The #DisneySMMoms Report: Poolside In Art of Animation, Part 1

The Disney Social Media Moms Celebration might have been coming to a close, but there was still one more party to attend.  This was going to be a very special one, which is saying something given how wonderful Disney parties are.  We were going to the then-still-unopened Art of Animation resort for a poolside party.

For those who don’t know, the Art of Animation resort sits right across from Pop Century, a favorite value resort of ours.  For the longest time, there was a half-built resort there.  It was supposed to become "The Legendary Years", themed for the 1900’s through 1940’s to complement Pop Century’s "Classic Years" area of 1950’s through 1980’s.  Unfortunately, various circumstances side-lined those plans and the area went uncompleted for years.

Having stayed in Pop Century many times, we were used to seeing this uncompleted resort just over the water.  We were excited to see what they had built.

As we approached, the exterior of the building showed off the fun spirit of the resort and the characters who inspired the various sections.

As you walk into the main building, Animation Hall, you are greeted by the various stages of animation.  There are rough sketches, plenty of colors, and finished products.  On one side is a colorful check-in area (vacant at the time, but by now likely quite busy) and the other side had a cafeteria (again, not operational when we visited it).

Our main focus lay beyond another set of doors, though.  As we exited Animation Hall, we walked into the Finding Nemo section of Art of Animation.  Everything was designed to make us feel like we were under water.  The sides of the buildings showcased underwater scenes, the tops were waves, Crush, Dory, Nemo, Marlin and company were all around us.  Even the seagulls ("Mine?") were there above the tops of the buildings.   In the center was a huge pool.  (Sadly, we weren’t going in it that day.)

  

As soon as we got our seats (right near the pool), we went to eat.  We had only just entered and the fun was just beginning.

Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Note: To see all of my posts on DisneySMMoms 2012, go here.