Art of Animation--just returned from our trip and we won't go back to AoA

[wesjohnson]

We just returned from a 12 day trip to Disneyworld. We stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for most of our trip--we always stay there and love it! However, we were able to fly down a day early and I booked two LM rooms for our family at AoA for the extra night we needed at the beginning of our trip. We were excited about the chance to stay at a Disney resort and had heard great things about AoA. We were not impressed.

The resort is CROWDED. Seriously, the food court is a zoo and there was no Disney magic there at all. The guests were rude and pushy. The cast members seemed bored and uninterested. They kind of blankly stare at you when you bring your tray up, give you your total, and move on. Sbarro at the mall has more friendly service! The guest behind me got so frustrated with the wait that she picked up her tray and walked right past the cashier, and to her table without paying. Plus, the food is ridiculously overpriced (again I know this is Disney so I expect it...just stating the obvious) and was similar to what you'd get at a mall food court for 4X the price. I know this is a value resort, but it was bad. We also found the pool area to be crowded and mediocre. Everyone raves about the Nemo pool and I wasn't impressed. The underwater speakers were no big deal and the pool did not seem that cool to me. The theming was good, but it was not special.

Before our trip my wife said that the kids may not want to leave AoA after the first night for Bonnet Creek. The exact opposite was true. All four of my kids said that they were glad to leave and we were so much happier at WBC.

 

[tinkerone]

we stayed at the pop last October but walked over to aoa several times to look around. I, like you, thought 'eeehhhhh' its okay, nothing special. I especially did not like how you had to go inside the buildings to get to the rooms. the pool did look crowded but I assumed that was because the other ones weren't ready?? maybe???
I will disagree with the food court. I thought their food was brilliant for food court food and the prices seemed very reasonable to me. not expensive at all.
overall I think we will stay with the pop and take an occasional walk over to aoa for lunch or dinner.
sorry your time there wasn't that good.

 

[angelmom27]

Sorry you didn't like it. I am looking forward to our stay at AoA in sep. It will be me and my 7yr old DD. She is so excited about the LM rooms. I like the fact that you go into a building to your room. Reduces the amount of noise you here. I do realize the LM rooms aren't like that I wish they were. My friends kids loved the Nemo pool and the speakers. Sounds fun.

 

[Disneylvr]

Sorry you didn't like. We were thinking about staying there for just one night before our package starts at POR but now I am thinking we will just go with POP or the All Stars instead.

 

[JennyDrake]

I am by NO means a resort snob as I almost always frequent the values, but like you, I won't be back at AoA anytime soon. The food court is BEDLAM. The noise and chaos cannot be overstated and we were rarely there during peak times. The waits for food and check out are ridiculous.

Funny--your comment about guests not paying--EVERY meal there we saw guests do the same thing!!! I was incredulous.

I am a runner and I don't mind walking at all--but it was a HIKE from LM rooms to the food court. Other than meals, I never refilled my mug.

 

[TheRatPack]

Goodness, we were there in October (staying at the POP) and we walked over to AOA a couple of days to get Gelato and check out the resort. It was never crowded when we went....the food court was EMPTY when we were there. We must have just lucked out. We were thinking of staying there in December, as a surprise trip for the kids but now I'm scared LOL

 

[AliceIn]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the AoA. We had a different experience, though we were staying in the Cars section, so our love for the accommodations made a big impression on us. We went in August, before the LM section opened. The resort was pretty busy, as was the food court. Lots of folks were coming over to check it out. We had one day with long lines, but not too terrible. We didn't have any issues with rude guests at all.

You can have good and bad experience at all of the resorts. Sometimes it's just the timing that makes it all go south.

We'd stay at the AoA again.

 

[butterfly71076]

We were there in November, just rode over for breakfast one morning and to check it out. I thought the themeing was amazing! We walked around for a couple hours just looking at everything and taking a ton of pictures! But, I will agree, the food court, Mayhem!!! So loud, very busy, rude people, one woman actually knocked my DS out of her way because she wanted to get to the soda machine, he was standing next to me waiting. We had quite a few choice words, not to be repeated here!! I had thought about a few nights here, in a Cars suite for DS, but, no thanks. We will stick in our SSR! Glad to hear some had great experiences!!!

 

[kimber11]

Funny how everyones opinions can be so different. We stayed there from Jan 26th to Feb 2nd 2013 and we absolutely loved it. The walk wasn't that bad, but we had a stroller for our 4 year old twins. The pools were awesome and there was hardly anyone there when we were there. The cafeteria was busy most of the time but not all that bad. Pretty much exactly what I would have expected. We were on the dining plan and quite enjoyed the meals that we ate at the resort. Don't let everyones negative comments keep you from checking out this resort. It was an attraction in itself for our family and I wish we would have had more time to spend there. They had activities everyday and a movie every night at 7pm. The themes in all the sections were awesome. The buses were a bit of a wait sometimes but that is because everyone is staying at this resort compared to other ones. We found the staff was very friendly and had wonderful interactions with most of them. We would definitely stay here again.

 

[polyfor4]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the AoA. We had a different experience, though we were staying in the Cars section, so our love for the accommodations made a big impression on us. We went in August, before the LM section opened. The resort was pretty busy, as was the food court. Lots of folks were coming over to check it out. We had one day with long lines, but not too terrible. We didn't have any issues with rude guests at all.

You can have good and bad experience at all of the resorts. Sometimes it's just the timing that makes it all go south.

We'd stay at the AoA again.

We stayed in a cars suite in October and loved it! The space, immersive theming, both the big blue pool and cozy cone pool were fantastic, diverse food court options- everything felt very Disney. We only stayed two nights but will stay our drive down night in May and then switch to the Poly. I appreciate an honest review positive or negative but for this who are staying AoA in the future- don't fret, we loved it!

 

[AndiSlamberg]

Last November we stayed at POP and walked over to have dinner at AOA one night, and it wasn't crowded at all. We did a walking tour through the lobby and the outside areas. It seems like a super cute resort, very similar to pop so we're going for10 days till November and are staying 2 nights at AOA. Hopefully the crowds were just because the time of year.
Sucks you didn't enjoy your time there.