Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[OnePrinceOnePrincess]

Thanks for the responses!

I think we are going to book next week - just to give me peace of mind that we'll have our reservation all set (and more time to pay a little bit weekly) - and if a FD option pops up it does, and if not we'll have a magical time anyway!

It'll be our first AoA stay. We've done two of the All-Stars in the past. Super excited!

 

[cinderkelly]

Did anyone get called today to get moved from NEMO during week of Sept 14-21 to Lion King or Cars?

No, but I'm curious as to what that's all about I wouldn't be a happy camper. We will be there sept 19-21

 

[donnamk123]

We booked way back in Feb for Oct. Mostly selected based on crowds and weather, but was hoping for Free Dining based on past history. So just wanted to point out that history doesn't guarantee Free Dining as this year there are 3 weeks in Oct where FD is not offered (including ours). We didn't budget based on assuming we'd get FD but it "would have" been a nice bonus. But to add to the point...if you do book hoping for FD, also look at the resorts and suites (e.g. AoA suites are included...I don't think LM room is included in the deal). And although we didn't get FD, we did get room only discount (which wasn't a ton of savings, but better than nothing) Either way...you'll have a fantastic trip!

The resorts and dates included in free dining is based on rooms that need to be filled, if a resort or certain dates are filling on their own there is no need for Disney to offer free dining for them. So booking way ahead could actually prevent free dining from being offered for your resort/dates.

 

[mommymanda]

I have been reading a lot on facebook of people pool hopping... I know - i know a Red light just went off somewhere alarming people i wrote pool hopping.
Trust me this isn't trying to start anything..

Does hopping happen a lot in AoA? I know the gate is locked. Yet i am sure a LOT of people want in on the big blue?? do they check bands often at the pools?


LEAVING NEXT week!

I don't exactly know what pool hopping means, but I'm guessing staying at one resort and using a pool elsewhere. Currently to get into big blue you have to scan your MB, but the cozy cone pool is not like that. I have not wondered to the little mermaid pool so don't know about it.

 

[Mich Mouse]

We were there August 14-20 and pool hopping was definitely happening. We watched many people walk over the bridge from Pop in their swim suits as our room faced the lake. The pool gates were also always ajar so anyone could walk in. I didn't scan my magic band once and we went to the pool everyday. I think the only pool that they really check all the time is The Yacht/Beach Club.

 

[LLM]

Hey everyone! We checked into our Cars family suite on Sunday afternoon for what was supposed to be a one week stay. One week has turned into two nights! Yesterday was quite the day! We were in building 1 (Mater). Spent the morning in the Magic Kingdom and headed back to the resort around 1:30 to take a break with plans to go back to the Magic Kingdom around 5 or 6. Just after we arrived in our suite we lost power. The power came on shortly after, but no air conditioning! The front desk left an automated message on our room telephone indicating that the air conditioning was off, they had no ETA on when it would be fixed as they didn't know what the problem was and to contact the front desk as soon as possible. I went to Animation Hall to see what was happening. Turns out only our building was affected and it had happened previously and been without a/c for 4 days. August heat in Florida and no a/c for possibly days does not sound good to me! They ended up having to move all guests out of our building to other resorts. One of the cast members told me that they had guests from 160 suites to move in one hour! We had to pack up our room in a very short time then head out front and luggage assistance called taxis for everyone. Disney provided us with vouchers to pay for the taxis. Waiting was a bit of a nightmare with several families with a bunch of luggage all waiting in the heat in front of Animation Hall for a taxi. We are now in a two bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. Had to do the check-in process all over again when we got here. I was told that our MagicBands would all work on our villa (we have 7 of them). Made the long walk to our villa and not one band worked! While Disney has moved us to a beautiful property, it just doesn't have that Disney feel I was looking for here. My 5 year old son is a huge Cars fan, which is why we booked the Cars family suite. He and my 15 month old twins were enjoying the larger than life characters and theming of the resort. Very Disney. Here is a different experience. Beautiful for the adults but not as exciting for the children. The entire process of moving took about six hours out of our day. We never did make it back to the Magic Kingdom as planned as our entire afternoon and evening was messed up. It felt like a travel day rather than the park day we had planned. I had FastPasses for the Mine Train which we did not use as we could not get back to the park so I am bummed about that and basically wasting a day on our tickets..... Hopefully today we will be more settled, however I know my 5 year old would have preferred to stay at Art of Animation.

Lisa

 

[Chicago Mo]

We were there August 14-20 and pool hopping was definitely happening. We watched many people walk over the bridge from Pop in their swim suits as our room faced the lake. The pool gates were also always ajar so anyone could walk in. I didn't scan my magic band once and we went to the pool everyday. I think the only pool that they really check all the time is The Yacht/Beach Club.

thank you for answering!

How crowded was the pool? Being August you had higher crowd levels as well???

We will be there on the 7th of Sept. which are low crowds, yet i have a feeling the pool will be crazy?!?!

 

[tnd]

We were in the Mater building yesterday too. We ended up in a Nemo suite, rather than being moved to a different hotel. It was a pain, but the process took us under an hour and we did it after we got back from the parks. You should see if they can help re-book some FPs for you or help with the missing ticket day. I found the staff super accommodating even though they were stressed.

 

[betterbutter]

No, but I'm curious as to what that's all about I wouldn't be a happy camper. We will be there sept 19-21

There is some maintenance work that is scheduled to begin on the buildings in that section around that time which will require turning off the A/C.

 

[smiths02]

We were in the Mater building yesterday too. We ended up in a Nemo suite, rather than being moved to a different hotel. It was a pain, but the process took us under an hour and we did it after we got back from the parks. You should see if they can help re-book some FPs for you or help with the missing ticket day. I found the staff super accommodating even though they were stressed.

