I wanted to post a review of our trip since I have found it so helpful reading other people's reviews.
We went Wed 3/6 - Sunday 3/10 and did 4 days in the parks. We stayed at Art of Animation in 2 Cars Suites. We were three adults and 4 kids ages 3, 4, 6, and 6. (well actually there was a 4th adult there but he only went to a conference and didn't come to the parks with us). Crowd level was 7/10 every day we were in the parks.
Art of Animation: kids LOVED the theming and the Nemo pool. The Cars suite was awesome and very spacious. The pull out couch and fold down murphy bed were shockingly comfortable. Only major negative for me was the lack of a restaurant on site (which would be the same issue at any value resort). It was NOT relaxing trying to obtain dinner from 3 different food stations, balancing the food on the tray, while keeping track of 3 & 6 year old. I will probably not stay in a value again until my kids are at least old enough to be a bit more self sufficient in the cafeteria area.
Parks/Rides: We did HS Thursday, MK, Friday, AK Saturday, Epcot Sunday (before our 430 flight home). Despite crowds being 7/10 every day we were able to basically walk onto every ride we wanted with a smart touring plan and strategic use of FP and Rider swap. We only waited one time for more than 10 minutes, and that was to ride Toy Story Mania (we rope dropped Alien saucers then had FP for slinky, so knew we would have to wait a little here). Keys tips include: getting to the park at rope drop and quickly hitting the second tier rides, using FP starting at 1030 for the headliners, then obtaining 4th and 5th FP for 3rd tier rides/shows or doing anytime rides once you use your 3 FP. On our MK day we did 22 rides/meet and greets plus the parade plus the fireworks with no wait over over 10 minutes the entire day. I read the Rope Drop strategy from EasyWDW to plan our mornings and they were exactly spot on.
Specials/Upgrades: we did Tony's Parade Package Lunch to get the reserved parade viewing as the parade was a top priority for the kids. The food was decent But the parade viewing spot priceless -- we wandered in at 310 and had a front row view.
We also did the Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Garden view. We arrived at 710, let the kids loose on desserts until 745, then meandered over to the viewing area at 745 and still had tons of space with a great view for the fireworks. Very worth it to me to not be smashed in with the masses for 2+ hours.
Other tips: we rented a car and drove to every park and it was very smooth/easy. It was so nice just being able to leave exactly when we wanted in the morning and know we would be at the park at X time, rather than being reliant on the buses with long lines or a monorail that might break down. And with 4 kids in car seats Uber/Lyft/Minnine Vans were less desirable as we would have needed 2 Minnie vans each time to accommodate the car seats. Seeing the enormous lines for the resort buses each morning and contemplating having to do that with 2 kids and a double stroller also looked extremely daunting.
Dining: we shared the deluxe dining plan among two rooms and had no issues sharing credits. But even sharing the plan between 2 rooms we BARELY used all the credits, it would be WAY too much for for just one room without sharing. Meal highlights were: Tusker House Breakfast and Akershus Lunch. Just ok meals were: Hollywood and Vine Lunch and BOG dinner.
We went Wed 3/6 - Sunday 3/10 and did 4 days in the parks. We stayed at Art of Animation in 2 Cars Suites. We were three adults and 4 kids ages 3, 4, 6, and 6. (well actually there was a 4th adult there but he only went to a conference and didn't come to the parks with us). Crowd level was 7/10 every day we were in the parks.
Art of Animation: kids LOVED the theming and the Nemo pool. The Cars suite was awesome and very spacious. The pull out couch and fold down murphy bed were shockingly comfortable. Only major negative for me was the lack of a restaurant on site (which would be the same issue at any value resort). It was NOT relaxing trying to obtain dinner from 3 different food stations, balancing the food on the tray, while keeping track of 3 & 6 year old. I will probably not stay in a value again until my kids are at least old enough to be a bit more self sufficient in the cafeteria area.
Parks/Rides: We did HS Thursday, MK, Friday, AK Saturday, Epcot Sunday (before our 430 flight home). Despite crowds being 7/10 every day we were able to basically walk onto every ride we wanted with a smart touring plan and strategic use of FP and Rider swap. We only waited one time for more than 10 minutes, and that was to ride Toy Story Mania (we rope dropped Alien saucers then had FP for slinky, so knew we would have to wait a little here). Keys tips include: getting to the park at rope drop and quickly hitting the second tier rides, using FP starting at 1030 for the headliners, then obtaining 4th and 5th FP for 3rd tier rides/shows or doing anytime rides once you use your 3 FP. On our MK day we did 22 rides/meet and greets plus the parade plus the fireworks with no wait over over 10 minutes the entire day. I read the Rope Drop strategy from EasyWDW to plan our mornings and they were exactly spot on.
Specials/Upgrades: we did Tony's Parade Package Lunch to get the reserved parade viewing as the parade was a top priority for the kids. The food was decent But the parade viewing spot priceless -- we wandered in at 310 and had a front row view.
We also did the Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Garden view. We arrived at 710, let the kids loose on desserts until 745, then meandered over to the viewing area at 745 and still had tons of space with a great view for the fireworks. Very worth it to me to not be smashed in with the masses for 2+ hours.
Other tips: we rented a car and drove to every park and it was very smooth/easy. It was so nice just being able to leave exactly when we wanted in the morning and know we would be at the park at X time, rather than being reliant on the buses with long lines or a monorail that might break down. And with 4 kids in car seats Uber/Lyft/Minnine Vans were less desirable as we would have needed 2 Minnie vans each time to accommodate the car seats. Seeing the enormous lines for the resort buses each morning and contemplating having to do that with 2 kids and a double stroller also looked extremely daunting.
Dining: we shared the deluxe dining plan among two rooms and had no issues sharing credits. But even sharing the plan between 2 rooms we BARELY used all the credits, it would be WAY too much for for just one room without sharing. Meal highlights were: Tusker House Breakfast and Akershus Lunch. Just ok meals were: Hollywood and Vine Lunch and BOG dinner.
