DisneyDee27
Disney fanatic since '75
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2008
- Messages
- 544
I'm excited to be there pre and post cruise 
Yay us
Dee

Yay us
Dee

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.Again, that is just speculation, but several people have reported that they will 100% not be deemed "sister resorts".
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.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 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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
I think for families that need 2 rooms at pop, the suite isn't that much more .
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.
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 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.