I would nicely ask at SSR if they can get you a FP for the mine train. I don't think that is too much of a request.

 

[jennthompson111]

I just booked a Nemo room for May 3-8. We can't wait!! This thread was awesome in helping me make my final decision.

 

[Mich Mouse]

Hey everyone! We checked into our Cars family suite on Sunday afternoon for what was supposed to be a one week stay. One week has turned into two nights! Yesterday was quite the day! We were in building 1 (Mater). Spent the morning in the Magic Kingdom and headed back to the resort around 1:30 to take a break with plans to go back to the Magic Kingdom around 5 or 6. Just after we arrived in our suite we lost power. The power came on shortly after, but no air conditioning! The front desk left an automated message on our room telephone indicating that the air conditioning was off, they had no ETA on when it would be fixed as they didn't know what the problem was and to contact the front desk as soon as possible. I went to Animation Hall to see what was happening. Turns out only our building was affected and it had happened previously and been without a/c for 4 days. August heat in Florida and no a/c for possibly days does not sound good to me! They ended up having to move all guests out of our building to other resorts. One of the cast members told me that they had guests from 160 suites to move in one hour! We had to pack up our room in a very short time then head out front and luggage assistance called taxis for everyone. Disney provided us with vouchers to pay for the taxis. Waiting was a bit of a nightmare with several families with a bunch of luggage all waiting in the heat in front of Animation Hall for a taxi. We are now in a two bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. Had to do the check-in process all over again when we got here. I was told that our MagicBands would all work on our villa (we have 7 of them). Made the long walk to our villa and not one band worked! While Disney has moved us to a beautiful property, it just doesn't have that Disney feel I was looking for here. My 5 year old son is a huge Cars fan, which is why we booked the Cars family suite. He and my 15 month old twins were enjoying the larger than life characters and theming of the resort. Very Disney. Here is a different experience. Beautiful for the adults but not as exciting for the children. The entire process of moving took about six hours out of our day. We never did make it back to the Magic Kingdom as planned as our entire afternoon and evening was messed up. It felt like a travel day rather than the park day we had planned. I had FastPasses for the Mine Train which we did not use as we could not get back to the park so I am bummed about that and basically wasting a day on our tickets..... Hopefully today we will be more settled, however I know my 5 year old would have preferred to stay at Art of Animation.

Lisa

Sorry for your trouble! I agree that SSR just doesn't have that Disney feel, it reminds me of a nice condo development in South Florida.
Did WDW do anything to compensate you for your trouble? At least tickets for the day you missed? They might have considered the move an 'upgrade' but honestly I'd much rather stay at AOA. There is a reason that SSR is the last DVC resort to book up. It's our 'last resort' when using our points. I am not a complainer and have never asked for or expected compensation but I think this situation warrants a future stay in a Cars suite on them.

 

[SugarSpice]

We just got a call that we have to move out of our Nemo suite that we are booked for September 7-14. They gave me the choice of Lion King or Cars. We didn't really want to move. So as I was hem-hawing around about it, she offered us 1 day passes to our choice of the waterparks and disney quest. We said we didn't really want that. She put us on hold and said she could give us a 25% discount off of the first night. Well, waterpark passes for 7 people is a better deal than 25% off 1 night so I went ahead and took the waterpark passes and agreed to move to a cars suite but I'm not all that happy about it. The family was really excited to see the Nemo rooms.

 

[MrsRaleigh]

We just got a call that we have to move out of our Nemo suite that we are booked for September 7-14. They gave me the choice of Lion King or Cars. We didn't really want to move. So as I was hem-hawing around about it, she offered us 1 day passes to our choice of the waterparks and disney quest. We said we didn't really want that. She put us on hold and said she could give us a 25% discount off of the first night. Well, waterpark passes for 7 people is a better deal than 25% off 1 night so I went ahead and took the waterpark passes and agreed to move to a cars suite but I'm not all that happy about it. The family was really excited to see the Nemo rooms.

Oh no! We check in a Nemo suite on Saturday.. Did they give you a reason as to why it suddenly wasn't available?!

 

[PennockFive]

thank you for answering! How crowded was the pool? Being August you had higher crowd levels as well??? We will be there on the 7th of Sept. which are low crowds, yet i have a feeling the pool will be crazy?!?!

The pool is so big that I never really got a crowded sense. Not that you can swim laps, but you aren't right on top of other people. The cozy cone pool was very quiet. We were there 8/16-8/23. Have a great trip!!!'

 

[Chicago Mo]

The pool is so big that I never really got a crowded sense. Not that you can swim laps, but you aren't right on top of other people. The cozy cone pool was very quiet. We were there 8/16-8/23. Have a great trip!!!'

THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Yeah - no laps going on here as long as the kids have some swimming room it will be perfect... Then again who am i kidding Being in Disney will be perfect!

Thanks again!!!

 

[pmcminn]

So excited about our first stay here in November!

 

[rcklein5269]

Just spent 10 days in a LK suite and loved it!!! From the food to the pool to the theming we just loved it. We have a 14 year old and the privacy of our room was priceless!!!

 

[MinnienMickey021910]

We are staying in Cars Suite for part of our November trip 11/13 - 11/16 and then moving to Old Key West for the remainder of our trio 11/16- 11/23! Can't wait!

 

[Nittanygirl79]

We check in on September 26 to a Cars suite. Wondering if anyone can tell me what toiletries they are putting in the rooms? Is it shampoo and conditioner all-in-one or a shampoo and then a separate conditioner? body wash or bar soap? Trying to lighten our luggage up a bit. Thanks in advance!