A return to the Art of Animation Resort, where the Lion King section recently opened (August 10th).
Art of Animation continues to have dedicated bus service. Here at Magic Kingdom, the Pop Century and Art of Animation stops are close together, so you could theoretically ride the Pop Century bus and walk to Art of Animation should that bus arrive first. It sounds like bus service isn’t as snappy as it was when the resort first opened. In talking with the woman behind me in line, she informed me that during their 35 minute wait for the bus at Magic Kingdom earlier in the day, that another older woman had collapsed. Florida’s hot. Drink lots of water.
On the merchandise front, Disney has restocked these $6.95 pens. They’ve been very popular, hence being sold out.
At the Big Blue Pool, security is apparently lax as the gate is permanently open in this position.
Returning an hour or so later, the gate is still open.
This is interesting in that the pool serves items that aren’t available inside at the Landscape of Flavors quick service. I’m wondering if Disney is propping the gate open in order for people visiting the resort to access the bar.
Heading over to the Lion King section, you’re looking at about a three minute walk from the main building out here, if it even takes you that long.
When we first took a look at the area over the fence, I mentioned that this was looking to be my favorite section.
I’m a sucker for trees, plants, lushness, and baboons.
There are two ways to interpret the Lion King section. On one hand, there isn’t a lot going on. There’s no pool. There’s nothing to play on at the playground. There aren’t any food options. So in that vein, it’s a much more tranquil area than Cars or Nemo.
On the other hand, it’s kind of boring.
That may provide a better idea about the size of things.
Disney decided to build a “playground” based on the scariest part of the movie, the Elephant Graveyard.
Unfortunately, Disney has gone to town on these “No Climbing Please” signs. There are two large ones near the “playground” and smaller signs at each of the characters.
It doesn’t stop anyone. And you may notice on the left there, someone had taken the liberty to turn the “No Climbing” sign around. Wonder how long until Disney replaces them with a sign that says no climbing on both sides!
Amusingly, if you visit http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/lion-king-suites/ and click on “Photos,” you can see some of the concept art, where kids are hanging from the bones. It also looks like the original plan included rocks that make it possible to walk up to the hyenas above.
Not the best shot ever. But that yellow blob is a security officer on a bicycle reminding people to stay off the characters. I saw another officer circling on a Segway doing the same thing.
Continuing through the courtyard, you have the opportunity to take a picture with the Lion King’s best character, Scar. There are two “No Climbing Please” signs visible.
On the opposite side of Scar sits Zazu. That’s really all there is to see in Lion King’s main courtyard. I would have loved to have seen a “Watering Hole Pool” here. It seems like such a no-brainer, especially considering the Nemo and Mermaid themes are somewhat similar. Instead, we’re going to see another pool in the Mermaid section, themed like water I would guess. Hopefully it’s larger than the Cars pool.
Unlike the Cars and Nemo sections, there’s nothing to really greet guests at the main entrances into the buildings. Just a sign telling you not to climb on anything. You may recall the elaborate entrances over in the Cars section.
For example.
On the opposite side of the buildings, the resort’s line drawing theme continues. This is Simba animated across the sides of one building.
And Mufasa on the other side.
And they meet colored in on the end.
Also like the other sections, trivia abounds:
One million drawings!
Inside, the hallways are as dark as the other sections. The hallway is darker than it appears here. You may notice the carpet is covered with paw prints. See this AllEars post for a better idea about what the suites look like inside. They appear to be slightly more subdued than the suites in the Cars or Nemo (in particular) sections.
We’ll grab dinner at Landscape of Flavors, the resort’s quick service. This is a recycled image and it was busier than it looks here.
Pretty sure I freaked this poor girl out. I was trying to get a picture of her gizmo. I was zooming in as she was looking at it and then when I snapped the picture she looked up at the same time. She may or may not have walked off and notified a manager that some creep-o with a binder full of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards was taking pictures of her. Anyway, in an effort to speed things up at the pasta station, there’s now a separate cast member taking orders with that tablet thing.
