, but only once did they close up the pullout couch. Maybe you could leave a note telling them your preference?

-- food court...we enjoyed the food options, but the little mermaid section wasn't open yet, so our experience with crowds isn't going to help you. (Crowds were very manageable.). Also, we only ate dinner two times. It did take 10 minutes or more for some of our meals, but the quality was excellent. We all seemed to order from different sections, and we didn't all have our food ready together. Not a big deal, but I ended up still eating my food while my family watched me. My family loved the cheesy pesto bread, which was considered a snack on the dining plan. : That is a good snack value, because it is priced at $4.99. Sorry, but I don't remember the entrees we ordered.

-- I loved that we were the only stop on the bus route...again the whole resort was not open yet, but we had very short wait times.

-- I definitely agree with PP -- we also stayed in the lion king building #10 and it is close to the bus stop. We walked to the bus stop along the parking lot everyday (instead of going through Animation Hall) and it was a great shortcut. We arrived at the bus stops from the other side. Check out a resort map to see what I mean. It's not a far walk from the pool, or main bldg, either. We never had issues with noise...that might be helped by the fact that there is no pool in that section.

I loved, loved this resort. We also split our stay last year at two deluxes, and AoA was still awesome to us. I don't know how much a year may have made a difference in the condition of things. We are staying at Pop this year (first time) and I am actually a little nervous. We then switch to POFQ, haven't stayed there since 1997 and I can't wait to see it again!

The two bathrooms and extra room to spread out was a HUGE bonus for us and one of the main reasons I liked it so much. It was nice to be able to close the door to the master bed area...the kids dont enjoy Dad's snoring! I loved the theming and thought it felt more "grown up" as compared to the All Star resorts. I know this is not a big thing, but the nightstands in the master are equipped with a plug, right in the furniture, so phone charging can be done right on the night stand. The pull down bed has a table alongside that has an easy to access plug, equal to the height of the table. Also the front of the TV's have easy access for charging of electronics by simply opening a hinged door on the front, just below the TV. I loved the shower in the master bath...just open the door and walk right in, without having to lift my aging legs over the side of a tub! The tile work is beautiful!

sorry so long winded...I wanted to stay here again, except that I couldn't get my cast member discount at the resort this year.

 

[bluezy]

...I loved the theming and thought it felt more "grown up" as compared to the All Star resorts....

I said the same thing when comparing it to Pop Century. We loved our stays at Pop and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, but when you walk through Pop, across the bridge, and into AoA you feel like you're walking from a "fun cartoon" type resort to a "more refined/grown-up but still fun" resort.

 

[LovesTimone]

Tell me more.... Tell me more.....

 

[Son of Gadsden]

My DW and I have hit a similar dilemma recently. We've stayed at Poly, POR, and AoA. We think AoA may actually be tied with Poly for our favorite (we stay Mermaid rooms though), but the long walks and no use of the monorail are the only thing that knock it behind Poly.

First thing is my opinion of AoA: Last trip was me and the wife's first trip totally paid for by us to Disney(We're early 20s). I've stayed Poly my whole life sans one trip to POR with my brother. She has stayed Wilderness her whole life, minus that same trip with my brother. We can't afford that kind of lifestyle right now lol. We weren't sure what to expect out of a value, but we saw AoA was BRAND NEW, and we got totally hyped by all the WDWInfo trailers. I'll be honest, for a couple without kids, I thought it was going to be cheesy and very child oriented. I was totally wrong. In my opinion, unlike all the other values, the decor was no tacky, and nothing was overdone. It was perfectly themed, and one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever stayed at. It really delivered on the Disney magic, whereas I didn't feel that the other values would do. Our room had the lagoon view, and that was gorgeous as well.

Now, for your questions (the ones I can answer. I've never stayed in a suite):

3) Will mousekeeping make up the beds and put then away each am?

Yes. In fact, they were above average as far as cooperative. We got up late several mornings, and I asked housekeeping to come back later, or would track them down and let them know we just left our room. We would get back to the room later, expecting we left too late and there is no way they got our room. I was wrong. They were very thorough in making sure every room was done, apparently.

4) Food court? Just tell me the Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

Landscape of flavors was great. The pasta area was amazing, as we could create our own pasta for $10 that was more than enough to feed us both. Besides that, there was just about every lunch food you can think of. Burgers, chicken sandwiches, plated meals, pastas, pizzas, etc. Breakfast was a very wide variety as well. I'm not a breakfast fan and we still got breakfast every morning. We never had to wait in a long line because of the number or registers, and it was never hard to find a seat (even outside).

