http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=891338
That is a link to my full trip report (still in progress) but I will try to do mini reviews on all the boards.
Before I start my review, you should know that we stayed at the Polynesian last trip and absolutely fell in love. We stayed in the concierge building and enjoyed the amenities, but found the staff a little distant. Not exactly unfriendly, just not chatty, if you know what I mean.
This trip was just DH and I celebrating our 15th anniversary, so we, and when I say we I mean I because he really didn't offer any input until a week before we left, anyway I decided on the Boardwalk Inn. It is smaller, with a lot of entertainment options close by and seemed like a more adult resort.
I found out a week before we left that DH thought we were staying at the BC, oops! I freaked out, afraid that he would hate the BWI, because he had his heart set on the BC, but it all worked out in the end and he learned a valuable lesson. Saying you want to stay "in the hotel near Epcot" is not precise enough.
Anyway, I will start with a general review and then move on to concierge level. The Boardwalk is a beautiful, elegant resort. It has kind of a beach feel to it, but it is not laid back like the Polynesian. We had a corner room on the fourth floor, 4259, and were right above the sweet shop, with a side window looking out over the Flying Fish. It had a king bed and a good sized balcony overlooking the Boardwalk and lake. We didn't once notice any noise at night from the Boardwalk, but we did enjoy watching street performers and little girls getting hair wraps from our balcony. I wouldn't say that this was not a kid friendly place, because we did see kids there and they seemed happy as clams, but it definitely had a more adult air to it.
The quiet pool was very close, just a short walk down a staircase and it was right there. The main pool was a little more of a trek and brings me to my main complaint. It is a very complicated resort to get around. To get to the main pool, we had to go to the lobby and either go down the stairs or take an elevator to the boardwalk and then walk down a little sidewalk back to the main pool since it is on the DVC side of the resort.
We figured this out about the day we left. My husband thought the clown slide was a little creepy and the slide itself was very bumpy. The main pool was a little crowded, but there were always lounge chairs available. We spent most of our time at the quiet pool, which was fine. Despite the ridiculous heat, we did spend some time in the hot tub easing our sore muscles.
The transportation was fine while we were there. The buses were excellant, one bus driver even stopped and picked us up when she saw us running up to the bus stop at the MK. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. The boats to MGM and Epcot are SLOW. I swear you could walk faster than that. My one critcism of the transportation would be that they need bus service to MGM at least, if not to the main entrance to Epcot also. You can walk to MGM, but it is quite a hike, and when it's hot, it's asking a bit much.
I can't give you any review of the restaurants, because for some reason we never ate at any of them
don't know what I was thinking when I drew up our itinerary.
The concierge lounge was behind a locked door and I felt that the security here was far superior to the security at Hawaii in the Polynesian. The lounge was beautiful, with a large balcony from where you could watch Illuminations each evening.
In the mornings they would offer croissants, bagels, cereal, several types of danish, fruit and yogurt. They also had milk, chocolate milk, apple juice, orange juice, coffee, water and pop out in the morning. In the afternoon, they had out chips, popcorn, pretzals, goldfish crackers, mixed nuts, water and sodas. We only had the hot appetizers one evening, there was a little quiche and some other little wrap thing with a seafood filling that was incredible. They had several different kinds of wine and beer out along with the soda and water. At 8 pm, they had desserts, which were different every night and awesome every time. They also had four different kinds of cordials out.
All in all, we were more than pleased with the lounge offerings, and the pre planning assistance was wonderful, they got me everything I requested, including a Breathless cruise on our anniversary, a mini wedding cake, dinner at every place I wanted, including a last minute reservation at Le Cellier and a 6:20 pm Fantasmic Dining package.
Overall, we liked the Boardwalk. At first I thought we would like the Polynesian better, but the staff at the Boardwalk won us over in the end. I have never met a group of friendlier, caring, funny and easy going group of people in my life. In particular, the concierge staff. Everyone was so nice, they came and sat with us in the lounge, asked what they could do to make our stay better, asked where we were going, gave us tips on using the dining plan, you name it.
The managers at the Boardwalk Inn have a real asset in that group of people, and I hope they realize it. They discussed some of the changes that have occured among the concierge levels with us and the things they would like to see done differently and expressed genuine interest in making every guest happy in every way possible, but in also making each concierge level experience different in some ways. The one lady said that she didn't want a guest to stay at the AKL concierge and then the BWI concierge and leave saying "they were exactly the same". She said the individuality of each concierge level was important, she thought and she worried that management was moving in the direction of making everything the same.
They took us on a tour of the two bedroom Steeplechase Suite, which was incredible!
So in the begining, I wasn't sure, but in the end I think we will end up staying at the Boardwalk again. So many resorts, so few vacations!
That is a link to my full trip report (still in progress) but I will try to do mini reviews on all the boards.
