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This is the fourth page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.

MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

The BoardWalk Villas opened in July 1996 as the second of the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) resorts. Its floor plans set the basic pattern for all those that would follow.

Much smaller than the spaces at Disney’s Old Key West Resort, its floor plans are still larger than most of the next wave of DVC resorts.

The BoardWalk Villas share the lobby, shops, and services of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn; you can find more about the BoardWalk Inn here.

PHOTO TOUR OF A ONE BEDROOM VILLA AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

You enter to find an entrance area with a closet to one side and walls on the other.

As you proceed into the villa, a kitchen opens on one side.

On the other side, you’ll find a hallway that leads to the door to the washer-dryer closet, a door to the split bath, and a door to the master bedroom.

The kitchen includes all necessary appliances and a good selection of plates, cups, pots and pans, and other kitchenware.

Counter space is at a premium, and the attached breakfast bar is small and comes with only two chairs.

Opposite the kitchen is a very small dining table and two more chairs.

Note the wall behind the dining table–this is a mirror, which increases the sense of spaciousness of the room.

Further back you’ll find the living area.  A TV and dresser are on one side, and a fold-out couch on the other.

In rooms with connecting doors (they connect to a studio, so that the collection can be sold as a studio and a one bedroom, or as a two-bedroom), an armchair is next to the couch.

In the room we stayed in, without a connecting door, the armchair was back where the connecting door would be.

This led to a feeling of spaciousness so extreme the room felt empty.

The master bedroom is accessed through a small hall near the entry to the room.

This hall passes a closet containing a stacked washer and dryer, and has an entry to the bath.

The bath is divided into two areas.  One, accessible from both the hall and the master bedroom, has a toilet, sink, and large shower.

The second part of the bath is accessible from both this space, and from the master bedroom.

It includes a large whirlpool tub, with a shutter-able opening to the master bedroom itself, a nice vanity and sink, and a large closet.

(The shutter is on the left side of the image, above the tub.)

The master bedroom contains a king bed, upholstered chair, and a TV and dresser.

There’s a balcony here as well–the main living area also has a balcony.

Other than the flaw in the placement of the connecting doors in Two-Bedroom Villas (see the discussion here), the BoardWalk Villas are the most livable DVC spaces in the generation of DVC resorts built after Disney’s Old Key West Resort and before Kidani Village and Bay Lake Tower.

Compare the One Bedroom at Saratoga Springs–pretty much the nadir of DVC design.

The entry closet in the Saratoga Springs floor plan is missing entirely–there’s only one small closet, in the shrunken master bath.

Each Saratoga Springs space is narrower–the living room space so much so that it’s unusable when the fold-out couch is open.

And of course there’s just one balcony in the Saratoga Springs floor plan, rather than the two at the BoardWalk.

Disney’s BoardWalk Villas strengths for first time visitors are this livability (which carries over into all of its room types), and its convenience to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney’s BoardWalk Villas principal negative is the absence of any real kid appeal compared to alternatives like The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House.

EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS:

• Official BoardWalk Villas web page

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MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For thedeluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

DISNEY WORLD FREE ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?

As many as two dozen people a day come to this site with some version of “Is Disney free on your birthday?” as the words they entered into a search engine.

Here’s the bad news: there used to be a deal where Disney World offered free tickets on your birthday.  But there isn’t one anymore.  Disney world tickets are the same price on your birthday as they are on any other day.

DISNEY WORLD BIRTHDAY SPECIALS

But there are still some fun birthday offers from Disney World, and some of them are free!

Free Disney World birthday stuff includes:

• A happy birthday button (see the image at the top, courtesy of Kristin’s Tips from the Disney Diva), which you can get either from your Disney World resort hotel or from guest services in the parks. Mike at My Dreams of Disney reminds me that Disney strictly enforces when you can get this free birthday button–it must be within 6 months before, or 6 months after, your birthday!
• A happy birthday call–dial 0 in your resort to schedule it
• Perhaps, a happy birthday cupcake as the finale to a Disney World table service meal.
• And of course you can bring birthday celebration materials from home!

OTHER WALT DISNEY WORLD BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Much more celebration of birthdays at Walt Disney World is possible–but not for free. 

Options include birthday cakes ($21 and up), birthday parties ($16 per person and up), and many others. (Prices are from The Complete Walt Disney World 2012.)

See Natalie’s article on Walt Disney World birthday celebration ideas on Meet the Magic for more ideas and options!

OVERVIEW: SUMMER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Summer at Walt Disney World—loosely defined as Memorial Day in late May through Labor Day in early September–is an often difficult season.

