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

[tink15823]

Just returned for our 10 trip at Art Of Animation . I have to say I agree with everyone that said pictures don't do it justice. We stayed in the LK section . We were not as impressed with the look there as we were the other sections . If you need a very quite section this one is for you. Mousekeeping could not have done a better job they were wonderful .

The pools are great we pool hopped and used all three ! The games are great at the big blue around 3 every day.

We have a long list of allergies so the food court worried me . Our first night we had Chef Ron he was great . On our 2nd try we had a female chef and she was a little overwhelmed . My only complaint at the food court was the Pizza area it was very disorganized and you can get passed up . My Dh stood and waited 45 min for a pizza meal till he gave up. I went up and seemed to have a better time but I was a little more instant on getting our food. I was thanked by the 15 people behind me that had also been waiting and ignored.

All in all we would love to come back here again !!!!

 

[stindall]

If I were you I would stay at the contemporary its on the monorail and you dont have to fold your stroller also its only a 7 minute walk to the MK Or you could stay at baylake towers also on the monorail.Thats gonna be a long ride from AOA!

That's a pretty big price difference though...

 

[twopearls]

I know that the AoA suites are stocked with plates, utensils, bowls, cups? What about dishwashing soap?

 

[jdcthree]

I know that the AoA suites are stocked with plates, utensils, bowls, cups? What about dishwashing soap?

I didn't see any.

 

[momof3ds]

The plates and utensils and cups are all disposable. No dishwashing soap available,

I didn't see any.

 

[luvmyguyz]

Just got back from my awesome stay at Disney, and the test stay was awesome at LM..here is a link for the pics...it was a little hectic due to some issues with the door locks and room problems, so was a little chaotic, finally got some pics, then was off to the parks since my daughter was off. I will just say that LOVED LOVED LOVED IT..my 3 year old daughter kept saying she was in the movie..enough said I think! Enjoy!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenaemma/

Great pics! We only have a few more weeks until we check into LM for 10 days!! So excited!!

I am a little concerned seeing where the fridge is - I didn't realize those were fake drawers on that side. Yikes - 10 days of clothing for 4 people in three teensy drawers? Um, not sure how that's gonna work!! (My DSD and my mom will share a room, so they should be fine, but DH and our two boys will be in a room with me - that's a lot of stuff with very little storage space. And I HATE living out of a suitcase when on vacation!!

Anyone who has stayed already - do you have suggestions for organizing clothes in the room with sch tiny storage space, especially for longer stays? We will be flying, so we can't exactly bring in portable drawers!

We stayed at POP last year - I don't remember having an issue with storage there, but then we had a much shorter stay.

 

[luvmyguyz]

I love the shower too! So ready to sing..."Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you say my collection's complete?" It takes singing in the shower to a whole new..uh..depth?

Okay, we are total goobs. Checking in on the 18th complete with LM shirts and dinglehoppers in our hair!

LOL - I told my DS7 that I plan to stand right next to the statue of Prince Eric and start singing "Part of your World." Of course I was teasing him, but he thought I was serious, and was not pleased with the potential embarrassment!!

Still, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself in the shower with that scene in there!! It is my favorite Disney song, after all. I'll try not to be so loud as to disturb my "neighbors"!!

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Just booked my first stay at AoA! 10/24-10/27! So excited!

 

[SRUAlmn]

LOL - I told my DS7 that I plan to stand right next to the statue of Prince Eric and start singing "Part of your World." Of course I was teasing him, but he thought I was serious, and was not pleased with the potential embarrassment!!

Still, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself in the shower with that scene in there!! It is my favorite Disney song, after all. I'll try not to be so loud as to disturb my "neighbors"!!

I just got a funny image in my head of a split screen like the Brady Bunch boxes in which everyone is in their AOA showers singing that song simultaneously each morning before they leave for the parks

 

[mommy2mrb]

Great pics! We only have a few more weeks until we check into LM for 10 days!! So excited!!

