A little Art of Animation Resort Rant

[ChipNDale79]

Ok, I've got to rant just a little bit, I think my wife things I'm crazy but I'm a little annoyed with Disney over something they've done with Art of Animation. I understand they have The Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King suites, but as a family of 3, and soon to be 4, with 2 little boys, I don't see us going to Art of Animation any time in the near future. Our family isnt big enough to require us to spend the extra money for a suite at this time, so a single room would suit us just fine. However at Art of Animation, which from all the pictures I've seen, looks freakin amazing, the only single rooms are themed to The Little Mermaid.

I just feel a little left out I guess, I just kind of throw my hands up and say, "what about the boys?"

I'm sure you guys think I'm crazy, but please tell me I'm not the only one that feels this way.

[MrPeetrie]

ChipnDal79, you're not. I thought the exact same thing. (Only, I have a son and a daughter, but she isn't a little mermaid fan.)

[BrerGnat]

Seriously. Of ALL the properties to choose from, I wonder why Little Mermaid??? Of course, it CAN be argued that that's the only section at ANY Value resort that is "girly" themed. I mean, the entire All Star Sports resort is geared more towards boys (and girls who like sports, but still).

However, they should have gone with a more neutral movie theme for the single rooms at AoA. I agree with that.

Why not Lion King for that section?

[wickedgin]

I don't think you're crazy. I have a similar rant. I WANT to stay in the Little Mermaid section, but we're a group of 5. I wish they had done a mix of room types in each section.

[Disney Doll]

I think people get too caught up in traditional gender themes. I just watched Little Mermaid with my two boys yesterday. It really doesn't have to be "for girls." From the photos I've seen it looks like they did a pretty great job of making the Little Mermaid theme more neutral. These are not princess themed rooms. Outside you have the giant King Triton statue along with Sebastian on a clam shell. Inside the bedding and wall decor is more under the sea. I've hardly seen Ariel. I would have no problem staying here with my family of boys.

[Wolf]

I'm abit distraught as well, I only go to Disney with my Moma, there is just the two of us, I cannot justify paying that much extra for a "basic" room like Pop Century just bigger just to see Scar when I wake up every day...this is coming from a girl who has Simba tattooed on her leg and is in talked to get Scar added soon...I wish they would do it like some suites and some normal sized rooms.

[ChipNDale79]

I think people get too caught up in traditional gender themes. I just watched Little Mermaid with my two boys yesterday. It really doesn't have to be "for girls." From the photos I've seen it looks like they did a pretty great job of making the Little Mermaid theme more neutral. These are not princess themed rooms. Outside you have the giant King Triton statue along with Sebastian on a clam shell. Inside the bedding and wall decor is more under the sea. I've hardly seen Ariel. I would have no problem staying here with my family of boys.

I think my thoughts behind it are less about pushing boy themes on them and more on the fact that the movie may not be their cup of tea, while the other themed rooms would be.

It's a lack of choices.

[Itchy]

I just wish they would have had more regular rooms. I dont see how they will rent all of the family suite's.

I can rent two rooms at a value cheaper....

[disneydeb]

We like staying in the preferred area of a resort without the suite design. So, for us it is quite a bummer.

[Disney Doll]

I guess I just don't see the lack of choice issue as any different than any other theme at any other resort. Not every resort category has the same theme choices, but you do have options within each category. If you don't like Little Mermaid you still have the All Stars and Pop within the value category. Yes, it would be nice to stay at the new resort, but if the theme doesn't appeal to your group it doesn't. However, I wouldn't completely write it off until you see more. If you can tolerate a sea themed room you would still have access to the common play ground and pool areas which would incorporate different themes. Plus, you have the lobby and the food court which wouldn't be exclusively Little Mermaid.

I agree that the suites seem pricey, but Disney has had very few choices for larger families and this has been a long time coming. There are plenty of regular rooms out there already.

[ChipNDale79]

I guess I just don't see the lack of choice issue as any different than any other theme at any other resort. Not every resort category has the same theme choices, but you do have options within each category. If you don't like Little Mermaid you still have the All Stars and Pop within the value category. Yes, it would be nice to stay at the new resort, but if the theme doesn't appeal to your group it doesn't. However, I wouldn't completely write it off until you see more. If you can tolerate a sea themed room you would still have access to the common play ground and pool areas which would incorporate different themes. Plus, you have the lobby and the food court which wouldn't be exclusively Little Mermaid.

