Is a LM room at AoA worth the $

[LovePug]

We are currently booked in at Little Mermaid room for the week between Christmas & NY and I'm starting to second guess myself on whether it is worth the extra money compared to POP. Or even one of the All Stars. Any thoughts?

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

The room was adorable and the resort is lovely. But the rooms are really far from the main building. There are no preferred rooms, all the LM rooms are far away. We requested a ground floor because we had kids in strollers. The pools are awesome and you can use any - Cars, Nemo, or LM. It was 5 years ago now, right after it opened. But I remember we didn't have any issues with noisy neighbors or noise from the pool. My daughter was 5 at the time and loved little mermaid, so she was thrilled.

I think you will like it, it is nice. The only issue is the distance to the main building. If you need a shorter walk, a preferred room at Pop or All stars might be worth it. If you're going to end up in a far section in one of those resorts, it's all the same.

 

[Psu620]

We have stayed at little mermaid room and pop and I definitely think aoa is worth the extra money. We would easily return to art of animation but not pop. It is worth the extra money. The walk was not bad at all from the little mermaid rooms.

 

[ellynsoh]

I also thought it was a long walk, like we were passing the high class neighborhood to get to our budget home. I prefer Pop, although the mermaid room was well-themed.

 

[Sue M]

I like the new Pop rooms, but like the grounds, theming and pools at AoA. We haven’t stayed at AoA but we were at Pop last Dec and walked over to eat. We’ve also been over to AoA other times to look around.

 

[Tall Todd]

Bigger question would be is: Is the Big Blue Pool worth it? That is the only thing you don't get by not staying there. Staying at POP you can walk over and eat at AoA's food court, which we have done.

 

[katyjeka]

I didn't care for the rooms and if choosing between I'd go with POP. The Cars suite was cute but the Little Mermaid rooms seem out of place to me and definitely not worth extra money.

 

[goofy4tink]

I like the LM rooms, but don't feel the need to stay there anymore. I've stayed in one for a night, and for two nights. I wanted to stay there but didn't want to pay the prices. These rooms are seldom discounted. If you really want to stay there, I would stay there for a night, then move over to Pop.

 

[happymommy]

Since the weather may or may not be great for swimming that week, and the LM rooms have double beds (Pop new rooms have queens), and Pop new rooms have a coffee maker, I'd definitely choose Pop over AOA. I'd go with a preferred room, so you're closer to transportation and dining.

 

[sbd78]

Since you are going in the winter and it likely won't be warm enough to swim, I would save the money and stay at Pop.

 

[supitscarrie]

Unless room and resort theming is your absolute top priority, go with Pop over AoA's LM rooms right now. The bigger beds and overall room refurb make Pop the best bang for your buck at the moment. There's also the fact that you can walk right across the bridge to snap some nice photos around AoA and experience the themed sections if that's something you want to enjoy. But as far as the rooms themselves, Pop has the most going for it right now.

The LM rooms are really nice in their own way, especially if that's your top Disney film. For me, I don't think it's worth the premium price until they get around to upgrading those beds to queens.

Skip All-Stars entirely until they finish refurbing those rooms... and maybe give each resort a dedicated bus for once.

 

[SarahC97]

It is a neat resort, but for the price, there are more convenient and nicer rooms available at other resorts like Pop.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

The LM rooms can be really hard to get...so you do have something that many people want.
Sometimes that can give you the feeling of "it's mine, all mine!"

 

[EdmondD]

We loved it. The walk is long, but you get to go through the very cool Lion King area, which my son loved. Totally thought it was worth it. Room is awesome.

 

[DavidL]

Last time we were at Disney, we took a tour of Art of Animation and made a point of walking down to the "standard" Little Mermaid rooms at the resort. Those rooms are quite a walk from the main building. Some of the rooms right across the bridge at Pop Century would be a shorter walk to the food court at Art of Animation than the Little Mermaid rooms.

 

[StacyStrong]

Im staying at AoA little mermaid in December as well, but during the first week of the month.

I've stayed at Pop in the past and the walk was really long (far building) anyway. You're going to have a chance of a long walk no matter what unless you pay for a preferred room at Pop.

With that said, I had no problems with Pop. The only reason we are spending more money is to try and minimize our chances of coming across Pop Warner kids lol.

 

[Haley R]

We have never booked AoA because we think the price can't be justified for our family. We would rather stay at Pop or pay more for a Deluxe.

 

[LovePug]

Thank-you for the replies. I have gone back and forth on this so many times, it’s making my head spin. My main concern is the walk due to disabilities in my family. We will have our car, so is it possible to request parking near the room rather than having a room on the “inside” of the buildings? And then would we be able to drive over and park near the foot court?

 

[kaytieeldr]

I didn't care for the rooms and if choosing between I'd go with POP. The Cars suite was cute but the Little Mermaid rooms seem out of place to me and definitely not worth extra money.

I'm genuinely curious how? The resort is Art of Animation, and Little Mermaid is animated. Do you mean the non-standard enclosed buildings vs LM rooms opening directly outside, like every Value and Mkderate?

so is it possible to request parking near the room rather than having a room on the “inside” of the buildings?

If you look at a map of AoA, you will see there is plenty of parking all around the resort. What you want to request is a room close to/facing the parking lot. Virtually nobody does, so they should be willing to grant your request if at all possible. And yes, you can drive over to and park near the main building.

 

[John Marecek]

We did a new Pop room for 5, then 1 night in a LM room. Unless the pool is very important, which is why we stayed there for a night, save the money. Pop's new rooms are significantly nicer, and less expensive, and you can access the grounds and food court w/o staying there. The LM rooms are are very dated, in need of a significant upgrade.

The walk is pretty rough, but it is what it is. As long as you know it going in, you'll be fine should you choose to stay there. It's WDW, we walk a lot. It's what we do.