On my September trip to Walt Disney World I stayed at the new Art of Animation Resort. This is the last post in a series on the resort. The first post was a general overview of the resort and the common areas. The second post is about the layout and function of the family suites, it is loaded with photos of the Lion King suites. In this post I want to discuss the theming of the resort with an emphasis on the Cars and Little Mermaid sections. I wont be covering the rooms at the Little Mermaid section, they are the same as at Pop Century and I didn't get to see them to see the enhanced theming there.
After checking in to the resort the directions to my room were to swim to the left, it seems the Finding Nemo section is outside the lobby. Disney really embraces the theming of the resort, even down to telling you to swim through the Nemo section and calling the buildings in the Cars section Garages.
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| Wheel Well Garage |
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| Tow Mater Garage |
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| Luigi's Garage |
As a Value resort Disney did stick with the larger then life icons that are used at the other value resorts, but they've stepped it up a notch here. At each area the icons are to scale of one of the main characters in that theme and include more decorative items then at other value resorts.
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| Crush |
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| King Triton |
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| Ursala |
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| Ariel |
The exerior of the buildings are unique in this resort too, this is contingent on the fact that it is the only value resort with interior hallways. On the sides facing out of the resort there are larger then life black and white animations. On the sides facing in there are colored images representing the films, my room was placed right where a giraffe was drawn, it's like someone called ahead and told them who I am. The public places in each section of the resort are themed, in Cars the walkways are roads, in Lion King they are trails, similar to what they did in the Animal Kingdom.
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| Little Mermaid Exterior |
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| Mermaid building end |
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| Lion King Building end |
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| Cars building end |
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| Cars drawings |
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| Exterior of a Finding Nemo building |
Inside the buildings the carpets were special to the theme, in the Lion King it was a dirt trail with different animal prints. There is also art work representing the films in the main entrance areas of the building and on each floor. The cars rooms have traffic cones and the hallway carpet has hubcaps and checkered flags. The hubcaps are from the cars in Cars.
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| Lion King Hallway Carpet |
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| Cars Room Carpet |
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| Cars Hallway Carpet |
Inside the rooms the layouts are exactly the same, but the furniture and fixtures are different for each theme. Typically in a value resort there would be a picture, the comforter and maybe a few other little touches designed around the theme of the resort area. However, at the Art of Animation, every piece is themed to the resort. Lamps, mirrors, carpet, even the furniture and shower tile is specific to the theme.
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| Cars room number signs |
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| Cars Living Room, notice the couch, Lamp and Coffee Table |
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| Cars Shower Curtan |
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| Cars bed, notice the headboard and lamp |
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| Cars Bathroom |
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| Cars Bathroom |
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| Cars Kitchenette |
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| Sleepy Mater |
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| Cars Kitchen Table |
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| Cars Hallway Lights |
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| Lion King Living Room Lamp |
There are some other nice touches at the resort. One example is the license plate of Mater, it'a reference to the Animation 101 course all Pixar animators must take.
This might be my new favorite resort. Depending on my group size and prices, I would always put this resort on my list for my travel agent to look into. I hope this resort sets a new standard for Disney for improved functionality and theming.
And for those of you who are wondering at the orignal plan for this resort as the second half of Pop Century, the Lion King would have been the 70's and Mermaid the 40's.