This time we’re trying the Pizza and Pasta section.
Menu:
We’ll try the Create-Your-Own-Pasta.
You may remember how enjoyable it was at the Port Orleans Riverside from this post. It was a huge portion cooked up fresh.
When the resort first opened, the toppings were listed like this, so it looked like you could add all four different kinds of meat to your pasta.
That has since been replaced with this electronic board listing the choices. They’re exactly the same, but it now asks you nicely to select just one meat.
The problem is that the same screen also displays this list of “Chef’s Suggestions.” So assuming you want custom toppings, you’re probably going to have to stand there while it cycles a few times to get an idea about what you want. The traumatized cast member with the gizmo just reads off the toppings and you say “Yes” or “No” indicating your preference to each.
Speaking of efficiency, there’s also a separate line for pizza purchases now. You could walk right up and they’d hand you whichever. This is your standard Disney pizza.
My creation – Broccoli, green peas, parmesan cheese, sausage, and shrimp with campanelle pasta and pesto sauce. I managed to order two of the meats without any upcharge. They may charge you an extra dollar if you try to order two or more though.
I don’t know whose Refillable Mug that is. Like the Riverside’s version, this was really good. I know what you’re thinking though. Is it Olive Garden good? Yes, I think it is.
Everything is sauteed fresh while you wait, so you know you’re getting a meal that’s as freshly prepared as possible. With not a lot of people at Landscape of Flavors at the moment, it seems like those pizzas could be sitting there for a while before someone orders one. But that’s not a problem with the pasta.
Anyway, the Pasta is highly recommended. I think the portion size is slightly smaller here as compared to Riverside, but it’s still a ton of food. I’d say it’s about as large of a portion as you can get of anything at a Disney quick service.
It’s getting a little darker, so we’ll head over to the Cars section. I wanted to get more shots, but it started raining.
The section is even prettier at night.
The Cozy Cone Motel sign spinning with bonus narration.
I had called this section “Cars Land for Poor People” and I’m sticking to it.
Cars definitely raised Lion King expectations to a level that it couldn’t reach. Lion King is still (arguably?) themed better than any of the other Values, but it’s certainly not this cool!
The Cone Pool looks great lit up.
Another example of the “No Climbing Please” signs mounted in front of all the characters.
As a bonus(!), we’ll take a look over the walls at the Mermaid section, which is scheduled to open September 15th.
It’s looking to have quite the number of props and characters. Full size: http://i.minus.com/i94DY2FepnAla.jpg.
That’s Ariel there in the middle, where I think the pool is situated.
Looking straight on, I love the lighting.
With the open less than a month away, they still have quite a bit of work to complete. That’s Ursula in the distance.
Zooming in on Ursula, she appears to have acquired some amount of damage.
And on King Triton opposite her.
Not sure if they dropped them or what.
Otherwise, the section is looking very good.
Each of these 864 regular rooms is connected with external walkways like the other Value resorts. I haven’t heard that hallway noise is a problem at the suites. Maybe if you’ve stayed in one, you could let us know if you heard kids screaming in the hallways at all hours of the night.
While Lion King didn’t impress quite as much as I was hoping, it’s still a nice addition to the resort. And for those looking for slightly quieter surroundings, both internally and externally, it may be the best choice. We’ll return when the walls at the Mermaid section come down.
Only 15 more weeks until our stay in the Little Mermaid section! Thanks for the pictures.
It all looks great, and now with those food pics I’m hungry – didn’t eat enough dinner, I guess. I wonder if I can find something Olive Garden good in the freezer…..no joke, that’s my fave chain restaurant.
Love the curved palm trees in the LM section, and also the lights that look like they’re at an old wharf or something.
Also also, I said it on twitter and i’ll mention it again – your CarsLand pics came out looking great, all the orange and blue is like an action movie or something. (link to Cracked.com if you have no idea what I’m talking about – the site can be NSFW, but this article is okay)
No wonder they don’t give you a cookie, Josh – taking pictures of CM’s gizmo’s. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Great to have you back – the snark has been missed. (“Olive Garden good” – this would be how the DH would judge it!)
