Disney's Art of Animation Resort hotel

[DisneyDee27]

I'm excited to be there pre and post cruise
Yay us
Dee

 

[MistressMerryweather]

I'm not seeing the fence. Can someone point me to a pic of the fenced pool?

ETA: Nevermind, I see it now. It blends right in. Based on the color and design, it doesn't look like its going anywhere.
That's a shame, because it gives that area a whole different feel. Plus, it's such a pain at the beach club to walk all the way around the gate to find an opening. Ugh! But I guess it would be impossible to keep POP guests from crossing the bridge to swim and play in the Nemo pop-up water.

ETA: Eh, maybe it's not so bad. Looking at it closer, it's kind of cool and there are lots of openings. It sure is a pretty pool! I can't wait. Those new pictures are killing me!

I am a smidge more nervous about the LM distance. Boy, the new pics posted really make it look a ways away. I think there will be so many things to look at and walk through, that it won't really matter. Well...maybe at 1am, pushing a stroller with my collapsed big kids in it, while dh has the 3yo on his back and I have the baby in a carrier on my front. ROTFL Maybe then it will be noticeable, but just a smidge. LOL

 

[Marblies]

As anxious as we all are to get a first hand look at the new resort, I am sure that there will be an increase in curious visitors to check it out. (I know I would, if I hadn't been able to switch ressies). I always wondered if the people staying at GF or the Poly were upset by all the day visitors on the beach or checking out decorations. (yes, I know it is allowed and even encouraged, ie. free wassail) Granted, pool hopping is never cool, but checking out the new, much anticipated AoA without checking in is going to happen.

As for the distance to LM - yikes. That is a far cry from being at POP lakeside of the Hippy Dippy pool. This will be a long trek for families with little ones. Coming home always seems at least twice as far as going to the parks. My heart goes out to you. Could be a deciding factor on booking a second time. Which, by the way, DD22 is already planning. Having showed her DH2B AoA pics, he wants to stay in either LK or Cars for part of their disneymoon. Cracks me up as I thought they would want a deluxe. They're so cute.

 

[janthony76]

Again, that is just speculation, but several people have reported that they will 100% not be deemed "sister resorts".

I have heard that as well. It really doesn't matter to most people either way but I just think it would be silly for them to share buses (during busy times), share a parking lot, and be connected by a bridge and not be considered sister resorts. I was merely stating that there are instances where you can pool hop so no one becomes confused.

The All-stars all have similar pools as far as amenities go, but the new AoA pool is a zero entry pool and the majority of the rooms at AoA are very expensive (for a value resort)

I don't actually think that's true. I priced it out and for 5 nights it is only 25.72 more. Really no different then the amount I pay to stay at POP vs. other Values.

 

[StacyMarie]

I have heard that as well. It really doesn't matter to most people either way but I just think it would be silly for them to share buses (during busy times), share a parking lot, and be connected by a bridge and not be considered sister resorts. I was merely stating that there are instances where you can pool hop so no one becomes confused.

I don't actually think that's true. I priced it out and for 5 nights it is only 25.72 more. Really no different then the amount I pay to stay at POP vs. other Values.

One would have to think also that if they are going to make sure nobody crosses the bridge from Pop to swim in AOA's pool that they are going to have to implement some sort of system so that the people from AOA don't cross the bridge into Pop's pool. Pop's main pool can get pretty crowded on its own, let alone having people from AOA come across the bridge to use it. The argument works both ways for both resorts. I'm sure Pop guests don't want AOA guests in their pools and AOA guests don't want Pop guests in their pools, IF they don't end up being sister resorts. Just my opinion on that subject, lol!

 

[smitch425]

I don't actually think that's true. I priced it out and for 5 nights it is only 25.72 more. Really no different then the amount I pay to stay at POP vs. other Values.

That is for the LM rooms which make up a very small part of the resort. The bulk of the resort is the suites that cost about $250 per night.

 

[tink15823]

Just changed our reservations from Beach Club to AoA. We are very excited! We are staying in the nemo suites. I think my kids are going to love the themeing.We will be there Sept 22-30

I just read your post . We made the switch from BC to AOA Sept 28-Oct 7th . Our kids said the themeing was what makes our trip.

 

[smidgy]

That is for the LM rooms which make up a very small part of the resort. The bulk of the resort is the suites that cost about $250 per night.

I think for families that need 2 rooms at pop, the suite isn't that much more .

I kinda doubt pool hopping would be allowed but I hope the bridge will open.. we will be at pop in august, and intend to stay at aoa sometime next year maybe. we would like towalk overto check it out and also use the new food court (which is always allowed. anyone can use any reosrts food courts and restaurants.)

 

[smidgy]

I think they should be sister resorts, but ITA that if they are not, it should go both ways. at first , the nemo pool will be the only one open at AOA, and some might want to walk over to the bowling pin pool for a little quiet. that should not be allowed either, then.
which is why I am afraid they just won't open the bridge at all, at least for a while.

