Boardwalk Villas with Little Kids?

[caroline7238]

I am going to DW end of Sept to celebrate DD 7th birthday. I also have a 3 yr old boy. We are booked at the poly in a villa but it's at the very tip top of my budget and personally I'm not wild about the food there. I also found a slightly cheaper standard room at GF where at least I love the food

I also found a well-priced villa at the boardwalk inn. I have never been to this resort or even that area, but it's very appealing. We do plan one day at epcot and one at HS and one at MK. IS the location that great to walk to epcot and HS? Is this hotel decent for little kids? I can't get a grasp of the pool either. Seems it was recently updated and has a huge waterslide. Any features for little kids? Kind of like that possibly me or husband can take turns going out at night and walking around once kids are asleep.

I'm trying to weigh convenience to parks, price and fun - aren't we all? Thanks!

 

[Marthasor]

We've stayed at BWV and BWI multiple times and absolutely love the location and the resort. It is very close to EP (5 - 10 minute walk) and you can either walk, take a boat or take the Skyliner to DHS. From BWV, we actually like walking to DHS, but it's nice to have options if you are tired or it becomes terribly hot outside. The pool is very nice. It isn't zero-entry, but the slide is fantastic (one of the best on-property, IMHO). What I love about the slide (other than the slide itself) is you can stay on the pool deck or sit along the edge of the pool and see your kids the entire time they are walking up to the slide, waiting for the slide and going down. The pool bar and the restrooms are also inside the pool area so it's super easy to get drinks and snacks or use the restroom There is also a kiddie pool and a playground right next to the main pool. The only downside of BWV, IMHO, is the food accessibility - everything is outside on the Boardwalk, which is ok unless it's raining and then it's kind of a pain to access the QS. We love staying in the EP area and I really loved it when DS was younger for the very reason you mention - at night, DH and I would take turns walking around or even going to EP solo!

 

[Earningmywings]

Definitely worth it for the accessibility to Epcot and HS alone. Our kids 8 and 6 loved the water slide at BWV. It is nice to just walk the boardwalk and get some ice cream to cool off.

 

[DisLiss]

The location is fantastic for walking to Epcot or HS. The location is my favorite thing about Beach Club. The big pool, Storm Along Bay, is shared between Beach & Yacht Club and is very popular. It's kind of like a mini water park. It does have a kiddie area and there's sand to play in as well.
And you're close to Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and even Swan & Dolphin, if you want to check out any of the dining options at those resorts.


ETA (July 17th): I must have been half asleep the day I posted this. I just saw this thread, and not realizing I had already read it, opened it and was surprised to see I had commented. Then I was even more surprised to see that my answer was obviously written for Beach Club, not Board Walk! Sorry about that!

 

[JFDIS]

I think it’s the easiest pool to relax with my 4 and 2 year olds. The 4 year old LOVES the slide and I think it’s the best on property. My 2 year old loves the little baby pool and playground. The playground is in a fenced in area with the baby pool. My husband and I feel like we can actually relax at this pool. Poly splash pad is incredible and leaps and bounds the best on property. The only downside is with the toddlers you have to keep a very close eye. It is not fenced and adjacent to the lava pool. There are also many stairs and blind spots behind the rocks at the splash pad so I never really get to sit down when we are there. Either choice is a win. BWV really is lovely and has such a fun whimsical atmosphere.

 

[caroline7238]

Thank you all. Very helpful. I am leaning toward the boardwalk villa now, especially considering the savings. Is it easy enough to get to the MK? And if fireworks do come back can you see them from the boardwalk?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thank you all. Very helpful. I am leaning toward the boardwalk villa now, especially considering the savings. Is it easy enough to get to the MK? And if fireworks do come back can you see them from the boardwalk?

You might need to have a BW view villa (and that is a booking category), but sometimes the standard views will give you fireworks at night. To get to the MK, you'll need to take a bus.

 

[Marthasor]

Thank you all. Very helpful. I am leaning toward the boardwalk villa now, especially considering the savings. Is it easy enough to get to the MK? And if fireworks do come back can you see them from the boardwalk?

You take a bus to MK. What I love about that resort area, though, is if the BW bus is taking too long, you can always jump on a BC/YC bus or Swan/Dolphin bus and then walk to BW from there.

