Category — q. Reviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow formally opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios last week (it’d been in soft opening for a couple of weeks before then) and I had a chance to see it the other night.

This is a great little divertissement for big fans of the Pirates movies, or for those interested in developments in theme park tech and implications for future rides.

If your family fits into one of these two groups, it’s definitely worth seeing. If not, give it a pass unless you’ve got time on your hands.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE LEGEND OF CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW

This attraction has been described everywhere as a “walk-through” attraction, which is true I suppose if you are used to short walks.

It includes an unthemed outdoor (but roofed) queue, and two interior spaces that you walk into and experience.

However, the second space and what happens there really is the show, so think of it as more like a theater show–queue, pre-show, and show–than a walk through, and you’ll get it.

The second space includes a richly detailed physical set and multiple video and image projection deployments.

The quality of the video and image projections is astonishing, and sets a new bar for theme park tech.  Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow combines image projections like what you’ll see on Cinderella’s Castle during Celebrate the Magic with the kind of lifelike video of Harry, Hermione and Ron that you can see at Harry Potter.

But the character video (of Captain Jack, reprised by Johnny Depp)  is even better than at Harry Potter, with astonishing dimensionality and detail–I have never seen video so life-like.

My photo doesn’t come even close to doing it justice–no two-dimensional medium could. (And yes, it’s a lousy shot anyway…but click it to enlarge it and it gets a little better…)

That said, though, there’s not quite enough here for anyone other than a Captain Jack or a theme park tech fan.

So why is it here? A couple of possibilities.

First, while all the noise lately has been about New Fantasyland, the fact is that each of the other Disney World parks has also had a recent minor upgrade—zebras on Kilimanjaro Safaris, the re-done test Track at Epcot, and this at Hollywood Studios.  (More on all this later this month.)

Each of these adds a little marketing frisson to its respective park, takes a little pressure off the Magic Kingdom, and–perhaps–creates the talking points to justify an early 2013 ticket price increase.

Second, and I’m pretty sure I’m kidding here, this may simply be a bit of spite from DHS towards MK.  Disney’s Hollywood Studios has had a Little Mermaid show for a long time, so what’s up with Magic Kingdom getting all excited about a recycled D-Ticket Ariel ride?  If MK can tread on the Studio’s Little Mermaid turf, well then DHS can grab a little Pirates and call it its own.

And third, this may be a test bed for future ride technologies, especially for “Avatarland.”  Disney still plans on doing Avatar at the Animal Kingdom. I’d been wondering about how it will depict the incredible visual setting of that film.  But the combination of images, projections, and physical settings in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow shows just how well that could be done…

So if you are a fan of the Pirates movies or of theme park tech, or just have some time to spare while at the Studios, check out Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow!

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, click here.)

MORE ON DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort officially

“invites you to become a part of your favorite animated films. At Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, [g]uests are immersed in the artistry and enchantment of Walt Disney and Disney•Pixar classics through imaginative design and themed rooms.”

The resort, built across Hourglass Lake from Pop Century, occupies land, foundations, and, in several cases, buildings meant to become the second half of the Pop Century project.

Instead, Disney decided to go with a new theme at Art of Animation, and in doing so came up with

• The most richly themed of all the value resorts
• The most Disney-themed hotel among all the Disney World resorts, and
• The best food court at any Disney World hotel [Read more →]

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, click here.)

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time family visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience. Art of Animation has the most kid appeal of all the values, and as much convenience as any.

This makes Art of Animation my highest-ranked value resort at Walt Disney World. [Read more →]

The Basics: Where to Stay

The Value Resorts   Art of Animation   Pop Century    Movies    Sports   Music

OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort opened in stages in 2012, and we stayed in each of its two major room types–

• Tiny, four-person Little Mermaid standard rooms, and
• Large, 6-person Family Suites

–within a week of their respective openings.

Since then, we’ve stayed at Art of Animation six more times for a total of eight stays–six more visits to the family suites, and one more to the Little Mermaid rooms.

These two room types share all resort services.

Otherwise they are profoundly different, and families reserving one while expecting the other are in for a shock!

That said, each Art of Animation room type–with some qualifiers–comes in at the top of its respective class:

Little Mermaid standard rooms are the best place to stay for families seeking a standard value resort room.

(Families with mobility issues might want a preferred room at Pop Century instead, and families looking for queen beds a refurbed room at Pop Century. Those needing to spend the lowest amount possible should target All-Star Movies.)

The Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort beat out the alternative value resort Family Suites at All-Star Music on most dimensions as the best suites for first-timers.

(The Music link has a detailed comparison, and there are a few differences at All-Star Music that may make the family suites there better for some families.)

Because of the importance of this resort and these rooms–being new, and coming in at the top of their respective rankings–you’ll find thousands of words and hundreds of pictures in the later pages of this review.  

This page, by way of introduction, looks at the “big picture” of Art of Animation.

