Art of animation question...

[Adam5897]

We are currently booked for POFQ but we want to switch to a cars family suite at AoA for out trip the second week of April. I am wondering what the transportation is like. Any comments from people who have stayed there would be very helpful. How is the food? What are positives of the resort overall? I do not know much about AoA except hat we love the cars suite and have seen pictures and the extra bed and bathroom definitely help. Thanks!

 

[disneysince71]

We stayed New Years it was great... Transportation was good... Although I have to confess one day we jumped on a Pop Century Bus because it had no line and just walked across the bridge. I thought the food was outstanding, a little pricey but we did eat at leased one meal in the room a day.... And for variety we ate at the Food Court at Pop one day. The Pool was great... Laid out on New Years Eve... We loved it!

 

[donaldtoo]

We are currently booked for POFQ but we want to switch to a cars family suite at AoA for out trip the second week of April. I am wondering what the transportation is like. Any comments from people who have stayed there would be very helpful. How is the food? What are positives of the resort overall? I do not know much about AoA except hat we love the cars suite and have seen pictures and the extra bed and bathroom definitely help. Thanks!

We had a crew of 13 and stayed in two family suites at AoA this past July.
Overall, we LOVED it!
The only minor thing is that it's quite a haul on the bus to MK. Other than that, we had no issues with anything and would definitely stay there again.
We absolutely LOVED the family suites! We've stayed in them before at ASMusic, but these were a cut above.
We also really like the interior hallways...felt much more like a hotel than a motel.
The food court was pretty amazing, as well. Create your own omelette, create your own pasta, Mongolian BBQ, etc. I had a Surf and Surf Burger (fried shrimp on a crab cake) for lunch one day that was fabulous!
And, I even have to give kuddos to the gift shop, too. We had initially planned on goin' to DTD on our last morning to do some shopping. Specifically, I was lookin' to purchase some pins that I had my heart set on, and everyone else had a little somethin' they wanted to pick up at the last minute, as well. That plan ended up gettin' scrapped, so we had to settle for the shop at AoA. To my delight, I ended up finding every pin I wanted and everyone else ended up finding most of the stuff they wanted, too.
Two thumbs up from us!

 

[heathrt]

My family stayed the week of December 8th and as expected from pictures the resort was beautiful. The room set up is great, excellent decor all around, and the pools were great as well. The only two downsides for me are the food court and the bus service. In the mornings we had to wait for 2 or even 3 buses to be able to get on and 3 out of the 7 nights we jumped on the pop century bus since there was little or no lines (one night we had a 5:30 dinner at Rainforest Cafe at Ak and there was a line of buses waiting to take remaining guests back to the hotels, so we walked right up with another family and took off right away). The other nights there were buses waiting with only a few passengers, so the service in the morning is the main issue. As for the food court, the food is good for quick service food but does come with a bit of a wait. I'm debating for our next trip to stay in AOA and rent a car or go to another resort. We enjoyed our stay here overall due to the resort itself but hope disney works on improving the bus service.

 

[Poofiesdream]

As you know this is a new resort and a lot of people staying there so in the morning all these people are trying to get to a park, so it gets backed up. All depends on when you go and if its a crowded time.

 

[popcenturylover]

We stayed in September in the LMR.(standard rooms) It was a bit of a walk to the main building, especially for morning coffee! The food was great! Gelato was excellent! We had a split stay between AOA/POP & the buses were much more efficient at POP than at AOA. We loved the theming & overall feel of the resort. We did have issues with the RFID locks our 1st day & waited a few hours for them to resolve it but, that was our only problem.

 

[stichrules]

We stayed there the day after Thanksgiving until Dec. 1. Let me start by saying the resort itself and the way it was done is fabulous. The rooms are awesome and very comfortable for a family. We stayed in the Lion King suites and loved it. But, many issues with busses and waiting for a bus. As others have said it has to do with capacity of the resort. Also, the food court the food was great but was always very crowded and very noisy even at 11:30 at night. Also, and I believe this is due to the amount of people staying there, many things in the food court self service area were broken or out of order. We usually do Deluxe's and this was our 1st attempt at a value. Way too many people compared to what we are use too. We went over to Wilderness Lodge one day and found it to be so much more relaxing, less crowded and less noisy. This is our 2 cents worth. But as I said the themeing of this resort is exceptional.

 

[bsiev1977]

I'm staying at AoA in December, and will be very happy to have rented a car for the week. Won't have to worry about the busses at all.

 

[lebeau]

We stayed the first week in Nov. We enjoyed our stay, but we had gripes about the bus service. No better or worse than our last stay at POR. I wouldn't let the bus service impact my decision. It's about the same as any other on-property resort.

The food court is really exceptional. I thought the food was on par with some of the sit-down meals we had. But the food court is a zoo around any regular meal times. One morning, the wait for pancakes was around an hour. So we all had waffles because it was the only reasonable line at 9am. Later in the week, I hit the pancake line as soon as it opened at 7am. If you can eat a little early or late, that works best.

And the gelato is a stand-out. If you are on the dining plan, they will ring it up for you so you can go back and pick it up after your meal. That way, it won't melt. I wish I had discovered this ealier in the trip. I would have had gelato for every dessert.

We stayed in the LK suites which we enjoyed. Everything was within walking distance. The Cars area is arguably the coolest. Plus you have the small pool right there and the big pool a short walk away.

There was a lot to like at the resort and I would recommend staying there. But the bus service was a disappointment - as it is every time I stay on property lately.

 

[m steve]

We returned from A of A about two weeks ago after staying there for the holidays. One previous poster wrote that the bus service was in line with that of other resorts. I agree. The bus service wasn't markedly better or worse than the other resorts where we have stayed. We also took the Pop bus back from the parks on occasion because the lines were shorter at the Pop stop and the walk from Pop to A of A is not so bad.

We liked this resort very much. The grounds are wonderfully clever. The room decor is also great.

We only at there once (for lunch). The food was fine but the process of getting that food was a little slow.

 

[MightyMouse]

We were there in October in the LM room and had a fantastic time. So much so that DW and I were discussing the possibility of us going back in the future and just staying at the resort. No theme parks, just a resort stay.
I have read reviews where visitors have encountered hearing noises thru the walls, could hear the toilets flushing from the adjacent rooms, lineups at the cafeteria, etc. Thru my experience I didn't encounter any of this. The toilet is loud though. I didn't hear it being flushed in the rooms surrounding ours, but it did scare the crap out of me every time it was flushed.
I have also read a few reports about the long travel to the Magic Kingdom. Maybe I'm just oblivious to these things 'cause I didn't find it to be a long trip at all. Also concerning the wait itself for the bus, there was one time we waited about 8-10 minutes and that was to go to Downtown Disney. Every other time was within 2-3 minutes. As a matter of fact it surprised us when we were returning from MK after MNSSHP the bus driver told us to get on board. The bus was completely empty and we told him we were looking for the bus to AoA. He said we've got the right bus and sure enough along came everyone else, the bus was loaded within 5 minutes, and off we went.
Each experience is different I suppose.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Adam5897]

Thanks

We were there in October in the LM room and had a fantastic time. So much so that DW and I were discussing the possibility of us going back in the future and just staying at the resort. No theme parks, just a resort stay.
I have read reviews where visitors have encountered hearing noises thru the walls, could hear the toilets flushing from the adjacent rooms, lineups at the cafeteria, etc. Thru my experience I didn't encounter any of this. The toilet is loud though. I didn't hear it being flushed in the rooms surrounding ours, but it did scare the crap out of me every time it was flushed.
I have also read a few reports about the long travel to the Magic Kingdom. Maybe I'm just oblivious to these things 'cause I didn't find it to be a long trip at all. Also concerning the wait itself for the bus, there was one time we waited about 8-10 minutes and that was to go to Downtown Disney. Every other time was within 2-3 minutes. As a matter of fact it surprised us when we were returning from MK after MNSSHP the bus driver told us to get on board. The bus was completely empty and we told him we were looking for the bus to AoA. He said we've got the right bus and sure enough along came everyone else, the bus was loaded within 5 minutes, and off we went.
Each experience is different I suppose.

Enjoy your trip!!

Thanks for the tips...I am very excited to stay here especially because I love Cars!

 

[flynnibus]

We stayed there the day after Thanksgiving until Dec. 1. Let me start by saying the resort itself and the way it was done is fabulous. The rooms are awesome and very comfortable for a family. We stayed in the Lion King suites and loved it. But, many issues with busses and waiting for a bus. As others have said it has to do with capacity of the resort. Also, the food court the food was great but was always very crowded and very noisy even at 11:30 at night. Also, and I believe this is due to the amount of people staying there

The place is basically the same capacity as POP.. and POP suffers from some of the same issues of crowds and noise.

I once equated it to 'Coming home to... the Mall' at the end of a long park day. Commotion, noise, etc in the lobby. Subdued and relaxing these places are not.

The Deluxes are smaller properties and generally more relaxing.

 

[Yankeesfan5]

I stayed there last week and loved it! Also stayed in a Cars suite. The transportation is good. The ride to MK is a hike, but other than that, no problems. The food is pretty good, but somewhat pricey. The resort can get loud, but it's a lot of fun. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Adam5897]

I stayed there last week and loved it! Also stayed in a Cars suite. The transportation is good. The ride to MK is a hike, but other than that, no problems. The food is pretty good, but somewhat pricey. The resort can get loud, but it's a lot of fun. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks! How long was the bus ride to MK?

 

[Yankeesfan5]

It's an 8-10 minute ride to MK.

 

[Doug Means]

6 of us stayed in Nemo last june the same week the cars area opened. i understand that everything was not as crowded as it is now but we loved it. we are scheduled for the lion king area this june. looking forward to a great time and will let you know what we think of the difference in a year.

 

[Adam5897]

Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I just switched it so were now 7 nights in the Cars family suite!

 

[disneygirl76]

We are currently booked for POFQ but we want to switch to a cars family suite at AoA for out trip the second week of April. I am wondering what the transportation is like. Any comments from people who have stayed there would be very helpful. How is the food? What are positives of the resort overall? I do not know much about AoA except hat we love the cars suite and have seen pictures and the extra bed and bathroom definitely help. Thanks!

My friend is staying there next weekend in a suite - Finding Nemo. I can let you know what she says it is like if its not too late.

 

[Adam5897]

My friend is staying there next weekend in a suite - Finding Nemo. I can let you know what she says it is like if its not too late.

That would be grea! And it's not too late for me until my trip it done!