Police presence at Art of Animation Resort

[Dobbee69]

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[disneychic2]

just had a friend that just came back from the Art of Animation Resort and she was shocked by the police presence there? What is going on with this resort? She said she did not like the feel of the resort. Here kids did not feel comfortable there as well. Any idea what is up with this? She said it felt geto?

I know someone on the DIS reported a while back that there had been vandalism in the CARS section of AoA. Maybe this has been an ongoing problem?

 

[AliceIn]

I just got back also -- no idea what your friend was talking about. There was absolutely no ghetto feel to anything. It was all families, mostly with small children. I saw a sheriff's car once during the day, and he seemed to be over where the construction vehicles were. It's not unusual for county people to be at a construction site.

 

[Mariep26]

just had a friend that just came back from the Art of Animation Resort and she was shocked by the police presence there? What is going on with this resort? She said she did not like the feel of the resort. Here kids did not feel comfortable there as well. Any idea what is up with this? She said it felt geto?

I don't get it.. they felt uncomfortable due to police presence? I won't even start into your poor choice in descriptive words.

As pp said there was vandalism and since there is ongoing construction, I wouldn't think it was strange to see police/security around.

 

[RyMacJ]

I've been reading loads of reviews of AoA (as we are staying there in the spring) and this is the first I've heard of any type of unsafe feeling.

 

[Dobbee69]

Sorry to “offend” you Maria with the term that my friend used. I am only asking other peoples opinion as I have never visited this resort and have never found that to be the case with any of the other resorts on the Disney property that I have visited. Just asking for feed back. She did say there were police occasionally walking the property. This was within the last two weeks

 

[Mousemommy1]

Sorry to “offend” you Maria with the term that my friend used. I am only asking other peoples opinion as I have never visited this resort and have never found that to be the case with any of the other resorts on the Disney property that I have visited. Just asking for feed back. She did say there were police occasionally walking the property. This was within the last two weeks

My guess would be that it was construction related. We stayed at the WL last month, where there is alot of construction going on inside and often saw members of what I would guess was the sheriff's department there. Not sure why that would make anyone feel uncomfortable, unless they were a criminal...

 

[BuzzandWoodyMom]

just had a friend that just came back from the Art of Animation Resort and she was shocked by the police presence there? What is going on with this resort? She said she did not like the feel of the resort. Here kids did not feel comfortable there as well. Any idea what is up with this? She said it felt geto?

I don't really "get" this post. What do you mean by police presence? There were police patrolling the entire resort at multiple days/times? Or she happened to see a police officer at the resort? What was the reason her kids didn't feel comfortable. And she said it felt "ghetto?" That statement alone makes me think that your friend might be somewhat melodramatic. Clearly she has never actually been in a depressed socioeconomic area (ghetto), or she would not have used that analagy to describe Art of Animation.

There have been, literally, hundreds of reviews of this resort on this board and many other Disney planning boards, and I don't think I've read any negative reviews - other than maybe crowded food courts, a long wait for buses and long check in lines, but really, those are all normal complaints from summer travelers at WDW.

Crime can happen anywhere at anytime, even the happiest place on earth. About 3 years ago, the Mayor of our town was staying at The Wilderness Lodge, a very expensive deluxe Disney resort, and their brand new Chevy Tahoe was stolen from the parking lot of Wilderness Lodge - right out of the "guarded" parking lot on site and the car was never recovered.

 

[AliceIn]

Police and security walking an ongoing construction project is pretty normal, though. There were never any loud parties, rowdy people at the pool, or anybody obviously drunk and disorderly -- those are the sort of things that would ruin the vibe at a hotel. Those sort of people would probably not be attracted to the AoA - this is definitely a family resort.

I met so many lovely people from all over the world at the AoA. It was a great experience.

 

[Sunnywho]

Sorry to “offend” you Maria with the term that my friend used.

I tell my kids that if a friend uses an offensive word, it is just as offensive for them to repeat it. They are easily able to find less offensive words rather than repeat verbatim something that will offend. They are in elementary school in the 5 - 10 year-old range.

