When I left off last week, I was leaving Disney’s Hollywood Studios on our last full day at Walt Disney World.  Now, some folks will go and visit a theme park before they catch Disney’s Magical Express to the Orlando Airport on their last partial day. Brooke and I chose to visit Disney’s Art of Animation Resort instead.

The morning started off with one last Mickey Waffle. Then, we got on a bus to EPCOT. From there, we caught a bus to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

Since we had plenty of time to kill, we headed off to see all the fun wings of this resort. Up first is the Lion King wing.

It was rather windy, but we had a lot of fun taking pictures, making memories.

Hakunah Matata!

There was even an elephant graveyard to play in. Watch out for those hyenas though.

Scar sits that the other end.

Right past the Lion King wing is the Little Mermaid wing. This is Brooke’s favorite. It’s also the only wing that is not suites. We haven’t stayed at this resort because this is also the only wing I don’t get my discount at. Although, Brooke and I have decided that we will stay at the Art of Animation the next time we head out to Walt Disney World. Discount or none, we both think that we need to stay here.

In the middle of the wing is a larger than life Ursula.

King Triton sits right across from Ursula.

Sebastian hangs out by the pool!

Right at the front of the wing is Prince Eric’s statue.

For those interested, Disney’s Art of Animation sits across the lake from Disney’s Pop Century Resort. There is a bridge that connects the two. I believe there is also a runDisney running path that goes between the two resorts. Next time I visit, I’ll have to run on it.

The next wing we came to is the Finding Nemo wing.

Squirt hangs out by the pool.

Crush is nearby. Also Nemo and Marlin are by the pool.

The last wing to explore is the Cars wing.

Welcome to Radiator Springs East!

The Cozy Cone Motel is the pool at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

All the cones provide a cabana like feel.

No Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree here.

However, Mater is always up for a quick selfie!

At the end is the Wheel Well Motel.

No big deal. Just chillin’ with Lightning McQueen!

What I love about the Cars wing is that it reminds me of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. They have tried to re-create Radiator Springs. This would be totally fun if I had kids. I’m sure they would have fun playing around the various cars.

After visiting all the wings, we headed back to Animation Hall for lunch.

The dining at Disney’s Art of Animation should not be missed just for the ambiance.

Look! Ariel’s trove with treasures untold.

I love all the backgrounds from the various movies like Finding Nemo…

and the Lion King. All without the characters. It’s just the backgrounds.

Art is everywhere. Even in the restroom. They have Mater in the Men’s room.

I love the lobby with all the artwork!

Concept Lightning McQueen!

Ariel…

Mater…

and Simba.

The way they’ve designed the artwork is that it flows  from the sketch work all the way to finished, colored in renderings.

They even have artwork included with the lighting. If you’re ever trying to come up with something to do on your last partial day or to fill in some time outside of a theme park, I highly recommend checking out Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

After roaming around Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, it was time to catch a bus back to the All Star Resorts. I had the chance to run through all three of them earlier. However, Brooke didn’t get to see the All Star Music Resort. So, we started there.

Of course, what she really wanted to see was the Ariel at one of the pools. Who knew that Ariel played guitar?

The pool that Ariel is at is super cool. It’s in the shape of a piano, complete with keyboard!

On the way back to the bus, I got to walk through the Mighty Ducks wing of the All Star Movies Resort which I had not run through.

How fun is the pool? Goofy is the goalie!

The Mighty Ducks wing was right by the wing we stayed in for our trip…the 101 Dalmatians wing.

I was told that there are 101 dalmatians in this wing. Pretty impressive!

One of them was watching TV!

Then, of course, the adult dalmatians are the larger than life variety.

On the way to the lobby, I had to grab a quick picture of Sorcerer Mickey at this pool.

In the lobby of the All Star Movies Resort, they had a little theater area set up.

Alas, our time had come to an end and it was time to board Disney’s Magical Express back to the Orlando Airport. Disney’s Magical Express is both an exciting thing to see and a sad thing to see. It’s exciting when you’re coming to Walt Disney World and sad when it’s taking you back to the Orlando International Airport. As we had made our way back to catch the bus, I was trying desperately to capture every last bit of Disney magic until we got to the bus. We arrived at the bus loading area about 10 minutes before we needed to be there. So, I’d say we maximized our time.

Once onboard, Disney does a great job at keeping the magic going all the way to the airport. They had these mini dapper dans sing to us.

One of our favorite runDisney race announcers hosted the video that played.

Eventually, the time comes to say…

Then, it was time to make sure we didn’t miss our flight. It’s always sad for me when the bus finally arrives at the airport because that’s when the Disney fun ends. By the time we got into the check in area, my thoughts center around everything you need to do to get to the gate for our flight. Brooke and I had to do some repacking before we checked in. What we didn’t count on was how long it would take to get through the security area. The line took forever and I started to worry that we’d miss our flight. It was crazy.

We did make it though with enough time thanks to some pixie dust. Whew! The bummer about our flight time is that we didn’t have time to get dinner before boarding. The flight left around 6pm.

Here we are half way home. Once the flight starts, my mind usually is reflective on the fun we had, but understanding that life continues. It was a wonderful trip. Walt Disney World did not fail to give us a great time. It was fun having family and friends with us on this trip and several first timers. I loved the chats we had about the differences between Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Once we got settled back at home, it was time for our traditional first meal back in California. When Brooke and I went on our honeymoon (our first flight oriented trip together), we went to In-N-Out for food upon returning to California. It has quickly become tradition for us. Since we didn’t get to eat dinner in Orlando, we were both really hungry when we got home. In-N-Out was the perfect way to end our trip.