The Boardwalk Inn

[Dolce27]

Any thoughts/opinions/tips for this resort? I never see any posts for this hotel and I'm curious as I'm planning to stay there next year. I'll be there during the Christmas holidays.

 

[LukenDC]

I stayed there last September and enjoyed it. The grounds are beautiful and the rooms are attractively decorated. I was pleased with the service I received from the CMs.

The Boardwalk has some neat evening diversions and a nice assortment of restaurants. The interior common spaces have interesting turn of the century knick-knacks to look at. The resort is within walking distance of Epcot's International Gateway and MGM.

The only downside is that the resort shares bus service with Swan and Dolphin and occasionally the Yacht and Beach Clubs as well.

 

[D&R love Disney]

We love the Boardwalk Inn. We got engaged and married while staying there in the garden suites. I doubt we'll stay in the Inn again since we are DVC members and the cost of a week in the garden suites would pay for a point add on LOL!

 

[sfbank]

This is our favorite resort. You will have a great time. The resort is beautiful and the Boardwalk at night is fun. The restaurants are plentiful and the food is very good. The walk to EPCOT is very relaxing. DD loves the boat ride to MGM although you can walk too. We love BWI!!

 

[JWG]

We love the Boardwalk Inn. We got engaged and married while staying there in the garden suites. I doubt we'll stay in the Inn again since we are DVC members and the cost of a week in the garden suites would pay for a point add on LOL!

Just book BWV instead! Almost the exact same - just different directions from the lobby.

 

[Hoopfamily]

There are a few things we liked, the ease of going to EPCOT, the activities on the Boardwalk at night, the theming of the pools were all great. However there are no places to eat in the hotel, and the shared transportation is horrid. I also didn't enjoy the layout of the hotel. We'll never stay there again.

 

[DisneyCrazy915]

We love the Boardwalk at Christmas. It's one of the prettiest during the holidays, besides the GF, IMO. It has the best location, it's just a short boat ride or walk to Epcot and MGM. It's been a while since we've stayed at the Boardwalk, we just love Stormalong Bay at the Y&BC , but we always seem to go there no matter where we're staying.

 

[ClareH37]

I've just come back from my first stay at the Boardwalk Inn and loved it The resort itself was beautiful and the CMs were great, nothing was too much trouble. It's very close to Epcot and also the walk to MGM is nice. I loved coming back from the parks to sit on the rocking chairs and take in the atmosphere of the Boardwalk. The Bellevue Lounge is a great place to come back for a drink after dinner - we became regulars

My only 'negatives' are that you have to go outside on the boardwalk to get a snack/drink (other than breakfast when you can go to the Bellevue Lounge) and the valet, in the end I gave up ever asking for their help and just sorted myself out. Don't let those 2 small things put you off though, the resort itself more than makes up for it

 

[candlemakerw/twins]

Think about the Villas side of this hotel. One half is hotel (the Inn) and other side is vacation club (villas). It used to be hard to stay on the villas side if not a vacation club member but we haven't had any problems the last 7 years. Not sure who is in your party but a hotel room with 2 queen beds on the Inn side is the same price as a room with 1 queen, a pull out couch, refridgerator and microwave on the villas side. Plus the villas side has 2 pools and one of them is the big clown one.

If you stay at the villas you can also rent a 1 bedroom for a splurge. Comes with a separate shower and jacuzi tub, full kitchen with dishes, pots and pans and a dishwasher and an in room WASHER AND DRYER!!! We have 3 year olds and wash every night when we get home from the parks - get that chocolate ice cream right off your t-shirt.

 

[hannah's dad]

We stayed there in February, and it was OK. The room was nice, though it was a long, winding walk to get to it from the lobby. The pool was, also, nice but nothing special. I, personally, am not a big fan of having the Boardwalk activities right outside of the hotel. My preference is a resort that is more isolated from large groups of people (we stayed at the Boardwalk because it was the conference hotel for a conference I attended). However, all of that is personal preference.

 

[nettii]

Im so happy to see this post I was thinking the same thing and went on to ask the same question Dolce.
Does any one have pics of the resort, rooms, POOl?
Id love to hear about Christmas at the BW!

 

[paladin]

Check out these photos: http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_bwi.htm

 

[candlemakerw/twins]

So I should add that the thing we like best about the boardwalk is that we can walk to Epcot 2 or 3 times a day and then come home without ever getting on a boat, or a bus or in a car. It's all about the location and yes the walk from your room to the loby can be very long.

We love to be able to walk the boardwalk at night and get ice cream but on the other side my sister in law hates staying there because they feel some internal pressure to go out and do something because it is so close when they want to just relax so they have been staying at Old Key West lately.

 

[Dolce27]

Thanks for all of the responses! I'm encouraged by most of the replies. I'm going for two weeks during Christmas 2008 for my 30th b-day (why my mom couldn’t have had me during off season, I'll never know )

It will be myself and an old college friend who lives in Hong Kong. I had originally thought about booking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge but then I thought the BWI would be better as I could walk to EPCOT and MGM to limit the amount of time spent on the crowded buses. (I'm already mentally bracing myself for the crowd level at that time of the year).

Also, as my friend and I are still relatively young and single, the active night life on the boardwalk sounds to be a plus.

Again, thanks for all the tips and opinions given.

 

[nettii]

Dolce what time of Dec 08 are you going? We are planning a return visit Beg of Dec 2008.but we are not sure what resort yet.BWI looks nice,so does WL (but we are from Michigan so maybe something more tropical?! I dont know.)and the Beach club is high on my list but if we go to the BC well want to swim and Im not sure it will be warm enough to really enjoy the pool.What to do what to do

 

[Dolce27]

Dolce what time of Dec 08 are you going? We are planning a return visit Beg of Dec 2008.but we are not sure what resort yet.BWI looks nice,so does WL (but we are from Michigan so maybe something more tropical?! I dont know.)and the Beach club is high on my list but if we go to the BC well want to swim and Im not sure it will be warm enough to really enjoy the pool.What to do what to do

I'm planning my trip for Dec 23 thru the first few days of Jan. I'm planning 10 days with my friend but I may add another couple of days solo. My b-day is December 30 so I'll be hitting the peak crowds.

My aunt and uncle stay at the Beach Club most every year and they love it. I would stay there just for the pool - but I refuse to be seen in public in a bathing suit. I've read several posts on this message board stating that the pools are heated and are nice in the winter. Florida will be much warmer than Michigan for sure - even at it's coldest!

 

[nettii]

Hi Dolce you are as cute as can be-you should go swimming !My DH has a birthday on the 27th and my oldest DS's Birthday is Jan 2nd-its always hard to celebrate their birthdays with the hustel of the holidays. But what better place to celebrate than Disney. Im sure youll have a great trip crowds or not.
The pool does look like a blast and it will be warmer even if its 40 LOLIm still shopping around thats half the fun of planning the trip, but BWI is not out yet.

 

[irish]

Just had to add my 2 cents to the discussion........Absolutely love the Boardwalk Villas... We have stayed there the past three years, over Thanksgiving into early December - perfect time of the year - usually warm enough to swim. We've enjoyed a studio in the Villas - plenty of space.........The walk or boat ride to Epcot and MGM is also enjoyable.........Having tried most of the other resorts, the Boardwalk is definitely my favorite............

 

[nettii]

Do you have to be in the DVC to book the Villas? Where can I find pictures of the villas?
How are the crowds when you visit? Id love to go over Thanksgiving but I think it would be way to crowded.
Thnks Nettii

 

[candlemakerw/twins]

You can see pics at allears.net here is the link if it lets me paste it in.
http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/g_bwv.htm#ac