One of our favorite vacation destinations is Walt Disney World. We love the rides, the food, and the amazing resorts. During our visits, we have stayed at a variety of the on-site Disney World resorts. I’d love to share an Art of Animation Resort review to help you decide if it’s the right resort for your family.
The Art of Animation Resort is the third Walt Disney World Resort we’ve stayed at. We have stayed at (in order): Coronado Springs, twice at Port Orleans Riverside, Art of Animation, Pop Century, Yacht Club, and then back to Art of Animation.
Although Port Orleans Riverside is still one of my favorites, we decided to stay at Art of Animation during our December 2014 trip because Port Orleans Riverside was not included in the free dining deal that we wanted to take advantage and Art of Animation was.
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Our Family’s Disney World Art of Animation Resort Review
Art of Animation’s Main Building and Outside the Resort
The lobby at the Art of Animation, just like the rest of the resort, is wonderfully themed. We loved all the sketches, as well as some Disney-themed “how to draw” activities.
We found the lobby to be spacious and efficient. It could be that we checked in and out at less busy times, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It was just very well laid out and it made the experience quick and easy.
The main building also houses a large store. This meant that we had only barely been at the resort before Molly was able to finally get an Elsa dress during our December 2014 trip. She had wanted one during our trip in January 2014, but there were none to be had anywhere on the Disney property. Molly was thrilled at the ease of getting her desired dress.
The other major area in the main building is the Landscape of Flavors quick service food court. While we still preferred the quick service Riverside Mill Food Court at Port Orleans Riverside, we did like the Landscape of Flavors. There was a wide range of offerings, which included international options as well as things like pizza and burgers.
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Cars Family Suites at the Art of Animation Resort Review
There are four different room types at the Art of Animation Resort. One option is the Little Mermaid themed standard rooms. There are also family suites with your choice of three themes: Finding Nemo, Cars, and the Lion King.
Since we like all three of the family suite movies but none are favorites of ours, we went with a Cars suite because we just liked the way they looked best. We certainly weren’t disappointed when we arrived. The Cars Family Suites are so cute and well themed!
The family suites sleep six, which is perfect for our family of five, especially when our kids were a mix of tweens and teens when we stayed there. We loved that there was a separate bedroom for Eric and me with our own full bathroom.
Our kids all slept in the living/dining room. The sofa pulled out into a double bed and the dining table became the base for a bed that pulled out of a cabinet against the wall. We all thought that was pretty nifty, even when we knew to expect it.
Oh, and speaking of having a dining table: that rocked!
We typically sleep in and eat some breakfast, such as muffins, cinnamon rolls, or chocolate croissants in the room. Usually, this means people eat in the bed or wherever they can find some space. With a dining table, we actually were able to eat sitting at the table rather than in bed. Plus, it made a great spot to work on the computer now and then when needed.
The family suite also offered more room for hanging out and for storage. In our other rooms, we mostly lived out of our suitcases. But, in the Art of Animation family suite, we had enough room to put clothes in drawers or hang them up.
One other thing we loved about the family suite was having two full bathrooms!
One, as I mentioned earlier, was off of our bedroom. The other was off of the main area. We also liked that this one was broken up into one room for the tub/shower and toilet and then a separate area for the mirror and sink/vanity. This made it much easier for multiple kids to get ready.
The whole outside area with the Cars family suites was also beautifully themed. There were large characters around and even the buildings had designs on them! It felt like we were just walking around Radiator Springs while we were walking to and from our suite.
Transportation to and from the Parks from the Art of Animation Resort
We were used to staying at resorts with multiple pick up spots for the buses to and from the parks. Art of Animation has just one bus area, but we really liked that. We also liked that they had taken the time to make the bus stop a very organized area!
Each park had its own area to wait in, and each of those areas had chained off queue lines for waiting for the buses. While we loved staying at Port Orleans Riverside, it was sometimes a free for all when there were a lot of people waiting for the bus when they all try to get on the bus at the same time. With the chained queue lines, it just felt fairer that the people there longest would be the ones to be sure to get on the bus.
Because so many of the rooms at Art of Animation are family suites, we found that it meant that the transportation seemed a little busier, since that meant that an awful lot of people had families with multiple children. That was fine, of course, but the transportation was just a little busier. I think that made the chained queue lines even more important.
My Final Notes on the Art of Animation Resort Review
I would definitely recommend Art of Animation to families staying on-site at Walt Disney World!
