Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[jenseib]

Next year Nemo rooms will be clasified as preferred and cost more, so they may have more in the discount.

 

[dkrauss]

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

Good info Thanks!

Doug

 

[bluezy]

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!

We always start out by booking a Nemo suite and hoping that we'll get a discount but we always end up switching to a LK suite to save a little money.

Next year Nemo rooms will be clasified as preferred and cost more, so they may have more in the discount.

That's what I was thinking when I read a few weeks ago that they were going to be preferred rooms next year. I wonder if all of the Nemo suites will be considered preferred. The Lion King rooms are just as close to Landscape of Flavors and the bus stops as the Nemo rooms. Not sure I'm willing to pay a premium just to be a few steps closer to a pool. I make way more trips to LOF and the bus stops than I do to the pool when we're there. I'm also wondering if the discount on the Nemo rooms will just bring them down to the rack rate of the other suites.... It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

 

[wmjeffer]

Quick question: does anyone know how well the curtains block the light in the main bedroom? I'll be sharing the room with my toddler daughter, who is used to quite a dark room when she sleeps. Wondering if I should bring something to block the light or not

 

[mom2cgj]

Quick question: does anyone know how well the curtains block the light in the main bedroom? I'll be sharing the room with my toddler daughter, who is used to quite a dark room when she sleeps. Wondering if I should bring something to block the light or not

My DH likes dark when he sleeps and had no issues with the curtains in our suite.

 

[ROBINGOOD]

As I mentioned previously, I am taking my family to Disney Aug 2nd-8th and it will be a complete surprise to them all including my wife and mother-in-law. I have concocted a story(lie) that gets me to AOA without much suspicion, but I still may have one more hurdle. Is there a parking attendant or someone that authorizes vehicles into the AOA lot? If so, could I say "we are just looking around" or will I need to produce my I.D. and reservation info? If so, I was thinking I might be able to slip him a note with my ID that explains my situation and provides my reservation info.

 

[dansdad]

As I mentioned previously, I am taking my family to Disney Aug 2nd-8th and it will be a complete surprise to them all including my wife and mother-in-law. I have concocted a story(lie) that gets me to AOA without much suspicion, but I still may have one more hurdle. Is there a parking attendant or someone that authorizes vehicles into the AOA lot? If so, could I say "we are just looking around" or will I need to produce my I.D. and reservation info? If so, I was thinking I might be able to slip him a note with my ID that explains my situation and provides my reservation info.

You'll be able to tell the guard you are just checking out the resort.

 

[ROBINGOOD]

ok awesome. Thanks!

 

[beckysko]

IF you haven't requested room type and chose 'room type assigned upon checkin'....what room type were you given? We opted out of the Finding Nemo room in order to take advantage of the free dining (which wasn't available with a room type guarantee). Wondering if anyone has gotten Finding Nemo as one....or even Cars? Just would rather either of those rather than Lion King.

 

[jenseib]

As I mentioned previously, I am taking my family to Disney Aug 2nd-8th and it will be a complete surprise to them all including my wife and mother-in-law. I have concocted a story(lie) that gets me to AOA without much suspicion, but I still may have one more hurdle. Is there a parking attendant or someone that authorizes vehicles into the AOA lot? If so, could I say "we are just looking around" or will I need to produce my I.D. and reservation info? If so, I was thinking I might be able to slip him a note with my ID that explains my situation and provides my reservation info.

They usually ask for your name and license....even if just checking it out so there is a chance your cover will be blown there.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

I was wondering if the resort still offers the animation classes? If so what are the times and can anyone go?

 

[dansdad]

I was wondering if the resort still offers the animation classes? If so what are the times and can anyone go?

Yup, they sure are. Anyone can go, even people not staying at AoA. From the July Activities Calendar:

Character Artist


Meet our resident artist during Teach to Draw classes held in the children’s playroom next to the Front Desk at 11:00am, 2:00pm and 5:00pm. Become an artist yourself by learning how to draw your favorite Disney Characters. Times and availability are subject to change.

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Awesome!!! I take it they are as fantastic as the ones from dhs? Do the classes fill up or do u need to sign up ahead of time?