Before I start my review, you should know that we stayed at the Polynesian last trip and absolutely fell in love. We stayed in the concierge building and enjoyed the amenities, but found the staff a little distant. Not exactly unfriendly, just not chatty, if you know what I mean.
This trip was just DH and I celebrating our 15th anniversary, so we, and when I say we I mean I because he really didn't offer any input until a week before we left, anyway I decided on the Boardwalk Inn. It is smaller, with a lot of entertainment options close by and seemed like a more adult resort.
I found out a week before we left that DH thought we were staying at the BC, oops! I freaked out, afraid that he would hate the BWI, because he had his heart set on the BC, but it all worked out in the end and he learned a valuable lesson. Saying you want to stay "in the hotel near Epcot" is not precise enough.
Anyway, I will start with a general review and then move on to concierge level. The Boardwalk is a beautiful, elegant resort. It has kind of a beach feel to it, but it is not laid back like the Polynesian. We had a corner room on the fourth floor, 4259, and were right above the sweet shop, with a side window looking out over the Flying Fish. It had a king bed and a good sized balcony overlooking the Boardwalk and lake. We didn't once notice any noise at night from the Boardwalk, but we did enjoy watching street performers and little girls getting hair wraps from our balcony. I wouldn't say that this was not a kid friendly place, because we did see kids there and they seemed happy as clams, but it definitely had a more adult air to it.
The quiet pool was very close, just a short walk down a staircase and it was right there. The main pool was a little more of a trek and brings me to my main complaint. It is a very complicated resort to get around. To get to the main pool, we had to go to the lobby and either go down the stairs or take an elevator to the boardwalk and then walk down a little sidewalk back to the main pool since it is on the DVC side of the resort.
We figured this out about the day we left. My husband thought the clown slide was a little creepy and the slide itself was very bumpy. The main pool was a little crowded, but there were always lounge chairs available. We spent most of our time at the quiet pool, which was fine. Despite the ridiculous heat, we did spend some time in the hot tub easing our sore muscles.
The transportation was fine while we were there. The buses were excellant, one bus driver even stopped and picked us up when she saw us running up to the bus stop at the MK. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus. The boats to MGM and Epcot are SLOW. I swear you could walk faster than that. My one critcism of the transportation would be that they need bus service to MGM at least, if not to the main entrance to Epcot also. You can walk to MGM, but it is quite a hike, and when it's hot, it's asking a bit much.
I can't give you any review of the restaurants, because for some reason we never ate at any of them
don't know what I was thinking when I drew up our itinerary.The concierge lounge was behind a locked door and I felt that the security here was far superior to the security at Hawaii in the Polynesian. The lounge was beautiful, with a large balcony from where you could watch Illuminations each evening.
In the mornings they would offer croissants, bagels, cereal, several types of danish, fruit and yogurt. They also had milk, chocolate milk, apple juice, orange juice, coffee, water and pop out in the morning. In the afternoon, they had out chips, popcorn, pretzals, goldfish crackers, mixed nuts, water and sodas. We only had the hot appetizers one evening, there was a little quiche and some other little wrap thing with a seafood filling that was incredible. They had several different kinds of wine and beer out along with the soda and water. At 8 pm, they had desserts, which were different every night and awesome every time. They also had four different kinds of cordials out.
All in all, we were more than pleased with the lounge offerings, and the pre planning assistance was wonderful, they got me everything I requested, including a Breathless cruise on our anniversary, a mini wedding cake, dinner at every place I wanted, including a last minute reservation at Le Cellier and a 6:20 pm Fantasmic Dining package.
Overall, we liked the Boardwalk. At first I thought we would like the Polynesian better, but the staff at the Boardwalk won us over in the end. I have never met a group of friendlier, caring, funny and easy going group of people in my life. In particular, the concierge staff. Everyone was so nice, they came and sat with us in the lounge, asked what they could do to make our stay better, asked where we were going, gave us tips on using the dining plan, you name it.
The managers at the Boardwalk Inn have a real asset in that group of people, and I hope they realize it. They discussed some of the changes that have occured among the concierge levels with us and the things they would like to see done differently and expressed genuine interest in making every guest happy in every way possible, but in also making each concierge level experience different in some ways. The one lady said that she didn't want a guest to stay at the AKL concierge and then the BWI concierge and leave saying "they were exactly the same". She said the individuality of each concierge level was important, she thought and she worried that management was moving in the direction of making everything the same.
They took us on a tour of the two bedroom Steeplechase Suite, which was incredible!
So in the begining, I wasn't sure, but in the end I think we will end up staying at the Boardwalk again. So many resorts, so few vacations!
I couldn't agree with you more about the staff. We stayed ther for the first time a few weeks ago, and it has become one of my favorite concierges.
All the little kids appeared to be having a ball on it, though, and there were a lot of people using it. 
