Disney's Art of Animation Resort (Part II)

[candeeapril]

Joining

 

[minniebeth]

We just got back from a 10 day Disney/Universal trip that included a 1 night stay at AoA with my 2 girls. I wish we had booked more nights there. We were so excited to try AoA and knew it would be awesome, but if we had known how amazing it would be, I would have sucked the price up and booked for at least 1 or 2 more nights!

Let me start off by saying, *photos don't do this resort justice!!* Wowsa! The most amazing Disney immersive experience on property to date, hands down. The color, whimsy, details, details, details from the theme, to the landscaping, room decor, public areas, pools, on and on is incredible. I'm such a sap, I really started crying when we finally entered our room and saw how amazing it was.

The ammenties of this resort are so very nice~ great lobby, arcade (tickets won from games can be redeemed for prizes), very cool food court, amazing pools, playground, amazing water spray park area, pool bar with refillable mug station and the Lion King play area to come seems amazing too!

I'll try to post some photos soon, we have some of food from the food court, room and outdoor areas.

The one sticky situation I have to share with everyone is one that concerns me. I'm wondering if anyone else has knowledge of this, if I'm the first to experience this, if I was just given a snow job, or what...

**Has anyone booked a specific themed family suite and went to check in and not be given the suite theme they booked?**

Here is what happened to us: I booked a Nemo family suite on-line. Mid-summer prices, no discount. Not cheap, but my girls and I were sooo excited to try the resort out. We did a lot of special and cute things for our stay there with Nemo themed everything. We get there early am from a different Disney resort and no one was in the check out line. Great! CMs were so wonderful, friendly and welcoming. Check in, no problem and our CM gives us our map with our room location. She's showing me how to get there and it registers with me that our room is in the Cars section....Wait, what!? I very politely asked her about the room and said that I had booked a Nemo themed suite on-line. She proceeded to tell me that it is only a request and never a guarantee, only a family suite is guaranteed. I was stunned. Not that I wasn't grateful to be there, but I *knew* my girls would be crushed. (They were sitting on the cushions while I was checking in.)
She said she was sorry but that Cars was all that was available. Again, being very polite, I said there is no indication on-line that it is only a request and that I felt it was a little deceiving that the website should explain this. Again she said she was sorry. I thanked her and proceeded to collect my girls...
Ok, my 10yo was sad, but ok with it...my DD14 starting tearing up, which surprised me. I explained to her there was nothing I could do and was sorry. We started walking out through Animation Hall and our CM walked after us saying she was able to get us into a Nemo room after all. Hmmm.....SO very grateful, but all of a sudden one just happend to become available? So now I'm really confused about the real "policy".
Is it true that when you book on-line (or on the phone for that matter), the section you book is just a request? For the future, for paying as much $ as the suites are, I'm not sure I just want to take a chance.
I would love to follow up on this one with others' experiences once all the sections are open and booked.

Anyway, we were when the CM told us to follow the EAC and just keep swimming to our room! So fun!

More to come....
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Beth

 

[jenseib]

I'm pretty sure that cm was full of crap. LOL

One question, is the poolside drink station open all night long?

 

[Mynamewastaken]

Booked 1 night at AOA LM room for April 12th. We are staying off site the rest of the week in a house we rented with family. I know I am going to be so sad to leave and go off property!! We get in at night too so we won't be able to enjoy the resort very much!

 

[minniebeth]

I'm pretty sure that cm was full of crap. LOL

One question, is the poolside drink station open all night long?

Lol...I kind of hope so...*but* I would have eventually been ticked off not to get the room we booked at the premium peak time rate if she hadn't "found" a Nemo room for us.

I don't believe the poolside drink station is open round the clock. I wish I had taken a photo of it. I believe it is only open when the Dropoff Bar is. It has like a rolling garage cover that comes down over it like the bar itself.

 

[Marblies]

Thanks for the fresh report Minniebeth! Looking forward to more. The room thing would really be upsetting for most people. The CM better have been wrong about that. With such distinct themeing, it really DOES make a difference to most people and should definitly not be just a request. To me it would not be the same as getting poolside instead of lakeside at LM. THAT is a request.

 

[noahdove]

Not to sound dumb, but what is EAC? Thanks

 

[Bell30012]

According to a menu I just saw, yes you can get them. They did not have them listed as a kid pic, only on the adult menu with a fruit topping option.

My daughter says this means that I better like something on the kid's menu because she is eating my waffles.

 

[minniebeth]

Thanks for the fresh report Minniebeth! Looking forward to more. The room thing would really be upsetting for most people. The CM better have been wrong about that. With such distinct themeing, it really DOES make a difference to most people and should definitly not be just a request. To me it would not be the same as getting poolside instead of lakeside at LM. THAT is a request.

Agreed...thanks for confirming my feelings about it!

Not to sound dumb, but what is EAC? Thanks

East Austrailian Current~ in the movie, Dory and Marlin take the ocean "superhighway" to find Nemo

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

This is just my thinking on this...

On the website it has each of the three themes as available to pick then it also has family suite (no theme mentioned) as an option. Wouldn't it seem that the family suite is the one to pick if your theme didn't matter but you would choose the specific theme you want by actually clicking on it. So if you just click family, then they can put you anywhere there is room but if you click on Cars, then your room should be in cars??? That is what makes sense to me, but I am just a DISer, not a cast member. What do any of you think on this???

 

[minniebeth]

This is just my thinking on this...