 

[dansdad]

Awesome!!! I take it they are as fantastic as the ones from dhs? Do the classes fill up or do u need to sign up ahead of time?

Yes they are. We have done it twice now and just showed up.

 

[ljl22]

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

1. Yes, the walk is as bad as you hear. It isn't a mile, but I would say at least 1/4 mile. It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up when you forget stuff in your room. It isn't so bad the first day or two. We ended up driving to the parks more than using the buses to avoid the walk. I even considered driving to the bus stop and parking there all day in order to be able to drive back to our room. Since you're staying a week, I would suggest you not stay in a LM room.
2. We have stayed at both Pop Century and a LM room at AoA. For our 2016 trip, we are going back to a preferred room at Pop Century. For the cost, we can get a preferred room just a couple minutes from the bus and lobby. We also like the food at Pop Century much better. Depending on discounts offered, we are also considering POFQ.
3. The 4-person value rooms are a little small, but you'll live. Pick up some collapsible hampers from the dollar store, and a hanging rack for toiletries and you'll be able to keep the room relatively neat.
4. I don't know about crowds in November, but you can google WDW crowd calendars and find some good info.
5. I suggest Pop Century. The theming of the hotel grounds is still amazing, but for the cost of the LM room (and with possibly a discount) you can get a preferred room with a 3 min walk to the bus and 1 min to the lobby. If you want to check out AoA, you can always take a walk over to see what it's like without committing to the LM room hike.

Plan on having a stroller for your daughter. We didn't use one our first trip, but only had 3 park days spread out over a week. For our second trip, we were at the parks every single day and we ended up renting one for my 7 yo. If we had one to begin with it would have saved a lot of tears (hers and mine).

 

[jcarwash]

Awesome!!! I take it they are as fantastic as the ones from dhs? Do the classes fill up or do u need to sign up ahead of time?

The AoA classes are even more fantastic than the one at Hollywood Studios since The Magic of Disney Animation attraction is now permanently closed. No classes for the foreseeable future. We either have to wait and see if they bring it back to WDW in some fashion (I hope they expand it) or you have to visit Disney California Adventure (which is a good idea anyway).

 

[beckyx3]

Hi everyone! We're staying in a lion king suite on our next trip and it will be the first stay at AOA for the majority of our group. Did Disney completely do away with the roll away cot? We have 6 adults in our room. My boyfriend and I will be sharing a bed but we have 3 girls and another guy and no one wants to share with him. Would we be able to request the cot or will he be sleeping in the bath tub?

 

[bluezy]

Hi everyone! We're staying in a lion king suite on our next trip and it will be the first stay at AOA for the majority of our group. Did Disney completely do away with the roll away cot? We have 6 adults in our room. My boyfriend and I will be sharing a bed but we have 3 girls and another guy and no one wants to share with him. Would we be able to request the cot or will he be sleeping in the bath tub?

I believe the resorts still have the roll away cots available but they are on a very limited basis. I wouldn't count on getting one. A better option would probably be to bring an air mattress along. We've used those in a LK suite because none of our 4 kids likes to share a bed. If you're flying and don't have room in your luggage, you could ship it ahead of time and then just repack it and ship it home. There's plenty of floor space for the air mattress and during the day you can store it against a wall and out of the way.

 

[melificent]

I have a question about the Murphy beds. Am I right in understanding bed rails won't work with this bed? My toddler is very roll-y and needs a little bit more than a pool noodle to keep her from rolling out of bed. How heavy are the chairs? Would they be solid enough to help guide her away from rolling off? Thanks!

 

[beckysko]

I read about this on the Disney Moms panel...http://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/questions.aspx?pgm=2&pid=45&cid=70&qid=185991 so I gather that they will not work because the mattress is shallow. You could turn the chairs around backwards and place on either side of the bed, but they are REALLY light chairs, so I don't know that they would hold. I would probably take the cover off the bed and roll it all up and stuff it all the way around under the fitted sheet as much as possible to make a 'nest', although that might not be very high. We stayed in Cars last time, and I think the couch was lower than the murphy bed...if you're worried maybe you could put all the couch cushions out on the sides. Another idea would be to buy an inflatable toddler airbed and bring that along? Then it would just be on the floor in front of the couch area?