After hopping back on the Skyliner at the Riviera, Carter and I rode it back to Caribbean Beach and transferred to the line that goes to Art of Animation and Pop Century. We had gone there three years ago, to sort of do what we were doing this time, but we'd already had a long day at that point and the heat was overwhelming, so we didn't get very far. That time we just walked over the Skyliner station bridge in either direction, eyed up what was right there in front of us, and headed back. This time I wanted to do a full investigation!
We started on the Art of Animation side. Value resorts like Art of Animation and Pop Century follow a similar aesthetic as the All-Star resorts--larger than life props and extensive theming. We walked through the Finding Nemo section, which we'd mostly seen before. I was so delighted to find these guys at the far end of the building, though! I love the "Mine!" seagulls!
That led into the Cars section, where I was absolutely blown away! From the cute billboards to the painted buildings to numerous characters, there was so much to see!
This Cozy Cone Motel was actually the entrance to the pool. But it definitely looked like an old motor lodge, right down to the neon "Office" sign in the window.
Every entrance to the buildings had adorable theming!
The Cozy Cone pool was so cute and used the cones as cabanas! It was probably one of the most fun looking pools I've ever seen!
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| Tow Mater! |
There were so many other cars scattered around, and I was so enchanted by the entire section. If I had to stay in a value resort, that might have to be my first choice.
Next up we went into the Lion King section, which I wish Jacob would have been healthy enough to join us for since that's his favorite movie. That section wasn't quite as heavily themed, but it did have a lot of fun photo ops!
Last was the Little Mermaid section. That's one of my favorite Disney movies, and of course I had to get my picture taken with the famous "dinglehopper"!
The giant King Triton was pretty amazing. There was an equally massive and imposing Ursula across from him, too!
I also really wanted my picture with Sebastian. He was always my favorite.
We had a rather long walk back around to the main entrance because of where we popped back out of that section. I can see why people say the Little Mermaid section is the least in demand because it's so far from the main building. But it was a nice little nature walk along the water, where we speculated about the presence of gators and other critters. After a quick bathroom stop we walked across the bridge to Pop Century.
Last was the Little Mermaid section. That's one of my favorite Disney movies, and of course I had to get my picture taken with the famous "dinglehopper"!
The giant King Triton was pretty amazing. There was an equally massive and imposing Ursula across from him, too!
I also really wanted my picture with Sebastian. He was always my favorite.
We had a rather long walk back around to the main entrance because of where we popped back out of that section. I can see why people say the Little Mermaid section is the least in demand because it's so far from the main building. But it was a nice little nature walk along the water, where we speculated about the presence of gators and other critters. After a quick bathroom stop we walked across the bridge to Pop Century.
Since I knew Carter's patience and energy were probably fading, and it was getting dark soon, I knew we had to prioritize. I had done some research ahead and since I had already seen the 50s bowling pins from afar on the Skyliner and the yo-yos and Play-Doh container during our previous visit, I decided to focus on the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I loved this giant Mickey phone in the 70s section! I may have been an 80s kid, but everyone still wanted one a decade later!
Carter cracked me up with the giant foosball guys!
And who doesn't love a giant big wheel! These were a staple in our 70s to 80s household, and even Carter had one he loved!
I was in love with the giant Rubik's cubes covering the stairwells. With the lights they were especially stunning!
We came across Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and a nice mom offered to take our picture. I returned the favor for her and her daughter.
I wasn't sure whether to love all of this or feel a bit victimized, much like I do at Strong Museum, seeing my childhood immortalized like this!
This computer loomed over the 90s pool. It cracked me up because it creatively had an "Animal Kingdom opens" article on the desktop! There were also 3.5" floppy disks represented around the pool.
I knew one of the last things we hadn't seen was an old school cell phone, so I dragged Carter all over until we found one!
On the way back we ran into a series of 8-tracks covering the 70s stairwells.
I had seen these flowers over at Art of Animation, but couldn't get close enough for a good picture. This was better. Apparently they're a type of orchid. So pretty!
I just loved the lighting on the 60s building at night.
I was so happy we had a chance to go see all of this. It was so cute and pure Disney fun. I still far prefer the vibe at our resort so much more, but I'm glad that the value resorts provide this kind of experience. It would have been too easy to make the value resorts boring and focus all the effort on the fancy ones, but I think it's great that people who literally scrimp and save in order to just afford a value resort vacation get so much bang for their buck with fun themes like this.
Carter cracked me up with the giant foosball guys!
And who doesn't love a giant big wheel! These were a staple in our 70s to 80s household, and even Carter had one he loved!
I was in love with the giant Rubik's cubes covering the stairwells. With the lights they were especially stunning!
We came across Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and a nice mom offered to take our picture. I returned the favor for her and her daughter.
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| Notice that the height difference is dwindling these days! |
I wasn't sure whether to love all of this or feel a bit victimized, much like I do at Strong Museum, seeing my childhood immortalized like this!
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| Roger Rabbit is still one of my favorites! |
This computer loomed over the 90s pool. It cracked me up because it creatively had an "Animal Kingdom opens" article on the desktop! There were also 3.5" floppy disks represented around the pool.
I knew one of the last things we hadn't seen was an old school cell phone, so I dragged Carter all over until we found one!
On the way back we ran into a series of 8-tracks covering the 70s stairwells.
I had seen these flowers over at Art of Animation, but couldn't get close enough for a good picture. This was better. Apparently they're a type of orchid. So pretty!
I just loved the lighting on the 60s building at night.
I was so happy we had a chance to go see all of this. It was so cute and pure Disney fun. I still far prefer the vibe at our resort so much more, but I'm glad that the value resorts provide this kind of experience. It would have been too easy to make the value resorts boring and focus all the effort on the fancy ones, but I think it's great that people who literally scrimp and save in order to just afford a value resort vacation get so much bang for their buck with fun themes like this.
We headed back on the Skyliner and transferred back to the Hollywood Studios line. I have to say, that was the first day of the whole trip where my feet were tired and sore. I had some minor raw spots after running through the rain the first day, but those cleared up quickly. The other days were all around 15,000 steps and six miles, which is more than usual but only a little more than half of what most park days usually are. But this was the first day we went back to the resort with that "day in the park" feeling.
When we got off the Skyliner, this absolutely perfect view was waiting at the end of the exit ramp. That's Tower of Terror with a gorgeous sliver of a crescent moon.
We once again got stuck waiting a bit for a bus, but we did get to see a few EPCOT fireworks again from the bus as we drove past it.
We once again got stuck waiting a bit for a bus, but we did get to see a few EPCOT fireworks again from the bus as we drove past it.
Back at the room, I put my feet up and was joined by a double dose of Figment--the original one on the left, and the new one on the right.
We had completed our last full day and were down to just a partial day left. We still wanted to make the most of it, so the fun wasn't quite over yet!
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| Tired but happy! |
We had completed our last full day and were down to just a partial day left. We still wanted to make the most of it, so the fun wasn't quite over yet!
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