2023 Disney Vacation: Art of Animation and Disney Springs

Day 4: Rest/Resort Day

We scheduled in a mid-week rest day in order to break up all the walking and running around. We’ve done this for the last three trips we’ve been on and it is much needed after that second or third day of walking around parks.

There were several restaurants either at resorts or at Disney Springs that we wanted to try. We were somewhat limited by what reservations were available. I had heard that the Hoop Dee Doo Revue is a fun show, so I tried to get a reservation there and nothing ever opened up. I was back and forth on whether we wanted to do O’hana (which we’ve done before), Ragland Road at Disney Springs, or Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ at Disney Springs.

I had not even heard about Chef Art Smith’s until someone in a Disney group I’m in on Facebook posted pictures of their meal. I was able to get a lunch reservation at 11:15. I was impressed by this food and the view! We sat by a window which was next to this beautiful blue water. Our waiter was from the Bahamas and he said the view reminded him of home.

We ordered the fried chicken plate, which came with 3 pieces of bone in chicken, mashed potatoes, and a cheddar biscuit. We also ordered the “kitchen plate” which was three sides of your choice. The mac-n-cheese was incredible! Everything was delicious. Definitely the best meal of the week.

We shopped around for a bit at Disney Springs, and went back to the resort to swim.

We decided on doing a lunch, rather than dinner, somewhere outside the resort because we knew the kids wanted to swim, and we didn’t want to limit their time swimming by having to come in and get ready by a certain time. This worked out perfectly. We were at the pool around 3:30 and swam until after dark (night swimming was something they really wanted to do.)

Art of Animation Resort

We stayed at Art of Animation Resort. We loved it there. We loved the theming and the access to the Skyliner. There are four sections of rooms at this resort – Little Mermaid, which are regular rooms, and Lion King, Nemo, and Cars, which are family suites. We stayed in the Little Mermaid rooms because they were way cheaper. We were able to stay in a regular room rather than a suite because Hannah is under three. Once she’s over three, it’s considered having five people to a room, which they don’t allow in regular rooms (a big reason we wanted to go before she turned three)

There are three pools – one at Little Mermaid, one at Cars, and one at Nemo. The “Big Blue Pool” that’s in the center of the resort is the biggest pool. We decided to walk to this pool rather than go to the Mermaid pool because it had a splash pad for Hannah to play in.

Hannah was entertained playing in the splash pad the entire time! I was so thankful for this, because it was a bit breezy and I wasn’t looking forward to getting into the big pool with her (brr).

Raley and Audrey played in the big pool most of the time and of course they made some friends. After a while, Raley offered to “babysit” Hannah and played with her in the splash pad. She’s a good big sister.

Around 6:00 or so, we ordered a pizza from the food court at the resort and ate poolside. The sun was starting to go down, and I could tell Hannah was getting tired, so I took her in to get bathed and ready for bed while David took the big girls to night swim in the Mermaid pool for a little while longer.

Even though shopping and swimming isn’t considered “resting” on a normal day, it was nice to be off our feet for the afternoon and let our bodies recharge. We were ready to tackle the rest of the week in the last two parks. If you’re able, I definitely recommend scheduling a rest day in the middle of your stay.

In case you missed it:

All Things Genie+
Day 1: Animal Kingdom
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Epcot
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: Magic Kingdom
Family Disney Vacation 2018