faline
09-08-2013, 04:43 PM
Accommodations: This was our very first stay at Disney Boardwalk ever. As vacation club owners, we stayed in a one bedroom Boardwalk view villa. Over time, I've read over and over again on these boards that this resort is the number one favorite of many. Personally, I wouldn't make it my number 1 choice but I can certainly understand why so many others have made this designation.
We had more than ample space for the two of us. We had a balcony that was bigger than most even though it was not very deep. As always, I loved having a washer and dryer in the room and, on this trip, I may actually gotten better at not overpacking!!
Our room was quite some distance from the main lobby and actually bordered the wall for Jellyrolls. This was not an issue for us. The reward for this distance was a lovely view of Boardwalk, the water, and Beach Club across the way. We also could clearly see Spaceship Earth. The real bonus was that we could watch much of Illuminations right from our balcony.
I had been concerned that I would find having a Boardwalk view noisy. I needn't have worried. Our accommodations were very quiet and we were never bothered by noise outside or inside the building.
It was lovely to be able to walk to both Epcot and Disney Studios. Having a number of dining establishments within walking distance is also a wonderful bonus. We also took advantage of the Boardwalk bakery.
One morning, we had breakfast at the Belle Vue Lounge - a lovely retreat within the Boardwalk property. It serves coffee and items such as danish in the morning. Later in the day, it is used as a lounge. I was only sorry we did not get to visit it when it was operating as a lounge.
Overall, this is a lovely property and I would definitely stay here again.
Cast Members Only one cast member stands out for me on this trip and that was the gentleman who chatted with me for quite a while during the check-in process. On the other hand, the opportunity to have a lengthy chat came about as Disney's computers were not behaving themselves.
No-one stands out for rudeness and that is a good thing.
Most of our interactions with cast members were brief but we were always pleasantly greeted by those we encountered.
Crowds Wow!! It was busy!! Much busier than I was expecting for the time of our visit. We've been to Disney at the tail end of August before and had found that the bulk of the crowds had already departed. Not this time.
The increase of crowds along with fastpass+ testing (of which we were not a part) resulted in some rides having extraordinarily long wait times. We got on most of what we wanted with a couple of exceptions. We never did manage to get a ride on Toy Story Mania but we did not spend much time in Disney Studios and did not want to be there for a late afternoon fast pass return time.
Dining We made five reservations before we arrived - mostly for old favorites. The one new reservation we had on this trip was for Be Our Guest. We also walked into a couple of locations and/or made same day reservations via the Disney app. Of the places we dined, Le Cellier was my favorite for food (though not for atmosphere) on this trip. The mushroom risotto was just so good with my filet mignon. I also had an excellent filet mignon at Yachtsman Steak House (which I would pick over Le Cellier for service and atmosphere) but, again, that mushroom risotto just tipped the scales to Le Cellier.
Be Our Guest was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps my expectations were just too high. The service was good. The food was acceptable but it didn't wow me. The dining room(s) had some neat special effects - especially the snow falling behind the windows of the ballroom but, personally, the whole place had more of the feel of a massive cafeteria than a fine dining establishment. I'm glad we tried it but it certainly won't be on my must-do list.
Transportation Being at Boardwalk, we mostly used busses to get around Disney property. Typically, we walked to Epcot and/or Disney Studios. When we went to the water parks, we drove ourselves in our rental car. Overall, the transportation system worked well for us. We did not have any extraordinarily long waits for any form of transportation and got to where we were going without issues.
Weather As expected for August, the weather was quite hot and humid. We expected the chance of rain showers on a regular basis and think we got a bit more of them on this trip than we have on other trips at this time of year. We were fortunate that we did not get any long-lasting soaking rains even though some of the showers we experienced included significant amounts of water. There's nothing you can do about the weather so you just work around it. We changed our plans a couple of times based on weather forecasts. All in all, things worked out well. We got plenty of opportunity to play in the sun and the clouds actually worked in our favor a couple of times - particularly when we visited Animal Kingdom and one of the water parks.
Water Fun We have Premium Annual Passes this year so visited both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach on this trip. I enjoyed both parks and had not been in either for more years than I could say. I recall Typoon Lagoon being my favorite of the two in past visits but, on this trip, I'd have to say that Blizzard Beach was the one I enjoyed more - I think the long Family raft ride here was the deciding factor. We also spent some time at the resort pool. The resort pool was quite busy in the afternoon. We found it wonderfully empty when we arrived around 9 one morning. It was strange, however, to see folks coming out and placing towels, shoes, and other items on anywhere from 4-6 lounges to "save" them for later. I overheard one family discover the lounges that had been saved for them when they recognized their shoes. I certainly don't mind folks marking their lounges when they are actually at the pool. But putting items on them and then not going to the pool until some time later?? That doesn't seem quite right.