“This is why we can’t have nice things”, I would think all the sue crazy people have brought on the plethora of do not climb signs . The Cars section looks really cool.
You gave a walking estimate to Lion King and I was just wondering how much longer it took you to get to the start of the LM section? Thanks!
Stayed in the Lion King section during opening weekend Aug 10 to 13. We were in bldg #10, in the last room of the wing that faces the parking lot. Initially, I was disappointed with our room because it was so far away but it turned out to be a great location. It was a short walk to the bus stop. We did not walk to the main building (Animation Hall) to get to the bus stop, we came around the opposite side-less than a two minute walk from our room. We heard no sounds from other rooms or from the hall, but I am not sure how many rooms near us were occupied. We also stayed at the Contemporary and AKL during this same trip, and the noise levels were much more noticeable at those resorts – from foot traffic and voices in the hallways to showers running and toilets flushing. The noise was not a issue at these other resorts, but because we had started our trip at AoA, I was aware of the difference. As Josh states, the LK section has quiet surroundings without being too far removed. Admittedly, I loved the theming of the Cars section best, though my family stated that they would rather be in LK due to its proximity to the bus stops. The food court options far surpass the quick service options we had at CR and AKL. I loved our three days at AoA!!! The suite was a treat for our family of four, we could not afford a suite anywhere else! Two bathrooms and separate beds for the kids was great!
Why is the Cars section better themed than the Lion King section?
All the leftover props from Carsland of course.
It’s crazy how often people get sick/pass out from the heat. Drink water, people! It’s really not a difficult concept.
I think I’d like the Lion King section. I prefer a hotel room far from pools and actual playgrounds. But I’m a huge Little Mermaid fan so I can’t wait to see how that section turns out.
It is very quiet in the suites themselves. We all slept very well and were never bothered by noise. The pools are fantastic. We loved it in the Cars section. Lion King looked very relaxing.
any idea if the Create – Your – Own – Pasta can be made with gluten free pasta?
So the picture of the blurry, yellow security CM was taking while running away from him? Were you climbing on the rocks, Josh? 🙂
Lisa, my son has a bunch of food allergies. In the past at other value resorts and restaurants throughout Disney, they did have gluten free pasta. So I’m guessing they will also have that at AofA.
I can safely say that “is it Olive Garden good? is a thought that has never entered my mind. Thanks for the update, Josh. Glad you had a nice visit. I’m looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us this fall.
I will be in the LK section in just 8 weeks. I purposely picked LK because I thought it would be quieter…my soon-to-be 6yo needs lots of sleep if she’s going to keep up with us! My older daughter, 13, wanted to stay in Nemo because of the big pool, but I convinced her that we’re only a few minutes walk away. Last time, we were in a room overlooking the bowling pin pool at Pop and it was a little noisy in the evenings. I did request building 10 thinking it would be closest to parking, as we’ll have a rental car with us. My younger daughter, who doesn’t know we’re going yet, is a big fan of Cars, but older DD and I opted for the more obnoxious colors of LK!
Jill Marie I agree. When we were there this past June we saw several people being treated due to the heat. One lady was collapsed in line. I see people on the forum with itineraries that have themselves in the park all day during the hottest months. Then they make comments about how the heat shouldn’t be a problem because they are from somewhere hot and are used to it. They fail to realize that when you live somewhere hot you are most likely not out in it for hours and walking miles each day.
Who in the world would design a playground where there is nothing to play on? And no climbing on the elephant skeleton? (which I find to be very creepy anyway) So what are the kids to play on? They need a jungle gym and some type of ‘fort” to play in and on. Whoever designed this obviously doesn’t have children. And the other suits that agreed, either don’t either, or spend more time in the office than with the kids or they would know better Stoopid suits.
