Today we're featuring Christian's favorite hotel - Disney's Boardwalk Villas! If he had his choice we would always stay here on our trips, but I want to stay at (almost) all the hotels before we do that. We stayed here in May 2022 by renting Disney Vacation Club points. We would have paid around $3000 ($3064.50 to be exact) for our 4 nights directly through Disney but staying with points we paid $1075. Boardwalk Villas is the DVC portion of the resort and Boardwalk Inn is the normal guest rooms. The DVC rooms have a washer/dryer, sleeper sofa (hopefully a Murphy bed after renovations) and small kitchen whereas normal rooms have 2 beds and no kitchenette.
The Boardwalk is currently undergoing renovations with the Disney website stating: "Disney’s BoardWalk Inn & Villas is being refurbished, with new offerings, plus updates coming to our Guest rooms, lobby and more." This means many of these photos, and my room tour video at the bottom, will need to be updated in the future. Oh no, guess that means we'll need to stay here again, ha ha!
These upgrades are definitely a welcome change as the guest rooms are a little old feeling. The main problem we had was the sofa bed in the room was not the comfiest (we gave Christian's Mom the real bed.) Assuming Disney updates them to Murphy beds, as they have done with past refurbishments, there will be no fighting over who gets the better bed. Murphy beds are also much easier to use, no need to make the bed! I don't have any photos of the room as it was pretty basic, but make sure to check out this room tour video I did!
One thing I'm sure many people are hoping Disney won't change is the creepy Nanny Chairs. They are somewhat of an inside joke with Boardwalk guests as they're said to be haunted! Nanny Chairs were found on carousels for adults, usually nannies, to sit on while children rode the carved wooden horses. While they're a little scary, it's a fun tradition to find them every trip - there are two by the fireplace in the lobby and two hidden else-wear.
Boardwalk has some great amenities which include pools, a mini beach, and of course the Boardwalk! The Boardwalk has shops, an arcade, dining, health club and even a dance hall. You're also able to rent surrey bikes to ride along the paths. They show Movies Under the Stars like the other resorts as well as roasting marshmallows! One of our favorite things to do was watch both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT fireworks from the boardwalk. We sat on a bench and watched both shows for a relaxing last night.
By far the best thing about staying at Boardwalk Villas is it's location. You can walk to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. The walk to Hollywood Studios is a bit longer but EPCOT's International Gateway is very close. I forgot to take photos of the walking paths so I'll be sure to do that next time and update this post. [Update: HAH! I was able to update the post before it went live because we went to Disney this past weekend] Christian and I walked to Hollywood Studios on May 4th, Star Wars Day, to avoid the hectic transportation options. If it wasn't such a popular day for HS we may have taken the super short walk to the Skyliner and ridden that over, but I enjoyed the morning walk. The Skyliner is right near the entrance of EPCOT and takes you to Hollywood Studios or the other resorts on the route. You can also take a Friendship Boat to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios from the resort - but they take a looooong time, so don't use that if you're in a rush. Buses are available for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.
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| Walking to Hollywood Studios from Boardwalk Resort |
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| Walking path from Disney's Boardwalk to EPCOT |
On to food! We haven't eaten everywhere at this hotel yet as we had a bunch of other places we really wanted to eat at within the parks on our last trip. We did make a visit to the Boardwalk Bakery for some breakfast on one morning. Since our stay the Boardwalk Bakery closed to make way for Boardwalk Deli. It has similar offerings but the interior and exterior have been updated. We enjoyed the NJ Crumb Cake and Doodle Muffin (not always available.) I went to Disney this past weekend and we used Boardwalk as our entry way to EPCOT (we stayed off-site for a work trip) so we got to check out the new Boardwalk Deli!
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| March 2023 |
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| May 2022 |
Other dining options include Trattoria al Forno for breakfast or dinner, Big River Grille & Brewing World or the Pizza Window for a quick service lunch or dinner and Flying Fish for dinner. We were going to have breakfast at Trattoria al Forno on this
trip but we changed plans. Maybe next time! Flying Fish is a Signature Dining restaurant meaning you'll need to dress appropriately and it will be pricier than other options. In need of a snack? Check out Leaping Horse Libations, Carousel Coffee, BoardWalk Ice Cream or the Funnel Cake Cart. If you're looking for an alcoholic beverage you'll want to visit AbracadaBar or BoardWalk Joe's Marvelous Margaritas.
And don't forget about Belle Vue Lounge, a 1930s-style sitting room where you can buy lemonade, hot chocolate, coffee and cocktails. They also have an outside sitting area you can enjoy as well. No reservations needed, just walk right up. It was never crowded when we walked by. There's even a TV for the kids to enjoy.
You also have easy access to the dining options at Disney's Beach Club Resort. We have yet to stay there but walked around and enjoyed some ice cream at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. Both resorts are connected by the same walkway that goes around Crescent Lake. You can get a beautiful view of Boardwalk from the Beach Club.
Enjoy some more photos of the hotel and lobby.
It looks like a nice place to stay and it's great you can watch the fireworks from there! :)
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