The Cars Hotel Area at Disney World's Art of Animation (Lots of Photos)

In this article, we tour the Cars section of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort at Walt Disney World. The Cars section is one of four themed areas at the hotel. This area comprises family suites, offering significantly larger rooms than the Little Mermaid section.

The Cars section of Disney’s Art of Animation is perfect for fans of the movie franchise! You can expect life-size replicas of cars from the animated film and other sensational theming. Children and most adults are in awe as they enter Radiator Springs for the first time.

All rooms in the Cars section of Art of Animation are family suites that do not fall under value category pricing. Family suites are larger, more expensive rooms that sleep up to six guests. They have a queen-size bed, a full-size sleeper sofa, and a pull-down full-size table bed. These rooms have a kitchenette with a refrigerator, microwave, and sink.

If you’re not sold on the price of a family suite or it doesn’t meet your budget, you might consider a value category room. While it’s not often we need the extra space, we still love to take the time to tour the Cars Hotel area, and we thought you might too. So below, we’ll take a mostly photo tour of the resort grounds. Then, if you’re interested, you can take the Skyliner or a resort bus to Art of Animation for a tour during your vacation.

We especially recommend timing it right around sunset. It’s the perfect place to take a few family photos. Don’t forget to say “ka-chow” when you pose!

entrance to the Radiator Springs area of the Cars Hotel at Disney World

When you arrive at Disney’s Art of Animation, you’ll see four tremendous drawings of the animated films represented at the resort. They are Cars, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King.

The Little Mermaid section of the resort sits on the opposite end of the resort from Cars. So it will be the furthest away. However, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly room, it’s the only resort section offering value-category rooms. We have a separate review of Art of Animation that details staying in The Little Mermaid rooms section if you want to learn more.

sign of Lightning McQueen at the Cars Hotel

When you enter the Cars Hotel portion of the resort, you’re greeted by a giant billboard welcoming you to Radiator Springs. It’s a happy place.

sign that reads Radiator Springs, A Happy Place

Sheriff sits at the entrance to town, I mean, at the entrance of the Cars section of the resort.

Sheriff at the entrance of the Cars Hotel area at Disney World

All the cars are placed where children can walk up as close as they like.

However, climbing isn’t allowed.

As we make our way down Route 66, the center of the hotel area, there is plenty to see.

A sidewalk designed to look like a paved road runs through this entire section of the resort. Mile marker signs along the way offer fun expressions related to the movie.

Route 66 sidewalk looks like a road with desert landscaping

The landscaping adds a nice touch to the look and feel of the area.

landscaping and a mile-market that says Rust-eze

We run into beloved Doc Hudson along the way.

And Ramone.

I always enjoy seeing the children run up to the different cars. My son is an adult and has quite a soft spot for this area.

You’ll run into the Cozy Cone Motel toward the center of the Cars courtyard.

entrance to the Cozy Cone Motel pool area

The faux motel serves as the entrance to the pool area and laundry facilities for the Cars hotel section.

the pool's laundromat is themed to look like the Cozy Cone motel

It’s an amusing pool that has an island in the middle. A few cone-shaped cabanas surround the pool.

They are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

a Cozy Cone Cabana at the Cars Hotel Pool

The Cars area is made up of three different buildings. The first is Tow Mater’s Towing and Garage.

Here is the hotel entrance.

Walking past this building, we run into Sarge.

Next is the Wheel Well Motel building. It’s the large center building of this section.

A gas station sits out front. How convenient. Make sure to refuel before heading out to the parks.

This is where you will find Lightning McQueen and Sally.

They look as sharp as ever.

Dream car.

One of the fun-loving things about the cars is that their headlights turn on as the sun begins to set.

Sally at the Cars Hotel area at Art of Animation

The sunsets are beautiful here.

sunset view of the Cars section of Art of Animation

Fillmore has an organic fuel station outside the Wheel Well Cars hotel.

Naturally, he’s there to assist.

Lastly, we have Luigis Casa Della Tires.

Luigi and Guido will sell you a new pair of tires should yours wear out while on vacation.

It happens.

Joking aside, the value resorts are the only hotels at Walt Disney World that provide actual Disney theming.

Art of Animation sits across the lake from neighboring value, Disney’s Pop Century Resort. We prefer the layout of the standard rooms at Pop Century over the Little Mermaid rooms.

Related: Pop Century Resort Review

As we journey to the front of the Cars hotel area, we run into one final car. Flo is looking as lovely as ever.

Most of the buildings at Art of Animation face out to Hourglass Lake. The backside of each building has signage and animated sketches airbrushed onto the buildings.

There are lots of details if you take the time to look for them.

For instance, here is a scene with Guido stacking the tires.

On the outer side of each building, you can see the finished product showcased. Look closely. It’s designed to look like a sketchbook with a page flipped over at the top.

The details are well done.

If you stay in one of the Cars Family Suites, you can expect the following amenities:

Sleep up to six adults
Kitchenette
Queen Bed, Table Bed (Double), Sleeper Sofa (Double)
Two bathrooms

The suites are great options for large families and those traveling with extended families. As mentioned earlier, the family suites run considerably higher in price than a standard room at a value resort. However, they are much less than a two-bedroom villa resort like Disney’s Riviera.

Here are a few more photos from around the Cars section of the resort.

Overall, the Disney World Cars Hotel is an enjoyable resort area with unique accommodations. While there are a few trade-offs of staying at a Disney value resort, these areas make it worthwhile.

If you have small children, we recommend planning a stay here. They will likely love the resort. And if the kids are happy, mom and dad are too, right?

If you aren’t sold on staying at a value resort, we have a complete list of Disney World Resort Reviews. Favorites include:

For more information about Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, you might enjoy the following:

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