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Published by Authors 01-06-2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
chezp
on
01-06-2008, 05:26 PM
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| Our first stay in the BoardWalk Villas was in December 2007. As DVC members, I'm trying to get round all of the various DVC resorts at Walt Disney World and this was another one to try out. If I'm honest, myself and my husband, have never been that keen on the idea of staying at the BoardWalk. We first looked into becoming DVC members on our honeymoon and, at that time, they were selling the BoardWalk. While we liked it - the location sounded great - we were worried that it would be noisy. After all, there are all those clubs, restaurants and street entertainers underneath some of the villas, so we decided to hold off. I say this, as it's worth knowing how we felt about the place before we first stayed there. Since then, we've visited the resort and had even pool hopped there the year before and it was certainly growing on us, so we opted to spend three nights there in a studio. DVC members have a choice between standard or BoardWalk / preferred views and we went for the latter. When we checked it, we found that we had been allocated a perfectly located studio - close to the elevators and therefore close to the lobby and access to the BoardWalk. This had been one of my fears about staying here, as the Villas side of the resort is huge and sprawling and I have heard horror stories from people who've stayed at the very far end about how long the walk was back to the lobby. As we walked to the room, we both commented that the décor was much nicer than we had expected, a good combination of pastel blues and greens. It wasn't what we had expected at all, I don’t know why. Somehow I think we had the impression the decor would be garish - maybe it has something to do with the ghastly clown slide at the main pool? When we got into the room, perhaps it was just me, but it felt a bit bigger than the studios at the Beach Club Villas, obviously nowhere near as big as Old Key West, but again another pleasant surprise. And then there was the view. The BoardWalk Christmas tree was right in front of us and off to the right, we could see the lobby area with the BoardWalk to the left of us and ahead of us, the BoardWalk Inn, with Epcot behind. To our left was the lake with our beloved Beach Club behind it (oh and we could see the Yacht Club as well!). We had a superb view of everything in this area. It was just perfect. Over the next couple of days, we found our room extremely convenient for the restaurants and shops on the BoardWalk and it was lovely to have so many amenities so close at hand. Did we hear any noise from any of them? Not at all - although we did hear Illuminations, but then again, with the holiday ending they add on at Christmas, you can probably hear that from miles away. The lobby was filled with candy delights and we enjoyed spending time down there, just relaxing and taking it all in. There were also some nooks and crannies we found on the other floors of the Villas, with sitting areas, so there were plenty of places to relax and unwind. During our stay, we also took a look at the rest of the complex and explored the BoardWalk Inn and cottages. It amazed me how different in feel these were from the BoardWalk Villas. They seemed really quiet and peaceful and a bit reminiscent of the plantation houses at Port Orleans Riverside. The only downside to these is that they're located further away from the main pool area, although they do have their own quiet pool area. This is a more compact area with fewer rooms as well, so you're more likely to be centrally located here. All in all, the BoardWalk had pleasantly surprised us both and we’ve liked at it a lot more than we thought we would. Pros: location - not just to the BoardWalk, but also to Epcot, although it's still a longer walk than from the Beach Club so many great amenities close by, with lots of restaurants and shops generously sized rooms beautiful theming Cons it's a sprawling resort, so you could end up being a long walk away from the lobby the main pool - I'm sorry, I just don't like the clown slide at all | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
DawnDenise
on
01-08-2008, 04:32 PM
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| We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in October 2006. This was my husband's choice of resort for this trip and our first deluxe stay at WDW. The overall feeling of this resort is above average but our stay in general did not rank up there as a "will stay here again and again". Being a deluxe resort, it is more expensive than the moderates and even some of the other deluxe resorts. Check-in was a disaster. We waited for over 2 hours in line. Not what we expected at a deluxe resort. They only had two CMs checking people in, and it was Saturday which could also contributed to the longer wait. Once we made it to a Cast Member, she advised us that she could not meet any of our requests. However dsappointing as they are requests, we were given a room on the fifth floor facing the parking lot at the VERY end of a