The Darlings Caved Already! A Sept. '12 PTR -- Sept. 26 - TR link posted!

[silverhaze269]

Looks like the DIS ppl are invading the Metro Centre... I'm going on the 3rd, Wendy on the 4th and you on the 6th! nice

That's awesome! Who knew ...

Down Time is the time after you've booked all your hotels, meals, and extras, got your flights, planned your parks and before you actually get to start packing and going. It's a time when you wonder what on Earth you're going to fill your PTR with for the next little while.

I've been filling my Down Time with obsessive research on the Art of Animation Resort and let me tell you, it is a time consuming process! We are just about a month away from the first stage opening to the public and new information is coming in fast and furious. I thought I would share some of it with you!

First, if you are interested in this resort and would like to get the updates as they come, the Disney's Art of Animation Resort hotel thread is sort of the official unofficial go to place for all lovers of AoA.

AoA will be laid out almost identical to Pop Century if you are familiar with that layout. A main building houses the check in desks:

There are four sections of rooms. A Finding Nemo section, opening May 31 and entirely comprised of family suites will be considered the main section. A family suite has a master bedroom, two bathrooms, a kitchenette, a dining area that turns into a bed and a living area with pullout couch. It will sleep 6. Located directly outside of Animation Hall, it has two buildings (#4 & #5), the main pool, a kids pool and a dry playground:

A Cars section, opening on June 18 and also consisting of family suites has three buildings (#1, #2, & #3) and a quiet pool, the "Cozy Cone Pool":

A Lion King section opening on August 10, again with family suites. This section has two buildings (#6 & #10) and is the only section with no pool. Instead it has the Elephant Graveyard, an elaborate playground:

Finally, the Little Mermaid section opens on September 15, the day before I check in. It features three buildings (#7, #8, and #9) and a quiet pool called the "Flippin Fins Pool". These three buildings are the only ones that have normal value rooms and no inside hallways. It is the furthest from the main building and bus stops. As it is the last to be finished, there are very few pictures of it yet. I can't wait for more!


Here is Disney's official video, released a few days ago.

The food court, Landscape of Flavors, looks set to become one of the best food courts around. According to the Disney Parks Blog, the food court will feature many build your own options, tandoor ovens, a mongolian grill and real gelato. Lots of healthy options will be offered, but they will also have traditional pizza and burgers.

The Big Blue Pool is the largest pool on Disney property (outside of the water parks). Among its many awesome features are The Drop-Off pool bar, a zero entry, water-trickling giant jellyfish and an underwater sound system! According to Inside the Magic, "[...] music along with the sounds of Dory, Nemo, and other “Finding Nemo” characters will be periodically heard underwater in the pool." It is a gated pool which will require your Art of Animation KTTW to get in.

The reviews are already starting, by media members given tours and they are all very impressed. Several have even stated that this resort is closer to a deluxe than a value!

The more information I get the more excited I become. Originally this was going to be my first Disney trip with nothing particularly special about it (except a 2nd anniversary) and now it's turned into a very exciting trip for us. I'm so happy to say that Johnny is just as excited as I am and scours the internet looking for new information almost as much as me!

The down side?

With this much excitement how will I ever manage to pass the next 140 days!?

I took out the photos just to save on space...

All of that sounds (and looks) fantastic!!! Kind of makes me want to stay there for our trip ...when I was pricing it out though, AoA ended up being more expensive than the CSR so that's one of the reasons we went with that one over AoA...maybe I should check again, just to be sure

 

[teekathepony]

wow, Wow, and WOOOOWWWWW! I am hoping that while we're there we can walk over and check out this little beaut!!! Looks great!!!

I know they've said that once AoA is open the bridge will be too, but if it isn't open yet when you guys are there you can probably see a good bit of it from the path around Pop! If you get some pictures I'd love to see

I took out the photos just to save on space...

All of that sounds (and looks) fantastic!!! Kind of makes me want to stay there for our trip ...when I was pricing it out though, AoA ended up being more expensive than the CSR so that's one of the reasons we went with that one over AoA...maybe I should check again, just to be sure

The suites are very expensive, like $250 per night in value season, but the Little Mermaid rooms (standard rooms like any other value) are only $5 more per night than Pop Century (I think $97 per night). So the LM rooms would definitely be cheaper than CSR. However it is a fantastic hotel and all, but a value all the same, so your CSR room might be more of what you want anyway. But it's worth a look!