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.

However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, a value resort. (See this for more on the value resorts at Walt Disney World.)

(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)

Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the value resorts are distinguished by having the lowest prices, least amenities, and smallest standard rooms.  In contrast, value resort Family Suites–predominant at Art of Animation–are quite large, and for some families may even be substitutes for a deluxe resort.

Note that the long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Art of Animation or anywhere else–contact her at at KellyB@DestinationsInFlorida.com or 980-429-4499.

STANDARD ROOMS AT ART OF ANIMATION

You likely will never stay in a hotel with smaller rooms than the standard rooms you’ll find at Disney’s value resorts.

See the floor plan of a standard Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation.

I could not imagine staying in one of these rooms if I had to add a crib as well (the room sleeps four in two full-size beds, plus one more, younger than three, in a crib).

However, if your family will fit, standard rooms in Disney’s Art of Animation Resort have much more kid appeal than the moderate resorts, the next higher price class.

(Moderates are about twice as expensive, but have much bigger standard rooms, queen beds–other than a few exceptions–and nicer landscaping. See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.)

Compared to staying off-site, the value resorts are distinguished by their higher kid appeal, convenience, and access to certain key perks that off-site hotels can’t provide.

Art of Animation has ten buildings, deeply themed in groups of two or three buildings around a well-loved Disney movie.

Standard rooms at Art of Animation all have a Little Mermaid theme. There are no Standard rooms in the Cars, Nemo, or Lion King areas, and no family suites in the Little Mermaid area.

Contrary to some pre-opening concerns, these rooms are not too girly for little boys. Ariel herself shows up only once in the Little Mermaid outdoor area, and just once inside the room–on the shower curtain!

In fact, Prince Eric is as present in the theming as Ariel is. Little boys will like these rooms just fine!

The main problem with the Little Mermaid standard rooms at Art of Animation is their relative distance from the central resort services–the bus stop, food court, check-in desks, and main pool.

Art of Animation was built on a site planned for an expansion of Pop Century. As part of that expansion the foundations, the central service building, and two of the ten hotel buildings were built a decade ago.

The two already-built buildings, along with a third planned for the same themed area, were converted into the standard room area of Art of Animation.

The other seven buildings–to become Family Suites–are on the same footprint, but profoundly different.

By chance, the two already-built buildings also happened to be part of the grouping that is furthest away from the main central services.

See the resort map above.  The Little Mermaid Rooms are in the orange circle on the left.  None of these buildings is either wildly distant nor particularly convenient, and families with mobility issues should consider a preferred room at Pop Century.

Among the Little Mermaid buildings, Building 7 is the best choice (one of the two closer buildings, and the only one of these two with rooms with a lake view), and building 8 the worst (the farthest).

FAMILY SUITES AT ART OF ANIMATION

The Family Suites at Art of Animation combine innovative and flexible floor plans with deep theming based on the Disney movies Cars, the Lion King, and Finding Nemo that makes them uniquely attractive for larger families.

See the floor plan.

These rooms sleep six in a space more than twice as big as the 4-person standard Little Mermaid rooms.

There are three sleeping spots–two in the queen in the master bedroom, two on a fold-out couch in the living space, and two on a Murphy bed that folds down where the dining table shows on the floor plan.

The number of beds (3 vs 4) and the dining table are the main furnishings differences between Art of Animation Family Suites and those at All-Star Music.

Folding the bed down to make the dining table disappear is also just fun.

These rooms are also much more deeply themed than those at Music–to an extent that may be garish to some families!

All-Star Music Family Suites also have some other positives–a bigger living room and kitchen, four sleeping spots rather than three, and a lower price.

For more details on the difference between these two types of suites, see this.

But for most families, Art of Animation Family Suites will be the better choice.  They have much more kid appeal, and more convenience, than those at Music.

Choices as to which group of buildings to book will, in many families, simply be guided by which of Cars, the Lion King, and Finding Nemo is their favorite film. (The Nemo rooms are a little more expensive.)

For those open to any of the three, a 2nd floor or higher Hourglass Lake view room on the Finding Nemo side of Building 6 in the Lion King area will be the best choice.

• You’d pick the Lion King buildings because these are the only ones at Art of Animation that don’t surround a pool.  This makes them quieter.
• Second floor or higher to limit corridor noise, which in the Family Suite buildings can be a problem on the first floor.
• Hourglass Lake view, and thus Building 6, because this is the best view (Art of Animation and Pop Century are the only value resorts on a lake; why not take advantage of that view?).
• And the Finding Nemo side of Building 6 as that will put you closer to the central services of the resort.

The room request form is the same for all Art of Animation areas.

Note that, with one exception, when you book your room you get to pick which themed area you will be in–the exception is if you book a family suite on a deal. For more specific requests, put in a room request.

WHY IS ART OF ANIMATION RANKED SO HIGH?

