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Art of Animation resort construction


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From the Disney Blog.  Follow the link at the end for video of the construction...

Signs of Life at Disney World?s Ghost Hotel, Art of Animation nee Legendary Years

Posted on April 8, 2011 by John Frost

The hotel that was originally planned as the Legendary Years and the second half of Pop Century sat abandoned and forlorn for many years. Eventually it became known as Disney?s ghost hotel with the occasional brave soul venturing inside to take spooky videos of the partially constructed buildings.

Now Disney is in the middle of finishing the hotel, but not as the Legendary Years. Instead it will become the Art of Animation Hotel and feature some regular value rooms, but also a new type of room at Walt Disney World, the family suite.

Here?s a video from Jeff Lange showing construction going on at the site earlier today.

Come below the jump for concept artwork:

After viewing this concept art I can definitely see some of the details coming out in the video above.

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Love the look and feel, I hear the inside will be pretty crazy too. It will have themed room interiors in the nearly 2,000 new units ? 1,120 family suites in The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo wings and 864 themed rooms in The Little Mermaid wings. And once open in the summer of 2012, the resort will create 750 permanent jobs.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2011/04/08/signs-of-life-at-disney-worlds-ghost-hotel-art-of-animation-nee-legendary-years/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDisneyBlog+%28The+Disney+Blog%29

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Monique,

If you recall during my visit this weekend, I told you that I was surprised that someone hadn't posted a recent photo of the Art of Animation resort as the main building was partially painted and had a lot of color. That video shows it very well.

If I wasn't so lazy, I would have done it weeks ago.

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Monique,

If you recall during my visit this weekend, I told you that I was surprised that someone hadn't posted a recent photo of the Art of Animation resort as the main building was partially painted and had a lot of color. That video shows it very well.

Yeah - major coincidence that I just stumbled on this info.  First thing I thought of was "hey, Lou just mentioned this!"

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Certainly an interesting concept.  I'm personally not a big fan of the over-the-top theming at some of the value resorts, like the All-Stars, but they do fill a pricing niche.  I kinda wish there was a value family suites hotel on property that was just basic, with a nice food court and pool but no crazy decor.  I suppose a lot of people do like it though.  Guess I'm just getting old. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updated photos from WDW News Today.  Follow the link at the end for more pics...

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Disney?s Art of Animation Resort is coming along nicely

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You can already see the differences between these buildings with the family suites and the usual value resort buildings

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This building is still just a shell

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This already built wing is being made into one of The Little Mermaid buildings

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You can see the spaces where the family suite rooms will go in

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The suites have windows facing outward without a balcony on the other side

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With the Resort opening next Summer, work should be picking up speed very soon?

http://wdwnewstoday.com/archives/6936#more-6936

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I wish they would make some of the suites a little bit bigger, maybe for 8.  I know a family of 7 or more is rare these days but I would think they would have no trouble with the occupancy, how many people travel with g-parents.  NOT that I would have ours stay with us...LOL.  When the kids are all of age for the dining plan it will be too expensive for us.  I did price it out and if we stayed on site in a Value Resort and got free dining it would work.  We'll see.

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  • 1 month later...

Found this on WDW News Today...

Art of Animation Resort Construction Photo From Above

Posted on June 23, 2011

Our own Adam Roth also does a fair amount of work over at Theme Park Review, and while taking an aerial tour of Walt Disney World for the site, he came across this:

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This is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort which will be opening in phases beginning May 2012

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The Finding Nemo buildings opens in May 2012, Cars in July 2012, The Lion King in September 2012, and The Little Mermaid buildings in December 2012. If you compare the two photos, you’ll see that the Nemo buildings are indeed the furthest along, so it’s not hard to believe that area will open first.

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The back of the building has already been decorated with the character sketches we saw in concept art:

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The buildings in the Cars wing seem to be on the same track:

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Meanwhile, vertical building construction is still going on in The Lion King section, making it hard to believe that will open only 4 months after the Nemo building:

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Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid buildings are not in the picture, but they were pretty far along last time we looked. Another thing to take notice of is that the facade of the main building is really coming along. Here is the concept art:

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Here’s what it looks like now:

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It certainly will be fun to watch this new resort grow over the next year! Stay tuned to WDW News Today for more information on Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

http://wdwnewstoday.com/archives/7333

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  • 1 month later...

From WDW News Today...

