Boardwalk at night with little kids?

[Ella's Mom]

I haven't been to the Boardwalk in years. When I went (primarily for Jellyrolls), I didn't have kids so I didn't pay attention to the activities for kids. What is there to do at night for a five year old? Games? Entertainers? Our next trip is late Jan/early Feb. Would much be going on if the weather is cooler? I'm trying to decide if I should keep my BWV ressie or try for something else at 7 months. I'm almost at the 7 month point and I don't know where I want to stay.

 

[cpdwiz]

I haven't been to the Boardwalk in years. When I went (primarily for Jellyrolls), I didn't have kids so I didn't pay attention to the activities for kids. What is there to do at night for a five year old? Games? Entertainers? Our next trip is late Jan/early Feb. Would much be going on if the weather is cooler? I'm trying to decide if I should keep my BWV ressie or try for something else at 7 months. I'm almost at the 7 month point and I don't know where I want to stay.

We enjoyed the BW, BUT, not as much as SSR....We enjoy more quiet and peaceful evenings...We saw quite a few drunks, swearing, and even a good domestic where the husband was going to beat his wife....So, with kids, it woul dnot have been fun.......BC seemed more kid friendly and fun.....

 

[jekjones1558]

Don't know how old your kids are but those from about age 4 and up love the BW street performers at night. The various acts make a point to have children participate in the juggling, magic, etc. Sounds like the previous poster saw some inappropriate behavior. We have stayed at BWV at least 30 times and never had problems. Of course we wouldn't have kids out on the BW when Jellyrolls and ESPN closes. Kids also love renting the surrey bikes and doing the loop around the lake.
If your kids are younger than 4 they probably will not get much out of the BW at night.

 

[culli]

My kids love the BW area and they have been there twice. Ages 6, 3 and 2 right now and are already asking if after our stay at BLT (trip coming in Oct)if we can stay at the BW area the next time we go. I actually prefer BCV due to the pool and then walk over to BW. The other thing they loved was running around on the large piece of grass by BWV and loved rolling down the hill by BCV bridge.

They like to sit eat ice cream or a cookie and watch the street performers.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Love the BWV with little ones.

Our nieces ( 4 and 7 ) loved the entertainers and the games. There's ice cream and other treats. You can walk, rent a bike, grab a snack.

The other big plus for the BWV is the big pool/quiet pool/community hall set up. The Community Hall is right by the quiet pool. The adults would lounge by the pool and the kids could alternate being with you and playing the games and do crafts at the community hall. Just around the corner is the big pool with the slide. Easy access to everything to keep everyone busy and happy or relaxed and happy.

We also stayed at BCV and even with the great pool, we loved the overall resort at BWV much better.

Oh....now I just wish my kids were little again and we could spend a few more vacations at BWV that way. Now they are teenagers. We still have a great time at WDW each year, finding new stuff all the time but reliving a few memories would be great ! Guess I'll have to drag the nieces along again...

 

[WainerDude]

We just got back two weeks ago from the BWV with our sons, who are 7 and 5, and my sister's boys are 5 and 4. They enjoyed the Boardwalk games trying to win stuffed animals, the video arcade in the hotel and swimming in the pool every night. The Community Hall was also open until 10 pm.

 

[Melani]

My DH stayed out one night w/ the boys 6 & 10. I was too tired & went back to the room w/the baby. But they came in hooting, they loved it. I was so jealous that I'm going to work in an evening there instead of a park on our next trip.

 

[TosaTrio]

BW at night is fun! The last time we stayed at BCV, DH, DD (4) and I walked over at night, watched the street performers, rode the surrey bikes with her upfront, and stopped in the sweet shop! A most do if you are staying around there! Probably more to do in my view then the other resort areas (if you not in the parks).

 

[CarolAnnC]

Like others have already said, the Boardwalk has lots of activities and fun in the evenings. The street performers are excellent and put on some great shows. The carnival games are lots of fun - I like to try them out myself sometimes, lol. I do miss the fortune teller who used to be there though..

