Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[Pop Goes the Weasel]

Questions for those who have ordered through Amazon Pantry or Garden Grocer and delivered to AoA:

1. How far ahead did you order and was the package there when you checked in?
2. Were the items in your room or were they in a holding area at the front desk?

After a couple years, I can't remember if we used Garden Grocer or another local service. But I'll share our experience anyway in case it helps.

We placed our food order maybe a week and a half before our arrival date. Our food order for a family of 7 included bread, non perishables, refrigerated foods like milk, and a few large cases of bottled water.

We checked in and then went for a walk to explore the resort. When we returned, our groceries were delivered and put away. Cold items were in the fridge, water was stacked neatly out of the way in the corner. Our groceries beat our luggage to the room.

 

[Pop Goes the Weasel]

Questions for those who have ordered through Amazon Pantry or Garden Grocer and delivered to AoA:

1. How far ahead did you order and was the package there when you checked in?
2. Were the items in your room or were they in a holding area at the front desk?

I consulted my wife's superior memory. We used WeGoShop http://www.wegoshop.com/ We were very happy with the result.

 

[bluezy]

I can't help with your question, because I've only stayed in the Little Mermaid Standard room, but I did take a walk around the whole resort and I loved the cars section. It is so much fun and it's the only pool on property with FREE areas to protect you from the sun. The cones are fun. I hope you get what you want, but you may enjoy the Cars section as well.

I agree! While we have always stayed in a Lion King suite so we can be close to the food court and bus stops, I think the exterior theming of the Cars section is the best at AoA. I especially love walking through that area at night. I'm thinking that on our next trip, I might try a Cars suite just for the change of scenery.

 

[dkrauss]

Looking for thoughts on the Nemo suites........... Those who've stayed..........what did you like? What was less than great?

Thanks in advance for your help here.

Doug

 

[ExcessiveIdling]

To all that have stayed in the little mermaid section:
1. Is 'the walk' really as bad as I hear everyone say? Are we talking having to walk a mile to get to rooms/bus etc?
2. Is Pop Century worth the extra few bucks due to its less of a walk and or general overal facilities?
3. Trying to save money so I know a family suite would probably be best...but...for my wife, me and daughter and grand pa....is a two bed room big enough? Daughter will only be 5.
4. Since we would be going November 10th through the 16th....how bad will the crowds be a. in little mermaid section/aoa in general as opposed to pop century b. in the parks in general?
5. Overall...for my wife and daughter that love all things disney and the animation side of it vs me...who loves overall cost benefits/numbers guy.....which is better pop or aoa? (toss in all stars movies as well)

Thanks for any constructive responses

 

[nardoneje]

1. No, but it's going to seem like it after you've spent all day in a park.
2. Theming is not comparable to AoA. General overall facilities are almost identical in quality. The only difference really is no suites and the ability to purchase preferred rooms at Pop.
3. The suites would be great for that amount of people. Your wife and you could take the bedroom and daughter and grandpa have their own beds a decent ways away from eachother.
4. - can't answer
5. Though, I haven't stayed at Pop I have visited and I would say in the Value category, nothing will compare to AoA.

 

[bluezy]

My responses are in BLUE.

To all that have stayed in the little mermaid section:
1. Is 'the walk' really as bad as I hear everyone say? Are we talking having to walk a mile to get to rooms/bus etc?
Haven't actually stayed in the LM rooms but we've stayed in a LK suite on 2 trips. The longest walk from the LM section to the bus stops/food court would be about 10 minutes on average. Many rooms will be a shorter walk than that. While it's not a terribly long walk in the scheme of how much you walk overall at Disney, I think at the end of the night it will *feel* long. That being said, those rooms still sell out all the time, so there are hundreds of people who make that walk every day. During both of our AoA stays, we occasionally took the bus from a park back to Pop and walked from there to our LK suite -- that distance was about the same as walking to a LM room from the bus stops at AoA. It really wasn't that bad; however....

