Disney's Art of Animation Resort (Part II)

[kbarrett]

Just found the new thread we switched from 2 LM rooms to a Lion King suite to get "free" dining! Yay love any pics really want to see more LK

 

[minniebeth]

I posted some Landscape of Flavors (Food Court) photos from some of our food on the Restaurant board (Disney Food Pictures Thread) Posts #2817 and #2819. Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2284684&page=188

I would repost them here but I'm so not proficient at posting photos as it is.

 

[dwheatl]

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.

I can't see the pictures. Thanks for the ones on the food porn page, though.

 

[jcarwash]

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

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???

I know there's been several responses on this point already but I wanted to add my similar thoughts.

I really cannot see how choices tied to pricing can equal a request. They have the web site set up specifically to let you choose each of the three suite building sections, or to choose "family suite" if for some reason you don't want to pick a theme. Plus of course the ability to choose the standard Little Mermaid rooms at the lower room rates.

I would wonder if when the Nemo room was mistakenly assigned to a Cars room, the CM fell upon the standard "it's just a request" language to explain the error, which wasn't the right information.

Of course if I ever choose and pay for a standard Little Mermaid room and then they assign me to Cars at the same room rate, then I'll gladly go with the "it's just a request" approach.

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!

There are no US free dining promotions for any 2013 dates yet. A Oct-Dec 2012 FD promotion was released last week.

 

[minniebeth]

I can't see the pictures. Thanks for the ones on the food porn page, though.

I'm sorry I see them on my computer, but I'm really tech challenged and my teens are out of town. Not sure what I'm doing and I've tried to fix the food ones they're so big.
I wanted to post a few more but not sure I should now.

 

[lov2b@disney]

I'm sorry I see them on my computer, but I'm really tech challenged and my teens are out of town. Not sure what I'm doing and I've tried to fix the food ones they're so big.
I wanted to post a few more but not sure I should now.

I've been seeing them and enjoying them! Thanks for posting!

One week and we are checking out the cars suite! Had to add on a day to our reservation to try them out... So excited

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

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.

I see your point. I specifically booked the Cars suite, because that is where Dh wanted, if I get there and they put us somewhere else, I won't hesitate to go all the way up the management chain. DH would take someones head off if he doesn't get the Cars suite I booked.

I am not a Nemo fan and I would not be happy at all staying in that section. I would be fine in a Lion King suite, but not DH. We could stay at a Deluxe (which I would prefer) for less than it's costing to stay at AoA, so it has to be what I booked.

This is copied directly from the website

"Themed Family Suite +$0 †

Based on availability, this themed accommodation will be either a Finding Nemo Family Suite, Cars Family Suite or The Lion King Family Suite, with your specific family suite type assigned during check-in."

 

[dwheatl]

I'm sorry I see them on my computer, but I'm really tech challenged and my teens are out of town. Not sure what I'm doing and I've tried to fix the food ones they're so big.
I wanted to post a few more but not sure I should now.

I could see your food ones, just not the resort pictures. go ahead and keep posting. I love what I can see.

I see your point. I specifically booked the Cars suite, because that is where Dh wanted, if I get there and they put us somewhere else, I won't hesitate to go all the way up the management chain. DH would take someones head off if he doesn't get the Cars suite I booked.

I am not a Nemo fan and I would not be happy at all staying in that section. I would be fine in a Lion King suite, but not DH. We could stay at a Deluxe (which I would prefer) for less than it's costing to stay at AoA, so it has to be what I booked.

This is copied directly from the website

"Themed Family Suite +$0 †

Based on availability, this themed accommodation will be either a Finding Nemo Family Suite, Cars Family Suite or The Lion King Family Suite, with your specific family suite type assigned during check-in."

ITA. We love Nemo, and find Cars annoying, so I know our whole group would be up in arms if they switched us. And why would they have the option of "any old suite" if the specific suites are just a request? I think someone made an oops, maybe a new hire? I felt panicky when I first read the OP, but now I feel pretty sure it's just a mistake.

JUST 2 MORE DAYS!!!

 

[Nixie]

Just doing the happy dance because we are finally official! Booked Dec 11-18th in a LM room I can't wait!!

