Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[hollypoast]

How is the sofa bed? I may be sleeping on it with my dtr... comfortable enough for an adult?

 

[shb5007]

Excited to be heading to Disney next Friday for 8 days! I can't believe it is already here.

I am 28 now, but this will be my first time staying on property since I was around 8.

Looking forward to checking out AoA.

Any last minute tips about the resort for a first time stay? Or for someone who hasn't stayed on property in 20 years!?

 

[hulagirl87]

How is the sofa bed? I may be sleeping on it with my dtr... comfortable enough for an adult?

I slept in the sofa bed and it was comfortable but the fridge is right next to your head and kept going on and off all night, which for a light sleeper like me was quite annoying.

 

[yellowfish78]

Are the movies still played by the pool or in the Lion King courtyard?

 

[colarey]

Are the movies still played by the pool or in the Lion King courtyard?

I think it differs from month to month but this month it's near building 5 (the northern Nemo building). http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/AoACalendar.pdf

 

[bluezy]

Are the movies still played by the pool or in the Lion King courtyard?

They were shown on the grassy area between Nemo building 5 and LK building 6 when we were there in June.

 

[trishadono]

Excited to be heading to Disney next Friday for 8 days! I can't believe it is already here.

I am 28 now, but this will be my first time staying on property since I was around 8.

Looking forward to checking out AoA.

Any last minute tips about the resort for a first time stay? Or for someone who hasn't stayed on property in 20 years!?

We will be there the 10-15! Keeping my fingers crossed for cooperative weather.

Have a great trip!

Be familiar with the resort map!

I also try to know all the parks hours for my days or keep a cheat sheet with me. I like to know which mornings are the early EMH because we don't want to plan on going to a park at 9am only to find out it opened at 8am!!!!

Stock your frig with water, milk etc the first day. (if make coffee in room don't use the tap water/bottled only).

FYI you can take the buses to and from POP too. At pop last time we took bus to AOA and walked though and across the bridge home sometimes if we saw our bus pulling away/aka just missed it!!!

You can take your food from the food court back to your room. I would load up a tray and take back so we could get some much needed quiet time. Also the ironing board makes a great TV tray! Just set it up and put a towel on there for accidental spillage.

Other than that , briing a dollar store poncho. It fits easy in a bag or purse and great for those quickie showers.

 

[Lazyfaire]

Staying at AoA for the first time and am excited! We're trying to decide on the best sleeping arrangements in the family suite for my husband & me, my sister, a toddler, and an 18 mo old. Anyone care to share what worked for them?

 

[Kiddosx7]

We just retured from staying at Art of Animation. We had a cars family suite. For sleeping arrangements in the queen bed was myself and my SIL, my 10 yo dd and my 5 yo niece slept together in the Murphy bed and my dh and my dd (4) slept on the sofa bed. The baby slept in a pack and play.
Worked perfectly for us. Hubby didn't mind the sofa bed

 

[pixidustmom]

Staying at AoA for the first time and am excited! We're trying to decide on the best sleeping arrangements in the family suite for my husband & me, my sister, a toddler, and an 18 mo old. Anyone care to share what worked for them?

It may be best to have your sister and the kids sleep in the bedroom. This will allow you to clothes the door and not disturb the littles. This if you don't mind sleeping in separate beds with your DH

 

[shannon006]

Does AOA have bus boards yet?

 

[Cinbride]

Are there more pictures of the resort anywhere? Considering a stay in may, cars family suite. Thanks

 

[thebs19]

Hey all,

We are looking to book a suite as part of a split stay for our first time at AoA. Spending the first half of the week at the BC and trying this resort out for the 2nd half (3 nights). We've considered AoA in the past but always talked ourselves out as we figured if we were spending on the suite, we'd prefer to just spend on a deluxe at that price point.

However, with the kids at 9 and 3, I think it works really nicely as a split stay - my wife and I enjoy the first half of the week on the boardwalk at BC with Epcot nights, etc., and then we're going to do more kiddy 2nd half with MK and AK trips! Kids are very excited and I always love trying a new resort. And very happy to have the extra space with our MIL in tow as well.

Question though revolves around which area to book - we're booking under the spring discount and for that only Cars or LK are available- obviously in an ideal world we'd have loved to do Nemo but I'm assuming most feel that way hence its out. We're going to have a car so have that option instead of buses so LK's proximity to the bus stop isn't a HUGE deal, but definitely a consideration for MK morning trips. In viewing some youtube videos, it definitely looked like the Cars area is more "immersive" in the theme and really almost looks like a separate resort into itself, whereas LK looks a bit more like just a passage through from Nemo to LM. Is that true in person? We're staying at the resort for the themeing and "wow" factor for kids, so thats definitely a big concern. I doubt we'll use the quiet pool much - we're "big pool" people and a huge positive is the zero entry area for our little one - so I don't know if thats a huge factor either here.

