Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Cars Family Suites at Art of Animation


Cars Family Suite at the Art of Animation Resort

Walt Disney World's newest resort, the Art of Animation, has 4 sections that are each themed to a different Disney movie: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars.  On a recent visit my family and I stayed in one of the Cars Family Suites while my brother and his family stayed in one of the The Little Mermaid rooms.  In this post I'll give a quick review of the Cars Family Suite with a review of The Little Mermaid to follow in a future post.  





The Cars Family Suites are the new, larger resort rooms that accommodate families up to 6.  These rooms have a separate bedroom with a queen sized bed and a bathroom.  The rest of the room features a pull out bed, a table that converts to a bed (think Murphy Bed), a mini-kitchen, and a bathroom.  These rooms are definitely more spacious than the Standard rooms, and the extra bathroom is a huge convenience.  

Table Bed as a table
Table Bed as a bed


























Overall, I really enjoyed this room and I wouldn't hesitate to stay in a Cars Suite again.  The theming and attention to detail is amazing.  I definitely felt like we were visiting Radiator Springs!  The courtyard area is very immersive and includes Lightning McQueen and his friends from their first movie.  This is a great area to get pictures with the Cars characters if you can't make it to Cars Land in Disney California Adventure Park.

I only have a couple of complaints about this room/resort.  Most importantly, the bed wasn't the most comfortable bed I've slept in at a Disney World resort.  That's not to imply that it was uncomfortable, but it's probably more an indication that I've been spoiled by the Deluxe resorts.

The other thing that bothered me was the (lack of) cell phone service and the free wifi.  I'm on AT&T's network and I've heard that their network is spotty around Disney World, but while in our room I had no service at all.  Once I went out to the courtyard area I suddenly had service and my phone seemed to explode with emails and text messages.  The free resort wifi was pretty spotty too.  In the middle of the day I was unable to use the wifi at all.  However, it seemed to work much better later in the day.  I can only assume this had to do with the amount of guests using the service?  I can't complain too though, I mean it is free, right?

Even though the bed wasn't the most comfortable and the cell service and wifi were less than reliable, I really enjoyed out time in the Cars Suite.  My family and I will definitely stay there again in the future.

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

Viewing Wishes From Your Resort Room


There are many benefits to staying in the Deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.  There is an extra benefit to staying at one of the monorail resorts (Contemporary, Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary, Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian) that I don’t think is talked about very much: viewing the Wishes fireworks display from your resort room.

All of the monorail resorts have rooms that are classified as Theme Park View rooms.  These are rooms that face the Magic Kingdom, and give guests amazing views of Cinderella’s Castle.  At night you can also watch Wishes from these rooms.  You can also tune the TV in these rooms to a certain channel and listen to the Wishes soundtrack as you watch the fireworks.  We do this regularly and I have to say that it’s amazing!  The kids can be in their pajamas, and mom and dad can relax with a drink while you enjoy an awesome fireworks display from the comfort of your room.  And the best part: no crowds!  You don’t have to worry about people jockeying for position, or small kids not being able to see, or fighting the crowds on the way out of the park.  After Wishes is over, you can put the kids to bed and get up early the next morning to get in the parks at rope drop.  

(day time view of the Magic Kingdom from our room at Bay Lake Tower)

(nighttime view of the Magic Kingdom from our room at Bay Lake Tower)


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