I am a little concerned seeing where the fridge is - I didn't realize those were fake drawers on that side. Yikes - 10 days of clothing for 4 people in three teensy drawers? Um, not sure how that's gonna work!! (My DSD and my mom will share a room, so they should be fine, but DH and our two boys will be in a room with me - that's a lot of stuff with very little storage space. And I HATE living out of a suitcase when on vacation!!

Anyone who has stayed already - do you have suggestions for organizing clothes in the room with sch tiny storage space, especially for longer stays? We will be flying, so we can't exactly bring in portable drawers!

We stayed at POP last year - I don't remember having an issue with storage there, but then we had a much shorter stay.

for extra storage you can get one of the sweater hangers that you put in your closet think they have 5-6 shelves and will fold up flat in your luggage....I also get the large ziploc bags to keep socks, undies, jammies etc in for each of us to keep them organized in the suitcase and then you can put the folded clothes in the drawers

 

[luvmyguyz]

10 days! Just called in my room requests. Building 7, closest to main building, connecting rooms for my family and adjoining with my parents. Fingers crossed and crossed again. LOL

Did you call the resort directly? I wanted to make similar requests, and wasn't sure the best way to go about it.

 

[luvmyguyz]

4days!!!!!! Seriously this is going to be the slowest 4days of my life!
Still debating about online check in. We are arriving on a Saturday im thinking it might be busy.

I don't understand the hesitation - what is the downside to online check in?

 

[stephie1012]

I don't understand the hesitation - what is the downside to online check in?

Sometimes the line could be longer. We ended up doing online check in thankfully. Both lines were long but regular check in was crazy long. We waited at least 40mins in online check in line. I'm so happy I did online check in.

 

[bluezy]

Great pics! We only have a few more weeks until we check into LM for 10 days!! So excited!!

I am a little concerned seeing where the fridge is - I didn't realize those were fake drawers on that side. Yikes - 10 days of clothing for 4 people in three teensy drawers? Um, not sure how that's gonna work!! (My DSD and my mom will share a room, so they should be fine, but DH and our two boys will be in a room with me - that's a lot of stuff with very little storage space. And I HATE living out of a suitcase when on vacation!!

Anyone who has stayed already - do you have suggestions for organizing clothes in the room with sch tiny storage space, especially for longer stays? We will be flying, so we can't exactly bring in portable drawers!

We stayed at POP last year - I don't remember having an issue with storage there, but then we had a much shorter stay.

When we stay at Pop I always take a few collapsible storage bins with us. We drive, so luggage space isn't an issue, but the bins do fold flat and take up almost no space. I got ours at Dollar Tree but I know Walmart sells them in packs of 2 for $10. I put the bins either on the shelf in the "closet" or on the top of the entertainment center (I have different sizes of bins). I also use a small one just to hold keys, change, phones, wallets, etc. when everyone empties their pockets at the end of the day. And I have a slightly larger one that holds 5 refillable mugs so 1 person can take all of the mugs to the food court to fill them up.

 

[tiki23]

Little Mermaid is far. Especially if you are in the back of building 8. I’ve stayed in the 90's section at Pop Century, and I don’t remember the walk being that far. I wish I would have gone over to Pop and timed it. But from looking at the map, I think it’s the orientation of the buildings that makes it farther. I’ve also stayed in the Rock building next to the Country building at ASMu and yeah, Little Mermaid is…what’s that word again?….far.

Little Mermaid is also flippin’ adorable. So, so cute. The walls in the bathtub are amazing and I love the carpet, and the bedspreads and the lighting and the table and the chairs and…well, all of it!

We also stayed in a Cars suite in the Sally and Lightning building - super cute! I would love to bring my nephew for a stay there. I tried all 3 beds - they are all very comfortable and it was great having the room to spread out.

Mousekeeping was great about keeping us supplied with coffee and tea, but the cups and flatware are disposable and there were no plates. There was a can/bottle opener and a roll of paper towels over the little kitchenette sink. The fridge was cold enough to freeze water bottles.

