Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[bluezy]

Can anyone tell me if the LM rooms have a connecting door between them? We have 6 kids so we had to break it into 2 rooms and it would be nice to be able to go between inside. Also what is a quiet pool? Just the 1st in a bunch of questions lol we are going 1st week in july and soo excited

There are some connecting rooms in the Little Mermaid section, but it's a small percentage of the rooms. If that's important to you, definitely make it your one and only request on your reservation -- but it's not guaranteed. Disney *tries* to honor that request when there are more children than adults on the reservation, but again, no guarantee.

If it's *really* important to you to have connecting rooms, I would suggest considering staying at Pop Century. There are far more connecting rooms at that resort and you would increase your chances of getting them. We travel in June and before the suites at AoA opened, we always stayed at Pop and requested connecting rooms. We were lucky and got connecting rooms on the 3 trips we stayed there.

 

[Magic Band Defender]

Ok we are a family of 5 .. stayed AKL , BC/YC and Contemporary as well as the DisneyLand Hotel the last few trips .. I have become a Deluxe snob as many say but here is my thing .. Since we just stayed at the Contemporary I was thinking maybe AOA for our next trip but AOA is $166 more then Boardwalk and Caribbean Beach is $461 cheaper then AOA .. I get that the AOA has a private bedroom , our kids are older 23 , 20 and 13 time of travel and we just did 5 in a room at Contemporary with no issues is the extra money worth it ?

We traveled (DH, me, and 1.5 year old son) with my in-laws in October 2013. The extra full bathroom was great! In addition, the two sleeping areas in the main space aren't right next to each other, which really helps with light sleepers or people on slightly different schedules.

 

[Magic Band Defender]

Hi, we are planning on staying at AoA for 2 nights after our cruise in December before flying home to the UK.
We are hoping that it will be warm enough to swim, but I am a little concerned about the big blue not being chlorine but being salt. How salty is it??!! I really dislike salt water pools and would immediately discount booking a hotel because of it having a salt water pool, but the theming looks wonderful at AoA!

Thanks for any info!

Claire

I actually had no idea it was salt water! And we practically lived in the Cozy Cone pool while we were there.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

I actually had no idea it was salt water! And we practically lived in the Cozy Cone pool while we were there.

Good to know thanks!

Claire

 

[hokieinpa]

We are going to AoA the 3rd week in April with two children ages 6 and 4. We expect to take afternoon breaks so the 4yr old can nap. How much time should be allot for travel to the different parks?

We took breaks each day and it took almost 45 minutes from leaving the park gates to our room - walk to bus stop (AOA was often the furthest stop) waiting for a bus, travel time, etc.

Totally worth it since we had 3 boys under 4 who all needed a rest or the night would have been miserable!

 

[hokieinpa]

We have 8 people total so we wouldn't fit in a suite

Room capacity is 6. We actually had 7 but our youngest was 1.5 and slept in a pack & play. You can add 1 to any room capacity if you have a baby in a pack & play. I think the exact wording is "under 3 and sleeping in a crib". But it was way too tight for us! We're getting 2 suites next trip!

 

[Harters2WDW]

I just read about the drawing classes at AOA. Do they still happen? Tell me more! Any other gems like that? We are staying at AOA in July. TIA!

 

[robinstrip]

Does anyone know if all of the pools have re-opened? We are hoping to go down next week Good Lord willing and everyone stays healthy. I wanted to be sure they've reopened from refurbishment so I know what to pack for my son.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We just returned from a very nice three night stay in a Little Mermaid room. Yes, all three pools were open this week.

It is such a fun resort and we felt like we made an excellent choice. The food court was perfectly fine, we rode the buses only one day (to MK) and service was very prompt going and returning, and the LM room was nicely appointed and very, very quiet. The grounds are adorable and well themed, and we enjoyed taking a walk by the lake and over to Pop late one afternoon.

 

[msr709]

We went to AoA last April and did not see these. Was this only when they first opened? Do they still show movies by the pool in the summer months? Going in July and would be interested in this. Only found mention here in 2013, anyone been in 2014/2015 and seen these. TIA

 

[rcklein5269]

We went to AoA last April and did not see these. Was this only when they first opened? Do they still show movies by the pool in the summer months? Going in July and would be interested in this. Only found mention here in 2013, anyone been in 2014/2015 and seen these. TIA

Was there in August 2014 and yes they were doing movies at night and we got a list of the movies when we checked in

 

[robinstrip]

We just returned from a very nice three night stay in a Little Mermaid room. Yes, all three pools were open this week.

It is such a fun resort and we felt like we made an excellent choice. The food court was perfectly fine, we rode the buses only one day (to MK) and service was very prompt going and returning, and the LM room was nicely appointed and very, very quiet. The grounds are adorable and well themed, and we enjoyed taking a walk by the lake and over to Pop late one afternoon.

Thanks!!

 

[jcarwash]

We went to AoA last April and did not see these. Was this only when they first opened? Do they still show movies by the pool in the summer months? Going in July and would be interested in this. Only found mention here in 2013, anyone been in 2014/2015 and seen these. TIA

Each resort has a monthly recreation calendar listing nighttime movies, pool activities, etc. This link will download the AoA January 2015 file (as I post this).

 

[trishypoo]

does anyone know if an iPad will fit in the in room safe at AoA?thanks!

 

[Disneylover99]

does anyone know if an iPad will fit in the in room safe at AoA?thanks!

Yes it will.

 

[DLBDS]

Skimmed the first post and this info didn't jump out at me.... What are the dinner hours for Landscape of Flavors food court?

 

[cgattis]

Skimmed the first post and this info didn't jump out at me.... What are the dinner hours for Landscape of Flavors food court?

Stations close at different times, but I believe I remember at least some things open until 10.

 

[johnrd]

How practical is it to return to AOA from the parks for naps with the intention of going back after? We have a 4 year old who pretty much needs a 2 hr. nap mid day.

 

[rcklein5269]

How practical is it to return to AOA from the parks for naps with the intention of going back after? We have a 4 year old who pretty much needs a 2 hr. nap mid day.

Our boy was two in August and we came back for naps all the time. It's real close to Hollywood studios and not far from Epcot either. MK is a different story.

 

[bluezy]

How practical is it to return to AOA from the parks for naps with the intention of going back after? We have a 4 year old who pretty much needs a 2 hr. nap mid day.

We don't have napping children anymore but we still like to go back to the room for a swim or a break some days. It's a pretty quick (10 minutes) bus ride from EP, DHS, & AK to AoA. The trip to MK is more like 20-25 minutes. And you have to figure in wait times as well. When we're deciding whether or not to take a break and come back to the park later, we plan on being gone for 4 hours. That usually covers wait time, drive time, and time at the resort for napping (me!!!) and swimming.

If we plan to be at the park until closing, I like to take a break in the afternoon. It's a nice break from the heat and crowds (we go on June). When we're at MK, we'll usually do rope drop and then head back to the resort shortly after lunch. We'll relax for the afternoon and then either eat dinner at the resort before going back to the park, or we'll head to one of the monorail resorts for dinner before returning to the park and then stay until closing time. We do a shorter break on Epcot days since the park closes at 9:00. DHS & AK we usually just stay until we're finished (mid to late afternoon) and then head back the resort for the evening (or possibly return to DHS for Fantasmic).