7/26/11 Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Update

Posted on July 29, 2011

WDWNT Reporter Robert Ashburn visited the site of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort on Tuesday and has some photos of the progress to share with us:

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Some buildings are much further along than others since they are opening in phases

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The back of the Nemo buildings are near completion

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The main building is looking great as well

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The heights of Ornament Valley can be seen peeking over the building

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The first pieces of the Nemo courtyard area are being placed

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The giant pages await the character sketches

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The first details of the main building are visible

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More Nemo details

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The Little Mermaid wing doesn’t appear to have much going on…

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Did somebody call the Ghostbusters?

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Almost there…

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I'm really surprised the little mermaid section is opening last. Those are the standard rooms in the buildings that were already "built". I'm wondering if they had some "inspection and approval" issues with those building to determine if they were sound. Or maybe remediation to reclaim them from nature took more time than to actually build new.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update from WDW News Today...

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Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

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The sides of the Finding Nemo buildings look almost complete

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A Cars building starting to show details

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Character sketches will soon adorn these pages

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The main building is looking good

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You can see rockwork forming in the pool area

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You can spot some more Nemo building details on the right

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The Little Mermaid buildings look untouched

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Thanks for the update Brandon!

]

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From the Disney Parks Blog...

First Look: Family Suites at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

posted on August 16th, 2011 by Thomas Smith, Social Media Director, Disney Parks

You’ve already seen the great themes coming to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort when it opens throughout 2012. But check out what we have today – a first look at some of our Disney Story Room family suites.

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fsa313991THUMB.jpg fsa230239THUMB.jpg fsa405990THUMB.jpg fsa502499THUMB.jpg fsa694890THUMB.jpg Disney’s Art of Animation Family Suites will be available at Finding Nemo, Cars and The Lion King Courtyard areas at the resort. They’ll be twice the size of standard rooms and can accommodate up to six guests. The Little Mermaid standard rooms will sleep up to four guests also be available in late 2012. Be among the first to stay in one of our family suites. We’ll have more updates here on the Disney Parks Blog later this year.

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  • 3 months later...

Oh, just an FYI on Art of Animation. Was playing around with the Disney website to see if I could see pricing for the standard rooms. (Not there yet) BUT, something that did surprise me is you can RESERVE specific buildings for the family suites instead of random building assignment. So if you really want to be in Lion King, or Cars, or Nemo, you can actually reserve that choice.

That's a FIRST for Disney resorts, I think. :-)

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In Carol's current TR, she brought up the bus situation at Pop and hoped that they weren't going to share with AOA.

In addition to the regular buses sent by the bus hubs to the resorts, Pop and CBR have a bunch of dedicated buses staged and on call until noon in the CM parking lot located at the CBR. The bus dispatch center for those buses is located in, of all places, a closet size room in the drivers break room at Epcot, which is where I was today. They have real time video of Pop and that's how they know when and to what bus stop to send another bus. Someone is watching you.

I was talking to the dispatcher about what the plan was for AOA. As I thought, they will not share buses. AOA will be part of the Pop, CBR dedicated bus setup in the morning but they will be separate.

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From the Disney Food blog...

Art of Animation Resort’s Landscapes Cafe to Open in Summer 2012

Dec 19th, 2011 by AJ.

Another fun addition to the Disney “landscape” in 2012 will be Landcapes Cafe (ha ha…get it…?), the new food court at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

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Landscape Cafe Concept Art -- Disneys Art of Animation Resort

The food court will share space with the Ink and Paint Shop shopping area adjacent to Animation Hall — similar to Everything Pop at Pop Century Resort. According to DisneyWorld.com, Landscapes will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and feature four unique cooking stations serving pizza and pasta, all-American burgers, international favorites, fresh salads, and sandwiches. The standard “Grab ‘n Go” market selections will also be available.

We’ve heard that the food court will feature items like fresh smoothies, hand-scooped gelato, and Mongolian barbecue (YUM!!!) on the menu. Can’t wait!!

Want something in your room? Pizza delivery will be an option here, too!

About the Art of Animation Resort

The resort will feature 1,120 family suites (including a bedroom and living room) themed after “The Lion King,” “Cars” and “Finding Nemo” animated films, as well as 864 regular guest rooms inspired by “The Little Mermaid.” The current opening timetable has the “Finding Nemo” wing opening May 31, the “Cars” wing in late July, and “The Lion King” wing in late September. “The Little Mermaid” wing will debut in late 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IHIP3SnJHD4

Click here to read more about Disney’s Art of Animation Resort!

http://www.disneyfoo...in-summer-2012/

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