First time at Boardwalk

[Snack Daddy]

I'm staying at the boardwalk in a 1 bedroom with a pool view in March, this is my first time and I'm not sure if there is any room request I should be making and if there is anything I should be checking out at the resort, does anyone have some suggestions?

 

[RickNJane]

I'm staying at the boardwalk in a 1 bedroom with a pool view in March, this is my first time and I'm not sure if there is any room request I should be making and if there is anything I should be checking out at the resort, does anyone have some suggestions?

Depends on what you want. For anything but a boardwalk view we request to be near the elevator on the 4th floor. The reason being is that it can be a long walk otherwise. BWV hallways are long! We also like the top floor as the trees are pretty mature and tend to block the view otherwise. If you get a west facing balcony the sun can be brutal. The feature pool is nearer the elevator, the clubhouse and quiet pool are a longer walk. We also had a ground level room at the quiet pool that was pretty great. Very Peaceful. If you subscribe to touring plans they have a room finder on their website that shows the views.

Also note that a few of the 1BRs only have a balcony off the living room and not the bedroom. Our last stay was like this. Note a deal breaker, but a little annoying. Sorry dont remember the room number.

Hope you enjoy BWV as much as we do. For us it has a great vibe and I love to sit on the lobby balcony and people watch. Plus you cannot beat it's location!

 

[zackiedawg]

If you don't mind the walking, requesting the croquet lawn will give you a very quiet little garden courtyard with a view of Swan and Dolphin and the river with DHS boats going by - I love those rooms for the peacefulness, and a side perk is there is a back exit door that is right near the end of the Boardwalk - you're actually very close to the Swan and Dolphin boat dock and can just walk over there to pick up boats to Epcot or DHS - or walk around the corner to the Boardwalk without having to go through the whole long hallways and lobby.

Quiet pool is as it sounds - a lot less noisy so also where I tend to request - some of them may also have a longer walk to elevators or lobby but I prefer the walking over the noisier and busier main pool.

If you want to get really specific, the best 1-bedroom rooms in my opinion are the ones at the ends of the wings that stick out on either end of the main and quiet pool. They're right on the river, with nice views of the water and boats, they all have full balconies the width of the villa, and the balconies are larger and more covered so you can stand out there in the rain. They also have side windows in the living room that look out over the river - the only villas that get a window on the side. When I have garden/pool view, I always put in a request for those specific room numbers and have had pretty good luck in getting them. They are the rooms ending in 26 & 27, and 94 & 95 on each floor (so 1026, 2026, 3026, 4026, 5026, etc). The 26 and 94 rooms face the main pool, while the 27 rooms look to the croquet garden and the 95 rooms look to the quiet pool. 27 and 95, 4th or 5th floor, are my favorites.

Here's the view from 4095:

And the view out of the side window which with the balcony gives you a 270-degree view around:

 

[Snack Daddy]

Very helpful, thanks for the time you took to respond.

 

[matt and beth]

We always request near elevator. However, to keep everything in balance and the “long hallway” discussion in perspective. The walk from GFV, BLT, PVR, BCV, etc resorts from their bus stops to the room is no shorter, if not, longer. And the complaining about having to go outside to get to quick service food is identical with maybe the short outside experience for the honest tiny QS at BCV. There are so many resorts you have extremely long outside walks for QS. OKW, SSR, CSR, and AKL inside are other examples. In reality… you are in Florida. Enjoy the weather have fun. All the resorts are beautiful in their own way. Nothings perfect but BWV is fantastic with some amazing restaurants , lawn entertainment, and nightlife experiences. Enjoy your amazing vacation!

 

[Skywalker3]

We love BWV, it's our home, and we've stayed a lot and mostly 1 bedrooms. We've had mixed results with room requests for sure. The funniest one was in 2022, I'd requested 'near elevator,' and we were in the LAST room on the left at the end of the hallway. I took a video for fun to see how long it took to walk at the end of a park day, and it was 2 min 10 secs from elevator.....BUt that end of the hall is very convenient to the stairs, walking to HS, and getting to the parking lot. I can totally do stairs going down in the AM, later in the afternoon....not as easy.
We've also lucked out and been close to the elevators, mid-hall, just all over, but near elevator, higher floor is our preference. Also lucked out so far and never been ground floor for standard.
Hope you have a fabulous trip. BWV is a great place to stay!! So, so easy to get to Epcot and HS.

