Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Information & Questions

Unfortunately since most no longer have freezers, you can purchase those " break and shake" packs - more expensive I know, but another way to deal with it. We had to stop and get a set of these at a Target on college visit trip for DS this summer when we got rear ended on the highway on our way down South (hit and run), and needed something for our back and neck when we got to the hotel late that night. It's really a shame they got rid of the freezer type - we had used them in the past, and I know they had them in our hotels on the college trip. Really didn't pay attention on our quick trip in Nov. at ASMu and one nt at AoA, since we mostly just stuck waters in to get cool overnight.

Thanks for the tip - I will probably try to get some of these, because better safe than sorry!
 
Even when we got a unit with a freezer compartment I found they were awful. They either froze nothing or everything, even stuff in the fridge. Not surprised they have eliminated them
 
Thanks for the tip - I will probably try to get some of these, because better safe than sorry!

You could also bring some ziploc bags to fill with ice (there are ice machines on each floor). Not as good as an ice pack, but better than nothing.
 
So of course, one week month out from our trip, my knee is acting up on me! I suspect I will need to ice it every night, and I'm hoping to find that I will be able to use a re-freezable cold pack - do the Cars suite refrigerators have freezers? TIA!
How about a strong zip lock and the ice offered on every floor? We did that every morning to put in our cooler for the parks
 


So of course, one week month out from our trip, my knee is acting up on me! I suspect I will need to ice it every night, and I'm hoping to find that I will be able to use a re-freezable cold pack - do the Cars suite refrigerators have freezers? TIA!

Ziplock bags work in a pinch, but I’ve had them leak in a bed or backpack.

These are dirt cheap and last forever:

Ohuhu Ice Bag 9" Hot and Cold Reusable Ice Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXLJRF2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Rf9PAbEN93EJ7
 
First time on this thread :) We did a LM room at AoA back in 2015. Trying a family suite for my cars loving son (will be over his birthday) for a couple of nights before we move over to BWI.

Looking for room request suggestions, I'm thinking bldg 1 or 3...interior facing (looks like you could be looking at the parking lot in bldg 1). Is there anything I'm not thinking of, mainly considering distance to lobby/pool/buses and a non parking lot view.
 


We stayed in Building 8 LM back in May and we drove to the parks just bc it was easier to walk out the door get into our car then walk all the way to the other side of the resort and wait to catch a bus..

Now I have a cars suite booked for another part of my family.. Which is a better building you think? 1 or 3? 3 seems like it would have some nice lake views but 1 seems like its closer to food court and busses
 
We stayed in Building 8 LM back in May and we drove to the parks just bc it was easier to walk out the door get into our car then walk all the way to the other side of the resort and wait to catch a bus..

Now I have a cars suite booked for another part of my family.. Which is a better building you think? 1 or 3? 3 seems like it would have some nice lake views but 1 seems like its closer to food court and busses

I stayed in building #1 last week and it was great to be so close to everything. I would recommend it. We did not have any noise issues at all.
 
Any differences between Nemo building 4 and 5 with noting? It seems like 4 is slightly closer to the buses but 5 might have nicer lake view, if we lucked into one of those rooms.
 
Any differences between Nemo building 4 and 5 with noting? It seems like 4 is slightly closer to the buses but 5 might have nicer lake view, if we lucked into one of those rooms.

We prefer building 5 because it's closer to Landscape of Flavors. We use the refillable mugs a lot while we're there so it's nice to walk out the door of our building and have a quick 30 second walk (it's literally about 45 yards) to the door of the food court. It's also a quick walk to the bus stops (through the food court and out the front door). The lake view is about the same for either building but now that the Skyliner is being built, I'll give the edge to building 4 as building 5 will have a view of the construction right now (though that might be interesting to watch). Personally, I don't care about the view at AoA as the windows in the suites are so high (the bottom is about waist high...not at your knees like a standard room) that in order to enjoy the view from most rooms you actually have to walk over to the window and look out/down. It's not like you can sit on the couch or lay in bed and enjoy the view. We were on the first floor of building 5 with a lake view and while we might have been able to somewhat enjoy the view while laying in bed or sitting on the couch, we rarely had our curtains open as people are walking on the walkway along the lake and I don't enjoy people being able to see in my room when I'm there. :) We've been on the 4th floor of both buildings in the LK section -- once with a parking lot view and once with a courtyard view -- and I think we spent more time looking out those windows than we did with the first floor lake view room. We could see the high fireworks from DHS from our parking lot view room (and we could also keep an eye on our car in the parking lot) and with the courtyard view, we could watch our kids (ages 10 & 14 at the time) walk from our building to the food court to fill up their mugs. We're staying in a LK suite again this summer and I'm more worried about the room location than the view since I'm hoping for first floor and our curtains will be closed all of the time anyway. :D YMMV.
 
Due to our budget, we are unable to get a suite. We will be in the LM rooms. I will be looking to get a room in building 9, preferably ground floor. Does anyone know if they have started the rehab of the LM rooms. Was informed several months ago that they were suppose to start this year. Heard they were going to add microwaves and coffee makers to the rooms as they did the rehab.
 
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We are just back so thought I would post my quick review of the resort. I will tell you I was terrified of the walk from the little mermaid rooms from this board, but figured we'd make due. I requested close to transportation and we were in the little mermaid building at probably one of the farthest rooms you could be from transportation and the main area. However, my 6 and 8 year old never complained about the walk. We did over 28k in steps each day before we even made it back to the resort and it wasn't a huge deal to walk back at all. The only thing is, I don't think we really used our soda cups at all, because we weren't making the trek over to get them refilled.

We only had issues one day with a bus. Magic Kingdom had a wait of about 35 minutes during the middle of the day but otherwise we had buses arriving within 10 minutes. We loved the pool (kids thought it was great to hear music underwater) and even though it was only 74 wanted to swim as long as possible. The food court was decent and we never had an issue finding a table or waiting in busy lines (there from March 18-24).

Will I stay in a little mermaid room again? Probably not. My reason being, even with only 4 of us (and two of those being 6 and 8) the room had zero storage. It never felt like I could keep it tidy and put things away. I also did talk to the front desk because our room had cob webs (not kidding or exaggerating) that were in all corners of the room that had been there for awhile and were never once (even after mentioning it) taken down. The shower also leaked and the bathroom door did not close properly. The shower and bathroom door I leave to the fact that if no one ever reports there is an issue they wouldn't know to check.

To top it all of, when we arrived, we were given a room and walked in with all our luggage to have a man in the restroom with his wallet, keys, and phone on the bed. I was told it probably wasn't a guest but could have been someone from staff. However, if the room is clean for new guests, no one working there should be using the restroom after the room has been approved for new guests. I was given three anytime fast passes to Epcot for the hassle of changing rooms.

I did finally speak with someone in management two days before we left and they offered to move us to a suite, but with only 1 night left before we were checking out, the thought of packing everything up and moving did not seem worth it at all. Management was great however with every concern I had. I loved the theming and everything about the outside. We aren't picky people but most likely will only stay in a suite from this point on when staying at that resort.
 
Does anyone know if housekeeping replaces the paper plates and cups when we use them all? Or do I need to bring my own paper plates and cups?
 
Does anyone know if housekeeping replaces the paper plates and cups when we use them all? Or do I need to bring my own paper plates and cups?

They will replenish them. When we've stayed, there has always been a pretty healthy stack of plates in the room so we never felt like we were about to run out. I don't recall the cup situation as well for some reason.
 

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