Disney's Art of Animation Resort in Orlando, FL

We are Disney Vacation Club members and generally stay at the deluxe villas when we go to Disney World. This trip was a booked relatively last minute to hear our daughter sing in the Candlelight Processional and took advantage of the annual passholder discounts that were available for the week we went. Art of Animation is now our favorite resort to stay outside of DVC. We stayed in a Lion King suite courtesy of a surprise upgrade from the Little Mermaid room we originally booked. The suites are spacious and well equipped. (We had stayed at AoA once before in a Cars suite with six adults and we all slept very comfortably in the sleep accommodations provided.) Disney's Art of Animation is conveniently located at the end of the Skyliner line and the stop is shared with the adjoining Pop Century Resort. The only time we found this to be a problem is at the end of the evening when departing EPCOT, the line could be somewhat long, but it moves quickly enough. The Skyliner connects the resort with EPCOT and Hollywood studios and Caribbean Beach and Riviera Resorts. There is bus service to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs in front of Animation Hall, the main building. Animation Hall is also where you'll find the Landscape of Flavors dining and the Ink and Paint Shop, the store for merchandise and assorted groceries. The rooms are spacious with a full kitchen There is a master bedroom with 1 Queen Bed and 1 Double-Size Sleeper Sofa and 1 Double-Size Table Bed in the living area. The Lion King buildings are conveniently located near the skyline and the main building, but I didn't get the feeling that even the farthest buildings were too far from any of the important areas. Housekeeping came every other day, so the rooms were kept clean and paper goods were regularly replenished.

The lobby is very nice, but once you enter the cafeteria, things start going downhill a bit. The food is not good for the price you pay. Then the hotel is divided by different movies and decor: lion king, cars, little mermaid and Nemo. We were different groups and some stayed in lion king, we stayed in little mermaid. The room is lacking, it feels old and very small for 4 people as it only have 3 little drawers. Everything feels dated. Housekeeping works one day yes and one day no, which is less than ideal when traveling with kids. Plus, the day they came in, although beds were made, a piece of trash on the floor was still there (a coffee stirring stick) from the day before, on the floor next to the tv. So you start thinking maybe the cleaning is not good and thorough if they missed an obvious piece of trash. When we checked in there was a luggage problem and 3 rooms spent more than an hour waiting and looking for some of our bags. All were found after more than an hour. Little details like having 3 towels instead of four (we were a party of 4) and no water bottles don’t help. You can do a lot worse, yet, not a very good property.

Excellent hotel for Disney lovers. We had a fantastic 16 nights here with our 16 year old boys. We had the quick servce dinning plan, which was really conveient with teenagers. We had the unlimited refill mugs, again very conveient with teenagers. We had one of the larger suites, two bathrooms. There was plenty of space for 4 of us. Only downside would be the lack of variety on the menu. If you stay for a week, no problems, but 16 nights and it gets very repetitive. Plenty of parking. Little kitchenette with a fridge (handy for drinks). As we rented a car, it was easy for us to get to all the parks and other activites we wanted to do. If you don;t have a car, no problems as there are plenty of free ways to get to the parks.

Pros - The location is FANTASTIC - Sky rail to Hollywood Studios and Epcot is amazing and very convenient and it so well managed, keeping delays to a minimum. The staff were great especially Marlena? in the Shop and Blaise at the Front Desk who both went above and beyond to help me with boxes and parcel return respectively. The two large beds were really comfortable with great duvet and pillows. The Food Court gives a good selection of food (though expensive). Having the refillable cup was great.....I will really miss my cooked breakfast, late night hot chocolate and chocolate cookie....the best! The Reception area and shop are brilliant.......very Disney! The Bus System is generally great....the themed buses are lovely for kids and nostalgic adults alike. I didn't use the pools but they look fabulous and themed....I don't think they are heated which would be a real plus for the cooler evenings. The giant Disney characters are so well done, for adults and kids to enjoy. Cons - The taps, showers and toilet flushing can be heard in surrounding rooms as they are vacuum (airline) type of toilets. I had quite inconsiderate neighbours over Halloween who were using the toilet and showering at nearly 0200! The safe is tiny. One thing I think Disney should review is that the cleaning staff leave the lights on after cleaning the rooms and this is an enormous unnecessary cost to Disney and more importantly, a terrible waste of energy and I feel the staff should either turn all lights off or if a light is required to remain on, leave one bedside light on only. Assuming heavier sleepers, or you just accept you may have late night neighbours using the sink/toilet/shower which could disturb, then this is a fabulous hotel for couples and families alike. Due to circumstances I travelled on my own and felt rather odd there but this was my issue, not the hotel's. A couple of bits of general feedback for Disney if this could be passed to Disney representatives - I don't know whether paper is recycled at a later stage but should/could be separated out at initial disposal as there would be tonnes of paper which should be recycled. Also just using washable cutlery rather than the plastic throw away cutlery seems a far better option. The Bus System let a number of us down one night with constant buses arriving for Animal Kingdom and none to take us to Magic Kingdom to transfer us to the eve fireworks. We waited over 40 mins....this was presumably a rare occasion but frustrating. I do think if people want to have a snack in place of a meal on the Quick Dining they should be allowed to replace. Overall I had a fantastic holiday and loved the Hotel.....I wanted to give a 4.5 Review!

Took our family to Disney and this hotel was our choice! Beautiful themed pools and our upgrading to a Lion King Suite was a great decision! Food options were plenty, movies at the pool areas and Smores by the fire pit each night made this resort so special! Loved this resort!