Disney's ART OF ANIMATION RESORT Information & Questions

[CastAStone]

I had breakfast once at the food court, the breakfast sandwich, and it was.....fine, I guess.
The burger wasn't bad, the chicken sandwich was decent. The turkey dinner was pretty good, and the salmon dinner was just okay.

Pandemic Landscape of Flavors is pretty bad. It’s definitely a far below average Disney restaurant.

 

[Jackie H.]

What size beds to the Little Mermaid Rooms have? Are they still the double beds? Thank you

 

[Ghost Host 998]

What size beds to the Little Mermaid Rooms have? Are they still the double beds? Thank you

The LM rooms have been refurbished and now have 2 queen beds.

 

[TinkTinkBelle]

Good afternoon! I have seen several posts about not relying on the Skyliner for rope drop. Looking for confirmation if there is bus service to DHS from AoA in the EARLY morning if one wants to be there for rope drop. And how crazy busy is the skyliner hub at CBR in the early morning?

 

[CastAStone]

Good afternoon! I have seen several posts about not relying on the Skyliner for rope drop. Looking for confirmation if there is bus service to DHS from AoA in the EARLY morning if one wants to be there for rope drop. And how crazy busy is the skyliner hub at CBR in the early morning?

If you are at the AoA Skyliner by 7:15 for a “9:00” DHS open you won’t wait long at CBR. If you’re there at 7:40 you’ll wait forever. Buses are terribly inconsistent and anyone telling you their experience is telling you what happened that not what will happen to you. The Skyliner at AoA has been consistently starting at 7:25.

 

[TinkTinkBelle]

If you are at the AoA Skyliner by 7:15 for a “9:00” DHS open you won’t wait long at CBR. If you’re there at 7:40 you’ll wait forever. Buses are terribly inconsistent and anyone telling you their experience is telling you what happened that not what will happen to you. The Skyliner at AoA has been consistently starting at 7:25.

Thank you! This is the info I was trying to find out.

 

[disneysophie]

Is the big pool fully open? When I went in March it was closed for refurb.

is there a wait to use the big pool? Like capacity limits?

 

[CastAStone]

Is the big pool fully open? When I went in March it was closed for refurb.

is there a wait to use the big pool? Like capacity limits?

Yes and yes there are capacity limits and it depends when you go whether or not it will have hit them. The pools are usually less crowded in the mornings and evenings followed by the early afternoon. Mid and late afternoon is more likely to hit capacity.

 

[Becky Mouse]

If you are at the AoA Skyliner by 7:15 for a “9:00” DHS open you won’t wait long at CBR. If you’re there at 7:40 you’ll wait forever. Buses are terribly inconsistent and anyone telling you their experience is telling you what happened that not what will happen to you. The Skyliner at AoA has been consistently starting at 7:25.

What if we want to rope drop Epcot? The Skyliner should already be running to CBR well before Epcot opens. Is there a line that forms at CBR as people wait for it to run to Epcot? If so, what time would we want to be in that line?

 

[CastAStone]

What if we want to rope drop Epcot? The Skyliner should already be running to CBR well before Epcot opens. Is there a line that forms at CBR as people wait for it to run to Epcot? If so, what time would we want to be in that line?

I didn’t have experience with this but you can always take the Skyliner to DHS early and walk to Epcot, it’s about 15 minutes between the DHS station and the Epcot station if you take the shortcut through Boardwalk


Epcot is mobbed by 11:10 and MUCH less busy after 6 right now so I’m not sure Rope Dropping is a super efficient touring strategy but if that’s what you want to do you can give it a shot.

On May 4th we got to JIA at about 6:20 PM and did JIA, Soarin, Nemo, Nemo again, SSE, Mission Space Green, and Test Track before park close at 10 AND spent at least 30 minutes looking at fish in the seas pavilion. And we weren’t baking in the sun. YMMV.

(this advice will be worthless once fireworks are back and people start staying until close again)

 

[Shrfleen]

We will be staying at AOA in November and bringing our dog. We have reserved a room in the Little Mermaid section. I have a few questions for the veterans.

Does anyone have any room recommendations?
Has any done the daytime boarding at Best Friends Pet Hotel? We would prefer to have him "home" at night but want to give him something to do during the day.

 

[dmband]

We will be staying at AOA in November and bringing our dog. We have reserved a room in the Little Mermaid section. I have a few questions for the veterans.

Does anyone have any room recommendations?
Has any done the daytime boarding at Best Friends Pet Hotel? We would prefer to have him "home" at night but want to give him something to do during the day.

Only select rooms in building 7 are pet friendly so you are already limited
potty areas are by buildings 2,5,6,7

 

[VickynMicMouse]

We are debating on booking AOA First Week in December Family of 5....Are the Suites big Enough for 2 Adults and 3 children to be comfortable

 

[Becky Mouse]

I didn’t have experience with this but you can always take the Skyliner to DHS early and walk to Epcot, it’s about 15 minutes between the DHS station and the Epcot station if you take the shortcut through Boardwalk
View attachment 576172

Epcot is mobbed by 11:10 and MUCH less busy after 6 right now so I’m not sure Rope Dropping is a super efficient touring strategy but if that’s what you want to do you can give it a shot.