2. Is Pop Century worth the extra few bucks due to its less of a walk and or general overal facilities?
...every time we take a bus back to Pop and walk back to our LK suite at AoA, I comment that if I wasn't staying in a suite at AoA, I would probably stay at Pop instead but request a room close to the bridge so that I could go over to AoA to eat. But if I had a child that loved the Little Mermaid, I wouldn't mind staying in those rooms just for the theming.

3. Trying to save money so I know a family suite would probably be best...but...for my wife, me and daughter and grand pa....is a two bed room big enough? Daughter will only be 5.
Is your daughter planning to share a bed with Grandpa or is she sleeping on an air mattress on the floor? Keep in mind that the LM rooms have 2 double beds. There is room to use an air mattress, but it will make the room a little more crowded. I think you would all be more comfortable in a suite. It would give you more storage space; more personal space, more sleeping space; 2 TVs, 2 bathrooms; and a kitchenette if you like to have breakfast or snacks in the room. I do understand budgeting concerns though. The suites at All Star Music are a little cheaper than the AoA suites or you could do 2 rooms at Pop for less than a suite. You could request connecting rooms though they are not guaranteed.

4. Since we would be going November 10th through the 16th....how bad will the crowds be a. in little mermaid section/aoa in general as opposed to pop century b. in the parks in general?
We always go in June, so I can't really comment on the crowds in November other than to say that they will be lower than when we go in June. I haven't really noticed a crowd level difference between AoA and Pop when we've stayed there. They felt the same.

5. Overall...for my wife and daughter that love all things disney and the animation side of it vs me...who loves overall cost benefits/numbers guy.....which is better pop or aoa? (toss in all stars movies as well)
Again, I understand the budgeting concerns...we're the same way. We have 5 kids -- only 3 of them still live at home -- so we've always had to book 2 rooms or now get a suite at AoA. We love AoA and prefer it to the other Value resorts -- though we're not opposed to staying somewhere else, but AoA will always be our top choice. It's never "cheap". On our trip 3 weeks ago, since there were only 5 of us traveling, we considered staying in a Deluxe resort that could accommodate the 5 of us in one room...it would have been cheaper than the suite. After a few discussions, we decided we just weren't ready to give up the extra space and 2nd bathroom that the suites provide. Our teens tend to stay up later than we do so it's really nice to not all be in one room when the "old folks" want to sleep and the kids want to stay up watching TV. Mornings were much easier because we had 2 bathrooms -- no lines, no waiting. We were once again very happy that we chose a suite even though we could have gotten a standard room. It allowed us to be more relaxed in the room (we take afternoon breaks in the room most days) and overall kept the entire vacation relaxed. We don't want to sacrifice the quality of our overall vacation just to save some money on the room. We feel it's important to choose the type of room that works best for the family rather than the cheapest room we can all fit in. I know that some families are perfectly happy being in a standard room with 4 or 5 people but not every family's dynamics make that a good decision. You really need to think about how much "togetherness" you can all tolerate with each other. Will Grandpa and your daughter have similar sleep schedules to your and your wife? Will you all be comfortable sharing double beds? Will one bathroom work for the 4 of you? Does a single room provide all of the privacy that you want (getting dressed, private conversations, etc.) Is one person a light sleeper while someone else is a heavy snorer? Just a few questions to think about when making your decision.

Good luck with your decision and I hope you have a great trip!

Thanks for any constructive responses

 

[marinejjh]

Is there a reason that disney excludes this resort from most of there promotions.

 

[wmjeffer]

Is there a reason that disney excludes this resort from most of there promotions.

Maybe because it is the newest resort? That would be my guess. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will chime in

 

[nardoneje]

They usually only exclude the LM rooms and it's because they have no trouble filling those room because they are new.

 

[bluezy]

Is there a reason that disney excludes this resort from most of there promotions.

They usually only exclude the LM rooms and it's because they have no trouble filling those room because they are new.

Yes, it's usually the LM rooms as well as the Nemo suites that are excluded from the promotions because those areas are usually sold out (Actually, there are apparently a very small number of Nemo rooms that get discounted but they're usually scooped up within seconds of the discount being released. My TA said there are usually less than 10 <if any> Nemo rooms offered at a promotional rate.) We've gotten a general public promotional rate as well as a PIN code (also called a Unique Offer Code) for our Lion King suites on both of our stays at AoA (they could have been used at a Cars Suite as well). I did read that the Nemo Suites are now slightly more expensive than Cars & LK so *maybe* they'll start having more of those rooms available for promotion rates if they don't sell out anymore.

