Disney's Art of Animation Resort Info Thread! Mouseketeers welcome!

[DisneyFEB2013]

So...last night we decided to switch our resort reservation and go to AOA!!! We are so excited and the surprise trip for the kids is going to be even more exciting. We were in POR, but wanted something more for the kids.

So, with the current stay. play. dine special, they only had a AOA suite available....I could not pick the specific one we want. I was told it would be assigned on the day we check-in but we could make a request for the one we would prefer.

Has anyone had this happen? Either of the three would be fine...they are all adorable, but I DS6 loves the Lion King and we really want to stay there.

We decided to go with a suite because we will be in Disney for 9 days and DH and I thought it would be nice to put the kids to bed and hang out. Plus, I have heard the rooms at POR are kind of small, especially with the new queen beds. I know we will LOVE the space!

Also, how is the bus situation at AOA? We were going to rent a car with POR but if the bus service is good at AOA, we may bypass renting a car.

I am happy to be here. This thread is great!

 

[pinkerbell]

So...last night we decided to switch our resort reservation and go to AOA!!! We are so excited and the surprise trip for the kids is going to be even more exciting. We were in POR, but wanted something more for the kids.

So, with the current stay. play. dine special, they only had a AOA suite available....I could not pick the specific one we want. I was told it would be assigned on the day we check-in but we could make a request for the one we would prefer.

Has anyone had this happen? Either of the three would be fine...they are all adorable, but I DS6 loves the Lion King and we really want to stay there.

We decided to go with a suite because we will be in Disney for 9 days and DH and I thought it would be nice to put the kids to bed and hang out. Plus, I have heard the rooms at POR are kind of small, especially with the new queen beds. I know we will LOVE the space!

Also, how is the bus situation at AOA? We were going to rent a car with POR but if the bus service is good at AOA, we may bypass renting a car.

I am happy to be here. This thread is great!

I was not happy at all with the busses. DH arrivede a day later and picked up the car from the airport so the first 2 days dd6 and I used them and since she had been ill and was on restrictions, we would leave the parks earlier and catch a bus back sometimes. In the end I resorted to taking the POP bus (one time FOUR of them came and left (mostly empty since they were one right after the other) before a AoA bus came. I jumped on the third and the 4th was behind it. I would take the bus since DH & DD would stay until closing and the busses then are so much busier, I thought leaving at off times maybe we would catch a break, but didn't. Get the car, you wont be sorry!


There are photos of our trip 2 weeks ago in the link below of all the resorts.

ENJOY!!!

 

[sixkristy6]

So...last night we decided to switch our resort reservation and go to AOA!!! We are so excited and the surprise trip for the kids is going to be even more exciting. We were in POR, but wanted something more for the kids.

So, with the current stay. play. dine special, they only had a AOA suite available....I could not pick the specific one we want. I was told it would be assigned on the day we check-in but we could make a request for the one we would prefer.

Has anyone had this happen? Either of the three would be fine...they are all adorable, but I DS6 loves the Lion King and we really want to stay there.

We decided to go with a suite because we will be in Disney for 9 days and DH and I thought it would be nice to put the kids to bed and hang out. Plus, I have heard the rooms at POR are kind of small, especially with the new queen beds. I know we will LOVE the space!

Also, how is the bus situation at AOA? We were going to rent a car with POR but if the bus service is good at AOA, we may bypass renting a car.

I am happy to be here. This thread is great!

We were there 10/14-10/20. The only problem we had with buses, was going to DTD on our first night, a Sunday. It took 15 minutes for the bus to come get us from AoA. We only had to wait for about 10 minutes from MK to AoA one night after Wishes and another night after Hallowishes, and I felt this was reasonable. When we go back, we'll take the buses again.

