Get me excited for the Boardwalk

Again, I'm probably biased in favor of the Trattoria--fabulous breakfast and such a fun character meal pre-covid. We both really REALLY hope that's back by next spring for our return. It had Ariel and Eric, Flynn Rider and Rapunzel along with Cindy and Charming. Flynn was always a hoot, faked stealing one of DH's favorite pastries and such a charmer. Great fun!
Ugh I would LOVE for that breakfast to be back! I actually had it booked before Covid but then Covid cancelled our trip and it never came back 😭. Both of the girls are into the princesses so they’d love this for sure. I hope for the both of us it’s back!
 
Boardwalk was our first love at Disney :) we stayed in a one bedroom on our first trip to Disney, and promptly bought DVC at Boardwalk as soon as we got home.

We are taking my brother on our March 2023 trip there too. I can’t think of anywhere better to stay for us. Great walking proximity to two parks, good theming, lots of food options (although QS is lacking), plenty of entertainment and generally a fantastic vibe. We love sitting by the water eating slices of pizza, just soaking it all in, followed by ice cream, and generally winding down from our day.

In terms of food, although there’s no QS, I like the offerings at Bellevue Lounge for breakfast. The Bakery options were serviceable in a pinch. However, both of these are changing. I’m excited to see the new offerings. Also excited for the Cake Bake Shop replacing ESPN. The walk home around the lake after dinner at Yachtsman or Ale & Compass is lovely. Deciding to pop into Epcot for fireworks last minute is a great dash of spontaneity.

There’s a playground by the pool that a 2.5 year old might love (mine certainly did!) The village green is always full of kids running around and having fun, DD made fast friends there. Sometimes I wonder why we go to Disney when she is just as happy playing on a playground with random kids!
 
The pool at Boardwalk is so much more managable at BW compared to Stormalong Bay. I literally lost my kids two weeks ago there---they shut the slide down and I was waiting for them in the water near the end of the slide area. They couldn't find me and then went looking for me---thank goodness my boys (6 and 9) knew enough to stay together. Stormalong Bay is like a maze where you pretty much have to go over bridge after bridge or get in and out of the pool to get around.
 
I’ve never stayed at the BW, so I’m really no help, but I thought the BW was undergoing some updates and renovations. I’m not sure what the extent is or when this is even happening, but it may be something to consider. We are Yacht and Beach Club people, but I can’t find availability at either resort for next June. Like you, we love the Epcot resort area, so we were considering a stay at the BW briefly until I started doing some research. Again, I’m not sure what the timeline is, but it looks like a new lobby is in the works plus a refresh/renovation of the rooms. I know they just changed the Boardwalk Bakery to the Boardwalk Deli and I think I read a new cake or bake shop is coming, so it seems things are happening there. Just something to consider, and if anyone has a timeline of the renovations, please share!
 


I’ve never stayed at the BW, so I’m really no help, but I thought the BW was undergoing some updates and renovations. I’m not sure what the extent is or when this is even happening, but it may be something to consider. We are Yacht and Beach Club people, but I can’t find availability at either resort for next June. Like you, we love the Epcot resort area, so we were considering a stay at the BW briefly until I started doing some research. Again, I’m not sure what the timeline is, but it looks like a new lobby is in the works plus a refresh/renovation of the rooms. I know they just changed the Boardwalk Bakery to the Boardwalk Deli and I think I read a new cake or bake shop is coming, so it seems things are happening there. Just something to consider, and if anyone has a timeline of the renovations, please share!
Yacht and beach are available for the week we wanted to go but my husband really wasn’t a huge fan of stormalong bay.

I think I’m going to just stick with BWI. As long as the slide is still open, and it’s not like a construction zone, that’s fine.
 
BW is great! I have stayed there twice and enjoyed it both times. I think it is underrated because people like the pool at Beach CLub, but if that isnt a draw, Boardwalk offers the same general amenities and is cheaper and easier to book.
 
The pool at Boardwalk is so much more managable at BW compared to Stormalong Bay. I literally lost my kids two weeks ago there---they shut the slide down and I was waiting for them in the water near the end of the slide area. They couldn't find me and then went looking for me---thank goodness my boys (6 and 9) knew enough to stay together. Stormalong Bay is like a maze where you pretty much have to go over bridge after bridge or get in and out of the pool to get around.
Yes. This is what my husband didn’t like about stormalong bay. He said it was too much and too big. Our daughter loves the pool and it was nice when we went to other resorts and didn’t have to be in the water with her the entire time. I felt like we had to at BC/YC.

I think I’m just going to stick with BWI unless there’s some amazing deal later on at another resort
 


Yacht and beach are available for the week we wanted to go but my husband really wasn’t a huge fan of stormalong bay.

