I’m usually a lurker, but I need some planning help! I’m finally in a place where I can plan a WDW trip, and need some advise. We have a family of 4, myself, DH, DD16 and DD11. It’s been 5 years since our last WDW family adventure. DH’s idea of planning is for me to tell him where to be and when so he’s no help. 
We’ve found everyone is happier when we have more space, so I’m thinking of either getting 2 rooms at ASMo, or a family suite at AOA. Any thoughts on which is better?
If we stayed at AOA, I’d prefer a Nemo suite, but has anyone paid for the general family suite and been able to request Nemo with success?
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Unless ASM was a huge savings I would choose AoA for skyliner access.
I also feel like aoa will give you more usable space bc when the table bed is unfolded, that room is super tight.
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We looked at the family suites at AOA and I wasn’t all that impressed with the bed situation there. I also don’t really care about the Skyliner. We are doing 2 rooms at ASMo for 6 people. The renovated rooms are one benefit of ASMo, as well as the price. We don’t care about tight spaces, as we don’t spend long periods of time in our room. If you are getting 2 rooms, that will give you 2 bathrooms and you could put the second bed up when not using it. To me the choice is about renovated rooms, the skyliner access and whether you want the whole family in the same room.
Family Suite at AoA
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Its a pretty significant difference. It’d probably cover at least a couple of our flights.
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Great points, Thanks!
Just to clarify for those who don’t know, the AofA suites also have 2 bathrooms. Square footage of AoA is 565 compared to 260x2=520 for 2 ASMo rooms. So you will have slightly more room in a suite, but fewer sleeping surfaces.
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Cost aside, I’d do AoA every time.
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I would go with AoA.
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How long of a stay? I’m still leaning toward AoA I think.
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Elaborating on why:
More room
The room is super functional when not in ‘sleep mode’
Easy access to other resorts and their amenities
In pre-COVID times, the food court was A-plus for a value resort
The walking path around hourglass lake
And biggest for me, Skyliner access
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4 nights, we’ll be doing UOR for a few nights first.
I am doing a solo trip in October and had to choose between ASMo or AOA (Little Mermaid room) because I am trying to keep the budget reasonable and can’t go w/ a Deluxe like I would far prefer! 
I went with AOA. We stayed at POP last trip and really enjoyed it, but on our last day we trekked over to AOA and fell in love w/ the food court (and POP’s was good).
I am lukewarm about the Skyliner but willing to try it. I figure it gives me an additional transportation option.
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Hmmm for 4 nights I’d probably stay at ASM and use the money to cover flights. If it were a longer trip I’d do AoA for the skyliner for more options for dining.
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We love AoA. We have 6, so with 4 you would have plenty of room. And we really enjoy the food court and pool. We have never stayed at ASMo so I cannot compare. If two rooms at ASMo is much cheaper, I can see the hard decision…
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My family did an AoA suite in June 2017 and it was great from a “functional room for everybody”. We had 5 adults including my parents (late 50s), my sister, early 20s) and my partner and myself in our earlier 30s. We were in the Cars section. It was nice and quiet in our room (that was important to us). We had plenty of space for our group of 5. My sister, myself and my other half shared the living are and divided bathroom. The table bed and the couch bed were completely comfy (I slept on the couch bed). My parents took the master bedroom and bathroom.
I liked that we were all together in the same room which made planning easier. In our situation, it would have been a bear if we were at different areas of the resort.
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This is a VERY good point… Disney will not guarantee connecting rooms, or even adjoining ones. It’s merely a request. You could end up with 2 rooms at ASMo that are nowhere near each other.
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We’ve stayed at AoA in the family suites 3 different times (we had a cars lover). We have had 3 adults and 2 children in these rooms and it’s perfect - 2 bathrooms, the separate bedroom is great for nap time when everyone else is awake.The couch and murphy bed are both easy to put from living mode to sleeping mode and we just generally love the layout.
I’d pick AoA every time.
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Great point. I wouldn’t want the family split up if we didn’t get adjoining rooms.