 

[Anthony1971]

We love BWV, it's our home, and we've stayed a lot and mostly 1 bedrooms. We've had mixed results with room requests for sure. The funniest one was in 2022, I'd requested 'near elevator,' and we were in the LAST room on the left at the end of the hallway. I took a video for fun to see how long it took to walk at the end of a park day, and it was 2 min 10 secs from elevator.....BUt that end of the hall is very convenient to the stairs, walking to HS, and getting to the parking lot. I can totally do stairs going down in the AM, later in the afternoon....not as easy

HAHA we had the last room on the right this year.
HS was great.... The rest not so much. I did not mind as much if we were leaving once and coming back but Pool and back Food and back Fireworks and back Drinks and back....... Got old very fast.
I requested a Tower of tower view which would be the rooms looking directly at the slide. Got it once.... This time.

OP request near main pool.

 

[pwdebbie]

I just booked a 1BR garden or pool view in April, so the answers here have been helpful. I appreciate the room suggestions. Is there a hot tub at the quiet pool or only at the bigger pool (which is supposed to be closed during our stay)?

 

[melissa70]

I’m at the Boardwalk Villas now…we got room 4002.. the walk was ridiculous. But it is peaceful and private and thank the lord I found those stairs on the side of the building!

Can I just say…I’m in a one bedroom and it’s kind of dumpy. Not sure if this one is refurbished but everything seems rinky-dink. Love the location but not the rooms. Also, I’d like to mention … some of the staff is rude.

 

[jcolvin5]

Very excited for our first stay at BWV, in a 1BR G/P view, two weeks from today!!

I go in with the idea that the location cannot be beat and for 6 nights at 214 points, I'll take whatever comes our way. We requested 5051 through https://touringplans.com/. We've always been at least in the ballpark with them, so we will keep doing it.

DVC Fan team wrote an article about the BWV refurb in 2023. In case this helps to set your expectations appropriately.

https://dvcfan.com/dvc-resorts/boardwalk/why-the-boardwalk-refurbishment-feels-like-a-letdown/

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[noisykid]

I noticed that BWV room 5051 (North Bldg) on TouringPlans shows that it's a Garden/Pool view room. Anyone know if this is true? Seems like it should be a Boardwalk view room.

 

[crazywig]

I noticed that BWV room 5051 (North Bldg) on TouringPlans shows that it's a Garden/Pool view room. Anyone know if this is true? Seems like it should be a Boardwalk view room.

5051 my nemesis!! LOL I hate that it only has one tiny balcony off the living room and no bedroom balcony.
Back in the day it used to be Boardwalk view and I was assigned it as such and was not pleased (having stayed at other bw view rooms previously). I believe they reassigned it and it is now garden view. I was assigned that room again years later when I had actually booked standard view so I was upgraded.

 

[RickNJane]

I’m at the Boardwalk Villas now…we got room 4002.. the walk was ridiculous. But it is peaceful and private and thank the lord I found those stairs on the side of the building!

Can I just say…I’m in a one bedroom and it’s kind of dumpy. Not sure if this one is refurbished but everything seems rinky-dink. Love the location but not the rooms. Also, I’d like to mention … some of the staff is rude.

Agree the walks can be very long. Especially at the end of the day. They did cheap-out on some of the refurb like kitchen cabinets for instance. They also took away seating to fit in the Murphy bed in the 1BR living room. I dont think they want to put much money into a 2042 resort. Our last visit the floors were a little uneven and the LVP was coming up. Definitely not top notch.

The Boardwalk itself is but a shadow of its former self. It really needs a bit of help. Especially on the Villas side of things. Used to be a real hopping place.

However we have never had any staff be anything but cheerful and helpful. Really love the lobby and the over all vibe. It still remains one of our favorites.

 

[jcolvin5]

5051 my nemesis!! LOL I hate that it only has one tiny balcony off the living room and no bedroom balcony.
Back in the day it used to be Boardwalk view and I was assigned it as such and was not pleased (having stayed at other bw view rooms previously). I believe they reassigned it and it is now garden view. I was assigned that room again years later when I had actually booked standard view so I was upgraded.

Ooh, thanks for the heads up! That is disappointing.

I scheduled it specifically to snag a Boardwalk view. Not an owner here, so that view probably won't happen otherwise.

 

[crazywig]

Ooh, thanks for the heads up! That is disappointing.

I scheduled it specifically to snag a Boardwalk view. Not an owner here, so that view probably won't happen otherwise.

Good luck! For p/g view it's pretty good, it's close to the elevator!

 

[noisykid]

We are going in April for our first-ever BWV stay for only 2 nights (part of 5 nt split stay w/ Kidani) and are staying in a 1BR Pool/Garden view. I requested a Higher floor Village Green view. So we'll see what we get.