I think I’m going to just stick with BWI. As long as the slide is still open, and it’s not like a construction zone, that’s fine.
The pool will not be impacted by the room updates, which are soft good changes and paint/carpet refresh.
The pool had it's change a couple years ago when the replaced the clown face
 
We LOVE Boardwalk. Walking the actual Boardwalk early morning is so relaxing. The staff have always been wonderful and the pool is a lot of fun. Its always at the top of our list when deciding where to stay. A quick note about the pool and it may be just our luck but it has never been crowded on our trips. Our girls have had the slide to themselves quite often and they would agree the slide is awesome!!
 
Have you considered Riviera? The skyliner creates easy access to both HS and Epcot. We prefer it to walking on tired feet at the end of a park day. The quick service is the best are any WDW hotel IMO, the rooms are so spacious and well designed (the split bathroom is genius), and the pool is great for kids with easy visibility to watch the kid and a fun slide and splash zone.

I don’t mean to be a downer but we stayed at Boardwalk in 2019 and it is the only WDW hotel I don’t ever want to stay in again. We had a room at the end of the long corridor and words can’t express how annoying it is to make that long looooooooong walk multiple times a day (we do midday pool breaks). We did feel the quick service was limited compared to other resorts, especially at breakfast—at most resorts you can get pancakes/waffles/eggs but at BWI we had to have an ADR at Trattoria and waste a lot of morning time for a hot breakfast or just make do with a pastry from the bakery. And even though we were there at a quiet time (end of February) the pool always felt insanely overcrowded. Our rooms were also i. Terrible shape but I did hear they are fixing that. I dunno, experiences always vary but all I can say is in my shoes I didn’t think the walk to Epcot was worth the downsides at that particular resort.
 
Oh thanks! I never realized this! We loved walking to Epcot when we were at BC. So much easier than having to wait for a bus/boat
Years ago we were waiting for a boat to HS from Epcot. Too tired to walk with kids. Waiting ,waiting, waiting. Another family started worrying about missing an ADR at the Cape May. They had no idea it was RIGHT THERE. About a dozen people told them, it just over there. For the time they waited, they could have walked back and forth 5 times.
 
We love it because you have the option to walk. We no longer rely on Disney transportation. It is just too unreliable. Skyliner and Monorail go down for weather or are just down too often and the buses are a mess. We walk to HS and Epcot and take our car to MK, AK and DS. We have learned over the years that the less we can rely on Disney transportation the better. We refuse to stay anywhere other than the Epcot resorts.
 
We love it because you have the option to walk. We no longer rely on Disney transportation. It is just too unreliable. Skyliner and Monorail go down for weather or are just down too often and the buses are a mess. We walk to HS and Epcot and take our car to MK, AK and DS. We have learned over the years that the less we can rely on Disney transportation the better. We refuse to stay anywhere other than the Epcot resorts.
That's what drew us to Epcot resorts. The staff at BWI is what drew us there
The boats and the Skyliner both get shut down for storms. Which is pretty much daily in FL for about 6, 7 months out of the year.
Buses are either really great or really awful. Rarely in between. I'll admit, most of the time we have decent bus luck but why push it with busing to more than 2 parks. LOL Plus makes it more reasonable if you decide to Uber to the parks instead.
I've always disliked the monorail. I actually consider it a deterrent to the monorail resorts. Not a benefit. We got stuck on it more than once. And been on it without AC, which was miserable and smelly. At least now, those resorts can walk to MK
 
Have you considered Riviera? The skyliner creates easy access to both HS and Epcot. We prefer it to walking on tired feet at the end of a park day. The quick service is the best are any WDW hotel IMO, the rooms are so spacious and well designed (the split bathroom is genius), and the pool is great for kids with easy visibility to watch the kid and a fun slide and splash zone.
Riviera is pretty much the same price as the Poly for the dates that we have and it’s about $100 more per night than BWI. I’d rather stay at the Poly for the price of the riviera and it’s definitely pushing the budget a lot. So it’s definitely off the table.

I’d just try to convince my husband to book Yacht at that point since the price is pretty comparable to BWI
 
We just stayed in June with our 5 and 7 year old.... they loved the slide. We tried Beach Club in November and also weren't a fan of Stormalong bay with the current age of our kids. Boardwalk pool had the perfect set-up where we could see them from a chair or hanging in the pool. We also preferred the location since we could easily walk to Epcot and Hollywood. For reference, we were in a DVC standard view room on the second floor (which is lobby level). We prefer walking, but HS to the Beach Club DVC rooms was a hike. If you weren't in love with Stormalong bay, then I def think Boardwalk is the better option.
 

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