Reviews of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 06/13/2023
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Sub Standard and expensive, not ideal for a large family in suites as you'll feel crowded and extremely overpriced, Port Orleans and Carribbean Beach is around a similar price and much nicer and cleaner facilities - small kitchens are completely pointless providing paper utensils with not much accessibility. The worst disney resort rooms, the swimming pools are it's saving grace but when you're spending most of your time in the parks do not bother. This is comparable to campsites in quality and I've stayed in nicer accommodation in Centre Parks standard and Butlins value rooms.
Pros:
- Swimming Pool - Check in - Friendly Staff - Park perks and disney busesCons:
- Overpriced - Poor Quality Suites - Quick service on site is the worst food on disney property, much nicer quick services at the Caribbean Beach - Extremely Poor self-catered facilitiesReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 06/10/2023
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
For $900+ for 3 nights, the room was smelly and not very clean. There was dog hair on the walls and I was out way in the very very back felt like i was walking miles to get to the main pool, cafeteria.
Pros:
Cute poolsCons:
Dirty rooms, very one star motel qualityReviewed by MarissaLovesDisney Review Date: 09/21/2022
Rating: (9) Recommended
It has very unique theming and being an animator in training, I really appreciated getting to see all the concept art in the lobby. I love the "in your face" statues outside all of the buildings. The only downside is that the Little Mermaid rooms are the only non-family suite rooms for this resort and they're about a 10+ minute walk in either direction (whether to the buses or the skyliner). The room had plenty of space under the bed for my luggage and although we didn't get a pool side view, we still got an amazing view of the skyliner and hourglass lake every morning. Love having the skyliner available and it made going to Epcot and Hollywood Studios super easy. Will most likely stay here (or next door at Pop Century for a cheaper room) for every WDW trip. I love it, despite the long walk to/from my room.
Pros:
Skyliner, great themingCons:
The long walk to any form of transportation (if you didn't bring your own car)Reviewed by Sironhart4900 Review Date: 07/27/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family booked a Finding Nemo suit through Costco for the 5 of us. We are all adults but my family is very close so we made it work. My parents took the bedroom, my sister took the pullout bed, and my boyfriend and I took the murphy bed. I was expecting it to be tighter but it had a surprising amount of room. The room was clean, and the beds were not amazing but ok. The cleaning crew had kind of a weird pattern to empty the trash so we ended up having to ask them to take the trash out about four days after check-in. The skyline was hands down the way to travel. We lined up about 45 minutes before it opened for rope drop and there was no almost no line at the transfer station. I pressured everyone into getting the basic colored magic bands and we all agreed it was so worth it. It was so much easier than the phone ( my father used it the first day to get into the hotel and struggled with it) and having to keep track of a card was just not worth it. We linked a card to the room to charge things too and we got a bunch of gift cards from Target using my parents Target Red Card to save some money. The Big blue pool (Finding Nemo pool) was clean and the movies they put on every night were fun. We did laundry a few times, we had a few grumpy people that got pissed off when we moved their laundry from the dryer after it had been done for half an hour and no one had come so just watch the timing and set an alarm. Also, the washers are prone to eating socks. We managed to lose a pair and had to return a few lost ones that ended up in with ours so I would bring a delicates bag and use that for your socks. We got one of the refillable cups for our hotel, my mom likes to collect them. I would not suggest filling it up right before you are going to the park as you have to carry it all day.