long hallway. The theming overall was enjoyable. I loved the light pastels of green, yellow, and blue. The room size was more than adequate and I loved having a little balcony for those early morning sunrises or late evening nightcap. Even though we didn't get a room with a king bed, we enjoyed the room overall. The dining possibilites are plentiful with the ESPN Zone, Spoodles, Flying Fish Cafe, and the Big River Grille. There is also the Boardwalk Bakery (where you can refill and purchase the refillable mugs). We had a wonderful breakfast at Spoodles. We did have a run-in with a CM that was less than magical in one of the gift shops when asked a very simple question. It was quickly taken care of by the Manager when he overheard my displeasure. We did love all the crooks and crannies wthin the htoel to sit and relax and enjoyed a drink more than once in the Belle Vue Room. One of our favorite memories is buying an ice cream cone and sitting on a bench along the Boardwalk watching the entertainment and people in general. All in all, the Boardwalk did not win our "favorite resort" tag but it was an enjoyable stay despite one or two rough spots. Pros: Location, location, location--Wonderful access to EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studio, plus the entertainment possibilities on the Boardwalk itself. Lots of shopping opprtunities. We  Jellyrolls!!!Cons: Not a lot of variety for quick service meal options within the hotel. Far away from the main pool. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Last edited by DawnDenise : 01-08-2008 at 05:28 PM.
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By
Principessa_di_Fata
on
01-09-2008, 09:09 AM
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| September 2006 BWI Review 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! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
Jenny Pooh
on
01-13-2008, 09:09 AM
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| Disney's BoardWalk Inn & Villas Resort Disney's BoardWalk had been at the top of my list of places and finally rented a 2 bedroom suite. The entrance to the resort seemed very busy to me. You are smack dab in the middle of a parking lot and not much else to look at. The building is nice but nothing special that is until you see the other side! The magic of BoardWalk is the boardwalk! With so many shops and restaurants it's easy to forgot what you drove up to. The lobby was cute and smaller than I imagined it would be. Lots of turn of the century circus decorations filled the walls. Our room was on the Villa side and is accessed by one elevator. I don't think I've walked down such a long and winding hallway in any hotel! Our room just happened to be at the very end of the building, over looking the Luna Park Pool. The suite was HUGE. With a master bedroom, master bath with a whirlpool tub, large shower and an even bigger closet that could really double as a bedroom for a toddler! The kitchen /living room areas are bright and cheery. We even had a washer/dryer in the hallway. The 2nd bedroom was off the living room and had one queen bed, wet bar, sofa and a good sized bathroom. The pool area was cute but had a scary looking clown slide. I'm not very fond of clowns so I really hated the slide but that's just me. While I loved our room the hustle and bustle of the BoardWalk was a bit much for me. It was always buzzing with activity and not as peaceful as I would have liked. If you truly want to feel like you are at the center of it all than this resort is for you. But being so close to Epcot is a major plus. The surry bike rentals are a blast with a great loop to ride around on. It wasn't as easy as other resorts to run down and get some food. I enjoy a food court for the morning and you just didn't get that. We never really eat at any of the restaurants while we were there. Just the BoardWalk Bakery which is to die for  ! Pros:
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By
PoohBearFreak32
on
02-14-2008, 08:24 AM
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|  My stay We stayed here in November 2006 and November 2007. On the 2006 trip we stayed at a Garden Suite. Yes it was super expensive but it was well worth the price! It was like having our very own apartment on WDW property. Living area and kitchenette and half bath downstairs and bedroom and huge bathroom upstairs. We were right across from the quiet pool and took advantage of it. There was no noise and generally no kids in this area of the resort. The only disadvantage of the Garden Suites was that you had to walk forever to get to the Concierge level for snacks or to get to the bus stop etc. In 2007 we stayed in a Deluxe Room Concierge level and even this room was fabulous. Our room was directly of the Seashore Sweets shop and the view onto the Boardwalk itself was well worth the price. We could watch the performers in the evenings and since it was rather cool at night, we bundled up in blankets and took in the sights from our balcony. The other bad thing about this resort is it takes a long time to get to the MK and AK and usually the buses are packed because the Boardwalk is the last stop on the circuit of five resorts. But the ease of getting to Epcot outweighs that - unless you want to get to the front of Epcot in which case you have to walk and walk and walk. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
