I stayed here in September 2006 with my mother and my dd (7 months at the time) and absolutely loved it. I'll break my review down by sections.
Theming:
While it wasn't overtly themed, as the values are, or as Wilderness Lodge is, it's really classic and beautiful. I never once felt like I was at some "ordinary" hotel. The Disney magic was all around in all of the attention to detail.
Rooms:
Absolutely gorgeous. VERY roomy. Lots of storage space. I was amazed at how much space there was! The room was spotless and I never had trouble with mousekeeping. The decor was lovely and the beds / bedspreads were just so pretty! We even got a couple of towel animals, which was fun!
We could see EPCOT out our balcony and it was awesome! Totally brought the magic in from the first moment.
I also heard no noise. We didn't have a water view which may have contributed to that, as I've heard those are noisy. But I heard no other toilets, no yelling or talking or anything. No footsteps from above... it was very quiet and peaceful.
I know a lot of people have complained that there's a lot of walking to be done to and from rooms, but I didn't notice anything. The pool is on the Boardwalk Villas side, so I did have to go down an elevator and through the lobby to the other side of the resort, but I did not find that to be a big deal at all.
Food:
Room service was amazing and you actually got a lot of food for your money. Ok, yes, we paid $50 (with all fees / tips) for breakfast for two, but it was a HUGE breakfast and it was delicious. So we splurged and did it twice. LOL!
I did not love that there was no real counter service place to eat, besides Spoodles pizza window (awesome pizza though) and the pool bar, so I'd definitely consider that a con. But since I'm a table-service kind of girl myself, I didn't mind. There are tons of sit-down places to enjoy. I did my counter service eating in the parks. And since it was a 5 minute walk to EPCOT, I ate most of my meals there! YUM!
I also cannot say enough about the Boardwalk Bakery! YUMMMMMMMY!
Location:
Can't beat it with a stick! I could walk to three theme parks (I consider MK in 'walking' distance because you just do a 12 minute walk to the monorail and then poof, you're there!) Of course, if you don't have a park-hopper... that isn't an option. But still...
The Boardwalk itself is just lovely and entertaining. You can walk to the Swan/Dolphin and Beach/Yacht Clubs, so you've got so many dining choices. You can sit on the Boardwalk and watch IllumiNations at the end of the day, and have an ice cream. The shops had so many different things in there, I ended up buying most of my souvenirs there instead of in the parks!
There's loads of places for entertainment, and I've heard wonderful things about Jellyrolls. I've been to a similar place but not that location specifically.
Pool:
The slide was fun, the pool itself was nice and a good size, and the sitting area was pretty. It had a cute circus-y theme that I liked.
Affordability:
Holy smokes was that place pricey! LOL! We were there with a wedding discount so it wasn't "so" bad but still... phew! When I looked at the standard room prices on the door, we nearly fell over! I couldn't afford to stay there w/o a discount, but for those that can, I recommend it.
Bottom line is the resort is really pretty and comfortable. The layout worked fine for me. I loved being able to see IllumiNations, Spaceship Earth and the Eiffel Tower from my balcony in a STANDARD room. I'm waiting for them to wise up and make those rooms more expensive.
It was really convenient with a child, to be able to walk everywhere, and she slept a lot in her stroller while I wandered the World. I never had to take her out of the stroller while she napped, because I could walk places rather than getting on a bus or in a car.
I hope this helps someone out when deciding whether or not to stay here!