Pros:
Skyliner was the best! The family room was perfect for the group we had. The refrigerator and microwave were so useful.Cons:
Basic hotel with Disney characters nothing fancy going for it.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 07/14/2022
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
There are definitely benefits and downsides to this hotel (like all)! This was our first stay in a value resort. We have stayed at deluxe, moderate, and off property in the past. We stayed here for 3 nights in June 2022. The cast member/manager made our experience so special by upgrading us to a lion king suite! I was 23 weeks pregnant and we had a little mermaid room currently booked. I think our trip would have been significantly less magical had the upgrade not occurred, due to the physical size of this resort. But this cast member really made our trip special and it was so unexpected, and just awesome Disney magic! we also got to our room that night and he had sent gifts/toys for my baby!!! So over the top! The walk from the lobby/food/bus stop to the little mermaid rooms would have been a nightmare after being in your feet all day! Lion king suites are right up front near everything except the skyliner. The food options were very good for it being sort of like a food court. I actually preferred this large quick service with lots of options to the small markets other, nicer resorts have. Though we were only there for 3 nights and they play the same 4-5 songs in the food court, that got really old. The gift shop was huge which was great. The pool was large, but we didn't swim just because of time constraints and it didnt look very relaxing due to how many children and people were in it. The biggest problem I had here was when the skyliner was down due to weather. We walked up and the skyliner attendant said it was down. We asked for an ETA (like have you seen lightning recently, or if we're clear for another x minutes we will open?) And was just told he didn't know, and to go get a bus that run as a backup to Epcot for when the skyliner is down. We walk to the opposite end of the property to the lobby/bus stop area. No bus for 30+ minutes. Another frustrated guest went inside to ask a manager. The manager came out and told us "the bus to Epcot stopped running because the skyliner is back up, so go back there". Frustrating that no cast member was going to come let us (group of about 30 at this point) know that the bus wasn't coming. We all walk again across property to skyliner for them to literally close it as we walk up to the entrance again due to weather. They told us to go back to the bus stop. It was ridiculous with seemingly no communication between cast members. Totally understand weather is uncontrollable, but Disney could improve on this process of back-up skyliner buses a great deal. We waited another 25 min for a bus with no success, then finally had to order an Uber in order to not miss our dining reservation. When the skyliner is open, it's great though! Just beware in hurricane season. Overall, I can see why people love it, but I would never go back unless I was staying in a suite again, and for that price I'll just stay at a deluxe or moderate resort.
Pros:
Price, foot court if you're not looking for sit-down dining at your resort, skyliner access (though can be a con as a described above), suites are spacious, large poolCons:
Theming is VERY heavy and can be construed as tacky, crowded resort, back up plan for when skyliner goes down is not functional, physical distance between lobby/buses/skyliner/food and roomsReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 07/03/2022
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
Way too expensive for what it is. Stayed in family suite. Not impressed.
Pros:
NoneCons:
Too expensive.Reviewed by xxBethJoyxx Review Date: 07/02/2022
Rating: (10) Recommended
I love this resort! For someone who wants to be immersed in Disney, this resort hits the mark. Its got such a fun theme with the Little Mermaid, Nemo, Cars, and the Lion King. Being on the skyliner is a real highlight. It's a fun way to get to and from the parks, and I love having easy access to other resorts as well.
Pros:
Skyliner, Fun theming especially for kidsCons:
Not good if you want to something besides a Disney theming, There are a lot of family rooms which can be more expensive and deceiving as a value resortReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 05/20/2022
Rating: (10) Recommended
We recently stayed here for 5 nights early May 2022 and it was our 5 year old\\'s first trip to WDW. The decor of this resort is the absolute best for kids. We stayed in the Little Mermaid room which is more then enough space for the three of us but the farthest walk from the main area so be prepared after the 12 miles a day average (via smart watch) you may do like us at the parks.
Though there is a smaller pool in the LM section as well as Cars, the Big Blue Nemo decorated walk in pool with Splash Pad is fabulous. We spent time here our arrival day and after Epcot.
The Land of Flavors restaurant is ok but we did have food delivered from Earl Sandwhich in Disney Springs as well as Chili\\'s with no issue.
The Skyliner is amazing which brings you to Epcot and HS as well as you can check out Carribean and Riviera Resort which are on the Skyliner line.
Plus, the Skyliner drops you off at the Epcot International Gate which is right by France giving you a huge advantage to be first on Ratatouille ride at Rope Drop. As well this drop off point puts you right by Beach and Yacht Club and the Boardwalk.
Pros:
Skyliner to 2 parks and basically 5 resorts as well as the International Gate entry.Cons:
Would be nice if there were regular rooms options in the other themed sections and not all family suites.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 05/17/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
We got upgraded to a cars-themed suite since we were celebrating. Which was a saving grace since we had 3 people in our party and each of us had our own bed and having two full bathrooms made it great for getting ready. Also having a fridge and microwave was great for leftovers. Loved the cars pool and the traffic cone pool lounges. The food court food was good in my opinion but great quick food for fuel running around the parks. Love all of the character theming around the whole resort it definitely made it feel the most "disney" and fun see all the character statues. Would definitely stay again.
Pros:
-all of the character themes -skyliner access -the suitesCons:
-the suites are kind of expensiveReviewed by Lizgistix Review Date: 04/05/2022
Rating: (8) Recommended
Disney animation theming all over the place! Definitely the place to stay if you want to be immersed in Cars, Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Little Mermaid.
Cars area is very Route 66 kitschy, which I'm into, so I loved my suite and that entire area.
