Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Thread

[pisc0011]

I had a few questions
1. We are staying in the AOA nemo suites and we were doing the online check in.. what is the "close to lobby" choice? Is that lobby of the suite area or the actual lobby of the hotel? We are hoping to get a first floor due to having a ECV with us.
2. Does anyone know how the rooms are labeled? For instance, if they start with a 1, does that mean first floor or etc? We have always gotten the text confirmation when on the ME and if it happens again, I will at least know if it is a first floor or not.

3. We were thinking about getting themed magic bands but on the Disney store website they only have a few. Does anyone know if there are more choices down in Disney? Also, do you get a new puck with a themed one? I am signed up for the pink but if I decide to buy a red band, does that mean I have to put my pink puck in the red band?

 

[bluezy]

Hi! My DD26 and I have booked a 4 night trip at AoA in one of the bigger suites, they are all so cute! We've stayed at LM a couple nights a few years ago. So we keep going back and forth on which place to request! One day we're leaning towards Nemo and the next Cars or Lion King, lol.
Those who have stayed in these sections, can you share why you liked any of them so much? I'm gonna read thru all the pages here, but I'd love to hear from any that will share currently, so TIA!
Also, looking at the maps, trying to decide where to request in relation to the bus stop and Animation hall. Looking at Lion King, it looks very close to the bus area, but don't see walkways to get there so my DD26 was thinking Cars the closer buildings, or even Nemo might actually be closer. Also, wondering what floor would be good to request? We will have an ecv so would need an elevator so depending on how far we are down the hall, that could be a pain maybe, and DD26 doesn't really like first floor cause she's afraid critters might get in, lol.
We're excited for our stay here and apreciate all who are willing to share with us here!

We've stayed in both of the Lion King buildings as well as Building 5 of Nemo. Both of our rooms in the Lion King buildings were at the end of the hallway closest to Animation Hall. We were on the 4th floor both times but mostly used the stairs. The walk to the food court and bus stops was very quick. We usually walked through the food court and gift shop to get out to the bus stops. If we were getting off/on at the bus stop at the end of the pick-up area, it was just as easy to walk along the parking lot sidewalks to get back to our room. From our room in building 10 to the back door of the food court was about 100 yards (using the stairs). From that room to the center of the bus stops (either route) was about 300 yards. When we used the elevators, it would add about 100 yards to the walk. Our distances in building 6 were very similar.

Our room in Building 5 of the Nemo section was on the first floor in the wing that juts out towards the Lion King building (right where the "5" starfish is on the map of AoA). That room was actually about 130 yards from the back door of the food court (and about 330 yards from the center of the bus stops). However, since it was on the first floor, it *felt* closer. It was also a very quick walk to the pool - which really wasn't an issue even when we stayed in the LK buildings because we don't do a ton of swimming (usually 2 or 3 times during a 7-day stay). And I understand the concern about critters in the room when you're on the first floor -- I'm the same way. But since these buildings have interior hallways, I was willing to deal with the remote chance that a critter could get in (none did). I still don't think I'd do it at a resort with exterior room doors.

Honestly, we liked all of our room locations and wouldn't hesitate to stay in any of them again but I think the edge goes to the Nemo room (but maybe we'd feel the same way about a first floor room in LK as well). And while I love the theming in the Cars area (especially at night), we will probably never stay there because we use the refillable mugs *a lot* when we're there and nearly all of the LK and Nemo Bldg. 5 rooms are closer to the food court end of Animation Hall than any of the Cars rooms. If we weren't using the refillable mugs, I'd probably be ok in Building 1 or some of the rooms in Building 3 of the Cars section. And I'll mention that while we drive to Disney, we only use Disney transportation once we're there. If we were driving to the parks every day, I would not want to be in the Nemo buildings. No matter where you park, it's a hike to those rooms from the parking lots. If we were using the car frequently during our stay, we'd definitely be in a LK or Cars suite.

In your case, since you will need to use the elevators every time you come and go, I'd definitely request a room close to them or request first floor. When we used the elevators in the LK buildings, it added a few more minutes to our walk as we had to walk the full length of the wing to get to the elevator and then we had to make the same walk back to that end of the building again after exiting the elevator. And as a side note, we had great success using the Touring Plans room fax request service. We requested a specific room in Nemo Buildng 5 but I indicated that any room on that hallway would be fine. We got the room right next to the one I requested. I really just wanted to make sure we were in Building 5 and anything after that (first floor, lake view) was icing on the cake.