On the website it has each of the three themes as available to pick then it also has family suite (no theme mentioned) as an option. Wouldn't it seem that the family suite is the one to pick if your theme didn't matter but you would choose the specific theme you want by actually clicking on it. So if you just click family, then they can put you anywhere there is room but if you click on Cars, then your room should be in cars??? That is what makes sense to me, but I am just a DISer, not a cast member. What do any of you think on this???

Makes sense, right? That's what most assume is what I'm thinking.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Makes sense, right? That's what most assume is what I'm thinking.

That is what I assumed. My TA put on my reservation that we wanted Finding Nemo, and I really hope that is what we get. 37 days, we shall see...

 

[gigifaye]

I am thinking about booking this resort sometime soon for next Jan/Feb. Is there any free dining packages listed for 2013 yet? This would be a first ever trip for DH and DD so I want it to be perfect!

 

[mom2munchkins]

I booke for the week of Easter through Disney. I got my confirmation in the mail today and it says Art of Animation Lion King suite. Just as I requested. So it would appear to me if you ask you shall receive

 

[parkers218]

This is just my thinking on this...

On the website it has each of the three themes as available to pick then it also has family suite (no theme mentioned) as an option. Wouldn't it seem that the family suite is the one to pick if your theme didn't matter but you would choose the specific theme you want by actually clicking on it. So if you just click family, then they can put you anywhere there is room but if you click on Cars, then your room should be in cars??? That is what makes sense to me, but I am just a DISer, not a cast member. What do any of you think on this???

Yup I think it's this...cause I had Nemo booked for months then when FD came out I went to take advantage of it but there were no Nemo rooms available. So I picked Cars as it was the children's second choice but I have been checking back regularly to try and get the Nemo since we aren't due to arrive until Dec. Well on one of the calls the CM tells me she can adjust my reservation so that it says just "Suite" and then when I arrive I would get whatever was available I just about fell out my chair!! ...I was like uuuuh no thanks! LOL So I'm not sure what her reasoning for that suggestion was..if that somehow increases your chance of getting what you want (though I dont see how) Any how Our family suffers from "The Parker Curse" basically if it can go wrong it will With our luck we'd end up in Lion King which wouldn't be the end of the world but if you are gonna pay a mortgage payment (and then some) for a vacation you should at least get what you want

 

[dontthrowsand]

I booked nemo because the colors in LK are too much for me and I think cars is kind of ugly/motel ish which is what some people want except me. I sure hope I get my nemo suite. I am paying full rack rate for 7 nights instead of discounted 2 rooms somewhere else.

 

[minniebeth]

More thoughts on our AoA stay~
The trip on the EAC to the Nemo buildings is an adventure in itself. So many amazing details to look at on the way! The colors that pop in the Big Blue feature pool area are so vibrant and fun, yet the abundance of the blues makes it relaxing to offset all the color. The icons are fun and huge but somehow blend into the scenery so makes it less in your face than like say Pop Century (we love Pop too).
Take notice of the landscaping, it all looks and makes you feel like it's all underwater plant material! I love that fact that in the official WDW videos (blogs, etc.) it tells you that you are the size of Nemo to scale in this part of the resort to give you a perspective of size compared to Crush, Mr. Ray, etc. We loved that storyline detail and kept it in mind enjoying this area.

Love the inside hallways for the suites~ definitely gave the resort a more deluxe feel! Even the elevators and hallways have undersea details. We even went to other floors to look at the wonderful murals/artwork that are all different.
Which leads to the Nemo suite~ Here again, pictures don't do the suites justice in both decor and size. The suites are so much more spacious than I envisioned in the pictures. I loved the feeling of the "brand newness" of the room, so clean and pristine, modern and up to date. The details of the decor are amazing! My dds laugh at me but I couldn't get over the richness and beauty of the drapes and textures of the fabrics of the furniture. The colors are beatiful and much of the kitch is offset by the the choices of fabrics, woods, tile, etc. in the different rooms/bathrooms. The bathrooms are gorgeous!
Enough of the decor, and onto function of the room: definitely enough space and I would say even storage. A lot of storage space in the bathrooms and master bedroom. The only place I would say lacks in storage is if you were to want to stock up and have food, drinks, etc. is the mini-kitchen area.
The footstools in the living room area are light and easy to move for the pullout couch...bed large and comfy! The chairs for the murphy bed are plastic (as well as those footstools) and can easily stack to open the bed and have them out of the way. The murphy bed (table to bed conversion) has the Marlin and Nemo mural over it that will melt your heart. It has a mini overhead light with a dimmer on it perfect for a little nightlight for kids. I took like 10 photos of my youngest DD sleeping there, it was so sweet (gosh Disney! you make me such a sap!)
Another amazing feature of new construction: we heard no, none, nada noise above us, below us, or in the halls! The a/c was wonderful, quiet and efficient. Our soaking wet pool towels dried overnight laid out on the plastic chairs and you can't say that about lots of the Disney resorts.

I love the details of the decor, loved the carpet for some reason:

Couch is larger than I thought it would be and the light in the corner lights up really cool at night!

Big Blue (Feature Pool) looks big but you don't realize how big until you get in the middle of it!

The biggest surprise of the stay: we loved Big Blue. BUT we loved the Cars quiet pool even more! It was our favorite There was hardly anyone swimming there and was just so way cool! We had a cozy cone "cabana", hardly anyone was there. I have to find those photos to post.

 

[ilovejsparrow]

Thanks for the pictures and review Minniebeth!! I leave in 32 days and I just love seeing pictures to get me even more excited!

 

[buffalogirl]

Wow! Great pics minniebeth! Thanks so much for posting!

 

[Marblies]

My daughter says this means that I better like something on the kid's menu because she is eating my waffles.

As for the pics of AOA. WOW, just WOW!