 

[MuchLovedMama]

Just an FYI when I made our reservation at AoA for the LM section (and I may have been the very first to do it) I was told by the CM without even asking that the bridge was already open. She said they were all excited about that. Don't know why it would be open when the resort isn't open yet but regardless of whether the bridge is open or not people can still walk around the pond/lake.

 

[jenseib]

One would have to think also that if they are going to make sure nobody crosses the bridge from Pop to swim in AOA's pool that they are going to have to implement some sort of system so that the people from AOA don't cross the bridge into Pop's pool. Pop's main pool can get pretty crowded on its own, let alone having people from AOA come across the bridge to use it. The argument works both ways for both resorts. I'm sure Pop guests don't want AOA guests in their pools and AOA guests don't want Pop guests in their pools, IF they don't end up being sister resorts. Just my opinion on that subject, lol!

I don't think there will be any monitoring on the bridge. If they aren't sister resorts, they will put something in (like the fenced area others have talked about) to prevent others from swimming there.

 

[tink15823]

You won't find Divvies cookies at WDW any longer. In February, we felt lucky that they still had some in stock at Biergarten but nowhere else had them. All of the Divvies other products as well as all of the other packaged individual serving allergy specialty foods can be purchased with snack credits. Don't forget to hop over to DTD for some Babycakes treats which also can be purchased using snack credits.

I think I responded to you on the disABILITIES! board some time ago about the peanut oil at Pop. IMO it doesn't really matter. Food for people with allergies are prepared in an area of the kitchen dedicated to allergy prep. Nothing with any trace of peanuts will ever be found in this allergy area of the kitchen. If you want something from the ethnic area then the chef will prepare a special serving for you in that allergy area. One of my favourite meals from Pop (and frankly from most of my trips) was Chef Dan's version of Lo Mein with gluten free pasta and gluten free soy sauce (it could be made with regular but I'm gluten free) and a wonderful selection of fresh vegetables and even fresh ginger. The precautions taken really are stellar. With our laundry lists of allergies among the 3 of us with allergies, none of us have ever had a single issue from eating at Pop in any of our stays there. I really do expect the same at AoA. I love large food courts.

You won't have to pay OOP for safe foods. What they've done for us in the past is basically just ring our food up as whatever item on the menu is the closest match to what we get and we're charged the same dining credit as anybody else would be (or that price when paying OOP; we've done both but you care about dining credits). If you order the allergy chicken tenders with fries then you'll pay the same dining credit as anybody else would. For foods where there is normally a slight upcharge for the allergy safe version like the frozen allergy pizzas, you don't pay that upcharge when using dining credits (this was the biggest reason I was reluctant to try OOP; I liked the safety of not having to worry about that). When DD14 would want toast for breakfast though, I would pay OOP for that because it's just so cheap that I wasn't about to waste a snack credit on it. Even though this particular bread costs me over $7 at home (Chef Dan is the one who found the bread for us and it's amazing; it's gluten, milk, egg, peanut and yeast free), I was still charged the same I think it was around $1 as anybody else for 2 pieces of toast (he toasted it for us since we can't use the regular toaster due to cross contamination). If it's under $2 for the snack item, I don't use a credit but that's got nothing to do with allergies. Now that there's only 1 snack credit with QSDP I have no trouble using them up. I plan to head to DTD to spend a bunch of snack credits at Babycakes the day we check into AoA. Those giant cupcakes are each only a single snack credit. Of course I'm used to gluten free baked goods and I've ordered 2 cakes from them so I know my kids and I like their stuff. If I was you, I'd get one to try while I was there before choosing a whole bunch to bring back to my room.

Do be prepared for the longer waits. Because I'm ordering for my kids I do bring them with me to order so they can talk to the chefs (though at breakfast I'll leave them in the room since they choose between only a couple things anyway and decide before I go) but then we just hang out in the gift shop waiting for our buzzer to go off. At around 20 minutes after being given the buzzer I'll often head back in to the food court to be sure but we have had waits of as much as half an hour depending on the food being cooked. If the chef has to put on a fresh pot of water to boil or is going to deep fry a chicken breast (I got a chef to make me some gluten and milk free fried chicken) then it's going to take longer just because it takes that long for the food to cook. They really can't do much prep for the allergy meals while regular meals they have ready to go when you get up to the counter.

Do you know the name of the yeast free bread? We have a laundry list of allergies between DS and DD and a good yeast free bread is one of the hardest things to find TNA . at our house we have eggs, tree nuts, peanuts shrimp , corn, yeast ,onions ,tomatoes ,mushrooms, ginger, peaches, apples .

 

[smitch425]

I think for families that need 2 rooms at pop, the suite isn't that much more .

Out of curiosity, I compared two rooms at POP for the night of 9/21. Two rooms at POP would be $107 each (excluding taxes) and one suite at AoA would be $279 (excluding taxes) for the same night. So $214+tax to stay at POP and $279+tax for an AoA suite. For an average week long vacation, it is over $400 difference.