 

[RLRDA]

Our boys love the Boardwalk at night! As others have said, there are several carnival games with prizes to win, some snack carts and performers that stroll the BW and entertain until 10pm (or so). When we went in October 2008, one of the performers picked our 4yo and 11yo to "help" him in different parts of the show. It was really cute and we've got it all on video so it's fun to watch it over and over. Definitely go !

 

[mousygirl]

My 5 yo son liked the performers on the boardwalk, but we only went once at night. He was totally exhausted and usually fell asleep by 8. The pool at BWV is awesome and you also have the fireworks at Epcot.

 

[cpdwiz]

There were 2 performers, and the arcade games were open...Again, though, the drunk people and couple with the domestic took center stage...maybe it was just that night and our luck? It also had rained which maybe cut down on the performers.....

 

[DVCPAT]

The Boardwalk is very family friendly at night. The performers always pull children in to the show. In my 10 years staying at the boardwalk, I’ve never experienced any bad behavior from any of the visitors.

 

[culli]

There were 2 performers, and the arcade games were open...Again, though, the drunk people and couple with the domestic took center stage...maybe it was just that night and our luck? It also had rained which maybe cut down on the performers.....

I only saw an issue with a drunk once and they had like 5 cops and Disney CMs there and cleared it up ASAP. Other than that we have never had issues. It was a younger girl (probably under age) at ESPN and she was going nuts. It was around spring break time but nothing like trying to explain to people when they asked how your trip to Disney went...............ahhhhh got arrested because I was being an idiot and almost got phasered If she was anywhere else but Disney I'm pretty sure she would have got the phaser or had her head accidently bounce off the cement a few times. She took a few swings and the cops and they brought her down very gently and she was kicking, spit at one. But I give the cops and Disney credit had we not been exactly in the spot it was happening I would have never known. I bet not more than 10-20 people even knew what happened.

 

[logan115]

We've taken our son to WDW twice, he was 3.5 on the first trip and 4.5 on the second and the Boardwalk is one of his favorite things. 2 combined weeks at WDW and he's only been on a handful of rides, but when we stayed at BCV we headed over to the Boardwalk each night and got the biggest smiles out of him. Ironically some of his other favorite things to do are the basic "parks" with the old fashioned slides - all the stuff at WDW and he just wants to go down a slide !!!!!!!!

Performers were great at the BW, the arcade at ESPN is decent, there's the others games to keep the kids busy, and the carts there to grab a snack if needed.

Even on our last stay at SSR it was worth it (for us to see him having so much fun) to catch a bus at DTD to the Boardwalk.

Chris

 

[Sprint51J]

I never had any problems when I took my son

 

[mgsmom]

Isn't there a boat that you can ride to go between DHS/BW and also Epcot/BW?
That might be a nice way to transition from a park, if that's an option.

I have a 2 year old and we will probably go over there in the evening - the street performers and snack food carts alone are enough for her!

 

[culli]

Isn't there a boat that you can ride to go between DHS/BW and also Epcot/BW?
That might be a nice way to transition from a park, if that's an option.

I have a 2 year old and we will probably go over there in the evening - the street performers and snack food carts alone are enough for her!

Yes the boat goes there, I think it also stops at Yacht/Beach Club.

Just booked a May trip just me and the boys (4 & 3 yrs old) can't wait we just love the BW area. Last time we stayed at BLT and all 3 kids asked "Daddy why can't we stay here like we did last time". Almost every night we go to BW when stay at BWV or BCV and they love it.

 

[LSchrow]

in many years of bw visits, we really haven't had any problems with drunks or unsavory behavior at the bw (even at closing time for JR)
we did, however, see a totally wasted girl cursing and screaming as she lay on the steps of the BC entrance, with a few disney guards in attendance.

she had to be about 15yo, and very angry that they were going to call her parents

 

[flipflopmom]

Sorry if this is a totally ignorant question. Forgive me. Can anyone go over to the Boardwalk area, or do you have to be staying at BWV?