Joy J
on
02-25-2008, 09:38 AM
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| As you can probably tell by my rating of this resort, I adore the Boardwalk Villas. In fact, it's my favourite of all the Disney resorts I've stayed at. There's so much to love about this hotel. First and foremost is location. You can't beat being able to walk or take a boat ride to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The plethora of wonderful restaurants all within easy walking distance is another definite perk. And how about the magical ambience here. It truly is like being transported to a different time and place. I could spend hours and hours just strolling along the Boardwalk or sitting on a bench and watching the world go by. The Boardwalk entertainers are marvellous to watch. The facilities here are top notch. Although it took me a wee while to get used to the giant clown face in the pool area (I'm not a huge fan of clowns), other than that the rest of the pool decor is amusing and whimsical. Although some folks complain about the lack of a restaurant right inside the hotel, that didn't bother me one iota. The restaurants on the Boardwalk are such a slight walk away that it didn't prove to be a problem for us. Plus we liked nothing more than, for example, grabbing a couple of cinnamon buns from the Boardwalk Bakery and some coffee first thing in the morning and then sitting at a table overlooking the lake and watching the whole area wake up and come to life. The staff at this resort were nothing short of amazing. All of them were friendly, courteous, helpful and went out of their way to ensure that we had the most magical of vacations. Mousekeeping was excellent and our room was always spotless after one of their cleanings. Plus they left us some pretty amazing towelgami creations. Our studio was delightfully decorated and quite roomy. Although we only had a standard view room, we still found the v iew to be quite pleasant as it looked directly across at the front entrance and beautifully landscaped lawns. And you couldn't beat our room location. We were only a very short distance from the lobby or by crossing the hall and zipping down the stairs we were at the main pool. As for price, because we were staying on our DVC points, price was not an issue. All in all, we were so impressed with the Boardwalk Villas that I'm returning there in just under two weeks and I can hardly wait. Joy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By
julieb
on
03-12-2008, 09:32 AM
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| I stayed at the BWI for two nights in Feb., and loved it. My room on the 5th floor was overlooking the Boardwalk, and it had a nice balcony and wonderful view of the Boardwalk, water, Yacht Club and Dolphin. It was very conveniently located, and it took me no time at all to jump on the elevator and get down to the Boardwalk. I found the proximity to Epcot to be ideal, and I liked having the shops and restaurants on the Boardwalk at my fingertips. Room and theme: The room was a good size, and the theming was very nice - pretty, actually. It was comfortable, and had a double sink and great beds! I loved the lobby and the seating areas there, along with the bar on the same floor a short walk away. It has an inviting and sumptuous feel to it, though not stuffy. I saw this hotel at Christmas as well, and was blown away by the volume of decorations! Swags of ornaments - the kids loved it! I actually liked it better than the Beach Club, which I never thought that I'd say. I don't like the Clown Pool - kids said it was scary, but that didn't stop me from staying there. Service and amenities: Great! I checked in early, and had no problem upgrading my hopper pass at the Concierge desk. I also used the business center, and found them to be helpful - they made some copies and mailed a package for me. The fitness center is just right for a quick workout (if you have the energy!). They have all the basics there - treadmill, lifestep, eliptical trainer, and free weights. Final note on service - I had room service one morning and the service was prompt and the food excellent. Overall: I highly recommend this hotel! I really can't think of a single complaint, aside from the fact that it was expensive. Location, amenities, service, theme and overall feel - it was all great. And for everyone worried about the noise level, I'd just say that it wasn't a problem at all. I looked out over the Boardwalk and it was wasn't noisy at night. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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About This Page: This is a discussion on Disney's BoardWalk Inn & Villas Resort (Disney Deluxe/Deluxe Villas Resort) Reviews and Ratings within the Disney World Resort Hotel Reviews & Ratings, part of the PassPorter Community - Message Boards and Forums; BoardWalk Inn & Villas enjoy a favored location in the middle of the action, fronting Crescent Lake between Epcot and ...
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