 

[hulagirl87]

I have never done online check in before, and wondering how it works? I've always just checked in at the front desk. Do they text you with your room number and you just get to go right to your room instead of stopping at the front desk? I'm sure it's something simple, but maybe someone could just tell me more about it?

I'm excited, but nervous about the sleeping arrangements. I stayed at the Lion King suites with DD a year ago, but this is DS's first trip and he has never slept away from home. He is not a good sleeper as it is and wakes several times a night. I'm trying to think of the best placement for all of us in the room. I've already shown him videos of the room and the table bed and how he will sleep with Nemo. I think he will sleep in the table bed and I will sleep on the couch bed, then DD and DH and can have the room with the door that closes so if DS cries then he hopefully won't bother them. DD and DH both snore too, so best to keep them seperated Anyone have a kid who is not a good sleeper? Any hopes that being in Disney will help him? And the theory of "wear them out and they will sleep better" doesn't work for him. I have run him ragged plenty of times, and he still wakes at night!

 

[bluezy]

I had a few questions
1. We are staying in the AOA nemo suites and we were doing the online check in.. what is the "close to lobby" choice? Is that lobby of the suite area or the actual lobby of the hotel? We are hoping to get a first floor due to having a ECV with us.
2. Does anyone know how the rooms are labeled? For instance, if they start with a 1, does that mean first floor or etc? We have always gotten the text confirmation when on the ME and if it happens again, I will at least know if it is a first floor or not.

3. We were thinking about getting themed magic bands but on the Disney store website they only have a few. Does anyone know if there are more choices down in Disney? Also, do you get a new puck with a themed one? I am signed up for the pink but if I decide to buy a red band, does that mean I have to put my pink puck in the red band?

1. I don't remember seeing "close to lobby" in the AoA check-in requests when I've done online check-in (though I know those options change sometimes). I remember there being a "close to elevator" option (which would be referring to the elevators in your building) and "close to transportation" (which would be the bus stops). I'm not sure which "lobby" they'd be referring to. Is the "close to elevator" option not there anymore?

2. Room numbers are 4 digits. The first digit is Building number (with building 10 being a 0). The second digit is the floor number indicator (5 = first floor; 6 = second floor, etc.) The 3rd & 4th digits are the actual room number on that floor. For example; our room number from our last trip was 5520. We were in Building 5, first floor, room 20.

3. Can't help on this one...

 

[jcarwash]

I had a few questions
1. We are staying in the AOA nemo suites and we were doing the online check in.. what is the "close to lobby" choice? Is that lobby of the suite area or the actual lobby of the hotel? We are hoping to get a first floor due to having a ECV with us.
2. Does anyone know how the rooms are labeled? For instance, if they start with a 1, does that mean first floor or etc? We have always gotten the text confirmation when on the ME and if it happens again, I will at least know if it is a first floor or not.

3. We were thinking about getting themed magic bands but on the Disney store website they only have a few. Does anyone know if there are more choices down in Disney? Also, do you get a new puck with a themed one? I am signed up for the pink but if I decide to buy a red band, does that mean I have to put my pink puck in the red band?

1. I am not sure, but I would expect "close to lobby" to mean "close to Animation Hall." You're going to get the same online requests for AoA whether you are in a suite building or a Little Mermaid building, and the LM buildings don't have anything I'd describe as a lobby.

2. This was answered above about the room numbering syntax at AoA, but I wanted to add that Pop Century across the way uses second digits 1, 2, 3, 4 to indicate floor number whereas AoA uses 5, 6, 7, 8 to indicate first floor, second floor, third floor, fourth floor. The two resorts close enough where they need to distinguish room numbers between the two.

3. When you purchase a MagicBand or MagicBand 2, it comes complete to be activated and matched with your account. Any new MagicKeeper merchandise where you would take your MagicBand 2 "puck" and move it around are other forms like carabiners and lanyards, not empty bands.

 

[Minniekins]

Finding Nemo is the section with the closest direct path through Animation Hall to access the bus stop area, however, both the Lion King and Cars sections provide convenient access too; neither are as distant as the Little Mermaid section. In the Cars section, buildings 1 and 3 are closer in proximity versus building 2.

