Six months ago, our family expanded by one teenager, and I knew that one thing that would change was where we stayed for our Disney trips. One small room at Pop Century just wasn’t going to be big enough for all of us anymore! My mom was also coming along on this particular trip, so I knew we were going to need more space. We had always talked about staying in one of the suites at Art of Animation, and we decided that this was the perfect opportunity.
The completely immersive theming begins in the lobby. I love the beautiful wall of light and color, and there are sketches filling the opposite wall. There’s even a beautiful light fixture made from drawings – so many great details! There is the usual gift shop (called The Ink & Paint Shop), which leads into Landscape of Flavors, the resort food court. It’s also worth noting that the food here is better than at the other value resorts; there is a Create-Your-Own Pasta bar and a large selection of gelato, among other things.
The Art of Animation resort is split into 4 sections: Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid rooms are value-priced (picture the same size and layout as Pop Century), but the rest are family suites. Each section is beautifully themed with larger than life statues and sketchbooks, and if you look closely, even the landscaping reflects the theme. This makes each section feel more authentic and adds to the experience.
There are also three pools – The Big Blue Pool in the Nemo section, which is the largest (and according to the Walt Disney World website, it is the single largest hotel pool on property); the Cozy Cone pool in the Cars section (so cute!), and the Flippin’ Fins pool in the Little Mermaid area. One fun feature of the Big Blue Pool is that there is music playing underwater, and there is also a walkup bar and an outdoor refill station for resort mugs.
Let’s talk about those suites! Even though I had done my research, I still wasn’t entirely sure about how the suite would work for our family. As it turns out, it was perfect! When you walk into the room, there is a table that converts into a bed. There is also a small kitchenette and a living room area where the sofa converts into a bed. There was also a bathroom with a tub in this area.
In the bedroom, there was a bed, dresser, and another bathroom (this one only had a shower stall). There was a door separating the two rooms, which was nice. Another bonus of our room (which was on the 2nd floor) was that we were able to see fireworks from Hollywood Studios from our window. All of the family suites have indoor entrances: you have to go inside of the building to get to your room. The Little Mermaid rooms are just like Pop, they have exterior entry. Fun fact: The Little Mermaid buildings were originally intended to be part of a second phase of Pop Century. After tourism slowed post 9/11, the second phase was scrapped and eventually Art of Animation was created instead. You can read more about it here: http://www.yesterland.com/legendary.html
My absolute favorite thing about this resort (and also about Pop Century) is the running trail that circles Hourglass Lake. It is a 1.38 mile loop, and it is gorgeous at sunrise! It’s fun to run around the lake and stop for silly pictures with all the oversized statues, or just read the little signs that have different facts on them. In the middle of the lake is a bridge that separates Pop from AoA, so it’s very easy to walk from one resort to the other.
Art of Animation was a lot of fun – we all loved the theming, we enjoyed walking around, and the waits for the bus were minimal. Of course, returning from the parks at closing time was another story, but that’s to be expected. Full disclosure – we did have a small snafu upon arrival. We were told that our room was ready, so we trekked over to unload our stuff instead of heading straight to the park as we had initially planned. When I opened the door to our suite, I was greeted with the aftermath of what looked like quite the party scene – beer cans, liquor bottles, and other trash littered the room, and all the beds were unmade. The resort went above and beyond to make up for our trouble. Since we had lost time, they treated us to breakfast and added fast passes to our Magic Bands. We hadn’t asked for anything, and we weren’t upset – we understand that mistakes happen. But the care they took to correct the situation was a further testament to the excellent customer service that I have come to expect from the Disney corporation.
Would I stay here again? Yes, absolutely! The price for a suite is quite a bit higher than that of the Little Mermaid rooms, so that will be a consideration. But we enjoyed the resort and the location, and we will definitely be back. I’d love to stay in The Lion King section next time!
Do you have any questions about the resort, or things you would like to see on our next visit? Please let us know – we love to hear your thoughts and questions!
