Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Photo Walk from March, 2020: 220+ Photos in Tour of Resort

April 10, 2020August 24, 2020 Denise

Update – Disney’s Art of Animation was originally scheduled to reopen August 12th, now it is scheduled for November 1, 2020.

Hi everyone –

Prior to the Disney parks closing for COVD-19, I photographed an updated photo walk of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. I actually photographed and posted one in early 2019 too, but the Disney Skyliner station was added so I have a new walk of over 200 photos. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is in the location of what would have been Disney’s Pop Century Resort Legendary Years back about 20 years ago. I was working for the Disney Reservation Center at that time, and was glad when it eventually changed to a new resort with a new theme – and family suites. While there are value family suites at Disney’s All Star Music Resorts, three sections of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort offer them (only The Little Mermaid area does not). When I was working at DRC and then as a travel agent for 6 years, the biggest request was for family suites and those just were not available at that time. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is my favorite of the value resorts, especially the Cars section which has the feel of Radiator Springs at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim.

Usually I time my walks for those looking to see how long a walk will take, but I didn’t this time around. I was just glad to be able to get this photographed before the parks closed. Prior to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, I posted photo walks in 2020 from Epcot to Disney’s Hollywood Studios via the Walt Disney World Boardwalk as well as Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.

This photo walk is on 3 pages.

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Disney’s Art of Animation Resort offers four distinct sections of the resort. Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo.

The bus stop is just outside of Animation Hall.

Animation Hall offers shopping, dining and the check-in area.

Walking into Animation Hall, there is artwork everywhere that encompasses all four stories.

Ahead is also a special chandelier that offers a variety of artwork.

Looking up at the chandelier.

Many of the pieces of artwork here are now signed by artists, filmmakers and actors. Jodi Benson (Ariel) signed this one.

The artwork on this wall spans the check-in area and runs from concept to fully realized artwork from the four stories.

Do you notice anything different here? Until recently I had not. Lightning McQueen is #95 in the Cars films. But originally, McQueen was to be #57, the year of John Lasseter’s birth. Instead, it is #95 for for the year Toy Story came out.

Here is one last look down the wall. It is worth spending some time looking at.

On the opposite side is the guest check-in area. There were very few guest check-ins on this day as the parks were about to close.

The reflection of the chandelier looks nice in this photo. And in front of us in the Ink & Paint Shop, which is the one store for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

Here is more of the colorful artwork on the walls that flank the Ink & Paint Shop.

These shelves are themed to the ink & paint theme. Also, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort has had terrific resort specific merchandise since it opened.

Walking through the shop, you can see the food court Landscape of Flavors.

There are four themed sections to the seating area – the same stories that make up the resort. To the left is The Lion King section.

Being a value resort, there is no table service option here – just the food court. But there is a decent variety of items to choose from.

You can see little hidden Mickeys in the blueberries at the gelato case.

Also in Animation Hall is the Pixel Play Arcade.

Outside of Animation Hall in the back, there are a number of Directory signs to help you find your way.

The Big Blue Pool is in front of us.

The pool is supposed to go under refurbishment in fall, but I don’t know what the current situation is on that. I will be showing most of the Finding Nemo section last.

First, we will be walking to the Cars section.

While walking, we will have Animation Hall on the right and the pool area to the left.

The Drop Off is the pool bar here. There are no other pool bars (even though there are three pools).

There are tons of fun details at the resort, including the small fish that make up the sign.

Each section is very distinct, and that includes the landscaping as well.

The Cars section is coming into view.

An Ornament Valley Radiator Springs sign is to the right.

Another Radiator Springs billboard is still in the distance a bit.

To the left, the Finding Nemo buildings include seagulls.

You can sometimes hear the seagulls saying “Mine, mine, mine!”

The billboard ahead says, “Radiator Springs: A Happy Place”.

By far, the Cars section is my favorite at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Guests can walk around and take photos with their favorite cars – and there are like 11 to choose from. Plus the atmosphere is just fun. Sheriff is underneath the sign.

Behind Sheriff, you can see the seagulls as part of the Finding Nemo section.

I have a lot more detailed photos especially from this section to share, so I’ll do at least a Cars section photo tour soon. My total photo count on this day was over 800 and I used about 1/4 of them, and really had to whittle this area down.

We are walking along Route 66.

There are signs along the way, just like in Radiator Springs at Disney California Adventure.

This “rock” looks like a car.

The signs continue.

Flo is in the distance.

She was being worked on the last time I photographed a walk. It was nice to see all the cars here.

Her license plate says “SHO GRL”.

Ramone is on the other side, with the Cozy Cone Motel in view.

Ramone’s license tag says “LOW N SLO”. Of course, all say Carburetor County.

The Cozy Cone Motel is the entrance to the Cozy Cone Pool.

Here it looks like an office.

I think this was mean to be a hidden Oswald.

This cone says 1909 and Radiator Springs.

A sign says Route 66 and offers directions to the laundry, different resort sections and Animation Hall.

Luigi and Guido are here at one of the buildings, themed to Luigi’s Casa Della Tires.

This area reminds me of Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters.

The “window” here says Fettucini Alfredo.

Now we are heading to the next building.

The entrance to Building #1 features Tow Mater and is themed to him.

The entrance includes a Tow Mater sign with fun details (which I will share in another article).

On the back of Tow Mater is the license tag with A-113, which is the classroom used by animation students like Brad Bird and John Lasseter at Cal Arts.

The Cozy Cone Motel can be seen in the distance.

We are heading toward the third and last building in the Cars section.

Before that is Sarge’s Surplus Hut, which isn’t a public building but includes Sarge as a character to take photos with.

Sarge sits outside of the building.

The license tag for Sarge says 41WW2, which is a reference to World War II.

The Cozy Cone Pool is on the opposite side of the fence. When I share a dedicated article for the Cars section, I will show more of the pool from previous years. The cones are cabanas, they don’t cost extra and they really add to the theming of the pool area.

We are passing Sarge’s Surplus Hut on the right, and the Cozy Cone Pool on the left.

Building #2 is themed to the Wheel Well Motel and features Lightning McQueen and Sally.

We do have a current video (from January) of a refurbished Cars suite. It retains the theming from before but there have been some changes (no bedspreads, carpet, etc.)