Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[Desnik]

Here now sitting by the Cars pool. We've been here since Thurs night. We leave tomorrow for a week at BLT so I figured I'd post my thoughts on AoA now. I'm here with DH & our DS10 & DD15.

This is our 2nd time here. Last visit was 2 nights during Xmas week in a LM room & we loved it. We added 3 nights to this trip just so we can come back to AoA & enjoy it fully since during our last trip it was too cold to swim.

Check in was only about a 5 min wait. We arrived around 8:45pm. I didn't request anything & we are in King Triton section of LM top floor parking lot view. The view doesn't matter much to me & the stairs & elevator are close by. We had a fridge with the note staying not to plug it in. I need a fridge so I called & requested one & in 40 mins it was delivered to our room.

Our room was clean except for soda splattered on the wall next to the table & chairs. The towels are as thin as the toilet paper & it's become a running joke with us. Things that didn't bother us last time, or we just didn't notice, really bother my family this time. The toilet paper, the towels, the pillows, sheets & the mattresses. DH & I have never been more uncomfortable. I swear it wasn't like this last time! The beds are just so uncomfortable & it has nothing to do with the size. They are just cheap, bad mattresses lol. DH told me, never again. Even my kids are uncomfortable & they sleep on anything lol. The room decor is really cute @ as a fan if LM, it's so nice!!

Now the resort itself is really great. The theming can't be beat. The pools are fantastic & have the best lifeguards I have ever seen! Even witnessed one save a kid! We don't find the walk around the resort to be bad & easily get from one section to another. We've gone to all the pools & Cars pool is our favorite! I'm in a cozy cone right now & it's really cool! Thank goodness we brought our beach towels. I can't imagine using the room towels at the pool. There are a lot of people but we've had plenty of room to swim around.

We haven't used the buses because on this portion of our trip we are just relaxing at the resort. We've enjoyed the activities at the Nemo pool & plan on watching a movie there tonight.

The food court is as good as we remembered. Something for everyone. The food has been really good & fresh. Lines aren't too bad & yes during peak times it gets loud but you can always find a nice quiet spot to eat at.

Overall, the resort is great but the LM rooms are just not for us. We are DVC'ers so it's highly unlikely we'd come back here & stay in a suite.
I actually can't wait to get to BLT to spread out in a 1 bedroom & sleep in a comfy bed. At least I hope it's comfy, lol it's our 1st time at BLT!

I would still recommend this place to families, especially those who aren't picky about their rooms or aren't in their rooms often. But for our family, it's not a good fit. But we still had fun! It wasn't all bad! I don't want to sound too negative!!

 

[Luvchefmic]

not something I want to hear ! I rarely stay on property and will be in LM room very soon No offense I hope you had bad beds in your room only

I stayed at POP last month ( another rare thing ) and slept like a log bed was very comfortable I always bring my own large bath towel so that's not an issue

Any indication of when refrigerators are back in the standard rooms did any of the CMs know for sure ? No hassle asking for one ? Thanks

 

[Desnik]

not something I want to hear ! I rarely stay on property and will be in LM room very soon No offense I hope you had bad beds in your room only

I stayed at POP last month ( another rare thing ) and slept like a log bed was very comfortable I always bring my own large bath towel so that's not an issue

Any indication of when refrigerators are back in the standard rooms did any of the CMs know for sure ? No hassle asking for one ? Thanks

No offense taken! lol I hope it was just our room with the bad beds too!

They did not mention when new fridges would be installed.

They didn't just offer a fridge to me when i called the front desk. I had to say I needed the fridge for medical reasons. (Which is the truth) I don't know how they handle it if it wasn't for medical reasons.

 

[Luvchefmic]

No offense taken! lol I hope it was just our room with the bad beds too!

They did not mention when new fridges would be installed.

They didn't just offer a fridge to me when i called the front desk. I had to say I needed the fridge for medical reasons. (Which is the truth) I don't know how they handle it if it wasn't for medical reasons.

Well I am glad you posted , here's hoping your beds at BLT are much better..maybe I should ask your room # so if I get it I can say " Oh no I heard about THOSE beds "

Otherwise I am very pleased to hear everything else you are reporting about AoA


I was just curious about the refrig I don't need one, won't be asking for one,
and glad for a medical reason they are available

Thanks

 

[G719]

Does anyone know, if I add my sister to my room reservation does she have to have the same magic your way package as us or can she get her tickets from AAA? We are not doing the dining plan. I know with that, everyone has to be the same. I know it's $15 for the extra adult per night and I want to add her ahead of time so she can do the magical express.
Thanks!

 

[carnival kid]

Just booked a Nemo Suite for 5 nights as part of our first WDW trip in June 2014!!! (also doing DCL and Poly).

What sort of room views can be found in the nemo buildings?? Obviously pool view anything else??

 

[km3jones]

Just booked a Nemo Suite for 5 nights as part of our first WDW trip in June 2014!!! (also doing DCL and Poly).

What sort of room views can be found in the nemo buildings?? Obviously pool view anything else??

Our room here now is in building 4 and our view is of the lake and we can see Pop across the way.

 

[annamorgan]

Does anybody know whether the mugs have switched to RFID yet??

