The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

By Dave Shute

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, see this.

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

There are three pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

A small pool centered within the three accommodation buildings in the Cars area
A large pool, the “Big Blue Pool” between the two Finding Nemo accommodations buildings
A good sized pool in the center of the three Little Mermaid buildings

There’s no pool between the two Lion King buildings. I view this as a feature, not a bug, as it means suites there don’t get pool noise, but are still just a short walk from the pools in the Little Mermaid and Nemo areas.

THE CARS POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The Cars pool is meant to represent half of a tire.

It is unique among the value resort pools in having cabanas–the traffic cones shaped thingies in the image.

Curiously small even for a secondary pool, there’s not remotely enough room here for the guests in the three Cars buildings–but the Big Blue pool isn’t far.

THE BIG BLUE POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The Big Blue Pool between the two Finding Nemo buildings is the main pool at Art of Animation, and is where you’ll find most pool-related amenities.

Its claims to fame include that it’s the largest single-tank pool at a Disney owned resort (the three tanks at Stormalong Bay are collectively larger) and that music plays under the water. Since I sing “Born to be Wild” all the time in the tub, not that big a deal for me–but the underwater music really delights kids!!

Besides the main pool, you’ll also find a kids splash play area dominated by an object that you may recognize from Finding Nemo. Otherwise, you will wonder if McDonald’s is sponsoring the pool…

At poolside is Art of Animation’s bar…

…with a refillable mug station.

Movies are shown at the pool in the evenings.

Longtime readers of this site will know I love night shots of pools:

THE LITTLE MERMAID POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The third pool at Art of Animation is in the Little Mermaid area.

It has no amenities in particular, but is large enough to be a sound option for those who don’t want to walk the extra five minutes from the somewhat-distant Little Mermaid area to the Big Blue Pool.

At night.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

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18 comments

1 Donna { 10.21.15 at 1:44 pm }: Areany of the pools heated in November
2 Dave { 10.21.15 at 2:46 pm }: Donna, all of Disney’s pools are heated.
3 Deb mahoney { 10.25.16 at 9:53 pm }: Do The rooms at AOA have a hairdryer?
4 Dave { 10.26.16 at 9:20 am }: Deb, yes.
5 Beatrice { 04.15.17 at 9:57 am }: Hi Dave!
Thank you so much for all the useful information!! Do the Little Mermaid buildings have access to an ice maker? I did not see the ice buckets in the pictures of the standard rooms, just in the family suites.
6 Dave { 04.15.17 at 2:00 pm }: Beatrice, yes–the ice buckets are on the countertop of the bath
7 MICHELLE { 03.03.18 at 8:58 am }: Do they have life vests for kids?
8 Dave { 03.04.18 at 8:15 am }: Hi Michelle, yes, there are first-come, first-served vests at all the pools.
9 Roberta { 04.05.18 at 12:24 am }: Does the bedroom door in the Cars Suite lock?
10 Dave { 04.05.18 at 7:59 am }: Roberta, ignore this and see my next comment! ~~Sorry, Roberta, I don’t remember, and none of my images show the right areas of the door to be conclusive.~~
11 Dave { 04.05.18 at 9:20 am }: Hi Roberta, I found a photo from another stay that suggests there is a press lock in the middle of the doorknob:
12 Noemi { 04.26.18 at 7:07 pm }: Do you know what the pool hours are at the A of A?
13 Dave { 04.27.18 at 9:16 am }: Noemi, they vary over the course of the year. 10a to 8p is a safe bet.
14 Eric { 08.01.18 at 10:14 am }: Hi Dave, we are staying at Pop but would love to walk over to AoA with the kiddos. I know the pools are fenced in (for AoA guests only) but do you recall if the playground, right near the bridge, is fenced in as well?
15 Dave { 08.02.18 at 11:17 am }: Hi Eric, it is not fenced in!
16 Jane { 12.05.19 at 10:37 am }: Hi Dave, I was looking at AOA for a possible mid to late August 2020 trip idea, but it says that the Big Blue Pool will close for maintanence starting in “fall 2020.” Would an August visit be impacted by this? I remember a lot of speculation about what “fall” means to Disney re: the opening of the SWGE. Then they went with August, but it was earlier than everyone expected. Basically, after having the skyliner we don’t want to go back and not have the skyliner, and the family suite there was perfect. I was also thinking of Carribbean Beach, however, but we like to have 2 bathrooms so the 5 people rooms there aren’t enough. We’d have to get 2 CB rooms vs the one AOA room. I wouldn’t want to go to AOA without the big pool.
17 Kelly B- Destinations In Florida { 12.12.19 at 9:20 am }: Hi Jane,
Disney has listed Mid-September 2020-Mid-December for the actual dates of refurbishment of the Big Blue Pool at AoA. So your August dates shouldn’t be impacted.
18 Global Munchkins { 07.14.21 at 1:16 pm }: Thank you for the amazing post.
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The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort