Reviews of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/20/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
As far as value resorts go, Art of Animation is phenomenal. The exterior designs from buildings to landscaping are exceptional in each themed area. For example, the grasses and plants in each section mimic the movie depicted in that area. It's so clever. Rooms are basic but fun. Suites have ample space for families, with the bathrooms being particularly useful. We have stayed in both Little Mermaid and in Lion King. Noise has never been an issue (first floor both stays), and the walk to and from the main building is pleasant. The food court offers many options but is very often busy (and has the food court problem of needing to make several stops if everyone wants something different). Food is tasty and somewhat creative for the most part.
Pros:
Exterior design is excellent. Convenient food court and amenities. Proximity to Pop Century is a bonus. Nice pathways for walking/jogging. Family suites are very useful. Pools are terrific.Cons:
Some wear and tear. Food court often very busy.Reviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 09/15/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
This was my third stay at Art of Animation and it really is one of my favorite resorts. I’d previously stayed in the Family Suites but this time we decided to try The Little Mermaid as there was, surprisingly, a travel agent discount available.
I arrived around noon after traveling all night and morning from the west coast. I did not have a room assigned in the My Disney Experience app yet, so I went to the front desk. I was assisted very quickly and asked if I had a floor preference. I had actually sent a fax a few days earlier, since the Room Request section of Online Check In has been non-functional for months, but it appears it wasn’t read. Anyway, I asked for the highest floor and I was immediately granted Room 8802. Highest floor, near the elevator, overlooking the Flippin’ Fins Pool.
I often hear that The Little Mermaid rooms are far away from everything. As an overweight, out of shape 27-year-old walking at a fairly brisk pace, I could make it from Building 8 to Animation Hall in about 8 minutes. My mom arrived later that night and she uses an ECV at Disney. One thing we noticed was the handicapped parking spots near the buildings are somewhat limited. The closest row to our room only had four handicapped spots that were often full by the time we returned at night. Not a big deal since she was riding the scooter at night back to the room to charge it, but not always convenient during the day for an afternoon nap, when we would leave the scooter in the car rather than reassemble it and then dis-assemble it again to return to the parks.
Our other major annoyance was, of all things, the bathroom fan. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so irritated by this in any other Disney hotel and I don’t recall this being an issue even in the Family Suites. It is motion activated and set off by any little movement out in the vanity area, which is just ridiculous. And since it only runs for maybe a minute at a time, it keeps restarting, and it’s quite loud. The only solution we found was to keep the bathroom door closed, which makes the vanity space feel smaller than it already is.
Minor issues: the “privacy†curtain across the vanity area had a gap of several inches at one end, which definitely made it not quite so private. The Wi-Fi and cell service was somehow greatly improved over previous visits, but it seemed like the traded that for the cable TV, which would freeze and pixelate every few minutes no matter the channel. Drawer space in the dresser is quite limited. We had barely enough room for the two of us.
Room size was fine for the limited amount of time we were there. I thought the beds were a little on the firm side, but my mom thought they were fine. We heard almost no pool noise from inside the room. We like the décor of the rooms at Art of Animation which is why we keep staying there and I absolutely would stay there again. I finally made it a point to swim in the Big Blue Pool, even though it was only for about 10 minutes, just to say I did it. Neat to hear the underwater clips from the film. I only used the bus transportation once, round trip to Magic Kingdom for the Disney After Hours event. It was adequate. Did wait 20-30 minutes leaving the park at 11:30pm. Ink and Paint Shop is well stocked. We can always find something we like at the food court. Of note to CPAP users, they do have distilled water available for purchase, but you must ask for it at a food counter. They don’t have it accessible to prevent people from buying it as drinking water. Unfortunately, like nearly everything at Disney, the markup is outrageous - $4.25 for a gallon.
Of note for those concerned about this resort being dog-friendly. I saw maybe three small dogs the entire 5-6 days and all were well under the control of the owners. We never heard any barking. I asked at the desk and was told there are areas in each building reserved for the dog-friendly rooms. These are typically on the first floor and face either the lake or green space.
Finally, guests with a handicapped tag or license plates do receive free parking at the resort, even after the ridiculous nightly parking fees were announced. You must speak to the front desk about this, because they charge based on your MagicBand being scanned at the front gate. When I went to talk to them on our third night, they refunded the nights we had been charged (though their computer system apparently makes it a bit of a hassle) and also set it up so we would not be charged for the rest of the nights. You can probably avoid this by telling them at check in, but as I said, my mom wasn’t with me when I checked in and she has the tag.
