Disney Reviews

We have stayed at Disney’s Contemporary Resort three times now, but unfortunately have not eaten at every restaurant, stayed in every room or experienced everything that the resort has to offer. However, I have lots of photos to share and even a video of some of the areas around and in the resort. I already did a little bit of a run-through of our room during our June Trip Report from last year, but I wanted to share a separate full review of the resort itself.

The Contemporary Resort is located right next to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. It is a Deluxe Resort and is on the monorail loop and is known for how the monorail travels directly through the center of the main building!

The Magic Kingdom is within walking distance, and there is a nice trail to take between the two. The walk takes about 10-15 minutes at a normal pace. The check-in area is moderately large, but nothing compared to the Value resorts. However, I have never seen it very busy and there is also a little waiting area with a tv.

There are 3 restaurants and 1 counter service location. The California Grill is located on the 15th floor. We’ve never eaten there, but the menu looks fantastic and the views of the Magic Kingdom and fireworks even more so. There is a viewing deck located outside for anyone eating at the restaurant to step out onto and enjoy the view.

The Wave is located next to the check-in desks on the main floor. We haven’t eat here yet either.

Rounding out the trio of restaurants is Chef Mickey’s. It is a character buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have eaten here twice and while we think the food is pretty standard, the character interaction is always fun and is a great way to meet the Big 4 characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald.

The quick service location is called Contempo Cafe. It is located to the right just before you reach the Chef Mickey check-in counter on the 4th floor. There are several ordering stations equipped with a touch screen and photos of all the menu items. You order on the screen and receive a number. There are beverages and dessert cases for you to choose from. Once you order and pick up any additional items, you check out with the cashier and either wait for your food, or you can get a number to have them bring it out to your table. You can also get your items to-go. The small seating area can get pretty full during peak hours. The Refillable Mug stations are located in this area, as well.

This area also contains a few shops and an arcade. I love that there are windows everywhere you look so you can have a nice view everywhere you turn. Also on this floor is a fireworks viewing deck. There are a few rows of benches and the music from Wishes will play during the show. The view is a bit off-center, but it’s definitely a great way to relax and see Wishes without the park crowds.

All three times we’ve stayed here, we had a room in a parking lot/main building view in the Garden Wing. The location may not have been great compared to a Theme Park view in the main tower, but the price was decent (the first time was free from a work conference and the other two times there were nice Florida Resident or AP discounts). In fact, depending on where your room is, you may even be able to catch a bit of Wishes and the Castle…a fireworks view for 1/3rd of the price!

We definitely enjoyed the extra space compared to our usual Value rooms…as did Trent!

When you first enter the room, there are two closets on the left with a little bar area in the middle…this is where the coffee machine, refrigerator and some extra drawers are.

There is a couch, cushioned chair, side table and dresser. There will either be one King bed or two Queen beds.

The TV area has a small ledge that wraps around and is great for setting small items on.

There is a large desk on one side of the room…which always turned into our “command center” with cameras, laptops, tablets and plenty of wires!

The bathroom has two nice large sinks, but they are very shallow. They look nice, but don’t leave much room for counter space to set your stuff on. We used the space below the sinks and then even put stuff in the one sink and kept the other one for both of us to use.

This may be totally random, but every time we use the shower or bath, the water is so fickle. You spend a minute getting the right temperature, then a minute later it’s too cold, then 2 minutes later it’s too hot…I spend half the shower adjusting the water temperature!

The toilet is located in a separate room with a sliding door. There is extra space in this room where we placed our hamper for dirty clothes.

Our view was also nice, as we were able to see the monorail zipping by throughout the day. Twice we were able to see parts of Wishes from our window! I’ll definitely take a fireworks view without having to pay for one!

As far as activities go, there definitely is no shortage. There is one pool with a water slide and a small “splash” zone. This splash zone is laughable compared to the one at Art of Animation, but at least they offer one. In that same area is the Sand Bar, where you can grab a bite to eat or a frosty drink.

There is a small beach located directly behind the pool that goes into Bay Lake. Next to that is the boat dock that has some seats at the end. There is a motor launch that runs in Bay Lake and services the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness to and from the Magic Kingdom. You can also see the nightly Electrical Water Pageant on Bay Lake.

