Our stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort was such a memorable experience!
We wanted our family’s first trip to Walt Disney World to be a memorable one. We’d visited when we were a family of four, but one of my kids was too young to remember and another wasn’t even alive yet! (Yes, it’s been a while.) We decided to spend our week at Art of Animation and it was a perfect fit.
Choosing the Resort
There are five in our family, which has to be taken into account everywhere we go. They’re still small, so bed-sharing is easier than it will be in a few years, but it’s still a factor. Some resorts at Walt Disney World accommodate families of five, but at most resort hotels we need to stay in a suite or two adjoining rooms. A suite seemed like the best fit since our children are so young.
At Art of Animation Resort, the suite includes a main room, a separate bedroom, and two bathrooms. When I read we’d have two bathrooms, I was leaning really heavily toward Art of Animation.
This resort also seemed like it would be the most exciting for our kids. The photos online were amazing! After I saw those, I could tell it was going to be a special place to stay.
For suites, we had our choice of The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars themes. Honestly, we would have been happy in any of them, but we chose a Cars suite because our son loves Lightning McQueen. We still had some concerns about what he would be tall enough to do at the parks, but we knew that regardless of his height, he’d be able to enjoy all the resort had to offer.
Our First Impressions of Art of Animation
The lobby at Art of Animation is beautiful! It’s covered in sketches of familiar characters. There’s ample seating and it feels open and welcoming. Our check-in process went smoothly. We had rooms linked to our Magic Bands and our son’s “First Visit” button in no time!
Radiator Springs
From the rustic telephone polls to the Burma-Shave signs, Radiator Springs is beautifully themed! All your favorite characters are here, too.
First of all, this resort is huge! Next time, we’ll request a room closer to the main building. We didn’t mind the 10-minute walk to our rooms the first few times because we were soaking in the sights! However, after a few days of walking the parks, it became tiresome, especially for little legs.
Our Cars Suite at Art of Animation
The “living room” of the Cars suite includes bench seating, a TV, traffic cone lamps, a Tow Mater dining room table, a repair shop kitchenette, and a full bathroom.
The kitchenette included a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker.
The dining room table also converts into a bed! It’s space-saving and nicely themed. The kids actually argued over who would get to sleep there. It’s a double, so we were able to fit two of them on there most nights.
The couch also pulls out and forms another double bed, though they were not impressed by this after seeing the murphy bed!
The master bedroom area included a queen-sized bed, more cone lamps, a second TV, and second full bathroom with a carwash theme.
Pools at Art of Animation
The resort boasts three pools! We only visited two of them: the main pool (Big Blue) and the Cars pool (Cozy Cone). We’d have spent much more time in them if our visit hadn’t been in February.
Yes, you read that right. We swam in an outdoor pool in February! When needed, the pools are heated! We’re also from Virginia, so Florida Februarys feel very nice.
Both the Cozy Cone and the third pool (Flippin’ Fins) are smaller and reportedly quieter than the Big Blue pool, but we didn’t have any issues with crowds or noise at either pool during our stay.
The Resort
We did spend some of our time poking around the resort. We visited the other themed areas and spent a lot of time on Squirt’s Righteous Reef, one of two playgrounds at the resort.
Throughout our stay, we ate at The Landscape of Flavors several times. This is a “quick service” style dining hall that carries all of the standard American fare. It was convenient and not too overly priced. The food was good, but not exceptional.
The desserts were a standout!
We also visited The Ink & Paint Shop (gift shop) several times. We bought several souvenirs there, but also purchased a couple toiletries we’d forgotten and some over-the-counter cold medicine for my husband. Though there was some markup, the prices here were reasonable, too.
The Experience
My husband and I enjoyed staying here, but it probably would not be our first choice if we traveled alone.
Our children, howver, absolutely loved it. After our visit, my oldest daughter told me that she enjoyed staying at Art of Animation because it felt like we never actually left the parks. I understood exactly what she meant!
Plan Your Visit
Art of Animation Resort
1850 Animation Way
Orlando, Florida 32830
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