Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Information & Questions

[ExCMbeau]

Can someone confirm if the splash pad is still closed?

 

[bluezy]

Can someone confirm if the splash pad is still closed?

It was open on Sunday evening when we were swimming in the Big Blue pool.

 

[disfan07]

Is it worth it to stay at AoA for just 1 night if arriving late? We are going to be in disney from Sept 9th-13th and will be staying at wilderness lodge the 10th-13th. However, we don't want to pay $350+ for the first night if we aren't arriving until almost 10pm. We have All Star Music booked right now for $95 but we thought it would be nice to stay at AoA that night since we've never been there. The little mermaid room for that night is $140 (including tax)...so $45 more than the All Stars. There is a slight chance we might be arriving earlier (around 6pm) but we probably won't know until the day before. Given that information, would you spend the extra $45 for AoA?

 

[ExCMbeau]

It was open on Sunday evening when we were swimming in the Big Blue pool.

THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Aggieamy5]

We are booked in August and used the deal with the free dining. We had previously been booked in a Cars family room but when the dining plan came up we had to change the reservation and it was only available for a family suite, not specifically Cars. Part of our reason for staying on site in the Cars theming - it will thrill my 6 year old son in a way that mermaids just will not. Are we likely to get a Cars room or is there anything I should do to make sure we get one instead of a mermaid room?

That's odd because we are going with Free Dining in November and were able to specifically book the Cars Suite. It says Cars Family Suite in my email confirmations and in MDE. We booked this room package about two months prior to the promo coming out and then added the free dining promo the day it was announced. The CM on the phone I spoke with who added the promo said we were in luck because there were Cars rooms still left for the promo so she was able to add the promo to my existing reservation.

What does your reservations specifically say in terms of the room? Just curious...

 

[dansdad]

That's odd because we are going with Free Dining in November and were able to specifically book the Cars Suite. It says Cars Family Suite in my email confirmations and in MDE. We booked this room package about two months prior to the promo coming out and then added the free dining promo the day it was announced. The CM on the phone I spoke with who added the promo said we were in luck because there were Cars rooms still left for the promo so she was able to add the promo to my existing reservation.

What does your reservations specifically say in terms of the room? Just curious...

Sometimes during discount periods, but not all the time, they only offer the generic Family Suite room category. The reservation will specifically say Family Suite. No mention of Cars, Nemo or Lion King. The guests don't know which one until they check in. I think they do that so they can decide where to allocate guests to fill up a certain section.

 

[Habbott]

Sometimes during discount periods, but not all the time, they only offer the generic Family Suite room category. The reservation will specifically say Family Suite. No mention of Cars, Nemo or Lion King. The guests don't know which one until they check in. I think they do that so they can decide where to allocate guests to fill up a certain section.

When we did AoA a few years ago for a promo, we were stuck in the generic family suite category. I called to make a note on our reservation that I wanted a cars suite. When we checked in, the cast member mentioned that she saw the note, and that we were in cars.

 

[mom2cgj]

Is it worth it to stay at AoA for just 1 night if arriving late? We are going to be in disney from Sept 9th-13th and will be staying at wilderness lodge the 10th-13th. However, we don't want to pay $350+ for the first night if we aren't arriving until almost 10pm. We have All Star Music booked right now for $95 but we thought it would be nice to stay at AoA that night since we've never been there. The little mermaid room for that night is $140 (including tax)...so $45 more than the All Stars. There is a slight chance we might be arriving earlier (around 6pm) but we probably won't know until the day before. Given that information, would you spend the extra $45 for AoA?

What are your plans for the next day? If you are getting up and rushing off to RD, then probably not worth the money to me. If you are planning a slower moving morning where you can really check out the resort, eat at Landscapes, and maybe use the pool then I would say go for it since you've never done it and it sounds like you have done ASMu before (or maybe I'm just reading that wrong). It's a beautiful, fun resort, but I wouldn't spend the money if you don't have time to at least check it out.

 

[Aggieamy5]

Sometimes during discount periods, but not all the time, they only offer the generic Family Suite room category. The reservation will specifically say Family Suite. No mention of Cars, Nemo or Lion King. The guests don't know which one until they check in. I think they do that so they can decide where to allocate guests to fill up a certain section.

Thanks for the info. That definitely makes sense. Maybe some people were allowed to sign up and get specific suites when the promo was first offered.

When we did AoA a few years ago for a promo, we were stuck in the generic family suite category. I called to make a note on our reservation that I wanted a cars suite. When we checked in, the cast member mentioned that she saw the note, and that we were in cars.

I guess we just got lucky because our Nov 2015 reservation for AoA during the free dining promo definitely says "Cars Family Suite" in all of my documentation. I would be livid if we were placed otherwise because we are only staying there for the Cars rooms for my little boy. It was a pain getting through the phone lines that first day to change our reservation to the free dining promo, but definitely worth it in the end to save $900! : )

 

[nardoneje]

Have you tried looking again to see if there is availability specifically for a Cars suite during the promo? I don't know your dates or I would look, but on the day it was released there was only the "family suite" option available for us. Then a couple days later I noticed they loaded all of the suites so I called and had us switched to a Cars suite. Now everything is available except the Nemo suites for our stay.

 

[cheribear]

I tried going in again but it still says Family Suite is the only type of room available for this offer. Not a problem, I will just make a room request and hope to get it. It is the cozy cone pool etc. that I think my son will really love, with the cars all around etc. so I know we can use it no matter which room we get - but he'll love the theming in the rooms too so I hope we get it.

 

[disfan07]

What are your plans for the next day? If you are getting up and rushing off to RD, then probably not worth the money to me. If you are planning a slower moving morning where you can really check out the resort, eat at Landscapes, and maybe use the pool then I would say go for it since you've never done it and it sounds like you have done ASMu before (or maybe I'm just reading that wrong). It's a beautiful, fun resort, but I wouldn't spend the money if you don't have time to at least check it out.

We are actually not going to any parks this trip. We are only going for 4 nights, 3 1/2 days. The original plan had been to leave Delray Beach around between 5-6pm which would get us to Disney between 8-9pm but now we are tentatively planning to leave Delray beach around 2pm which would hopefully get us there by 5pm. the next morning, we are planning on leaving AoA between 8-9am to drive over to Wilderness Lodge because we have to return our car after we check into WL so we don't want to do it too late and waste time.

But it sounds like if we decide we are going to leave for Disney in the afternoon and get there around 5, then it is worth it but if we aren't going to get there until 9pm and leave at 8 the next morning, then it's not really worth it. That's what I figured, I just wanted to here from others who have stayed there what they thought.

I think for now we will keep our ASMu reservation until we make a final decision on departure time from Delray.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[hokieinpa]

We're booked for 5/28-6/6/16!! So excited!! Now we have a year to do some heavy duty planning! Our last trip (my and kids first) was booked 2-3 months before. Glad to have a little longer, plus already knowing a good big about the parks but still there have been so many changes!

Is there any limit on packages delivered to AoA? Last time we loaded up our car with snacks, breakfast items, etc for the whole trip and now we have one more person + that much more stuff, so I'm wondering if we shouldn't just ordered cases of snacks from Amazon Prime! I'd guess we'd need somewhere in the 10-15 range of packages delivered.

I'm not aware of a limit but I would probably call AOA directly (not just the Disney main line) to let them know if you have 10-15 boxes coming so they can make room to store it!

We had 3 boxes from Amazon Prime (diapers, wipes, snacks, drinks) and then a grocery delivery (including lots of water) and no one said anything about the amount of stuff we had delivered!

Just a word of advice - the "kitchenette" is very small and there isn't much counter space. Just something to keep in mind when ordering!

 

[brooke789]

I wasn't even aware LM had a kitchenette. We stayed at POP last trip and had plenty of room for a mountain of snacks, etc!

 

[jenny105]

I wasn't even aware LM had a kitchenette. We stayed at POP last trip and had plenty of room for a mountain of snacks, etc!

LM doesn't have a kitchenette. It's just a regular room, identical to all the other value resorts except a little bigger.

