Dorisk3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2005
- Messages
- 925
We just returned from a 6 night stay at the Boardwalk club level.
First, I have to say, the location of the Boardwalk is excellent. We never walked to HS, but literally drove across the street to the entrance. Epcot was a short 5 to 10 minute walk from our room. International Gateway was fun, although a little out of the way if you had to walk over to the front of the park, but it was great at the end of the day! The morning we went in they didn't open the gates until 8:55 which really annoyed me. Buses to MK were pretty good, although sharing with the Swan/Dolphin was annoying when you wanted to get to the parks. Boardwalk is first picked up and dropped off however. We drove to AK and Downtown Disney, both close enough and no hassles.
We really liked the theming of the hotel and the transformation into Christmas was fun to watch. The halls are a bit long, but no worse than any other of the deluxes. Room was clean, no problem with mousekeeping. I asked for extra shampoos and conditioners the first day, and she brought a huge bag filled with them.
Club level (with a 40% pin) really worked out well for us. Since we weren't on the dining plan, we were able to enjoy the snacks more without worrying about being filled up for the next meal. On days when we had a huge TS meal for lunch, it was nice to just have the appetizers at night, and then a light snack or shared CS meal in the parks. Breakfast was pretty much the same every day, but they had plenty to choose from (irish oatmeal, hotel croissants, hotel bagels, muffins, some kind of danish, cereal, yogurt, fruit). Coffee lousy, but with Nescafe, what can you do. The Nescafe from the capuccino latte machine was a little better, I guess you could say adequate, but nothing to get excited about. They had some flavored syrups available to mask the taste.
As far as alcohol, it was only put out with 5pm appetizers and cordials for the later dessert service. But I notice you could ask if you wanted a beer or something. In that, AK had it better, with a little fridge where you could always grab a beer, milk or soda. The soda frequently got to room temperature since it was stored in an ice type tray and the ice had long since melted.
Service was excellent however. The club level cast members were very friendly and helpful. Food was replenished regularly, if something was empty, 2 minutes later it was refilled. The lounge could be a bit bigger. They have two sets of couches with chairs, which I think is a waste of space, they could use a few more tables instead. It is a nice light pretty room though and very relaxing. Most of the time we were able to get a table withouth too much trouble.
We only swam once in the clown pool. My kids had no problem, I though the pool wasn't really heated as much as I would have liked. In comparison, the Fort Wilderness cabins pool was like a bathtub. However the theming with the clown slide and the various elephants was fun and the kids loved it. I notice they do the movie/campfire thing that we unfortunetly missed (running around too much).
I'm not sure if we got an upgrade, but we booked a standard club room with standard view, but we were in a corner room right by the entrance to the front club desk, and had a nice big balcony that did overlook both the villas and the boardwalk (room 4261). I was very happy with our view and large verandah, great for people watching, or even seeing shows from the boardwalk.
I don't know why the Boardwalk gets a bad rap from the overall dis community, and also rated pretty low from unofficial guide guest surveys. I would definetly stay here again, it had a more laid back charm than the similar but more formal Grand Floridian, and as I said the location really couldn't be beat if you like HS and Epcot.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!
First, I have to say, the location of the Boardwalk is excellent. We never walked to HS, but literally drove across the street to the entrance. Epcot was a short 5 to 10 minute walk from our room. International Gateway was fun, although a little out of the way if you had to walk over to the front of the park, but it was great at the end of the day! The morning we went in they didn't open the gates until 8:55 which really annoyed me. Buses to MK were pretty good, although sharing with the Swan/Dolphin was annoying when you wanted to get to the parks. Boardwalk is first picked up and dropped off however. We drove to AK and Downtown Disney, both close enough and no hassles.
We really liked the theming of the hotel and the transformation into Christmas was fun to watch. The halls are a bit long, but no worse than any other of the deluxes. Room was clean, no problem with mousekeeping. I asked for extra shampoos and conditioners the first day, and she brought a huge bag filled with them.
Club level (with a 40% pin) really worked out well for us. Since we weren't on the dining plan, we were able to enjoy the snacks more without worrying about being filled up for the next meal. On days when we had a huge TS meal for lunch, it was nice to just have the appetizers at night, and then a light snack or shared CS meal in the parks. Breakfast was pretty much the same every day, but they had plenty to choose from (irish oatmeal, hotel croissants, hotel bagels, muffins, some kind of danish, cereal, yogurt, fruit). Coffee lousy, but with Nescafe, what can you do. The Nescafe from the capuccino latte machine was a little better, I guess you could say adequate, but nothing to get excited about. They had some flavored syrups available to mask the taste.
As far as alcohol, it was only put out with 5pm appetizers and cordials for the later dessert service. But I notice you could ask if you wanted a beer or something. In that, AK had it better, with a little fridge where you could always grab a beer, milk or soda. The soda frequently got to room temperature since it was stored in an ice type tray and the ice had long since melted.
Service was excellent however. The club level cast members were very friendly and helpful. Food was replenished regularly, if something was empty, 2 minutes later it was refilled. The lounge could be a bit bigger. They have two sets of couches with chairs, which I think is a waste of space, they could use a few more tables instead. It is a nice light pretty room though and very relaxing. Most of the time we were able to get a table withouth too much trouble.
We only swam once in the clown pool. My kids had no problem, I though the pool wasn't really heated as much as I would have liked. In comparison, the Fort Wilderness cabins pool was like a bathtub. However the theming with the clown slide and the various elephants was fun and the kids loved it. I notice they do the movie/campfire thing that we unfortunetly missed (running around too much).
I'm not sure if we got an upgrade, but we booked a standard club room with standard view, but we were in a corner room right by the entrance to the front club desk, and had a nice big balcony that did overlook both the villas and the boardwalk (room 4261). I was very happy with our view and large verandah, great for people watching, or even seeing shows from the boardwalk.
I don't know why the Boardwalk gets a bad rap from the overall dis community, and also rated pretty low from unofficial guide guest surveys. I would definetly stay here again, it had a more laid back charm than the similar but more formal Grand Floridian, and as I said the location really couldn't be beat if you like HS and Epcot.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!
Thanks for the great review!! That makes me even more excited for my Deluxe BWI stay in October! Your Standard room sounds like the one CR resort Fan got, I am sure he'll be by to clarify when he reads this.....nice that you where able to enjoy a boardwalk view with your standard room!
-- hope our experience is as good as yours was! 
maybe we will see each other 
