Who has stayed at AoA?

[arch01]

Last night I ran my Disney plans past DH and he basically was eh, whatever you want about them. It looks like we'll be there over DS' birthday!

A couple questions...

If we go to, say, MK in the morning and come back to the hotel-can we get back in in the evening? We won't have a park hopper.

DS will be turning 5. Right now my tentative plan is to come back on 12/23, but that puts us with only 4 days in the parks-unless we leave late on the 23rd, drive half way, then stay in a hotel somewhere (it's an 8hr drive total, which we're totally fine with doing, just not after a day in a park-and we have a free Holiday Inn night). Would you do the extra full day in a park since it's free-or is 4 days enough? I feel like the answer is yes, do the free day, but I'm not sure if 4 days is enough.

Just how bad are the busy days? If we were to go earlier in the month it'd be "green" days-if we're there on DS' birthday, they're "red" days. 

[ilikedonuts]

Use as many days as possible that week. It will get more and more crowded the closer to Christmas it gets. With fastpasses and gong at rope drop you should still be able to get plenty done.

[Amy]

Yes you can return to the same park after a break.

I'd do the extra day, no question.

[curbsideprophet]

Do you want to visit all the parks? I think you will want more than 1 MK day with a five year old.

[lala]

I'd rather be there earlier and not be there on his birthday, personally. If you stick with those dates id definitely squeeze in as much time as possible.

[arch01]

We'll do 1 at Animal Kingdom, 2 at Epcot and 2 at MK. We're skipping Hollywood Studios.

[ribollita]

I've stayed at AoA and loved it.
I would go earlier in the month though. Aren't hotel rates vastly different between those two periods?
Definitely an extra park day!

[arch01]

Mar 28, 2016 11:19:50 GMT -5 ribollita said:

I've stayed at AoA and loved it.
I would go earlier in the month though. Aren't hotel rates vastly different between those two periods?
Definitely an extra park day!

It's about $600. I'm SUPER torn about going earlier in the month. I cannot decide how much it really matters to be there on DS' birthday vs. not. I'm not sure if we'll ever do Disney again, which makes me think that being there *on* his birthday will be worth the extra money.

[curbsideprophet]

I would go earlier in the month if you can. You can always celebrate his birthday a couple weeks early. Crowds would be my determining factor.

[ilikedonuts]

Mar 28, 2016 12:55:04 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Mar 28, 2016 11:19:50 GMT -5 ribollita said:

I've stayed at AoA and loved it.
I would go earlier in the month though. Aren't hotel rates vastly different between those two periods?
Definitely an extra park day!

It's about $600. I'm SUPER torn about going earlier in the month. I cannot decide how much it really matters to be there on DS' birthday vs. not. I'm not sure if we'll ever do Disney again, which makes me think that being there *on* his birthday will be worth the extra money.

We have done Disney 7-10 days before my girls birthdays (they are a day apart) before. They still got the pins and we sang to them. It was still super fun.

[ribollita]

Mar 28, 2016 12:55:04 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Mar 28, 2016 11:19:50 GMT -5 ribollita said:

I've stayed at AoA and loved it.
I would go earlier in the month though. Aren't hotel rates vastly different between those two periods?
Definitely an extra park day!

It's about $600. I'm SUPER torn about going earlier in the month. I cannot decide how much it really matters to be there on DS' birthday vs. not. I'm not sure if we'll ever do Disney again, which makes me think that being there *on* his birthday will be worth the extra money.

I would go on the earlier side. We have celebrated my nephew's birthday twice there about two weeks early once and two weeks late once (3rd and 4th birthdays) and he didn't mind a bit. I mean you don't want your only trip to be super crowded, right??

[arch01]

Mar 28, 2016 14:26:56 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Mar 28, 2016 12:55:04 GMT -5 arch01 said:

It's about $600. I'm SUPER torn about going earlier in the month. I cannot decide how much it really matters to be there on DS' birthday vs. not. I'm not sure if we'll ever do Disney again, which makes me think that being there *on* his birthday will be worth the extra money.

I would go on the earlier side. We have celebrated my nephew's birthday twice there about two weeks early once and two weeks late once (3rd and 4th birthdays) and he didn't mind a bit. I mean you don't want your only trip to be super crowded, right??

DH is pushing for the earlier side now as well from both the financial aspect as well as the crowds. We'll fall in the projected blackout dates for free dining, but fingers crossed we'll fall in the eligible dates for 10-30% off the room. I just need to pick dates now. 

[lala]

Yes, go earlier. Less crowds, less money and still full birthday celebration! We went 5 days after dd's birthday last year and she wore a birthday button all week.

[littlemermaid]

We stayed at AofA and were in the Finding Nemo building. Really fun place to stay. The suites are very spacious with 2 full baths!! I would go earlier in the month.