With the monorail, we have enjoyed numerous days of not even using our car (we drive to WDW and use our car instead of the buses). Not only can you take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, which saves a ton of time, but you can also go to the other resorts on the loop (great for meal reservations) and hop over to the EPCOT monorail. Since we are still in the stroller phase (and about to go to the double-stroller stage - yikes!) the convenience of being able to hop on and off the monorail without folding/unfolding a stroller was phenomenal…especially when I was by myself and Brett was already at a park. Dealing with the stroller can be a pain on trams. I also like the convenience of being able to walk, which is always helpful when you see the astronomically long line for the monorail to leave after the fireworks and you can choose to avoid it.

With all that being said, perhaps my favorite part of the Contemporary is being so close to the action. From the fireworks viewing decks to the monorail access to the short walking distance, being so close to the Magic Kingdom definitely makes the vacation a bit more magical. While the resort isn’t overly Disney-themed, which many, including me at first, might think takes away from the Disney feel, the close proximity to the park of all parks more than makes up for it.

During one of our trips, I took a stroll around the resort and filmed a bit of it to create a video for y’all. Enjoy!

While I won’t give The Contemporary Resort an overall rating, I will say that whether you like it depends on your preferences. Honestly, before we ever stayed here, Brett and I used to say we probably wouldn’t ever stay at this resort because it looked too plain…it lacked the Disney ambience. But then we stayed here once and have been hooked mostly because of one thing…convenience. So if you like being close to the Magic Kingdom and on the monorail loop, but want a bit of a better price than other monorail loop resorts, then choose the Contemporary.

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Star Wars Weekends is an annual event, occurring each weekend in late spring (May-June) for several weeks at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. Hollywood Studios is filled with Costumes Star Wars characters and special Star Wars themed events, not to mention all the guests that dress up in costume too.

To be honest, I can’t remember if we have actually been to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends before, but Brett was pretty excited about it now that he shares his photos online with more than just our family.

One thing he really wanted us to do was one of the new Star Wars character meals. They were a new offering for this year and people kinda went a little berserk for them…I water on the phone over an hour on the first morning reservations opened up! We debated on which to reserve and ultimately decided on Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dinner at Hollywood and Vine for a few reasons. We thought it would be fun to see the Disney characters in Star Wars attire. We also thought Trent would like it better since he would still know who the characters were.

Also, the lighting in Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater is terrible. It provides great ambiance, but is a nightmare to take photos in, especially character photos. Since we had never been to Hollywood & Vine, we were a bit excited about that choice because we could experience a new place. Plus, it’s a buffet and Trent eats free!

However, as exciting as it seems that Trent eats free, the price of the meal was no joke…$55.99 for adults and $33.99 for kids ages 3-9. You are definitely paying a premium to meet the characters without standing in line. You also get a keepsake photo download.

We headed to Hollywood Studios just in time to make our 7:05 pm reservation. With dark clouds overhead, we knew it would storm at any moment…and with our luck, that moment would be when we pulled the car into our parking spot. So we had to quickly get our stuff together, put Trent in the stroller and walk as fast as we could inside the park. Needless to say, we were hot, exhausted and covered in sweat and rain by the time we got there…pretty nice right?

We parked the stroller, covered it with a poncho and then checked in…baking in the humidity and overabundance of people standing in the small area. Once you give the hostess your name, you stand in a short line to wait to have your photo taken with Chip and Dale. The photo set-up is right in the front as you enter Hollywood & Vine. I didn’t care where it was, as long as it was in the air-conditioning. I would have taken the photo in the bathroom if they made me.

Another cast member takes your bags and waits while you take the photo. Of course, she questioned what the heck Brett was carrying in his camera bag for it to be so heavy. I don’t know how he carries that thing all day.

You are given a special Photopass card with Jedi Mickey on it so you can view/download your photo online later.

We were pretty much expecting to look terrible in the photo, especially since Trent hasn’t been the best at posing for photos lately, but when I looked online afterward, I was surprised at how great it turned out. I am happy it was a free download, so Brett could Photoshop it to perfection…we may actually have a decent family photo!

We requested a booth and they were able to give us one thankfully. From check in to sit down took us no more than 10 minutes, including the time it took for the photo. Not bad.

Within a few minutes of being seated, our waitress took our drink order and then Brett went to fix Trent’s plate. Always bring the baby his food first (even though he’ll only eat 1/10 of it!)!

We took turns going up to the buffet and we enjoyed many of the options. My favorite choices were the Skywalker Ranch Chicken and the C3PO’s Cream Corn Spoon Bread.