 

[amazingact21]

I saw the pictures of AoA on the DISboard newsfeed, and I fell in love with the resort!!!! When Alex got home from work later that night, I pulled him to the computer and showed him the photos. The whole place is blowing my mind with how awesome it is. My dream resort is the Poly, but AoA is now my 2nd, without a doubt.

It's so unbelievably exciting that you are going to be the first to stay in The Little Mermaid rooms. To be able to say that you were the very first guest to stay in Room ... will be such a cool thing.


Of course, the only downside to that is you don't have a ton of pictures of that section to look at to help pass the time.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

AoA looks amazing!!! I love P. Sherman's goggles!

 

[MEK]

That resort really does look amazing and if I add a day to my October trip I will most certainly be staying there. Definitely can't wait to see it in person. So happy for you that you were able to book there.

 

[eeyore04]

Leave it to you! But I LOOOOVVVVEEEE your information on it. Keep it coming!

 

[teekathepony]

I saw the pictures of AoA on the DISboard newsfeed, and I fell in love with the resort!!!! When Alex got home from work later that night, I pulled him to the computer and showed him the photos. The whole place is blowing my mind with how awesome it is. My dream resort is the Poly, but AoA is now my 2nd, without a doubt.

It's so unbelievably exciting that you are going to be the first to stay in The Little Mermaid rooms. To be able to say that you were the very first guest to stay in Room ... will be such a cool thing.


Of course, the only downside to that is you don't have a ton of pictures of that section to look at to help pass the time.

It's really something! I mean, of course Disney isn't going to put up a new hotel that's not as good as existing ones, but wow, they've outdone themselves!
I'm anxious for pictures but at the same time I want to be surprised when I get there. They're already starting to release little bits of info on Lion King and Mermaid sections though so I know I'll get more soon.

AoA looks amazing!!! I love P. Sherman's goggles!

Isn't that clever? Hahaha I love them too!

That resort really does look amazing and if I add a day to my October trip I will most certainly be staying there. Definitely can't wait to see it in person. So happy for you that you were able to book there.

That's awesome that you might get to see it too! I'm beyond excited for it now and I'm glad I didn't just let the TA push me aside (normally I would have!)

Leave it to you! But I LOOOOVVVVEEEE your information on it. Keep it coming!

Leave what to me?
But yes I will continue to share information as soon as it becomes available!

 

[eeyore04]

Leave what to me?
But yes I will continue to share information as soon as it becomes available![/QUOTE]


Leave it to you to do such an elaborate post!

 

[Nermel9]

AoA looks awesome! If things work out the way I'm hoping they work out, and we go in November, the first 2 nights of our trip will be at AoA! I love the pool, it looks amazing!

 

[teekathepony]

AoA looks awesome! If things work out the way I'm hoping they work out, and we go in November, the first 2 nights of our trip will be at AoA! I love the pool, it looks amazing!

Oh how awesome that you guys might get to go too! I hope things work out for you. That pool is so awesome, I can't wait to see it in person!

 

[teekathepony]

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was fantastic! We went to Halifax and saw Cirque du Soleil. Here's the Trip Report!

Friday, May 4: We got up early and Johnny headed into town with his work van. He was dropping it off at the mechanic's to get an oil change and then picking up our rental car. It's cheaper for us to rent a fuel efficient car (we got a Ford Focus) than to drive our gas guzzling truck 4 hours to Halifax.

Meanwhile I was packing last minute things, feeding animals and getting the dogs ready to go to my mother's for the night.

Johnny came back with the car around 8:30 and we hit the road!

Heading down the highway 4:

Officially leaving our island:

It took us about 4.5 hours to get to our hotel, the Best Western - Chocolate Lake and we were too early to check in. We were greeted by a chocolate lab who apparently lives there! It's a pet friendly hotel which was fun, lots of dogs around everywhere. So cute! Our Cirque show was at 3:30 and check-in wasn't until 3. Darn! I was really hoping to freshen up before the show! Wondering what to do we walked next door to Subway and got some lunch. We decided to head to the Halifax Shopping Centre for a little shopping before the show, so we did.

