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

[EpcotBill]

Thanks for the reviews of the LM section. I can't wait until we go next June, although I am also a little worried about the walk. We were in the 70s section at Pop, facing the lake, and we thought that was a long walk. But I can't resist the theming at AoA and we can only afford a LM room, so we're stuck with the walk.

If you think the 70's is a long walk you're not going to like the walk from LM to Landscape Of Flavors at all.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

honestly I'm shocked at the number of posters complaining about the walk. It's really not a bad walk I hope people aren't scared away from LM ! We were in building 8 and walked back / forth every day to the pool or the food court or both.

 

[Winue]

The walk isn't that bad... Sure. But it's a huge pain when you just want a coffee.

 

[virge]

Ten days until my family's first trip to Disney World

We'll be staying in the Cars section. It will be my husband, our two 6 year old boys, & I in one suite and my mother-in-law will have her own suite. Does anyone have any suggestions for a room request? Floors? Buildings? Parts of buildings? I'm sure we'll enjoy whatever rooms we have but, if anyone has some wisdom/suggestions they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

 

[Funfire240]

Eta: forgot to add! DO ONLINE CHECK IN!!! We waited for over an hour in line!!!

we checked in on the 24th - arrived about 3:00 p.m. We did not do online check in and were able to walk right up with no wait so it probably just depends on the time and day (ours was a Monday so maybe that made a difference) We even had room requests granted for connecting rooms with no problem either.

 

[jcarwash]

Ten days until my family's first trip to Disney World

We'll be staying in the Cars section. It will be my husband, our two 6 year old boys, & I in one suite and my mother-in-law will have her own suite. Does anyone have any suggestions for a room request? Floors? Buildings? Parts of buildings? I'm sure we'll enjoy whatever rooms we have but, if anyone has some wisdom/suggestions they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

Well, I have not stayed at AoA yet, but the Cars section contains building 1, which is in the similar location to my favorite 50's building 1 across the way at Pop Century. So that is what I would want.

 

[queenofeverything]

We just returned from 10 days in a LM room at AoA. The resort is very cute and the room was beautiful, however, I will probably not return to this resort. Those of you that love the Pop will also love this resort, but it is too large and spread out for us. The parking situation was terrible and since we were in the farthest building (#8), the walk to the Food Court was too long. We drove to the Food Court, but we could never find a parking space without circling numerous times, whether it was 7:00 in the morning or 11:30at night. We have a handicap sticker, but that was even worse. They have only about 10 spaces and they were always full.

Additionally, we did not like the Food Court at the AoA. We felt the choices were not as good as at the All Star Resorts and the trash situation was awful. There were never enough cashiers for check-out and, beware, because the check-out stations are dual sided; one cashier rings up both sides. People were very confused and the lines were long.

We're content to stay at the smaller All Star Resorts and will be happy to return for our next visit. Most of you will be very happy with the AoA and we are very glad that we had the opportunity to stay there during Free Dining. Enjoy your visit.

Was all the parking bad or just near the food court?

 

[Funfire240]

We had no problems but then once we got there we parked our car for the week. When we arrived on 9/24 we parked to check in and I didn't think it was bad then we were able to park right outside of the LM section with no problem. We had a total of 3 cars and were able to park next to each other both times. Of course, like I said we didn't move the cars then until we left since we used the buses all week

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Was all the parking bad or just near the food court?

We were at LM when it was "fully booked" (opening day 9/15 - 9/26) there was tons of parking outside building 8. We talked about how most people must have flown. Our room faced the parking lot and we probably could see less than 2 dozen cars (total) from our room - the rest of it was empty parking spaces.

We never had trouble finding parking near the food courts - yes, you had to walk in from halfway out or more in a parking aisle but that's one of the aisles close to the food court (if that makes sense). We parked there (near food court) for check in and then 2 or 3 more times when we were swinging in on the way to or from the parks.