Thank you, jcarwash, that's the kind of info i'm looking for, thx!

We've stayed in both of the Lion King buildings as well as Building 5 of Nemo. Both of our rooms in the Lion King buildings were at the end of the hallway closest to Animation Hall. We were on the 4th floor both times but mostly used the stairs. The walk to the food court and bus stops was very quick. We usually walked through the food court and gift shop to get out to the bus stops. If we were getting off/on at the bus stop at the end of the pick-up area, it was just as easy to walk along the parking lot sidewalks to get back to our room. From our room in building 10 to the back door of the food court was about 100 yards (using the stairs). From that room to the center of the bus stops (either route) was about 300 yards. When we used the elevators, it would add about 100 yards to the walk. Our distances in building 6 were very similar.

Our room in Building 5 of the Nemo section was on the first floor in the wing that juts out towards the Lion King building (right where the "5" starfish is on the map of AoA). That room was actually about 130 yards from the back door of the food court (and about 330 yards from the center of the bus stops). However, since it was on the first floor, it *felt* closer. It was also a very quick walk to the pool - which really wasn't an issue even when we stayed in the LK buildings because we don't do a ton of swimming (usually 2 or 3 times during a 7-day stay). And I understand the concern about critters in the room when you're on the first floor -- I'm the same way. But since these buildings have interior hallways, I was willing to deal with the remote chance that a critter could get in (none did). I still don't think I'd do it at a resort with exterior room doors.

Honestly, we liked all of our room locations and wouldn't hesitate to stay in any of them again but I think the edge goes to the Nemo room (but maybe we'd feel the same way about a first floor room in LK as well). And while I love the theming in the Cars area (especially at night), we will probably never stay there because we use the refillable mugs *a lot* when we're there and nearly all of the LK and Nemo Bldg. 5 rooms are closer to the food court end of Animation Hall than any of the Cars rooms. If we weren't using the refillable mugs, I'd probably be ok in Building 1 or some of the rooms in Building 3 of the Cars section. And I'll mention that while we drive to Disney, we only use Disney transportation once we're there. If we were driving to the parks every day, I would not want to be in the Nemo buildings. No matter where you park, it's a hike to those rooms from the parking lots. If we were using the car frequently during our stay, we'd definitely be in a LK or Cars suite.

In your case, since you will need to use the elevators every time you come and go, I'd definitely request a room close to them or request first floor. When we used the elevators in the LK buildings, it added a few more minutes to our walk as we had to walk the full length of the wing to get to the elevator and then we had to make the same walk back to that end of the building again after exiting the elevator. And as a side note, we had great success using the Touring Plans room fax request service. We requested a specific room in Nemo Buildng 5 but I indicated that any room on that hallway would be fine. We got the room right next to the one I requested. I really just wanted to make sure we were in Building 5 and anything after that (first floor, lake view) was icing on the cake.

Thank you, Bluezy, for your very detailed post with lots of great and useful info, and i appreciate you taking time to write it all for me! Looks like we'll have to request to be near elevator in any of the buildings probably, that back and forth walk would be a pain, lol. Still to decide which would be best, cutest, closest, and such, lol. It does seem Cars would be farthest, unless we were lucky enough to get on the close end to animation hall and buses.

Wondering if there is any benefit or reason to request upper floor(other than critters, lol, forgot that it was all inside hallways, unlike LM where we stayed before a couple years ago). DD26 thinks maybe an upper floor would be quieter or have better views maybe? And, if do we need to put the requests in now(trip in Nov), or is just doing it when we fax in requests good enough?
Also, how likely is it that our request of building will be granted? I noticed others here noting that they were staying in a particular building but thought that's something we wouldn't know until we get there. Do they actually tell you ahead of time?
Thanks again for any helpful info, definitely appreciated!

 

[bluezy]

Thank you, Bluezy, for your very detailed post with lots of great and useful info, and i appreciate you taking time to write it all for me! Looks like we'll have to request to be near elevator in any of the buildings probably, that back and forth walk would be a pain, lol. Still to decide which would be best, cutest, closest, and such, lol. It does seem Cars would be farthest, unless we were lucky enough to get on the close end to animation hall and buses.

