Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S BOARDWALK INN
Our most recent stay confirms that Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, one of the Epcot resorts, is the eighth best deluxe resort at Walt Disney World for first time family visitors.
You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort hotel.
However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World who can afford it should stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, a deluxe resort, and that those who can’t should stay at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, a value resort.
(It also suggests that first time visitors should avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. See this for why.)
Compared to other Walt Disney World owned and operated resorts, the deluxe resorts are distinguished by having (on average) the most amenities, nicest views, best dining options, best transport options, largest rooms, best service, and highest prices.
Many are also paired with Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resorts. For a review of the BoardWalk Inn’s sister DVC resort, Disney’s Boardwalk Villas, click here.
Among the deluxe resorts, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn has a lot of positives.
- It has a fun pool, though not as good as the one its Epcot neighbors the Yacht Club Club and Beach Club share
- It shares with the Yacht Club and the Beach Club Inn convenient access to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and
- It shares with these resorts a short walk to dozens of interesting table service dining options located in these resorts, at the Swan and Dolphin, on the BoardWalk, and in Epcot.
It also has a couple of negatives, also largely shared with the Yacht and Beach Clubs.
It’s thin on kid appeal compared to other options, is not as convenient for this site’s itineraries as some alternative resorts, and has limited counter service in general and especially limited breakfast options.
The breakfast issue is better than it has been in the past…see the image…but it’s still not as good as many guests would expect.
(See this for much more on resort distinctions by price class–value, moderate, deluxe, etc.)
Standard rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn are sized in the middle of the deluxe resorts.
They are larger than those at the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but smaller than those at Disney’s Polynesian Resort and the other monorail resorts.
Most of these rooms sleep five–two each in two queens, and another in convertible couch with 6’3″ of sleeping length. Rooms with one king bed are also available.
You can add to this capacity of five a child younger than three who sleeps in a crib.
DISNEY’S BOARDWALK INN
Resorts are ranked on this site for first time visitors based first on their kid appeal, and then on their convenience.
On this basis, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn is the eighth-best deluxe resort for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.
Kid Appeal.
- Three of the deluxe resorts–the Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian Resort, in that order–have spectacular kid appeal. The BoardWalk Inn has comparatively little architectural kid appeal
- None of the moderates do.
- All of the value resorts–Disney’s All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, and All-Star Movies, and its Pop Century Resort–have strong kid appeal.
The kid appeal of the BoardWalk Inn, such as it is, comes from largely its pool, not its design, architecture, or theme.
There are some fun artifacts, such as a model of an old-time roller coaster, that will catch the eyes of kids.
Parents will delight in the BoardWalk Inn–it has a combination of peaceful, quiet green spaces and a bustling restaurant row that no other Disney World deluxe resort can match.
Kids, though will find it a yawn compared to resorts with higher kid appeal.
Convenience. Disney’s BoardWalk Inn is the fifth-most convenient of all the Walt Disney World resorts in carrying out the itineraries for first-time family visitors on this site.
All of the Epcot resorts are convenient to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Epcot is a short walk or boat ride, and the Studios are a longer walk or boat ride away.
The other two parks are accessed by buses, which are shared with some of the other Epcot resorts.
Best places to stay. This site suggests that first time visitors stay in standard rooms, not preferred rooms.
This is because they won’t be spending much time in their rooms.
The single exception is visitors to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, who should always pay for savanna views.
The map depicts both the BoardWalk Inn and the Boardwalk Villas.
It struck me once that the BoardWalk is laid out kinda like one of the kids on South Park, and I now can’t get that out of my mind–the lake is the head, with the wings of the Inn and Villas representing the arms and legs…
Sticking with this, for some reason, the wings that contain the BoardWalk Inn rooms are in the right leg and right arm.
Rooms at the ends of the wings can be quite a hike from the single elevator bank near the center of the figure.
Rooms with water views of the Crescent Lake–the “head”–also overlook the BoardWalk dining and entertainment area, and can suffer from noise from it.
So request a room near the elevator, and that overlooks the interior courtyards.
BEST FOR:
Any first time family visitors who can afford it, but can’t get into or don’t want to stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.
WORST FOR:
Families seeking the highest degree of kid appeal. Families too large to fit its 5 person rooms. See this for more on large families at Walt Disney World.
This review continues here.
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