Is AoA suite really worth it?

[terri33inne]

Have you priced out 7 nights for your family under the current discounts in a suite? That will give you a bit of an idea of cost.

 

[Cupcakesmum]

We LOVE art of animation. The kids adore the theming. We really don't want to stay anywhere else. We get a suite BUT there are six of us. The LM rooms are definitely a bit of a trek. If I was going to upgrade for $1700 I would do it at Art of Animation over a moderate but I think I would also be willing to do the walk to save $1700. It is such a fun resort for kids. i'm not sure if your pricing includes a discount but I would expect that one will be released at some point.

 

[alex9179]

Another vote to look at the Mods over a suite and definitely over a LM room if the budget allowed.

We stayed in a Cars suite at the beginning of our vacation for our first trip. The rooms are lovely for a family of five and the kids got a kick out of it. We realized that food courts aren't our thing on that trip so AOA, and values in general, is off our list. We stayed at Poly and CR since, with CR being the kids' favorite and they didn't even swim! I stayed at POR with my mom and enjoyed the amenities over what is offered at a Value.

If your heart is set on it, indulge yourself. "Where" will affect you and DH a lot more than the kids.

 

[lennyd]

I say no the theming is good but the all star music is just as good and they have suites

 

[lennyd]

Pop has the best food court out of the moderates

 

[mister morrow]

i'd go with a moderate instead.
unless if your kids are adored by the themed rooms, i wouldn't stay for that price if i can get a room at a moderate for around the same price with more amenities.

 

[surlecn]

Your children are still quite young. Can they share a double bed?

If you do trips in the future, as they get older, then it will become harder to share a room with all four of you (we outgrew that comfortably years ago, but I have teen/young adult kids now).

When my kids were little, we would share a room.

Your first trip will be memorable no matter what! The kids will have so much fun at the parks that the theme of the resort won't make any difference to them one bit. It's more about what you're comfortable with.

After many stays at deluxe resorts, and the pricing going up so much, my daughter and I stayed at Pop Century last August and loved it! It was just great, and we also did a two night stay over spring break with my son along (then my husband joined us when we moved over to AKV Kidani). She and I shared the one double bed, and gave my son the other one.

I'd take a look at Pop Century just to compare. You don't really "need" the suite space, but I also agree the Little Mermaid rooms are far from everything and not worth it to me.

Have you also considered pricing out points rental (like from David's) to see if a one bedroom villa somewhere would be a good idea? Our first stay all 4 of us we were at the Boardwalk Villas in a one bedroom villa, and it was amazing. My kids were 2 and 4, and Epcot was their favorite park (still is), so walking to Epcot was terrific!

The biggest difference with a moderate is a pool slide (not sure how much that plays into it), a sit down restaurant (we hardly ever do sit down meals, but if so it's likely at a park), queen beds instead of double now that they replaced them all, and a coffee maker. I bring a coffee maker, daughter and I each get our own bed, so Pop is where we're returning end of August! I can't justify the high costs of other resorts any longer!

They may be able to sleep in a double, but I know my DH and I definitely can't!

 

[surlecn]

Have you priced out 7 nights for your family under the current discounts in a suite? That will give you a bit of an idea of cost.

Thats a great idea, but i wasn't sure what percentage would be applicable around that time.

 

[surlecn]

So we just returned from a short weekend trip and stayed in a 2 queen standard room at a local hotel. There was enough room, but the boys were jumping off of the walls. We were only in the room long enough to shower and sleep. I was thinking the LM will probably be smaller. It really has me leaning towards the suites. I think the extra space, shorter walking distance and PEACE OF MIND for mommy and daddy will be worth it all!! I just really hope the discount will be substantial!!

 

[happymommy]

Yes, Howard Family, I agree! My kids actually included one kicker so them sharing a bed never turned out quite well, and my DH and I had a double bed once all summer in a hotel (he was at the Naval Justice School so we lived in a hotel on base). It sucked.

Some folks do fine sharing a double bed. DD and I shared one for two nights at Pop, since DS was in the other bed last trip. It was okay, but we knew it was only 2 nights.

 

[Vader-was-framed]

My family loves aoa if you stay in nemo. It is very centralized. It really is a nice resort. Great pool and nice bus system. The moderates have a ton of bus stops. Coranado 4 and Caribbean 7. Aoa just has one bus stop and designated lines.

 

[cewewee]

Is the AoA suite really worth it? We will be taking our sons, 4 & 7, to Disney for the first time for Spring Break next year. We will be staying 7 nights. Originally we were going to do the LM rooms at AoA, but after reading reviews and talking to people, I figured it would be too far away and too small for us. So I was thinking a suite would be better since there is a little bit more room and they appear to be closer to everything than the LM. Plus we will actually spend a few days enjoying the resort and on park days we plan to return for naps. But the price difference is $1700!! I know with that much of a price difference we can go to a Mod, but I really want them to enjoy the theme of AoA. I am at a total loss and I need help!!!