The food court was good, but they obviously need to finish working out the kinks in procedure. The grab-and-go section is modeled after Pop's, which we really liked. CM's very friendly and helpful. We really enjoyed our stay at AoA but between the price of the suites and the distance of LM, the conditions will have to be right for us to stay again. If we went with a group that could share the cost of 2 or 3 suites, that would be good but I don't think DH and I would stay again just the 2 of us.

The resort is absolutely adorable though, and I know it will be perfect for many people!

 

[tiffany0610]

So nice to read about the resort! We are staying in the cars suite the week after thanksgiving!!

 

[luvmyguyz]

Quick question for hose of you that have had to fly to get to WDW.....If you had a baby around the age of 16 months would you buy a seat for him or her or would you choos the on the parents lap option???

Not used to flying and have never flown with little ones.
Last time we were at WDW was in 2006 and we didnt have babies back then

We flew to Miami for a cruise when our youngest was under 2, and we decided not to pay for a seat for him. We figured since we had multiple adults with us (my parents, my sister, plus DH and me), we could pass him around during the flight. We were also hoping the flight wouldn't be super booked and we could put him in his car seat. It did not work out in our favor, and it was not a pleasant flight - he wasn't able to fall asleep and was cranky the whole time, which made all of us pretty cranky too. Coming back was even worse because we spent 7 hours in the airport before the flight, so we were already cranky before the plane even took off!!

I would recommend purchasing a seat for your baby.

 

[tiki23]

As for storage in the suites, at least in the Cars Suite, there are two night stands on either side of the table-bed that have the small drawer each and then the bottom shelf. In the living room, there is a rack for hanging clothes with a shelf above it and there is a storage chest for blankets and pillows. That chest could hold quite a bit if you take the linens out. Plus the full dresser on which the TV sits and the full dresser in the bedroom.

Little Mermaid is definitely a tighter fit storage-wise. The tip about the hanging shelf is a good one, as well as using the shoe organizer from the dollar store for everyone's toiletries, make-up, etc. The other thing we've found to be helpful is a small container to put on the table or dresser as a catch-all.

 

[luvmyguyz]

We're staying in LM and I know it will be quite a walk to get drink refills. Can we refill our refillable mugs, dump it into a separate container, then refill the mug and again dump it into another container to leave in the fridge?

Or would that be tacky? I don't see a problem with it but what do you think? I was going to bring a small rubbermaid container for beverages for that purpose.

If this were the refillable mug thread we'd call this "debate."

My opinion is....yeah, it's tacky.

I did not know such a thread existed. I am glad I did not ask this in another thread since I don't want people jumping down my throat. Thank you!

I won't do it.

On our last trip, every morning we filled our mugs, brought them back to our table, and then poured the contents into our metal thermoses which we brought to the parks with us. The thermoses held about the same amount of liquid as the mugs, but were more convenient because they stay cold longer, don't leak, and have clips so they can hang on the strollers. My DH would then run the mugs back to our room while I took the little ones to the restroom before heading to the buses. This worked nicely for us.

I did feel a little tacky doing it, but we weren't sneaky about it and were never asked to stop. So, wrong or not, we'll probably do the same thing on this trip. (We have the dining plan, and so will get new mugs.) In my opinion, we're drinking the same amount, so what difference does it make if we transfer the contents to another container?

Now, on the other hand, I think I would NOT stand at the drink counter pouring the contents of our mugs into a rubbermaid container and then refilling the mugs and repeating this process over and over again until the container was full - if for no other reason then that this would likely be annoying and disrespectful to others waiting to use the drink dispensers. I would, however, not have any problem at all filling our 5 mugs, bringing them back to the room, transferring the contents to another container to keep in the fridge for later that night, and then stopping back at the drink station to fill the mugs again to take with us. So maybe I'm a hipocrite.

 

[2disneycruzrs]

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.

I agree with this. It's amazing folks complaining yet they walk all over the theme parks daily.

As for the wait, the lines at both registration and on-line were not long, but the process seemed very slow and only 3 CMs handling each.. This was Tuesday late in the evening. Parking was very ample, and not far away from the buildings.

One thing I appreciate is he smoking area was not immediately outside the main bldg doors like at Pop. It was nearby but you didn't come out and get overwhelmed by smoke.