Pros:
Love the theme, friendly cast, bigger rooms than other Values, still has a table and chairs with two bedsCons:
Limited handicapped parking, bathroom fan is incredibly annoyingReviewed by boarddad Review Date: 08/29/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
We moved to Art of Animation after a disappointing experience @ Caribbean Beach. It was pretty late when we got to AoA so, although the check-in took quite a while, it was to be expected. We had a 1br suite in Lion King Bldg. 10. The walk to the busses and food court was not bad. Busses ran efficiently the entire stay. AoA is across the water from Pop Century and the two are nearly identical outside of the themeing. They are building a gondola at the Mermaid end that will be shared by both resorts (should be a nice touch). The room exceeded our expectations. 1br Suites have a master br with bathroom, a living room area with a comfortable pull-out bed, and a dining area with a very well engineered murphy bed that converts from the table, and a second bathroom. 1br suites have a microwave and a small refrigerator that we made good use of. We had heard that noise was a problem in AoA but that was not the case. The pool was OK but lacked a slide of any sort. We spent just a couple of hours at the pool (big blue pool - little Mermaid and Cars pools are smaller, I think quiet(?) pools - both looked nice). It was clean, well stocked with towels and had constant entertainment. Worth noting; we could not find an open deck chair the entire time. Would definitely recommend a different resort if the pool is a big deal to you. All in all, a great place to make a "home base" of for your WDW stay!
Pros:
A good fit for a family of 5Cons:
pool could be betterReviewed by stallisman Review Date: 06/22/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed in the Lion King Suite with 4 adults.
First, the only negative. The master bedroom seems to be larger than necessary which leaves the rest of the room smaller.
Normally our group gets two rooms at a moderate resort. Now we get the suite. The advantages are numerous. Mainly, it keeps our group together rather than having to separate, even with connecting rooms. We found converting the sofa and table beds very easy to do, taking only seconds. And while not quite a nice as regular beds perhaps, they were good enough for some large size adults. And on this trip we even used an air-bed spread on the floor with no problem. So the stories that these are hard to set up and that there's no place to put the cushions are not accurate.
The only inconvenience may be that an early riser might want to use the table or sofa before the sleeper is up. As for the suite, watching TV from a sofa is far nicer than from your bed. And having a coffee maker in a kitchenette rather than in the bathroom is ideal. Then there's also a fridge and microwave and some plates and utensils as well.
The rest of the resort is standard I guess, and we prefer the food court across the lake at Pop Century to the one at AOA.
Pros:
having your party in one roomCons:
Smaller room than it could beReviewed by shageek Review Date: 01/08/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
Very happy with this resort. We have stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside. This is our first value resort. In many ways, I liked it more than the moderate! The Themeing was wonderful (Even my non-Disney loving husband enjoyed the theme). If you want a really "Disney" feel I would recommend this resort.
The Food court was very good and the staff was overall very friendly.
It took us less time (even with it being a more crowded time of year) to get to all of the parks. (Hollywood studio 5 minutes, Animal Kingdom 10, Epcot and The Magic Kingdom 15 minutes). I was very pleased with the travel time (We rented a car)! This alone made it worth it! We could even watch the fireworks and hear the music from Hollywood Studios at night!.
The only negative was the beds and the room definitely felt smaller (I expected this though). I also had one issue with a cranky server at the food court. My son was sick and I was a little frazzled that night but she was not very helpful and every request I asked was met with a short and snippy comment. This was only one section of the food court. Overall everyone was wonderful!
Pros:
Close to parks, theme (Disney Feel),Staff, Food CourtCons:
Rooms a little small, Standard rooms far from food courtReviewed by pwood78 Review Date: 10/03/2016
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed in the Lion King Suites in Building 6 on the 1st floor. We requested 1st floor, near transportation...and we got it. It was a quick walk to the buses, food court, Nemo pool.
We loved the theming. The room was spacious, the beds were super comfy. Ok, so the sofa bed wasn't that comfy because it was hard, but there wasn't that annoying bar going across your back. The 2 bathrooms were great.
Mousekeeping came in early each morning to clean.
We loved swimming in the big blue pool in the Nemo section. The resort was so big, and we spent so much time walking in the parks, we didn't even make it to the Cars or Little Mermaid sections to check them out.
The food in the food court was all delicious. We had breakfast and dinner. The cheeseburger, the surf and surf burger, the meatball sub, the pizza, pancakes, french toast....alllllll yummy!
The buses ran quickly, we never waited longer than 5 minutes the entire week. Coming or going.
We stayed Sept 24-30. The first night we arrived, we took the bus to MK to transfer to Monorail to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare. There was a major car accident, luckily we caught the bus quickly, and the bus driver packed in as many people as he could because he knew that anyone left behind would have a really long wait before the next bus arrived. Some people were angry about packing us in, but once we passed the scene of the accident everyone understood.