5) Buses to and from the parks? how bad in the evenings? We will have a car, but we would like to have a cocktail with dinner at night. I don't mind standing but at the end of the day I would not want my DM to have to stand.

From what I noticed, during high traffic times of leaving the parks, AoA typically sent 2 buses to everyone else's 1. I guessed this is because of the higher number of large families. That pretty much accounted for the volume of guests. I have serious chronic ACL issues and end up in a wheelchair pretty often near the end of the day, and i typically found a seat on the bus, but there were times when I didn't. However, I'm also a 23 year old male, so no one is exactly giving their seat up for me, either.

6) Would you suggest us requesting a higher floor for a bit more quite at night?

I wouldn't think it would have much of an effect. Our room was very quiet, and we were on the highest. I would always recommend either a floor on the top or bottom, as to avoid having 3 more rooms on top or below you with a higher chance of having a loud family in one. However, if you are questioning whether the grounds are loud, I don't think it's a problem. All of the grounds seemed to be very quiet and peaceful while I was there.

7) I know this is a large resort, so a lot of walking, I am looking at Lion King, how far from the bus stop? and is there parking close to Lion King?

There is a good amount of walking at AoA, as I've said. However, we stayed at Mermaid, which is one section behind Lion King...so our walk was longer. When you book, you can also request a room closer to transportation. If you were in the closest room to transportation of Lion King...you'd be pretty much right on top of the buses and Landscape. If you're in the furthest room, it's still a walk, but no more of a walk than a standard view at POR. Parking is the same distance from each section of the resort. The parking runs parallel to the resort. I'd say you shouldn't have a hard time finding a parking spot 100 yards away from your room. As I said, I have chronic ACL damage and can't walk much at all, and though it pushed me a few times, I never had real issues walking much of anywhere at the resort...and LM rooms are way further than Lion King. The paths are very direct.

Overall - what are your thoughts on this resorts, and any comparison to POFQ. Or any other need to know things?

Well, I already said my opinion of AoA. We loved POR as well(haven't been to POFQ, but it's probably pretty similar), as we love the Louisiana atmosphere, and we LOVE Cajun food. However, I don't think the difference between the two resorts is worth the thousand or so dollar difference. DW and I are contemplating going to POR for December instead of AoA IF a room discount comes out. If it's anything like the previous discounts, POR would cost a couple hundred dollars more than AoA. However, you're staying in a suite, so AoA probably costs the same, if not more than POFQ. So the decision is up to you. I value both resorts at about the same level, and personally I dont think AoA fits with the other values. I think you're going to be happy no matter what you choose.

 

[LovesTimone]

Oh my Goodness - I feel myself leaning toward AOA for this trip, The 2 bathrooms and each of us have are own bed to sleep in. Is really tipping the scales for this trip. With all your great info, it sure is tipping me towards AOA.


Please keep the info coming. I have to make my mind up by next week.

 

[LovesTimone]

From what I noticed, during high traffic times of leaving the parks, AoA typically sent 2 buses to everyone else's 1. I guessed this is because of the higher number of large families. That pretty much accounted for the volume of guests. I have serious chronic ACL issues and end up in a wheelchair pretty often near the end of the day, and i typically found a seat on the bus, but there times when I didn't. However, I'm also a 23 year old male, so no one is exactly giving their seat up for me, either. COLOR="Indigo"] Could you tell me if the bus waiting area is covered?[/COLOR]






There is a good amount of walking at AoA, as I've said. However, we stayed at Mermaid, which is one section behind Lion King...so our walk was longer. When you book, you can also request a room closer to transportation. If you were in the closest room to transportation of Lion King...you'd be pretty much right on top of the buses and Landscape. If you're in the furthest room, it's still a walk, but no more of a walk than a standard view at POR. Parking is the same distance from each section of the resort. The parking runs parallel to the resort. I'd say you shouldn't have a hard time finding a parking spot 100 yards away from your room. As I said, I have chronic ACL damage and can't walk much at all, and though it pushed me a few times, I never had real issues walking much of anywhere at the resort...and LM rooms are way further than Lion King. The paths are very direct. [COLOR="indigo[COLOR="indigo"]"]Is everything well marked and easy to navigate?[/COLOR] I ask as my mom got turned around at CBR, on her way to and from the car, and had to call me, to come find her. [/COLOR]


