Reviews of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)

Reviews

211

Rating

8.07 / 10

Recommended By

87%



Reviewed by SondheimGod Review Date: 06/21/2021

Rating: (5)
Not Recommended

I’ve stayed here twice. First time was an 8 and this time was a 3 so well balance it out to a 5. First time we stayed in the Cars section and it was great. Family suite for 6 people. Decent size room with two bathrooms that was great for mornings. Not great for privacy though and if you’re a tall person (I’m 6’3”) you better be one of the ones in the “parent” room or like to sleep curled up; as the Uncle, I got stuck on the table bed. There is also a pool that is fairly quiet.

As the kids gets older, we opted to do 2 rooms instead this year. We are in the Little Mermaid section and… it’s real bad y’all. The internet is not very strong in the further rooms and were the furthest room from literally everything: the main pool, the sky liner, the restaurant, the buses… additionally, my mom was with us and had an ECV for help post knee surgery and they put used on the top floor. There is a pool over here but it’s much louder than the main pool or cars pool.

The food for a value resort was quite good. Easy to get what you need, lots of soda fountains, good basic food and open until 10.

Pros:

Good for bigger families. Decent value food. 3 pools. Skyliner!!

Cons:

Little Mermaid section is just no good. Not ideal for adults without kids.
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 05/05/2021

Rating: (3)
Not Recommended

This is specific to the Little Mermaid building. Two adults are very cramped. Pay attention when you walk into the room for the first time, you’ll trip over the bed. If you have an ECV, you’ll love showing off your driving skills when you have to get it in and out of your room for charging. You are furthest away from the Skyliner but, if you have an ECV it won’t matter. That is if you can get out of your room in the morning without taking the door jamb with you. This is not to disparage the whole resort. I’d think, and hope, the family suites are much more convenient. The theming was terrific. If you don’t care about the room so much, two adults would be fine. If you have children, the Little Mermaid is a definite no-no.
The Skyliner was awesome, however.

Pros:

On the Skyliner

Cons:

Little Mermaid room size. Distance for the Skyliner.
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Reviewed by HannahS Review Date: 04/03/2021

Rating: (3)
Not Recommended

The poorest of resort we’ve stayed at since beginning our annual trips in 2005.
The theming and reasonable prices drew us to trying this value resort. Our kids loved exploring the fantastic character themes and great for a family photo shoot. We found the dining options and transport to be more than sufficient for our needs.
We stayed in the Little Mermaid area for a week and experienced so much noise from not only the adjoining rooms but also those that sounded further away - we could hear cupboard doors closing, word-for-word conversations, toilet usage, the list goes on - and all of this was above my kids and the tv and at all times of day.
Room cleaning was also an irk of mine, with cobwebs, hair all over the bathroom and bread tags and clothing tags on the floor - it appeared that a sheet change was all that was completed before our arrival. It took 3 days of asking and a supervisor to get our room cleaned appropriately for our check-in.
IMO poorer quality than the All-Stars resorts and we’ve stayed in cheaper motels for better quality. We travel from the UK for 3-4 weeks and I’d have been even more upset with my choice if we’d have booked our entire stay here.

Pros:

Great theming Excellent transport options

Cons:

Better quality built motels for much less expense. Lots of noise carries between rooms.
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/19/2021

Rating: (9)
Not Recommended

Stayed in family suite and it was very nice. Loved the resort. But now the cost has almost doubled! Not a budget resort by any means.

Pros:

Pool shopping food

Cons:

Way to much money! can stay at a 4 or 5 star hotel off Disney property and be clos to Disney world.
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/13/2021

Rating: (1)
Not Recommended

We took our trip to Disney and stayed at Art of Animation (Ariel area) for our honeymoon in Jan 2021. (Wife is a big Disney Fan and so am I) The theming of the resort is really good for what it is. (Loved the sketches in the main lobby building) Our first night we have a drink spill and had to use towels to clean it up. (No worry) We call up the Housekeeping from our room phone and ask for more towels. They say they will send some up "asap". We figure they would send some up that day but instead we don't get towels till we have to call the Front Desk (Because the cleaning stuff never showed up) two days later to ask where are the new towels are at? (We decided to get some food from the local food court and try some of the items there) They finally gave us fresh towels during our "normal" cleaning service that is apparently every three days now. (Also around 6pm-7pm when we were eating dinner that day) I would also add they just changed out towels/washcloths and wipe the sink down but they don't change the bed anymore. (Ok understandable) BUT the other incident was our last night at the resort. We decided to go Disney Springs during the day. (Get lunch and shopping done) while we get back early in the afternoon. (4ish) housekeeping still didn't show up for that day so we just put our "Room Occupied" sign up since we were going to call it an early day so we can catch our bus at 3am. So my wife is taking a shower when house keeping shows up (Probably around 5pm) They knock, I say something of “Ill be there in a sec” trying to find my mask to put on so I can open the door. Instead when I get to the door, the door gets pushed open anyway; and hits the lock on the door. I then close the door; remove the top lock and greet housekeeping; telling them we are find for today on towels and such since we are leaving tomorrow that they can skip us. So two hours later someone from the Staff shows up and tells me that they need to do a mandatory “Security Check”. Im like, can it wait till tomorrow since we will be gone and my wife was trying to sleep (and so was I) he said sure it can wait till tomorrow and left. SO I then call the front desk because that was super sketchy and wanted to make sure it was an actual staff member. They confirmed it was and I asked if they can hold the check till the morning, as we had a bus leaving at 3am ish and was trying to sleep. They said they would pass that info on and such. (I should note my wife got improperly raided by the DEA/Police a few years ago and is now on the verge of tears and freaking out over a random security check from Disney this time)
Cue probably 30 mins later someone shows up; claims to be the head of whatever staff and had to do a required security check, no exceptions. SO I ask to give us a min so we can get dressed and such. (So my wife can put full cloths on) He does his check walks around the room, asks if anything is wrong and when we say no. (Wife is now crying) he then leaves and then we call the front desk to file complaints about that garbage and although they were friendly there was nothing they could really do since it was our last night. Unfortunately, this resort made us both to basically never stay at Disney again and hesitant on any other kind of Disney experiences. We don’t hate Disney still but this is a massive horrible moment that is even hard to talk about since its normally suppose to be such a magical place.

