If you are planning a Disney World vacation the room accommodations can start to add up rather quickly, especially for larger families. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is one of the best themed resorts on property and the family suites that fit up to 6 guests will give you plenty of space without emptying your wallet.

The Art of Animation is comprised of four distinct sections: Cars, Finding Nemo, Lion King, and Little Mermaid. The first three all have suites with a capacity for 6 and the same layout across the various themes: a room with a queen bed and bathroom, two double beds in the common area, another bathroom, and a kitchenette with a coffee maker, microwave, small sink, and mini fridge.

Finding Nemo family suite. The kitchen table will turn into a double bed and the bedroom in the other room has the queen.
This sofa turns into a double bed, the kitchenette is to the right, and there is another bathroom as well.

The rooms in the Little Mermaid section have two double beds for a max capacity of four people. This section of the resort is furthest from the food and transportation, and the rooms are not entered through interior hallways like in the other buildings. Guests do complain it is a far walk from the bus after a long day.

If you are a visual learner like I am check out these pictures of the various sections of the resort to see which would be the perfect fit for your family.

CARS: When you step into the Cars section you are transported to Radiator Springs. My kids had a ball taking pictures with all the cars. They really felt like they stepped into the movie!

FINDING NEMO: As you “just keep swimming” through the resort, you will come upon the Finding Nemo section, home to the largest pool on Disney property. You can grab a drink at the Drop Off, located right next door, and take a dip in the Big Blue Pool or jump around in the splash area. The other two pools are by the Cars and Little Mermaid sections.

THE LION KING: Venturing through the jungle of the Lion King section you will be greeted with plenty of fun spots to take more pictures with your favorite characters and scenes from the movie.

THE LITTLE MERMAID: When you arrive to the Little Mermaid section you are greeted with larger than life replicas of Ursula, King Triton, and Ariel, along with the other main characters.

Let’s discuss a few necessities – food and transportation. For me, the food at Landscape of Flavors was very good. There are many options and it is reasonably priced. The Drop Off poolside bar had one bartender and a very long line was forming; it didn’t seem all that efficient. The biggest con of this resort for us is the lack of a sit down restaurant. It’s not a big enough deterrent to staying there again, but it made for a more hectic evening since we were constantly commuting to dinners.

We stayed over Spring Break, one of the busiest times at Disney, however, we took the bus at off times and it wasn’t terrible. If you were trying to get to the parks prior to the open the lines do tend to get very long. We did uber to various parks and meals, building that into the overall price of the vacation.

One of the most exciting things happening in Disney is the introduction of the Skyliner gondala system. This will greatly increase the value of staying at Art of Animation because you will be able to get to Hollywood Studios and Epcot via this new mode of transportation.

All in all I would wholeheartedly recommend this adorable resort to families with children who will be blown away by the theming. It is really fun to watch how excited they get while walking around and seeing their favorite characters. Between the theming and value you really can’t go wrong.

by Ellen Volpe – Co-Owner of ET Family Travel