I agree that the suites seem pricey, but Disney has had very few choices for larger families and this has been a long time coming. There are plenty of regular rooms out there already.

I dont have a problem staying at any of the other value resorts, the point of this thread was that I have a problem with the way the Art of Animation resort is set up. I don't feel like the single rooms were set up with boys in mind.

If my boys are not fans of the Little Mermaid movie then there isn't a reason for us to stay at AAR, that's the point I'm making.

[valjane]

I don't like that the LM rooms are So. Far. Away. from the main building and bus stops. It looks like quite a trek.

That being said, our party of four adults is booked there for March (2 rooms). The decor does look a little over-the-top kiddie, but the resort looks pretty cool, so we'll just try to make do.

[Kenny1113]

I think people get too caught up in traditional gender themes. I just watched Little Mermaid with my two boys yesterday. It really doesn't have to be "for girls." From the photos I've seen it looks like they did a pretty great job of making the Little Mermaid theme more neutral. These are not princess themed rooms. Outside you have the giant King Triton statue along with Sebastian on a clam shell. Inside the bedding and wall decor is more under the sea. I've hardly seen Ariel. I would have no problem staying here with my family of boys.

I agree with the OP.My boys (to each his own, I'm not saying right or wrong) would absolutely revolts if I made them stay in a little mermaid room. I would love it but they would NOT. I would like to stay at this resort it looks nice. But I'm with the OP, we will not. I'm not going to pay extra money for a value resort but bigger room. And we will not stay in the little mermaid room.I think we would probably like a LK Themed room better.

[disneymomma2010]

I definatly think the Lion King theme would have suited those rooms the best. ...Ive thought the same thing, as I have two boys. But if I would've had two girls and it would've been cars theme it wouldve been the same thing.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

"Boy" themed value resorts - Pop Century, All Star Sports, All Star Music, All Star Movies - all can be construed as "Boy" themed.
"Girl" themed Value - The Mermaid Wing at AoA. That's it, that is the only one that can be construed as "girl" themed.

I personally have never gotten hung up on gender theme and we stay where we choose to afford at the time rather than stay somewhere FOR the Children. But that is just us. With 3 boys and 1 daughter - we are limited to where we stay as we aren't DVC members and choose to go for longer vacations in either value or moderate resorts.

[i'm grumpy]

We'd like to stay in a Cars room, but no way am I paying suite prices.

[Crow]

naw i agree.
my gf and I dont need a family suite
our first stay was at POP and i wanted to stay here..but even she said something about it.
i priced t family suites in case we go end of May...wow thats a lot for a value, even if it is a suite

[squijee]

We were thinking of staying at art also, but there are only 2 of us....by the by just how far is little mermaid section from the food court...is there a map anywhere to help with distances?

[BrerGnat]

We were thinking of staying at art also, but there are only 2 of us....by the by just how far is little mermaid section from the food court...is there a map anywhere to help with distances?

I saw a video of the resort map, and the Little Mermaid section would be akin to where the 90's section is of Pop Century, if you look at that map.

Or, for the cool way to see it, go to Google Maps. If you type in "Disney's Art of Animation Resort", it should take you right to an aerial view. Make sure you have "satellite" function turned on. You should see a fairly current birds eye view of the resort, and the building sections are actually labeled. Looking at the view, the three buildings at the top end (north) are the Little Mermaid rooms. One building is labeled "Little Mermaid Bldg. 7". The two buildings below those three will be the Lion King suites, the two buildings flanking the main pool will be Finding Nemo, and the southernmost cluster of 3 buildings will be the Cars suites.

The main building is the building furthest west. It's sort of crescent shaped.

You could see this on a smart phone as well, if you use the Google Maps app.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I'm with you guys on this one. We are a family of 4 with 2 boys. I don't think we'll ever stay at AoA for a whole trip, but I do think we'll stay for a night or two at least once, just to say we've stayed there (we are on a mission to stay at every resort on property). With two boys The Little Mermaid theme would be the least desirable, but we don't really need all the room a family suite offers. My youngest son loves Lion King, and that's where he'd want to stay. So when we do make our way over there I imagine we'll cough up the $$$ to stay in a Lion King family suite.

And same goes for those wanting to stay in a suite, but that would love the little mermaid theme. It would have been nice to do a mixture of standard rooms so that everyone could experience the theme they want.