I like how they named each food item with a Star Wars Theme…here are a bunch of photos from the buffet area.

Breads and rolls. Just to the right of this photo, they had butter and apple butter. I combined both on one piece of bread and it was delicious. I’m not one to fill my stomach with bread before a buffet, but I had to have two pieces with the apple butter.

Soups.

Salad and fruit salad.

Now I’ll let the signs do that talking. The photos of the signs are before each photo of the corresponding foods.

Create your own pasta.

Kids station.

So while we enjoyed our dinner, we also waited for each character to come around! Luckily, we were in a spot that we could see the characters coming to us, so I could pick Trent up and prepare for the interaction and photo.

Jedi Mickey!

Him and Minnie were perhaps the least interactive out of the 4 characters. They didn’t stay very long and immediately posed for the photo as soon as they got to us. Donald and Goofy interacted for at least a few seconds before turning for the photo.

Stormtrooper Donald!

Darth Goofy!

Princess Minnie!

As you can see, Trent would not turn to the camera for us. He just wanted to look at the characters, even with Brett yelling “Trent!” and making weird whistling sounds and all. Stubborn toddler - good thing we didn’t wait in a line for any of these!

But we can not forget about Dessert! There was a large dessert station with various small desserts, some themed towards the Darks Side (Red) or the Light Side (Blue).

Which side would you choose?

When we first sat down, our table had paper lightsabers that had blue on one side and red on the other, so you could roll them up and have a fun lightsaber to play with. At $55.99 a person, I would have liked to see something a little more useful, as these didn’t stay rolled up if you weren’t holding them.

But, since Trent had already chosen his side with his shirt, we rolled his up to create a red lightsaber…Dark Side it is!

So I chose the blue lightsaber and we battled it out until the death!

Watch as Mommy and Trent fight each other - see who wins!

Of course, in this scenario, death equals eventual sharing of C3PO-shaped cookies.

I wonder if that’s an alternate ending to the movies…

Overall, this was a fun event that was nice to say we did once. At this price, we won’t go rushing back and would probably opt to try one of the other special Star Wars character meals just to experience something different. I always like buffets, since we have 2 picky eaters in the family (not I!), so it was nice to get out of the rain and humidity and enjoy a themed buffet dinner with fun characters!

 

Stay tuned for our full trip report from this trip! In the meantime, if you’d like to enjoy our other Disney Trip Reports, you can find them here!

 

In January before our cruise, Trent got his very first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop in Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

The Harmony Barber Shop is tucked away in a little corner to the left after you enter the park.

They perform haircuts for children and adults, and while it says it’s on a “first-come, first-served” basis, we were able to get a reservation for the 1st Haircut Package. The 1st Haircut Package includes a cut, a certificate and Mickey Ears that say “My 1st Haircut”. They even place some of the locks in a satchel with Pixie Dust (glitter) and stickers and the cash register receipt even says “1st Haircut”.

Prices are $19 for adults and $15 for children. The 1st Haircut Package is $19, which is a completely reasonable price for all of that, if you ask me. They probably put $19 worth of stickers on him to keep him occupied during the haircut.

We wanted to show up early so we could get let in to take some “Before” photos before the massive opening crowds plowed through the parks. Although the park opened earlier than usual, we were able to at least get a few photos since no one was in the Barber Shop area.

We were both sick and unable to breathe through our noses. Fun, right?

While we waited for them to open, they opened the doors to where the horse and trolley was about to walk out and we got to spend some time watching the horse get prepared for a day of work.

When we first walked into the barber shop, I immediately knew this was going to be an adventure…that place is TINY! At the time, Trent wasn’t fond of strangers, but add to the fact there are 10 strangers and they are all within 10 feet of him, including one touching him with scissors on the head, and that makes for one interesting haircut.

From the get-go we messed up the plan, I went to hang our coats and bags on the wall and Brett had already started seating him the chair, causing him to reach out for me to “save him”. So I quickly ran over there (all of 3 feet) and started playing and talking. She placed Mickey stickers all over him and handed us a light-up spinning toy to grab his attention. He didn’t really care for that one so she handed us another one, which he liked.

While his eyes fixated on the swirling, flashy plane, it seemed like he almost forgot there was someone touching him, until she came around to his side to cut his little sideburns.

