Trip Report from the Boardwalk (10/10 - 10/12/2008) with pics

[nzdisneymom]

(we're back home now, so I retitled from Live... and am able to add some photos)

We are having our first stay at the Boardwalk, spending a quick weekend (and points) for DH to participate in Sunday's Race for the Taste. We have a 1BR for our family of four (me, DH, DS12 and DS11).

We arrived around 8:15 p.m. on Friday night. The area where you drop off / pick up passengers and vehicles for valet was packed with cars, so DH dropped me off to go inside and register while he and the boys drove around the parking lot for a few minutes.

Registration was quick; I only had to wait for the guest at the counter to finish before it was my turn to get us checked in. Then I found the guys waiting in the queue of cars, and we found our way to self-parking. We walked back to find our room, thinking we'd be able to easily walk back to the car to get our stuff. We generally like to check out the room before bringing our stuff in to make sure it's ok and we won't have to move.

Well, we're in 3025 which seems like it's "far far away" and we have a view of the Swan/Dolphin and the waterway to DHS. We hiked back to the car, and about halfway back, agreed that we would drive back to the front and use bell services When we got back to the front, there was just one car there - big surprise after the mass confusion of 20 minutes earlier.

We got our luggage delivered quickly and got situated enough to get the boys' swimsuits and snorkels out so they could go swim. They haven't used a snorkel before so we wanted them to have a chance to practice. They were the only two people in the main pool (of course it was 9:30 by then). DH went for a short run while we stayed at the pool for a while.

The boys got ready to get showers and we realized after the first one that the shower wasn't draining, so a quick call to "engineering" resulted in a repairman with a plunger who took care of the issue for us. I don't know if whoever stayed here last had the same issue or what, but we always follow the DIS advice of getting things fixed when they arise and trying to leave our accommodations better than we found them.

DH has the Keys to the Kingdom tour this morning (Saturday) so he left early with some friends who are doing the tour with him. I have done it twice before but he never has. He used to work here at WDW back in the late 1970s so he is interested to see how much things have changed (and how much things are still the same, especially behind the scenes).

It's a bit overcast today, so we aren't sure what we'll be doing - hopefully not spending the day dodging rain. DH has to pick up his race back this afternoon over at the Wide World of Sports.

We'll check back in later.

 

[DVC Mike]

Have a great time, Cindy!

We check into BWV next Saturday!

 

[CarolAnnC]

Oh I am jealous, LOL! We love BWV and were there a couple of weeks ago prior to and after the DVC Member Cruise. We also had our July family vacation there.

The walk can be very long when you are at the far end of the building. If you are on a lower floor, you may find it easier to take the stairs down when you are heading outside. We used to take stairs up when we were on the end after walking back from the Studios.

Hope you have good weather today. Check out Food & Wine if you can, lots of fun over there. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay!!

 

[emememem]

DH and I are doing race for the taste tomorrow too!! Should be fun....

 

[nzdisneymom]

It turned out to be a nice day, although a bit muggy. DH met our friends in the lobby around 7:15 and they were on their way via Disney bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom at 7:20. Even after stopping at all the "bus world" stops (Swan, Dolphin, Beach, Yacht), they were at the MK by 7:45. Their tour was at 8:30, so they had a bit of time to hang out til time to start.

The boys and I rolled back over to sleep for a bit and then I got them up a little after 8 a.m. (and started this thread then). We headed out to the Magic Kingdom right around 9 a.m. There were quite a few people waiting for the bus, but a CM was there tracking bus needs. Two (yep, two!) MK buses pulled up in less than 5 minutes of us arriving. We loaded up and then stopped at the Swan to finish filling the bus.

We got to the MK at 9:23 and went in search of DH's tour group. I had done the tour before so I knew about where we'd find them. We had told DH and friends that we were going to "stalk" them on the tour. Mostly I just wanted to show the boys and take his picture. So we did Then we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. After the JC, DH's tour group was there waiting to board.

The MK was not terribly busy this morning, but it was pretty humid, so that was a bit more taxing than we had hoped for. We did a few rides, came close to getting Dream Fast Passes at Goofy's Barnstormer, enjoyed the a/c of the Carousel of Progress, had a (not) nutritious lunch of churro, popcorn, and ice water (free from Pecos Bill's). Of course we had to have Mickey ice cream for dessert (LOL). Then we just hung around til DH's tour was over.

DH needed to get his race packet from the Wide World of Sports, so we went back to the Boardwalk. DH had moved the car over near the convention center last night, so we were parked close to where the bus let us off. Rather than hiking 2 miles to our room and then back, we went ahead and drove on over to WWoS to take care of it. Then as long as we were out, we decided to drive over to Don Pablo's on I-Drive for a (very) early dinner.

On the way back, we wanted to stop at the Character Premier store at the outlet center, but we missed the turn of I-drive, so we turned in at Little Lake Bryan to cut through to the center. We missed another turn and found the Cast Recreation area which, from the little we saw, looked like a nice area for fun. We did make it to the outlet store before getting back to the Boardwalk around 6:15 p.m.

The boys wanted the chance to try out the slide at the main pool, so they quickly changed and off they went (taking the stairs) with DH to the pool. I wandered around the shops on the Boardwalk for a bit and then joined DH on boy-duty at the pool. We enjoyed watching the boys wearing themselves out as they repeatedly did the slide. Turns out that DS12 did the slide 60 (yes, sixty) times in a row!

The boys wanted to try out the jet-tub, so I told them as long as they didn't flood the place out, it was fine with me. I took a walk around the lobby and explored a bit more, including finding the Bellevue Lounge with its 1930s radio broadcasts and the penny-arcade viewing machines in the hallway near there. I also found the Attic -- which is apparently a meeting room / lounge area that you can reserve for private functions. It was not in use but there was a streamer that said (somebody's) 40th Birthday so it looked like that's what they do there. It is at the end of the wing we are on and overlooks the Atlantic Dance Hall.