 

[Mariep26]

Sorry to “offend” you Maria with the term that my friend used. I am only asking other peoples opinion as I have never visited this resort and have never found that to be the case with any of the other resorts on the Disney property that I have visited. Just asking for feed back. She did say there were police occasionally walking the property. This was within the last two weeks

My name is Marie and it doesn't really matter who said it, it is not worthy of being repeated. I agree with the other poster who said it sounds like your friend is a melodramatic type.

 

[Dobbee69]

I did not put this post up to be bashed by people for asking for feed back. I guess I never post/ ask anyting again

 

[smitch425]

just had a friend that just came back from the Art of Animation Resort and she was shocked by the police presence there? What is going on with this resort? She said she did not like the feel of the resort. Here kids did not feel comfortable there as well. Any idea what is up with this? She said it felt geto?

Did she bother to ask a CM if there was an issue at the resort? The resort is anything but "geto" (which I am assuming you meant "ghetto"). She could have easily put her kids at ease with a simple question. Sorry they had a bad time, but it could have easily been avoided.

 

[*Fantasia*]

My guess is the police are doing their round follow up on the vandalism that has occurred to make sure everything is okay and nothing unusual, and since there's the construction going on, they might as well check on them too.

 

[sydneysmom]

Personally, I think if I had been there and had seen that the police were there ,I would more question WHY they were there, not be uncomfortable that they WERE there. I think I'd have asked someone at the front desk if there was something going on or had something happened rather than label the resort "ghetto".

If there WAS something that warranted the police being there, most people might feel comforted that they were handling the situation. Just my opinion.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

The resort is brand new and has only been open a few months. Not sure how in the world it could be "ghetto" unless it was designed to be that way, which it wasn't. I'm just having a hard time knowing remotely what you/your friend could possibly mean. It's Disney World for heaven's sake.
Unless your friend is used to everything posh and has some issues with perception, a brand new, just built Disney World resort is anything but "ghetto". And that really is a poor choice of wording to use. :/

 

[minniebeth]

I did not put this post up to be bashed by people for asking for feed back. I guess I never post/ ask anyting again

No need to be so defensive
In your post, you described an experience that a friend had, but you posted in questions which will lead others to give you feedback/discussion with *their* experiences and knowledge of AoA. You said your friend didn't like the feel of the resort in a negative connotation which was your friend's opinion, but others overwhelmingly have had or read about a different experience. AoA is a very beautiful, fun, creative family friendly resort (from my personal experience) and I feel just as safe there as any other Disney resort.
Kids need to know that police presence can be a postive thing, that they are there to serve the community and help in the safe keeping of in this example, construction workers, etc.
I hope your friend had a good time anyway, I can't imagine kids not having fun at AoA!

 

[tinktinktink]

No need to bash her! This should feel like a safe place. Yes it was a poor word of choice,but everyone should grow up! Ideally her friend would have asked the police or a CM. If she felt uncomfortable in any way I'm sure a CM would have been more than happy to help. I will be staying at AoA in 28 days! I couldn't be more excited! Your friend is entitled to her opinion. I hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[lilipad]

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We just got back last Sunday after a wonderful wonderful week. I'm not sure why your friend and her kids felt threatened. I did notice FL Sheriff cars at DTD and other areas, but I wouldn't call that "presence." Yeah, I'm sure there is lots of security, and police do make the rounds, but in no way did we ever feel uncomfortable or unsafe. As another poster mentions, it's certainly not the hood. I felt very very safe throughout our entire stay and would not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[Mariep26]

No need to bash her! This should feel like a safe place. Yes it was a poor word of choice,but everyone should grow up! Ideally her friend would have asked the police or a CM. If she felt uncomfortable in any way I'm sure a CM would have been more than happy to help. I will be staying at AoA in 28 days! I couldn't be more excited! Your friend is entitled to her opinion. I hope you enjoy your stay!

I don't see any bashing going on. The post, at a minimum, does not provide enough information to determine if her friend felt uncomfortable because there were police there (which would be suspect to me) or they just had an all around different impression of the resort. Then she throw a word out there which is completely in poor taste (regardless of who said it)

She has a right to her opinion and so do I. I didn't see anything in this thread that necessitates telling us to "grow up"