Disney's Art of Animation Resort

The Resort Overview

Disney's Art of Animation Resort is a Value resort built entirely around large-scale, movie-poster-style theming from four Disney and Pixar films: Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Each themed wing surrounds its own courtyard pool and features oversized, hand-painted character murals and sculptural icons — a 41-foot-tall Lightning McQueen greets guests in the Cars section.

The resort's most distinctive feature is its family suites, occupying three of the four wings and sleeping up to six guests with a separate bedroom area and kitchenette — a rarity at the Value tier, where rooms are typically standard hotel-style doubles. The Little Mermaid wing offers traditional standard rooms at a lower price point.

Dining & Amenities

Landscape of Flavors is the resort's food-court-style quick-service venue with five distinct stations serving burgers, pizza, pasta, and Asian-inspired dishes — generally regarded as one of the stronger quick-service food courts among the Value resorts. There's no table-service restaurant on-site, standard for the Value tier.

Recreation centers on four themed pools, led by the Finding Nemo-themed Big Blue Pool — Walt Disney World's largest resort pool — with underwater speakers playing film audio clips. Disney Skyliner access provides a fast, scenic gondola ride directly to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, a meaningfully faster commute than the bus-only transportation at other Value resorts.

Booking Strategy

• Book a Little Mermaid standard room for the lowest Value-tier price, or a family suite if traveling with 5-6 people who'd otherwise need two standard rooms elsewhere.
• Skyliner access to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios is a genuine advantage — factor heavily if those are your priority parks; Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom still require buses.
• Best fit for larger families needing suite-style space on a budget, and anyone who wants bold, whimsical movie theming.
• The resort is large and spread out with no monorail or boat options — pack extra walking time between your room, the pool, and the bus stops.