 

[Yinn]

I am going to DW end of Sept to celebrate DD 7th birthday. I also have a 3 yr old boy. We are booked at the poly in a villa but it's at the very tip top of my budget and personally I'm not wild about the food there. I also found a slightly cheaper standard room at GF where at least I love the food

I also found a well-priced villa at the boardwalk inn. I have never been to this resort or even that area, but it's very appealing. We do plan one day at epcot and one at HS and one at MK. IS the location that great to walk to epcot and HS? Is this hotel decent for little kids? I can't get a grasp of the pool either. Seems it was recently updated and has a huge waterslide. Any features for little kids? Kind of like that possibly me or husband can take turns going out at night and walking around once kids are asleep.

I'm trying to weigh convenience to parks, price and fun - aren't we all? Thanks!

I have an - oh so close - experience. I just went in Dec with 6yr DD & 2 yr DS..close. We stayed at BCV instead of BWV, close...enough? They're not a far walk from each other and we did go back and forth.

Food:
Breakfast at Ale & Compass. Kids loved the blueberry chocolate chip pancakes. They said it was their "favorite" but it was overall pretty uneventful. The food was good and the prices were reasonable for breakfast.

Lunch at Beaches & Cream. Their favorite by far. They loved being able to see ice cream being made. Finger picking food and of course a kitchen sink makes it memorable.

Dinner at Trattoria al Forno. Probably wouldn't do it again. The food was ok. The prices were higher. My kids grew impatient as dinner went on and there wasn't much to keep them entertained.

Breakfast at Topolino's Terrace. The gondola is right there, an easy walk and quick ride over to Riviera. The breakfast was great, something we'd definitely do again. It was (at the time) one of the only places with characters back too which may have skewed our opinion.

Park Location:
We walked to Epcot, it's an easy walk. We did not walk to HS. We took the boat, which took FOREVER. In hindsight we should have just walked it.

Busses to MK & AK were frequent with very little waiting. We were quite happy with the rides. On the way back we took BWV and BCV interchangeably depending on which arrived first.

Pool:
This will depend on your kid. My DD is a slide kid. She was completely entertained by the slide, non-stop for several hours. My DS is a water feature kid, he just played in the pool and was content but definitely not as good as say AKV Kidani for him.

**Important note, we utilized a double stroller the entire trip. Our 6 year old walked most of the way, but our 2 year old was a lazy bum the entire time.

Our 2 year old thinks..."Yea I like it" It's his 3rd time there and I'm not sure he remembers any of the trips. Our 6 year old thinks it's her favorite location so far but next time she wants to stay at Boardwalk instead of Beach Club.

Hope this helps!

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

We did not enjoy BW with our young children for a few reasons. The pool is not zero entry which was problematic for my youngest (I think this is the only deluxe resort without zero entry). We went when he was 3 or 4, at the other resorts he hung out in the entrance to the pools and splashed around in water up to his waist. At BW, he mainly hung out on the steps into the pool.

The food options are limited and if it rains, you are all trekking out in the rain to get a meal/get a refill in your mug, etc. since there aren't any actual places to eat within the hotel.

This just has to do with the villas, but the hallways at Boardwalk Villas are insanely long and there's only 1 bank of elevators. With a stroller it was a challenge to take the stairs. We were right by the stairs, the furthest possible room from the elevators and dragging the stroller up and down flights of stairs was a pain.

We want to go back to BW when the kids are older but have no interest returning with kids in a stroller.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would say that with a 3 year old, the water play areas at Poly and GF are superior to the offering at BWV. Both resorts also have a zero-entry pool besides, which works great with small people.

The kiddie pool at BWV is blah, and the big slide is probably too big for a 3-year-old. (You cannot go down the slide double with a parent.)

If the fireworks are back, GF and Poly can watch MK from the beach, and also view the EWP.

I have nothing against BWV and like it with older kids, but with shorties, the pool fails to delight me.

 

[DRT-eagle]

my kids loved the boardwalk pool. Beach club is great as well. the kids love the hotel and getting to the parks is easy.

 

[drusba]

Adding to the above. The walk from BWI to Epcot is fairly short, about .3 miles. It gives you entry near Canada in Epcot. You can enter there in the morning to get to Future World even though pavilions in World Showcase are not open. The walk to Studios is .8 miles and thus easier to do by boat with little ones. The boats run Epcot - BW - YC/BC - S/D -Studios and reverse that coming back. It is also possible to walk over to S/D from BW and take or get off a boat to or from Studios there. In fact, you can walk completely around Crescent Lake and thus walk or take a boat to restaurants at YC/BC and S/D

BW has its own bus to MK (used to share with S/D and sometimes also with YC/BC). Buses to AK and DS (and waterparks) are shared. The bus station is on the BWI side of the resort.

The main pool (with the long slide) is on the BWV side of the resort. The BWI side has a quiet pool that is usually very quiet in that there is often no one there.