Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is a value level resort with Skyliner access to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. The whole resort is decorated with beautiful artwork and animation! There are four different sections with larger than life decorations everywhere, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo. We got to stay in one of the Finding Nemo family suites during race weekend for the first time and we fell in love with this resort. If you are looking for a value priced resort that is perfect for families and convenient this is the one!
Checking In
We took advantage of the mobile check in on the My Disney Experience app. It is so easy to do on the app and helps you bypass the counter when you arrive. The app will even send you your room number when it is ready and you can use your phone to unlock your door!
The lobby is so cute with all kinds of animations on the wall and super colorful lights over the check in counters. Just like most Disney resorts there is a sitting area with a TV playing cartoons so your kiddos can hang out while you’re checking in.
Amenities
For a value resort, I feel like this resort has a ton of amenities. Arcade, a large quick service food area, one of the best pools on property to me and Skyliner access to two different parks!
The quick service restaurant has everything from pizza and salads to pasta and sandwiches. Of course there are deserts too and great and go snacks. Just like the buildings, there are different themes for different sections that go along with the themes of the buildings. The artwork in this area is beautiful, especially the Lion King section.
There are actually three pools here, the Cozy Cone Pool, the Little Mermaid Pool and the Big Blue Pool. I’m sure you guessed that the Cozy Cone pool is in the Cars section, it is so cute! This is the smaller pool but so incredibly cute. There are even giant cone cabanas you can sit in pool loungers in the shade inside and it’s right in front of the big Wheel Well sign so you really feel like your in the Cars movie hanging out by this pool.
The Big Blue Pool is in the Finding Nemo section and is one of the best pools in Disney World to me! It’s a large pool with all kinds of sea creatures and a great splash pad area. Plus it has a great pool bar called the Drop Off! Thatcher and I had a great time chilling by the pool and swimming while we were there.
There is also a pool in the Little Mermaid section that is adorable. You can see Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian when you explore through here. It is super cute!
The Skyliner is located between Art of Animation and Pop Century, it’s a quick walk from any of the buildings. You take this to a hub where you can transfer to Hollywood Studios or EPCOT. Of course there are buses to take you to the other parks but it’s nice to have something so handy at your doorstep! Plus, the Skyliner is such a nice ride. Super relaxing and breezy!
Larger Than Life Characters
As I mentioned, there are four different sections at Art of Animation and each one has some larger than life characters! There are some really great photo ops in these areas and I highly suggest walking around and exploring each one!
The Lion King Section
Here you can find all your friends from the pride lands! Mufassa on pride rock, Simba, Pumba and Timon dancing down a tree, Rafiki and even Scar. There is an even an elephant playground in this section but no pool this is the only section without a pool.
The Little Mermaid Section
This is such a cute section! There are giant dinglehoppers and snarfblats, Prince Eric’s statue and giant characters. You can get a great picture in front of a giant King Triton and giant Ursula. There is even a big Ariel right from Under the Sea. The pool is super cute and right in the middle of this section.
Cars Section
This was the best section to me just walking around wise. Each character from the original Cars movie has there own little place that is uniquely them. At the back by the Cozy Cone pool you can see the Wheel Well in with Sally and Lightning McQueen out front and it’s such a cool thing to see. If your kiddo is a big Cars fan you definitely don’t want to skip checking this area out!
Finding Nemo Section
This is where we stayed and it was fantastic! You are really close to the main building where check in and the food are and the pool was right outside the door. There was a huge Mr. Ray right outside our building as well as giant pilings with seagulls on top saying “mine, mine, mine”. We loved being in this section, it was so bright and colorful and for us having to be up so early every morning it was nice to not have a long walk to the runDisney buses.
Our Room
We were in a Finding Nemo Family Suite and it was PERFECT!! The room is so cute and every inch is decorated and Maes you feel like your living on the reef with Nemo. These suites are perfect if you have a bigger family, there was a lot of room and two bathrooms.
We had a separate bedroom with a Queen bed and a private bathroom that Jay and I claimed since we had to go to bed so much earlier and get up so early everyday we were there.
The boys had the whole living room to themselves and there are two full beds here. One is a pull down bed that takes the space of the dining table and the other is a fold out couch but it was nice for them to each have their own beds.
They had their own bathroom as well with a tub. The bedroom and the living room both had TV’s as well so if you just needed to decompress and have some space but still watch something you had that ability. This really was the perfect room for our weekend!
Conclusion
We absolutely loved staying at this resort. It was so convenient to everything and just comfortable. We had a nice size room, easy access to everything we needed and wanted to do and felt all the Disney magic at this resort. The prices of the rooms vary from around $250/night for a standard room to $630/night for the type of suite we were in for the weekend. There are also family suites in the Cars and Lion King sections that I am sure are fabulous as well. We could not have ended up in a better room for race weekend!
If you are looking to book a Disney vacation you should definitely consider looking at Art of Animation. Hopefully this post gave you a little look inside the resort so you can see what it is like. Thank you all for reading along today and each week, you are the best! Have a magical day!
