Reviews of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by Missymouse18 Review Date: 06/23/2013
Rating: (0) Recommended
We stayed at PoP Century this year and strolled across the bridge to peak at AoA. We LOVED it! We are hoping to stay there for our 2014 WDW trip. It was amazingly Disney-fied and so "showy." Can't wait to stay so that I can write a real review!
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—Reviewed by nemo265 Review Date: 06/11/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed in AOA resort in the Little Mermaid Section,Bldg 8 for June 5-10. The walk to the food court wasn't as bad as people claim. It only took us about 8 minutes from our room which was a few rooms away from the Ariel statue and we are not the fastest walkers. We loved the large icons of all the movies,especially our section and the Cars section which we walked to so we can check it out.
The cast members were great and were dancing the chicken dance in the lobby, my daughter had fun when she joined in. Housekeeping did a great job although once they forgot wash clothes but when I called they sent over a big bag of them with extra towels.
My only complaint was the on the back side of the privacy curtain there was an ugly stain of some kind but we ignored it and eventually forgot about it during out stay.
Landscape of Flavors was not what we expected and the food could of been much better but was ok for a quick bite to eat. I would stay here again but wasn't happy with how Disney excluded this section of this resort from their 30% off promotion for the rest of the resorts for this time that we went.
The pools are nice and you can even hear music under water at the main finding nemo pool.Also the resort has wonderful statues of the characters that give you a unique Disney experience.
Pros:
Fun resort!Cons:
Landscape of Flavors was not what I expectedReviewed by ADisneyGinger Review Date: 05/02/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed at the AoA, Little Mermaid rooms from April 21-28. I was a little apprehensive since I read so many posts about how far the walk to the building was, but I have to say that I am shocked that so many people complained! We stayed in building 9 (even got a free upgrade to a King bed for our anniversary), and we had no issue with the walk. Walking to the buses in the morning is easy, using the sidewalk on the outside of the buildings. This was especially convenient because they set up a breakfast cart by the Flippin' Fins pool every morning with grab-and-go items, so we didn't have to deal with the crowds at Landscape of Flavors. In the evening when we returned home, we'd take our time and stroll through the paths through the buildings, take pictures with the statues, and enjoy the atmosphere. We never had a problem with sound even though we faced the pool, and the room was always very clean with fresh towels and more shampoo/soap than we could possibly use.
The only con I could pick out is that the buses seemed to always be remarkably crowded (and slow in loading) after the large nighttime events. All of the other resorts would empty their lines, and AoA would still have 3 or 4 bus-loads of people waiting to get picked up. Don't know if this was some sort of anomaly - the rest of our busing was convenient and timely.
Pros:
Theming, AtmosphereCons:
BusesReviewed by DISNEYMOM2FOUR Review Date: 05/01/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed here in February and loved every minute of it. We were in the Little Mermaid section, building 7 pool side. This was the best location we could have ever asked for. I don't know why people say it is a long walk, I thought it was great compared to the size of some of the Disney resorts. We walked through the Lion King area and we were at the food court. You could truly spend a day walking around this resort taking pictures. The room is standard size for the values but we just loved the theming. The bus service was good, the food court was great. The make your own pasta was the quality of a sit down meal dinner. It took us 15 years to go back to a value resort as we liked the larger rooms, hot tubs and slides that come with the deluxe and moderates, but after this experience we loved saving the money staying at the value more and had a great time!
Pros:
Theming is over the top, landscaping is great, food court has a great selectionCons:
noneReviewed by browneyedgirl Review Date: 04/21/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Art of Animation is a wonderful resort. My room was in the Little Mermaid section and even though it is a hike to the bus stop or food court, the surrounding icons make the walk seem very short. I like the fact that there is a refrigerator in the room where at the other value resorts, there isn't one. The bed was SO comfortable and the pillows were perfect for me. I couldn't hear anyone else on my wing and the resort was at full capacity. The Cast Members are fantastic, always willing to help and give directions. The only other value resort I've stayed at is Pop Century so I can't compare it with the other values, but Art of Animation is truly a work of magic! 🙂 I definitely will stay here again!
Pros:
Cast Members - RoomCons:
NonReviewed by nannie Review Date: 04/20/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
A wonderful place to stay. The bed that came out of the wall over the table was so easy to pull down. And the sofa bed was easy and comfortable. Had plenty of room to put all the suitcases and room to move around. the deco was great. Even the hallways was so neat. Could not ask for a cleaner or nicer room. With two bathrooms. No problem with everyone getting ready. No noise and we were on the side facing the pool.
