Art of Animation Oct 2012....Mermaid Rooms...whats your take?

[MIKETFROMRI]

We stayed at AOF last october ( halloween AND Hurricane Sandy up north).....found the rooms to be so far away..almost closer to walk to Pop.....now it didnt help that it was cold our whole stay and wasn't really prepared but irregardless of that don't know if we would return ( assuming we would not get suites).
Was anyone else there last year during that hurricane? How was your stay.

 

[tare]

Not there during hurricane season but I prob wouldn't stay there myself. I found that the rooms were quite a walk to most things also while visiting. But the food court is the best if all on property.

 

[Disvillain63]

I'd stay if I had a child that really really wanted to stay in Little Mermaid room...otherwise, I'm not interested. We had thought about it (over POP) last November and decided the distance wasn't worth it.

 

[mrsmtc]

We were there Sept 2012....just after unpacking we found our sink leaked.....so they moved us to Lion King Suite....location was so much better, so was the extra room. LM rooms are a bit far but not undoable. We just wanted to stay there as they just opened and the room was new.

 

[Fantasmic]

I'm staying at AOA in sept, in TLM rooms, I don't really care how far away they are cause we'll have a rental car sorted!

 

[durangojim]

We stayed in the mermaid rooms this past March for my daughter's 5th bday for 3 nights. I was able to get a 10% AAA discount but the rooms were still around $150/night. My daughter liked them, but didn't really show an interesting in going back, she was much more excited that we were going to stay at the WL after we returned from our cruise. If I was going to stay at a value again, it would be Pop in the 50s or 60s sections, much more convenient in terms of proximity to everything and a much better value (pretty easy to get a room for less than $100/night). We won't be staying at AoA again.

 

[Joshua&CalebDad]

We stayed at AOF last october ( halloween AND Hurricane Sandy up north).....found the rooms to be so far away..almost closer to walk to Pop.....now it didnt help that it was cold our whole stay and wasn't really prepared but irregardless of that don't know if we would return ( assuming we would not get suites).
Was anyone else there last year during that hurricane? How was your stay.

I'm sorry to hear about the poor weather that you experienced during your stay. I'm sure that contributed quite a bit to your concerns about the resort.

However, my family stayed in one of the Nemo suites right after Thanksgiving last year and it was GREAT. If it wasn't for the fact that we want to try and stay at different resorts each trip we make, we probably would go back this year. On the flip side, I have two boys (ages 6 and 4 now) so I tend to request a room that is close to either the main lobby/restaurants/bus stops.

I do know from wandering around the resort that the Little Mermaid section was the farthest section of the resort, but you could run into that same problem at CSR, PORS, or any of the larger resorts.

I bet you if you made a room request to place you closer to the lobby/bus stop you would be happier. Good luck on your next trip.

 

[WDWVolFan]

What do you guys mean about the Little Mermaid rooms being far away? Far away from the main building and bus stops or everything in general?

 

[graphite1326]

I'd stay if I had a child that really really wanted to stay in Little Mermaid room...otherwise, I'm not interested. We had thought about it (over POP) last November and decided the distance wasn't worth it.

Idid the same thing. They need another bus stop there.

 

[G8rchamps]

We stayed in the Nemo suite as the CM who did my reservation said it was closest to pool/food court. We really enjoyed it and with kids thw suite there is better than adjoining value rooms elsewhere on property.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

What do you guys mean about the Little Mermaid rooms being far away? Far away from the main building and bus stops or everything in general?

They are far away from the main building and bus stops. However, if you walk up the center through the Lion King area, and don't walk around on the sidewalk, it's not far at all. We've stayed in both the LM and Cars. We love, love, love Cars. If you get building 1 or 3 in Cars, you are very close to the lobby and busses.

 

[Disney Shib]

We stayed at AoA in July and were in the Little Mermaid rooms. When we got off of the buses we would just cut through the right hand parking lot and past the Lion King suites. It cut about 5 minutes off of the walk. I noticed though that in the later evening when returning from EMH's at the park the mermaid pool was open to guests at their own risk and it was pretty empty. It was awesome to go down have a beer and quick dip before bed.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I stayed at Art of Animation in last fall and liked it a lot. We stayed in one of The Lion King buildings.

 

[Trevmation]

Stayed at AOA in November 2012. I was in the cars section so it was a short walk to the lobby. After I was settled into my room I walked through each section. When I got to the little mermaid section I thought it was totally separated from the resort. The gap was huge between lion king and little mermaid. I personally would never stay in the little mermaid because it was far and it felt like a different resort. Much more space in the family suites. If you want the AOA experience but you are on a budget, stay over at pop but come over to AOA to eat, swim and explore.

 

[crispy]

We stayed their in early October 2012 and had no issues. I didn't think the walk to the main building was far at all - maybe a 5 minute walk. I do think it is overpriced now so at this point I would choose another value, but last year, we were able to get it with free dining so not a bad deal at all.

 

[plaz10]

They need more Ursula.

 

[OswaldTheRabbit]

We stayed in the little mermaid rooms in Nov 2012 and actually moved mid trip to the cars suites for multiple reasons but one of the main ones was the AC was HORRIBLE. In the little mermaid rooms it had motion sensors to kick on the air so if you are not in the room it gets to be 80+ degrees in there. And at night since you aren't walking around it does the same thing. We were sweating so bad! The suites do not have the same AC system.

You can get over this by getting a balloon and tying by the air blower and sensor so it kicks it on at night from its movement..... But what a hassle.

The decor is awesome though. The walk is a little far (closer to POP for sure) but the AoA reaort is awesome!

 

[popcenturylover]

Stayed in the LMR last September & loved everything about it except, the walk!