Have You Stayed at Boardwalk Villas?

[disneymom2003]

We are returning to WDW in September and have booked a villa at Boardwalk. We have stayed at OKW and Saratoga Springs. If you have stayed in the villas would you tell me about it? I would love to hear what you loved and what you didn't. Thanks so much.

 

[DebbieB]

We are returning to WDW in September and have booked a villa at Boardwalk. We have stayed at OKW and Saratoga Springs. If you have stayed in the villas would you tell me about it? I would love to hear what you loved and what you didn't. Thanks so much.

Love, love, love BWV! I usually get a 1 bedroom, which gives you plenty of room and I love the views.

Downside - the parking. People say they are visiting the boardwalk and then head to Epcot, leaving their car in the lot all day, making it difficult to find a space. They need to better police it.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We love it. The convenience of walking or a boat ride to Epcot and DHS are great. The pools are wonderful. We have had villas which we are able to see Illuminations from the deck. You can go to Beach Club for a campfire and movie outside. We love to get a pizza at the pizza window and eat on the boardwalk. The performers at night are enjoyable.
The downside is no quick serve restaurant other that the pizza window and no mug refill station--you wait in line at the bakery, pool bar, or pizza window and they do it for you. They also have fewer selections than some resorts.
I agree with above poster that parking can be a problem and very big frustration.

 

[sharadoc]

We've stayed there twice. We liked it but didn't love it. On the other hand, we love OKW. The Boardwalk is a really nice resort and I would recommend it to anyone. But, we didn't like the lobby/hallway set up. We prefer parking near to our front door at OKW. The walk to our room was really long. I had requested first floor close to elevator on our Dec. trip. Instead we got 5th floor, and 5 rooms from the very end of the hallway, facing the Swan. So it was a LONG walk every night when we were tired.

Love the boat to DHS and Epcot, hated the bus. Seemed like it was always full, and didn't run nearly as often as the OKW buses did. But I don't have proof of that, it's just how it felt.

The cool thing about BWV is having all the amenities of a deluxe resort. The decor is really nice and shopping on the Boardwalk is nice too. I wouldn't mind staying there again, but on our last trip we declared we would have rather just stayed at OKW for the parking, lower rates and bigger 1BR villa.

 

[dzee]

I own at the BW it's the first resort we bought when we joined DVC in 1998 because of the "homey" feeling and the VIEWS! Can't beat it for location,boats to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, the entertainment nightly on the Boardwalk being able to walk into (what I call the "back entrance" of) EPCOT,the walk around Crescent Lake to the Yacht and Beach Clubs and the Swan and Dolphin! Staying here gives you many things to do when you are done with the parks for the day! Depending where you are located you maybe able to sit on your balcony and watch the performers without leaving the room!
I find that not only is the parking a problem but it is pretty far from the entrance! Especially when the kids were little being tired or sleeping it was a LONG WALK!! We wised up and my DH dropped us off at the door and he went and parked the car or we just valeted it.
It's a great resort and YOU WILL LOVE IT THERE!

 

[homedad]

We stayed there for our first DVC trip and really liked it. We loved the entertainers and bustle of the BW. The noise at night was bad one night of our visit, drunk idiots coming home from bar.

 

[goopysolelady]

We stayed in a studio and the views were awesome. Clown pool directly below our room and we could see the watertower and TofT at HS...as well as nighttime fireworks from there. I've posted room/view pictures on Resort Photos. We never had a problem with parking but the walk to the "front door" is quite long when you're returning late at night. Noticed on 1 post above poster didn't like lobby/hallway area...I loved it! We were also lucky enough to get a room fairly close to the elevator...5-6 doors down. Our location was VERY quiet as we could hear no sounds from The Boardwalk. Liked our stay there and DD and her family are returning to BWV this fall when they make their annual trip.

 

[vicki_c]

Biggest plus - walking to Epcot and DHS. I actually like BCV better than Boardwalk but that's just a personal preference thing, nothing wrong with BWV. The Epcot resorts are great if you spend time in Epcot.