Pros:

- Good Theming around Resort and Room was really neat. - Most of the Staff was very Friendly(Front desk staff was great) - Overall the area at the resort was clean - Disney Skyliner Access which was awesome.

Cons:

- Housekeeping was slow/always showed up late in the day (Understaffed maybe) - Walls are "Thin" could easily hear outside and the neighbors - Dining area food was "meh" (cupcakes were good though) - Small walk to the buses - Security Check made my wife cry. - Ruined the Disney Magic that is normally expected
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Reviewed by Kiba5401 Review Date: 02/09/2021

Rating: (5)
Not Recommended

Meh... We've stayed at two other value resorts that we preferred to AoA. We started in a Little Mermaid room... we knew the section was in the far end of the resort but my daughter wanted this particular theme so we booked it. Although we requested a closer building in the little mermaid section, we were told one was not available and got booked in the farthest building on the backside. Although the themed room is cute, I much prefer the refurbished rooms at all stars and pop Century with the murphy bed/folded table and bright new bathroom with open closet. Perhaps if we stayed in a family suite we would love this resort. We were disappointed by the food here as well- breakfast was good but we felt the quality of the lunch and dinner options was lacking. Lucky the resort is next to the skyliner so we just resort hopped to eat elsewhere.

Pros:

Next to skyliner, love the cozy cone pool cabanas (first come first serve) ...the little mermaid pool and big blue pool were also great.

Cons:

If staying in the little mermaid rooms- small, dark compared to the refurbished rooms at Pop/ all stars, long walk to transportation and food
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 08/22/2020

Rating: (4)
Not Recommended

it was a hard time to get in and they ruiend my day at parks and restruant

Pros:

nice people

Cons:

i dont know
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Reviewed by MetallicSplinter Review Date: 07/26/2020

Rating: (5)
Not Recommended

This is a review of the Little Mermaid rooms.

The theming is fun throughout the resort grounds, pools, and rooms making for some great photos and really immerses you in Disney. Being a Skyliner resort also gives the advantage for quick transportation to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The food court is great with plenty of varied and delicious options but you also have the option to hop to the many fantastic restaurants on the Skyliner loop. The water view rooms can give you some beautiful views of Hourglass Lake, the Skyliner, and Pop Century Resort.

The Little Mermaid rooms are VERY FAR from everything in the resort. The hike back from transportation to the room at the end of a long day in the parks can be arduous, so make sure everyone is fed before going back to the room as the food court is far as well. While well decorated, the rooms feel old. The carpets and paint are faded, the beds feel creaky, and after staying in the renovated rooms at All-Star Movies and Pop Century for less money these rooms were very underwhelming.

Pros:

Amazing Theming Great Food Court Quick Transportation Access to Restaurants on Skyliner loop

Cons:

Lots of Walking Faded Carpet/Paint Not Worth the Price
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Reviewed by GaryRuotolo Review Date: 09/28/2019

Rating: (4)
Not Recommended

This is the second straight year we have stayed at the Art of Animation - Ariel room. We stay 1 night each time before heading to our DVC resort. For the second straight year, our room was dirty and I was not happy about this. The resort is nice with the pool and theme, but the cleanliness of the room is a big turnoff for a future stays there. The bed had dirt stains, there was glitter all over the carpet, the walls had stains (came off when I rubbed with a wash cloth so housekeeping could have done this). I am very disappointed that for the second straight year our room was dirty. We did not say anything since we arrived at 6:30PM and staying one night but if I planned to stay for more than 1 night then I would have complained. I expect better than this from Disney. I would not recommend Art of Animation to anyone for this reason.

Pros:

theme of resort

Cons:

room cleanliness
1 User found this helpful.

Reviewed by Dizney71 Review Date: 05/15/2019

Rating: (5)
Not Recommended

Of the 11 Disney Resorts we have stayed at this was the worst for customer service and for screwing things up continually.

We checked in and immediately had charges on two different credit cards. One of them wasn’t even on file for this trip! Had to go to front desk and stand in line only to be told it was a mistake and the charges would be reversed. IN 3-5 business days! So right off the bat I was not happy. Now that money was “tied up” because they made an error. No resolution from the front desk manager except sorry it was a mistake. Then five days into our stay in the middle of the day our Magic Band was declined. Again another trip to the front desk. Turns out it’s a “common error” when they send a charge to your credit card your bank sometimes might take your card “off file” or so we were told. We presented the same card and in two seconds it was reinstated. That being said we were half way thru a busy well planned day at the parks and had no charging privileges. Super inconvenient. Next day we get a call from the front desk to tell us our card has been taken “off file” and need to present another card. Was from the previous instance but clearly the left hand doesn’t talk to the right hand.

I got double charged for a tee shirt while shopping and when I went to the gift shop to fix the issue they wouldn’t help me. Said I had to go back to where I bought it. I asked if we could call that place and she said “there’s a house phone in the lobby”.

Very disappointed with the entire experience. Resort is typical Disney standard but the service was NOT even close to other resorts.

Pros:

Great decor Suites Great food at the food court

Cons:

Bit pricey for what you get Horrible guest service
1 User found this helpful.

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