Luckily, the front of his hair didn’t need to be cut, it was the back that was a mess, and she was done in about 5 minutes. We had expected him to completely flip out during the entire thing, but he really only cried for part of it and mostly just wanted to get out of the chair and away from the people. It also didn’t help that he was sick, so he had to keep getting his little nose wiped, which pisses him off even more. (Is it bad that I want to cry while writing this and looking at these photos? Poor little guy)

Once she was done cutting, we took him out of the seat and paid. While paying, the barber gathered up some of his cut hair (which she very nicely placed on her workstation while cutting it, instead of letting it drop to the floor), put it in the satchel with some glitter and stickers and gave us his certificate and Mickey Ears.

She held up a mirror to show him how handsome he was, but he was not interested.

After it was done, Brett and I both agreed that he did much better than we expected. She was able to cut his hair without having to stop, so that must mean he wasn’t moving all that much, I suppose.

Happy to be done!!

I would definitely recommend using the Harmony Barber Shop for a first haircut. They really try to make the child happy during the entire process and they give you the mementos to keep forever. The price isn’t bad and baby gets to say he got his first haircut in Walt Disney World. How cool is that?!

You can read more about the Harmony Barber Shop at the official WDW site here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/harmony-barber-shop/

 

Check out some of our other Disney reviews here!

 

Your Thoughts:

Do you know where your first haircut was or have any locks of hair from it? Or if you have kids, did you do anything special for their first haircut? Tell me in the comments!

Be Our Guest is a restaurant that opened in 2012 with New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Florida. It has French-inspired cuisine…lunch is fast casual and dinner is table service.

It is one of the main new additions to the park as part of the New Fantasyland expansion. The theming is absolutely breathtaking.

Since dinner is table service, advanced dining reservations can be made on the WDW website…but lunch is a different story. At lunch, you order and pay at the cashier’s stand and then take your number into the dining room and your food is brought out to you when it’s ready. Due to it’s incredible popularity, the line outside to get in is often extraordinarily long…so long that we had never eaten there because we don’t do lines that long. So long that cast members bring out a stand with water and cups for you to “enjoy” while you wait.

Brett has wanted photos from the inside since it opened, but you can only go in if you have a reservation and because we haven’t wanted to stand in line or eat dinner there (Brett is beyond picky and nothing stood out to him on the menu) he has gone without any photos of the inside, just lovely photos of the outside.

Well, one day, I noticed a blog post from another Disney blog I follow that said she got a Fastpass for lunch! What the WHAT?!

She said there was a special link for Be Our Guest Fastpass reservations and it did not count towards your regular ride/attraction Fastpass+ selections for that day. So I tested the link and whad’ya know…there were times available for when we would be there in January. So I scooped up a time slot for us and then had to make the hard decision of whether we wanted to pre-order. You have 2 options when making your selection:

FastPass+ Direct To Table

You select your time, select your entire meal and pay for it, then when you arrive at the restaurant, you check in and go find a seat and wait for your food to be brought to you. You skip the line outside and the cashier part.

FastPass+ Expedited Arrival

You select your time and that’s it. When you arrive at the restaurant, you check in and get to bypass the line outside, but still have to stand in line to order and pay from the cashier.

I really liked the idea of ordering and paying ahead of time, but we NEVER know how hungry we’ll be at any point in the day, nor do we know if Trent will eat. I almost did the pre-ordering, but decided against it.

When we arrived at Be Our Guest, we were somewhat disappointed that the line wasn’t as long as we’re used to. I mean, isn’t that part of the fun of having a Fastpass? To be able to laugh on the inside at the people waiting in line as you rush past them? Hehe.

We checked in at the counter to the left of the line, where they simply asked us my name and then said to go right in. We had Magic Bands on, so they didn’t need to give us a “Rose tracker” as they use our signal from the Magic Bands to find us. Pretty neat and scary at the same time, huh?

Once you get inside, there is still a short line before reaching the cashiers. There are several digital menus along the way so that “hopefully” you’ll know what you want by the time you reach the cashier.

At the end of the line, a cast member directs you to the next available cashier station.

Even though standing in line for the cashier added another 10 or so minutes to the waiting, I was happy I hadn’t ordered because I wasn’t that hungry and knew Trent wouldn’t eat very much, so we sort of split our meals. Brett even ordered an impromptu dessert.

