Hi Amber! Welcome back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! We love helping you plan your vacation! I really think that my kids love spending time in the resort hotel pool and the water park. This is when they are at their happiest! We have some phenomenal family memories from our time spent playing in the water while on vacation at the Walt Disney World Resort!
Our absolute favorite park to visit as a family is Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park! There are so many family oriented places such as Melt-Away Bay and Teamboat Springs. My kids also love the kiddie area
Tikes Peak and could spend hours here. If you want to spend the majority of your time near Tikes Peak, I recommend getting to the park early and getting a spot early since often the chairs around this area fill up quickly. Life Jackets are available for free at Snowless Joes. While they are free, the last time we were there we needed to show them our driver’s license and put a credit card on file or give them a $25 refundable deposit. This was refunded to us when we returned the life jacket. You can also bring your own life jacket if you feel more comfortable. Towels are $2.00 to rent and you also can bring your own. Also since your child is of diaper age, he is required to wear a swim diaper while at the water park and in the resort hotel pools. I also should add that life vests are also available for free at the resort hotel pools!
I have never actually paid extra close attention to travel time from Disney’s Art of Animation Resort to Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, however if I had to guess, I would say it takes approximately 10-20 minutes depending on traffic! In my opinion it doesn’t really seem like too long of a ride and my kids love riding the bus!
I hope that you and your family have a splashtastic time!
~Heather~