My biggest concern with the Cars area is if you got Building 2, that looks like a bit of a trek to everything - for reference, we did CBR a few years back and stayed in Martinique - everybody talks about how spread out that resort is and we found it to be fine in our location, but if we were one of the more remote locations I don't think we would've felt the same (and actually, at that time, our daughter sat nicely in a stroller - those 3 year old legs this time around may not be as cooperative). And even in Martinique it definitely wasn't a favorite - we'll probably never stay at that one again (although it wasn't "bad"!).

I have been known to go a bit into over-analysis mode in planning our Disney trips so if I'm putting too much thought into this and should really just be asking the kids "which movie do you like better???" let me know! Thanks everyone!

 

[bluezy]

Hey all,

We are looking to book a suite as part of a split stay for our first time at AoA. Spending the first half of the week at the BC and trying this resort out for the 2nd half (3 nights). We've considered AoA in the past but always talked ourselves out as we figured if we were spending on the suite, we'd prefer to just spend on a deluxe at that price point.

However, with the kids at 9 and 3, I think it works really nicely as a split stay - my wife and I enjoy the first half of the week on the boardwalk at BC with Epcot nights, etc., and then we're going to do more kiddy 2nd half with MK and AK trips! Kids are very excited and I always love trying a new resort. And very happy to have the extra space with our MIL in tow as well.

Question though revolves around which area to book - we're booking under the spring discount and for that only Cars or LK are available- obviously in an ideal world we'd have loved to do Nemo but I'm assuming most feel that way hence its out. We're going to have a car so have that option instead of buses so LK's proximity to the bus stop isn't a HUGE deal, but definitely a consideration for MK morning trips. In viewing some youtube videos, it definitely looked like the Cars area is more "immersive" in the theme and really almost looks like a separate resort into itself, whereas LK looks a bit more like just a passage through from Nemo to LM. Is that true in person? We're staying at the resort for the themeing and "wow" factor for kids, so thats definitely a big concern. I doubt we'll use the quiet pool much - we're "big pool" people and a huge positive is the zero entry area for our little one - so I don't know if thats a huge factor either here.

My biggest concern with the Cars area is if you got Building 2, that looks like a bit of a trek to everything - for reference, we did CBR a few years back and stayed in Martinique - everybody talks about how spread out that resort is and we found it to be fine in our location, but if we were one of the more remote locations I don't think we would've felt the same (and actually, at that time, our daughter sat nicely in a stroller - those 3 year old legs this time around may not be as cooperative). And even in Martinique it definitely wasn't a favorite - we'll probably never stay at that one again (although it wasn't "bad"!).

I have been known to go a bit into over-analysis mode in planning our Disney trips so if I'm putting too much thought into this and should really just be asking the kids "which movie do you like better???" let me know! Thanks everyone!

First off, I don't think any of the suites areas are a bad choice, but I do understand your concern over the possibility of being in Bldg. 2 in the Cars section. It was a huge concern of mine the first time we booked at AoA. I had originally booked us in a Nemo suite but when discounts came out there were no Nemo rooms available at that rate, so I switched us to Cars because I thought that's what the kids would want (it turned out I was wrong. :-/). I was also concerned about the lack of a pool in the LK section, so I requested a Cars suite close to the main building/transportation and hoped for the best. I knew my husband would not be happy if we were in Bldg. 2 -- we use the refillable mugs frequently while we're there and that would be a very long walk from the room to the food court (which is at the Lion King end of the main building). Long story short, we were assigned a room in Bldg. 2 that was about as far away from the food court and bus stops as you could get. We ended up switching to a LK suite at check-in and had a room that was about as *close* as you can get to those things (Bldg. 10 -- the end closest to the main building. 2 minute walk to everything.) which was absolutely perfect for us. Now, if we had only been staying at the resort for 3 nights instead of 8, I probably wouldn't have been too concerned about the Cars location. It's a hike (up to about 350 yards from the room to the back of the main building -- depending on the exact room location), but I think the Cars courtyard area is by far the most immersive of the entire resort. It is stunning -- especially at night. The theming of the Lion King area is beautiful as well, but there just isn't as much to look at. I started to appreciate the LK theming after our 2nd stay this past summer, but Cars is still my favorite in that category .

That being said, I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend Lion King as the location is awesome. Many of the rooms are as close as a Nemo suite would be to the main building/bus stops. And it's a quick walk to the Big Blue pool. If you plan to drive to the parks and don't plan to use the refillable mugs (thus eliminating numerous trips to the food court), the specific location is probably not that big of a deal and I'd go with whichever theme the kids want, but would definitely request "close to main building" (or whatever the option is) as a request for a Cars suite. As far as the LK area being just a pass-thru from the LM section...it does serve that purpose, but it's still very pretty. And I wouldn't say there are hordes of people walking through it, but there is some foot traffic going to and from the LM rooms. Many of the LM guests will actually walk along the sidewalk by the parking lot as it's a more direct route to and from the bus stops for them.