Wondering if there is any benefit or reason to request upper floor(other than critters, lol, forgot that it was all inside hallways, unlike LM where we stayed before a couple years ago). DD26 thinks maybe an upper floor would be quieter or have better views maybe? And, if do we need to put the requests in now(trip in Nov), or is just doing it when we fax in requests good enough?
Also, how likely is it that our request of building will be granted? I noticed others here noting that they were staying in a particular building but thought that's something we wouldn't know until we get there. Do they actually tell you ahead of time?
Thanks again for any helpful info, definitely appreciated!

I'm not sure if I would consider the view from an upper floor any better than the first floor. The windows in the rooms are at least waist high -- so you really have to be standing right at them to enjoy any view from the upper floors. When we were on the 4th floor, if we were sitting on the couch or laying in bed, the view out the window was the tops of trees and the sky. If we wanted to see anything, we had to walk over to the window to look out. On the first floor, we had a lakeview room but we kept the curtains closed most of the time since there were often people walking along the path between our room and the lake. The only reason I even requested lakeview for our first floor room was that I knew they do the night time movies on the grassy area between the front of the building 5 and the LK area so I didn't want our room facing that because I thought it might be noisy (though we ended up never being in the room during the movie time).

You can add the request to your reservation at any time but they don't start assigning rooms until a few days before your check-in date. So it doesn't really matter when you do it as long as it's at least 5 days out. FTR, I didn't do any room requests until about 2 weeks out. At that point I had finalized my room selection with Touring Plans and then I did online check-in and made sure to only indicate room requests that complimented the room I had requested through TP (so in our case, I chose "first floor" and "close to transportation" with the hopes that if the TP fax didn't go through or get seen, at least I was still increasing our chances of being in Building 5) You won't know what room you've been assigned until check-in (or receiving a direct-to-room text). I do think that the first floor of any building is going to be noisier than any other floor simply because most people staying in that building are going to walk down the hall to the elevators. However, I will say we had no problem with noise during our stay in the Nemo suite but I think that is because I requested to be off of the main hallway. There really wasn't any reason to walk down our hallway unless you had a room down there. The exterior door for that hallway lead to the grassy area between the LK and Nemo sections -- not an area that people are usually coming from or going to. I knew we did *NOT* want to be on the main hall (the long one that runs parallel to the pool) as that hallway has a lot of traffic. And a lot of people are loud when they're walking down the hallway. If we *had* to be on that hallway, I didn't want a room facing the pool because I knew the pool view rooms would be a little noisier (and a little less private) than the rooms on the other side of the hall. I also knew I didn't want to be next to the doors at the end of the hall because that was the only noise we heard when staying in our 4th floor suites at LK. I swear that there were only one or two other rooms occupied on those 4th floor wings so there was virtually no noise. But if someone used the stairway doors, we heard that loud "slam/click" every time...even in the bedroom with the door closed. Sooooo...what's my point..... I knew we wanted to try a first floor room on our last trip but I also knew we had been very spoiled by our convenient location (close to the food court and bus stops) in our LK suites *and* spoiled by the quietness of a not fully occupied floor/wing when staying on the 4th floor. I used the Touring Plans room finder (and fax service) to choose a first floor room that would be in a relatively quiet location. It took a lot of searching to find that room since I also needed to be sure we were in Building 5 since Building 4 would have felt like a much longer walk to the food court and bus stops than we had been used to on our prior trips. I know the Nemo buildings always sell out so I wasn't sure that we would get our requests -- we would need someone to be checking out of one of the suites on the hall we wanted on the morning we were arriving -- which is why I made sure to indicate *why* we were requesting the specific room. With the information I gave, they were able to put us in a similar room that still met our needs/wants.

In summary, in your case, I would probably use the TP room fax request and request a room on that same wing of Nemo Bldg. 5 that we were in. You can decide whether you want first floor or an upper floor because either one would be convenient since you have to walk past the elevators to get to those rooms -- there would be no back-tracking. I think that hallway is going to be quiet (barring a very noisy family next door) regardless of which floor it is since that area of the building is basically a dead end and won't have much foot traffic.