Missed you Josh, glad you are baaack! I was running out of archives and yay for fresh reports!
Love the pics! We booked a Little Mermaid room for six nights in January. We’ve never paid rack rate for a room, and I’m sure there won’t be any AP discounts applicable to this, but this is my first time booking a value and I really can’t be upset over an entire week’s stay for $700. We plan on eating at LOF a LOT to make the most of the TIW card and making this our cheapest stay ever! They BETTER HAVE THOSE PENS IN JANUARY!
Also, I cannot wait to take a photo with that Scar statue.
You don’t have to have kids to know those faux playgrounds are a bad idea. I think it would be common sense.
I’m really excited that they have the pasta at AoA. We’re staying at Pop this winter and I really didn’t want to bus it over to Port Orleans Riverside just for the food court. Thanks “Josh”!
1. They missed the boat with the ‘playground’. They could have just had a really cool tree climbing thing….
2. We snuck into both pools this past month. What we didn’t know is that you need a key card to get into the REST ROOM inside the pool area!!!! I kept watching people walk up with kids and then wrestle with the door, stamp off back to their bag.
3 Faux Carsland was AMAZING. It looks much better in person.
Question: We stayed at the All Star Movies in March and my kids climbed all over the stuff in the Andy’s Room section… Isn’t that the point? Or did I just miss the signs.
ps. LOVE the blog!
Got my pen on Thursday night! Love it
Man, the Cars section at night is beyond awesome.
It’s funny how each section is scaled differently.
In Cars, we’re pretty much regular-sized.
In Lion King, I guess we’re supposed to see it from Timone’s point of view.
And in Nemo and especially Little Mermaid, we’re all basically krill.
We’re staying at LM in Feb. Happy about the external walkways.
My only explanation for the battle damage on Ursula and Triton is that the Imagineers got drunk one night while they were building them and said, “Hey…wouldn’t it be awesome if we made them fight?” And then spent the rest of the night throwing down bets on a couple of giant rock ’em sock ’em robots.
Great pictures of AoA. I’m still pondering that “playground” though. I’m just not sure who thought that was a good idea. I noticed in your Cars pictures that the lights on Doc Hudson’s car are not on like they are supposed to be. I hope those people staying in that section asked for a refund! 😉 Glad you are back!
You know, you hate to be the kind of person who complains about a playground at Disney World. But here I go… We spent months deciding which section we would stay in. We will probably never be able to afford a suite again, so it’s a big decision! My little 7yo girl finally fell in love with the “awesome” elephant graveyard concept art, so we booked it. On the bright side, I do love how the decor looks like a 70’s swinger’s den as imagined (imagineered?) by a toddler.
Ahhh we switched from Nemo to LK. We’ll be there this week. LK looks disappointing to me in comparison to the other areas. And that “playground”? DS7 just took one look at the concept art and said, “Sweet!” Well, maybe it could have been. And when he saw your picture of Scar, he said “I want to climb up and shake his paw!” :p Ah well, we will have a wonderful time and the big blue pool will knock his socks off.
Just stayed at LK, thanks for the review and letting us know about the close proximity to the bus stop!
That pasta looks really good!
We happened to visit on the opening day of the Lion King section. Loved the theming in the sections, especially Cars. Unfortunately, the pool in the Cars section looks very small.
As for the elephant graveyard, the funniest thing happened while we were there. A dad was taking his family’s picture. The two boys were all the way at the top and mom (carrying a baby) was up on the tusks. The kids wanted to get down because it was scary but he was yelling at them to stop being babies. A woman standing next to me said at the same time as I did, “Get it on video so there is proof when they sue Disney!”. Too funny! I foresee a fence around that area by the time I return to WDW in March!
I’m not one for letting my kids climb all over everything in sight, but I do think when something is billed as a playground, it does conjure certain expectations. I mean, technically, there IS a ground, and you CAN play on it. (eyeroll). I have considered switching but I doubt I will. I find Nemo too bright and pool centered. I like the LK rooms better but the Cars everything else better. Thing is, if I stay at LK, I can visit Cars everything else, but if I stay Cars, I can’t go into the LK suites. At least that’s how I am rationalizing it to myself. I think?
