Art of Animation Lion King Family Suite | Room Review
There are a lot of different hotel options to choose from when visiting Walt Disney World. Just one of them, which happens to be very popular, is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which opened in 2012, is one of the newer Walt Disney World Resort Hotels. However, it’s also among the most affordable. Falling into the “value” category, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort has some of the more reasonable prices in terms of Walt Disney World Resort Hotel Rooms. Don’t let that fool you though, while the rooms may be reasonably priced, that’s not to say that you’re necessarily getting any less of an experience. In fact, we’d argue that it’s one of the most unique and fun experiences you can have at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel; regardless the price per night.
There are a few different room choices at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, but for this stay we ended up in one of the Lion King rooms. The Lion King rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation resort are known as “Family Suites”. These rooms are very impressive, especially for a Walt Disney World Value Resort. They sleep 6 and include 2 bathrooms, table and chairs, kitchenette and living area.
The Lion King Section
As you may know if you had the opportunity to read our overview of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, there are a few different sections of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. All of which feature a different Disney or Pixar film to include Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.
Much like all of the other areas of the resort, The Lion King section at Disney's Art of Animation Resort is a whimsical area, that transports guests into the jungle where they can mingle with Timone, Pumba and Simba. There’s also a chance that you might bump into Scar and his Hyenas, so it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out.
The Lion King Family Suites
The theming doesn’t stop at the exterior of the buildings. Rooms in the Lion King section of the resort are just as impressive. In fact, they are some of the best themed rooms at the Walt Disney World Resort. At least in our opinion.
The rooms feature colorful decor including artwork on the walls to uniquely themed furniture. This includes lamps that look like flowers, chairs that look life giant leaves and even foot stools that look like logs.
Even setting the theming of the room aside, the family suite rooms available in The Lion King section of the resort are very impressive. With 3 separate sleeping spaces, all with their own unique characteristics, this is most definitely an ideal place for a large family to stay.
The rooms also feature a kitchenette. This small, but useful, space is just enough to store food and prepare light means for a family who is looking to save some money while on vacation. It’s also worth mentioning that this is the type of feature that you’ll get from a Disney Vacation Club Deluxe Studio, for a significantly lower price.
The Downside Of The Lion King Rooms
As with anything, there are some downsides to having a room in the Lion King section.
The biggest downside of the Lion King Rooms is that it doesn’t have a dedicated pool. Unlike all other parts of the resort, there is no “Lion King” pool for guests staying in this section. That means that if you’re hopping to splash around for a big midday or after returning from a long day in the parks, you’ll have to make your way over to The Big Blue Pool or the Flippin’ Fins Pool in The Little Mermaid section. While both of these pools are relatively close, it’s important to realize that they are both somewhat crowded. This is to be expected, but it’s worth noting that there’s a less crowded pool in the Cars section of the resort; it’s a long walk away though.
We also found that the rooms were rather loud. While this is to be expected from a Walt Disney World Resort, especially at the end of the night when excited kids are making their way back to their room, we think it’s worth mentioning. We would strongly recommend bringing a white noise machine if you’re someone who struggles with noises into the evening hours. That said, the noise wasn’t the worst we’ve experienced at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel.
With all of this having been said, I think it’s fair to say that Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is one of the most unique experience available at the Walt Disney World Resort. With the immaculate theming both inside and out, reasonable price point and the access to convenient Disney Transportation, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is hard to beat!
Of course, we’ll take some time to talk more about this resort in the future, so be sure to check back and see what we have to say. Until then, if you’ve ever stayed at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, we’d love to hear about your experience in the comments down below.