Resort overview

Art of Animation is Disney’s newest value resort. Located across the lake by bridge from Pop Century, for years the property sat abandoned. Originally meant to be an extension of Pop Century, shells of buildings were constructed. Disney shelved the project before completion and the bare concrete structures were left in place as an eyesore. Eventually a new plan was put in place for an entirely separate resort with it’s own theme. The resort opened May 31st, 2012.

The theme takes its cues from classic Disney animation and you’ll see evidence of that in abundance around the resort. This is definitely the most whimsical and “Disney-ish” of all the resorts on property. If you’re a fan of the classic Disney movies, you’ll love it.

Art of Animation is configured just like Pop Century, with 10 separate buildings scattered around the grounds, plus a main building called Animation Hall housing the lobby, food court, gift shop and arcade.

Animation Hall

Entering the lobby through the main portico, the theme is in full display with giant reproductions of the Disney artists’ original sketches on the right, and a colorful light display extending the full length of the wall on the left behind the check in desk.

There are three separate lines at check in. The first is for online check-in. If you’ve completed your check-in online, you don’t actually need to visit the desk – you’ll be alerted by phone when your room is ready. But if you need to speak to a cast member, you can do so here.

The second line is for guests checking in who have not completed the online process (this is usually the longest line). The last line closest to the gift shop is the concierge. Stop by here if you need to purchase tickets or need help with reservations.

Back by the entrance there is a little play area for the kids – they can color or watch Disney shows on the TV while you wait in line.

Gift Shop & Food Court

To get to the food court from the lobby, you enter through The Ink & Paint Shop – Art of Animation’s gift shop. It’s a large shop with a good selection of merchandise that you’ll find at the shops in the parks, but also a few resort-specific items. There is also a small selection of necessities like toothbrushes and sunscreen if you should need something. Those items are sort of tucked away – ask a cast member if you can’t find it (we had to).

Landscape of Flavors is your only dining option at Art of Animation (although you can order pizza and a few other items through room service between 4pm and midnight). Open 6am to midnight, you can stop in for a full meal or just grab something from the refrigerated cases. Several different ordering stations provide a variety of cuisine, and we found it to be quite good. There’s also a gelato bar and fresh cupcakes round the clock.

If you booked the Disney Dining Plan, you’ll want to stop in here right away and get your free refill mug. They’re located by the registers and need to be activated before use. If you’re not using the dining plan, you can purchase one for $18.99 that is good for your length of stay (and makes a nice souvenir when you’re done). A large fountain beverage costs 3.99, so do the math and decide if it makes sense to buy the mug.

The Big Blue Pool

Exiting from the food court leads you directly the the Big Blue Pool, which is the resort’s feature pool. You’ll need to scan your Magic Band to open the gate. This pool is the largest on Disney property and features a zero entry and lots of fun features including underwater music. Towels are available poolside, no need to bring your own from the room.

The Drop Off Bar is located poolside. There is no food available, but you can order adult beverages or refill your mugs. In your room you’ll find a schedule of poolside activities. This pool is always busy – and noisy. If you’re looking for a little quiet (or you just can’t find two chairs together), the other two pools are much more chill.

Behind the Big Blue Pool is a playground. If you keep walking, you’ll reach the bridge leading over the lake to Pop Century. This fall, the Skyliner Gondola station will open here.

There are two other pools on property: one in the Cars themed area and one in the Little Mermaid themed area.

3 Themed Sections

Speaking of themed areas, there are four distinctly themed “neighborhoods.” If you head to the right after exiting the back of Animation Hall, you’ll enter Cars Land. Three large buildings surround a central courtyard featuring a pool. Along the walkways, around the pool and at the entrances to the buildings you’ll see lifesize Cars characters and other great photo ops. This is a really charming, highly detailed area.

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Directly behind Animation Hall surrounding the Big Blue Pool are the two Finding Nemo Buildings. These family suites are about $23/night more than the others because of their preferred location.

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Art of Animation Nemo Section Playground

To the left of the Nemo section are the two buildings that house the Lion King themed suites.