It's a tough decision. We're once again booked in a Nemo suite for our trip this summer and while I swore I was staying there even without a discount, I know the bargain-hunter in me is going to cave and move to a LK suite again to get the discount. Though I did decide if the discount isn't going to save me more than $400, I'm sticking with the Nemo suite. I don't like the color scheme of the Cars rooms, so I'm not sure I'll ever actually stay in one. I was willing to suffer through it for the kids, but since they later told me they didn't really like the Cars suites either, I see no reason to stay in one. We do walk over to that area at least once or twice during our stay to just soak in the atmosphere, though.

Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you end up choosing (though I totally understand the over-analyzing thing. Guilty).

 

[HorizonsRIP]

Just got back from a split stay at CSR and the cars suite at AOA. I love Coronado and found AOA chaotic, loud, and generally just not my style. The only part we really liked was the Radiator Springs area and quiet cozy cone pool. The food court at breakfast is like a war zone. YMMV.

 

[thebs19]

First off, I don't think any of the suites areas are a bad choice, but I do understand your concern over the possibility of being in Bldg. 2 in the Cars section. It was a huge concern of mine the first time we booked at AoA. I had originally booked us in a Nemo suite but when discounts came out there were no Nemo rooms available at that rate, so I switched us to Cars because I thought that's what the kids would want (it turned out I was wrong. :-/). I was also concerned about the lack of a pool in the LK section, so I requested a Cars suite close to the main building/transportation and hoped for the best. I knew my husband would not be happy if we were in Bldg. 2 -- we use the refillable mugs frequently while we're there and that would be a very long walk from the room to the food court (which is at the Lion King end of the main building). Long story short, we were assigned a room in Bldg. 2 that was about as far away from the food court and bus stops as you could get. We ended up switching to a LK suite at check-in and had a room that was about as *close* as you can get to those things (Bldg. 10 -- the end closest to the main building. 2 minute walk to everything.) which was absolutely perfect for us. Now, if we had only been staying at the resort for 3 nights instead of 8, I probably wouldn't have been too concerned about the Cars location. It's a hike (up to about 350 yards from the room to the back of the main building -- depending on the exact room location), but I think the Cars courtyard area is by far the most immersive of the entire resort. It is stunning -- especially at night. The theming of the Lion King area is beautiful as well, but there just isn't as much to look at. I started to appreciate the LK theming after our 2nd stay this past summer, but Cars is still my favorite in that category .

That being said, I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend Lion King as the location is awesome. Many of the rooms are as close as a Nemo suite would be to the main building/bus stops. And it's a quick walk to the Big Blue pool. If you plan to drive to the parks and don't plan to use the refillable mugs (thus eliminating numerous trips to the food court), the specific location is probably not that big of a deal and I'd go with whichever theme the kids want, but would definitely request "close to main building" (or whatever the option is) as a request for a Cars suite. As far as the LK area being just a pass-thru from the LM section...it does serve that purpose, but it's still very pretty. And I wouldn't say there are hordes of people walking through it, but there is some foot traffic going to and from the LM rooms. Many of the LM guests will actually walk along the sidewalk by the parking lot as it's a more direct route to and from the bus stops for them.

It's a tough decision. We're once again booked in a Nemo suite for our trip this summer and while I swore I was staying there even without a discount, I know the bargain-hunter in me is going to cave and move to a LK suite again to get the discount. Though I did decide if the discount isn't going to save me more than $400, I'm sticking with the Nemo suite. I don't like the color scheme of the Cars rooms, so I'm not sure I'll ever actually stay in one. I was willing to suffer through it for the kids, but since they later told me they didn't really like the Cars suites either, I see no reason to stay in one. We do walk over to that area at least once or twice during our stay to just soak in the atmosphere, though.

Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you end up choosing (though I totally understand the over-analyzing thing. Guilty).

Yeah, I actually noticed that the rooms themselves in the Cars building are sort of bland, although I think that goes with the "motif" of the "Motel" feel they're going for. SO I guess there is give and take there - the LK rooms are certainly more dynamic.

Crazy thing - our son is a huge Pixar fan, much more so than the classics. So I kind of gave him my whole spiel (since I was definitely leaning Cars) and really playing up the theming and everything and he's nodding in agreement and at the end I go "So you want to book the Cars one?" and he goes "Nah, I want Lion King." Was not expecting that.

Given the proximity for the mugs (which we definitely use - I'm usually the one trying to get everyone out of bed for rope drops and grabbing the coffees while everyone is straggling), I think I'm going to book LK and just make it a point to go walk through Radiator Springs at some point.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[shannon006]

Do they sell gallons of bottled water? Our son and DIL will be needing it for our granddaughters formula. We arrive 4 weeks from today!

 

[WEDWDW]

Does AOA have bus boards yet?

No,nor does POP.

 

[shannon006]

No,nor does POP.

Thanks, we have a split stay, AOA & POP. I was hoping. We loved having them at KV in February and Riverside in June.

 

[yellowfish78]

I think it differs from month to month but this month it's near building 5 (the northern Nemo building). http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/AoACalendar.pdf

Thank you! Last time I went it was between the Lion King buildings and the inflatable screen was so close to building 10 that I swear people could touch it from their window. And it was loud. LOL That's a great spot for it! Hoping to catch a movie on our next trip.