Walt Disney World: Making the most out of your stay at Art of Animation Hotel - Review & Must-Do Activities!

For my one-week trip to Walt Disney World I stayed at the Art of Animation hotel! There are so many hotels on Walt Disney World property so it might be overwhelming deciding which one works best for you! I really don’t think you can go too wrong with any option, but here’s my two cents on staying at the Art of Animation in case you’re considering it. (Spoiler alert: I LOVED it and HIGHLY recommend it!)

Staying on-property at Walt Disney World

There are lots of reasons why you would want to stay on-property during a trip to Walt Disney World! The most obvious reason for me is the 30-minute early theme park entry to each park! It really makes a difference! And if you stay at some Deluxe resorts, you even can get extended evening hours on some nights! I personally didn’t experience that since I didn’t stay at a Deluxe resort, but I’d definitely want to in the future! There’s lots of things you’ll want to consider when deciding where you’ll stay during your trip, so here are a few things to keep in mind.

Hotel tiers

Walt Disney World offers hotels at different tiers - Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. The higher tiers offer more perks and a more elevated experience in exchange for higher prices, whereas the lower tiers are more affordable (while still offering a great experience!).

Price range

You’ll want to look into the exact amenities and perks that come with the hotel you’re looking to stay at and determine if the cost is worth it for you since the prices can range from around $400/night for the lower end Value tier hotels to $4000/night for the higher end Deluxe tier hotels (exact prices vary depending on season and availability).

Immersive experience

Based on what I was able to see of the resorts, I really think any hotel would be a great choice! They each offer a fun or beautiful theme, and each have their own touch of Disney magic!

Art of Animation

Let’s dive in to what it was like staying at the Art of Animation!

Themed Areas

Art of Animations offer rooms with one of the four themes: Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid.

Finding Nemo, Cars, and The Lion King are all family suites, so they can fit up to 6 adults. These family suites have a small kitchenette with a small sink, microwave, and mini refrigerator. They also have two bathrooms and one primary bedroom.

The Little Mermaid rooms are smaller rooms akin to a more traditional motel room in space and style.

Cars

The Cars area was sooo cool! I think Disney always does Cars theming really really well. The pool area especially was very cute!

Lion King

It was so cool to see the Lion King area! The elephant graveyard was a really cool area and it’s actually a jungle gym type structure for kids to play on! I was partially hoping that they would have green lights at night to mimic the Scar scene in ‘Be Prepared’, but they didn’t. Still really cool though!

And Timon, Pumba, and young Simba walking over the giant log?? So iconic!

Little Mermaid

Finding Nemo

The Finding Nemo area was so cute! We stayed in the building closest to the pool area so our building facade all the cute decorative fish and ocean details on the outside!

The “Mine” seagulls are also so funny and they actually do scream “Mine!” at you as you walk past sometimes!

Finding Nemo family suite

Since we had a party of 6 adults, we opted to share a family suite, and got the Finding Nemo themed suite.

We had a conveniently located room on the first floor right next to the entrance of the building, and our building was halfway between the main Art of Animation lobby, Animation Hall, and the Skyliner station! Location-wise, we got a great spot and it made it super easy to go in and out of the room! (I may have my travel agent to thank for that, so maybe a +1 for getting a Disney travel agent?)

Upon entering the suite, there is a small dining table with some chairs to the left, one of the bathrooms to the right, and the living room with the small kitchenette in front. Off to the left side is the singular bedroom with an en suite bathroom.

The bed in the bedroom is a queen size bed which is the largest of the three, as the remaining two are full-sized. One is a pull-out from the couch in the living room area, and the other is a wall bed that’s pulled down on top of the dining table. Suffice it to say, when the wall bed is pulled down, there is no dining table.

The two bathrooms are decently sized with the bathroom that’s located in the bedroom being the larger of the two, and each bathroom is stocked with towels, bar soap, and body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.

Both the bedroom and the living area have a coat rack and some wardrobes for guests to store them items on/in, and a television.

The kitchenette, while small, had everything that we needed during our stay, and the mini fridge was actually on the larger side, which was nice to have! The microwave was convenient for heating up leftovers and the sink came in handy as well. They also supply disposable cups and plates/bowls, and a coffeemaker with coffee and tea bags.

The decor was pretty cute with different references and Finding Nemo Easter eggs throughout the room. The color scheme was cute and on-theme, and I also liked that they incorporated some cute ocean-themed light fixtures as well!

Overall, I felt like the room offered us what we needed for a decent stay. I’m a sucker for a cute theme and Finding Nemo is very nostalgic for me so I was happy with it. However, I will say that while I did really like it, the decor and the furniture itself did seem a bit dated to me, and the bathrooms seemed like a bit of an afterthought. You can kind of tell these rooms haven’t seen a refresh in a little while. Space-wise, it did seem like the suite was a bit cramped for 6 adults. It almost seemed like the one bedroom was a bit too large and the rest of the communal space was a bit too small. Of course, we were able to make do, and overall I wouldn’t say that it was that inconvenient. I’d say the suites definitely are suited more towards a party of 6 that has a mix of adults and kids.