 

[pookadoo77]

WARNING:
We stayed there last week in a Cars Suite Luigi bldg. The 3rd night a spider, I am assuming, bit our 4 yr old on the shin. It was a huge welt in the morning. Then later that evening it became dark red and about the size of a quarter. The following day the center broke open and was weeping a little clear fluid. We informed the front desk staff and supervisor and the most popular response was "It is Florida, we have bug" REALLY??!! We did a late night room change, I insisted upon our final night AND we had a 8am reservation at H&V the last morning, finally sleeping around 1:30am after moving rooms and all our stuff. The supervisors suggestion was to send in an exterminator if we were comfortable with that, once again , REALLY??!! Now, I did not expect any credits or free stuff but come on now!! I live in Charleston, SC and I understand bugs and all BUT if one bites a small child in your $350.00 a night room, at least act shocked and sympathetic!! Motel 6 probably would. I am still very dissapointed in AoA mostly because how they handled this!! I will not return. Pop Century was great when we stayed there our last trip, and if you want you can walk over or bus over to see AoA. The grounds i.e. landscape was amazing, cute decor, lousy customer service. I forgot to add we got a text at 10:30 am our room would be ready soon so went ahead to resort at 12 noon, tried for a room several times and did not get a room until almost 5pm..... Just thought I would share in case this is not a fluke experience.....

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

Are there Cars rooms or just suites? We do not need a suite but would like a room if we could get Cars or even Lion King, definetly not LM though as we have a 5yr old DS.

I thought I was set on Pop but as tomorrow looms I feel like I'm all over the place on my decision making.

 

[Disneylover99]

Are there Cars rooms or just suites? We do not need a suite but would like a room if we could get Cars or even Lion King, definetly not LM though as we have a 5yr old DS.

I thought I was set on Pop but as tomorrow looms I feel like I'm all over the place on my decision making.

The only standard rooms are Little Mermaid. All other sections are suites only.

 

[sarahrdh]

What is the typical room discount on suites? I know standard values (except LM rooms) will typically get 10-15% on a room promotion, but are the suites the same or more since they are more expensive? I can't wait to see what kinds of discounts come out for 2016! This trip, while it started as a money saving trip, is going to end up being a splurge trip I think- AOA suite and park hoppers/waterpark tix this time...bc these are things my kids really, really want. We did base tix this past time, so this will give us the opportunity to compare how each option fits our family.

 

[bluezy]

Just got back from our week in a Lion King suite (second time we've stayed there) and had a fabulous week. I did online check-in and got both of our requests (upper floor, close to transportation). I got a text around 10:10 a.m. on check-in day with our room number. We had planned to arrive around 11:30 that morning but an accident on I-4 changed those plans and we were stuck in traffic for nearly an hour (the accident happened about a 1/2 mile in front of us so there was no way to detour). Since we arrived much later than expected, it was nice to just go directly to our room and not have to go to the front desk first. We were very happy with everything at the resort -- food was great, food court wasn't crowded when we ate there and food was prepared quickly, bus service was awesome -- usually less than a 5 minute wait when taking a bus from AoA to the parks and many times there was a bus there waiting as we walked up to the stop.

One thing I wanted to mention as I know it comes up occasionally on these boards is that AoA now allows you to have up to $1,000 in room charges before charging your credit card. I went to the front desk to apply a few gift cards on the second day of our stay and after applying the cards (only about $75 worth) the CM asked me if I wanted to clear the balance (by charging it to my credit card on file) so I said, "Yeah, I guess I should -- I'm probably getting close to that $500 limit." That's when the CM told me that it's a $1,000 limit but they try to put the charges through at about $800-$900 so that guests always have plenty of open credit on their room charges. I asked her when that limit changed (I know it was $500 when I was there in 2013 and have seen other people mention that it was still $500 fairly recently.) The CM said she had only been working there for 4 weeks, but it had been $1,000 since she started. When I got my final itemized bill, they had charged my credit card on file two other times last week. Once on Thursday for ~$800 and then again on Sunday (check-out day) for ~$300. So it does appear that the limit at AoA is now $1,000. I don't know if that's true for *all* value resorts or only for AoA because of the suites. I also don't know if the moderate deluxe resorts also increased their limits.