My guess is that the bridge will stay open so that guests from both resorts can enjoy both food courts, but the pools will (and should) be off limits for hopping.

 

[glitzybabes]

Just an FYI when I made our reservation at AoA for the LM section (and I may have been the very first to do it) I was told by the CM without even asking that the bridge was already open. She said they were all excited about that. Don't know why it would be open when the resort isn't open yet but regardless of whether the bridge is open or not people can still walk around the pond/lake.

No way the bridge is open now. We would have way better pictures from the ground. It is open to the point of the wall that has been there for a while, lol.

I see no reason why they would not open the bridge. You could always go to to POP/AOA via the jogging trail or parking lot. So I'm very sure that the bridge will open up on May 31st.

The jogging trail for AOA saids it will be 1.38 miles on the disney site under Recreations. I path it out on google earth and it is the path all around the lake.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/

 

[glitzybabes]

I see that it saids Movie Under the Stars under Recreation. So they must be having movies by the pool like at All Stars Music. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/

 

[glitzybabes]

I would edit my post but it won't let me....but

If you go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/
and click on Rooms and click the arrow that show pictures of all the rooms, the last two show the LM room and bathroom. I saw these last week and was not sure people on here have.

The room looks like it needs some boarder or something. Maybe they had to special order it and it was not ready yet at the time they did the mock up.

 

[cinderella73]

I would edit my post but it won't let me....but

If you go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/
and click on Rooms and click the arrow that show pictures of all the rooms, the last two show the LM room and bathroom. I saw these last week and was not sure people on here have.

The room looks like it needs some boarder or something. Maybe they had to special order it and it was not ready yet at the time they did the mock up.

I did notice that the LM did change a bit already from when it was first shown at D23. In particular the location of Flounder and Sebastion.

These were the first images shown of the concept back at D23 .The have since moved them way up on the wall. Image toward the bottom
http://damouse.com/2011/05/27/disneysanimationresortconstruction/


Here the walls are shown white ( scroll down a bit ) , of course now they are blue , which I like much better.
http://themeparkmom.com/disneys-art-animation-resort-details/


Also not sure everyone has seen what the inside of the shower/bath area will look like . Its the cave from the movie where Ariel keeps her treasures hidden from her dad. Very cute !

http://moresay.com/2012/01/15/from-the-drawing-board-disney-art-of-animation-resort/

As far as the dresser goes that has got to change if they plan to put refridgerators in the room , the location of the octopus coat hanger also. If you look on the official site it shows a empty space below where the octopus is, however its also the location of the connecting room door. And that leaves no space at all .

* Click this link for a really great view of the room from the opposite side ( of the one shown on the official Disney site that is) .
http://disneyhotelsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AOA-Little-Mermaid-Bedroom.jpg

Great shot of shower curtain
http://disneyhotelsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AOA-Little-Mermaid-Bathroom.jpg

Some interesting non official info regarding the Cars section . http://themeparkcanuck.com/2012/04/16/wand-prototypes-art-of-animation-details-more/

I also had one pic here where it appeared that the picture by the bed with prince Eric was lit up. Could just have been the lighting but it certainly looked it. If I can find it again I will post the link.

 

[ColorsOfTheWind]

Ah! Thank you so much for the pictures! Now I am struggling between the themes

 

[candy0730]

I think for families that need 2 rooms at pop, the suite isn't that much more .

Out of curiosity, I compared two rooms at POP for the night of 9/21. Two rooms at POP would be $107 each (excluding taxes) and one suite at AoA would be $279 (excluding taxes) for the same night. So $214+tax to stay at POP and $279+tax for an AoA suite. For an average week long vacation, it is over $400 difference.

My guess is that the bridge will stay open so that guests from both resorts can enjoy both food courts, but the pools will (and should) be off limits for hopping.

We are going 9/15-9/22/12. It will be me, DH, DS (6yrs old), DM and DMIL. Per the WDW site LM rooms are $97 weekday and $112 weekend in September which is the same as POP. The suites are $249/$279. So it's $55 more per night to stay in 1 suite vs. 2 LM rooms. So like Smitch425 said that is over $400 for a week!
A suite sleeps 6 but 2 rooms sleep 8.
I cannot understand why the suite is so much more.
I know it comes with a microwave and a dining area but is that really worth an additional $55 a night?

I am just really disappointed that the suites are so much more because they look very cool and I really want to stay in a suite but am having a hard time justifying the additional cost.

Either way I will just be happy to be in WDW.

 

[Eoywin]

We are just a family of 3, and we are seriously considering one of the AoA suites for our October 2013 trip. Our daughter goes to bed fairly early and the two rooms would be shiny because my husband and I wouldn't have go to bed when she does.

We were going to stay at AKL and it would be a little cheaper to stay at an AoA suite.