Disney's Art of Animation Resort Hotel

Information, Concept Art, Photos & Videos!

UPDATE: May 31, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Grand Opening

Today, the first phase of the resort has officially opened! This phase contains the buildings of the Finding Nemo section, The main building with check-in, food court and gift shop. See the video below for some highlights of the ceremony as well as a tour through part of the resort!

UPDATE: May 22, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Preview

Friend and Fellow DizFanatic John attended a cast member preview of the resort just the other day. With his trusty iPhone He grabbed plenty of great photos to share with his DizFanatic friends around the world!  Click the full-screen button on the lower right corner of the gallery for a larger view!.  Also, check out this nice video tour around the grounds of the Finding Nemo section of the resort.

UPDATE: May 18, 2012

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Fun Facts

• Total property size: 87 acres
• Family Suites size: 565 square feet
• The Nemo pool has 310,000 gallons and is the largest pool on Disney property, not counting water parks
• If you combined all the swimming pools, you could park 125 cars inside the pools
• Its 27 acres of landscaping and irrigation is the equivalent of twenty football fields.
• You will really feel like you are swimming with your Pixar pals in the big blue world as you can hear sounds and voices of favorite characters with 12 underwater speakers
• If you look up at the lobby chandelier made up of various animator sketches, you can spot a Cars sketch signed by John Lasseter himself
• The resort has 227,000 lineal feet of carpet, which if laid out, could stretch from downtown Orlando to Kennedy Space Center
• There are over 529,000 square feet of ceramic tiles on the project, enough to cover a standard two-lane road four miles long
• If you stacked up all the doors at the resort, they would be as tall as the Empire State Building
• There’s enough metal railing to wrap around the new Amway Center eight times
• The project used 23,000 gallons of paint, which is enough to fill a typical backyard swimming pool
• There are over 2,300 parking spaces within the project, which is approximately the number of players in the NFL
• More than 800 construction jobs were created, and at full operation it will create 750 resort hotel jobs

UPDATE: OCTOBER 18, 2011

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Reveals

New Details on Jobs, Opening Dates and Icons

The first wing of the new Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will open to Guests on May 31, 2012, as construction on the 25th resort hotel at Walt Disney World continues on schedule.

In size and scope, the construction of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is a major project at Walt Disney World Resort and has created up to 800 construction jobs. Once open in 2012, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will also create 750 ongoing resort hotel jobs.

At a media gathering today, Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney World Resort Operations released images of new icons arriving at the resort this fall and shared some of the details Guests will see when Disney’s Art of Animation opens next year. For example, Guests exploring The Lion King courtyard will see characters from the film, such as the hyenas and the evil Scar, through the eyes of Simba and in the same size and scale as the young cub would experience them.

“Here at Disney, we are in the Guest experience business,” said Kevin Myers, vice president of resort operations for Walt Disney World Resort. “When we develop a new resort hotel, we draw on Guest feedback about our parks, entertainment, special events and every aspect of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts to provide a resort hotel experience that only Disney can deliver.”

Examples of enhancements based on Guest feedback will be evident at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in the food-and-beverage and recreation offerings. The dining area will feature items such as fresh smoothies, hand-scooped gelato and Mongolian barbecue. The resort also will feature the largest swimming pool outside of Disney’s water parks, as well as an extensive children’s water play area at the larger-than-life icons for the Finding Nemo wings of the resort.

Located adjacent to Disney’s Pop Century Resort, the new resort will include 1,120 family suites in The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo wings, and 864 themed rooms in The Little Mermaid wings. Suites will feature both a living room and bedroom, offering added space for families.

The family suites and rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will fit into the “value” category of lodging, with nightly rates similar to Disney’s All-Star Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort.

The phased opening of the resort will begin when the Finding Nemo wing opens May 31, 2012. Next, the Cars wing of the resort will open near the end of July. The Lion King suites will open a short time later in September, and The Little Mermaid value rooms will open by the end of next year.

Some fun facts about Disney’s Art of Animation Resort -

• With an area of 11,859 square feet, the feature pool at the Finding Nemo wing of the resort will be the largest swimming pool at Walt Disney World Resort outside of the water parks.

• The new resort hotel will feature 9,400 doors, which if stacked flat would be taller than the Empire State Building.

• The 227,000 lineal feet of carpet being used on the project would be enough carpet to stretch from Orlando to the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville.

You can see a new Areal Photo from above the construction site in our Areal Photos Gallery!

Original Release from Disney:

Coming soon: a new Walt Disney World Resort! Disney's Art of Animation Resort hotel, a Disney Value Resort hotel, will draw its inspiration from 4 classic Disney animated films: The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Disney·Pixar's Finding Nemo and Cars.

Booking dates for this family-friendly resort, scheduled to open Summer of 2012, have not been announced yet. Please continue to check back for more information and details.

Step into some of your favorite stories! Each one of the Disney's Art of Animation Resort buildings are being designed to make you feel like you are part of one of 4 beloved animated films. Trace the movie's theme, from the playful courtyards to the festive room interiors.

The 864 rooms planned within The Little Mermaid buildings will be sea-inspired with an eye towards value.

The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo buildings are planned to exclusively feature family suites which accommodate up to six guests. The concepts show a total of 1,120 family suites—all arranged for added space and comfort.

The concept for these family suites include:

• 2 separate bathrooms
• A master bedroom
• 3 separate sleeping areas within the living space, which includes an "Inovabed"—an impressive piece of furniture that transforms from a generously sized dining or work table to a comfortable bed in seconds.

Kids and kids at heart will be able to romp through one of the 4 courtyards—one courtyard for each film—where there will be icons and sculptures to interact with and play around. Make a splash in the main pool—complete with a pool bar—or relax in one of the 2 quiet pool areas. Planned amenities at Disney's Art of Animation Resort include an animation-themed food court, arcade, retail location and interior airline check-in stations.

Location and General Information
Disney's Art of Animation Resort is scheduled to be located near Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It will be a smoke-free Resort; smoking will be permitted only in designated outdoor smoking locations.