Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Information & Questions

[jcarwash]

Here are my questions:

1. We'll have our own car. Is it better just to avoid waiting for the buses and drive to the parks ourselves? The only time I think it might be more beneficial to ride the bus is going to MK because we wouldn't have to mess with the ferry or the monorail at the TC, but I'm not sure. We've haven't had a car when we've been at WDW previously so I don't normally have to worry about this.
2. If you suggest driving ourselves, how long should I give ourselves to get to each of the parks in the mornings?

When I have a rental car, I use it to drive to everywhere except Magic Kingdom. From AoA to EP, HS, AK should be short drives, like 5 to 10 minutes plus time for parking, but still plan to arrive early in the mornings just like when you take a bus. For example, I like to arrive between 8 and 8:15 for a 9am park opening.

 

[PracticallyPerfectPoppins]

Apologies if this has been asked before! We originally had a Cars suite booked for a short trip this coming Labor Day. I was able to modify our reservation to include the FD promo when it popped up this morning, the only catch was that I had to change my reservation from a Cars Suite to "Family Suite" with the room assigned when we arrive. I know they obviously cannot accommodate requests with that option, but has anyone had any luck expressing your preference (maybe during online check in?) in case they are able to take it into account? We will be completely happy with any room, it's just that we have stayed in the Nemo room before and would love to experience a different theme (especially Cars!). Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[bluezy]

Apologies if this has been asked before! We originally had a Cars suite booked for a short trip this coming Labor Day. I was able to modify our reservation to include the FD promo when it popped up this morning, the only catch was that I had to change my reservation from a Cars Suite to "Family Suite" with the room assigned when we arrive. I know they obviously cannot accommodate requests with that option, but has anyone had any luck expressing your preference (maybe during online check in?) in case they are able to take it into account? We will be completely happy with any room, it's just that we have stayed in the Nemo room before and would love to experience a different theme (especially Cars!). Thanks in advance for any insight!

I don't have any first-hand experience (we've always been able to book a specific section when we've stayed there even with a discount) but I think it's very unlikely that you'll be assigned a Nemo suite since those rooms are more expensive than the Cars & LK suites *and* they are typically sold out. And I would think that even if you were assigned to a Nemo suite (which could happen if a room assignor just happens to have some extra pixie dust that day and thinks s/he is going to make your day by assigning you to a Nemo suite), you should not have any trouble switching to a different section at check-in. You could also try to use the Touring Plans room request fax service. By using that, you can request a specific room in the category you booked and also include comments as to why you are requesting that room (allowing you to say, "I really just want to be somewhere in this building, on this floor, etc, and any room in that general area will be fine.") People seem to have a pretty good success rate when using that service. We used it last summer and got the room right next door to the specific one we requested in the Nemo section which was fine with us -- I said I just wanted to be on the first floor and in a specific hallway.

 

[PracticallyPerfectPoppins]

Thank you! I'll likely try to do that.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

Hi!

If I have a 9:25 am ADR to Ohana, what time should I be at the bus stop?

I would take the bus to MK and then walk to monorail correct?

 

[WEDWDW]

Hi!

If I have a 9:25 am ADR to Ohana, what time should I be at the bus stop?

I would take the bus to MK and then walk to monorail correct?

I would be at the Bus Stop at 8:15 AM to be safe.

Once at MK,you can take the Resort Monorail or the boat there that goes to Grand Floridian and then Polynesian.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

I would be at the Bus Stop at 8:15 AM to be safe.

Once at MK,you can take the Resort Monorail or the boat there that goes to Grand Floridian and then Polynesian.

Thank you!!

 

[MrBigBen]

We're booked for AoA in LM from May 26 to 31st and got this in the mail a few minutes ago. I would like your thoughts...

"We are delighted you have chosen to stay with us at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

Walt Disney once spoke of how his creations would never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world. It is in this spirit that we embarked on some refurbishment projects across the Resort that will be taking place during your visit. Throughout this time, the Resort will be in full operation with all amenities available to you, including our dining, merchandise and recreation locations.

While we work our magic, it is possible that you may see or hear construction, but noise should not be heard from your Guest room between dusk and 9:00am. We apologize for any inconvenience this work may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding. Please know we are making every effort to ensure your comfort and enjoyment."

We wanted to avoid some of the other resorts that had construction. No offer for gift cards mentioned either like they did in a few of the moderates. what are the odds of an upgrade? either to a diff section (form LM to suites...) or to a different resort?

 

[hulagirl87]

We just got that email too. I was just coming on here to post about it. Not sure what they will be doing and hope it doesn't really interfere with anything. We'll find out next week!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

We're booked for AoA in LM from May 26 to 31st and got this in the mail a few minutes ago. I would like your thoughts...

"We are delighted you have chosen to stay with us at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

Walt Disney once spoke of how his creations would never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world. It is in this spirit that we embarked on some refurbishment projects across the Resort that will be taking place during your visit. Throughout this time, the Resort will be in full operation with all amenities available to you, including our dining, merchandise and recreation locations.

While we work our magic, it is possible that you may see or hear construction, but noise should not be heard from your Guest room between dusk and 9:00am. We apologize for any inconvenience this work may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding. Please know we are making every effort to ensure your comfort and enjoyment."

We wanted to avoid some of the other resorts that had construction. No offer for gift cards mentioned either like they did in a few of the moderates. what are the odds of an upgrade? either to a diff section (form LM to suites...) or to a different resort?

