Tag Archives: lion king suite

Art of Animation Cars Suite Review

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photo: Disney

On our last family Disney vacation, we did a split stay with the first two nights at Polynesian resort and the last three nights at Art of Animation in a Cars suite.

We had stayed at Art of Animation previously in a Lion King suite and were extremely happy with both the room and the location, but wanted to try one of the other themed suites this time.  Since the Finding Nemo suites were booked up, we took the Cars option.

At first, I was less than thrilled with the idea because I had toured the resort before and I felt the Cars suites were far too remote for my liking.  When I did the online check in before our arrival, I made sure to click the options for close to lobby and transportation.  I requested building 1 as I felt that would be the most convenient location.  We were assigned room 1625, located on the second floor of Building 1, closest to the stairwell on the parking lot end of the building.

art-of-animation-map

Location

I thought the location was great.  It was not nearly as far as I had remembered, and was about the same distance from the pool and lobby as our Lion King suite had been.  Of course, the Cars area has their own Cozy Cone pool, but my kids were more interested in the Big Blue Pool with the splash pad and music.  It was actually very convenient because the poolside bar has a soda fountain and it was easy for us to walk over there to refill our resort refillable mugs than having to walk all the way into the lobby to Landscape of Flavors.

Room Quality

Moving from the luxury of Club Level Polynesian to Value level Art of Animation would be a shock to anyone’s system, but the fun and lively theme of the resort makes up for what is lacking in luxury.  The room itself was clean and spacious.  We are a family of five, so having the extra space and extra bathroom is wonderful for us.  It’s nice to have a separate bedroom for the adults for some extra peace.  And of course, the kids are enthralled by the fold down table bed and wanted to take turns setting it up each day.

Bus Transportation

At this resort, the bus stop location is located centrally outside the lobby, Animation Hall.  It was a quick 3-4 minute walk from our room to the bus location.  We did have a few times where the buses were quite full and we either chose to wait, or to drive ourselves to our ultimate destination.  Overall, our bus experience was not bad, but we did have to be patient and deal with full buses occasionally.  It did not detract from our fun and wasn’t a huge deal for us.

Food

Art of Animation has one of the best quick service restaurants on property, in my opinion.  We ate at Landscape of Flavors several times during our stay and I didn’t eat the same thing twice.  They have the standard burger and fries combo, but they also have things like make your own pasta dish, pizza, barbecue pork sandwiches, and even tandoori chicken.  There really is something for everyone.

Resort Amenities

Art of Animation has one of the best pools on property.  Their Big Blue Pool is very big and even has speakers you can only hear under the water.  There is also a really cute splash pad and a small climbing apparatus and slide.  There is also the Cozy Cone pool over in the Cars area and a Little Mermaid pool over in the Little Mermaid section of the resort.  There is also a self-serve laundry area, gift shop, and baggage services area on site.  The lobby is clean, spacious, and very attractive.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Art of Animation, as usual.  We look forward to staying here again on future Disney vacations.

Art of Animation – Lion King Family Suite Review

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I’ve been to Disney twice in the past 6 months and both times I’ve stayed at Art of Animation resort in a Lion King Family Suite.  These rooms are fantastic and I’ll tell you why.

If you’re like me and you’ve got a whole minivanload of kids, you need the extra space that the family suites offer.  Each suite is approximately 565 sq ft and house one bedroom, two bathrooms, a double sofa bed, a double Murphy-style table bed, and a kitchenette.  Each suite sleeps six people.

sofa bed and kitchenette

sofa bed and kitchenette

As you walk into the suite, the first thing you see is the living room with its giraffes and that amazing flower lamp/table.   The kitchenette has a small sink, a large size cube refrigerator, and a coffeemaker (lifesaver!). Across from the sofa there is a dresser that houses the flat screen TV next to a little storage unit. Off to the side (right or left, depending on the layout of your room) is the super cool table bed.  My kids fought over who was going to sleep there. It has a foam mattress which is surprisingly comfortable.  They could probably make all the beds out of that stuff and I’d be happy.

bed in the table position

bed in the table position

When the bed is up, it makes a great spot for having breakfast in your room or for setting up a laptop to upload photos.  What’s really nice is that the chairs actually stack so you can set them out of the way when you’ve got the bed pulled down.  Another fun feature is the built in reading lights on the inside of the setup.  It’s those little things Disney thinks of that make the difference.

Across from the table is the living area’s bathroom.  It’s got a pocket door (love those!) with a sink area and then a second door with the toilet and shower.  This makes it really easy for a few people to dress at once and that can be a big time saver.

main bathroom

main bathroom

On to the master bedroom!  It’s got its own door to close it off from the rest of the suite, so you parents can have some privacy away from the kids.  Always a sanity saver!  It has a queen sized bed (rare in a Value level resort!) with a television and an ensuite bathroom.

master bedroom

master bedroom

I absolutely LOVE this master bath.  It’s so beautiful!  The tiling in the shower stall is so well done and artful.  It feels very expensive and not at all like it should be in a Value resort. Not to mention, this bathroom is HUGE.  I think it’s bigger than the one in my first apartment.

master bath

master bath

The whole suite is just so well done and gorgeous.  I see how some could think it was overdecorated and maybe too busy, but my kids really loved it. They enjoyed the bright colors as did I.  I thought there was a decent amount of storage, though we halfway lived out of our suitcase because for a family of five, there wasn’t THAT much storage.

Another nice feature is that all the suites are in buildings that have indoor corridors.  I like the security of that, not to mention, it’s nice to be inside out of the heat when you’re headed to your room.  I also think the indoor corridors tend to have less noise than the outer ones.

For the price, I think Art of Animation is a great resort for families.  It’s fun, they have a great pool, their food court is one of the best on property, and they have their own buses, meaning they don’t stop at other resorts on the route.  That makes a big difference in transportation times.

Overall, I love this resort and I can’t wait to stay here again!