New Walt Disney World Resort

One of the questions I am asked most frequently by friends and readers asking for help planning their Walt Disney World vacations is this:

Where can I stay at Walt Disney World with my family of 5+?”

In the past I’ve most often recommended a Walt Disney World Resort Deluxe Villa or Disney’s All-Star Music Resort because the suite formats available at both are perfectly suited for those requiring extra sleeping accomodations or seeking separate living and sleeping spaces.  We stayed at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge during our first family vacation in 2008 because with four adults and two children, it was imperative that we not only have plenty of places to sleep, but we also needed plenty of space to separate from each other at the end of the day!  We have also stayed in Deluxe Resorts that accomodate five with a daybed included in the room, but certainly the Villas are more spacious.

In 2012, Walt Disney World will be showing us a whole new world under the sea as the circle of life for Walt Disney World Resorts continues to go with the flow of the East Australian Current…

Too much? 🙂

Disney is currently building an all new Value Resort called Art of Animation inspired by The Little Mermaid, Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King and with a scheduled open date some time in 2012, be sure to check out Walt Disney World reservations for more information now.  While there will be more than 800 beautifully themed standard rooms available in the The Little Mermaid block, families travelling with more than four people will be most excited about the 1,120 family suites in the other themed areas, each including two separate bathrooms, a master bedroom, and three separate sleeping areas. The resort will be located near Disney’s Hollywood Studios and ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex.  My family is anticipating that the new resort will have a similar feel as Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which remains my son’s favorite of all of Disney’s resort properties.  If you look closely, you can find my children dwarfed by Mowgli and Ballou at Pop Century during the summer of ’09.

With four themed areas to choose from, where would you like to stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort?

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13 Comments

  • I am not picky and would like any of the areas at the new resort. Of course, being able to stay near Crush and say “Dude!” would be a lot of fun 😉

  • Ah, we’d stay in any of them.

    Everything at Disney is financially out of reach for us to go more than once. We saved our pennies and went this past spring for the first and only time. We stayed off site, but close by, and it worked out fine. All of the resort ideas are dreamy, but not possible if we want to also visit my husband’s family in Belgium sometime in the next two or three years.

    Thanks for letting us know about the neat place to stay, though–even my teen girls, who were flipped-out-crazy over their Disney experience, would love the themes of the forthcoming resort, and of course my younger two would. Maybe someday we’ll win a big contest or something and get to have a big package experience! We can always dream…

  • At your recommendation we’re at All-Star Music in November.. and I’ve gotta tell you I was sort of floored by what a great deal we got. I’m nearly as excited about the deal as I am about visiting Hogwarts next door (yup I’m a geek). I think by the time 2012 rolls around it will be time to go back and I for one am a HUGE fan of Crush, I can’t wait to chat with him! (once again my dork sines bright)

  • paula

    WOW id stay anywhere there! my kids would LOVE it!! thats awesome!

  • How fun!! I’m hoping the Disney Social Media Event may center around this new resort… that would be fun.

    We LOVE staying at the Disney All Stars and I think this is a great idea!

  • I better start saving up now because my daughters are going to flip out when they find out there are Little Mermaid themed rooms!

  • Disney is so amazing. I hope to be able to take our children there….one day.

    I went when I was a teenager with my grandparents and it’s a memory that last a lifetime. That is probably on that sticks with me most.

    This is exciting. I also here that Disney has a WHOLE Disney pixar Cars series theme park coming out that the boys are anticipating. We will make it to that HOPEFULLY

  • My advice is to rent a condo. If you look on the internet you can find some really good deals. I tool my family and stayed for a week in a two bedroom for $350. You have a pool to relax at night and Disney is within ear shot.

  • I can’t wait for these to open. We have our next trip scheduled for the family suite at Music. Our first time trying it.
    Kas

  • In my personal opinion, there is nothing like staying on Disney property and having a true Disney experience. With that said, I also recognize how expensive it can be.

    I am very fortunate that my husband works for a hotel company and they have 2 properties in their portfolio (Swan & Dolphin). We typically opt to stay there but my son will flip when he finds out there is a Finding Nemo themed resort!

  • My only Disney experience for our family of 6 (quadruplet boys) was at the Polynesian Resort, and although the rooms weren’t suites, they were spacious enough for all of us to have plenty of elbow room. In addition, the staff was extremely accommodating! I would definitely recommend it to other larger (young) families.

  • Janet

    I’ve stayed in all of Disney’s resorts in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I have my favorites in each category from the Values to the DVC properties, but I honestly don’t care which resort my family is staying in as long as we’re together. The new Art of Animation resort will fill a need for the larger families and I think that’s wonderful. I look forward to a future stay there and if I have my pick, I’d say The Little Mermaid section would be where you’d find me because I’m such a water person. 😉

  • These new options sounds great because we’d love to take a trip to there with extended family. It will be great to be together but still have our own space.