I just got the same email... Anyone have any idea what is going on at the end of May here? I checked everywhere and I don't see anything about a refurb??? I just called Disney and there is an hour wait to talk to someone. UGH. Guess I'll have to call back after my meeting this afternoon.

 

[egjensen8532]

Same email for June 8th -18th. Haven't seen anything on it until now.

 

[daf]

We're booked for AoA in LM from May 26 to 31st and got this in the mail a few minutes ago. I would like your thoughts...



We wanted to avoid some of the other resorts that had construction. No offer for gift cards mentioned either like they did in a few of the moderates. what are the odds of an upgrade? either to a diff section (form LM to suites...) or to a different resort?

This is exactly how I feel! We didn't go to the Wilderness Lodge because of the refurbishments. Now They're letting us know about the Art of Animation construction work that's happening in two weeks?? That's way too late for that! and the other value resorts are no longer available for our dates! That's infuriating!

 

[busymommy2pink]

Just got the email as well and came here to ask. Arriving May 3 for one night, but a little put off that there was no info beforehand.

 

[lilmermaid260]

We're booked for AoA in LM from May 26 to 31st and got this in the mail a few minutes ago. I would like your thoughts...

"We are delighted you have chosen to stay with us at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

Walt Disney once spoke of how his creations would never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world. It is in this spirit that we embarked on some refurbishment projects across the Resort that will be taking place during your visit. Throughout this time, the Resort will be in full operation with all amenities available to you, including our dining, merchandise and recreation locations.

While we work our magic, it is possible that you may see or hear construction, but noise should not be heard from your Guest room between dusk and 9:00am. We apologize for any inconvenience this work may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding. Please know we are making every effort to ensure your comfort and enjoyment."

We wanted to avoid some of the other resorts that had construction. No offer for gift cards mentioned either like they did in a few of the moderates. what are the odds of an upgrade? either to a diff section (form LM to suites...) or to a different resort?

Just got the same email and our date are 7/18-7/24. I'm so upset! I would have picked a Moderate resort if I knew the construction was going to be there!

 

[pnutallergymom]

I leave Thursday and got the email as well. I'm disappointed. There wasn't any indication of this anywhere.

 

[bluezy]

I just got the same email... Anyone have any idea what is going on at the end of May here? I checked everywhere and I don't see anything about a refurb??? I just called Disney and there is an hour wait to talk to someone. UGH. Guess I'll have to call back after my meeting this afternoon.

Allears has it listed as running from April 15 through Summer 2017. Hopefully someone who's there now can comment about what they see going on. My guess is that it's just a general resort-wide refreshing. The resort has been open for 5 years, so I'm sure there's plenty of routine maintenance/repairs that need to be done. I sure hope they're replacing the hallway carpeting in the Nemo buildings. The first floor hallway of building 5 was disgusting when we were there last June. The suite was fine -- it was just the high-traffic hallway that runs the length of the building. That floor was so disgusting that some times I would walk outside to avoid having to look at it. There were several huge stains (bigger than a dinner plate) and dozens of smaller ones. If it had been my first visit -- or if the carpeting in our suite was that disgusting -- I would have marched to the front desk and requested to be moved before I even took 2 steps in the building. I had a long conversation with Guest Services about it. Talked about what a terrible first impression that was; how depressing it was to have to look at it every time we walked down the hallway; how it was beyond just needed a good steam cleaning; etc. The GS guy was very concerned and told me then that AoA was on the list for "refreshing" in the next 9 months (that was last June) but he didn't know what that specifically included. He also told me he was putting in an "urgent request" (or whatever he called it) for the General Manager at AoA to physically walk through the building to inspect the carpeting (as well as numerous "dings", scrapes, and areas of missing strips of molding along one wall). I have no idea if anything was actually followed up on, but I'm hoping that whatever this refurbishment is, it includes some TLC for the common areas of the buildings.

I will mention that when we arrived last June, they were painting the outside of building 5 and had walkways and certain entrance doors to the building blocked for the first few days of our stay. We had no warning about that. I don't know if that was the last building to be re-painted or if it was the only building being repainted, but once they were finished with that building, I didn't see them starting any other buildings while we were there. I suspect that they only notify guests when they will be doing work *inside* of the buildings. Since this resort hasn't really had any major "refreshing" since it opened (not counting the change from full comforters to the bed runner), maybe they're just doing some basic room/hallway refreshing.

 

[hulagirl87]

I leave Thursday and got the email as well. I'm disappointed. There wasn't any indication of this anywhere.

Agreed... we leave next Wednesday and just got the email today? I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it's nothing too disrupting. I can't find anything online other than AllEars which mentions that there is refurb that started April 15 going through summer.

 

[akemom]

I also received the construction email. We don't arrive until June 23rd, I will be curious to hear what is going on. There are rumors reporting the construction on the gondola system will be starting, considering that has to be a major project I don't know how it wouldn't be disruptive especially to rooms/buildings near the area. We have a pool/resort day planned and the last thing I want to hear as I relax by the pool is construction noise!

 

[bluezy]

Maybe it has to do with this: http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/03/break...erlook-built-pop-century-tied-gondola-system/

 

[infoseeker72964a]

I just saw the same email. Was wondering how long it will be going on. We won't be there until July 28-Aug. 5.