Over the past few years, Disney has concentrated on building Disney Vacation Club properties when adding lodging options to the Walt Disney World portfolio of resorts.
However, recognizing that with the current economy, vacationers need more lower cost accommodations to choose from, Walt Disney World has just announced they will be building a new value-priced resort to open in 2012.
Details of the New Resort
The new property will be called Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. It will feature family suites and rooms similar to those offered by Disney’s All-Star and Pop Century resorts.
According to Walt Disney World’s initial statement on the project, this new resort will be located adjacent to Pop Century, in the spot that was to originally hold the “early decades” wings of that resort. This will allow them to use the existing building framework that was started, but never completed, when the first phase of Pop Century resort opened in 2003.
When finished, the Art of Animation Resort will offer 1,120 family suites consisting of a bedroom area with a separate living room that will sleep up to six. Walt Disney World began testing the family suite concept about three years ago at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort with great success. It will also offer 864 traditional rooms, which sleep up to four.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Themes
Accommodations at Disney’s Art of Animation resort will be separated into one of four movie themes. The family suites will be located in The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo wings, while the standard rooms will be located in The Little Mermaid wing.
As with WDW’s other value resorts, exterior décor will consist of larger than life statues and other representations of scenes and characters from these four popular movies. For instance, The Little Mermaid buildings will feature a 35-ft tall statue of King Triton.
Interior décor of the rooms will also be themed to the respective films, with specially created wall borders and bed linens.
Resort Dining and Other Amenities
Plans for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort show a separate main building where the check-in lobby, dining and shopping will be housed. Exact details of the dining and recreational amenities were not released.
The other value resorts on property offer food courts for dining, with both fresh made offerings like burgers and pizza, as well as grab-and-go items like sandwiches and salads. Most likely this is what the new resort will offer as well.
Booking a Stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
The initial information released by Walt Disney World is that this new resort is expected to open in phases, beginning in late 2012. Rates are also expected to be in line with the rest of the theme park’s value resorts, which currently start at $82 a night for the traditional rooms.
This is great news for those looking to visit the theme parks on a budget in the future. In the meantime, one still has four other value resorts to choose from when looking to save money while staying at Walt Disney World.
Michelle Snow - Michelle Snow been a freelance journalist and photographer for over twenty years, specializing in travel and entertainment. She got her ...
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