Originally Posted By jkayjs We did our walk about @ AoA yesterday to check it out for our trip end of Sept. I was pleasantly surprised & would go so far as to say Disney hit it out of the park with this one! The theming is so immersive it looks like you're in the movie. The green areas are massive but varied & spot on for each given themed area. Couldn't get down to the Little Mermaid section because of construction barriers. Perhaps the biggest & best surprise was the food court. I'm sure it is quite large but due to the way they constructed it in pods if you will it has a more intimate feel. The menus were anything but standard food court. They were varied & interesting & not overly priced, by Disney standards that is. We shared a frozen fruit drink that was $4 something & really good. We had one @ the Premium Outlet mall on our last trip that was over $7 & not nearly as good & no bigger(I wouldn't have paid it but my husband who never asks for anything wanted it)! We talked to several families about the suites & they found them roomy enough & really enjoyed the kitchenette. I have read complaints about the comfort of the beds but the folks we spoke to didn't notice it. We'll see come Sept. All in all it was a Really cute resort with super fun theming that we're looking forward to experiencing first hand. And may I add it was a real joy to see Disney at it's best again. Yes I know it's a value resort but I mean it when I say the others pale in comparison. Now for the disclaimer...this is my opinion only I do not or have I ever worked for Disney & I am not infected with Pixie Dust!
Originally Posted By sjhym333 We walked it a couple of weeks ago and agree. We haven't been fans of the value resorts, but this one is truly wonderful. We had lunch in the food court. They had one menu that was mostly Tandoori meals and it was great.
Originally Posted By jkayjs We saw that menu it looked interesting glad to hear it was good. The sandwich menu was a surprise & treat as well.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I looked online at the pictures of the rooms. I have some questions about the tables converting into beds. Do the tables themselves fold up and a murphy bed come down from the wall unit? In all the table/ bed conversion sorta makes sense, but looks kinda complicated.
Originally Posted By Indigo Converting the bed takes less than 40 seconds. We recorded the process here: <a href="http://youtu.be/bwo4o8POhXk" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/bwo4o8POhXk</a>
Originally Posted By jkayjs Went back to check out the Lion King area now it's open yesterday. Was greeted by a lovely housekeeper who was happy to let me into one of the rooms I was pleased that the pictures did it justice. At the end of the day it's a Value resort but nice for that catagory. Was able to take some shots of the Mermaid section as well pretty cute. The landscaping & theming are really emersive & a nice & welcome touch.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Yeah, we are not really value resort fans, but found this place to be very nice. Last week we had friends staying at the Villas at Grand Cypress, which is on their golf course. They got a great deal and it was substantially lower than many of the Disney resorts. There were 3 bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen, dining room and 2 full baths. The whole resort was quiet, including the pool, though there was a bar at the pool that also sold some food. The thing that impressed me most was how the staff went out of their way to be friendly. Everywhere we went we were greeted with genuinely friendly people from housekeeping, to the ground keepers, to the restaurants to the shops. They had a shuttle between the Villas to the Grand Cypress and even their shuttle driver was very friendly asking us what time we thought we would need to be picked up after dinner then explaining how to reach him for our return trip. A very very nice weekend at a decent rate
