We just got back last night from five nights in a Lion King suite. Our last several trips have been at deluxe resorts, but DH couldn't go this time and the kids (13 and 17) wanted to stay at AoA. A few impressions:
1. The theming is great, and we enjoyed the extra space and the extra bathroom. Both girls found their beds to be comfortable, although DD13 was on the table bed and heard every noise outside since it is right by the door. We ended up downloading a white noise app for her phone during the trip.
2. Wifi in our room was almost nonexistent (fourth floor, building 10). It was great at the food court and in the parks, but not our room.
3. We could see the Star Wars fireworks from our room - that was awesome.
4. Food court was mixed -some CMs were more accommodating than others. DD13 is a pescetarian and wanted to try the veggie burger (which is actually a fried green tomato burger), but she doesn't like pepper jack cheese. The CM said they could make it without the cheese, but they wouldn't add another kind of cheese. But at another station, DD17 was allowed to sub cheese types on her sandwich. DD13 ordered pasta with shrimp another night and they gave it to her without shrimp. I took it back to the counter and asked for shrimp, but they added shrimp and chicken, so they had to redo it. I would have liked to see a few more vegetarian/pescetarian options for her, or have them be a little more accommodating, but she didn't go hungry.
5. The large cheese pizza for 13.99 is a steal. We were not on the dining plan, and DD17 and I split it for dinner and brought leftovers to the room for the next afternoon.
6. Buses were mostly quick leaving the resort, less so leaving the parks. Leaving Magic Kingdom at 3:00 am Sunday night/Monday morning, we shared a bus with Pop - no big deal. Leaving HS Wednesday night, three Pop buses came before one AoA bus came - the line was huge by then. Animal Kingdom buses were slow coming and going, which was suprising since AoA is not that far from AK. We may have just had bad timing, but there were generally other people waiting when we arrived at a stop, so we didn't just miss the bus repeatedly.
7. Not having stayed at a value resort before, there were some things I missed. Even though I read that the shampoo and conditioner were together, I forgot, but I also packed my own. I forgot/didn't know that there was no lotion, so we bought some. These amenities are as advertised, so it is not a complaint, but I did notice the difference in resort category. I don't really think of the suites as value rooms since they cost twice what a moderate room costs, but they are.
Overall, the layout worked very well for our group of three - typically one of my kids sleeps on an air mattress because they hate to sleep together. But we could have stayed at the Yacht Club for about the same price with the Awaken Summer promo. I'm glad we stayed here and would stay here again, but I don't know that it would necessarily be my first choice for the price.