Thank you to all who have read to trip reports. It's always fun to relive our trips in these forums!!
We had more than ample space for the two of us. We had a balcony that was bigger than most even though it was not very deep. As always, I loved having a washer and dryer in the room and, on this trip, I may actually gotten better at not overpacking!!
Our room was quite some distance from the main lobby and actually bordered the wall for Jellyrolls. This was not an issue for us. The reward for this distance was a lovely view of Boardwalk, the water, and Beach Club across the way. We also could clearly see Spaceship Earth. The real bonus was that we could watch much of Illuminations right from our balcony.
I had been concerned that I would find having a Boardwalk view noisy. I needn't have worried. Our accommodations were very quiet and we were never bothered by noise outside or inside the building.
It was lovely to be able to walk to both Epcot and Disney Studios. Having a number of dining establishments within walking distance is also a wonderful bonus. We also took advantage of the Boardwalk bakery.
One morning, we had breakfast at the Belle Vue Lounge - a lovely retreat within the Boardwalk property. It serves coffee and items such as danish in the morning. Later in the day, it is used as a lounge. I was only sorry we did not get to visit it when it was operating as a lounge.
Overall, this is a lovely property and I would definitely stay here again.
Cast Members Only one cast member stands out for me on this trip and that was the gentleman who chatted with me for quite a while during the check-in process. On the other hand, the opportunity to have a lengthy chat came about as Disney's computers were not behaving themselves.
No-one stands out for rudeness and that is a good thing.
Most of our interactions with cast members were brief but we were always pleasantly greeted by those we encountered.
Crowds Wow!! It was busy!! Much busier than I was expecting for the time of our visit. We've been to Disney at the tail end of August before and had found that the bulk of the crowds had already departed. Not this time.
The increase of crowds along with fastpass+ testing (of which we were not a part) resulted in some rides having extraordinarily long wait times. We got on most of what we wanted with a couple of exceptions. We never did manage to get a ride on Toy Story Mania but we did not spend much time in Disney Studios and did not want to be there for a late afternoon fast pass return time.
Dining We made five reservations before we arrived - mostly for old favorites. The one new reservation we had on this trip was for Be Our Guest. We also walked into a couple of locations and/or made same day reservations via the Disney app. Of the places we dined, Le Cellier was my favorite for food (though not for atmosphere) on this trip. The mushroom risotto was just so good with my filet mignon. I also had an excellent filet mignon at Yachtsman Steak House (which I would pick over Le Cellier for service and atmosphere) but, again, that mushroom risotto just tipped the scales to Le Cellier.
Be Our Guest was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps my expectations were just too high. The service was good. The food was acceptable but it didn't wow me. The dining room(s) had some neat special effects - especially the snow falling behind the windows of the ballroom but, personally, the whole place had more of the feel of a massive cafeteria than a fine dining establishment. I'm glad we tried it but it certainly won't be on my must-do list.
Transportation Being at Boardwalk, we mostly used busses to get around Disney property. Typically, we walked to Epcot and/or Disney Studios. When we went to the water parks, we drove ourselves in our rental car. Overall, the transportation system worked well for us. We did not have any extraordinarily long waits for any form of transportation and got to where we were going without issues.
Weather As expected for August, the weather was quite hot and humid. We expected the chance of rain showers on a regular basis and think we got a bit more of them on this trip than we have on other trips at this time of year. We were fortunate that we did not get any long-lasting soaking rains even though some of the showers we experienced included significant amounts of water. There's nothing you can do about the weather so you just work around it. We changed our plans a couple of times based on weather forecasts. All in all, things worked out well. We got plenty of opportunity to play in the sun and the clouds actually worked in our favor a couple of times - particularly when we visited Animal Kingdom and one of the water parks.
Water Fun We have Premium Annual Passes this year so visited both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach on this trip. I enjoyed both parks and had not been in either for more years than I could say. I recall Typoon Lagoon being my favorite of the two in past visits but, on this trip, I'd have to say that Blizzard Beach was the one I enjoyed more - I think the long Family raft ride here was the deciding factor. We also spent some time at the resort pool. The resort pool was quite busy in the afternoon. We found it wonderfully empty when we arrived around 9 one morning. It was strange, however, to see folks coming out and placing towels, shoes, and other items on anywhere from 4-6 lounges to "save" them for later. I overheard one family discover the lounges that had been saved for them when they recognized their shoes. I certainly don't mind folks marking their lounges when they are actually at the pool. But putting items on them and then not going to the pool until some time later?? That doesn't seem quite right.
Thank you to all who have read to trip reports. It's always fun to relive our trips in these forums!!