WDW – tommi blue

August 19, 2012August 19, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort — Part 5

Whew! What a resort! And there are 2 more sections to visit… The Lion King suites are open now, but I didn’t have time to visit 🙁 The Little Mermaid section will be standard rooms, and opening soon. We have reservations there in December, but I have to say that I am seriously considering switching to back to POP or another resort. Even though it would be fun to stay in those old shells across the lake (and the rooms look adorable!), they are very far away from Animation Hall. The walkways were closed, so I couldn’t measure, but… the Mermaid rooms look to be farther away than any of the POP rooms. And I have stayed in a POP room that was actually outside the gates of Disney (seriously – you could see the Mickey arches from the room). We stayed in the 50’s section of POP, which is pretty remote itself, and the walk across Hourglass Lake, through the Nemo section to Animation Hall was closer than the Mermaid rooms appear to be. We’ll see…

I’ll get more pics of all the sections for you soon. In the meantime, here are a few more:

ArtofAnimation_20 — Another view of the bus stops

The bus stops are very nice with the shelters. Over at POP standing out in the beating sun and pouring rain can be miserable. I’ve seen reports that POP and AoA are sharing buses, but that was not my experience. Each destination has individual stops for each and while we were there in August, there was no sharing. We did, however, use the AoA buses a few times as the room we were staying at in POP was about equidistant between the 2 halls.

ArtofAnimation_100 — I love Disney buses!

Cheers!

August 19, 2012August 19, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort — Part 4 Cars

If you visit the new Art of Animation Resort at Walt Disney World, you will likely find yourself right in the heart of Radiator Springs – the cutest little town in Carburetor County!

ArtofAnimation_70 — Radiator Springs – the cutest little town in Carburetor County

So much fun!!

August 19, 2012August 23, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort — Part 3 Finding Nemo

The closest guest room section to Animation Hall is themed after Finding Nemo. Coming out of Animation Hall, you will find yourself looking right at the Big Blue Pool.

(I just noticed that a couple captions are linking to the wrong pictures – sorry for the confusion. Will fix that ASAP)

Just to the right is the Drop Off Pool Bar, featuring these tasty items, as well as your favorite beverages:

I’ve heard rumors that this mug refill station is open 24 hours – or at least really late. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten back to the resorts after the food courts are closed – this would be so handy.

ArtofAnimation_84 — 24 hour mug refills?

Some more pool pics…

It wouldn’t be Finding Nemo without these guys

You never know who’s hanging around

Most of AoA is made up of family suites. The doors are inside, rather than outside like the other value resorts.

ArtofAnimation_69 — Finding Nemo Hallway

ArtofAnimation_67 — Cool carpet – is that a hidden Mickey?

ArtofAnimation_68 — The room numbers are starfish!

All of the buildings have adorable sketches

ArtofAnimation_30 — Even pretty in the rain

ArtofAnimation_78 — That’s a big Mr. Ray!

ArtofAnimation_79 — The Schoolyard Sprayground

And a couple night shots…

ArtofAnimation_12 — So nice to come home to

ArtofAnimation_16 — The Righteous Reef Playground

And that’s the Finding Nemo section – buildings 4 & 5 – of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

Next up? Cars!

August 18, 2012August 19, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort — Part 1

For years, I’ve looked across Hourglass Lake at the creepy remains of what was meant to be the other half of Disney’s POP Century Resort – The Legendary Years…

POP Century represents the 1950’s through the 1990’s. The Legendary Years would have been the 1900’s through the 1940’s, but the project was abandoned around 2001. I’ve read conflicting reports about why the resort was never completed, with most saying that it was due to the reduction of visitors after 9/11. Whatever the reason, there has been a mirror image resort sitting there for over 10 years – the main building and a few shells of guest rooms way over yonder. The bridge over Hourglass Lake (Generation Gap) ended in a wall.

Generation Gap Bridge (I wonder if they will rename it?)

Then… the rumors started and the construction crews arrived…

And just like that – the 1900’s to 1940’s were gone…

The Legendary Years were scrapped, and the new family resort, Disney’s art of ANIMATION was born.

I have to tell you, it’s really weird standing on the “other side” of the bridge looking back at POP.

And in a few months, we are scheduled to stay in those creepy empty shells that are now the single rooms of the Little Mermaid section.

And now for what you’ve been waiting for: pics of the resort! I will review the food court in another post soon. The Cars and Finding Nemo sections have been open for a month or so and the Lion King just opened – I’ll get pictures of that for you next month. Enjoy!

ArtofAnimation_104 — Love the building deco

ArtofAnimation_102 — The bus stops have shelters over them – nice touch. Wish POP had that.

Next post, we’ll go inside Animation Hall!

February 3, 2012February 3, 2012

‘Ohana Breakfast

One of the great things about Walt Disney World (& Disneyland) is the food. There’s always something new to try and something to look forward to on your next visit. There’s a whole community of Disney foodies out there (Hi!), but the food is still probably the least photographed part of Disney.

I’ve taken a picture of just about everything we’ve eaten at Disney in the past 6 years or so. We, being my Disney buddy, the lovely Lady – aka my mom… & me. (and various other friends and family) I love looking at the food pics others post, as well as remembering my own experience. I hope you all enjoy this segment, and if you find it useful in your Disney planning – even better!

Let’s randomly start with the Best Friends Breakfast at ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, featuring Lilo & Stitch. This is a wildly popular character breakfast – served family style.

As you pass the imposing Tiki, your host grabs a basket of sweet breads and rolls (seen above) and escorts you to into the bustling dining room full of kids, characters and fun!

When we were seated, the server informed us that they were out of the signature fruit bread (even though there were 2 hours left for breakfast). The Lady was very disappointed, and, in true Disney fashion, a couple pieces magically appeared to turn her frown upside down. 🙁 – 🙂

And then comes Lilo’s special juice blend. Mango and Guava, I think…

Chances are, a character or two will stop by the table before the really good stuff comes – a skillet full of goodness. Mickey Waffles, sweet sausages, bacon, eggs and more!

Ohana_skillet — Wait, where are my Mickey waffles?

The food keeps coming, as long as you can keep eating. And if you clean your plate…

You just might get a surprise…