AoA Family Suites - Recent Stay (Need Feedback)

[Jazzerfan]

I love the family suites for the room and double bathroom. We've stayed at ASMu Family Suites a few times, but my husband wants to stay somewhere else. My dream would be a Villa type, but just too expensive.

Need feedback for AoA - reviews, room themes, service, food court, transportation. Anything you can give me would be appreciated. Is it too kiddy? My kids are older now, 12 and 16 so something a step up would be nice.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

We stayed in Nov 2012 (Jersey Week!) in a Nemo suite.

What we LOVED: Seperate bedroom & bathroom for H & I, the theming for the girls, the pools, the bus service was great (and a short walk from our Nemo room).

What we didn't love: the noise from the pool. We were a ground floor room facing the pool. When we came back for naps during the day we could hear EVERYTHING going on at the pool. Luckily the girls were exhausted and fell right asleep anyway! Also, the food court was a disaster. The food was delish but the cooked to order meals took SO SO long. That may have improved by now, not sure. Same with the cast members -- trying to use the dining plan was hard when they had no idea what was what.

Overall, it was a great stay -- perfect for our first trip! We're trying PO Riverside in December, but once our younger daughter requires more than a mini-bed we'll be headed back to AoA as there aren't many options for a family of 5.

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

The Art of Animation's very nice. The suites are spacious enough and they all have a mini fridge, coffee makers, paper plates, paper cups and plastic silverware. They also have 2 bathrooms, especially helpful in the morning when someone, for example, is using one bathroom to shower and someone else needs to brush their teeth. The themes are really cool. I stayed in one of The Lion King buildings and was impressed. Not a far walk to Animation Hall, where the food court and gift shop are located. You feel like you're right in the movie. The food court has lots of choices also. The only downside was the lack of cell phone reception in the room, but that can happen anywhere.

 

[sharadoc]

I know you said you like the 2 bathrooms, but we have found that a cabin at Fort Wilderness is around the same price as a family suite with discounts - usually 20% at mods and 15% at values.

You get the full kitchen, private deck, peace and quiet and really nice atmosphere at the Fort.

 

[I Love Pluto]

The pull-out couch & pull-down table bed are not meant for teenagers or adults. They are extremely uncomfortable. If your child is 50 pounds or less, then I guess they are OK. The furniture is cheaply built. I wouldn't brag about any of it.

The two bathrooms are unbelievably great! They are both a decent size, with good solid fixtures. We enjoyed having two baths. A major plus!

The indoor hallways are extremely noisy. We were not fans of them as time went on. One morning we were woken up by a young girl about 5 yrs old who was put out of her room by her parents. She became disoriented & banged on our door for a time while screaming to get in. It was not a pleasant experience at all. We didn't need our alarm clock that day!

The pools were so crowded that it wasn't fun. The food was OK, but the food court was also noisy & crowded.

We did laundry while we were there, and were pleasantly surprised at the clean machines. Nice!

Parking was plentiful, and felt very safe.

We won't stay in the AoA suites again. They are not for us. We were all adults who really needed our own beds, not pull-outs of any kind. Less noise would be a plus. (We LOVE Pop, so we are happy in a value. AoA makes Pop seem quiet!)

Good luck making your decision. Split stay?

 

[harbin]

We just stayed in a Nemo suite at the end of July. We absolutely loved the resort! Nemo is a very short walk to animation hall, the pool was fantastic, and I didn't find it noisy at all. The food was good in the food court, and I didn't find it all that crowded, but to be honest we didn't use it much. The room itself was perfect, the two bathrooms were a bonus. Me and the kids slept in the bedroom, and my mom slept on the pull out couch which she said was quite comfortable.
If I had a complaint it would be transportation. Getting on a bus for early ADR's with two kids and a double stroller in tow was a pain in the butt. We had to leave an hour ahead of time to make it on time for our ADR's in the morning. The busses were crowded coming back at night as well. If I didn't have stroller to deal with, probably wouldn't have cared as much. We are going back over spring break this year and I would have definitely stayed there again... but wanted to be closer to more parks to avoid the busses as much as possible. Sooo we are booked at Boardwalk. I will miss AOA though, we had a great time!

 

[hockey mom]

We stayed in a cars suite. I loved the themeing.

But thin walls made it noisy, lots of kids,(which was fine by me), and I really didnt find them all that spacious.

With the ages of your kids I would get a resort with a pool slide.