Good luck...you have no idea how long it took me to figure out which room to request for our trip last June but in the end, it was worth all that work because it was an awesome location for us. And now my husband says he'd like to stay in that room again if we stay at AoA on our next trip so that makes my job much easier. ;D

 

[moodyeeyore]

What would you request if you would like a King bed in the Little Mermaid section but know that it's not guaranteed (and also unlikely)? Would you just request the King bed, or would you request a section you prefer if the King bed is not available? I've already called and requested a King bed with Disney, but trying to decide what to put on the Touring Plans fax (or if I should send one at all). I've requested a King bed at Pop before and didn't get it (and that was the only request I put in), and we ended up in one of the farthest buildings from the check-in/food court. I know all of the Little Mermaid buildings are far, but some rooms are a little closer than others.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[ddog171]

I have an 8:00AM ADR at CRT on a 9AM opening, what time should I be at the bus stops to make it there in time? Thanks!

 

[Noles2002]

I have an 8:00AM ADR at CRT on a 9AM opening, what time should I be at the bus stops to make it there in time? Thanks!

I would allow at least an hour, we had the same thing and there was a huge crowd waiting for RD. You still have the security check point. Plus we had a problem with the CM not letting us in despite our reservation. We did eventually get in. When you get the MK entrance, you have to go ALL the way to the furthest left gate for them to let you in early. (At least when we went) Took much longer than we expected!

 

[ddog171]

I would allow at least an hour, we had the same thing and there was a huge crowd waiting for RD. You still have the security check point. Plus we had a problem with the CM not letting us in despite our reservation. We did eventually get in. When you get the MK entrance, you have to go ALL the way to the furthest left gate for them to let you in early. (At least when we went) Took much longer than we expected!

Thanks! How long did you wait at security/bag check?

 

[Noles2002]

Thanks! How long did you wait at security/bag check?

Depending on the day and crowds that day will vary. We went in a slower season (April - not near Easter) and the guards were very good about trying to get you through quickly. I think the longest was 10 minutes. But again, very much depends on what time of year you're going I think. Even that early. Bigger crowds for RD mean people get there SUPER EARLY to be up front.

 

[Noles2002]

Thanks! How long did you wait at security/bag check?

To be honest I think your biggest lines are going to be waiting for the bus at AOA. That early in the morning we had to wait for 3 buses before we could get on. They cram in as many as they can possibly fit, but still. Plus it's about a 15 minute bus ride. Have fun once you get in though. No crowds and the best pictures!!!

 

[ddog171]

Depending on the day and crowds that day will vary. We went in a slower season (April - not near Easter) and the guards were very good about trying to get you through quickly. I think the longest was 10 minutes. But again, very much depends on what time of year you're going I think. Even that early. Bigger crowds for RD mean people get there SUPER EARLY to be up front.

We are going the second week of May, hopefully the crowd levels won't be too high. Thanks for the info.

 

[DMLAINI]

Are you able to see the Hollywood Studios fireworks from Aoa?

 

[CJK]

Are you able to see the Hollywood Studios fireworks from Aoa?

Yes, excellent view! Depending on your room location, you could see from your room. One popular place to watch is from the Generation Gap bridge (closer to Pop Century, and turn towards AOA).

 

[VeronicaZS]

We could see fireworks from our 4th floor room in Cars building 1. We were towards the end on the side closest to building 2. We could only see the high fireworks and I am not sure if they were Epcot's or HS but either way the kids enjoyed it. It was a nice surprise b/c they were not old enough to stay up late to see them in the parks.

 

[WEDWDW]

One popular place to watch is from the Generation Gap bridge (closer to Pop Century, and turn towards AOA).

Here is IllumiNations from GGB.

 

[Jaclyn Scarborough]

What would you request if you would like a King bed in the Little Mermaid section but know that it's not guaranteed (and also unlikely)? Would you just request the King bed, or would you request a section you prefer if the King bed is not available? I've already called and requested a King bed with Disney, but trying to decide what to put on the Touring Plans fax (or if I should send one at all). I've requested a King bed at Pop before and didn't get it (and that was the only request I put in), and we ended up in one of the farthest buildings from the check-in/food court. I know all of the Little Mermaid buildings are far, but some rooms are a little closer than others.

Thanks in advance!!

Also looking for this information! I put in this request through Dreams Unlimited, but any additional insight would be much appreciated!!!

 

[Jaclyn Scarborough]

I would request, ground floor, building #7, close to building #6. I like either landscape or lake view in this building. I would just want to be as close as possible to the lion king section to lesson my walk to the main building if possible.

Do you know if there are any King beds in this section?