Pros:
plenty of room for 3 adults, 2 childrenCons:
noneReviewed by bodean4god Review Date: 04/20/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Love this place and am going back this year! The Little Mermaid rooms are small, but livable especially with a fridge in the room. You're their to sleep and shower and that's about it so I say it's great! The atmosphere is each area is so cool and I loved that they tried to have activities for families, even during rainy days! Check in was easy, and the only down side was trying to eat breakfast. VERY CROWDED! It seemed like the area where you order was created too small. However, I witnessed how a manager handled an irrate customer who was clearly in the wrong and I was impressed with the professionalism of the staff. They worked very hard to satisfy this person. You need to try this place, it is great!
Pros:
nice room, fridge, great atmosphereCons:
very crowded dining area, a good walk from Little Mermaid rooms to main areaReviewed by mamalolo Review Date: 04/17/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
My family of four stayed in the Little Mermaid rooms at AOA for 10 days in March. We had an absolutely amazing time! After many negative reviews, we were concerned about the walk from the Little Mermaid section to the main building. The walk is perfectly fine!! It was not far at all! We truly enjoyed the walk from LM to the main building because each time, we got to experience seeing something new in the Lion King section.
We all really enjoyed the variety and quality of the food at the food court. There were plenty of options for all of our different food preferences.
We found Mousekeeping to be ok. There were a couple of days when there seemed to be quite a bit of trash on the grounds near the trash cans (where people had missed the trash can), but for the most-part, the resort was very well-kept. Our room was cleaned daily, and it always looked great when we returned to the room in the evenings.
The bus transportation was great. We were there during spring break...a very busy time, and the transportation was fine. Of course we had to wait for a bus sometimes, but again, it was spring break. Disney seemed to be prepared for the amount of guests that they had to accommodate during that time.
The entire resort is gorgeous, and Disney did an incredible job with the overall theme! We will definitely be back to AOA in the future!!
Pros:
Beautiful resort; fun pools; food courtCons:
noneReviewed by WDWems Review Date: 04/16/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed at Art of Animation from 2nd April to 14th April. We had a great time & would definitely come back!
We are a party of 2 adults and had a room in building 9 (King Triton) in the Little Mermaid area.
Out of the 3 blocks in the L.M. area, building 9 is the best one IMO. You can walk alongside the parking lot instead of through the resort, which saves a few precious foot steps! Some of the rooms in building 7 have lakeside views of POP, which would be nice too. Our room overlooked the pool on the 2nd floor, and at first we thought it would be noisier. But we found this not to be a problem at all. We hardly heard any noise from other rooms either. We heard occasional noise overhead but this wasn't excessive and therefore bearable (and we heard this when we slept in later- when we weren't awake early for EMH!)
We had a king room which was great, and plenty of room for us two. Not much storage space though as one side of the cabinet is where the fridge is. The 'grotto' shower area freaked me out at first but I ended up loving our room- great Disney theming!!
Mousekeeping was good, we got several towel animals including an elaborate lobster!! Amazing. We tipped every other day or so. There was one day where we didn't get Mousekeeping, so we called for extra towels and explained why we needed them.
Had refillable mugs but a long way to walk to and from the food court when you have been walking around the parks all day! Luckily we could stock up from a store off-site and kept a fridge of water bottles- I would definitely recommend doing this if possible.
We found Landscape of Flavors to be great and didn't have a bad meal. Throughout our stay, we have breakfast there most mornings and occasionally lunch or dinner. I'll post more in the dining review.
Bus service worked well, we had to stand up a bunch of times but we've always had to, especially over the Easter period. We appreciated the waiting areas being covered over unlike other Value resorts.
Overall, a really positive experience and I would definitely return. We stayed at POP last year, and the general amenities are much better, brighter, more 'Disney' at A of A. We both agreed that our stay was brilliant.
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—Reviewed by mawdryn Review Date: 04/16/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
My husband and I stayed for 1 night on April 9th (I had to get my Disney fix before going down south for my brother's wedding). We were in a corner room on the 4th floor of building #7 in the Little Mermaid section. Our room faced the lake and Pop Century. I can't remember the room number, but it was a great location and very quiet.
The room was fine for 2 adults. However, we had to call Mousekeeping, because there were dead bugs all over the ceiling and something had been splashed against the wall of the vanity and never wiped clean. They came right away, but we never should have had to call them in the first place. I expect more from Disney having visited 28 times. I've stayed everywhere from the Grand Floridian to All Star Movies, and everywhere in between, and have never had to call Mousekeeping for a dirty room upon arrival.
I don't understand why there are a lot of complaints about the walk from the Little Mermaid section to Animation Hall. We found it to be lovely. It's honestly not bad at all. There are worse walks at Port Orleans Riverside.
We ate at Landscape of Flavors just to get a snack before going to our room. My husband had an iced coffee and I had a smoothie. The wait was short, and check out was a breeze.
I would have given the resort a 10 had it not been for the dirty room. We are coming back in July for a week with our 4 kids and staying in the Finding Nemo area. I can't wait!!!!