On May 4th we got to JIA at about 6:20 PM and did JIA, Soarin, Nemo, Nemo again, SSE, Mission Space Green, and Test Track before park close at 10 AND spent at least 30 minutes looking at fish in the seas pavilion. And we weren’t baking in the sun. YMMV.

(this advice will be worthless once fireworks are back and people start staying until close again)

Thank you! I was actually thinking about rope dropping Soarin' and Living with the Land, checking out some of the flower & garden topiaries and such, and grabbing a pastry from Les Halles to take back to our room. Maybe we'll find a shady spot to eat our pastry in the World Showcase in the hopes of spotting a character cavalcade, though. I think we'd then head back in the evening for our dinner res, Frozen Ever After, and Impressions de France. It seems like Frozen Ever After wait times drop off more in the evening than Soarin' does, so that's why I was thinking about trying to rope drop Soarin'.

 

[Krisshay13]

Good afternoon! I have seen several posts about not relying on the Skyliner for rope drop. Looking for confirmation if there is bus service to DHS from AoA in the EARLY morning if one wants to be there for rope drop. And how crazy busy is the skyliner hub at CBR in the early morning?

We took the bus to RD ..........I was too afraid of the CBR skyliner hub. We were on 2nd bus (they came within min of each other). Lined up for temp check with skyliner people & we were probably 100 people from the front. But, hard to tell if it was skyliner people or mostly bus people ahead of us.
Good luck with it!!! That was our busiest park & busiest rope drop.

 

[bluezy]

We are debating on booking AOA First Week in December Family of 5....Are the Suites big Enough for 2 Adults and 3 children to be comfortable

They work very well for our family -- we've stayed in a suite on 4 trips so far. We've traveled as a family of 5 and 6 with the "kids" being anywhere between 8 and 28 years old during our stays. Because our kids are older and aren't used to sharing a bed for multiple nights, we always bring an air mattress or two so none of them have to share beds. If they were younger, we wouldn't do that. There's plenty of space for every one even with the air mattresses (which we store against a wall during the day). There are several little "nooks" that make great storage spots for luggage (and I think the bed in the master bedroom now has storage underneath it). The dressers have a decent amount of drawer space but I always bring a hanging sweater holder to provide a little more organized storage space. We drive and bring some drinks, snacks, and breakfast foods for the room and there is plenty of shelf space above the sink to store those things. We love the suites and prefer them to booking 2 rooms or booking a room that accommodates 5 of us. Two bathrooms is a must for us when traveling with several kids and we also really appreciate the private master bedroom. Now that our kids are growing up (the youngest is 16) and getting their own rooms when we're at Disney (because they're married or traveling with their boyfriend/girlfriend), I'm not sure if we'll be booking a suite for our trip next year and I'm having a hard time thinking about going back to a standard room with only one bathroom.

 

[Kanga1]

Since Disney has removed all comforters, and even the bed runners, are there any blankets at all on the beds, or is it just sheets? Specifically, the Nemo Suites. I HAVE to sleep under more than just sheets! Wondering if I need to bring my own blanket.

 

[CastAStone]

Since Disney has removed all comforters, and even the bed runners, are there any blankets at all on the beds, or is it just sheets? Specifically, the Nemo Suites. I HAVE to sleep under more than just sheets! Wondering if I need to bring my own blanket.

Yes there’s the kind of blanket you’d get at a Marriott or Hilton owned hotel nowadays, with a loose sheet on each side of a duvet insert. On a warmth scale of 1-10 where 10 is warmest it’s probably a 4.

 

[CableKC]

I'm trying to plan out how long it will take to get from AoA to the MCO airport via the Magical Express Shuttle.

Does the Magical Express Shuttle stop at any other resorts before heading to the Orlando Airport?

or

Is it a direct shuttle with no stops to MCO?

I need to figure out what time I need to make sure that we physically leave the room when taking the Magical Express shuttle to the airport to ensure that we can get to the gate in time.

My flight in MCO is at 8am on a Thursday in late July. How much time do you allocate when figuring out when to leave your room to get to the airport?

 

[Ghost Host 998]

I'm trying to plan out how long it will take to get from AoA to the MCO airport via the Magical Express Shuttle.

Does the Magical Express Shuttle stop at any other resorts before heading to the Orlando Airport?

or

Is it a direct shuttle with no stops to MCO?

I need to figure out what time I need to make sure that we physically leave the room when taking the Magical Express shuttle to the airport to ensure that we can get to the gate in time.

My flight in MCO is at 8am on a Thursday in late July. How much time do you allocate when figuring out when to leave your room to get to the airport?

You do not get to choose when you catch ME. Disney will leave a note on your door with instructions the day before you're scheduled to leave with the time you are to catch the bus. It is usually 3 hours (4 hours for international) before your flight time, +/- 15 minutes. It is highly recommended to be at the ME pickup area 15 minutes before your scheduled time. It may be a direct drive to the airport, or it may make several stops before or after your pickup. You will never know until you are aboard.