I’m not sure that I would recommend it as much to people without children unless they didn’t mind lots of kids around. Families will find the family suites to be spacious and a nice change from standard rooms.
I would also highly recommend Art of Animation to anyone who has The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Cars, or the Lion King as one of their favorite Disney movies. The theming at this resort is amazing. I know that if I could be in this level of theming for my favorite Disney movie, Tangled, I would be thrilled.
The family suites at Art of Animation are an expensive option for a value level resort. However, we didn’t really feel like we were at a “value” resort. It felt just as nice as the moderate resorts that we had stayed at previously.
My kids have said several times that they want to stay at Art of Animation again in the future because they loved the extra space and the great themes. We definitely recommend that you consider it for your next Disney World vacation.
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Our Family’s Disney World Art of Animation Resort Review was originally published on April 20, 2015. It was updated in June 2018.
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Hi Angie, We are planning a Disney trip and considering staying here. I was just wondering if your kids found the pull out sofa beds to be comfortable? I know sometimes they are not especially for older kids or adults, so I was curious about this. Our kids are are 16, 12, and 3.
Thanks for the great review!
Caroline
Hi Caroline! 🙂
I totally agree about pull out couches. As a family of five, we’ve stayed at a lot of hotels with horrible pull out couches. Our oldest is pretty much always the one who sleeps on them, because he’s the most agreeable about that kind of thing.
Because I’m letting my kids stay up way too late (LOL) – they’re actually awake right now, so I talked to them about your question. My oldest said that the pull out couch was the most comfortable pull out couch that he has slept on. (Take that for what it’s worth. Ha!) My youngest was the only one who didn’t sleep on it, and she said she didn’t think it was super comfortable. However, she really, really loved the pull down bed at the table. So, she just didn’t like the pull out couch as much. Both of my boys slept on the pull out couch at different points during our week there, and they both slept well. (They were 15 and 13 at the time.)
My kids that were 13 and 10 at the time both preferred the pull down bed. The then-15 year old preferred the pull out couch.
Okay – so that was probably way more information than you wanted. LOL 😉
I’m currently being concerned about the weird couch-bed thing at the Boardwalk, since that’s where we’re planning to stay next.
Thank you, Angie! That is very helpful! I really appreciate your family’s input. Hope you have a great stay at the Boardwalk. It looks like a fun resort as well. Thanks so much, Caroline
Hi Angie!
Going on a moms only trip and we are debating changing from Art of Animation Little Mermaid to Port Orleans Riverside. Which would you do if you were travelling without the kids?
Personally – I would go with Port Orleans Riverside because that’s just what I like best. I like the restaurant at POR better than at Art of Animation, so that would be my preference.
What I would do is compare restaurants if you think you’ll be eating at the resort at all.
If pool time is important to you, then I would probably go with Art of Animation. We never really swim when we’re there, so it’s not a priority for us.
I’m not sure how the Little Mermaid rooms compare size-wise to Port Orleans Riverside, since we’ve only stayed in the family suites at Art of Animation. Of course, if anyone is a huge Little Mermaid fan, then you might want to go for the Little Mermaid room.
The two resorts definitely have a very different feel. With all of the animation and it being so new, Art of Animation has more of a Disney feel, whereas Port Orleans Riverside seems a little quieter and more reserved.
If you have any specific questions or things you really want to do that I might be able to help with, let me know and I’ll help the best I can. 🙂
P.S. Jealous of your moms only trip! I love going with my family, but I think it would be super fun to go with some friends!
Here are the two main restaurants from each (be sure to switch between the breakfast menu and the lunch/dinner menu):
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/port-orleans-resort-riverside/riverside-mill-food-court/menus/
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/art-of-animation-resort/landscape-of-flavors/menus/
hi! I am planning my first Disney trip and I am torn between the POR royal room and the AofA room! its just me my husband and 4 year old daughter! there is a $700 price difference in the two, POR being $700 more! which would you chose for a 4 year old little girl and me and my husband?
thanks!
Wow! I’m shocked that POR is $700 more expensive! For us, POR has typically been less expensive than AofA. Of course, we also need a family suite as AofA. I wonder if some of it is based on the dates that you are looking at. That sometimes makes a big difference in prices.
It’s really your call, but if it was me, I probably wouldn’t pay $700 more for a room, unless there was a very specific reason that I wanted to stay at a particular resort.