Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Information & Questions

[cakebaker]

Just thinking about taking POP buses when at AoA (or vice versa) and was wondering if anyone can tell me the capacity of AoA vs POP. I know they're the same "size", but I'm sure the suites make AoA different from POP.

We stayed at POP in early August, AOA last week.

We paid close attention to the bus service for AOA while at POP because we were going to be at AOA in a few weeks,

We found, at least for us, the service was slightly better at AOA. For returns back to the hotel, while AOA looked to have longer lines, they seemed to clear them out faster. Also, the waits at POP were a bit longer at the resort.

It may have just been luck of the draw, but we just never waited more than a couple of minutes before a bus would pull up for whatever park we were going to while at AOA.

I'm probably lazy, but the idea of walking from the bus stop at either resort to my room in the other resort does not appeal to me at all! I will admit, getting my grandson thru the gift shop at AOA was challenging at times. lol

 

[Frozen2014]

Question about busing vs driving from AoA to MK (I know the other parks are more straight forward so not worried about those)

1. How long does it take by car (drive + parking + tram and monorail)?
2. How long does it take by bus (including average waiting time...say, worst case after parade or fireworks)?

We're leaning towards driving as we're renting a car but know that it's not so straight forward

 

[clambert1273]

Sooo excited! We are booked for Nemo suite April 4 - 11... we aren't telling our kids that we are even going.. just going to put them in the car and start driving lol

We lived in Cali so we are Disneyland people and this will be the first time my hubby, kids and MIL have been to Disneyworld .. I have been for conferences with my job but just to the resort and not park(s).

So happy to give them this surprise!

 

[Ava]

We are booked for a free dining bounce back, Aug 20-30, 2015 (tentatively, trying to swing the 10-day trip). It will be me, DW, both of our mothers, DD6, and DD2 in a Lion King suite! We enjoyed our stay at CBR this year but with 6 of us it makes sense to go for the family suite. And I've been wanting to try AoA!

Two questions:

1. Are there side doors out of the LK buildings, on the side closest to the main pool/food court? It looks like there may be paths on the map but I can't tell for sure.

2. Would it be possible to fit both a twin air mattress and a pack-n-play (or toddler travel cot) in the bedroom? We'll be bringing an air mattress for DD6 anyway so both of our mothers can have their own bed, and it'd be nice to be able to put both kids to sleep in the bedroom so the adults can sit up in the living area, get ready for the next day, etc.

Thanks!

 

[cakebaker]

Question about busing vs driving from AoA to MK (I know the other parks are more straight forward so not worried about those)

1. How long does it take by car (drive + parking + tram and monorail)?
2. How long does it take by bus (including average waiting time...say, worst case after parade or fireworks)?

We're leaning towards driving as we're renting a car but know that it's not so straight forward

We never drive our own car, even though we drive to WDW. We find the internal transportation much more convenient. At any rate, can't help you on times driving your personal car.

I think we had the worst case scenario on our return from the MK after closing. There were wrapped lines outside of the actual line area. That said, the busses were amazingly fast. From the time we walked up to the line, until the time we were on a bus was 30 minutes. It's about a 20 minute drive to AOA. I'm pretty sure, judging by the crowds waiting for the monorail or boat headed to the transportation center, that we made it out much faster. It was wall to wall people in that area.

On average though, we waited for no more than 5-10 minutes at any park to get a bus. About the same coming from the resort.

 

[tbia]

Going in 2 weeks. I have 2 questions....one, will the refrigerator hold a gallon jug of milk or just a quart.

Secondly, does anyone have the resort activities guide for October they can post?

 

[disrev]

Going in 2 weeks. I have 2 questions....one, will the refrigerator hold a gallon jug of milk or just a quart. Secondly, does anyone have the resort activities guide for October they can post?

Here right now. Answer to #1 is yes.
For #2, I don't have access to it right now, but if somebody doesn't beat me, check back tomorrow.

 

[jcarwash]

Secondly, does anyone have the resort activities guide for October they can post?

As I post, this link goes to the October activities PDF for AoA.

 

[bluezy]

We are booked for a free dining bounce back, Aug 20-30, 2015 (tentatively, trying to swing the 10-day trip). It will be me, DW, both of our mothers, DD6, and DD2 in a Lion King suite! We enjoyed our stay at CBR this year but with 6 of us it makes sense to go for the family suite. And I've been wanting to try AoA!

Two questions:

1. Are there side doors out of the LK buildings, on the side closest to the main pool/food court? It looks like there may be paths on the map but I can't tell for sure.

2. Would it be possible to fit both a twin air mattress and a pack-n-play (or toddler travel cot) in the bedroom? We'll be bringing an air mattress for DD6 anyway so both of our mothers can have their own bed, and it'd be nice to be able to put both kids to sleep in the bedroom so the adults can sit up in the living area, get ready for the next day, etc.

Thanks!

Yes, there are stairways and doors at the end of each "wing" of the buildings. That's the little "bump" at the end of the buildings on the map. The "notch" in the center of the building is the "main entrance" with power/push-button doors and the elevators. We almost always used the end door because we were in the LK building 10 right at the end closest to the main building.

