I really wanted to stay at Art of Animation - because Little Mermaid Rooms duh! We ended up deciding on Pop Century because it's slightly more appropriate for two adults. But hear me now - I will most definitely stay in the Little Mermaid rooms one day!
So, a little bit about AoA (Art of Animation), it is SUPER themed. If I had kids - this would be one of my top choices. All the rooms are themed, as mentioned above, Little Mermaid for regular rooms and awesomely enough, AoA has Family suites to rent. These are themed for Finding Nemo, Lion King or Cars! Most of these suites have two bathrooms, a living space with multiple places to sleep, a mini kitchen, and a bedroom. The Little Mermaid rooms are more standard hotel rooms with two double beds and a sea inspired bathroom. The stand rooms hold max 4 people while the Suites hold 6.
The rooms are decently priced first for being on site Disney and for being so decorated and fun. They fall into the budget category but is definitely above the All-Stars trio.
One of the main attractions of AoA are the statues! They make for SUPER cute photos, in every section of the resort. Little Mermaid area has Ariel, King Triton, and Ursulla. Cars section is guarded by tons of cars from the movies including McQueen and Mater. Nemo's pool area is crowded with Crush and Mr. Ray! Rafiki is there to welcome you as you enter the Lion King Section!
AoA has a total of three pools! The largest is called The Big Blue, and is located in the Finding Nemo area and it has a Pool bar aptly named the Drop Off Pool bar! The Big Blue actually has three sections to it including the Pool which has sounds underwater directly from the Finding Nemo movie! If that isn't cool - I don't know what is. There is a play area with water toys, The School Yard. As well as Squirts Righteous Reef - another play area with no water toys. The pool is currently the LARGEST Disney pool on site - 11'859 square feet!
The other two pools are smaller, one located in the Cars area called The Cozy Cone. There are 8 cone shaped Cabanes around the pool - they are first come first served - so if you want one, grab it early!
The other one in the Little Mermaid buildings are called The Flippin Fins.
There is also a 1.3 mile trail around the Hourglass Lake, which I find super cool! If you're still up for it after a whole day of Disney walking!
AoA offers the Landscape of Flavors as a food court for their guests. You will be able to eat with real silverware on real plates - instead of plastic throw away ones. This is done to help the environment! The Landscape of Flavors offers a variety of food choices for every single picky eater you have! The menu has even been expanded to have healthier options such as buckwheat pasta and egg whites.
Check out their menu here
Also be sure to check out the daily activities offered at AoA. There are Movie Nights under the stars almost every night. AoA also has drawing classes Monday to Thursday at various times throughout the day. I thought that would be phenomenal as a check in day activity. The activity is free and the materials are supplied. There is also an arcade on premises that uses a reusable swipe card instead of coins or tokens!
There is a bus line from AoA to each park, or connecting lines to transfer for parks. See the map below for more details, and stay tuned for a post of Disney Transportation.
The best tip I got for AoA was to request a room that is on the upper levels with a lake view. Apparently this gets you a good view and less noise, given that its faced away from the pools.
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