Summer Disney World weather is hot and humid, and in mid-August shifts to hot, humid, and also the beginning of the peak of the hurricane season.

Summer crowds at Disney World are very high most of the summer–lightest in the latter part of August, and also lighter in early June. They peak over the Fourth of July holiday.

Disney World summer prices begin fairly high, peak over the Fourth of July weekend, and drop to their lowest level of the year at the deluxe resorts in mid-July, and at the moderate resorts and value resorts in early August.

Deals and discounts are available for parts of this period.

[Read more →]

2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

Below find the main topics for Walt Disney World in 2013, including

• Disney World 2013 packages and booking dates
• 2013 Disney World deals
• 2013 Disney Armed Forces Salute
• Free Dining in 2013 at Disney World
• The best weeks of 2013 to visit
• 2013 crowds at Disney World
• What’s new at Disney World in 2013

Moreover, for a 2013 Disney World “cheat sheet,” see this.

[Read more →]

This is the third page of this review of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas. For the first page of this material, click here.

GRAND VILLAS AT DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

Grand Villas at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas sleep 12.

They have three bedrooms (one with a king, and two with two queens) plus a sleeper sofa.

They also have a kitchen, dining room, living room, balconies, and 3 baths.

There are seven Grand Villas at the BoardWalk. Five of them have the single-story layout shown in the above floor plan, and those five are what this review discusses.

Going right to left, the first two spaces are bedrooms, each with a private bath, two queen beds and balcony access.  Each of these rooms is about the size of a “normal” hotel room–though note that the hall to the right-most room means the other bedroom is smaller.

Note also in this hall the additional door to the hotel hallway.

Next comes the kitchen and dining space, and after, a living space almost twice as large as that found in two-story Grand Villas, with a stately entry hall.

Off of the living room space you’ll find a small hallway with a door to the laundry room, another to the master bath, and a third door to the master bedroom.

The master bath serves both the master bedroom and those who may be sleeping on the living room couch, or visiting, and can be entered from the master bedroom as well as the hallway.

The master bedroom includes a king bed and an expansive divided bath, with a large whirlpool tub.

These single story Grand Villas at the BoardWalk Villas have the second-best floor plan of any Disney World Grand Villa, bettered only by those in the Villas at the Grand Floridian. (For an extensive discussion of Grand Villa design choices, see this.)

This is because the BoardWalk single story Grand Villas are unique in offering a single living room space large enough to seat all the guests they will sleep.

(To the capacity of 12, you can add one more kid under 3 at time of check in who sleeps in a crib.)

THE THEMING OF ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

Disney’s BoardWalk Villas are described on Walt Disney World’s website as capturing

“…the charm, whimsy and elegance of turn-of-the-century Atlantic City. These Villas, along with adjacent hotel Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, put Guests in a prime location to enjoy the carnival sights and ragtime sounds of the BoardWalk, along with the glittering waters and recreation of Crescent Lake.”

This “Atlantic City” claim is a bit of a crock.

The BoardWalk complex has multiple theming points, unified by the concept of “eastern resort town.”

The BoardWalk entertainment area perfectly matches the Atlantic City theme.

But the BoardWalk Inn, according to its architect Robert A. M. Stern, “takes its architectural cue from rambling colonial revival-style hotels of New England.”

And the Villas, again per Stern, bring to the “resort town” concept the Bungalow Style:

“The Disney Vacation Club [BoardWalk Villas], in keeping with the sense of the BoardWalk as a resort town, consists of a series of interconnected small scale buildings facing the [BoardWalk] lakefront.

Beyond the lakefront, where the vacation club faces a canal, the building takes on a larger scale with wide roof overhangs and bold horizontals reflecting the early 20th century American tradition that combined classicism with vernacular cottage architecture to create the Bungalow Style.

Here the historical timeline of the resort town’s development is brought to its conclusion by an architecture that suggests the incipient modernism of the early twentieth century.”

The overall theming of the BoardWalk complex as a “resort town” is a tour de force, with fun on the BoardWalk itself, and true loveliness in the BoardWalk Inn.

The theming and architecture of the Villas are neither so fun nor so lovely, but work well enough.

MORE ON DISNEY’S BOARDWALK VILLAS

This review continues here.

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Walt Disney World released last week changes to its park hours for the week that includes President’s Day.

The Magic Kingdom now has 8a openings from Saturday February 18th through Saturday the 25th, and the Animal Kingdom is showing 8a openings from the 18th through Wednesday the 22nd.

Moreover, closings at the Magic Kingdom are now at 1a most nights from Friday 2/17 through Saturday 2/25.

So far, Extra Magic Hours are unchanged from the normal Autumn-Winter-Spring pattern.