I would definitely recommend this resort.
Like I said the con was that when sleeping on the murphy bed near the door in the mornings or late at night I could hear people in the hallway, but it wasn't a lot, basically people coming in or leaving to go to the parks.
Pros:
EverythingCons:
Hear noise from hallway sometimesReviewed by jersue96 Review Date: 09/21/2016
Rating: (10) Recommended
We just got back from an amazing stay at WDW! We were originally booked @ POR. We had some issues and were eventually given a Cars Suite due to most of the day spent moving from resort to resort. We have stayed here before in a Mermaid room and loved it! We were very happy with the Cars Suite! The room was very clean, we had 2 bathrooms and a bed for everyone! We were in building 1. The view was amazing! It was a very quite room. We had folks above us and below us and never heard anything! I would recommend this resort to everyone because it has a little bit of something for all! The food court was great! My husband had the made to order omlet and loved it! I had the pasta and it was delicious. The food choices were great! We had a blast in the pool! It was a lot of fun sitting in the low end and watching the fire works the last night of our stay! We loved this resort so much that we booked a Mermaid room for the end of December! Can't wait to go back!
Pros:
A stones throw from everything!Cons:
Not one thing!Reviewed by MinnieMouseMama Review Date: 09/03/2016
Rating: (8) Recommended
We booked two rooms in the Mermaid sections with a bit of trepidation. Many reviews said the walk was far, and that the rooms are small. We had low expectations. Our request for adjoining rooms was honored, and we were close enough to transportation. We timed the walk to the bus at under 8 minutes when no one was in a hurry. Having stayed at all the Value and Moderate resorts (and a couple Deluxe) the space did not bother us. We use the room to sleep and shower. Our youngest is 10 and would prefer to stay in the parks all day weather permitting. I must disclose that the adjoining rooms were a benefit for a party of 5 and allowed more breathing room. The theme of the space is just do darn cute. My princess hating husband even admitted that it "wasn't too bad!" The Big Blue Pool was a hit with all and made a huge impression with the under water music. Pool bar guy was great. The cars pool is cute but very, very small. Not sure what happened there. Mousekeeping was sufficient. The room was rather clean, but due to mold allergies I did request a VIP cleaning, so that may have helped. Please note: for our reservation dates 2 rooms was cheaper than a suite. Run the numbers. For the value dollar, this was a win.
Pros:
price pointCons:
noneReviewed by Swin1989 Review Date: 05/14/2016
Rating: (8) Recommended
We arrived at AOA on Saturday, April 16, 2016 and stayed for 13 nights. We had done online check in and gave an arrival time of 11am. At 10:30am I received a text message indicating our room was ready. We were driving and still in Georgia at this point. The text included our room number and a link for a map. I had printed a map before leaving home so I already knew exactly where to go. When making our initial reservations, I requested a room in building 7 nearest the Lion King section. This would be the closest to the food court, bus stops, store, etc. During online check in my requests were near transportation and lake view. ALL of these requests were met. Upon arrival our magic bands worked perfect getting into our room. Our first impressions were great. We loved the theming in our room and out. Our view of the lake and Pop Century were great. Beds are double beds. We aren't large people so this wasn't an issue but we definitely could tell the difference from our queen at home. Now for the walk from the Little Mermaid rooms to Animation Hall and the bus stops. The first few days we thought, this isn't so bad. However towards the end of the two weeks it felt longer. Everyone has their own opinion on what a long walk is. In preparation for this we brought our own little coffee maker with all the fixings to make our morning coffee in the room. That ended up being a life saver. I found one on clearance and bought disposable coffee cups and spoons from our local dollar store. I brought sugar and coffee from home and found a jug of milk from our local grocery store that had a two week date on it. Being that we were driving we were able to bring a lot of stuff from home that normally would have to be bought on site. That meant there was no need to buy the refillable mugs. Our stay, as always, was amazing. I firmly believe no matter what resort we choose we will always have a great time. It is Disney after all. Having said that, we probably will only stay at AOA again if we need a family suite. Mainly because our goal is to stay at a different resort each time we go.
Pros:
—Cons:
—Reviewed by SCOTTMOP Review Date: 02/05/2016
Rating: (9) Recommended
Stayed for 2 night 1-30 and 1-31. Fresh look to the food court and rooms. We stayed in the Nemo Suites. THought it would be a little bigger from the pics but still a good bit of room. We ahf 4 people that slept comfortably. With 2 bathrooms it makes getting ready for the parks faster. Food court much more spacious than Pop Century though very similiar in design to pop century. Would definately stay there again though can be pricey. 2 rooms at pop century is cheaper than One suite.