 

[3Leafs]

I was not happy at all with the busses. DH arrivede a day later and picked up the car from the airport so the first 2 days dd6 and I used them and since she had been ill and was on restrictions, we would leave the parks earlier and catch a bus back sometimes. In the end I resorted to taking the POP bus (one time FOUR of them came and left (mostly empty since they were one right after the other) before a AoA bus came. I jumped on the third and the 4th was behind it. I would take the bus since DH & DD would stay until closing and the busses then are so much busier, I thought leaving at off times maybe we would catch a break, but didn't. Get the car, you wont be sorry!


There are photos of our trip 2 weeks ago in the link below of all the resorts.

ENJOY!!!

We had the same problem with POR last week with the 3rd and 4th bus like you said.. Very annoying...

 

[Goofy22]

I was not happy at all with the busses. DH arrivede a day later and picked up the car from the airport so the first 2 days dd6 and I used them and since she had been ill and was on restrictions, we would leave the parks earlier and catch a bus back sometimes. In the end I resorted to taking the POP bus (one time FOUR of them came and left (mostly empty since they were one right after the other) before a AoA bus came. I jumped on the third and the 4th was behind it. I would take the bus since DH & DD would stay until closing and the busses then are so much busier, I thought leaving at off times maybe we would catch a break, but didn't. Get the car, you wont be sorry!


There are photos of our trip 2 weeks ago in the link below of all the resorts.

ENJOY!!!

I had to laugh while reading this post ! I had the exact opposite problem in August/September we stayed at Pop and to every three buses that came for AOA we were lucky if one came for Pop! We finally decided whichever bus came next would be the bus we road which 96% of the time was AOA ! Total opposite of your experience

 

[mickeye]

OMG, our shirts are done and we are now exactly one month from today!!!
Here are the shirts I made for us based on the new AoA Resort. You can tell that they are home made as there are variations in them, but they were fun to do (also very time consuming). It's my first try at making shirts.
This is the front:

And this is the back:

Yipee! one month to go....

 

[rhiansmom]

Just back from our AoA LM trip... while I'm glad we stayed at AoA I know that next time we will return to Pop.

I can't put my finger on the exact reason why as our stay was wonderful. The LM rooms are super cute, the CMs at the resort were very friendly but we just never felt like it was our "home" for the week.

I hated that the pool was fenced... we spend a lot of time in the afternoons at the pool and it just felt strange.

The food court was just ok.. what we did eat we enjoyed but we missed the nachos from Pop. We also really missed the ice cream. The gelato servings are small and cost about the same.

If you took the path from the bus stops to the rooms it felt like you were walking forever. We cut thru the parking lot but that meant not filling up our mugs before/after park trips like we do at Pop.

All in all we are glad we tried it but I'm excited to book Pop again.

 

[Rantybaby]

Are there any pictures of handicapped rooms available?

 

[jdcthree]

OMG, our shirts are done and we are now exactly one month from today!!!
Here are the shirts I made for us based on the new AoA Resort. You can tell that they are home made as there are variations in them, but they were fun to do (also very time consuming). It's my first try at making shirts.
This is the front:

And this is the back:

Yipee! one month to go....

Great job on your shirts!

 

[jenlov]

Just back from our AoA LM trip... while I'm glad we stayed at AoA I know that next time we will return to Pop.


If you took the path from the bus stops to the rooms it felt like you were walking forever. We cut thru the parking lot but that meant not filling up our mugs before/after park trips like we do at Pop.

All in all we are glad we tried it but I'm excited to book Pop again.

Where do you keep your mugs while at the park? Backpack? Stroller? Just wondering, bc it really would be easier not to have to walk back to the room to get mugs for drinks when we get back from the park.

 

[chanty]

Where do you keep your mugs while at the park? Backpack? Stroller? Just wondering, bc it really would be easier not to have to walk back to the room to get mugs for drinks when we get back from the park.

Great point!! Might consider bringing a backpack after all!!

Chantal

 

[ZoeisMommy]

Where do you keep your mugs while at the park? Backpack? Stroller? Just wondering, bc it really would be easier not to have to walk back to the room to get mugs for drinks when we get back from the park.

