Art of Animation Resort About This Page:

[bcleden]

My DH and I are headed to Disney during spring break next year. Our son will be playing in a tournament and staying with his team at another resort. Based on pricing, we're considering a value resort and have never stayed at one.

After checking them out online, we're considering the Art of Animation resort. It seems that most of the rooms are suites which would be great if we were traveling with our kids. Since it's just us, do they have regular rooms with king size beds? Also we'll probably do some pool time so which building would you recommend?

Thanks!

[CinderAbby]

Unfortunately none of the suites have king size beds. At AoA, the Little Mermaid rooms which are very far away from check in, food court, bus stops, etc are standard rooms and might have a couple with king beds but for the price of them, you'd probably be better to stay at one of the other value resorts where your chances of getting a king bed (and remember, it's a request and not guaranteed) near everything will be much better.

[joelsmom]

They do have some standard rooms with king beds, but as Darlene said, they are far from most amenities, although near the Little Mermaid pool. The standard rooms are the Little Mermaid section only. For that resort, you typically pay about $40 more per night than at other value resort rooms. So far, I haven't been able to bring myself to pay that difference, but YMMV.

For proximity to amenities, I'd request building 9.

[luvnwdwgal]

My problem with Art of Animation isn't the fact that the only standard rooms are in the Little Mermaid section, it's that the rooms are WAY TOO THEMED. Unless you are traveling with kids, it's ridiculous. Why can't Disney design a value resort that is more adult looking?! Pop Century isn't too bad. At least their rooms are normal and I don't have too feel like I'm in a 5 year old's bedroom.

[PatV]

We stayed at AoA in a family suite (Cars theme) and loved it. 2 bathrooms was awesome! 1 bedroom and 2 rollouts which weren't awful. Also the mini kitchen was great for us as we like to take alot of our own food.
We were there over Christmas so we didn't swim.
Have fun!

[Pax]

Originally Posted by bcleden

Since it's just us, do they have regular rooms with king size beds?

We stayed in Art of Animation for our January 2014 trip.

The only section with regular rooms is the Little Mermaid area. And while it's brilliantly themed (the landscaping makes the courtyard look like the seafloor ...!), it is very FAR from the main building - and thus, the food court. It's also far from the main pool, but there's a smaller pool right in the courtyard.

AFAIK, they don't have any rooms with king beds in those buildings.

And there are literally ZERO non-suite options in any other section of the resort.

...

Unless getting a suite, I wouldn't stay at AoA again. The Little Mermaid rooms are really just THAT far from the main building.

[allgiggles]

There are definitely some King rooms in the Little Mermaid section but not very many (pictures available on various websites). My son and his wife have stayed in a LM room twice (no kids, just love the movie) and they've requested a king room both times but have never gotten one. They always stop by the front desk to see if they can move to a king room the next day but have never been able to because rooms weren't opening up until well into their stay and they didn't want to move at that point. But they've been "rewarded" with a standard room at the end of building 7 both times -- so they've had the shortest walk possible to bus stops/food court while staying in a LM room.

That being said, I would stay at Pop Century over AoA (even though we *love* AoA) if I was getting a standard (non-suite) room. There's a better chance of getting a king room at Pop since there are more rooms (though it's still a remote chance) and with the refurbishment at Pop, even if you don't get a king room, you'd still end up with queen beds rather than a double/full at LM. Jut keep in mind that some of the rooms in the 50's and 80's sections at Pop are just as far away (or further) from the food court/bus stops as some of the Little Mermaid rooms. (Longest walk from 50's to back door of Pop food court is ~360 yards; from 80's is just a hair under 400 yards. Longest walk from a LM room to food court is ~511 yards and the shortest walk is ~280 yards with all rooms in buildings 7 & 9 being less than 400 yards.) If I had a car and was planning to drive to most of the parks, the LM rooms would be more appealing. And we actually prefer the pool in the LM section over the Big Blue pool. It's much quieter and far less crowded. When we stay in LK suite, we usually go to the LM pool.

[sk8mom6]

Little Mermaid rooms are really far out there, especially for anyone with a mobility issue. Realistically, I think there are rooms at POP that are closer to AoA's(50's and 60's lakeside rooms) food Court than the Little Mermaid ones. Having stayed at both resorts and having requested a King bed at POP 3 times, I have never received that request.