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Keep walking… and walking, past the Lion King section and you’ll come to the Little Mermaid section. Three buildings of standard rooms surround a courtyard and pool. This section houses the only standard, non-suite rooms at Art of Animation. Because of the scarcity and the popularity of this resort in general, these rooms are almost always booked up and are rarely eligible for any discounts.

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Little Mermaid Standard Rooms

The Little Mermaid rooms are highly themed and quite adorable. Rooms open to exterior hallways. At 277 square feet, the footprint of the room is pretty small. You’ll have two double beds (contrast that with Pop Century, which now has two queens – the the All-Stars are following suite starting with All-Star Movies), a small table and two chairs, and a dresser (which also houses a mini-fridge).

The vanity area is separated from the toilet and bath by a door. You can close off the main area with curtains. The vanity area contains a closet shelf/rod for your hanging clothes, and ironing board and a suitcase stand. We like to set up the ironing board in that space and use it as an extension of the vanity. There isn’t a lot of room on the vanity to set out all your toiletries – and who wants to iron on vacation anyway?

The bathroom is equipped with H20 travel size toiletries. Art of Animation has not yet installed the pump dispensers in the showers.

Cars Family Suite

Let’s backtrack and look at the family suites. More than half of the resort is given over to this room type – all of the Cars, Finding Nemo and Lion King Sections. The layout of the suites are identical, only the theme changes from one section to the next.

These suites have gone a long way to fill the need for affordable rooms for larger families that was lacking for a long time on property. At 565 square feet, they are more than double the size of the standard Little Mermaid rooms. These rooms sleep up to 6 guests age 3 and up (under 3 do not count towards the room capacity).

The first thing you notice is that there are no exterior room doors (or balconies for that matter). Each building has a main entry and one on each end. You enter from the hallway directly into the dining area, otherwise known as sleeping area #3. The table can be pulled down like a murphy bed revealing a perfectly comfy double bed mattress.

To your left is a full bathroom with an adorable (though not well lit) vanity.

The dining area is open to the living area (or sleeping area #2) with its sofa bed, mini kitchenette, dresser and television.

The sofa bed is an improvement over the one you had in your basement growing up (no springs) but it’s still the least comfortable bed in the suite.

The bedroom houses a queen sized bed, large dresser and another TV. There’s a second phone in here as well. The master bathroom is larger with a walk in shower.

Lion King Family Suite

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Getting Around

To get to the parks from Art of Animation you’ll need to make your way back to the Animation Hall and exit out the doors located next to the Ink & Paint Shop. To the right are 5 bus stops: one for each park and Disney Springs.

The bus stops are partially covered and have LED displays showing the expected bus arrival times. They can get especially backed up in the morning so give yourself more time than you think you need. If you want to be at the parks for rope drop – be at your bus stop no later than an hour before opening. If you’re trying to ride one of the headliners first thing without a Fastpass, be at the bus stop at least 1.5 hours before opening.

If you’re flying home from Art of Animation out of Orlando International, you can use Magical Express not only for a free ride back to the airport, but also to check your luggage in, avoiding lines at the airport. Take your bags to the Airline Check-In Desk before noon and they’ll tag your bags and send them on their way. If you’ve got carry-on bags, you can store them in the luggage room and go do your thing. You’ll want to be back about 20 minutes before your bus arrival time to retrieve you things. The Magical Express bus will pick you up under the portico at the main entrance.

Art of Animation does a great job for bigger families that want to stay all in one room, but it’s not the cheapest way to go. If you’re looking to save money, you could do that by booking two standard rooms in one of the value resorts and requesting connecting rooms. But then you’d miss the charming details around every corner of this resort. This is a good choice for families that enjoy Disney theming taken to an extreme level and need the extra room to spread out. What about the standard Little Mermaid rooms? I don’t recommend them unless you are just an uber fan of that movie. The beds are only doubles, the buildings are far from the Animation Hall and the bus stops and they very rarely go on sale. For a standard value room, I always recommend Pop Century Resort. We’ll look at that next.

Trying to decide which Disney resort is right for you? Read my guide on Choosing a Disney Resort. Just starting out your vacation planning? Check out my how to Plan your Trip in 10 Easy Steps. Would you like free, personalized vacation planning assistance? Request a no-obligation quote on my Contact Page or email me at rebecca@magicaltravel.com