Traveling to Disney with young children? Consider staying at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort to experience Disney magic from some of their favorite movies even when you are not at the parks.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort features characters from four different classic Disney movies: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars. When you walk into the lobby, you will see sketches of characters from each film.
The resort is divided into sections for each different movie, creating a fully immersive experience with themed rooms for each. Your kids will love to walk around and look at all the giant characters outside, and you’ll enjoy looking at the super cute details Disney has put into the resort too.
This resort is on Disney’s value resort tier, so it is not as expensive as some of the higher end ones. However, when compared to other value resorts, I’d say that this is the nicest one. It just seems to really capture that Disney magic. Also, most of the resort rooms are actually a little more expensive than other value resorts, but that is because only the rooms in The Little Mermaid section are regular sized rooms. All of the other movie sections are suites, making them perfect for slightly bigger families!
Each suite is spacious and sleeps up to six adults. They consist of a private queen bedroom, two full size bathrooms, a living room with a pull-out sleeper sofa as well as an additional hideaway bed, and a convenient kitchenette. Each room is colorful and fun, with characters and theme details everywhere!
Children will love sleeping in a room filled with all their favorite character friends! I have not yet stayed in the Cars or Finding Nemo areas, but here are some more photos of our Lion King suite!
As I mentioned earlier, The Little Mermaid area is the only one that offers regular size hotel rooms, with either a king bed or two double beds. However, even though the rooms are smaller, they are not lacking in detail! We loved staying with our friends under the sea, and so will your little mermaid lovers!
One thing to note about the resort is it consists of many different buildings. The Little Mermaid rooms are actually set up in a motel type format where you open up your room door to an outside hallway. If walking is an issue, The Lion King and Finding Nemo rooms are going to be the closest to the main building. However, the resort is so fun to walk through that taking the extra steps to one of the further sections is still exciting.
The resort offers enough to do that your children could be happy there for hours each day. If your family is like mine and needs an afternoon break from the parks, Art of Animation has three different pools for you to spend time in. The only section that does not have a pool is The Lion King one, but it is an easy walk to The Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo pools.
Each pool has different fun details that will keep your family busy and amazed at the Disney magic. First, the Flippin’ Fins Pool in The Little Mermaid area will have your little mermaids excited to swim just like Ariel. This pool features a special surprise from the “Under the Sea Orchestra.”
The Cozy Cone pool in Radiator Springs offers a more relaxed setting, with your own Cozy Cone for the family to sit in while taking a break from the pool.
Finally, the main resort pool is in the Finding Nemo section, called the Big Blue Pool. This huge pool allows children to swim under their super large fish friends surrounding the area. There is even a fun water play area with characters for the younger kids called Squirt’s Righteous Reef. On top of all that, you can stop at The Drop Off Pool Bar to grab a drink to enjoy while your kids are in the pool!
Since this is a value resort, there is no table service restaurant on site. However, there is a large quick service dining area called The Landscape of Flavors that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This location offers a number of different options throughout the day for both children and adults. It also has a very large seating area, where you and your family can choose what themed movie section you would like to sit in!
Like all other Disney resorts, transportation is offered to each park. Along with the normal bus option, this resort also allows you to take the new Skyliner to Epcot and Hollywood Studios! This is a fun option for kids without a fear of heights, as they can look out of their gondola over Disney property as you make your way to your next adventure!
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort really brings the magic from the parks back to the resort with you. Your children will just love staying here and you will too!
