Disney's New Art of Animation Resort!

My roommates and I were allowed to go to a "test night" at the new Disney's Art of Animation Resort this past weekend.  It doesn't open until the 31st to normal people, so this was really, really exciting that we go to be the first people to be there!  We even got the first test night, too!

I have to say, I didn't think Disney could blow my mind anymore.  But really, when it comes to staying in a Disney resort as opposed to some other hotel around property, it's totally worth it.  Despite the higher price.  Although our price was free, so I can't really judge. :)

 

Elizabeth, standing outside the Animation Hall (the main building where you check in).  It's incredibly colorful, and all about ART! 

John Lasseter himself signed one of the paintings on the chandelier.



 The resort consists of four "sections" of buildings you can stay in.  Currently, the only set opening is the Nemo building.  So we stayed in Nemo.  Cars will open next, then The Lion King, followed by The Little Mermaid themed section.  Of course, I can't wait for The Lion King to open.  But that won't be until August, just days after I leave.  I'm terribly offended by this.

However, the food court still have a Lion King themed section you could sit in.  This worked for me!  I made us sit here as we ate our meals.  Which also happened to be free!

We then proceeded to the room. The room keys had the little chips in them so you don't have to swipe.  Just hold your key up to the door and it clicks open!  And there's a "hidden Mickey" on the lock.

I had never gotten to use an Inova bed before.  So this part was pretty cool.  And actually, this was the bed I slept on.

I LOVE the picture of sleeping Nemo on the inside.  You can only barely see it in this picture, but there are some LED lights above and a little dial where you can turn off the lights and such without getting up and without taking up space on the nightstand!  And in this picture you can sort of see into the master bedroom.

 This is the living room.  I love how ocean themed it is.  Every detail is just so well thought out it blows my mind!  And below is the master bed.  We decided it was kind of small.  We don't get why this bed isn't King size...  It was still nice, though.  And, of course, no Disney room is complete without a Mickey Mouse towel!

 One of the two bathrooms.  Notice how the mirror says "Fish are friends..."  They were going to put "not food" except that they serve fish in the food court... so that wouldn't have really gone down very well...  So they just stuck with the first half of the quote I guess.









Back in the living room.  The TV was great and the drawers were nice and big.  That orange chair looks really cool... but I found it incredibly uncomfortable.  My roommate liked it though.

 Just another part of the theming.  I just love Disney and their creative towel pet things.  We had stuff like this at Pop Century too. 

 This is the other bathroom, I think.  We were literally the first people to ever stay in this room.  Ever.  That said... we did have some trouble turning on the shower for the first time.  It was stuck really tight.  We eventually got it, though.

 They gave us free popcorn to "test the microwave with."  Really awesome, but it smelled kind of funny!

 Next Elizabeth and I visited the arcade.  We got there way earlier than our other two roommates.  I totally beat the snot out of her at air hockey.  Actually... I think it was a close tie.  Whatever.

A storm was coming, so I didn't really get a good photo of the pool area.  Which is lame, because the pool totally rocked!  It's the biggest pool on Disney property.  And it has underwater speakers.  It was possibly the coolest thing ever to listen to Hannah Montana above water and then old country music below water.  Loved it!  Plus there's a kid play area around there too.  And a pool bar called "The Drop Off."

 This was our building.  There was talk about how often the seagulls are going to go off saying "Mine!  Mine!  Mine!"  At first they were going to have it going all the time.  But then they decided that would get annoying to the lifeguards and those in the pool.  So then they considered once an hour on the hour.  And even that seemed like too much.  But for now they said they're going to leave it at every hour and go from there.  They were completely turned off for our stay though.

 This is long enough.  But stay tuned for the photos of the Cars building!  We got to take the tour in there.  Even though it's not opened, we were allowed to do a walk through.  It's so stinking awesome! This was the best 18 hour vacation of my life!