Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

Last month Sister and I took the kids down to Disney for a week to squeeze every last dollar out of our annual passes :-).  We wanted to have as economical of a trip as possible, and we wanted a lot of pool time in our schedule since we knew it would be insanely hot.   To check both boxes, we chose a suite at Art of Animation for our stay!

Art of Animation falls in the value resort category and has themed family suites that sleep up to six (Cars, Lion King, Finding Nemo) and regular hotel rooms (The Little Mermaid).  The resort is extremely colorful and brings favorite Disney movies to life everywhere you look.

A few times a day you will find animation classes taking place right here in the tv lounge area of the lobby.  Sadly, we missed all of them but be sure to check the resort activity sheet at check in if you stay here!

While we missed the guided animation lessons, the kids loved trying their hand at various characters set up on easels in the lobby most days.  They could turn in their masterpieces for the chance to be awarded the “animator of the day” title.

We loved exploring the resort, especially the Cars section where we were staying.  As you approach this section, the sidewalks turn to roads and you feel like you are walking right into Radiator Springs!  The kids will adore finding all of their favorite characters from the movies.  It was so well done.

The Cozy Cone quiet pool is absolutely darling!  You can even catch some shade from right inside a Cozy Cone pool cabana.

Exploring at night is also a must as it almost looks even more like Radiator Springs all lit up.

We chose a Cars suite since all of our kids love the movies!  I really didn’t know what to expect inside, and was very pleasantly surprised.  When entering the suite, you come right into the dining area.

In the evening the table folds down into a double sized bed.

The living room has a sofa bed that sleeps two more, a tv, an open closet and a kitchenette.  There is also a full bathroom off of the living space with a shower/tub combo, toilet and sink but I overlooked it in my photo spree.

The master bedroom has a door (!) and a queen bed, as well as a tv, open closet area and second bathroom.

Overall we absolutely loved our room and didn’t feel cramped or crowded at all.  The decor was adorable and the kids all loved it.  Our only complaint was that the internet service was terrible!

We spent a lot of time at the Big Blue Pool inspired by Finding Nemo.  It was huge and you can hear music playing under the water, which the kids and adults alike found amazing :-)  There is also an interactive play area right next to the pool for the little ones.  This pool also has pool parties in the afternoon and Movies Under the Stars at night.

In addition to the Big Blue pool, there are quiet pools in both the Cars and Little Mermaid sections as well.

Art of Animation is known for having the best quick serve dining on property and I was so excited to finally try it!  Landscape of Flavors was really quite good and we all enjoyed dining here multiple times for multiple meals during our stay.  You’ll find everything from themed waffles to smoothies to tacos to curry chicken (our fave!) here.

The Drop Off pool bar had my favorite Disney cocktail – the Pina CoLava – but did not serve food.

Lastly, since bus service is always a hot topic of discussion when choosing a resort, we had a good experience with Art of Animation.  There was only one bus stop at the front of the resort and they were reliable and punctual.  We really appreciated how small the resort felt because I had always heard otherwise.  I think the Nemo suites have the best location, followed by Cars and Lion King, and then the Little Mermaid standard rooms.

It almost doesn’t seem fair to rank Art of Animation my #1 choice in the value category since we stayed in the suites.  I think regular room wise I would be tied between Art of Animation and Pop Century, especially since Pop rooms are currently being updated.

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4 thoughts on “Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

  1. We enjoyed AoA. The Cars section is awesome. My boys thought we were staying in Lightning McQueen’s house. I agree about the cell service. We had no service in our room. Outside we were fine. I’m glad you enjoyed the food court. We had a few issues but only involving those with food allergies., which happens sometimes. Those without food allergies loved it. We will definitely stay there again as it’s my boys favorite resort.

    1. I’m sorry to hear about your allergy troubles in the food court. I feel like Disney is generally on top of that. We will stay here again, and I’d love to try a different themed suite!

  2. We stayed in the LM rooms two years ago. While my own little red headed mermaid thought it was fabulous, it does feel rather separate from everything else. We liked that the pool was quiet, but would have loved a drink refill station in that area. It was a long walk back to the room after closing down MK. The theming was perfect though, and we enjoyed the food court. Next time we stay there, we will definitely try out one of the suites.

  3. We stayed in a Nemo suite and really liked it. We had a prime location right by the main pool and main building. The thing that I remember most about our stay is something I’d like to forget … it was spring break and I did not have a tan (and we were doing our first DCL cruise on the Dream later in the week so I felt a tan was a necessity part of going to CC.). Anyway, I put some fake tan on and took the kids to the pool. Apparently I didn’t read the part where it said to rinse off after applying. I saw my daughter with her mouth hanging open out in the middle of the pool staring at me. I had waded about knee deep and my tan did not survive. Or at least the bottom half of it didn’t anyway! It was awful and hilarious at the same time!

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