 

[purpliequeen]

I was there from Dec. 19-26 in a 1-bedroom. We had a great time. Did I love the resort? No. More "like" than "love." Here's what I didn't like:

1) The resort is huge and confusing- If you don't want to have to hike the hallways, make sure that you request a room close to the elevator bank. We were granted our only room request (top floor) and got it (which was awesome), but I regretted not asking for a room closer to the elevators. The hallways were long, annoying, and confusing. I guess one could argue that it's as confusing as AKL Jambo House (the main resort building), but I think that we were especially confused with the BW because the amenities were spread out too.

2) There is no counter-service option IN the resort. Don't get me wrong- there are tons of restaurants and eateries on the BW (shout out to BW Bakery), around the lagoon area (BC, YC, etc.), and Epcot, but in terms of convenience, it was not really convenient. Our room was past the pool area looking at the canal that separates the BW property from Swolphin and it was far from Boardwalk Bakery, which is where we loved to go for coffee and all that good stuff in the morning.

3) Theme was "eh." I guess it's really "to each his/her own." BW just didn't do it for us. Pastels were "eh." Theme was cute, and it was well decorated over Christmas, but I thought that the theming in the rooms made it look like any cottage. There really wasn't any "wow" factor. But then again, I'm always "wow-ed" by AKL, GF, YC, etc. so perhaps it's just what I like.

4. The pool. The clown still freaks me out. We didn't swim b/c it was a really cold Christmas week, but I certainly would not enjoy that clown looking at me while I'm swimming.

What I did like:

1. Close to Epcot and DHS. However, I think, for those of you RD/Soarin fans at Epcot, BCV is better because you can walk to Epcot even faster from the BCV exit than the BWV exit.

2. It's still a DVC resort. For all the negatives I listed above, the resort is still a DVC resort, meaning that it meets DVC's high standards. It was lovely having a washer/dryer in my room, the 1-bedroom bathroom was HUGE- bigger than any other one- or two-bedroom DVC resort rooms that I've stayed at, there was a huge walk-in closet off of the master bedroom's bathroom (with the jacuzzi tub), and it was clean.

 

[madthemouse]

People don't like the so call... long hallways or walk to your parking spot. I understand for some, they may think that's a problem. I do not have a scooter, and I'm at WDW, which means..."I'm doing alot of walking". The added steps, do not effect me or others in my party. And yes we have stayed in the second to the last room, overlooking the entrance and closest to DHS. We just went down the stairs, almost directly accross from our villa. Out the door and to the parking lot. That was real quick.

Others have stated the great Location and proximity to Epcot and DHS. I agree you can't beat location, location, location. I'm staying in a villa, so not having a restaurant in the resort, is no big deal. But having said that, there are places to eat all around the boardwalk. And if you need additional choices, you have that little additional area known as the World Showcase, in Epcot. IMO, all good reasons to stay at the BWV.

But, this is the most important reason, IMHO; "Getting up early, going for a walk around Crescent Lake, just as the sun has risen. Seeing others out, doing the same or out for their morning run. Watching the Groundkeeping CM's, who make the magic come alive. As I drink my coffee sitting above Hurricane Hannah's, listing to the music as the morning steam rises off of Stormalong Bay. All along. looking back across Crescent Lake, towards the BWV with its reflection on the lake."

That's how I start every day, rain or shine. Before the others are awake in my party. Relaxing, calm and watching the magic unfold. No better way to begin my day.
That is, until I get back to the villa....And I start waking people up. That also, can be fun!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It's my son's favorite resort, a little younger atmosphere than OKW or SSR! You can walk or boat to Epcot, see the fireworks from the bridge! We like the restaurants all around the Boardwalk, you can get to the Dolphin's restaurants by walking or boating! You can even walk over and watch the movies on the beach at the Beachclub. I didn't find it any noisier at night than other resorts! The villas were all refurbished in 2009, we always get a 2br, 3 rd flood if possible. I send my son down every morning for fresh croissants from the bakery! and yes we all like the "Clown" pool/slide!

It's a great resort, go ahead, try something new!

 

[Grumpy175]

It is our favorite. We are waiting to hear on a DVC purchase.

 

[Kellyh123]

We love it. We are going back to stay there at Christmas for our 3rd Christmas Boardwalk trip. It is my favorite resort!