We purchased a "MommyHook" at toys r us for $9.99 and all 5 fit on there. Then you can clip it to your backpack, stroller, whatever

Even better now is that Walmart sells a 8" carabiner clip (spelling?) For like $4 and its virtually the same exact thing

 

[Greenfield1984]

I'm trying to finalize my garden grocer order for our upcoming trip and was wondering if someone could tell me what size milk jug will fit in the fridge in the LM section?
Thanks!

 

[Funfire240]

Where do you keep your mugs while at the park? Backpack? Stroller? Just wondering, bc it really would be easier not to have to walk back to the room to get mugs for drinks when we get back from the park.

We kept ours in the bottome of the stroller - usually by the end of the day we had extra shopping bags that we put them in to get back on the bus. At times, my dad had his looped thru his belt so he didn't have to carry it but could use it if they drifted off from us in the parks (he would put his soda that he bought at the parks into it for better handling)

 

[StinkiePete]

Report of little mermaid section from a resort snob:

IT'S FANTASTIC!!

This was our first time in a value resort. Our room smelled like new paint, everything was clean, new and shiny. Comfy beds NICE shower head with tons of pressure and a pretty roomy bathroom.

LOVED the theming. Everyone we encountered was nice. Housekeeping was spot on and we got all our requests met everyday ( extra towels and soap )

Now for the things we didn't quite enjoy...

We had a rental car. We DID NOT use the resort bus system once. This was one of the 2 things we did not like about staying at a value. The bus "cattle grate" system they had set up at the resort was always busy. Looking at those lines made us cringe and happy we had access to the car. SO, if you are on the fence about renting a car, I'd say do it. We have always used the resort bussing when staying at a deluxe or moderate, but have never encountered the bus lines like we did at AOA. Guessing it is b/c values are so HUGE therefore lots more guests to move around.

The 2nd thing that we did not like was the whole no pool towel at the pool thing. It wasn't really a big deal, but, we're used to the towels being at the pool to grab them & go. Having to get extra towels from housekeeping & storing them was an inconvenience + they are super small.

Will these 2 things stop us from staying there again - NOPE! It was great really & you will not be disappointed in your choice of staying there!

It did not feel like a value resort to me b/c of the theming. Food court was pretty good. We used it for breakfast + snacks.

The recreation girls at the pool were the BEST we have ever encountered, and we've done the beach club, which people say has the best recreation dept. These girls blew them away with activities for the kids! We were at the pool every afternoon from @ 2-5 or so and my kids did art projects, played awesome games and did the dance parties every day. My kids told me the pool area, with all the activities, was almost more fun then the parks!! We made sure to tell the rec. girls, as well as their "boss" how much we appreciated what they did. Love the mug station by the bar too easy access. Laundry was excellent too we did it every afternoon - the machines take room cards as well as credit cards so no lugging coins anywhere.

So, for anyone with an upcoming trip to AOA you will love it! One of our best trips ever!!

 

[StinkiePete]

I'm trying to finalize my garden grocer order for our upcoming trip and was wondering if someone could tell me what size milk jug will fit in the fridge in the LM section?
Thanks!

in the door, there is a section for 1/2 gallon sizes. our fridge was cold and worked great

 

[pugs05]

I am here right now and I have been pleasantly surprised about the busses. The longest we have had to wait is 5 minutes. Yesterday I was a bit worried as due to a long nap we didn't have a whole bunch of time to wait before our reservation. The Epcot line was pretty long and didn't make it on the first bus but another one came two minutes later. I have noticed CMs out there monitoring with computers a lot so not sure if they have control over extra busses.

 

[3Leafs]

Mickeye your shirts are amazing! You did a great job

 

[czmom]

Laundry was excellent too we did it every afternoon - the machines take room cards as well as credit cards so no lugging coins anywhere.

So, for anyone with an upcoming trip to AOA you will love it! One of our best trips ever!!

This is great to hear! I was wondering about this. Glad you enjoyed your stay!

 

[trtl6941]

I can't tell you how excited I am the machines take cards now VS taking all those darn quarters! YAY!