 

[Desnik]

Does anybody know whether the mugs have switched to RFID yet??

No they have not

 

[Desnik]

We are getting ready to check out. We are all dying to leave after another sleepless night.

We had a lot of fun at the arcade last night! It's really big & has a lot of great games to play for the whole family! I love that your "tickets" get loaded onto your card! Also you can use it at any resort arcade.

I'm in the good court having breakfast & it is very busy. Seems like even more people are here than earlier in the week!

I have to add that every CM we've encountered at this resort has been friendly. No one ever walked by without saying hello & how are you.

I've learned a very valuable lesson. We are not value resort people lol. For one night? Maybe. But not longer. Either way DH already told me, deluxe or nothing lol ;-). Off to Bay Lake Tower we go!

Thank you all for posting such valuable info about AoA! It helped a lot when I was planning!!

 

[KeriWDE]

We are beginning our planning for a trip in late February 2014 and are considering AoA. We have always stayed at POP and been very happy. One of the main advantages to us for choosing POP is the dedicated bus service.

I've seen somewhere that the AoA does not share buses with any other resorts. Is that so? (I ask because one of the commenters here said they missed the DHS bus at AoA but were able to take the bus to POP and go to DHS from there. This sounds like sharing buses to me, but I'm not sure.)

TIA!

 

[dansdad]

Does anyone know, if I add my sister to my room reservation does she have to have the same magic your way package as us or can she get her tickets from AAA? We are not doing the dining plan. I know with that, everyone has to be the same. I know it's $15 for the extra adult per night and I want to add her ahead of time so she can do the magical express.
Thanks!

If you add her before you check in, she has to have the same MYW package as you do.

If you add her after you check in, she does not have to have the same MYW package as you do. Not sure if she is arriving at the same time you are or not. If you add her after you check in, you can call Magical Express right away and schedule her on it.

 

[Cynth]

We are beginning our planning for a trip in late February 2014 and are considering AoA. We have always stayed at POP and been very happy. One of the main advantages to us for choosing POP is the dedicated bus service.

I've seen somewhere that the AoA does not share buses with any other resorts. Is that so? (I ask because one of the commenters here said they missed the DHS bus at AoA but were able to take the bus to POP and go to DHS from there. This sounds like sharing buses to me, but I'm not sure.)

TIA!

I don't think that AoA shares a bus, because this was a reason I choose AoA. I did my research several months ago, so maybe somebody can confirm that it hasn't changed.

AoA is in walking distance to POP. I assume the poster meant that they used the POP bus and then walked over to AoA instead of waiting for the next AoA bus.

 

[dansdad]

I've seen somewhere that the AoA does not share buses with any other resorts. Is that so? (I ask because one of the commenters here said they missed the DHS bus at AoA but were able to take the bus to POP and go to DHS from there. This sounds like sharing buses to me, but I'm not sure.)

TIA!

I have not heard of AoA sharing buses with Pop or any other resort. The commenter may have meant to say they walked over to Pop from AoA and then took the bus to DHS.

 

[mom2cgj]

AoA is in walking distance to POP. I assume the poster meant that they used the POP bus and then walked over to AoA instead of waiting for the next AoA bus.

We did this a couple of times. If you have just missed an AoA bus, but a POP one is there or comes right away, you can save some time by taking the POP bus and walking. It's kind of neat to walk across the bridge to AoA!

 

[MDsMomma]

Are there pack n plays in the rooms or do I have to request one?

 

[dansdad]

Are there pack n plays in the rooms or do I have to request one?

You will have to request one.

 

[annamorgan]

how easy is it to get a taxi from AoA?

 

[chmurf]

how easy is it to get a taxi from AoA?

a couple of taxis will usually be waiting outside the hotel (like any other disney hotel)
If not, ask the CMs at luggage services (just outside of the buiding under the awning) and they'll call one for you. You'll get a taxi within minutes.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I want to give you all a quick review of my stay in the LM rooms for 4 nights last week. I posted a longer review on this forum if you want to read it. Overall, I did not like it. One of the reasons is they put us in one of the farthest rooms in building 8. I did get a little bit of a lakeview which I requested, but not my other request for building 7. The walk to the food court was 10 min. and we are not slow. The heat and sun were bad during the walk and there was no shade. One positive thing was that they did find a third room for my sister for 4 nights. I thought they were always booked up but somehow the room was right next to ours. Are people checking in and then switching resorts because they don't like it there?
We had just come from Coronado springs and we loved it there. I wanted to stay but we were meeting family at AOA. All the kids loved the theming at AOA including in the room. I think our family has outgrown values. The beds and room seemed small this time. Also I could hear the noisy family next door two early mornings in a row. They had a crying 2 year old who cried from 6-8:30am both days. I didn't complain b/c we were leaving.
Last year when we visited landscapes of flavors the food seemed better. None of my extended family liked the food except for the create your own salad and pasta and my dd12 still loves the surf and surf burger. I also have to praise the everything brownie.
I'm glad my dd12 and niece and nephew got to experience this resort, but I would not return. If my kids were younger and it was a cooler month I think we would have liked it more. One more thing, I requested a fridge for both rooms I reserved. My mom got one for her room but we did not. Our rooms were connecting so we could still use it.