Earlier this year, Disney opened its newest resort, Art of Animation. This Value Plus resort is a new concept for Walt Disney World featuring 864 standard value rooms and 1,120 family suites. Family suites are different than any other rooms on-property as they offer larger accommodations for a greater value. Prior to Art of Animation, families of 5 had limited options available and families of 6 only had the option of staying in a two bedroom Deluxe Villa property.
Our family (Krista) stayed in a Finding Nemo suite during Tower of Terror 10-miler weekend. Since both my husband and I participate in the races, we usually have someone come along to watch our daughter during the race. The Art of Animation family suite provided the perfect amount of space for our needs during race weekend. On a previous agent trip, I had the opportunity to tour both the Lion King family suites and the Cars family suites. We were so pleased with this resort that we will be back at Art of Animation again for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.
Art of Animation was not a host resort for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler. Luckily, we drove to Walt Disney World so race transportation was not a huge factor. The resort is as close as you can get to ESPN Wide World of Sports which provided easy access to the Race Expo.
I took a cab to ESPN Wide World of Sports on the morning of the 5K. The cost was $8.00, including tip. However, on the evening of the Tower of Terror -10 miler, we left the resort at approximately 7:15 PM for the short drive to ESPN Wide World of Sports. The trip that had previously taken less than 5 minutes took over 30 minutes on the night of the race. This is something to consider if you are taking a cab and watching the dollars add up. Unfortunately, it is not possible to walk to ESPN Wide World of Sports from Art of Animation.
Some of the features that we enjoyed during our stay at Art of Animation were the extra living space, a full-size table and chairs and two bathrooms. I also enjoyed having a microwave and a coffee maker in the room. All of the suites are only a short walk to the Landscape of Flavors food court which (by the way) might be our favorite thing about Art of Animation! I particularly enjoyed the Make Your Own Greek Yogurt Parfait each morning. We stayed at the resort for four nights and ate at the food court numerous times. There was so much variety that we never grew tired of the offerings.
We all enjoyed taking a swim in Big Blue Pool.
On our last day, we walked down to the Little Mermaid section of the resort which consists of standard value resort rooms. The theme is well-done and beautiful! These rooms are located farther from the food court and buses than the family suites; however, they are closer than they appear when driving by the resort. Another bonus to the Little Mermaid section is that you are equal distance from Pop Century so you have access to the buses or the food court at either resort.
Kids of all ages will enjoy this great new resort!
