Art of Animation, one of the most popular resorts on Disney property is bound to come along with some rumors. Rumors and popularity go hand-in-hand, but we need to bust these Art of Animation rumors so you know the facts before you head on you vacation. Especially a rumor that deals with the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites!
Walking at Disney’s Art of Animation is Unbearable
Let me preface this remor with the fact that our family doesn’t mind walking.
Additionally, we bring strollers for both of our boys. They are definitely our weakest links, when it comes to walking, so we combat that with a little stroller convenience. The combo of these two facts results in us not minding having to walk a little ways to get to our rooms.
On our last visit we spent a few nights in an Art of Animation Little Mermaid room, which are the farthest away from the bus stops. Translated, this means you walk to the most to and from the front of the resort in order to get to your room, food and transportation services.
Truth: It wasn’t that bad.
Honestly, we enjoyed the walk, even after a long day at the parks.
Where else do you get to enjoy larger than life theming of some of your favorite Disney characters? Not too many places. Even though we were tired from our daily park adventures, we always found the walk pleasant.
Especially because at night Florida can get a little cooler, which made the walk a nice way to end our day.
Little Mermaid Rooms and Car Suites Rooms
Additionally, on the same trip mentioned above, while we stayed in the Little Mermaid rooms, our extended family members stayed in the Cars Suites.
If you’re not familiar with the layout of the Art of Animation resort, let me shine a little light on this scenario. The Little Mermaid rooms are on one end of the resort, while the Cars Suites are on the complete opposite end. The Lion King Suites and the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites are stacking in between the two. The Cars Suites are the farthest away from the Little Mermaid rooms.
Guess what? That walk never felt too far for us either. Too many fun characters keeping us occupied!
Take this information with a grain of salt. If you know your family hates walking, but really want to stay at the Art of Animation resort, book the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites. The Art of Animation Finding Nemo suites are the closest rooms to the food and transportation. In other words, the Disney essentials.
Seriously though, the other rooms and suites on property aren’t too much of a walk!
Only Guests Staying in the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites Can Swim in the Big Blue Pool
False.
Any guest staying at the Art of Animation resort can swim in the Big Blue Pool! Not just guests staying at the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites!
The Big Blue pool is the largest pool on Disney property and has the cutest Finding Nemo theming. It’s a zero entry and proximity to the Drop Off bar make it a star attraction at the Art of Animation resort.
No guest staying on property has to worry about being excluded from splashing around in this super sweet swimming hole. Plus, right by the pool there is a sweet splash pad and a play area.
Other Art of Animation Swimming Pools
In addition to Big Blue pool, there are two other pools on property: the Flippin’ Fins pool and the Cozy Cone pool.
The coolest of the other two is the Cozy Cones, or Cars, pool. Mostly because of the “Cozy Cones’ positioned around the pool.
The cones act as little cabanas and are first come, first served. Be sure to show up early if you plan to spend the entire day at the pool. You won’t be able to beat the shade provided by the cones!
The Little Mermaid pool, or the Flippin’ Fins pool, was the pool closest to our room, and the pool we never ended up using! The splash pad feature attracted us to the Big Blue pool by the Finding Nemo Suites more often than not.
On the plus side, the Flippin’ Fins pool always seemed to be more on the quiet side! Of course, that could all change in 2020 when the Big Blue pool is under construction for a little while.
Little Mermaid Rooms are Larger than Standard Disney Value Hotel Rooms
Okay, so this Art of Animation rumor is actually true. The Little Mermaid rooms are 277 square feet where rooms at Disney’s Pop Century and the All-Star Resorts are 260 square feet. I included this detail in the list still the same because the difference really isn’t noticeable.
If you’re like most guests, you come down to Disney World for a vacation and then head back home. You stay at one Disney hotel before you head back home.
In comparison to someone who might have the opportunity to stay in a Pop century room one night and then a Little Mermaid room the next night, really feeling the difference in the sizes. Odds are, you won’t notice a 17 square foot difference. We didn’t when we stayed.
Therefore, although the rooms are truthfully bigger, they aren’t big enough to make a really big difference.