 

[penni520]

The walk isn't that bad... Sure. But it's a huge pain when you just want a coffee.

What I would do is take my refill mug with me when I go to the bus. Fill it up for leaving and when you are in the park use it for water or left over drinks from meals.
Then when you get back to AOA wash it out and fill it up with coffee or what ever on your way back to your room.

Plus I am saying why complain about the walk...You walk 4 miles a day at the parks so what's up with the little walk at the resort?

 

[3Leafs]

The walk isn't bad but does stink to just refill a soda. I also agree that a drink refill station at LM pool would be nice.

We are really enjoying our stay. Tomorrow we are transferring over to POR royal rooms! Glad I got the chance to stay in the LM rooms with my daughter on our girls trip.

 

[dilligaf212]

Booked march7-13 for cars suite super excited my so is a big cars fan... Now to go back and read the 112 pages I have missed for joining thread so late

 

[Chaoticsweetness]

10/21-10/26; LK suite. Online check in done! 10 days, exactly.

 

[Winue]

What I would do is take my refill mug with me when I go to the bus. Fill it up for leaving and when you are in the park use it for water or left over drinks from meals.
Then when you get back to AOA wash it out and fill it up with coffee or what ever on your way back to your room.

Plus I am saying why complain about the walk...You walk 4 miles a day at the parks so what's up with the little walk at the resort?

Personally I find it a pain to take the mug and carry it around the park with me. Since we drive to parks except MK, we left them in the car to stop when we came back. But my point is that after walking in the extreme heat for the day, last thing I want to do is walk another couple miles just for a drink.

Obviously you didn't have an issue with it, which is fine too. For us with two younger kids, we found it a pain. To each their own. Just sharing OUR experience.

 

[kikiw]

We're going to do online check-in but our reservation starts on a Saturday so I was wondering what the best time would be to arrive to avoid the long lines? Our travel plans have changed and we're arriving in Florida on the Friday so we can check in at AoA anytime.

 

[bluezy]

Just a thought on the long walk from the LM buildings to the food court for drinks. We've stayed at Pop Century several times and sometimes our room seemed like it was a mile away from the main building. What we would do was in the morning when we were walking to the buses, I'd take our mugs and store them in a small locker in the bathroom/locker room building by the main pool. I can't remember how much it cost but I'm pretty sure it was $1 or less for the day. That way when we came back from the parks in the afternoon/evening, I'd go retrieve our mugs from the locker and we'd fill them up before heading back to the room. I never saw more than a few lockers being used at any time, so we weren't ever using up space that someone might need for clothing/belongings while they were at the pool...there were plenty of empty lockers every day. I haven't been at AoA yet, so I'm not sure if they have the same type of building with lockers or not. Just thought I'd mention it because I know what a pain it is to do that long walk with 3, 4, or 5 kids to fill up mugs. We also have a nice collapsible bin that perfectly fits 5 mugs in it for those times that 1 person is going to the food court to fill up for everyone.

 

[jimandami]

We're going to do online check-in but our reservation starts on a Saturday so I was wondering what the best time would be to arrive to avoid the long lines? Our travel plans have changed and we're arriving in Florida on the Friday so we can check in at AoA anytime.

Personally, I would go as early as possible, drop off your bags and then go to a park. They can text you when your room is ready.

 

[deedee2177]

If we leave our bags because our room is not ready yet, will they take them to our room or will we need to retrieve them and then take them to the room ourselves?

 

[jimandami]

If we leave our bags because our room is not ready yet, will they take them to our room or will we need to retrieve them and then take them to the room ourselves?

Once you arrive in your room, you should be able to call and have them brought to you.

 

[deedee2177]

Once you arrive in your room, you should be able to call and have them brought to you.

Thanks so much!! Normally I would say we would just leave them in the car and head to the Parks, but I'm having to pack baby food and I rather them not sit in a warm car. I much rather it be inside an air conditioned building.

Thanks again for your help!