Amenities

Dining

Art of Animation has a food court/cafeteria-style area called the Landscape of Flavors. Here you can order food from different stations and eat at the open tables in the area. They also have a separate section where guests can purchase things like pastries, desserts, or coffee drinks.

Landscape of Flavors is convenient for quick or late-night/early-morning meals since they open at 7:00AM and don’t close until 11:00PM.

As a hotel guest, you can also purchase a sipper cup that you can use for the duration of your stay at any of the hotels on property to get free refills on fountain drinks. We purchased one of these sipper cups for $23 and used it for the whole week and it was really convenient! There are fountain stations in the Landscape of Flavors as well as one outside next to the outdoor bar that is accessible 24/7, so even if the cafeteria had closed we were still able to get drinks! Another reason why our room was so nicely located: we were so close to the fountain machine, so it was so convenient to refill our sipper cup!

Pools

The Art of Animation has 3 large pools themed after the major themes of the grounds. Right outside the exit of Animation Hall is the largest pool on the grounds (and actually the largest pool in Walt Disney World!) which is the Finding Nemo themed pool. It’s super cute!! There is also a pool by the Little Mermaid rooms as well as the Cars rooms. The Cars pool is especially cute because the little cabana areas are shaped like cones similar to Cozy Cone Motel!

I didn’t personally get a chance to use the pools since we didn’t spend too much time at our hotel, but I got to see it every morning and every evening from our room, and I definitely would love to take a little swim if I stay again in the future!

Housekeeping

Housekeeping is done every other day during your stay. You can of course skip housekeeping by placing the Sleepy sign outside your door.

Luggage storage

Luggage storage is also available at Art of Animation at the passenger drop-off area in front of the hotel lobby. You can use this storage to drop off your luggage when you’re checking in or if you’re checking out, all you have to do is let them know which.

When we were checking in, we dropped off our bags and when our room was ready we just let them know the room number and they brought it to us.

I would be wary of the time if you’re using the luggage storage after checking out. The line for luggage storage can get backed up and can actually take quite a while to get through, so if you’re in a rush to leave the premises you might get a bit frazzled. Leave yourself a good 20-30 minutes worth of buffer to pick up your bags and you should be fine.

Fun stuff

Movie Under the Stars

Every night excluding Fridays, the Art of Animation plays a Disney film outside on their large green lawn by the pool. This is known as Movie Under the Stars which is hosted by several different hotels throughout the resort. They share the schedule for their film screenings, so you can pick which night you want to participate depending on the movie you want to see!

Nightly Campfire

Every evening, the Art of Animation hosts campfires! There are two campfire pits in the Lion King area that the cast members set up for guests to enjoy.

Stop by for complimentary marshmallows that you can roast over the campfire, or purchase a s’more kit and make your own s’mores!

The complimentary pack of marshmallows come in a pack of 6 so they’re easy to share. This was such a fun and cute little event, I’m so glad we could stop by to try it out once!

Pixel Play Arcade

Inside Animation Hall is the Pixel Play arcade. This is a small arcade area with different arcade games that guests can play with. I didn’t get too much use out of this since we spent most of our time at the parks or exploring other hotels, but it’s a nice area to enjoy! They also have a photobooth, which we did get to take advantage of!

Find Nala

This was a really cute and fun activity that I didn’t even know was a thing until I arrived to the hotel and read their information sign! Every day, the cast members hide a Nala cutout somewhere inside Animation Hall. Your task is to find Nala, get a picture with her, and show it to the front desk.

The first time you accomplish this task, you’ll get an Art of Animation Find Nala button. From there you can find her 4 more times on 4 different days, and each day that you find her again you’ll get a pawprint sticker to adhere to your button. After 5 days of finding Nala, you’ll have filled up your whole button!

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this was an activity until our 3rd day, and on our EPCOT day we got back too late to find her, so we only managed to get our button and 2 pawprints before it was time to go home. Next time, I’ll be sure to figure out the activities by the first day!

I absolutely love when Disney hotels do scavenger hunt-like activities like this. They can be fun for children and adults alike, and it’s a wholesome way to get another fun keepsake to bring home and remember your trip by!

Transportation

Art of Animation is located on the Skyliner time, so you’ll have access to the Skyliner when staying here. The Skyliner is used to travel to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. To get to both parks, you do need to transfer at a Skyliner station along the way at Boardwalk Resort, but transfers are super quick.

The Skyliner station is located at the back of the Art of Animation right at the bridge between Art of Animation and Pop Century hotel.

To get everywhere else, you’ll need to take the buses, which are located at the front of the Art of Animation right next to the drop-off area. Each bus stop is identified by a sign which will take you to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or Disney Springs. To get to one of the water parks, you’ll need to transfer from Disney Springs if you’re going to Typhoon Lagoon or Animal Kingdom if you’re going to Blizzard Beach.