With the Little Mermaid theming, two double beds, a curtain separating the sink area from the beds (perfect for early morning run prep!), the Little Mermaid rooms more than met the needs for our family of four.
It’s Not Possible to Get Many Miles in When Running on Disney Property
Okay, I might have made this rumor up myself, but in the past, I’ve had trouble logging all my miles when staying at certain Disney resorts.
Mostly because I have found it difficulty to get off of the actual property at some resorts. Due to the lack of sidewalks in certain areas, things would often be a little tricky (and possibly unsafe).
Art of Animation, however, provided me wrong. I was able to get about 4-6 miles in during my days at Art of Animation. Weaving in and out of the Little Mermaid rooms, to the Lion King Suites, over to the Finding Nemo suites and ending at the Cars Suites made for lots of ground!
The best part about running at Art of Animation resort is it is super close to Pop Century. That means, you can run from Art of Animation, across the Generation Gap bridge, and end at Pop Century.
Plus, Pop Century is home to a little more shade and lots of larger than life toys to ‘enjoy’.
With a little fancy weaving in and out and a few loops, my run seemed to breeze by most morning.
Running at Art of Animation Tips
Be sure you do your runs early when staying at the Art of Animation. Due to the size of the resort, it houses a lot of guests. Yes, kind of an obvious statement, but this detail will impact your running.
If you run early enough, before everyone else wake, you’ll have more space to yourself on the running trail.
Run a little later in the morning and it can be dicey. Imagine as though you go for a run while raining and you’re trying to dodge the raindrops so you don’t get wet. That’s what it’s like when you’re trying to avoid guests in the later part of the morning. The sidewalks get extremely crowded and it doesn’t take much to run into another guest.
Head out early, avoid the crowds and you’ll also be doing yourself another favor. You’ll be avoiding the Florida heat! Once the sun starts shining in central Florida, you won’t want to find yourself pounding the pavement.
Word of caution when completing the above suggested early morning runs: stay alert!
Although guests won’t be as plentiful in the early mornings, cast members will be. Cast members get up and start working even earlier than most guests on Disney property. Moving from one end of the resort to the other end often involves their use of a golf cart.
You’re probably already starting to get the picture. A fast moving golf cart plus a (possibly) sleep hazed runner who is moving through the shadows, might not be the best combo. Stay alert, stay obvious and go purchase some reflective gear. You’ll thank me later!
My favorite, small piece of the reflective gear can be found on Amazon. It’s lightweight and easy to pack as well. Click this link or the picture below for more details.
Oh, and watch out for little lizards. They are EVERYWHERE and love to run under your feet!
Dole Whip is Located on Property at the Art of Animation Resort
Before heading to this resort, somewhere through the grapevine I learned that you could purchase a Dole Whip at the Art of Animation Resort. If you know me, you know I was pumped. Almost as much as I was when I discovered they could be purchased at the Polynesian. Especially when I learned about the Poly I was 13 weeks pregnant at the time and all I wanted was a Dole Whip.
It turns out I was fed some false information.
You CANNOT purchase a Dole Whip at the Art of Animation Resort. The golden tower of frozen dessert is nowhere to be found among the color characters and talking seagulls.
At least not in it’s normal ‘form’.
There is, however, a pretty delicious Pineapple Paradise smoothie available.
Pineapple Paradise smoothie is located inside the food court area. Without Disney coming out and saying it, the Pineapple Paradise smoothie is basically a liquid version of a Dole Whip.
Somewhere along the grapevine that I was listening to, the word smoothie was dropped from the Dole Whip smoothie description.
I definitely still prefer a regular Dole Whip or Dole Whip float over the smoothie, but I also wouldn’t turn it down.
Conclusion for 5 Rumors at Art of Animation Resort in Disney World
There ya go! The top 5 rumors at Disney’s Art of Animation busted! Especially the case when learning about how you don’t need to stay at the Art of Animation Finding Nemo Suites in order to swim in the Big Blue pool! It’s open to everyone!
Plus, the fact that you can enjoy a form of Dole Whip magic without ever having to leave your resort!
Learn more about the different value resorts including more about the Art of Animation resort, why the All-Star Resorts have amazing pools and Why a Resort Day might just be the ticket to a happier trip! Click on any of the the links to learn more!
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