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Disney's Art of Animation Hotel

By Jade Monzo, Owner, Rope Drop Travel August 10, 2021

Disney's Art of Animation is a highly-themed, value-level resort at Walt Disney World where you are invited to be surrounded by the “artistry, enchantment and magic of Walt Disney and Disney and Pixar movies” such as Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. From delightfully themed family suites to over-the-top resort theming, Disney’s Art of Animation quickly pulls you and your family in to become a part of some of your animated favorites. 

Disney’s Art of Animation, or AOA, has a central building called Animation Hall for check-in and bus transportation. It also houses the resort’s quick-service dining location, Landscape of Flavors, a gift shop, the Ink and Paint Gift Shop, and a pretty large arcade, Pixel Play Arcade. 

The quick-service dining, Landscape of Flavors, is organized like a food court and guests are encouraged to use Mobile ordering for their dining. It’s also worth noting that if you are looking for a change of pace, the food court at nearby Disney’s Pop Century Resort is just a quick walk away.

The full list of dining options at Art of Animation include:

  • Landscape of Flavors - quick service dining 
  • The Drop Off Poolside - specialty drinks and a full bar as well as snacks and cold sandwiches.

This beautiful resort has 3 pools that all range in depth from around 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 9 inches. They are open every day and are heated to 82F/28C throughout the year. AOA does not have a hot tub or jacuzzi or a water slide, these are not offered at any Disney value resorts, but guests can find showers, storage lockers, restrooms, and laundry facilities at each of the three pools. Every pool has free life vests in a variety of sizes. 

The main pool, The Big Blue Pool, sits directly behind the Animation Hall lobby and features sculptures of characters from the film. There is also a toddler water play area adjacent to The Big Blue Pool. One fun feature of the main pool is that audio snippets from the Finding Nemo film are played so that they can only be heard underwater!  

The two Buildings of the Cars section contain the Cozy Cone Pool. This pool area is themed after the Cozy Cone Motel from the Cars movies and features giant traffic cones. The Cozy Cone Pool is considered a "quiet pool", meaning that loud play is discouraged.

The third pool is located in the Little Mermaid section of the resort. This pool is also considered a quiet pool and is surrounded by large sculptures of King Triton and Ursula.

This resort includes both standard hotel rooms and "family suites", which are perfect for families or groups. The majority of the resort’s accommodations are 1,120 "family suites", each of which accommodates up to six guests. 

The suite buildings have interior hallways to the guest rooms instead of the exterior walkways found at the standard rooms and at Disney’s other value resorts and at Disney's moderate resorts.

Standard rooms are 277 square feet and include two double beds or, by request, one king-sized bed, a flat-panel TV, a mini-fridge, and a table and chairs. Up to four guests may be booked into a standard room.

Art of Animation’s family suites is 565 square feet, about what you’d get by combining two standard rooms into one suite. Each suite has a master bedroom, a living room, two full bathrooms, and a kitchenette with a mini-fridge, microwave, and coffeemaker. Sleeping accommodations include a queen bed in the bedroom, a full-size sleeper sofa, and a living-room table that converts into a full-size bed. The bedroom and living room have flat-panel TVs. 

This resort has access to the Disney Skyliner which allows you to visit several resorts on the line as well as Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. The hub station is located at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, so you have to take the Skyliner there first and then switch to either the Epcot or Hollywood Studios line. From the station, the ride to Epcot's International Gateway entrance is about 20 minutes while the ride to Hollywood Studios is about 15 minutes.

Disney provides free bus service from Art of Animation to all of the theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs and Disney Springs. 

If you have a child who is a fan of these beloved Disney classic movies, you’re in for an amazing time! 


Jade is the owner of Rope Drop Travel, a full-service travel agency specializing in Disney destinations. She lives with her husband and seven little ones' ages eleven and under. She enjoys helping with her children’s school PTO’s and all things Disney.


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