Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[tink2007]

We are leaving on a Disney cruise October 1 but are planning on a quick stop over at WDW a few days before our cruise. We want to do the MNSSHP. We normally stay at WL or ASSp but want to try something new. My DD (23) is a huge Lion King fan so we let her pick. I have a few questions before I make the reservations.
1. There are all adults in our party. Will my children, 23,21, and 19 think the resort is to babyish?? We might spend one day just hanging out at the resort.
2. Will my sons fit on the fold out bed? They are average size guys.
3. I want to request a room not facing the parking lot in building #10. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[barbaraann]

I was really looking forward to staying at this new resort, but the Disney Visa Summer Discount convinced me to switch to Pop Century. I saved 150 dollars on my 5 night stay.

I still plan on visiting AOA with my camera. I want to take as many pictures as I can of the Disney Themed icons.

 

[cgattis]

We are leaving on a Disney cruise October 1 but are planning on a quick stop over at WDW a few days before our cruise. We want to do the MNSSHP. We normally stay at WL or ASSp but want to try something new. My DD (23) is a huge Lion King fan so we let her pick. I have a few questions before I make the reservations. 1. There are all adults in our party. Will my children, 23,21, and 19 think the resort is to babyish?? We might spend one day just hanging out at the resort. 2. Will my sons fit on the fold out bed? They are average size guys. 3. I want to request a room not facing the parking lot in building #10. Anyone have any suggestions?

I don't think anyone will find it babyish. If you like Disney movies, you'll like it, I believe. I'd definitely plan on some time to hang out. The table bed seemed to be a double. My DS10 took up about 1/4 of it, but he's a shrimp . The room requests are standard "pick two from this list," and I don't think "not parking lot view" is one. Seems like the option WRT view were only "landscape view" or "lake view." I didn't choose, hoped for the best, and got a pool view (in Cars). Two things I think you need to know in case you don't...there is no pool in Lion King, but you are right between the Mermaid and Nemo pools. And according to the map, there is no laundry room in LK. I saw (in person) the laundry rooms in every other section, so if there IS one in LK, it's inside one of the room buildings and I didn't go looking inside. My fuddy-duddy DH on arrival day (and departure day) proclaimed it to be the best place we've ever stayed, so I think you guys will enjoy it!

 

[larie21]

Does anyone know what the hours of the AoA gift shop are? And do they sell autograph books?

 

[cgattis]

Gift shop hours are 6 am til midnight. Yes they sell autograph books and VERY cute AoA paintbrush pens. Had to have one of those myself

 

[OBDisney]

I am not sure two adult males would be comfortable on the pull out or table, they did seem to be doubles though, my two 9/6 year old girls shared it nicely without bothering each other. We did love the resort though, we stayed in Lion King it was nice and quiet with lots of space. We used the Nemo pool almost everyday it was not a far walk at all.


There are autograph books in the gift shop, we bought ours there before heading to a Chef Mickey's on arrival day. Not sure the hours though.

 

[mamabonehead]

We have booked a LK Family Suite for our first trip to WDW in May. Can anyone tell me what requests to make to reduce the amount of walking from check-in to room, room-to-pool, and room-to-bus? I have mobility issues (cannot walk or stand for more than 10-15 minutes). I will have an ECV rental for the parks, but for going to the pool or going Downtown for dinner and such, I will be walking.

 

[SPAM]

I will be here Thursday for 2 nights before I take of on a cruise. This is my first time, going to stay in a LM room and I am so excited!

 

[cgattis]

We have booked a LK Family Suite for our first trip to WDW in May. Can anyone tell me what requests to make to reduce the amount of walking from check-in to room, room-to-pool, and room-to-bus? I have mobility issues (cannot walk or stand for more than 10-15 minutes). I will have an ECV rental for the parks, but for going to the pool or going Downtown for dinner and such, I will be walking.

The way the LK rooms are situated, I think you're in pretty good shape in any of them, but if you do online checkin, one of the request options is "close to transportation." The buses are out front of the food court (which is directly in front of the Nemo pool), so I think that would cover it. The walkways are all really wide and all the doors have auto open buttons, so I think you'll be able to get around well. Have fun!!! We loved it

 

[bluezy]

We have booked a LK Family Suite for our first trip to WDW in May. Can anyone tell me what requests to make to reduce the amount of walking from check-in to room, room-to-pool, and room-to-bus? I have mobility issues (cannot walk or stand for more than 10-15 minutes). I will have an ECV rental for the parks, but for going to the pool or going Downtown for dinner and such, I will be walking.