[nonsensetomfoolery]

We stayed in AoA in February. It was fine! Very easy to get back and forth to the parks, the food court had lots of options and the rooms were good size. We stayed in a cars suite and could see the fireworks from MK (I think)from our room. It was the little one's fifth birthday and she had a blast. It made it extra special, I think.

[heagen]

Mar 29, 2016 8:51:40 GMT -5 nonsensetomfoolery said:

We stayed in AoA in February. It was fine! Very easy to get back and forth to the parks, the food court had lots of options and the rooms were good size. We stayed in a cars suite and could see the fireworks from MK (I think)from our room. It was the little one's fifth birthday and she had a blast. It made it extra special, I think.

We are staying in a Cars Suite in 2 weeks. Do you mind sharing which section you were in to see fireworks from the hotel? I'm wondering if we should try to request a certain room area. TIA!

[ribollita]

Mar 29, 2016 9:29:22 GMT -5 heagen said:

Mar 29, 2016 8:51:40 GMT -5 nonsensetomfoolery said:

We stayed in AoA in February. It was fine! Very easy to get back and forth to the parks, the food court had lots of options and the rooms were good size. We stayed in a cars suite and could see the fireworks from MK (I think)from our room. It was the little one's fifth birthday and she had a blast. It made it extra special, I think.

We are staying in a Cars Suite in 2 weeks. Do you mind sharing which section you were in to see fireworks from the hotel? I'm wondering if we should try to request a certain room area. TIA!

If you are looking for a good room request, I loved our location. We were on the ground floor of the building exiting toward the main lobby. A number of times we got trays of food from the food court and ate it in our suite at the table while getting ready for the day or for bed. It worked out great and was a very convenient location.

[heagen]

Mar 29, 2016 9:31:47 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Mar 29, 2016 9:29:22 GMT -5 heagen said:

We are staying in a Cars Suite in 2 weeks. Do you mind sharing which section you were in to see fireworks from the hotel? I'm wondering if we should try to request a certain room area. TIA!

If you are looking for a good room request, I loved our location. We were on the ground floor of the building exiting toward the main lobby. A number of times we got trays of food from the food court and ate it in our suite at the table while getting ready for the day or for bed. It worked out great and was a very convenient location.

Thank you!

[nonsensetomfoolery]

Mar 29, 2016 9:29:22 GMT -5 heagen said:

Mar 29, 2016 8:51:40 GMT -5 nonsensetomfoolery said:

We stayed in AoA in February. It was fine! Very easy to get back and forth to the parks, the food court had lots of options and the rooms were good size. We stayed in a cars suite and could see the fireworks from MK (I think)from our room. It was the little one's fifth birthday and she had a blast. It made it extra special, I think.

We are staying in a Cars Suite in 2 weeks. Do you mind sharing which section you were in to see fireworks from the hotel? I'm wondering if we should try to request a certain room area. TIA!

We were in the building closest to the lobby area and closest to the parking lot. I think it was building 1 and room 1608, maybe? 1616? 

[heagen]

Mar 29, 2016 10:53:16 GMT -5 nonsensetomfoolery said:

Mar 29, 2016 9:29:22 GMT -5 heagen said:

We are staying in a Cars Suite in 2 weeks. Do you mind sharing which section you were in to see fireworks from the hotel? I'm wondering if we should try to request a certain room area. TIA!

We were in the building closest to the lobby area and closest to the parking lot. I think it was building 1 and room 1608, maybe? 1616? 

Thank you!

[ribollita]

Mar 29, 2016 9:43:57 GMT -5 heagen said:

Mar 29, 2016 9:31:47 GMT -5 ribollita said:

If you are looking for a good room request, I loved our location. We were on the ground floor of the building exiting toward the main lobby. A number of times we got trays of food from the food court and ate it in our suite at the table while getting ready for the day or for bed. It worked out great and was a very convenient location.

Thank you!

I think we were in 1512 which is close to the other poster's room. I liked that building location!

[heagen]

nonsensetomfoolery , @mrsbecky , ribollita ,

I found a map with building numbers here and then added "ground floor" and "near transportation" to my room requests.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[egishere]

We are staying there in Sept - Nemo suite.

How long does it take to get to the parks on the buses? Anyone remember approx times?

[nonsensetomfoolery]

Mar 29, 2016 11:19:37 GMT -5 egishere said:

We are staying there in Sept - Nemo suite.

How long does it take to get to the parks on the buses? Anyone remember approx times?

The only thing that was annoying about the bus is that (it felt like) the waiting area/line for the bus for AoA was always the last one in the parking lot. If the corrals were labeled 1-47, the AoA would be number 47. Not a huge deal, obviously someone has to be last, but when we were ready to get on the bus it was a bit of a pain.