| Disney's Art of Animation Resort | |
| Location: | ESPN Wide World of Sports Resort Area |
| Type: | value |
| Theme: | Animation |
| Sections: | Cars Finding Nemo The Lion King The Little Mermaid |
| Roomnumber: | 984 |
| Suite: | 1,120 |
| Operator: | Disney Experiences |
| Greenlodge: | Yes |
| Free Label: | Address |
| Free Text: | 1850 Century Drive Lake Buena Vista, Florida |
Disney's Art of Animation Resort is a resort within Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is located where construction on the unfinished half of Disney's Pop Century Resort was started but later abandoned after the September 11 attacks. It is considered a value resort.
The resort was the first to be built in the complex in over seven years and the fifth in the value-priced category, along with the three All-Star Resorts and the Pop Century Resort. Family suites opened on May 31, 2012, and standard rooms opened on September 15, 2012.[1]
Originally, the land the Art of Animation Resort occupies was planned to be the second phase of Disney's Pop Century Resort. As originally designed, the resort would have two sections, the "Legendary Years" section with theming from the decades 1900 through 1940 and the "Classic Years" section with theming from the decades 1950 through 1990. In the middle of the two sections would be Hourglass Lake, with a connection across the narrow, center part of the lake called the Generation Gap Bridge. Each section would have one main hall building and ten guest room buildings, with 2,880 rooms, giving the resort a grand total of 5,760 rooms.[2]
Construction on both phases started in 1999, and by 2002, construction had been started on the second phase, the "Legendary Years," with three buildings (the main hall, along with guest room buildings 7 and 8) at least partially completed.[3] [4] However, tourism suffered after the September 11 attacks, and Disney decided to halt further construction of the second phase. The first phase, the "Classic Years" section, was completed and opened in 2003. At that time, Disney said that they would defer the completion of the second phase until 2007. However, the three buildings stood abandoned for nearly a decade.
Disney experimented in October 2005 with converting some of the rooms at the All-Star Music Resort into two-room suites, giving families a lower-cost option to stay in the same room. Reports at the time indicated that if the test was successful, Disney would develop the second phase of Pop Century as an all-suite resort.
In January 2010, Disney began preparing the site, and in May 2010, it announced that it would be developed as the Art of Animation resort. The plans called for seven buildings to be developed with a focus on family suites, reached by hotel-style interior hallways. However, the two buildings that were already built as motel-style individual rooms would remain and be joined by a third building in the same style, creating The Little Mermaid area. Construction began in the summer of 2010.[5] [6] The Art of Animation began its phased opening on May 31, 2012, and continued through September 15, 2012.[7]
A station for the Disney Skyliner, a gondola lift system, was built on the Generation Gap Bridge between the Art of Animation and Pop Century resorts and opened on September 29, 2019. The Skyliner offers hotel guests access to the Epcot and Hollywood Studios theme parks and the BoardWalk shopping district.
The resort is designed "with families in mind." It features four of Disney's popular character themes: Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Much like the other Disney Value Resorts, giant versions of various items are built around the hotel on each of the ten wings, such as a 35feet model of King Triton. In total, there are 1,984 rooms, of which 1,120 are family suites capable of housing up to six people, featuring living rooms and bedrooms. The remaining 864 sport the standard value layout.[8] The resort has a total of ten buildings, as well as three themed pools. "The Big Blue Pool", with an area of, is currently the largest swimming pool at Walt Disney World Resort.