 

[gometros]

BWV is our favorite resort. We have most of our points in OKW and only 50 at BWV. If I could do it again, I would have purchased all our points at BWV, but when we joined it wasn't an option. Also our kids were younger then, so our objectives were different. Now that they are older and my wife and I tend to go by ourselves more, we spend more time in EPCOT and DHS, so BWV is the better choice for us. We love the Boardwalk view and the nighttime activities.

For those of you complaining about the parking, why don't you use the valet service? It's free and sure you should tip, but isn't a buck or two each time you have to get your car worth it to save the time walking back and forth to the parking lot?

 

[francie57]

We have been staying at the BWVs since they opened and just love them. We are actually bummed that our annual Aug. trip this year that there have been no 2 bedroom villas available and we are currently booked at the BCVs. I keep checking and will transfer if an opening comes up. I know people complain about the "long" hallways. To us it is no problem since we just take the closest stairway. We have never had any complaints about the BWVs and hope for a cancellation to come along.

 

[Best Aunt]

Two things you need to know about BWV:

1) On check-out day, don't plan on sleeping late. Mousekeeping WILL knock on the door. Perhaps repeatedly. I didn't try putting out a Do Not Disturb sign the night before, so I don't know if that would have worked.

2) The new washers in the rooms at the BoardWalk Villas have a safety feature. Once you close the lid on the washer, you cannot open the lid until several minutes after the wash is finished. There is no sign or instructions on this. People don’t know about this safety feature, assume the lid is stuck, and smash it open. This breaks the switch. If you can't get the washer to work, it could be because a previous guest broke it.

 

[Figment2]

For those of you complaining about the parking, why don't you use the valet service? It's free and sure you should tip, but isn't a buck or two each time you have to get your car worth it to save the time walking back and forth to the parking lot?

Valet parking is no longer free. That changed several years ago.

 

[fla4fun]

Valet parking is no longer free. That changed several years ago.

Plus it never was free to those of us on cash reservations.

The main gripe I have about parking is that sometimes it's hard to find a space there. I think the worst walk to a self parking lot is GF - it's all the way across the street from the resort!

As far as the long hallways go, I've been nearly at the end of the hall at BWV and BCV, and the walks in both felt just as long. You always have the option of asking for a closer room - I usually ask them to show me on a map where my room is located, and if the location isn't good for me, I ask if they have something else available. I do this at any resort, not just BWV.

I've stayed at BWV in studios and one bedroom villas, and enjoyed them both. I actually prefer the view of the quiet pool, just because it is quieter. I like being located centrally between Epcot and DHS, so I can walk to either one.

As far as the lack of counter service options, I find this to be a problem at all the Epcot resorts. If you are really into using the food courts, you will be disappointed with the options available at the Epcot resorts. I'm guessing it's because you are so close to Epcot and DHS, with all the in park CS options, but they should really put a good CS option at one of the Epcot resorts so there would be somewhere for people to go. The Marketplace at BC is usually a big disappointment, and otherwise, you're left with snack bars at the pool. It's not as big an issue for me, because I don't use the dining plan, but if I did, I probably wouldn't stay in that area as much.

I find the decor at BCV and BWV to be nearly identical - just a difference in the pastel colors, so from that standpoint, I don't have a preference of one over the other. I'll be at BWV for 10 days in May and BCV for 10 days in September.

Oh, and the thing about the washers, all the stacked washers have the same issue - at least all the ones I've used. I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to break the machine - but I don't doubt that it happens. It would be a good idea to post a sign in the laundry closet about it.

 

[DanPadavona]

While there are a lack of counter service options within the hotel itself, the Disney Boardwalk area has a lot of options. Besides some excellent restaurants, there is counter service, clubs, and "street vendor" type counter service.

I have never seen a lack of options for food in this area. Between the Boardwalk Bakery, Beaches and Cream, and a plethora of eateries in between, there are plenty of choices with the Epcot resorts.

 

[Cee]

We will be staying in a studio at BWV for the first time in Oct. for F & W. I can't tell you how excited I am to be within walking distance to Epcot!