Art of Animation travel distance

[rickhecker]

We are staying at AOA in February in Little Mermaid Rooms. How far of a walk is it to transportation and dining? What would you recommend for our two choices when making online check-in? Since transportation distance is going to be what it is, I was thinking Lake view and upper floor to capture the best view? How many floors are there in each of the three Little Mermaid buildings? Also, true that AOA buses go straight to the parks? What is the average bus time from the resort to the 4 main parks? Thanks for any help as this is our first trip to Disney with a 9 and 7 year old! Any other tips for this resort would be appreciated!

 

[JennyDrake]

As you can see from my signature, I have many stays at the values. I am a runner and I found the distance from LM to main building to be a HIKE; it made the refillable mug downright laughable.

There are 4 floors in each building. Yes, buses go directly to the parks. I do not know the times to each park, but as AoA is rather centrally located, nothing should be over 15 minutes once the bus leaves the resort--probably less.

At any value resort, you want TOP floor in order to have the quietest room, lake view would certainly be lovely.

If any in your party are light sleepers, I would bring ear plugs or a small fan for white noise.

 

[rickhecker]

Thanks, Jenny. When you say "HIKE" what would walking time be?

 

[KonaKaiTom]

Thanks, Jenny. When you say "HIKE" what would walking time be?

I'm not Jenny but I would say a minimum of 10 minutes at a fast pace!

Tom

 

[Nathansmommy]

Took us 10-15 minutes to get from the bus stop our room, we were there last year, pushing DS stroller was such a pain!

 

[Aurora0427]

We are staying at AOA in February in Little Mermaid Rooms. How far of a walk is it to transportation and dining? What would you recommend for our two choices when making online check-in? Since transportation distance is going to be what it is, I was thinking Lake view and upper floor to capture the best view? How many floors are there in each of the three Little Mermaid buildings? Also, true that AOA buses go straight to the parks? What is the average bus time from the resort to the 4 main parks? Thanks for any help as this is our first trip to Disney with a 9 and 7 year old! Any other tips for this resort would be appreciated!

It's a hike. 10-15 minutes. Building 8 is the furthest building away from dining/main building. Avoid a pool view- loud. Yes, AoA busses go straight to the parks. We ended up getting upgraded for free to a Finding Nemo suite, for which I was grateful. At 7 months pregnant, that walk was daunting, even for just one night. Even non pregnant and back in shape, I can't imagine doing that walk for more than a couple of days. Our daughter loved the theming though.

 

[emilyindisney]

I agree with the 10 minute, fast-paced walk from LM to Animator's Hall. The theme is beautiful and the pool is great (zero entry!) but if you're looking for a short walk I'd recommend All-Star Sports or All-Star Movies!

 

[dozeman]

We walk a minimum of seven miles daily in the parks. Ten minutes won't be a great burden.

 

[summerw]

Did anyone here see this post in the AoA main thread?

If you measure out the farthest room to the center of the bus stops, those distances are:

Little Mermaid - .36 miles (walking through the center of the LM section and then along the parking lot)
Bldg. 9 at Pop - .18 miles (walking along the parking lot)
Bldg. 8 at ASMu - .30 miles (walking through the center of the resort and through Melody Hall.

For what it's worth, the closest LM room would be a distance of .23 miles from the center of the bus stops.

Hope that helps to give you some perspective. My son and his girlfriend stayed in a LM room when we were in a Lion King suite. Their room was right at the end of building 7 closest to the Lion King section. They didn't feel like it was a long walk at all. In fact, some of the Cars Suites are farther than that from the bus stops. If I was staying in a LM room, I'd request "close to transportation" and hope for the best

Did these seem right to you? I was thinking it would be about 7-10 minutes if it's only .36 miles. Some of the 15 estimates are scaring me! We're only there 2 nights at the beginning of our vacation and we're just visiting with family and doing the Wonderland Tea at GF. However, 15 minutes any time we want food seems so much. I guess we will have to keep the snacks stocked so we're only going for bigger meals. Thanks for any input!

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Did anyone here see this post in the AoA main thread?



Did these seem right to you? I was thinking it would be about 7-10 minutes if it's only .36 miles. Some of the 15 estimates are scaring me! We're only there 2 nights at the beginning of our vacation and we're just visiting with family and doing the Wonderland Tea at GF. However, 15 minutes any time we want food seems so much. I guess we will have to keep the snacks stocked so we're only going for bigger meals. Thanks for any input!

We only stayed there for one night. We were in building 9. We found that part of the problem is that we felt like we could never walk anywhere directly. The paths meander a bit and they only meet up with the buildings at certain entrance points. I know some people say it's not a big deal, but all the walking back and forth to the pool and food court really added up.

 

[lustergirl]

One of the reasons that I won't stay at AOA. For the price of a suite I could stay deluxe and the distance of the LM rooms is too far for me.

 

[nkereina]

We walk a minimum of seven miles daily in the parks. Ten minutes won't be a great burden.

Maybe not an issue just to go to and from the bus stop, but it certainly makes it inconvenient for those who frequent the food court. Especially if you have refillable mugs. I know for us, we walk a lot more than 7 miles in a day and the last thing I want to do when I get back to my room is walk another 10 minutes to fill up my mug. Just something to consider.

 

[dozeman]

Like everything at WDW it all comes down to your personal situation. Not a problem for us but I can see how it would be problematic for other guests.