Big news… Disney has just announced plans for a new resort at Walt Disney World Resort that will bring to life some of their most beloved characters and stories. Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will be one-of-a-kind, featuring family suites designed around four themes: The Lion King, Cars, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. It will be the first new resort built on property in seven years.
It’s a resort designed with families in mind. There will be amazing sights at the different themed wings of the resort, including a model of King Triton that’ll eventually be 35 feet tall and tower over guests. And Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will also have themed room interiors in its nearly 2,000 new units — 1,120 family suites in The Lion King, Cars and Finding Nemo wings and 864 themed rooms in The Little Mermaid wings.
Suites will have both a living room and a bedroom, offering added space. Each section will have separate courtyards anchored by icons from the movies, such as a 35-foot tall version of the King Triton statue pictured above. “The hope is you walk into this courtyard and you’re kind of like seeing it as a character in the movie,†said Frank Paris, a senior project manager with Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s in-house attraction-design unit.
Like the nearby Pop Century Resort, it will be a “value” resort with standard rates starting at around $82 per night and is expected to open in 2012. The 65-acre plot was originally designed to be the second phase of Disney’s Pop Century Resort, but was abandoned in 2001.
In addition to bringing new, value-conscious options to its Guests, Disney said the project will generate approximately 800 construction jobs.
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