 

[EvilinaDM101]

Yay!! We are here now and having a blast for my DH's birthday. The wifi is free, good and strong! I made a video of our Cars Suite. For some reason there's no music but it's still shows you the room and my DH putting down the Murphy bed. Check it out! Anyone have any requests for pics? Let me know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdgF5XEX9w

 

[rcraw45425]

Yay!! We are here now and having a blast for my DH's birthday. The wifi is free, good and strong! I made a video of our Cars Suite. For some reason there's no music but it's still shows you the room and my DH putting down the Murphy bed. Check it out! Anyone have any requests for pics? Let me know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdgF5XEX9w

That is sooo neat! I'm assuming that the Murphy bed is a full sized one as your DH had some room. We have a standard LM room booked for the night before we check in at CR. i wish these suites were on the monorail loop or Crescent Lake (EPCOT resort loop)!

 

[dwheatl]

Evilina, great video. Best I've seen yet on how the Murphy bed pulls down, because you can see that it kneels. Have a great time, and if you see us, say hi! We get in Thursday night.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I could see your food ones, just not the resort pictures. go ahead and keep posting. I love what I can see.



ITA. We love Nemo, and find Cars annoying, so I know our whole group would be up in arms if they switched us. And why would they have the option of "any old suite" if the specific suites are just a request? I think someone made an oops, maybe a new hire? I felt panicky when I first read the OP, but now I feel pretty sure it's just a mistake.

JUST 2 MORE DAYS!!!

I could see the pictures above earlier, but not anymore

Well, personally I find Nemo and Cars to be annoying, but it is DH's birthday, so we are staying in the Cars Suite. I would have much preferred WL or somewhere else, even a Mod.

We are at 45 days today.

Yay!! We are here now and having a blast for my DH's birthday. The wifi is free, good and strong! I made a video of our Cars Suite. For some reason there's no music but it's still shows you the room and my DH putting down the Murphy bed. Check it out! Anyone have any requests for pics? Let me know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdgF5XEX9w

I mus check it out when I get home.

That is sooo neat! I'm assuming that the Murphy bed is a full sized one as your DH had some room. We have a standard LM room booked for the night before we check in at CR. i wish these suites were on the monorail loop or Crescent Lake (EPCOT resort loop)!

Hi stranger, haven't seen you around in awhile.

 

[virge]

Yay!! We are here now and having a blast for my DH's birthday. The wifi is free, good and strong! I made a video of our Cars Suite. For some reason there's no music but it's still shows you the room and my DH putting down the Murphy bed. Check it out! Anyone have any requests for pics? Let me know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdgF5XEX9w

Thanks for sharing! We just switched our reservation from the Poly to AoA - Cars to save some money. I think my boys will love the theming. One of my boys is really into the table bed so he enjoyed watching your video

 

[disneydreamfan14]

Yay!! We are here now and having a blast for my DH's birthday. The wifi is free, good and strong! I made a video of our Cars Suite. For some reason there's no music but it's still shows you the room and my DH putting down the Murphy bed. Check it out! Anyone have any requests for pics? Let me know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdgF5XEX9w

Great video! I love the life-size Cars characters out front and all the creative uses for the traffic cones in the decor! IMO the Cars and Nemo suites seem much more interesting than the Lion King suites.

 

[rcraw45425]

Hi stranger, haven't seen you around in awhile.

hey you! Are you still at DH? Jeff's been full time at Jack Hughston for almost a year now, he last worked DH back in January or so. I haven't been on here much, we last visited back in December. It gets harder and harder the older our girls get. our oldest is a senior this year, younger one is a sophomore. We're squeezing a few days in in early October for his birthday. We have a bowl game in Tampa on New Years, I definitely not want to be at WDW then! We spent a few days at US/IOA after Christmas two years back for the Champs Bowl, only saving grace was I booked RPR so we had front of the line.

 

[bdoyledimou]

This is from my Online Disney Reservation statement:

Accommodations
Disney's Art of Animation Resort

Disney's Hollywood Studios Area
1850 Century Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32930


Check In: August 25, 2012
Check Out: September 2, 2012
Length of Stay: 9 days, 8 nights
Disney Resort Hotel Category: Value Resorts

Disney Resort Hotel Room Type: Finding Nemo Family Suite

That does NOT look lie a request to me --

 

[mswhittaker]

Just wanted to say, so excited. Already had a Lion King suite w/regular dining plan booked for my son's first trip (he'll be 18 months old!) but called today and got the free dining (paid for the upgrade to the regular dining plan) and saved $700 off my reservation. WooHoo!

 

[disneydiva16]

Moving over to this thread now

 

[lionking13]

Does anyone know when AOA will have free dining for 2013 or is there any projected dates yet for free dining for AOA? Thanks for any info on this.