If you’re planning a trip to Disney World, you’ve no doubt already started to think about where you want to stay.
Art of Animation Resort
If you’re on a budget, you may be looking at Disney’s value resorts, which include Disney’s All-Star Resorts, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. But believe it or not, not all value resorts are the same, and the biggest differences have nothing to do with theming. Now, Art of Animation is a beautifully-themed resort, but there’s something you need to know about it: It may not be a great value, despite what you’ve been told.
Okay, so a little background. Art of Animation Resort is themed to celebrate, well…animation — just like its name says. It has some wonderfully themed sections themed to Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Little Mermaid. And in true Disney fashion, the theming is ON POINT. Like we said — this resort is so much fun!
Finding Nemo section
Like other value resorts, it has a shop where you can buy souvenirs and necessities. There’s also a food court, Landscape of Flavors, (which used to be unique from other value court food courts but has since taken a nose dive into nothing more than standard Disney food court fare). There are also three pools. So overall, it’s very similar to Disney’s other value resorts.
Little Mermaid section
So what separates Art of Animation from other value resorts? Well, it has access to a Skyliner Station, which connects the hotel to EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and other Skyliner resorts. That is the BIG appeal of this hotel location. However, the hotel does offer family suites — in fact, the only section of the hotel that has standard hotel rooms is The Little Mermaid section.
Skyliner Station at Art of Animation
So being that it IS so similar to the other value resorts, and being that it IS a value resort, you might think this hotel is comparable in price to other value resorts. Well, if you think that, you would be wrong!
Lion King section
Although you might not expect Art of Animation to be comparable in price to Disney’s All-Star Resorts, which only have Disney bus transportation options, you might think that Art of Animation would AT LEAST cost around the same as Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which shares the Skyliner station with Art of Animation. But nope, that is not the case!
Pop Century
Believe it or not, Art of Animation is actually the most expensive value resort on Disney World property. When you look for a standard room for value resorts at Disney World (for our example, we were looking at early December 2024), you’ll see that Pop Century is $222 per night.
©Disney
The same room at Art of Animation for the same dates is $275 per night! The All-Star Resorts are $175 per night. Now, it’s understandable that Pop Century and Art of Animation cost more due to their Skyliner access, but why is Art of Animation more expensive? They offer the same access to the Skyliner. They both have great theming. Their standard rooms are similar in size. The food courts offer almost exactly the same menus.
The Little Mermaid Standard Room at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Of course, if you require a family suite, the Art of Animation might be the perfect fit for you, but if you’re just looking for a standard room near a Skyliner station, we’d suggest booking Pop Century instead. If you ever wanted to check out the theming at Art of Animation, it’s a quick walk from Pop Century.
Art of Animation Resort
So keep that in mind before you book that value resort stay because you could just save some money by NOT staying at Art of Animation.
Stay tuned to DFB for more!
The PROS And CONS Of Staying At Disney World’s Value Resorts
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All-Star Music and All-Star Movies are “out in the Boondocks”, and separated from the rest of the WDW complex. Whether you use buses or a rental car, it’s a signigcant trip to the rest of Walt Disney World. Art of Animation is signicantly closer and as you mention has the Skyliner. In my (not-so-humble) opinion you should not stay at the All-Stars without a car, either personal or rental. Personally I wouldn’t stay at them even with a car, and even if they were free — just too much trouble.