Boardwalk Villa....

[kerry827]

Just about to book another trip. So very excited!!! 99% sure we are going with the Boardwalk Villa. Worth it? Are there any negatives? Thoughts? Reviews? I live the planning part because I am always so hungry for details :):D

Thanks!!

Kerry

[Johnno52]

Good choice, there aren't too many negatives staying at any of the resorts at Epcot's International gateway. Great restaurants and nice walk to Epcot and see the Illuminations fireworks. A short boat ride to either Epcot of Hollywood Studios. If there is a drawback would be the lack of an indoor cafeteria style eating place like other resorts.Our DVC is there because it was the best resort for our needs. :number1:

[Disneyfun]

We just recently returned from a 3 day stay at the Boardwalk Villas. While my DW and I absolutely love the Boardwalk, there are certainly some pluses and minuses to staying there.

Pluses

Easy walk to EPCOT or a leasurely boat ride to the Studios.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL decor and ambiance!
Our balcony was SOOOO huge! We could have put our king sized bed out there and still had room.
Staff at the Boardwalk are super friendly and do all that they can to accomdate any needs you may have....for the most part. :}


Minuses

If you want something to eat, you have to exit the main building and walk down the boardwalk to a restaurant. This is especially inconvenient for the refillable mug situation as you have to go all the way down to the bakery (mmmm Strawberry Cupcake) or the pizza restaurant.
The rooms (or at least ours) had VERY poor sound baffeling. Noise from the hall and from the area the balcony over looked penetrated very loudly and regular conversations in the hall could be heard loud and clear - especially frustrating when you have had a late night and housekeeping likes to park their carts infront of your door and discuss their game plan early in the morning!
The doors to the room have mutant-strong springs that cause them to sound like a bank vault door closing - see above comment about sound penetration and imagine that with a sold out resort!
The safe for your valuables is incredibly small. We could not put my wife's lap top inside it.



As to the note on the staff, we only had one negative experience with the staff at the Boardwalk - that was with the bartender at The Belle Vue Lounge. It was right on midnight and we wanted to fill our refillable mug one last time as we had just returned from a late night at the MK. I asked at the concierge desk where we could fill up at and the told us the lounge was the only option as both the bakery and the pizza restaurants had closed already. When we walked up to the bar, it was surrounded by business type people in suits (non-Disney) and the bartender gave us the attitude that filling our mug was the last thing that he wanted to do. In fact, he told us that he was closing at least twice and another 2-3 times to everyone around him irregardless of them trying to order anything. It was very poor show, but that was only one person in an isolated situation.

Over all, we had a great stay but that will probably be our last stay at the Boardwalk. On the same trip, we actually had to switch to Pop Century due to our flight being canceled due to snow in Maryland. We found Pop to actually be quieter and more relaxing. Being that the main purpose of your hotel room is to sleep, we were actually surprised on where we prefer to stay now!

[WDWParrothead]

It is an incredibly beautiful resort. Much more than just a hotel behind the Boardwalk! You will be pleasantly surprised by how many positives there are.

As far as negatives, there aren't many. As others have mentioned, there are no interior restaurants, which is a bummer if it is raining. The only other negative for us were the seemingly endless interior hallways. These things are long! We were joking throughout the trip that the hallways at BWV needed their own monorail! I'm exaggerating just a bit- it would probably only be a true negative for those with limited mobility. And if you're not a fan of clowns, avoid the main pool slide. Especially at night because the eyes light up!

All joking aside, this is an awesome resort and you'll love it.

[yankeesfan123]

JW..

Are you DVC? Renting points? Booking through Disney directly?

[LVT]

I was there in May in a lovely 1 bedroom. The cool hallways got me. Outside ninety, inside 65
I agree it was noisy too, but we adjusted to that. I hope you enjoy your stay.;)

[biggins]

The only draw-back that I encountered was breakfast. At the time I stayed there, we had really few options for breakfast. I know the bakery sells things but there was no quick service in the boardwalk hotel itself, nor a sit down restaurant for breakfast. So we usually walked to beach or yacht club for breakfast. That being said.. at the end of the night when you are tired from walking all day and you want to be over at the boardwalk for the fun things at night,, it was much closer to get to bed.