Disney's Art of Animation Resort Info Thread! Mouseketeers welcome!

[smidgy]

yup! a disney world vacation entails a lot of walking.. both in the parks and at the resorts. anyone planning a trip there should know that going in. if it's a problem you need to book a room close to everything (ie, pay for preferred rooms) or rent a wheel chair or scooter, or bring a stroller.

or, take a lot of breaks. rest, relax. we are esp. fans of midday breaks, and it's just the 2 of us! but even when our son's family were with us, with our 7 year old grandson, we took midday breaks.

ps, at pop. I still think the walk from the furthest 50's bldg to the food court is longer than from the 90's bldg (if you cut across the parking lot..yuck) and, again, for values, the longest ever is at Music, from country faire.

 

[mbvisitor]

We just came back from AoA and we loved it. We stayed in the car suites and they were close to the food court. Little Mermaid almost needs it's own food court. A little far from the main building. I wish the suites were not so expensive. They list them under Value and they sure are not cheap. But I did really love the place. I'm booking it with hopefully the free dining in August. Disney told me they don't book the Little Mermaid with the free dining plan. They get the people in without it.

Tomader, what building were you in? I have the Cars suite booked for August but I haven't put in any room requests. Does it matter? Did you find the Cars section loud from the pool? Thanks!

 

[ManyMinnie]

I always think of Disney World a happy place, but I just read the most negative review of AOA on tripadvisor. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think some people are just have a negative view of life, so nothing will please them. I don't know why these types of people go on vacation, especially to a fun place like Disney when all they are going to do is complain!

I have not read the review you mentioned, but even Disney screws up sometimes. Disney is not perfect and some complaints are valid.

Without reading the review, I have no idea if this person has a valid complaint or not.

We are staying in the LM rooms and I'm dreading it, honestly. Once I'm off the bus, I don't want to trudge another 10-15 mins to get to my room.

 

[dmbcanada]

Anyone know if the bus stops at West Side of Downtown Disney or just the Marketplace? I have a dinner reservation at House of Blues and need to know how far I have to walk.

 

[dmbcanada]

I have not read the review you mentioned, but even Disney screws up sometimes. Disney is not perfect and some complaints are valid.

Without reading the review, I have no idea if this person has a valid complaint or not.

We are staying in the LM rooms and I'm dreading it, honestly. Once I'm off the bus, I don't want to trudge another 10-15 mins to get to my room.

True, Disney is not perfect but some people have unrealistic expectations just because it is Disney. I get annoyed when I read about people who seem to be on a mission to find faults instead of enjoying their vacation.

 

[mickeyfan0805]

Anyone know if the bus stops at West Side of Downtown Disney or just the Marketplace? I have a dinner reservation at House of Blues and need to know if I how far I have to walk.

If I remember correctly (we usually rent a car), the second stop is at Pleasure Island. It will be closer to House of Blues than the marketplace stop, but I don't think the stop is all the way down at the end.

 

[JM1226]

What time does breakfast open up?

 

[Marblies]

We are staying in the LM rooms and I'm dreading it, honestly. Once I'm off the bus, I don't want to trudge another 10-15 mins to get to my room.

It really shouldn't take more than 6-7 mins to get to to your LM room even at a "trudge". If you exit the bus to the left and go through the parking lot, it can shave a bit off too.

It is not nearly as far as people make it out to be. You can do it!

Personally, I prefer to walk, over standing at bus stops at night, so if a POP bus comes first we hop on it and walk across the generation gap bridge. - Yes, we are all adults and yes, we stay until park closing.

Enjoy the ambiance as you walk, we treat AoA like an extension of the parks. Music and decor - make the walk much more pleasant.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have not read the review you mentioned, but even Disney screws up sometimes. Disney is not perfect and some complaints are valid.

Without reading the review, I have no idea if this person has a valid complaint or not.

We are staying in the LM rooms and I'm dreading it, honestly. Once I'm off the bus, I don't want to trudge another 10-15 mins to get to my room.

10-15 mins?? Hardly!!! I was just there in Dec. I will say that the walk 'to' the room was long...at least that was my perception!!! But, that wasn't the case all the rest of the time!! For some reason, I felt like it took forever to get to the room upon arrival. Maybe it was anticipation..don't know. I do know that it wasn't more than 7 mins or so to get from LM rooms to the main bldg.

 

[bookgirl]

I am booked in a Little Mermaid room for August
I just have one question about the fridges, or "beverage coolers" in the rooms. Are they cold enough to keep dairy products such as milk or yogurt? And how big are they, could I fit a carton of milk in them?

I had milk in mine and it was cool enough for that.

