My husband and I enjoyed a long weekend in WDW as my birthday celebration this year. This was our first time staying at the BWI.
Our room requests, placed with the IPO, were that we would prefer a king bed room with a courtyard view near the Innkeeper's Club lounge.
On arrival to the resort, we were greeted by name by one cast member and then handed over to a bellman who tried to take us to the main desk. We mentioned to him that we were staying in the Innkeeper' Club and that resulted in our being turned over to another bellman who showed us to our room.
We stayed in room 4253 which is two rooms in from the door to the Innkeeper's Club, with two double beds overlooking the BoardWalk. The room was located above the sign for Kouzzina.
The room was nicely decorated, well maintained and clean. Housekeeping was great for our brief stay. The room was made up by 2:00 each day for our break and then turn down was lovely each evening with the pillow wishes and taffy. There was a towel "Mickey" on one of the beds with a birthday card for me from the fab five when we arrived along with a box of truffles.
We ordered tuxedo strawberries and champagne from private dining and was surprised by the gift of a white chocolate box shaped like a Mickey head that was filled with small dark and white chocolate Mickey heads.
We enjoyed the offerings in the lounge and there was plenty of seating available. Breakfast included standard continental fare each day. Snacks were goldfish and cookies. Appetizers over our three evenings included various cheeses and crackers, veggies, hummus, some interesting salads, seared salmon and hot items such as spring rolls and other phyllo dough wrapped tidbits. Wine was decent. Desserts were also nice and we enjoyed the cordials on offer.
Several times on our way in or out of the Innkeeper's Club we would encounter a bottleneck at the check-in desk and the Club door. Families would be checking in or out with strollers and luggage blocking the path to the door. Too much happening for the space available.
The staff of the Innkeeper's Club were all very friendly, helpful and polite.
Our impression of the resort itself is that it has a confusing wide-spread layout and is not the easiest resort to navigate on foot. I believe that it could be difficult for those with limited mobility or strollers. We did not use the pools but did take a walk around to see the amenities of the resort and enjoy the BoardWalk entertainment. We took a wrong turn somewhere behind the Clown pool and ended up walking all the way around to the parking lot in the front of the resort.
We would hear the entertainment and guests from the BoardWalk from our room with the balcony door shut, especially the one act that used a synthesized "voice" as part of his act. Our balcony was small, chairs had to be turned sideways for leg space, and set back from the rooms on either side therefore we had limited view to the left and the right but could see directly across to the Yacht and Beach Clubs.
We loved the location for easy access to Epcot. On our second day, we waited 30 minutes for a bus to the Magic Kingdom, and after stops at the Swan and Dolphin, made it thru the gates at the MK just minutes before the opening show started.
We ate at the Flying Fish on our first night. We were very excited to try this place as we had read some very positive comments. We were seated in a noisy/busy location, the service was adequate and except for the crab cake appetizer, the meal was overcooked and over-hyped,. We both tried the steak and potato wrapped snapper combo that was being offered and neither of us were impressed. We were disappointed in the experience.
Overall it was a pleasant experience but I did not have the same sense satisfaction that I have gotten from other deluxe stays at Disney. This was our second try at an Epcot area resort and most likely our last. We just prefer the Mk area resorts.
