Finding Nemo at Art of Animation Resort

We’ve used Nemo as a teacher when it comes to Jordan’s little arm ever since she was a baby. When Cameron’s school friends were super confused about how it could be possible Jordan has a tiny arm… I’d remind the kids about Nemo’s lucky fin and everything would be okay.

So, when my brother told me he was interested in staying with us during our December visit to Disney World, I knew it was a perfect chance to stay in a Finding Nemo suite at Walt Disney World’s Art of Animation Resort.

On arrival, we found Nemo sketches everywhere. There was even a Nemo tutorial at the entrance for kids who are waiting on their parents to check in. We were all very excited.

We spent most of our first day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios before we had a room, so by the time we got there, the kids were really tired. But I’m a planner. So I had Nemo balloons waiting for them as a welcome back to Disney. It was a super fun way to add some Nemo into a room that was already very aquatic.

From the moment I showed the kids a video of the Nemo suite, they had decided they had to sleep in a Murphy bed that has a headboard with Merlin and Nemo cuddling. After a long day at the park, they were very happy.

Along with two rooms with three queen or double sized beds, the suite has two bathrooms, a refrigerator and when the kids weren’t in the Murphy bed, we had a table for eating. Another benefit to staying in the Nemo suite is its location at the resort. The Nemo buildings (there are two) frame the centerpiece of the entire resort: The Big Blue Pool. The kids had a chance to swim in it twice. I jumped in for some fun once. It’s a heated saltwater pool. And the kids’ favorite feature was how you could listen to music underwater. My parents stayed in a Little Mermaid room. It was further away from the bus stops and hotel lobby, food and store. But there’s a smaller pool in that section of the hotel. There’s also a very cute pool in the middle of the Cars themed suite area.

The hotel’s cafeteria has a really good collection of food. We had one dinner there and multiple breakfasts. The staff was super kind and helpful everywhere. I was lucky to request a late checkout since our trip to Orlando was extended thanks to the University of Missouri playing in the Citrus Bowl. We had to leave our hotel, but we stayed an extra couple of hours and that gave us enough time to walk around the property, get in a swim, a shower and quickly move all our bags out.

We’ve stayed at multiple value resorts at Walt Disney World and I consider Art of Animation the best. The facility is obviously the newest, the pool is the best and the overall design and flow of the resort was pretty wonderful. We aren’t sure if we need to stay in a Nemo suite again since we spend so much time in the parks and not as much in our rooms. But it was a really awesome experience to have in our memories.