Personally, I would say there is room for a twin-size mattress and a Pack & Play in the master bedroom. Some people may say it's too cramped. There is quite a bit of space between the bed and the bathroom so you can probably fit both of them there. Or put the mattress there and the pack & play on the other side of the bedroom. You might have to step over or around the twin size mattress to get in to the master bathroom depending where you put it, but it will fit. If you use a pack & play and a "kid size" air mattress, you definitely won't have a problem.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Personally, I would say there is room for a twin-size mattress and a Pack & Play in the master bedroom. Some people may say it's too cramped. There is quite a bit of space between the bed and the bathroom so you can probably fit both of them there. Or put the mattress there and the pack & play on the other side of the bedroom. You might have to step over or around the twin size mattress to get in to the master bathroom depending where you put it, but it will fit. If you use a pack & play and a "kid size" air mattress, you definitely won't have a problem.

To add to this- If you are using one of Disney's provided Pack and Plays it might help to note that it fits through the doorway when completely set up. Our last stay, we put our two boys to bed early in the master and then moved them out to the main room once everyone was ready for bed. We relocated our DS4 from one bed to another and gently pulled the pack and play out the door while the baby continued to sleep in it!

 

[cgattis]

Here now. If anybody needs me to check on anything, post, and I'll do my best. I really, really love these suites. Hope Disney builds more in the future besides just DVC.

 

[Ava]

Yes, there are stairways and doors at the end of each "wing" of the buildings. That's the little "bump" at the end of the buildings on the map. The "notch" in the center of the building is the "main entrance" with power/push-button doors and the elevators. We almost always used the end door because we were in the LK building 10 right at the end closest to the main building.

Personally, I would say there is room for a twin-size mattress and a Pack & Play in the master bedroom. Some people may say it's too cramped. There is quite a bit of space between the bed and the bathroom so you can probably fit both of them there. Or put the mattress there and the pack & play on the other side of the bedroom. You might have to step over or around the twin size mattress to get in to the master bathroom depending where you put it, but it will fit. If you use a pack & play and a "kid size" air mattress, you definitely won't have a problem.

Thank you for the info! Glad to hear I should be able to fit both kids into the master bedroom with us. I plan to look for this toddler travel cot thing I saw in a catalog once for younger DD; she'll be over 2 so likely outgrowing a pack-n-play anyway, and I think the cot will take up less space.

To add to this- If you are using one of Disney's provided Pack and Plays it might help to note that it fits through the doorway when completely set up. Our last stay, we put our two boys to bed early in the master and then moved them out to the main room once everyone was ready for bed. We relocated our DS4 from one bed to another and gently pulled the pack and play out the door while the baby continued to sleep in it!

Lucky! My kids are both relatively light sleepers - I can't imagine ever being able to move them like that and have them stay asleep. This is another reason I'm excited to have a separate bedroom on our next trip! Hopefully better sleep for everyone.

 

[Loftin716]

Just booked for June 13-22 2015 in a Nemo suite! Same as this year. We love AOA!

 

[momneedscoffee13]

Working on online check-in - is there a big difference in the distance from the lake view rooms in the Cars suites to the Cars building closest to the transportation/buses? I'm thinking the lake view would be nice, but being close to transpo would be nice as well with 2 small kids! It's hard to judge actual distance from looking at the resort map, anyone have any up-close experience?

 

[clambert1273]

Here now. If anybody needs me to check on anything, post, and I'll do my best. I really, really love these suites. Hope Disney builds more in the future besides just DVC.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere lol Which portion are you staying in right now? I guess my biggest question would be about a quiet area in the Nemo suites

 

[jcarwash]

Working on online check-in - is there a big difference in the distance from the lake view rooms in the Cars suites to the Cars building closest to the transportation/buses? I'm thinking the lake view would be nice, but being close to transpo would be nice as well with 2 small kids! It's hard to judge actual distance from looking at the resort map, anyone have any up-close experience?

Building 3 (with lake view rooms) and Building 1 are pretty much a toss-up in terms of distance to food court and transportation. Building 2 (which technically has rooms facing the lake) is slightly further.

 

[cinderkelly]

Going in 2 weeks. I have 2 questions....one, will the refrigerator hold a gallon jug of milk or just a quart. Secondly, does anyone have the resort activities guide for October they can post?

Sorry I don't have an activities guide for you but re: the milk question you would probably be better off with a quart or two. It's probably more of a depth issue than height of the gallon. We put about 10 bottles of water in the bottom of the fridge 2 deep. Standard size bottles. Hope that helps have a great trip

 

[cinderkelly]

Here right now. Answer to #1 is yes. For #2, I don't have access to it right now, but if somebody doesn't beat me, check back tomorrow.

Ok I stand corrected re: gallon

 

[chelseabun76]

I was thinking of using our snack credits to grab something at night before bed in the food court that we can just take back to the room to save for a quick breakfast as we get ready on rope drop days to save us time and get us to the bus quicker... Are there some decent options for snacks later at night like fruit, muffins, etc.?

 

[ejgonz2]

@Cinderkelly: theres a ton of room in the fridge. We fit 4 half gallons of milk and 2 half gallons of OJ, in addition to a lot of bottles of water, a container of bags of prepackaged sliced apples, a large container of yogurt, a box of gogurt, some butter, and a few wine coolers/beers

@Chelseabun76: there are plenty of snacks that could be used for breakfast at the food court, including muffins and fruit