Should we stay at Boardwalk Inn?

[RaLiErBe]

I am conflicted and need your opinions...We have reservations at Boardwalk and now we are reading alot of negative things about it :(. This is our first time staying in a deluxe resort. Our trip is late May to hit Star Wars weekends for the kids so we will be at Studios the most. We want a good experience and will change resorts if that means more magic!! Is Aninmal Kingdom Lodge better?

[BrerGnat]

Eh. Don't put too much stock into negative reviews. Every place has them. Every place also has tons of positive reviews.

I'd say, if Star Wars Weekends and DHS are your main goal, you can't do much better than BWI, location wise. If you are pleased with the pictures you've seen of the resort, and it looks like your kind of place, you'll likely love it. It is so easy to walk to DHS from the Boardwalk, as the path there runs right alongside it.

Our family prefers the Beach Club when staying in that resort area. It just appeals to us more overall, and our kids are huge fans of the pool there. I stayed at BWI a couple years ago, although I had never really wanted to. My sister chose the resort, so I didn't argue. I ended up not really liking it, but she did. Mostly, to be honest, it was the decor of the resort that really just rubbed me the wrong way. I really hated it. However, the staff were phenomenal, all the shops and restaurants were great, and the facilities were very nice and well kept. I really can't say anything negative about it other than my own personal feelings about the interior decor.

I would say that the Animal Kingdom Lodge will be fairly inconvenient since you'll have to bus everywhere. However, if you plan to spend a lot of time at your resort and you really love the theme, then you might consider it. It is a bit cheaper than BWI but the rooms are also smaller, and the resort has less to offer, dining and recreation wise.

[Janmac]

You never know til you stay there. And if you don't like it, you don't gotta stay there again.

This is your first Deluxe so be aware the idea here is more that you are traveling to a different place and time. The Disney theming stuff will be subtle. Each of the Deluxe resorts is meant to evoke a different place and time, as well as be in a prime location. Except for AKL, unless the prime location is the savannah.

We figured we'd try to stay at every Deluxe until we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. That resort hit home for us, as far theming and location and feel. Lots of people find the Boardwalk has that feel appeal for them. For some reason, we seem to be geared to write of disapproval more frequently than approval.

Even tho it's our favorite we have traveled to WDW six times since staying at WL and on our next trip, we're trying the Boardwalk.

Enjoy! Bottom line: you'll be at Disney.

Jan

[Fangorn]

Our family prefers the Beach Club when staying in that resort area. It just appeals to us more overall, and our kids are huge fans of the pool there. I stayed at BWI a couple years ago, although I had never really wanted to. My sister chose the resort, so I didn't argue. I ended up not really liking it, but she did. Mostly, to be honest, it was the decor of the resort that really just rubbed me the wrong way. I really hated it. However, the staff were phenomenal, all the shops and restaurants were great, and the facilities were very nice and well kept. I really can't say anything negative about it other than my own personal feelings about the interior decor.


I have to echo Nat here. We stayed at Boardwalk for the first time last month (Dec 2-11). We had a fantastic rate (CM rate) on a 1 bedroom villa, and while having the space was very nice, I really disliked the themeing of the resort. DW liked it more than I did, but it didn't really appeal to us much. The service was good, and the location was wonderful (we tend to spend a lot of time at Epcot). Reality though: we much prefer the Beach Club or Yacht Club. Again, it's more of a personal preference than anything actually "wrong" with the resort.

On the other hand, we visited Animal Kingdom twice during this trip (ate at Jiko and Saana) and really enjoyed the feel of the resort. We decided that we don't need to go back to Boardwalk, but we do need to plan a stay at Animal Kingdom.

Steve

[CanadianWDWFan]

We LOVED our stay at BWI so much that we bought into DVC at the Villas. Walking to DHS is painless, it takes about 15 minutes to get there. Even though there is a boat you will always beat it. Epcot is even quicker for a change of scenery. For Star Wars weekend you can't go wrong with the resort location.

I agree with the others that you shouldn't read into other folks' take on the resort until you try it yourself. We stayed at the AKL on recommendations and completely disliked it. That's why there are so many resort choices to choose from. We all have different tastes.

[AgentC]

You've already gotten great advice. Resort choice is really personal. If the reports are bad service, bad rooms etc, every resort has a bad day. Service wise most of the deluxes are comparable. I just stayed at Boardwalk in Dec. I am a huge Yacht Club fan and was a bit worried BWI wasn't for us, so I kept skipping it. But we stayed at YC in Oct and wanted a change.

My entire family loved BWI. My son even liked the creepy clown slide.:D. I'm not sure it replaced Yacht Club in my heart but I would stay again.

I also love AKL but I agree with Natalie. If DHS is your top priority, I would stay closer.

[Trev&Ev Mom]

We stayed at Boardwalk in January for the first time in January and LOVED the location!! We walked to HS and Epcot. The theme is old style beach club and really didn't bother us very much. The staff was wonderful and did I say the location was great??

[Mitzie]

We have stayed at BC, YC and BWI and AKL on 3 occasions. Loved them all..sorry no help there. It is about the theme. The Epcot resort area is so nice with so many options for table service eats. For us we find counter service locations lacking in that resort area. The Mara at AKL is one of our favorite counter service spots at a dlx. We have never minded the trip out to AKL. I think if you plan on spending alot of time at HS BWI is a great choice.