Disney's Art of Animation Resort

[Scarletwebslingr]

KingEric snapped over a 100 photos of the new Art of Animation Resort. Enjoy!

http://orlandounited.com/2012/05/30/animation/

Um, I'm officially stoked.

 

[BJCool]

Attractions Magazine posted this video of the underwater sound heard in the Nemo pool:

[video=youtube;ffbAEtgjNxI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffbAEtgjNxI[/video]

 

[BJCool]

Attractions Magazine posted this video of the opening ceremony:

[video=youtube;FdZW27dU33Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdZW27dU33Q[/video]


The rest of Attractions Magazine's full article about the resort's opening can be found here: http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog/2012/05/31/disneys-art-of-animation-resort-officially-opens-first-guests-check-into-the-finding-nemo-suites/

 

[April]

I saw the Lion King musical last month and I've been addicted to the Lion King since then. I would loooove to stay in their Lion King wing if it wasn't so expensive. Kind of hard to justify spending almost $300 when I live 20 minutes away.

Still, the resort looks really cool regardless.

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

I saw the Lion King musical last month and I've been addicted to the Lion King since then. I would loooove to stay in their Lion King wing if it wasn't so expensive. Kind of hard to justify spending almost $300 when I live 20 minutes away.

Still, the resort looks really cool regardless.

I feel you. I'm in the exact same boat. I literally live a two-lane street from MK.

 

[ReelJustice]

Nice to see that after 20 years and 5 tries, Disney has mastered the tacky value resort.

 

[Nick]

Nice to see that after 20 years and 5 tries, Disney has mastered the tacky value resort.

Now I haven't personally been to AoA yet, but I think calling it "tacky" is degrading it a bit. I mean, yes it does have the over sized figures like the other value resorts, but really other than that this hotel is a lot more tactfully done than any of the other values. It's really on a different level.

 

[orlandofanuk]

I am a travel agent who lives in the UK, i have visited most of the Disney resorts with work, and stayed at Disney's Pop Century 3 times and Disney's All Star Movies Resort once. The value resorts are a good priced option for staying at Disney, i have 2 children, and they loved the resorts we have stayed in, with having the large characters around the resort it feels like you are part of the Disney magic that maybe you dont feel when staying at Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans and other Disney resorts. now with the Art of Animation with the themed areas such as The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Cars and Finding Nemo, hopefully the magic will be more enhanced with the theming they have produced

 

[Knightspast]

I'm staying at the Art of Animation resort for the next three days in the Cars section that opens tomorrow. I can't wait to see the place since my writing partner was there for the grand opening and stayed in the Finding Nemo section.

 

[Brian G.]

Phase 2 officially opens.

http://orlandounited.com/2012/06/18/disneys-art-of-animation-resort-opens-second-phase/

 

[Teebin]

Found out today... the 37' Ursula is en route from California as we speak. The trident has either just arrived or also in transit from CA.

 

[Nick]

Walked around the resort and ate at the food court on Monday. Selections and food were very good at the food court as I was expecting, based on what I had heard. Lots of managers were out, seemed like it was still a work in progress. Research Cast Members were out with laptops interacting with guests as you walked to your seat and asking you if you wanted to take a survey once you finished. Again, still seems like they're trying to get a grasp on what guests want and what they can improve on.

The one thing I thought needed to be changed was the pizza needed to be moved away from the create-your-own-pasta. Both are the two most popular items at their specific station (the pasta much more than the pizza), however the pizza gets made a lot faster than the pasta does, so you could have ordered the pasta 4-5 people ahead of someone that ordered pizza, but they could get it first. It's just weird and seems like there could be a better way to do it.

 

[rhino4evr]

Thinking of staying here next year when I visit. Does anyone know if they have a Bar/Lounge for adults?

 

[snoman]

Random question-at the food court do the refillable mugs have the RFID barcode that they were testing at the all star sports food court about a year ago? They ran that test then I haven't seen them at the Pop Century and we've stayed there twice in the last year. Not that we would ever re-use the refillable mugs since of course you would always spend $60 for every visit even when you come multiple times to stay onsite in one year!

 

[slappybob]

So out of all the themed areas that are open already which one is the best? From the pictures I really think the Cars area is the best in themeing wise but I also havnt been there to see it in person yet.

 

[freediverdude]

Random question-at the food court do the refillable mugs have the RFID barcode that they were testing at the all star sports food court about a year ago? They ran that test then I haven't seen them at the Pop Century and we've stayed there twice in the last year. Not that we would ever re-use the refillable mugs since of course you would always spend $60 for every visit even when you come multiple times to stay onsite in one year!

Well I know they removed the RFID cups from All-Star Sports- apparently didn't go over well.

 

[CraigM]

So out of all the themed areas that are open already which one is the best? From the pictures I really think the Cars area is the best in themeing wise but I also havnt been there to see it in person yet.

I just walked through the Cars area a few days ago (staying there in August) and was impressed by the theming. By far the best there so far. I'm interested to see Lion King, but I don't expect too much from it. Maybe Little Mermaid will be nicer though.

- - - Updated - - -

Random question-at the food court do the refillable mugs have the RFID barcode that they were testing at the all star sports food court about a year ago? They ran that test then I haven't seen them at the Pop Century and we've stayed there twice in the last year. Not that we would ever re-use the refillable mugs since of course you would always spend $60 for every visit even when you come multiple times to stay onsite in one year!

Got rid of it. There was a lot of people upset by it, so I think they did away with it. It is for the best. The amount of money they spend on fountain drinks is probably minimal compared to the money they "may" be loosing. I wouldn't expect it to come back for a while, if ever.

 

[maxairmike]

I just walked through the Cars area a few days ago (staying there in August) and was impressed by the theming. By far the best there so far. I'm interested to see Lion King, but I don't expect too much from it. Maybe Little Mermaid will be nicer though.

I wouldn't put expectations for the Lion King section that low. When the resort had its opening day stuff I was there and talked with a manager who was really excited about the Lion King area. He said the elephant graveyard was looking really cool back then, so I'm really excited to see how that turns out.

 

[CraigM]

I wouldn't put expectations for the Lion King section that low. When the resort had its opening day stuff I was there and talked with a manager who was really excited about the Lion King area. He said the elephant graveyard was looking really cool back then, so I'm really excited to see how that turns out.

In that case, I can't wait to see it. I have a friend staying there on 8/10, I think, so I will go check it out. Then the following weekend, I'm staying at the Cars portion of it.

 

[snoman]

Good news, thank you for the info!