We just returned from a 9 day/8 night stay at AoA. We really enjoyed it and our kids went nuts over the theming. I debated for months over POR and AoA and it came down to the theming. I'm glad our kids were as excited about it as we thought they would be. We did advance check-in and when our flight landed at MCO at 10am I had a text saying that our room was ready. I didn't get the exact room I wanted, but at least it was on the ground floor like I asked. We had a very early flight so it was very nice to be able to nap before hitting the parks. We went to MK for some rides and an early dinner. When we returned our groceries and luggage were waiting for us.
We used both the main pool and the Little Mermaid pool. No complaints there. A little crowded at times but nothing we couldn't tolerate. The food court was a bit chaotic and we had a couple of unpleasant interactions with CMs in the chaos. I asked for an adult slice of pizza and was given a kid's portion. I inquired because on the menu it says it is a "monster slice" and what we were given looked small. The CM was a little snippy and told me it was an adult portion. I get to the counter and the cashier said it was the kid's slice, but she was nice enough to go get me an additional slice to even it out. The pasta/pizza line was long and seemed to be the line that caused the most confusion for folks. It was always backed way up. My DH and I both enjoyed the surf and surf burger from the burger line.
We kept running into a problem where we were being charged table service credits at Landscapes. Our receipts were always correct when we checked out though. It happened three times but the concierge desk was able to help. After the first two times, I went directly to the desk after we ate the third meal and sure enough it happened again. Make sure you keep track of what is being charged to your band! The concierge desk was also very patient with me when we were paying down our balance. I was a bit complicated with gift cards, rewards cards, cash, and a credit card, lol. For some reason I was really stressed out about getting the balance paid. I didn't exactly understand the process, but again they were patient.
We stayed in the Little Mermaid area as we didn't feel the need for a suite. It was a bit of a walk but completely enjoyable! My kids loved stopping to run through the elephant graveyard. We had a great view of the HS fireworks from between the Lion King and Mermaid rooms.
My only real complaint is the bus service. Maybe we just had bad timing but we had multiple 30+ minute waits and twice we waited for almost an hour. We finally started taking the Pop bus if it was there and walking across the bridge. It might not have saved us any time but at least we were moving and out of the sun.
If given the option we would certainly stay there again! Lots of great memories!
Any advice for a group of 4 adults?