I would request "close to main building" and 1st floor. If stairs aren't a problem for you, then it wouldn't matter which floor you're on and you could leave that off the request. Just keep in mind that if you need to use an elevator for higher floors, those are located in the center of the buildings (where the phone and AED devices are indicated on the resort map). We were in building 10, 4th floor at the end closest to Animation Hall. It was a quick 2 or 3 minute walk to buses, pool, and food. However, if we needed to use the elevator when returning to our room (my husband has an artificial hip and occasionally after a long day of walking in the parks, it "locks up" and it's painful to use the stairs) we would have to walk the length of our "wing" to get to the elevator and then when getting off the elevator on our floor we'd have to back-track to our room. It wasn't a big deal for us as we only used the elevators 2 or 3 times during the week (other than check-in and check-out) but if we needed to use them every day, it would have been a little annoying.

The reality is that none of the rooms in the LK section are a very long walk to anything. I'd say 5-6 minutes at most.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Just got back from 2 nights in a Nemo suite! It is by far my fav of the three and is the closest to the main building! We got our requests..4th floor, near elevator, facing the lake! The pool was closed the afternoon we wanted to use it but they did reopen at 2:30pm. Not sure if something happened or if they were short staffed and had to take a group break..we heard conflicting stories. The food was always good in the food court and not too busy. From 6am-8am they were doing 20% off bc of the refurbishment they were doing..not sure why they felt like they needed to discount bc of that but it was nice! The buses were always great and we never waited more than 10 mins. Housekeeping was great. We were given extra towels and product when asked. They even brought extra pillows and a boxed fan. The room was ready at 7:00am when I checked (we did online check-in). Overall, our stay was great. My friend's DBF's band didn't work to open the door and my friends didn't work to open the side door but we were all together anyways so it didn't really matter and for two nights we didn't bother spending time at the front desk for them to try and fix it. We are planning another stay for hopefully in May or this summer!

 

[Miss Monorail 1971]

Yaaaaa we are booked for 4 nights in June. This is my 12th trip but my first to AoA. So excited. We are going to be in a LK suite. We are staying offsite for the first 3 nights because DH is going to a conference and that hotel room is free. Then we will switch to AoA. Feeling giddy today!

 

[Monorail Bob's dd]

Does A of A ever share buses with Pop? I thought they never shared but a TA is telling me they do share during off peak times. Is this true?

 

[GillianP1301]

Just got back from 2 nights in a Nemo suite! It is by far my fav of the three and is the closest to the main building! We got our requests..4th floor, near elevator, facing the lake! The pool was closed the afternoon we wanted to use it but they did reopen at 2:30pm. Not sure if something happened or if they were short staffed and had to take a group break..we heard conflicting stories. The food was always good in the food court and not too busy. From 6am-8am they were doing 20% off bc of the refurbishment they were doing..not sure why they felt like they needed to discount bc of that but it was nice! The buses were always great and we never waited more than 10 mins. Housekeeping was great. We were given extra towels and product when asked. They even brought extra pillows and a boxed fan. The room was ready at 7:00am when I checked (we did online check-in). Overall, our stay was great. My friend's DBF's band didn't work to open the door and my friends didn't work to open the side door but we were all together anyways so it didn't really matter and for two nights we didn't bother spending time at the front desk for them to try and fix it. We are planning another stay for hopefully in May or this summer!

4th floor lake view is what I'm looking to request as well, but I'm undecided between Cars and Nemo section. In your Nemo room you had, did you get pool noise? My son is a very light sleeper and is in bed before 9pm, so this is always a concern for me.

 

[TandLMommy28]

What pizza places deliver to Art of Animation?

I've been messing around with some of the chain websites and when I out in the AoA address, they all say "carry out only". At POR we were able to have Pizza Hut delivered one night when we just needed something that wasn't from the food court for a break!

 

[Chicago Mo]

I requested Building 6 of the Lion King room facing the Lake
1) i see it's close to the DSA
2) i don't want to look out at the parking lot
IF my requests are granted will i be regretting this decision?!?

thank you!!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Does A of A ever share buses with Pop? I thought they never shared but a TA is telling me they do share during off peak times. Is this true?

I stayed at AoA in November 2012 right after Thanksgiving for 5 days - no sharing with Pop during our stay. Hopefully, someone who has stayed at AoA more recently can update.

 

[mom2cgj]

I requested Building 6 of the Lion King room facing the Lake 1) i see it's close to the DSA 2) i don't want to look out at the parking lot IF my requests are granted will i be regretting this decision?!? thank you!!

We were in building 6 and loved it! Not far from anything, quiet, and a beautiful view if the lake.

 

[ferrarimomof3]

We just got back a little over a week ago and there was no sharing of buses with Pop. They were all direct to the parks except Animal Kingdom which stops at water parks and Downtown Disney.

 

[jenseib]

Usually no they don't share buses , but at very slow times they sometimes do...it's rare though.