“2. We snuck into both pools this past month. What we didn’t know is that you need a key card to get into the REST ROOM inside the pool area!!!! I kept watching people walk up with kids and then wrestle with the door, stamp off back to their bag.”
This is too funny. Disney sure knows how to stick it to the riff raff from POP Century. I guess all those kids are just going to have to pee in the pool when they sneak into AoA pools.
I cant imagine that any imagineer said “Let’s make a playground that you can’t actually play on.” I wonder if they got it mostly done before law team said “oh no, it is too high to not have guard rails, you can’t let people on that” Any playground equipment that tall has rails and they may have decided that they would detract too much from the overall appearance. Regardless, it is a major fail.
Thanks Josh. We’ll be staying in LM starting on Sept. 29th. I can’t wait. Due to doing one of the fridge swaps at POP (now no longer needed) for over 5 years we’ve been staying at POP every trip for the past 5+ years. I am so excited to stay somewhere else. Can’t wait to try the food court. I agree about the lack of water/pool at LK. Doesn’t make sense to me.
I just noticed that the Cozy Cone Motel sign and the office building are exactly the same as the ones at Carsland at DCA. I guess that saved them a little money on the plans! We’re going for a 1/2 day visit to Carsland today. Hope most of the tourist have returned home for school. 🙂
I’m with what Rowan said … I bet they got the Elephant Graveyard playground almost done when the liability people noticed and had palpitations.
On a related note, maybe I can get a Disney “no climbing” sign for the maple tree in our backyard. My girls like to climb it. This weekend, they decided climbing to the very top of that 60′ tall tree was a good idea. They are now prohibited because they completely lack sense. Falling off the top of those rocks would be nothing compared to falling out of that tree.
Thanks for the pics of the Little Mermaid section. Pretty sure my 2 yo wouldn’t want to leave the resort and would just post herself right next to the Prince Eric statue.
Josh, is it a reasonable walk from the LIttle Mermaid section to the main pool (read: and pool bar)? 5-10 or 10-15? Thanks.
We actually did switch our reservation from Lion King to Cars. I explained to the CM on the phone exactly what our issues were. While she was, of course, careful not to directly denigrate the mouse, she also did not sound a bit surprised.
Just back from a week-long stay in the Cars section. Beautifully themed, and even better at night. I tried my hand at some “artsy” photography, but alas I’m no Josh. The hallways were relatively quiet. You could hear a screaming kid if he was screaming when he walked past your door, but that was about it. We heard no noise from the other rooms, except for an occasional flush from the uber-powerful, commercial-grade, hyper-strong toilets. They were so loud they “literally” scared my 4-year-old.
As for the food court, I’m not sure how long it will retain the diversity that it does. While we were there, it seemed there was always a long line at the pasta/pizza station and at the burger station, but almost never anyone at all at the tandoori or sandwich stations. Since this resort so strongly appeals to families with kids, I’m not sure how long they’ll keep serving Mongolian beef stir-fry instead of switching over to more “family-friendly” fare. I applaud the diverse choices, but based on traffic levels it looked like people just want “normal” vacation food when they’re on vacation. I also worry about the ability of the food court to keep up once the resort is fully open and gets close to capacity. Maybe we just went at off-peak times when things weren’t being pre-made, but the service was slow several times. For example, I appreciate fresh-made food, but when it takes 12 minutes to get a Mickey waffle, that’s probably a bit much. Regardless, AoA is an incredible resort, and we absolutely loved it!
I wish they’d order a couple hundred more of those “No Climbing” signs and put them up on the queue dividers in the parks.
“I’m a sucker for trees, plants, lushness, and baboons.”
Was certain I read “lushes” the 1st time, which seems to be accurate, too. They must have been waiting at the airport for you like they used to for the Beatles.