I had a little luck, I'll share some pictures of my purchases at the end.

We then drove to the Metro Centre and found a parking garage. We power-walked to the Centre thinking we were going to be late! We made it with plenty of time to spare. We got some popcorn and found our seats. We were just 4 rows back and very near center! Perfect viewing spot!

Well the show, Dralion, was spectacular.

If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend doing so! I got to be part of the pre-show with the clowns, I threw confetti at the clown and audience member getting married.

No pictures allowed during the show, but I snapped this awful one with my phone afterwards:

After the show we walked back to the car and drove back to our hotel. We checked in and the friendly girl at the desk told us we had one of their best rooms! Top floor (9th) with a king bed.

We rode the elevator up and it was a nice room indeed. The view was great!

Our room:

Our view:

We got washed up and decided to try the hotel restaurant for dinner. Johnny had a chicken club on ciabatta which he loved. I had nachos which were terrible (chips were burnt tasting, not near enough cheese, smothered in olives which wasn't listed in the menu -- I would have asked for none! And the salsa was that awful type that was hot for hot's sake with no actual flavour. Boo.) Johnny decided that though it was late (8) and his favourite store (Princess Auto) closed at 9, he was going to take a run over to look around before it closed. I headed back up to our room and found Jurassic Park on the TV and watched the moon come up over the lake.

Johnny got lost on his way back but finally found his way and brought me a Tim Hortons cappucino. Terrible. I didn't have a good one the whole trip! Apparently Cape Bretoners like everything strong and so we think everything everywhere else tastes like water. Seems true to me.


Saturday, May 5: The next morning I was awake at 6. Despite saying we would take our time, by 7 we were both showered, dressed, packed and ready to go. We went downstairs for our complimentary hot breakfast (fake eggs, ham, no bacon, watered down apple juice... I don't mean to complain, but this was no Disney breakfast!) We thought it would take more time than it did, but we were done by 7:30! We wondered what to do since today was our shopping day, but the malls didn't open until 9:30!

We decided to just go to Wal Mart since it's open earlier. Anything to get out of our hotel room by that point! We checked out and headed out. We wandered around Wal Mart for a while then Johnny said he wanted to go back to Princes Auto. It's a man store... that's about all I can say to describe it. It sells tools and little fittings and screws and nuts and bolts and things like that. Man heaven. Girl hell. So I waited in the car.

When he came back out it was time to head to the mall! So to the MicMac Mall we went!

To a Cape Bretoner this mall is heaven. We have a tiny mall with worthless stores here so no one really shops on the island. Johnny and I both had some good luck here!

Around 11:30 we ate some lunch at the mall and then completed the rest of our shopping. We were going to head to another mall, Dartmouth Crossing, but decided against it since we were tired and just wanted to get home. Also, we had both had so much luck I didn't want to spend any more!

At 12:30 we started our journey home.

We stopped for a rest half way home at a coffee shop/restroom and in the parking lot we saw this wet spot:

It looks just like my island, Cape Breton!

Back to the Cape!

Nothing else eventful happened and by 4:30 we were home and our dogs were kissing our faces!

Everything I bought was with Disney in mind. So here are my new Disney clothes!

From American Eagle, some plain tanks for layering and a seriously comfy striped one:

From Suzy Shier (which we do have here!) This is my favourite. It's so light and comfy and pretty too.

Also these:

From Bootlegger:

And from Old Navy:

So nothing extraordinary, but cheap and nice and comfy and light. Perfect stuff for Disney!

And now back to my boring regularly scheduled life.

 

[pinkxray]

Sounds like a great weekend.

I think that show is playing around here but I decided against seeing it. My bank account seems to be taking a hit lately with all the trips I've started to plan and all the running stuff I've been buying.

I love your tops especially the red and white one. Very cute.