 

[coruth4]

We just came back from AoA and we loved it. We stayed in the car suites and they were close to the food court. Little Mermaid almost needs it's own food court. A little far from the main building. I wish the suites were not so expensive. They list them under Value and they sure are not cheap. But I did really love the place. I'm booking it with hopefully the free dining in August. Disney told me they don't book the Little Mermaid with the free dining plan. They get the people in without it.

We are planning a trip in January 2014 & have already booked our rooms. But I am struggling with trying to justify the price. I am finding moderates that are priced far cheaper & historically Disney offers better room discounts and standard free dining for moderates, as opposed to the values that only get counter service free dining and minimal room discounts.
My party is now small enough that we don't have to stay in a suite (although we prefer them) & therefore can save even more by staying in a standard room.
Since we can visit the report to see all the amazing decor - what else does it offer to justify the added expense over say Port Orleans or Caribbean? Just wondering if the money is better spent at another resort and staying for longer?
Thanks for any input!

 

[goofy4tink]

We are planning a trip in January 2014 & have already booked our rooms. But I am struggling with trying to justify the price. I am finding moderates that are priced far cheaper & historically Disney offers better room discounts and standard free dining for moderates, as opposed to the values that only get counter service free dining and minimal room discounts.
My party is now small enough that we don't have to stay in a suite (although we prefer them) & therefore can save even more by staying in a standard room.
Since we can visit the report to see all the amazing decor - what else does it offer to justify the added expense over say Port Orleans or Caribbean? Just wondering if the money is better spent at another resort and staying for longer?
Thanks for any input!

I stayed there for just one night last Dec...just to see it. Loved the room. Love it enough to justify the cost and stay for an extended period of time? Nope. I am going again in May, with my 19 y/o dd. We own DVC but didn't want to use our points for this trip. So, booked 4 nights at Music and the last 2 at AoA-LM.
I am paying about $387 for my Music stay and $321 for AoA-LM..that's without tax or such. But dd really wants to stay in a LM room just once...so we will for the two nights. After that? Nope, no more.

I understand that Disney can get away with no discounts for LM....only three buildings, so it's pretty much always full. It's all about the bottom dollar for them, and since it's a business, that's okay.
But, if I'm paying the amount of money they want for a LM room, I figure I can stay at a much nicer resort (POR for instance) for just a bit more, if that.

 

[coruth4]

I stayed there for just one night last Dec...just to see it. Loved the room. Love it enough to justify the cost and stay for an extended period of time? Nope. I am going again in May, with my 19 y/o dd. We own DVC but didn't want to use our points for this trip. So, booked 4 nights at Music and the last 2 at AoA-LM.
I am paying about $387 for my Music stay and $321 for AoA-LM..that's without tax or such. But dd really wants to stay in a LM room just once...so we will for the two nights. After that? Nope, no more.

I understand that Disney can get away with no discounts for LM....only three buildings, so it's pretty much always full. It's all about the bottom dollar for them, and since it's a business, that's okay.
But, if I'm paying the amount of money they want for a LM room, I figure I can stay at a much nicer resort (POR for instance) for just a bit more, if that.

Thank you - that is helpful. I know I am comparing a suite to a "standard" room - but was shocked to see that even POR is less. From what I saw even the Pirate room at Caribbean Beach was a little under AoA (we care booked in Cars building).
If we are able to visit the resort & see everything, I don't see why I should pay so much more - aside from having a kitchen & extra bathroom. Which I don't need on this trip.
Thank you for your input - it is making me feel better about leaning towards a different resort.

 

[DISvirgin1]

It really shouldn't take more than 6-7 mins to get to to your LM room even at a "trudge". If you exit the bus to the left and go through the parking lot, it can shave a bit off too.

It is not nearly as far as people make it out to be. You can do it!

Personally, I prefer to walk, over standing at bus stops at night, so if a POP bus comes first we hop on it and walk across the generation gap bridge. - Yes, we are all adults and yes, we stay until park closing.

Enjoy the ambiance as you walk, we treat AoA like an extension of the parks. Music and decor - make the walk much more pleasant.

I have to say, I went in with a totally open mind, especially since we are a pretty active family. And it was long. Especially when Florida was in the middle of a cold snap (I think it was in the low 30's our first couple of nights) My kids really loved the LM room, but for future visits we will probably stay at POP and pay for a room closer to the bus stop. I don't mind touring the resort when we don't have other places to be/things to do - but to have to do it daily to get from point A to point B? Not so much. I don't want to be a downer, but I want to be honest.