I mentioned this in my previous post, but I really liked using the Skyliner. It’s so efficient and comfortable, and it’s a really cool experience! (maybe not so cool if you’re scared of heights?) Since we were a party of 6, we basically took up a whole gondola so we got the gondola to ourselves whenever we rode it.

The buses are fine, but I felt like you couldn’t really rely on knowing when they were going to arrive, which doesn’t jive well with me. Even though the resort does have a screen that tells you what time the next bus will arrive, it often wasn’t accurate, so we just waited until we saw one.

Most of our days were focused primarily on the parks, so we really only used the transportation to get to the parks in the morning, and were one of the first parties to do so, and at night after the parks were closed so transportation was very predictable at these times. It wasn’t until we were using the buses to get around on our rest day or on our check-out day that I experienced significant delays with the buses that was a bit inconvenient.

Why I chose Art of Animation

Theming

I would say the primary reason I chose the Art of Animation as our home base for the trip was because of the theme. I really love all things animation, and just seeing the theming of the different rooms caught my attention right away.

Pricing

As I mentioned before, Art of Animation is a value tier hotel, so it was one of the more affordable hotels to choose from. Now that I’ve experienced the parks and the whole resort experience once, I think I would feel more comfortable spending more to stay in the Deluxe tier hotels, but I think the value tier was a great starting spot to get a feel for everything and figure out what you’d want to prioritize in the future.

Location

I thought the location of Art of Animation also wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t super far for any one park that any particular day’s trip felt more grueling than the others. Having convenient transportation that didn’t take too long to get to and from places was nice and reasonable.

Also, again, the Skyliner was great, and I loved using it for 2 out of the 4 park days. Would highly recommend.

Our stay

Checking In

The check-in process is really easy and pretty seamless. You can check-in early online through the Walt Disney World app (known as the My Disney Experience app in the Apple App Store). When the room is available, you’ll get an update in your app and you can use your phone or linked MagicBand+ to open your room door!

I will say on this front, the technology surrounding the whole Walt Disney World park is a little messy and redundant. You have the app which you can use directly, or you can set up a mobile wallet card, but you also have the MagicBand+, all of which can be used to open your room door and scan into the parks with your park tickets loaded on them. However, when I was trying to get all my friends set up so they could also use their mobile phones to unlock the door, it wasn’t working for them. For some reason, only 2 of ours worked and everyone else’s somehow didn’t link to the right place? So none of them were even able to see the hotel reservation in their app even though 2 of us were able to.

All this to say that when technology fails you, the front desk can also set up physical cards for everyone in the party. These physical key cards unlock the door and have each person’s park tickets as well, so the cards are assigned to a specific person. I’d recommend just getting these even if everyone’s phones or MagicBands work because it’s good to have as a backup, and you get another cute free keepsake!

Exploring the grounds

If you’re staying at the Art of Animation (and even if you’re not), I’d highly recommend taking a small little walking tour around the grounds! It’s fun to walk around and see all the different themed areas! Definitely dedicate some time to doing this!

We spent our first day checking out the hotel area and scoping out where everything was so we could more easily get to things throughout the week. We also used this time to check out the gift shop inside Animation Hall and see what cool merch they had! They had some Art of Animation exclusive merchandise as well as some of the park merchandise that we saw in other stores as well. This makes for a great stop if you’re trying to grab some more souvenirs before you leave!

Free keepsakes

Here’s a list of all the free keepsakes that you can ask for during your stay! I love getting these fun trinkets, and it’s especially nice that they’re free!

Key card

After you check in and get your room, ask the front desk for key cards for everyone in your party! We each got a cute card that we could take home with us, and it was useful during the trip as well since it’s what my friends used to get into the parks!

Nala button and stickers

Don’t forget to do the Nala scavenger hunt every day! Her location is limited to being inside Animation Hall so you won’t have to search the whole grounds for her. It doesn’t take too long and you get a cute Art of Animation button with stickers!

Luggage tags

If you book any sort of vacation package, whether it’s a room with park tickets or you include a dining package or anything like that, you should be able to get complimentary luggage tags! They’re themed after the Fab Five and they’re so cute! Not sure if they actually have the Sensational Six and we accidentally got a duplicate, but I’m still happy with the cute tags we each got to take home with us!

Overall experience

I would say that overall, our stay at Art of Animation was great and everything worked out pretty smoothly! Check in was a breeze for me and we even got our room earlier than expected so we had more time to settle in before we got our trip officially started!

I mentioned that our room was located in a really great spot since we were halfway between Animation Hall and the Skyliner so everything was pretty much within really convenient reach, whether we wanted to grab a snack or drink from Art of Animation or wanted to head to the Skyliner early in the morning.

Housekeeping was also very seamless, especially since we were basically out all day every day. I did find it interesting that housekeeping came around twice on our check-out day though. I just assumed that they would skip our room on our check-out day since they would have to come back to clean it after we left, but I guess they just adhere to the schedule.

Would I be interested in staying here again in the future? Definitely! It makes for a great home base during the trip and because it’s on the more affordable end, it’s a little more manageable if you’re trying to travel on a tighter budget.