In this post we’ll review a family suite at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Specifically, we’ll be reviewing a Finding Nemo Family Suite. We’ll start with the basics (like all the types of suites at Art of Animation) before diving into a discussion of the room and, maybe most importantly, what we think of it at its relatively high price point. Read on to learn all about the Finding Nemo Family Suites at Art of Animation!
Basics of Art of Animation Family Suites
Art of Animation is a value hotel at Walt Disney World. We’ve reviewed the hotel, and its standard (non-suite) Little Mermaid rooms, separately here. We’ve also reviewed the Lion King suites here. In this post, we’re going to focus specifically on the Finding Nemo Family Suites.
Art of Animation is one of two value hotels with family suites, the other being All Star Music. The family suites are not the same quality as one bedroom villas at DVC properties or one bedroom suites at deluxe or moderate hotels. Basically, they’re bigger value rooms with a separate bedroom.
This isn’t to say they’re bad—we’re actually completely fine with the quality of the room, as you’ll read. But in booking them it’s best to expect theming and space, not luxury.
There are three categories of family suites at Art of Animation—Finding Nemo, Cars, and Lion King. Besides the theming and location, the rooms are the same. You can expect to pay $478 to $963 per night in 2024 for a family suite at Art of Animation. The suites are often a part of discounts, though.
You can see in the above map the Finding Nemo suites are just east of Animation Hall (the main resort building). These buildings flank the feature pool and splash pad, and they’re also located right between Animation Hall and the Skyliner. The Finding Nemo suites are $20-$30 more expensive than the other two due to their excellent location.
Finally, there’s a fourth category of just “family suites.” These are actually the same rooms as Lion King / Cars / Finding Nemo suites, you just don’t know which you’ll be in until you check in.
Booking Art of Animation Family Suites
We had our travel advisor Lauren Quirk of Travel With Character book our room. We paid $831.38 for one night during Easter weekend. Unfortunately, no annual passholder discount or other discounts were available this weekend.
Our Finding Nemo Suite at Art of Animation
The family suites are the only value rooms at Disney World that don’t have outside facing (“motel style”) doors. I’ve never felt this makes much of a difference at the value hotels, though I suppose the noise—particularly if you’re near a pool—is worse with a door that faces outside. The hallways are overall a bit bland but there is some artwork in them.
As far as I know, all the family suites at Art of Animation have the same basic layout. These are true suites, with a bedroom, living room (that can also function as a bedroom), and two full bathrooms.
Let’s start with a video then two galleries (click the arrows through the photos) before we move onto further discussion of the room.
This gallery looks at the main (living) room and its bathroom:
This gallery looks at the bedroom and its bathroom:
As with the Lion King suites, I think the Finding Nemo suites feel a bit dated as far as design goes. That said, the Finding Nemo theming worked a lot better for me than the Lion King theming.
Ironically, I think the reason the Finding Nemo theming felt better to me is because it was so unnatural in the hotel setting. For example, the Lion King suites have brown floors with green walls. This feels just like a really off-putting combination you might find in any hotel. The Finding Nemo suites have light blue walls with blue floors. It feels fun and not like something you’d find anywhere else.
It’s likely I’m splitting hairs here, though. Truth be told, you should be able to look at the reviews of both of these suites and pick the theming that works best for you.
As far as functionality, there isn’t much to complain about. The room has ample outlets. The bathrooms are a bit dated, but with two of them you shouldn’t have much trouble getting a large party ready in the morning.
The suites are equipped with a kitchen sink and microwave, in addition to the mini-fridge similar to those in all Disney rooms. I’m still disappointed with the prevalence of Cuisinart machines (as opposed to Keurigs) in Disney’s expensive rooms. Luckily all (almost all?) the deluxe rooms now have Keurig’s but I pretty firmly believe these suites should, too.
For sleeping arrangements for our three-person family, we had Zoe sleep in the living room on the Murphy bed behind the dining table. I had housekeeping install bed rails when we arrived. We slept in the main bedroom.
In our last family suite stay, we opted to put Zoe in the main bedroom so we’d have use of the rest of the suite after bedtime. On this trip, we all went to bed at roughly the same time so this wasn’t an issue.
Suite Pricing at Disney World
At the end of our Review of the Lion King Suites, I talk about the fact that the suites are, basically, too pricey to justify in most cases. The main issue is just that you can usually rent DVC points for much nicer rooms for just a slightly higher cost. If you’d like to read more, head over to the bottom of the Lion King suite review.
Conclusions
Honestly, I’m surprised at how much I preferred the Finding Nemo suite to the Lion King one we last stayed at.
The Finding Nemo rooms have excellent location, with easy access to the pool, main building, and Skyliner. They also have fun theming and plenty of space.
That said, the pricing on these suites still leaves a lot to be desired. If you have a large group and want to be in a single room, the family suites might make sense. But again, you’ll want to consider renting DVC points as an alternative. For a small group that could do a standard room, I just don’t think the family suites offer enough to justify their high prices.
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