While I was out walking around, I saw some clever Boardwalk guests had decorated their balcony with halloween lights and decorations. I took a picture and will upload it later. If you're a DISer - thanks for the smile! It was a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk.

So now I'm off to mop up the water from the floor in the bathroom, pull out the sofa bed (I love the ease of the newer sofa beds) and fill the air mattress (the boys tried sleeping together last night and it didn't work out so well for them, so we'll revert back to the air mattress for one of them for tonight).

Not sure what our plans are for Sunday, except DH's race - and here's a bonus... we can see a small segment of the course right from our balcony!

Thanks for reading!

 

[nzdisneymom]

DH and I are doing race for the taste tomorrow too!! Should be fun....

Good luck on the race! If you see a crazy woman in a pink nightgown waving from a balcony at the Boardwalk, it's (not) me!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Some pictures from Saturday night:

 

[dizney4us]

great pictures....thanks for sharing!!

 

[justloveit]

Good luck with the race, and have a wonderful time. DH and I will checking in at AKV 1 week from tomorrow for our anniversary trip. Your photos of the BW are great!

 

[nzdisneymom]

DH left the Boardwalk about 5:45 on Sunday morning (today as I'm writing this) for the Race for the Taste - it started over at the Wide World of Sports, so he drove over there. The race started at 7 a.m., so as he was leaving, I put in a wake-up call for 7 a.m. so I could go down to the DHS path to cheer on the runners. I went out and was the only one there for about 10 minutes, and then another mom/daughter came out, and then some more people to cheer on their runners. So as the runners got to the side of the Boardwalk, they had some spectators! I'm really glad that we stayed at the Boardwalk because I was able to do that -- I left the boys zzz'ing in the room. DH came by about 7:35, and then I went back in.

DS12 needed to take some pictures of his school mascot, so we took him around to the shop on the Boardwalk and got some pics in the store. The CMs had fun helping us set up some shots and were great about us putting Halloween Mickey ears on a stuffed wolf. By the time we were done with that, DH had made it back from the race. We took our time packing up, and then called bell services to store our luggage for us so it wouldn't have to be in the hot car all day.

We wanted to go to Epcot to check out a few things including StormWatch (or whatever it is called) in Innoventions. It was interesting and informative, but a bit too intense for the boys. We were going to do the Liberty Mutual Fire game but they had technical difficulties just when it was time for our group to go in. But we got to do Spaceship Earth, and the boys played Power City afterwards. Then a quick stop for ice water from the Electric Umbrella and a walk back to the Boardwalk to end our day. It was hotter and more humid today than we wanted to be in, and both boys had homework to finish, so we figured an earlier start for home would be better.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I didn't realize until this morning that DVC Members had free valet parking at the Boardwalk; if we had, we would have taken advantage of that perk. I knew they did at VWL but didn't think about it for BWV.

There are definite advantages and disadvantages to the two different "styles" of DVC resorts -- we love the convenience of parking outside your "home" at OKW and Saratoga Springs, but we also enjoy the "hotel" feel of the Boardwalk. The Beach Club is a good compromise because the self-parking is a bit easier to navigate and you can get a luggage cart to haul your stuff a bit easier on your own.

We liked the convenient access to gift shop, food, and the main pool from the Boardwalk compared to the hike it can be from the villas at other resorts. Because of the convenience, the boys enjoyed the pool both Friday and Saturday. Here's a pool picture:

As we were staying on the 3rd floor, we saw a marker indicating the Attic Lounge. I had not read about it before, so I wondered what it was. Did I write about it already? If so, here are the accompanying pictures:

We found the rugs by the elevators to be whimsical:

We voted and decided that we would enjoy staying at the Boardwalk another time - perhaps when we can stay longer, and even more so, when we could stay during some weekdays.

Thanks for reading and the nice comments.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Love your pix! Thanx so much for sharing with us here! That was so nice you could see DH run by in the race. Glad you like BWV - it is very different from say OKW but sometimes a change is nice. We do love BWV too.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Thanks for the trip report, OKW is my resort of choice but I do like to mix it up every once in a while. This Oct it's AKV for 3 days.

Sounds like a good time was had by all!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I enjoyed reading your report! The pictures are wonderful!
Bobbi

 

[Disney_Mama]

Thanks for sharing Looking forward to more.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Thanks for the report. I leave for the Boardwalk Inn (normally stay at the Villas - but no rooms available) in 10 days to do the Tower of Terror 13K race with my SIL. I can't wait and your report got me even more pysched! I just LOVE that resort and the location. Glad you had fun!

 

[alldiz]

I probably passed you at some point. Was at BWV 10-9 to 10-12. Now I'm at WLV Boy I LOVE MY DVC

I did see those lights decorated on a room. lights around the balcony and a skeleton and stuff...vERy cute....Gotta be a diser though

We lucked out with studio 5057 which is a dedicated studio...had a daybed in it. And we had a BW view....overlooking the front lawn.
Sat night was beautiful and we saw WISHES from the balcony....that was awesome......and Illuminations we could see from the top of the building.

Definately a magical moment
Glad you had a great trip...BWV is great...DD also loves that slide and wore herself out on it
Kerri

 

[athenna]

Great pics! I will be staying at BWV for the 1st time ever in just 15 days and I am so excited, and your pics really helped!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

So what is the "Attic Lounge"? Can you buy drinks there? What floor is it on? Funny, I did not know that was at the BWV.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Thanks for the great report!

We were in a 1 bed in Sept and really enjoyed it. Love the area.