Reviews of Art of Animation Resort (Value Resort)

Reviews

211

Rating

8.07 / 10

Recommended By

87%



Reviewed by Missymouse18 Review Date: 06/23/2013

Rating: (0)
Recommended

We stayed at PoP Century this year and strolled across the bridge to peak at AoA. We LOVED it! We are hoping to stay there for our 2014 WDW trip. It was amazingly Disney-fied and so "showy." Can't wait to stay so that I can write a real review!

Pros:

Cons:

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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/04/2023

Rating: (1)
Not Recommended

Choose anywhere but here! We arrived went to our suite and it was dirty. Sink had toothpaste, floors were gross. We got moved to lion king. Sheets hadnt been changed the pull out sofa sheets had hairs and bodily fluids. the fixtures in the bathroom were falling off the walls. The hallway smelled like cigarette smoke and every evening you could smell marajuana. Housekeeping came 1 time in 8 days. Getting clean linens and towels was a task
I even tried to upgrade to a different resort and they wouldnt honor online prices to upgrade.

Pros:

Pool was ok!

Cons:

Dirty, smelled like smoke, no mousekeeping, old furniture
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/08/2022

Rating: (1)
Not Recommended

Make sure to check your bank accounts for a while after checking out! 4 days after we returned home from our trip, I was charged $100 by the resort. When I called to find out where the charge came from, I was transfered to 6 different employees and put on hold for a total of 9 hours, only to ultimately be told it wasn't from them.. even though the charge clearly states \"Disney resorts\"
After speaking with my bank, I was informed that it was indeed from Disney and was considered an illegal unauthorized charge. They denied charging it, so my bank is currently handling it. I have not yet gotten a refund, apology, explanation or anything. Make sure to double check those charges!

Pros:

None

Cons:

Unauthorized charges on account
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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 nkwyatt Review Date: 09/27/2018

Rating: (1)
Not Recommended

I've stayed at this resort twice -- I did not enjoy either stay. The first visit was shortly after the resort opened and we stayed in a standard room (there is no preferred room option) in the Little Mermaid area of the resort. The walk to/from these buildings was excruciatingly long -- seemed like about 15 minutes which may not be that long to some but......if you forget something and have to return to your room it makes for a very bad experience. Also, the resort refillable mugs are basically useless because there is no quick trip to the foodcourt for a refill -- it's a 15 minute walk minimum. The same is true for a trip to the gift shop. Therefore, when I went back for my second trip, I paid the higher price and stayed in a suite -- again, not a good experience. The design of these rooms can only be described as cluttered. The sofa was not a full-size sofa so it accommodates seating for only 2 guests. The "side chair" is more like a chair you would find at the dining table and is not conducive for watching TV or resting. The table and chairs take up most of the entry way and cannot be used if the Murphy bed is down. The "kitchenette" is tiny and right in the middle of the living area. Guests who will be sleeping on the pullouts have no place to store their luggage other than right in the middle of the living area. The side tables in the living area were tiny and useless. To put it mildly, we hated this resort and hope never to stay there again.

Pros:

Sadly, I can't find much that is positive to say about Art of Animation. The airline check-in personnel were friendly and efficient.

Cons:

Everything -- crowded rooms; long walks to/from the foodcourt, buses, gift shops. Poor selections/not much variety in the foodcourt.
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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 buses

Cons:

- 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 facilities
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Reviewed 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 pools

Cons:

Dirty rooms, very one star motel quality
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Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/11/2021

Rating: (2)
Not Recommended

Honest review

Pros:

Well decorated. Nice pools. Easy access to the sky liner

Cons:

Refrigerator doesn’t work at all! Bathroom door doesn’t shut, two ROACHES were on the walls when we walked in. Luggage carts are $50 to “rent”.
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Reviewed by tinkw Review Date: 08/10/2013

Rating: (2)
Not Recommended

The theming of this resort is fabulous with so much attention to detail, it's an animation fan's heaven. Check in was swift and the cast member who checked us in noticed my birthday fell whilst we were there and gave me a birthday button during check in. By the time we got to our room she had forwarded a call from Mickey and Minnie wishing me a happy birthday and sent a card to the room the day before my birthday. That made for a good start but unfortunately that's where the praise ends.

Little Mermaid Rooms -
As previous visitors to Disney Value resorts we are no strangers to the 'long walk' from some parts of the resort to the food hall, although I have to say the walk from Little Mermaid rooms with small children would be complete torture particularly after a day in the parks.

Mousekeeping -
The room was kept tidy although bins were not always emptied and the bath wasn't cleaned daily. Bathroom tissue wasn't always replaced and on one occasion I returned early whilst the room was being cleaned, so to be polite waited for the maid to finish- it took 40 minutes. Now why does it take 40 minutes to empty 3 bins, wipe a sink and bath and tuck in a few bed sheets? By the end of the 2 weeks I could write my name in dust on the furniture - so I did!

The food hall -
Where to begin on this one?
The types of food are a little bit strange and probably not to everyone's taste. I'm not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination, but the food was the same every day and really who wants Indian based foods for breakfast? What's wrong with the good old traditional Bounty Platter? The quality of the food is also not what you come to expect from Disney.
The lines were long and the cast members clueless about the products they were selling.
On the first day, the ice machine on the beverage isle was clearly broken and as a result the floor was flooded and coned off whilst it was fixed. Later in the holiday, the same machine began churning out ice and wouldn't stop. I witnessed 3 cast member look at it, do nothing and walk away. What happened to Disney's Safety First policy?
As good resort guests, we bought a refillable cup each and used it with our meals, however other guests clearly don't believe they should do this and walked up to the machines, filled a variety of drinking vessels and walked away. Again this was witnessed by cast members who chose not to challenge them. Surely this is theft?????
Coffee pots were often empty as were the creamer machines, so if your a coffee lover, forget it!
As a traveller from the UK I always bring Travellers Cheques, BIG MISTAKE! I got tired of having to explain to cast members what they were and then having to wait whilst they found out what to do with them - resulting in lots of cold meals!

The Pools
The pools at AoA are gated and require your Key to the World to access them. On many occasions I witnessed whole groups of people waiting by the gates for guests with keys to open the gates and then followed them in. Were they really AoA guests? I suspect not!


If this is the future of Disney hotels, I think I will keep a foot in the past thank you very much!

All I can say is thank goodness Pop Century was only over the bridge - as a result I didn't starve, my sanity remained in tact and I still believe in Disney customer service!

Pros:

Theming

Cons:

Everything else
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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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