Disney's Boardwalk Villas
Resort Facilities
Disney's Boardwalk Resort (Photo by Brian Bennett)
Location
Disney's Boardwalk is located off of Buena Vista Drive almost directly
across the road from the Disney / MGM Studios and directly across
the lagoon from the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. Since
it's right behind Epcot, you can easily walk to that park and enter
at the "International Gateway," Epcot's back entrance.
The Boardwalk is right in the middle of Walt Disney World.
The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney/MGM Studios, Downtown Disney, and
the other attractions of the resort are all within a short walk,
drive, or shuttle bus ride.
The Boardwalk,
reminiscent of 1930's Coney Island (Photo by Brian Bennett)
Theme
Disney's Boardwalk Villas Resort is reminiscent of turn of the
century Coney Island. In the 1890's through about 1930,
Coney Island was the main vacation destination for New Yorkers and
others on the East coast. The resort includes a real boardwalk (purists
point out that it's more of a pier than a boardwalk, since there
is no beach) along a waterfront filled with stores, restaurants,
dance halls, and other entertainment. The pool area is themed like
Luna Park, one of Coney Island's legendary amusement parks, and
has a distinct amusement park atmosphere. It even includes a roller
coaster which is really a water slide and a pool bar dressed up
as a carousel.
The halls of the resort, where the various accommodations are located,
are carpeted with a pattern that looks like the boardwalk. There
are "rugs" worked right into the pattern every few feet.
Also the fabric for the curtains is reminiscent of old time boardwalks,
complete with Ferris wheels and signs that read "Disney's Boardwalk.".
Several restaurants
are available along the boardwalk (Photo by Brian Bennett)
Restaurants
Along the Boardwalk itself (and available to the public - so these
are not quiet resort restaurants) Big River Grille, Flying Fish
Cafe, and Spoodles provide the meal options. Big River Grille, in
addition to serving grilled steaks to order, has WDW's first microbrewery.
Flying Fish offers the best seafood in WDW, according to some of
it's fans. Spoodles serves a wide-range of Mediterranean flavors.
The villas are located in one end of the boardwalk
(Photo by Brian Bennett)
Accommodations
The accommodations at Boardwalk Villas are similar to those at
the other DVC resorts. Studios (with a Queen bed and
a sofa sleeper), one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas are all available.
The views from the windows of those rooms varies considerable.
You will find that some rooms are parking lot view (although any
view of WDW is a pleasant one in my opinion), some are pool view
(Luna Park), and the remainder are boardwalk view. Of course,
the boardwalk view rooms are at a premium because there are very
few of them - and they are in such high demand.
This resort is unlike the older DVC resorts in that all of the
accommodations are located within a single building. Elevators,
for the four or five (I've forgotten) floors are located only in
the central lobby area of the building. Stairs are located
at several places for fire escape, but may be handy to get up and
down from your room to the ground floor, as well.
As far as location and some other helpful tips, I'll quote my wife,
Barbara (BarbAnneB@aol.com), from her May, 1998 trip report:
"We had requested a 3rd floor Boardwalk view
studio near the elevators, and though we couldn't get in yet one
had been set aside for us. (Actually, the room was assigned
before we arrived. Brian had called the room assigner
several days before we arrived to make our specific requests...and
it seemed to have worked.)"
"The wait turned out to be well worth it. Our room, #3053,
is beautiful. We have a larger deck than other floors do. It faces
the ESPN half of the boardwalk. The view in the evening is awesome.
I love rooms where the shower and toilet are in their own room,
with the sink and mirror outside. It's so convenient for getting
ready to go. Other than that the studios here are very similar
to those at Old Key West. Oh, our second bed is actually a pull
out couch. I like that better than the two Queen beds at OKW since
we only use one bed anyway."
By the way, I highly recommend asking for a room near the elevators
and with a boardwalk view. It really makes the trip more convenient
to be close to the elevators (especially when you're hauling a stroller
and toddler), and having a view of the boardwalk really adds to
the atmosphere when you're at the resort.
Atlantic Dance is a favorite night spot
(Photo by Brian Bennett)
Activities
Besides the fanciful pool area, the resort includes the many boardwalk
clubs and activities. Atlantic Dance is a 1940's style dance hall.
A piano bar, called Jellyrolls, is an alternative to the ESPN sports
bar. A candy shop, general store, bakery, character merchandise
shop, and the typical sports (tennis, bike rentals, etc.) round
out the facilities. Finally, a full-service health club provides
steam rooms, weight equipment, and other such amenities.
Transportation
Watercraft is available to transport guests to Epcot and the Disney
Studios. Epcot is actually so close that hoofing it
to the International Gateway (Epcot's backdoor) isn't out of the
question. For everything else, the ubiquitous Disney bus will provide
services.
|