 

[marinejjh]

Are the LM rooms the regular room or suites, we were just looking for a regular room. We were comparing the prices to a moderate resort.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Are the LM rooms the regular room or suites, we were just looking for a regular room. We were comparing the prices to a moderate resort.

The Little Mermaid rooms are the only regular rooms in the resort. All other rooms are suites.

from raw-8603 by disneyfreak0306, on Flickr

 

[marinejjh]

Thanks

 

[Emsody22]

I got a Nemo suite for free dining... Guess I should feel really lucky!

 

[pens4821]

Looking for thoughts on the Nemo suites........... Those who've stayed..........what did you like? What was less than great?

Thanks in advance for your help here.

Doug

We really enjoyed our nemo suite. We had 4 adults and a 5 year old. The theming of the room was great. It was nice having a couple sitting areas (couch and table with chairs), as well as 2 bathrooms. We were on the fourth floor lake view (great view too of pop) a couple rooms from the elevator and had very few noise issues. A couple times being close to the elevators we could hear people in the hall at night (sleeping on the Murphy bed right by the door), but nothing that we felt was too much.

The bed in the bedroom was comfortable and the Murphy bed was actually a little more comfortable IMO. We loved the main pool. Great theming, plenty of space (although it was January and cold out but warm water), and the underwater music was cool. The location to the buses was maybe a 5 minute stroll through the cafeteria (which was also great) from our room back towards the lake. We had no bus issues. They came in a timely fasion.

The only things we really didn't like was the comfort of the pull out sofa. It was hard and just quite uncomfortable. I slept on it mostly and while I slept, I did toss and turn. While I mentioned it was nice having seating, none of it was that comfortable, but we weren't in the room much anyway. Also would be nice if they had a little bigger fridge considering it's a suite that can hold 6 people.

Like I said, we loved it. For four big adults and a child it was great. The theme was spot on and not over the top and the location of those nemo rooms is perfect.

 

[dkrauss]

They opened up a Fall Sale today for WDW.................our dates (Dec 4 through Dec 7th) were in the time frame impacted. However, the Little Mermaid room we have was not apart of the discounts Discount on AoA suites wasn't big enough to move up

Maybe next time.

Doug

 

[smiths02]

They opened up a Fall Sale today for WDW.................our dates (Dec 4 through Dec 7th) were in the time frame impacted. However, the Little Mermaid room we have was not apart of the discounts Discount on AoA suites wasn't big enough to move up

Maybe next time.

Doug

I don't think Little Mermaid rooms have ever been in any discounts.

 

[jenseib]

I don't think Little Mermaid rooms have ever been in any discounts.

Only once with free dining in 2012. It might have only been with a pin code back then too. I stayed there with a pin code that year. If I remember right, the early fall started without free dining and then added Little mermaid rooms and then the late fall free dining was with pin code only. Afterthat they never offered it again because they fill up on their own without a discount.

 

[smiths02]

Yes, it's usually the LM rooms as well as the Nemo suites that are excluded from the promotions because those areas are usually sold out (Actually, there are apparently a very small number of Nemo rooms that get discounted but they're usually scooped up within seconds of the discount being released. My TA said there are usually less than 10 <if any> Nemo rooms offered at a promotional rate.) We've gotten a general public promotional rate as well as a PIN code (also called a Unique Offer Code) for our Lion King suites on both of our stays at AoA (they could have been used at a Cars Suite as well). I did read that the Nemo Suites are now slightly more expensive than Cars & LK so *maybe* they'll start having more of those rooms available for promotion rates if they don't sell out anymore.

We stayed in June in a Cars Suite. We are planning a trip next June, and we think AoA would still be the best fit for our large, but young family.
We were going to switch it up by picking another theme. Older son wants Nemo, guess I better start talking him into Lion King so we can get a discount!