Resorts are ranked on this site for first time family visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience. Art of Animation has the most kid appeal of all the values, and as much convenience as any.

This makes Art of Animation my highest-ranked value resort at Walt Disney World.

KID APPEAL AND ART OF ANIMATION

Several of the deluxe resorts–notably, the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Resort–have spectacular kid appeal. None of the moderates do.

All of the value resorts–Disney’s Art of Animation resort, Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Pop Century resort–have terrific kid appeal.

This appeal comes from the approach to theming they all share: bright and vibrant exteriors, framing much larger than life objects of interest to kids.

These objects reinforce that these resorts were designed for the sake of kids…and not necessarily for adults!

Art of Animation takes this theming to a new level of immersiveness.  Its four areas each have two or three buildings themed around a movie with great kid appeal–Cars, Little Mermaid, the Lion King, and Finding Nemo.

The rooms are more deeply themed to their respective movies than the rooms in any other value resort are themed to their topics.

See the view of the Cars Family Suite above, for example, and the detail of its theme.

Even more astonishing is the theming outside the rooms.

The environments around the Art of Animation buildings are deeply themed to recall the settings of these movies.

This is particularly effective in the Cars (above) and Lion King (below) areas, and least so in the Little Mermaid section.

The Cars and Lion King areas are in fact so deeply themed to their settings that the areas around them may be a little off-putting to those who are not fans of these films.

CONVENIENCE AND ART OF ANIMATION

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is slightly more convenient than the All-Stars, and mostly as convenient as Pop Century.

Compared to the All-Stars, it is more central. Although Disney officially classifies it, like the All-Stars, as an “ESPN Wide World of Sports” Area Resort,” it is in fact quite centrally located.

• It is just south of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, nestled in the area between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• It is closer to Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the Magic Kingdom than the All-Stars are.

Second, Art of Animation is one of only two resorts at Walt Disney World that both has only one bus stop and also does not share buses with any other resort. (Pop Century is the other.)

Each of the All-Star resorts has only one bus stop, but they often share their buses with one or both of the other All-Stars.

Pop Century is a little easier to get around for than Art of Animation is for those in standard rooms.  The standard rooms at Art of Animation are more distant from the hotel’s central services than 70% of Pop’s are.

Compared to the other value resorts, Art of Animations’ strengths are its unmatched kid appeal from its great theming, transportation convenience at the highest level of the values, its vast number of really well-designed Family Suites, and the best food court on any Disney World resort hotel property.

The only weaknesses it has compared to other values is that its 4 person standard rooms (all in its Little Mermaid section) are less convenient to the hotel’s central service area than most of those at any other value. Note also that all of its standard rooms have full beds and no coffeemaker.  Refurbed Pop Century rooms have queen beds and coffeemakers.

The long-time travel agent partner of this site, Kelly B., can help you book your Disney World vacation at Art of Animation or anywhere else–contact her using the form you can find here.

LITTLE MERMAID STANDARD ROOMS AT ART OF ANIMATION

This review continues here.

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

• Overview of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Little Mermaid Area and Rooms
• Photo Tour of a Little Mermaid Room
• Overview of the Family Suites Areas
• Accommodations in the Family Suites
• Photo Tour of a Finding Nemo Family Suite (plus bed dimensions, storage, etc)
• Photo Tour of a Lion King Family Suite
• Photo Tour of a Cars Family Suite
• Amenities at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 150+ stays in them

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort, see this.

THE ALLIGATOR BAYOU ROOMS AT PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

Port Orleans Riverside has two areas and three distinct room types.

Its Magnolia Bend area has two room types, Royal Rooms and Standard Rooms, each sleeping four in two queen beds.

Its Alligator Bayou area rooms sleep five in two queen beds and one short (~66 inches long) Murphy bed.

These Alligator Bayou rooms are one of only two traditional moderate resort spaces that sleep 5 (non-Pirate rooms at Caribbean Beach are the other), and these rooms are as a result very important to families a little larger than average.

For families that don’t need the extra bed, these rooms have so-so theming, are kind of ugly in spots–although your taste may vary–and are thin on storage. Such families have better options.

REVIEW OF THE ALLIGATOR BAYOU ROOMS [Read more →]

THE REFURBISHED 5 PERSON ROOMS AT PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE

The only standard moderate resort rooms at Walt Disney World that can sleep five are in the Alligator Bayou section at Port Orleans Riverside.

Both the Port Orleans resorts have been refurbished over the past 18 months or so (for details, see this), with the main improvement being the replacement of the old full beds with queens.

In addition, the rooms in the Alligator Bayou section of Riverside, which used to sleep a fifth person on a trundle bed, now sleep the fifth person on a mini-Murphy bed.

I’ve finally had a chance to stay in one of these refurbished rooms.  I’ll post a full review later this month, but wanted to get the details on the new mini-Murphy out now. [Read more →]