Art of Animation Standard Room or Pop Century Refurb?

[615marsh]

Family of 4. Kids will be 7 and 9 when we travel. My boy is not a big into Little Mermaid as my girl is. So I'm on the fence. Since I've never stayed at either one, I'm looking for pros and cons. We also have AT&T cell service. I read that Art of Animation Mermaid buildings have dead zones inside? Are they really that far away from the action?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Little Mermaid rooms are far.

 

[wagner1225]

Family of 4. Kids will be 7 and 9 when we travel. My boy is not a big into Little Mermaid as my girl is. So I'm on the fence. Since I've never stayed at either one, I'm looking for pros and cons. We also have AT&T cell service. I read that Art of Animation Mermaid buildings have dead zones inside? Are they really that far away from the action?

I once read a survey by Disney what the kids liked most about their vacation and it was the Pools, AOA has the largest pool on property really themed great also has music under water , we have been to many of the Disney resorts and really enjoyed AOA, plus all the sections are themed for kids, we are now adults but still just big kids...

 

[TARDIS]

I LOVE Art of Animation, nice resort with a great pool. Little mermaid rooms are quite far and for little feet it might be a rough walk at the end of the night (we ended up having to carry my brother from the buss to the room every night). My cell service was pretty terrible in the rooms too. I'm not a huge fan of POP at all but the refurb rooms look really nice, have new mattresses and a in room coffee maker. Plus the availability of rooms discounts at POP is a selling point (for almost same price per night at AOA you can get a pool view preferred room at POP and be close to everything.)

 

[Pixieish]

AoA also has the Cars pool...my boys would lose their minds over that thing, lol.

 

[615marsh]

I LOVE Art of Animation, nice resort with a great pool. Little mermaid rooms are quite far and for little feet it might be a rough walk at the end of the night (we ended up having to carry my brother from the buss to the room every night). My cell service was pretty terrible in the rooms too. I'm not a huge fan of POP at all but the refurb rooms look really nice, have new mattresses and a in room coffee maker. Plus the availability of rooms discounts at POP is a selling point (for almost same price per night at AOA you can get a pool view preferred room at POP and be close to everything.)

Great point! And I didn't realize there wasn't a coffee maker in AOA standard rooms! That may be the deciding factor! We are going to do the dining plan this time, so I need to nail these details down so I can work on days and potential ADRs before I can book them in January!

 

[TARDIS]

Great point! And I didn't realize there wasn't a coffee maker in AOA standard rooms! That may be the deciding factor! We are going to do the dining plan this time, so I need to nail these details down so I can work on days and potential ADRs before I can book them in January!

Yeah that coffee maker is nice, we stay at AOA most times and I hate having to get up and attempt to look semi alive and dressed to go walk 5-7 mins to get coffee and back. I hope they start putting them in the rest of the value resorts.

 

[Miceberg]

The new re-furbed rooms at POP are really nice although the theming at AOA is great for 9 and 7 yr olds, tough decision!

 

[615marsh]

Yeah that coffee maker is nice, we stay at AOA most times and I hate having to get up and attempt to look semi alive and dressed to go walk 5-7 mins to get coffee and back. I hope they start putting them in the rest of the value resorts.

Since we are driving down, I guess I could pack a small one, but man... I hate having to pack stuff that should be offered in the rooms. I'm going to look at the Pop refurb and see what all the changes would mean for us.

 

[Pixieish]

Look at it through your kids' eyes - we stayed at AS Movies, and then two years later, Caribbean Beach in a pirate room. They LOOOOOVED the pool at Caribbean, but both so desperately missed the feel of Movies, that our next trip, we tacked on a night at Movies just for them (we got a deal on a room elsewhere for the first part of our trip through a friend). They also made us promise that next time we go back, we need to stay at Movies.

 

[615marsh]

Look at it through your kids' eyes - we stayed at AS Movies, and then two years later, Caribbean Beach in a pirate room. They LOOOOOVED the pool at Caribbean, but both so desperately missed the feel of Movies, that our next trip, we tacked on a night at Movies just for them (we got a deal on a room elsewhere for the first part of our trip through a friend). They also made us promise that next time we go back, we need to stay at Movies.

Very good point!

 

[Rsj88]

We just got back and we had a split stay at AOA little mermaid and Pop refurbed room. I have two boys 9 and 2. We stayed at AOA our first night for the pool and to see the cars area. I expected to be blown away by the room but I really preferred Pop refurbed rooms! The beds were queens and it just felt so nice and clean. I loved the feel of AOA resort and if I could afford a suite I might would change my mind. The kids loved AOA pool but the little mermaid rooms were so far away and felt small and dark compared to the new rooms at Pop. So lots of pros and cons for each but overall,I won’t stay at AOA again unless I could get a suite. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[beachlover4444]

Art of Animation get alot of complaints about how far away the Mermaid rooms are and they are a long haul over to the Lobby and bus areas. Pop has a nice layout. We stayed in the 80s renovated rooms at Pop and in Lion King at Art. Both resorts are very nice.

 

[SeanH]

I know this post is a few weeks old..but we just stayed for a week at AoA, in the LM rooms. I made a point to time my walk several times from our room in Building 7 to the Landscape of Flavors Foodcourt......the longest it took was only 6 minutes, and usually just 5....beautiful walk through the Lion King section.....believe me, the walk is not bad at all....

 

[Dave B]

So I will tell you. We just came back from both last month, we did 2 days at AoA, 6 days at Yacht Club and the final 3 at POP.
Pop and AoA are identical resorts, from the time you drive up to the gift shop, to the food court to the pools. ( Like identical twins) Their are a couple minor differences. The lobby of AoA is full of sketches, the lobby of POP is full of old photos from the 60's and 70's. The food courts have a few different items, but mostly the same. The pool at AoA plays music under the water BUT cannot be heard throughout the entire pool, just where the speakers are. The main pool at AoA does give the feel of being under the water like in Nemo, but my kids, 13 and 11 said they enjoyed the pool at POP more. The theming is awesome at both resorts. AS FAR AS THE WALK FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID ROOMS, IT IS ABOUT A 5-7 MINUTE WALK. (max) But you walk thru the themed lands which are very fun or you walk about the waterfront which is beautiful, we did NOT consider the walk bad at all. It would NOT be convenient to run down really quick to fill up your mugs.The main difference to me was the beds!!!!! Little Mermaid rooms had full size and POP had queen, made a HUGE difference to me. We just booked to go back to POP in May for my wife's bday for a short, cheap trip. I hope that helps.

 

[Dave B]

Art of Animation get a lot of complaints about how far away the Mermaid rooms are and they are a long haul over to the Lobby and bus areas. Pop has a nice layout. We stayed in the 80s renovated rooms at Pop and in Lion King at Art. Both resorts are very nice.

I think the walk from the 80's section is almost the same or maybe a little longer than the walk from Little Mermaid rooms at AoA