 

[ManyMinnie]

I have to say, I went in with a totally open mind, especially since we are a pretty active family. And it was long. Especially when Florida was in the middle of a cold snap (I think it was in the low 30's our first couple of nights) My kids really loved the LM room, but for future visits we will probably stay at POP and pay for a room closer to the bus stop. I don't mind touring the resort when we don't have other places to be/things to do - but to have to do it daily to get from point A to point B? Not so much. I don't want to be a downer, but I want to be honest.

I have friends that stayed in the LM rooms and they said the same thing you did- it is a hike.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mickeyfan0805]

We are planning a trip in January 2014 & have already booked our rooms. But I am struggling with trying to justify the price. I am finding moderates that are priced far cheaper & historically Disney offers better room discounts and standard free dining for moderates, as opposed to the values that only get counter service free dining and minimal room discounts.
My party is now small enough that we don't have to stay in a suite (although we prefer them) & therefore can save even more by staying in a standard room.
Since we can visit the report to see all the amazing decor - what else does it offer to justify the added expense over say Port Orleans or Caribbean? Just wondering if the money is better spent at another resort and staying for longer?
Thanks for any input!

I think this depends on your needs and priorities. As a family of 5, our options for stays are somewhat limited (if we were a family of 4, I don't think there's any way we'd spend the money on a AoA suite). This is why we bought DVC in the first place, but we don't have the necessary points for our next trip, so we are doing a 1 time, and 1 time only, visit to AoA in order to get the room size and allow out 4 year-old son to enjoy the Cars suite. I don't expect we'll ever stay at AoA again (we could have rented DVC for little more than we're paying), but we bit the bullet for one time.

As a family that gets to Disney with moderate regularity (every 12-18 months), we decided we would spend more on housing one time in order to give the kids the experience. If you are working with a hard max on what you can spend on housing, however, and don't get to Disney too often, I would be more apt to spend the money on a LONGER visit than on a suite at AoA.

 

[piglet33]

I have to say, I went in with a totally open mind, especially since we are a pretty active family. And it was long. Especially when Florida was in the middle of a cold snap (I think it was in the low 30's our first couple of nights) My kids really loved the LM room, but for future visits we will probably stay at POP and pay for a room closer to the bus stop. I don't mind touring the resort when we don't have other places to be/things to do - but to have to do it daily to get from point A to point B? Not so much. I don't want to be a downer, but I want to be honest.

Thanks for this honest info. Right now, I have a LM room booked for our August trip but am really thinking of switching it to LK. My DD loves LK and really wants to stay there. I just wasn't sure about spending the extra money for it since it will be just the two of us until my DH joins us for our Disney Cruise. After the cruise, we'll be back at AoA but will keep the LM room since it's only one night.

 

[sunnydays28]

You know what I would love? A video. Someone start our at the furthest Cars and walk to the buses , them the furthest LM and to the buses , and just let the tape roll. I have mapquested and google mapped it several times and unless someone is walking tiptoe and stopping at every flower, icon and climber, I just can not see how it us 15 minutes from LM to the bus stop. I did the same for the walk from ASSports football rooms to the food court (a room I have stayed in before) and it is still longer than the LM room.

 

[Rychelle924]

We are planning a trip in January 2014 & have already booked our rooms. But I am struggling with trying to justify the price. I am finding moderates that are priced far cheaper & historically Disney offers better room discounts and standard free dining for moderates, as opposed to the values that only get counter service free dining and minimal room discounts.
My party is now small enough that we don't have to stay in a suite (although we prefer them) & therefore can save even more by staying in a standard room.
Since we can visit the report to see all the amazing decor - what else does it offer to justify the added expense over say Port Orleans or Caribbean? Just wondering if the money is better spent at another resort and staying for longer?
Thanks for any input!

Well, we are booked in a Lion King Suite for December. We don't need a suite (4 of us and our boys are both under 10 so no need for the space) honestly, can I justify the cost. Nope! Lol am I still doing it, yupp! Hahaha I was originally booked at Wilderness Lodge. My kids saw AoA online and freaked out. I'm paying pretty much the same amount for a value suite as a deluxe but I figure my boys are only little for so long so why not give them the child friendly resort they fell in love with online. So we switched lol thier excitement is my only justification and that makes it worth it to my husband and I

 

[ManyMinnie]

You know what I would love? A video. Someone start our at the furthest Cars and walk to the buses , them the furthest LM and to the buses , and just let the tape roll. I have mapquested and google mapped it several times and unless someone is walking tiptoe and stopping at every flower, icon and climber, I just can not see how it us 15 minutes from LM to the bus stop. I did the same for the walk from ASSports football rooms to the food court (a room I have stayed in before) and it is still longer than the LM room.

I have stayed in the football rooms at AS Sports and the walk from our room to the main building was 3 mins.