Disney's Art of Animation Resort

Rooms and decor

If your family is 5 or 6 people and your budget doesn't stretch to a pricey suite — but you also don't want to cram everyone into one room that sleeps 4 — Disney's Art of Animation Resort is the best answer at the Value tier. It's the newest Value resort at Walt Disney World, opened in 2012, themed all the way through from four films, and guest reviews put it around 8.6/10. The heart of the place is the Family Suite (Cars, Finding Nemo and Lion King zones), built specifically for bigger families: it sleeps up to 6, with a properly separate bedroom, two more fold-out beds in the living area, a kitchenette (fridge, microwave) and two bathrooms — a real lifesaver on mornings when everyone's rushing. A sleeps-6 room with a kitchen at Value pricing is almost impossible to find elsewhere; the rate climbs close to a Moderate resort, but if you genuinely fill the space it beats booking two rooms.

Food and amenities

The family highlight on the pool side is the Big Blue Pool, a Finding Nemo themed pool and the largest resort pool at WDW. It's zero-entry, sloping in gradually so it's safe for little ones, and the part kids scream about is the underwater speakers playing music and audio from Finding Nemo while they go under, plus a splash zone for younger children. The whole resort leans hard into walk-through theming — you pass through a Radiator Springs town square (Cars) with giant traffic cones, Pride Lands (Lion King) and an undersea Little Mermaid section, with three-storey giant character statues to photograph at every turn. On the food side, Landscape of Flavors is a food court many reviews rate as the best of the Disney food courts, with made-to-order stations and custom smoothies.

Location and getting there

For getting to the parks there's a Disney Skyliner hub, gondolas that run straight into EPCOT and Hollywood Studios — kids ride it like it's an attraction. The trade-off to know up front is that the Skyliner only reaches those two parks; Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom mean a bus. The resort sits near Hourglass Lake inside Walt Disney World, so you're well inside the bubble either way.

Things to know before booking

A few honest points before you book. The standard Little Mermaid rooms sleep only 4, have no kitchen, and sit in far buildings — a long walk from Animation Hall, the Big Blue Pool and the Skyliner. The Family Suite pricing creeps toward Moderate despite the Value label, so it only makes sense if you use the sleeps-6 space. The resort gets crowded and loud — the pool and food court fill up — and there is no character dining or table-service restaurant on site.

Our take

From reading through plenty of real guest reviews, Art of Animation is best for families of 5 to 6 who want one room for everyone (a Family Suite that sleeps 6 with a kitchenette and two bathrooms), with kids who love Cars, Nemo, Lion King or Little Mermaid, and who plan to focus on Epcot and Hollywood Studios via the Skyliner — the most fun and the best value for a big family at this tier. The trade-offs are the sleeps-4 standard rooms set far out, a Family Suite that prices near Moderate, and buses to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. A family of 4 on a tight budget who doesn't need suite space should look at Pop Century next door — same Skyliner, cheaper.