Disney's Art of Animation Resort

My husband and I stayed at Art of Animation in the Little Mermaid rooms January 9-13. I stayed there 5 years ago with a friend and daughter and loved it. Since then, I have mostly stayed at Disney Deluxe hotels. Going into this visit, I wasn't sure if I would still like AOA, a value hotel after staying at places such as Boardwalk, Yacht, Beach etc. The reason we choose AOA is due to the low cost of the Little Mermaid rooms, since we had a split stay and spend another few days at Bay Lake Towers which was more expensive. Even though AOA is considered a value hotel, I did not feel like I was staying at a value hotel. Sure, it doesn't have a coffee maker in the room, and the cups are plastic, not glass, but those are just minor things.The theming of the room is fantastic, and was very spacious for the two of us. I feel like if there are more than two people in the room, it would be too crowded though. The Little Mermaid rooms are the farthest away from the bus stop and food court, but it was only a 7-10 minute walk and didn't bother us. When we came back to the hotel each night, we would take a nice walk from the Nemo rooms to Little Mermaid rooms on the path next to the lake. It was very peaceful, and we saw other people walking or sitting on benches enjoying the view. The food court was a typical Disney food court. It's not signature dining, but it's fast and hearty and gets the job done. What stood out to me at the food court was how friendly the cast members were. Every cast member was eager to help us, answer any questions and very friendly. The thing that made our stay at AOA, and is a complete game changer is the Skyliner. What a wonderful way to get to Hollywood Studios and Epcot!! Instead of waiting for and getting on a sometimes crowded bus, instead we just walked over to the Skyliner station and hopped on. Our first night there we literally just rode the Skyliner. While we were at AOA, we rode it many times. I was pleasantly surprised at how much we liked AOA, even though it's a "value" hotel. We would definitely stay there again! Read less

This was our first time to Disney so I can not compare to the other resorts, but for us the Mermaid Room at this resort was perfect for our family and we traveled with a 2.5 and 5 year old. The room is nothing out of the ordinary and is more of a themed motel room with a great cafeteria, beautiful property and amazing pool. For a “value” hotel I have absolutely no complaints! The staff was kind, amazing and absolutely magical. Our room was spotless and cleaned daily with a few special touches here and there. The one downfall to staying in a mermaid room is it’s pretty far of a walk after a long day, but completely doable. There were definitely times I had wished they had shuttle golf carts lol especially after running the Half Marathon 😬. The back of the resort was quiet and it was so nice knowing our kids could just be kids. I don’t personally see the point of spending life savings on a room you are in all but 8 hours to sleep in, but that’s just me. We also absolutely loved that we could take the sky liner to 2 of the parks and a few resorts. So much more relaxing than the buses. So if you are looking for a clean Disney themed resort to lay your head at the end of a fun filled day look no further. If you are looking for luxury this resort is more geared toward kiddos and family. Read less

Let me say that the resort itself is amazing themed the detail is awesome the kids would feel like they are in the movie because I did! The pools are great there are three! The food was so so at the quick service at the AOA! We liked the Pop better and there is a ton of other places to eat off the skyliner to eat! The worst part and the reason for the 3 stars are the little mermaid rooms the beds are absolutely terrible and they need to update these rooms! There was no internet signal in the rooms no big deal but could not even get my messages! Could hear everything people’s doors toilets flushing no insulation or very little! That being said maybe the family sweets would be a lot better! The rest of the resort was amazing! And the skyliners are nice way to get to the parks and visit other resorts! Read less

We love AOA, and after staying here last year we knew immediately that this is the place we wanted to return to. This trip further proves that Disney is where the magic happens. AOA has spacious family rooms, especially wonderful for families like ours who have a little on who still naps. We put our son in the room to sleep and still had a living space. Art also has pools, an amazing food court, arcade, walking path, and super convenient access to the new Skyliner. This trip we initially had a very small housekeeping issue, but it was resolved so quickly and with top-notch professionalism. They went above and beyond to correct the mistake. In addition, today our son started to get a respiratory illness. He has febrile seizures, so I asked concierge for info on medicine and the nearest urgent care should we need it. They provided great information, and also left a small gift for our son in our room. No one wants to deal with illness at Disney, but if you have to be sick, they certainly take care of you. Our stay has been so great here that we will hopefully become DVC members in the next few years. Thanks for making the magic 💫 Read less

My family and I just got back from our stay at AOA. We are a family of four with our 2 kids being in their 20's one male and one female. It's very hard to find accommodations for our family in a moderate price range where we don't have to share beds. The moderates do have pull down beds that list for 5 people but you are not guaranteed that type of room, so we booked AOA. We were located in the Finding Nemo suites which is closest to food court and Big Blue pool and a quick walk to the Skyliner. Having 2 bathrooms was great! Everyone had their own bed which was also great. Mousekeeping was wonderful. We had a couple small issues in the room but after a quick phone call they were promplty rectified, so service was very good here. I wish the rooms were a little less "in your face" with the themeing. I like the exterior theming but would prefer a bit more subdued interior to be honest - like Pop Century. Beds were very comfortable. Food court was never crowded even though the parks were crazy busy. Skyliner was amazing! It really was wonderful having that option and it made it easy to even try a restaurant we probably wouldn't have otherwise - Sebastian's at the CBR. Great find. Bus service here was excellent. We never waited more than five minutes for a bus and it's a ten minute drive to MK which is fantastic! All in all the resort filled our needs and our stay was pleasant. Personally, I would prefer to stay in a room next time that isn't so intense with the theming, but like I said previously, it's really hard to find those type of accommodations for our family without spending a fortune. Read less