Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

One of the best things about visiting Walt Disney World in Florida is staying at one of their resorts and enjoying the magic the entire time you visit. Disney makes your entire vacation an experience to remember from your accommodations, to your dining, to your parks visits. Nothing misses the pixie dust.

For larger families though, staying at a Disney resort has always presented a bit of a hurdle, as most Disney resort rooms are built by the industry standard of four people to a room. Always listening to their guests feedback, Disney took the thousands of requests they received over the years and have built their first resort with families of five and six in mind. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is set to open in phases through the summer of 2012.

Last week, I joined media from across North America for a the unveiling of the first phase, Finding Nemo, set to open May 31, 2012. The first thing that strikes you upon entering the resort is the size, at a incredible 87 acres. Walt Disney himself, wasn’t kidding when he said that in Florida they would have all the land they needed for their imaginations!

The second is the color. All the buildings, signs, and structures are vibrant and bright, it’s like walking around in technicolor and you are part of the animation. In fact, the Finding Nemo property was built on the premise that guests were the size of Nemo. All models were then built accordingly, like Mr. Ray and Crush who serve as ambassadors to the rooms and the pool.

Perhaps the most impressive feature though is the pool, or the EAC (East Australian Current) dude. It hold 310,000 gallons of water and is the largest pool on any of the Disney resorts. Kids, young and old, will delight when they put their heads under the water for the first time and hear Nemo and Dory talking to them. Then there’s Squirt’s Splash Pad for the little dudes and dudettes. Seriously, how cute is that?

Finally the rooms, built with families in mind are perhaps the most fun of all! Take a look at these pictures and all the incredible detailing from the imagineers at Disney.

This resort is a value resort with rooms starting at $249 for value season and up to $425 for peak periods. Art of Animation is booking rooms now for all four wings. Finding Nemo opens May 31, 2012. The Cars wing will open June 18, 2012. The Lion King opens August 10, 2012. Finally, the Little Mermaid wing will open September 15th, 2012 for a grand total of 1,984 rooms, 1,140 of which will be family suites. Sweet, dude.