Art of Animation advice PLEASE!!

[allgiggles]

Honestly, kids that age don't really care/notice what hotel they are in. If you stay at the contemporary, they are not going to say to you. "Mommy, why didn't we stay at Art of Animation?" Adults over think this! Like I said my kids have been going for over a decade and we have stayed at several hotels, including the Contemporary when the kids were younger. They don't care what hotel we stay at. At most my kids ask before our trip which one we are staying at and then shrug and say "ok". They are just happy to be going to WDW. Go with what you, as the adult, think is 1) within you budget, 2) most convenient. Don't worry about the kids, they don't even notice or care. If you act as if you are staying in the best place their is, then the kids pick up on that and will be happy. They take their que from you. You will have a great trip no matter where you stay!

I think that's true as long as the kids haven't seen any other resort (at least in the case of a 4 year old. The 2 year old would be clueless either way). We've taken 3 of our kids to Disney when they were in the 4-6 age range. We've always stayed in connecting rooms at Pop Century or now a suite at AoA because of having 5-7 people in our traveling party (depending on how many of our 5 kids are with us on that trip). We like to resort hop and visit other resorts and I can tell you that after being at Pop/AoA and then visiting AKL, GF, CR, and the Poly, the kids have said they don't ever want to stay at AKL (too dark and boring....even though we saw the animals while there. Even at ages 16, 15, & 10 they've continued to say they don't ever want to stay there.) GF & CR also got a thumbs down -- though they were slightly impressed with the monorail at CR. They were a little more open to the Poly but still thought it was "boring" compared to Pop/AoA. So, my advice is to stay at the CR before the kids have seen other places. I now look forward to going to Disney with no kids so DH & I can stay at the places the kids aren't interested in.

 

[KCKAS]

If I could, I would pick the Contemporary.

For our 10 year wedding anniversary, my husband, 3 kids ages 2, 4, 5, and me, splurged on a Contemporary magic kingdom view room. We watched the fireworks from our room or balcony every night, then my husband and I would have a drink on the balcony, watching the lights and feeling like we were still part of the fun going on around us even though we were home early every night for the kids to go to sleep. That was a once in a lifetime event for me, but I thought it was great for the young kids. Also, easy accessibility to MK and EPCOT. Only need a bus to 2 places, and can take monorail to 2 places. Or of course walk to MK. Also, very quick to leave parks and get to hotel room for naps or breakdowns.