Once we ordered, We walked through 2 of the dining rooms to take in the magnificent decor. I mean, this place is done to the nines. Everything is so beautiful. We settled on the middle room, while Brett went and took photos of everything.

The “Rose” room is popular among guests.

Here is another room.

But we ultimately decided on the main room, it was the largest of the three, well lit and had tables available that were convenient just in case we had a toddler meltdown for some reason or another (we have to plan for these things now).

Our food was wheeled out to us by a cast member. Brett got the turkey sandwich with pommes frites (fries). It was really disappointing because when he ordered, the sandwich comes with turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. But Brett doesn’t eat onions, so he asked for no onions, but the cashier cast member said it’s basically all or nothing and if he didn’t want onions, the entire cheese/lettuce/tomato/onion would be left off. They wouldn’t even put it on the side. So he had turkey on bread…for $14.

I had the French onion soup and it was delicious. It was better than the much-raved-about Belle’s Onion Soup in the Royal Palace restaurant on the Disney Dream. Yup, I said it.

On another note, isn’t it funny how much Brett hates onions and then I go and order onion soup. No wonder he never kisses me haha j/k!

We got the Mickey Turkey Meatloaf and fries for Trent. After cutting up the meatloaf, I tested a piece and it was cold. Yuck! So we called a cast member over and she offered to take the meatloaf and “warm it up” - making us move the fries off the plate so she could take it. She brought it back and said “That should be ok” and put her hand a half an inch above the meatloaf to show she was feeling the warmth. I tested another piece and it was barely warm. There are so many things wrong with what she did. First, you don’t make the customer scoop their fries off of the plate to another plate so you can go place the meat under a heat lamp for a minute. You offer to bring another meatloaf. For a $10 kids’ meal, trust me you would not have lost any money on bringing us another one. I wasn’t trying to get a free meal, but Trent is picky enough that we were already taking a chance on him even eating the meatloaf in the first place, but COLD meatloaf? Forget about it, he wouldn’t touch it. Then, you definitely don’t put your entire hand over the food like that. I know she didn’t actually touch it, but by her doing that, it makes me wonder if she moved it around with her hands to test it while she had it in the back and we couldn’t see. She wasn’t a chef…she was the floor supervisor, so I don’t necessarily trust that she washed her hands before doing any of that. I was just surprised at the terrible customer service coming from a new, popular and expensive restaurant at Walt Disney World. It definitely took us off guard and was very unfortunate.

Well, after all that…Trent didn’t eat any of the meatloaf. Go figure. I helped him finish his fries and then Brett and I split the dessert because Trent didn’t want any. What a weird kid.

Overall, Brett was glad he got to take photos of Be Our Guest, but we probably won’t be going back anytime soon. Between the inability to customize anything on the menu, the questionable service, and the above-average (for WDW) prices make this a less than desirable lunch option for us. We’d rather take advantage of the toppings bar at Cosmic Rays or the delicious seafood options at Columbia Harbour House instead.

 

Your Thoughts…

Have you been to Be Our Guest? Lunch or dinner? How do you like it compared to other places in WDW? Tell us in the comments!

 

Art of Animation is a resort in Walt Disney World located in Florida.

We have stayed at AOA twice since it opened in 2012 (during Trent’s first trip to WDW in April 2013 and once in October 2013). The location and buildings of AOA were originally intended to be the 2nd half of the Pop Century resort, which is located on the other side of Hourglass Lake. Pop Century’s buildings are themed by decades and the first section that was built and that you know of today as Pop Century is the Classic Years. The other side was intended to be decades 1900 to 1940, and known as the Legendary Years. The building skeletons were built and sat empty for several years, until Disney scrapped the original idea and instead decided to go with an entirely new theme.

It was fun watching the transformation from across the lake over the course of a few trips.

We were definitely excited to be able to finally take in the view from the other side of the bridge!

There is a central building that contains the Check-in and Concierge desks, the gift shop, the arcade and the food court.

The check-in and concierge area is large, so as to accommodate the large crowds that descend upon it during peak check-in times. It’s also very colorful with lots of interesting drawings from the Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Lion King and Cars movies located along the opposite wall. They progress from basic sketches all the way to the full color final drawings that you’ve seen in the movies.

The Ink & Paint Shop is the place to get souvenirs and various sundries.

Definitely don’t go into the arcade if you are prone to epileptic seizures…lots of bright flashy lights!

