Disney's Art of Animation Resort

We had a family suite and it was great. There were 4 of us (2x adults and 2x kids) and there was so much space. If you’re travelling with kids then this is the place to go. We originally stayed in French Quarter but my wife was finding it difficult to sleep with all of us in one room, so we paid $75 extra a night inc tax to go here. It made such a difference. The hotel is plastered with things for the kids to get excited about. We stayed in the Lion King rooms and even though it the only area that doesn’t have it own pool all pools were less than a 5 minute walk away. For me this was the best location as it cuts through to the buses and is central without having to pay the extra for the Finding Nemo rooms. The restaurant had plenty of choice for breakfast and their lunch/dinner menu looked good but we only had the one meal and it was a burger. With the new Skyline gondola coming soon this would a prime choice for easy and novel travel to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Plus just walking around this hotel gives you plenty of photo opportunities with your favourite characters. Pop century is just over the bridge and there too you have some great photos. Going back to the family suite. You can easily fit 6 people in this room as there’s also a comfy sofa bed big enough for two. Even with all the beds in use it never impacted the space. Plus having two bathrooms was very convenient. In the day they had plenty of kids games and activities at the pool and also 15 minute drawing classes in reception at 11, 2 and 5 each day. Read less

This was our first stay at AOA, the family suites appealed to our family of four. We did take the magical express from the airport but due to our late arrival we did not use the luggage tags provided and went to baggage claim prior to going to the magical express area. Word of advice, use the online check-in so you can skip the front desk! We got to AOA a little after 8 pm on a Sunday evening to check-in and the line was insanely long. I applaud the AOA staff for trying to make everyone's check-in experience wonderful but in order to do that, there needs to be more employees working the check-in area to expedite the line. Once we were finally checked in, we made our way to our cars family suite in building 2 on the 3rd floor. Building 2 is the furthest building from animation hall in the cars area. If you purchased the refillable mugs to use in the resort area, just know that it is a bit of a hike to refill them at Landscape of Flavors. However, there are vending machines in the building itself which might be a better or more convenient option. Our room did not face the pool but rather a parking lot so room noise was minimal. We did not take advantage of the cars pool due to time constraints and weather but it was decorated with multiple "cozy cone cabanas". The room is nicely decorated in all things "cars" themed. Our children loved it. The room was in need of new carpet, very cute "themed" yellow/orange carpet but very faded and appeared dirty to me. The kitchenette was awesome for my family since we packed multiple snacks (juice boxes, bags of popcorn, etc). There is also a coffee maker in the room. Two bathrooms for four people was also great. The common area bathroom has a separate vanity area from the commode and tub/shower combination. The common area had a pull out sofa bed and a pull down table bed as well. The room was stocked with multiple pillows but a few extra blankets would have been handy in the room. Wi-Fi and cellular service in general was poor in our room. My husband and I both needed access to the internet for work while we were staying at the resort. The connection was often nonexistent or if connected, speed was very slow. Layout of AOA/Tips for Choosing a Room/Section: You check in at Animation Hall (also located in the animation hall area is the gift shop - ink & paint shop - and landscape of flavors (dining) - pixel play arcade. The transportation to and from the parks is right out front of Animation Hall. The largest pool - the big blue pool - is closest to Animation Hall, as are the Finding Nemo section. The cars and lion king section are the next closest areas to Animation Hall. The cars section does have it's own pool but lion king section does not. The furthest section from Animation Hall is The Little Mermaid section. There are multiple areas to do laundry at the resort (one in cars section, one in nemo section, and one in the mermaid section). There is also a one mile running trail/loop on the property. Landscape of Flavors was delicious. My family really enjoyed dinner here. There are so many options here that every one in your family can find something. The night that we had dinner here I had an indian inspired fish dish, my husband had a surf burger and our children had buttered bowtie pasta from the pasta station. There are plenty of dessert options for those with a sweet tooth, to include a gelato station! We did take advantage of the Disney dining plan while we were there, which I believe was absolutely worth the price tag. Thoughts on traveling by bus. Keep in mind that AOA is one of the furthest resort from Magic Kingdom. The line to get on the bus forms very early and can be very long. If you have a reservation in the park first thing in the morning for breakfast, wake up early and get in line at least 45 minutes before you want to be at the park (remembering that once you get to the park you have to go through bag check, security and then ticketing) or take a uber/lyft or a minnie car that is operated by lyft. The buses were packed full of people both days that we went to Magic Kingdom so be prepared that you may need to stand on the bus. Also, when leaving MK and headed back to AOA by bus, your bus stop is the furthest from the entrance (I believe it's #34) and it seemed like there were buses running more frequently to POP century resort which is AOA's closest neighbor. You can take a bus to POP century and then the walking bridge across hourglass lake to AOA. There is some construction going on around the bridge due to the gondola system that they are building/installing. But this is another option if you don't want to wait for the AOA buses. We did not take advantage of magical express to leave the resort to go back to Orlando's airport. Magical express departure times are 3 hours prior to domestic flights and 4 hours prior to international flights. They also want you to be there 15 minutes prior to your departure time. The motor coach will sometimes make multiple stops so they inform you that it may take 45 to 75 minutes of travel time to get to the airport. We chose to take a uber to the airport due to our early morning flight. Read less

The plus is the room is on Disney property, the down size is the size of the room. This room had 2 double beds and there were not incredibly comfortable. The decor is fun and fanciful which is great for families with young children. The bathroom area is quite small and would be a challenge if you had children with you. Disney transport is a plus and the cafe on property is a plus but rather expensive. The gondolas will be wonderful once they are operational. Kuddo’s for online check in, downside was when we went to pick up our magic bands we had the staff add a days admission to epcot. Unfortunately they inadvertently put the day before on our band. We went directly to Epcot and found out it had the wrong day on it and we had to stand in line for 40 min to get it fixed. After that everything else was good. Read less

The Art of Animation is a good value priced resort. It is centrally located and is a 10 to 15 minute bus ride from any of the parks and Disney Springs. There is only one dining option on property, so get down to breakfast before 8:00 AM, or you will have to wait for food and check out. The lines can get pretty long to pay. One of my pet peeves was the double sided lines, but only a single cashier. You think the line is shorter than it is, but the cashier has to check out customers on both sides. The other problem with AoA is the mattres. Our bed was so hard I was waking up with back pain that I didn't have prior to the trip and went away once I started sleeping in my own bed. Our family suite was nice and clean with room to sleep 6 comfortably. Overall, it was a god trip, they just need some new mattresses and more cashiers at breakfast. Read less