Well, I already said my opinion of AoA. We loved POR as well(haven't been to POFQ, but it's probably pretty similar), as we love the Louisiana atmosphere, and we LOVE Cajun food. However, I don't think the difference between the two resorts is worth the thousand or so dollar difference. DW and I are contemplating going to POR for December instead of AoA IF a room discount comes out. If it's anything like the previous discounts, POR would cost a couple hundred dollars more than AoA. However, you're staying in a suite, so AoA probably costs the same, if not more than POFQ. So the decision is up to you. I value both resorts at about the same level, and personally I dont think AoA fits with the other values. I think you're going to be happy no matter what you choose.[/QUOTE] Thanks so much for your imput

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Could you tell me if the bus waiting area is covered?

Yes, ma'am! I think a couple may actually be in the sun, but there's always a place to take cover.

Is everything well marked and easy to navigate? I ask as my mom got turned around at CBR, on her way to and from the car, and had to call me, to come find her.

It's literally the easiest resort I've ever navigated. Poly and POR were very easy to get lost in, even though I'd been to Poly literally my whole life for vacations. AoA is a straight shot. There are really no turns to and from your room to the buses, and unlike other resorts, it's always easy to tell where you are. Instead of memorizing building names, it's easy to tell if you're in Lion king/ mermaid/ nemo/ cars. Lion King is 6 & 10 on the map, and the buses are at animation hall. I realize the paths look all over the place, but there are no thick trees or landmarks that block views of paths lik at other resorts, so really you can see from one end of the resort to the other, the paths on the map are just sidewalks.

Thanks so much for your imput

No problem, I get plenty of help around this forum as well, just putting back in! haha.

For more info (and hype!) on AoA, go to youtube and search Art of Animation WDWInfo. They have an awesome tour of the resort, and if that doesn't give you all the views you want, search Art of Animation PopSong1. They do awesome tours as well. Each of those users probably also did tours of POFQ.

 

[LovesTimone]

Yes, ma'am! I think a couple may actually be in the sun, but there's always a place to take cover.

It's literally the easiest resort I've ever navigated. Poly and POR were very easy to get lost in, even though I'd been to Poly literally my whole life for vacations. AoA is a straight shot. There are really no turns to and from your room to the buses, and unlike other resorts, it's always easy to tell where you are. Instead of memorizing building names, it's easy to tell if you're in Lion king/ mermaid/ nemo/ cars. Lion King is 6 & 10 on the map, and the buses are at animation hall. I realize the paths look all over the place, but there are no thick trees or landmarks that block views of paths lik at other resorts, so really you can see from one end of the resort to the other, the paths on the map are just sidewalks.


No problem, I get plenty of help around this forum as well, just putting back in! haha.

For more info (and hype!) on AoA, go to youtube and search Art of Animation WDWInfo. They have an awesome tour of the resort, and if that doesn't give you all the views you want, search Art of Animation PopSong1. They do awesome tours as well. Each of those users probably also did tours of POFQ.

These are great. Thanks for all the info, I will be checking those sites out. Yep more planning>>> Love your pic's. Care to share any more of the grounds.

 

[chrystalc77]

I said the same thing when comparing it to Pop Century. We loved our stays at Pop and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, but when you walk through Pop, across the bridge, and into AoA you feel like you're walking from a "fun cartoon" type resort to a "more refined/grown-up but still fun" resort.

We stayed at Pop Nov 2012, and as we were walking around the grounds when we got to the bridge separating us from AOA DH looked at me and said "Why in the hell aren't we staying over there?" He hated Pop, and wished the whole time that we were at AOA......needless to say we are booked Nov 2014 in a Cars suite. Can't wait!!!

 

[Son of Gadsden]

We stayed at Pop Nov 2012, and as we were walking around the grounds when we got to the bridge separating us from AOA DH looked at me and said "Why in the hell aren't we staying over there?" He hated Pop, and wished the whole time that we were at AOA......needless to say we are booked Nov 2014 in a Cars suite. Can't wait!!!

I've heard this story from quite a few people! haha! The wife and I have contemplated staying at Pop because of the room discounts and dining plans they get when the LM rooms at AoA don't get those. Then after I've read so many of these stories I just keep thinking the whole trip im just going to stare across the lagoon and wish we were staying at AoA. If I'm gonna spend that kind of money, I'll be darn if I'm going to regret any of it.