We stayed there as a family of 5. There is only one bed, so the kids have to sleep on the pull out couch or on the Murphy bed attached to the table. My kids complained that the sofa was uncomfortable, and it really was. We also hated having to pull it out at night. The Murphy bed was better than the couch, but then we couldn't use the table... It was a poor set up for the price. We felt very cramped. The couch only seated 3 people and then there were wooden stools that looked like bongo drums that could be used for extra seating, or you could pull an uncomfortable chair from the table into the dining room area. That was the last time we stayed on property. We are much happier and more comfortable in a two bedroom suite at vistana villages.

 

[lennyd]

Disney let you put 5 in a room? Or was it a suite?

 

[cheapster316]

Our first trip on property kids were 4 and 6. I wanted a card suite because DS loved the movies, toys etc. they loved it. They are only little once and they loved the big blue pool.
We went back in 2015. Kids were 6 & 8. I booked a LM room. Yes it was far at the end of the day but not horrible.
We all were fine in the room because we were at the park during the day. We did use LM pool and big blue pool. We did a Disney cruise and stayed at pop afterwards. We did not like pop at all. We ended up walking over to use AOA food court.
Next trip is 2017. It is a surprise. DS keeps asking when we go back to Disney I really want to stay at finding Nemo. I was like it's too much money. He said well it was not too much money to stay in cars so finding Nemo can't be too much money.
I caved. He is right and they are only little once.

 

[Corbinator]

I posted this on the main AoA thread but I'll chime in here too. We just upgraded from LM to Cars. After sleeping doubled up (family of four) for only four nights in July, I couldn't do it. My boys would constantly argue, whisper, fool around and even when we pulled one into our bed and switched kids they were on top of us! Horrible bed partners! Lol. My husband earned a big bonus at work so the extra $1600 for us is totally manageable. This is our one and only big trip while the kids are little so we figured less headache more fun. My oldest on had a Cars birthday when he was 4 so it will be a slam dunk on theme. I can close the door and tune out the giggling. We can eat every breakfast in a chair, not the edge of the beds. My own bathroom without a little boy pooping as I dry my hair!! I just know we would fight too much together. My husband travels a lot so he is picky about his own space. Giving up a sit down res and a fancier pool made zero difference to us. Saving time walking from LM is an improvement too.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

The LM section isn't THAT far away from everything. Is it right where the Nemo suites are? NO - but with 2 little ones and you and your husband, you don't need the extra cost of the suite. We stayed in a Cars family suite but that was 2 of us over 50, two in their early 20s and 2 17 year olds - 2 baths and 3 separate sleeping areas were important.

I'd say to save the $$ - that $1700 would cover all of your meals on the trip!

Tom

 

[happymommy]

I posted this on the main AoA thread but I'll chime in here too. We just upgraded from LM to Cars. After sleeping doubled up (family of four) for only four nights in July, I couldn't do it. My boys would constantly argue, whisper, fool around and even when we pulled one into our bed and switched kids they were on top of us! Horrible bed partners! Lol. My husband earned a big bonus at work so the extra $1600 for us is totally manageable. This is our one and only big trip while the kids are little so we figured less headache more fun. My oldest on had a Cars birthday when he was 4 so it will be a slam dunk on theme. I can close the door and tune out the giggling. We can eat every breakfast in a chair, not the edge of the beds. My own bathroom without a little boy pooping as I dry my hair!! I just know we would fight too much together. My husband travels a lot so he is picky about his own space. Giving up a sit down res and a fancier pool made zero difference to us. Saving time walking from LM is an improvement too.

I gotta say I agree that a sit down restaurant also doesn't matter to me at all. In all our stays at deluxe resorts, we very rarely used the sit down restaurants ever! I love having a food court so much more; it's easier to grab something, as they offer a big variety for everyone! I haven't stayed at AOA, but Pop twice (once was just for 2 nights) and DD and I are staying there next week. We've walked around AOA, and I think the pools there are so darn cute that I would love to stay there just for that! The Cars section pool with the little cones around that you can use as a gazebo type thing made me envious! I don't care about a water slide; many trips my kids would use the water slides like one day out of a trip if at all.

I wish AOA had been around when my kids were little, and I hadn't been such a "deluxe or nothing" resort snob! I did always get good discounts, either killer ones with the military or good AP deals, but now I think the values offer a lot!

 

[wonderland5]

As a family of 5 the suites are AMAZING. We brought my MIL last time, making us a party of 6 and we still had a TON of space. If we were just a family of 4 we'd save the extra and stick with a regular room or put that money to a "cooler" room at a moderate like the pirate themed rooms. All rooms except for suites are regular hotel sized rooms.

 

[lady_hlh]

I don't think kids your age are going to be really excited about the resort theme. My DD was a huge pool lover and when we got upgraded from POP to OKW years ago she loved it more than the POP because of the better pool. I would also vote for upgrading to a moderate so that you get a bigger room with queen sized beds. My DD loved CSR because they have the best main pool area of all the moderates with a huge slide. I know people complain about the conventions but because so many people were at the conventions the buses were never as crowded as at POR.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

I would also vote for upgrading to a moderate so that you get a bigger room with queen sized beds.

The master bedroom in AoA suites have a queen bed.