 

[silverhaze269]

Sorry to hear the food was less than stellar at your hotel but at least the room and view were nice

The Halifax Shopping Centre was undergoing some pretty major renovations when I was there last (maybe close to a month ago now) so it's probably good you guys went over to Mic Mac. It looks like you got some nice Disney clothes

Glad to hear you enjoyed Dralion. I also thought it was fantastic!

 

[eeyore04]

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was fantastic! We went to Halifax and saw Cirque du Soleil. Here's the Trip Report!
................................

And now back to my boring regularly scheduled life.

Sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience at Chocolate Lake-Chris and I loved it (although we didn't eat there-we ate at the pizza shop across-ish from Subway) but Coco (the chocolate lab) is so cute and friendly

Dralion was AMAZING! The clown that got "married" almost sat on David's lap-he considered it! The trampoline part made me think of La Nouba!

Sorry to hear the food was less than stellar at your hotel but at least the room and view were nice

The Halifax Shopping Centre was undergoing some pretty major renovations when I was there last (maybe close to a month ago now) so it's probably good you guys went over to Mic Mac. It looks like you got some nice Disney clothes

Glad to hear you enjoyed Dralion. I also thought it was fantastic!

Dralion WAS fantastic! Looks like everyone enjoyed it

 

[Queenofallthings]

You got some great things! Good job!!! Cirque is coming here and I am hoping to tickets! Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[PixieMama]

Oooo, love all the new tanks. You're right, they're perfect for a Disney trip!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm glad you guys had a great trip!! Your pictures are so pretty around the island and travelling!

From Suzy Shier (which we do have here!) This is my favourite. It's so light and comfy and pretty too.

I absolutely LOVE this!!! Beautiful dress!

 

[teekathepony]

Sounds like a great weekend.

I think that show is playing around here but I decided against seeing it. My bank account seems to be taking a hit lately with all the trips I've started to plan and all the running stuff I've been buying.

I love your tops especially the red and white one. Very cute.

It is an expensive show for sure, especially with other things going on. My ticket was my birthday present from my parents.

Sorry to hear the food was less than stellar at your hotel but at least the room and view were nice

The Halifax Shopping Centre was undergoing some pretty major renovations when I was there last (maybe close to a month ago now) so it's probably good you guys went over to Mic Mac. It looks like you got some nice Disney clothes

Glad to hear you enjoyed Dralion. I also thought it was fantastic!

Ahh well, food and me aren't best friends anyway. I'm too picky. Johnny liked his though!
We did stop at the Halifax Shopping Centre our first day for a bit, didn't see any renos going on. Maybe they finished.

Sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience at Chocolate Lake-Chris and I loved it (although we didn't eat there-we ate at the pizza shop across-ish from Subway) but Coco (the chocolate lab) is so cute and friendly

Dralion was AMAZING! The clown that got "married" almost sat on David's lap-he considered it! The trampoline part made me think of La Nouba!

I did have a good experience at Chocolate Lake though... I just didn't have a great meal.
Love the trampoline part (however, to be honest La Nouba's is better)

You got some great things! Good job!!! Cirque is coming here and I am hoping to tickets! Keeping my fingers crossed!

Oooh I'll cross my fingers for you!~ It's a great show and I think you'd enjoy it!

Oooo, love all the new tanks. You're right, they're perfect for a Disney trip!

Nice and soft and light and comfy Can't wait to try them out at Disney now!

I'm glad you guys had a great trip!! Your pictures are so pretty around the island and travelling!
I absolutely LOVE this!!! Beautiful dress!

It does look like a dress in that picture, I noticed it after I took it, but it's actually a shirt! (Not even one of those long shirts that some really daring people use as dresses either ) But it's got a high empire waist on it which makes it look really long.

 

[MEK]

Isn't Cirque wonderful? I loved the show at DTD. I can honestly say I totally lost track of time.

Sounds like you had a wonderful overnighter. I can't wait until I can see pictures of all your fun purchases.

 

[teekathepony]

Isn't Cirque wonderful? I loved the show at DTD. I can honestly say I totally lost track of time.

Sounds like you had a wonderful overnighter. I can't wait until I can see pictures of all your fun purchases.

I adore Cirque! Live I've seen Allegria, La Nouba and now Dralion. I love them all, what a great show they put on.