The food court is called Landscape of Flavors and offers several stations to order various types of food off of a digital menu. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered, and there is also a gelato station and several cold cases to choose from. Here, you’ll also find the refillable mug stations.

Right outside the food court doors is our favorite pool of WDW, the Big Blue pool. Sure, we haven’t experienced every pool on property, but so far, this one is our favorite…and Trent especially loves it. It is large and wide open, but the best part is the zero entry side with jellyfish that spray water down. The zero entry is perfect for little kids. This is the single largest pool on WDW property and is also the first to have underwater speakers playing…what else…Disney music!

Right behind the pool is the splash area. Trent can’t get enough of this area, although he has usually been the youngest and we have to constantly keep an eye out for older kids that run into him. Luckily, it’s padded, so a minor collision won’t put an end to your vacation

There is also a playground behind the splash area for some non-water action. If you are located in one of the farther buildings or if you are searching for a more layed-back (i.e. not as crowded) pool, fear not, there is also a pool located in the Little Mermaid Section and in the Cars section that are both often less crowded because they lack those extra features that pull in the kids to the Big Blue pool.

Disney has three main categories for their hotels…Deluxe, Moderate and Value. AOA falls into the Value category, but offers two types of rooms: Standard rooms that can sleep up to 4 people, and Family Suites that can sleep up to 6 people. Having both options in a Value resort means more people can experience this amazing hotel. There are 4 themed areas: Little Mermaid, Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars. Let’s take a look at the room types and the locations.

 

Standard room

All of the standard rooms are located in the Little Mermaid section. Standard rooms have a single bathroom and either a King Bed or two double beds. There isn’t a whole lot of room to move around, but if you don’t spend much time in your room during your Disney vacation, then that shouldn’t necessarily matter.

Our biggest complaint about being in the Little Mermaid section is the distance from all of the amenities, such as the food court and main pool/splash area. Sure, there’s a pool right in the middle of the 3 Little Mermaid buildings, but as a family with a toddler, we prefer the Finding Nemo pool since it has more for him to do. The walk is just so far…and it seems even farther during a hot Florida day.

Here are some photos of a Little Mermaid standard room with 2 double beds.

 

Family Suites

The Family Suites are located in the Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars sections. The layout of most of the rooms, no matter their location, are basically the same, they are just themed differently. They have multiple rooms and bathrooms and PLENTY of room to move around. The doors to the rooms are located on the inside of buildings, with temperature-controlled hallways (as opposed to the Little Mermaid section, where the doors are located outside), making the trek to your room after a long day much more comfortable.

These rooms have one full bedroom with an attached bathroom, 2 sitting areas with pull out beds, a mini kitchen area and a separate bathroom.

We stayed in the Lion King Suites during one of our visits. We may have had a handicap-accessible room, so keep in mind that our room layout may look slightly different from the regular rooms, but should be almost identical.

Photos of a Lion King Family Suite

-First sitting area with tv and a couch that pulls out to a bed.

Second sitting area with a desk and a bed that pulls down from the wall.

The Lion King Section is where you can catch movie night…and if your room is in the right location, you can watch it out of your window since they open up!

 

Theme

Some people find the theming of Value resorts to be a little cheesy, with their giant icon statues scattered throughout the property. I can see where that thought is coming from, but I think that Disney did much better with AOA as compared to the other Value resorts. It’s just the right level of Disney, without going over the top. Kids will probably find AOA much more fun than many of the other hotels that lack an obvious Disney theme and there are some great photo opportunities throughout the entire property.

 

Cars Section

Don’t wait in long lines at the parks to get photos with Cars characters….take them at AOA!

 

Finding Nemo Section

 

Lion King Section

 

Little Mermaid Section

In regards to it’s location on WDW property, Art of Animation is closest to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, then Animal Kingdom, with Magic Kingdom being the furthest away. We drive our own vehicle on property, so we can’t vouch for timing of buses, but we feel like it is in a convenient location and never took us more than 10 minutes to get to any of the parks or Downtown Disney.

Since we are only a family of 3, we find the standard rooms to be fine enough for us, but when we crave a more convenient location or when our family grows (in both numbers and age/stature) we will most likely be switching to the Family Suites. As far as discounts go, Disney offers numerous room discounts throughout the year, but the Little Mermaid rooms have always been excluded so far. Maybe when AOA isn’t so “new” they will add them to the list for available discounts, but the Family Suites have been included so far.

 

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