Reviews of Boardwalk Inn (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by MK1972 Review Date: 01/16/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
First time stay here and DH and I were very happy with this resort. From the beginning, greeted by a cast member and brought to check in. Only had a standard room but found it sufficient for our needs. I loved grabbing a coffee from the lounge in the am and sitting on the porch. Lots of choices for meals either on boardwalk or resorts nearby. Can see it being limiting to families with children regarding meal options. I'm a fan of Epcot, being able to walk there was great. Polynesian is still our fav resort but would def stay here again!
Pros:
atmosphere, service, proximity to epcot and HSCons:
noneReviewed by jhommel Review Date: 02/11/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Just got back from a trip during marathon weekend. My Wife ran the race and staying at a EPCOT resort was very convenient. She went to sleep early and I enjoyed the boardwalk entertainment. The Resort was using the new RFID keys. Had one issue where the maid threw out some water bottles I had and the front desk without question credited them to my account. Loved it and would stay again.
Pros:
Atmosphere, CleanlinessCons:
NoneReviewed by mrsfarrellhob Review Date: 02/11/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
The only reason I can't give this property a 10 is because my room - while on the top floor - had a "view" of the front entrance to the hotel that was often loud with car motors, people, trucks, cabs, you name it.
Also, anticipate long waits for the bus to the parks if you're heading to MK, DTD or AK mid-day.
But you can't beat the ability to walk to Epcot and DHS! Definitely a great resort!
Pros:
Room size, location and proximity to parksCons:
NoneReviewed by LadyandTramp Review Date: 06/08/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
My family and I stayed here May 12th-19th and had a wonderful time at the Boardwalk. Two rooms were booked under the same reservation while a third room was booked separately. The front staff was able to get all three rooms together and we did not have to wait (and we even arrived early in the day!)
We were on the ground floor, which usually my mother does not care for, but we were able to walk right out front and make our way to the lobby or the quiet pool.
At the time I was also 14 weeks pregnant and in no mood for walking all day at the parks and then walking another mile to get to our room. The Boardwalk had such a wonderful layout that we were either right onto the boardwalk or down at the lobby within a few minutes.
The only down side I would say is that we never really got to experience the restaurants on the boardwalk because they were all full. The pizza shop and bakery are wonderful, though! The mozzarella sandwich is great with a cool cucumber salad. However, we were not able to get into any of the sit down restaurants. We'll have to keep that in mind for next time 🙂
Pros:
location to boardwalk/parks, easy walk, close to lobby, clean roomCons:
NoneReviewed by mom4graceloganford Review Date: 09/24/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
This is the first review I have ever posted despite over 150 nights staying deluxe. I felt the need to write this review. We have stayed at all deluxe resorts except animal kingdom. We stayed 9/18 through 9/22 and it was our first time at Boardwalk, we had just spent the 5 nights prior at WL.
We stayed in a Deluxe room which gives you club level access and is a larger room with a Sofa bed. We had a great view from our room and balcony. We were right above seashore sweets and could actually watch performers from our balcony (although could not hear them well). I will post comments on the club level on the concierge review forum ( I also had a problem with that specifically room location so if you are considering a deluxe room see there also).
We are Disney resort veterans, I was well aware of the quick service options at this hotel. I did not realize specifically how unhappy with them we would be. First, on arrival day we checked in and wanted lunch. At the same time a huge storm rolled in. There is absolutely no way to get lunch without getting really wet if raining or ordering room service. Even with an umbrella and ponchos you would get soaked trying to get to Boardwalk Bakery as the rain was blowing sideways. Now the new menu at Boardwalk is great, we just couldn't get to it and we did not want to do room service so we waited 2 hours (with 3 hungry kids) for it to improve to send someone out for lunch. Same situation if you want to eat at ESPN or Big River, no internal way to reach food. At YC/BC you can at least get to the marketplace or Captain's Grille.
The Pool Quick Service was very disappointing. Menu looked great and food from Boardwalk bakery so I thought how could we go wrong. We planned to swim and have lunch Saturday. at 2:30 went to order lunch. They were out of 2 of 3 kids meals (only had pb&j left which we can't eat) and were out of the adult turkey sandwich. I asked if they could or would be getting more and they said no (keep in mind they are supposed to be serving food until 8 and it is 2:30). I was willing to wait for them to restock) I was told they would not order anymore, we would have to walk over to Boardwalk to get lunch (with three sopping wet little kids) So we grabbed a bag of chips and left the pool early. This is unacceptable service to me for a Disney Deluxe resort.
My other concern was the condition of the bathroom. This is a very expensive room and when sitting in the bathroom or showering, it felt like a bad motel that needed a rehab. It is tiny, there was what appeared to be mold growing around the doorway and on the ceiling corner and there was exposed caulk and lose fixture covers hanging down from the shower and toilet pipes. Also the shower would not drain because of a very bad clog. So bad that the 5 of us needed to rinse off before dinner and had water to our knees. It would have been impossible for housekeeping to clean the tub without identifying the clog, it should have already been reported to maintenance. it was fixed later that night, but made for a miserable experience trying to get out the door for dinner. We also found the sofa bed to be extremely uncomfortable compared to the sofa beds in the DVC villas. We also had a problem with the thermostat. It was an old model with no numbers on it, and we had to get up a few times during each night to adjust it. We were freezing or hot the entire trip. These are not major complaints, we still had a good time, but I expect more from a Deluxe resort whether it is Disney or not. I have never been disappointed in the other Disney properties.
All in all, the staff is very friendly, the location is great, and if the weather is nice, you have nice food options. Music through hotel was nice. Room was decent but we found ourselves disappointed overall and that it was to difficult to get a quick bite or drink(can't imagine if we had not had access to the club level options.)
Pros:
location viewCons:
quick service and condition of bathroomReviewed by polkadot1 Review Date: 10/07/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We enjoyed 5 nights at the Boardwalk this October and loved it! We were ushered by a CM to the front desk to check in and our room was immediately available even though we were there well in advance of check in time.
Our room was on the 5th floor and overlooked the Eiffel Tower in Epcot, which gave us a beautiful view of Illuminations from our balcony. The theme of the hotel is gorgeous- its like stepping back in time. The pools are great- the quiet pool is serene and true to its name, very quiet and secluded. The main pool is so much fun! There is a full service bar and a water slide that's as much fun for adults as it is for children.
The location can't be beat- 10 minutes walking to Epcot and a short boat ride to HS. We were happy with the dining options at the Boardwalk as well- we tried Flying Fish for dinner, and Kouzzina and the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast.
The only "con" would be that although the theme of the resort is lovely, the rooms don't feel very luxe for this being a deluxe resort, particularly the bathroom area which was small and very dimly lit. Having stayed at other Disney deluxe resorts however, I find this to be somewhat par for the course. Mousekeeping was great and in addition to keeping the room clean and fresh created and adorable towel clown creation for us.
Overall, we loved it and will definitely give consideration to staying here again.
Pros:
Location, theme, poolCons:
—Reviewed by mickeymom5 Review Date: 01/20/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I am giving this resort an 8 because of its awesome location. It was nice to be able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The resort itself is a beautiful resort, but the fact that there was not a CS restaurant with indoor seating made it really inconvenient for us. We also requested an upper floor and we were given the 1st floor. The hallways are super long to walk down after a long park day. The pizza window is a reasonable option for your wallet for a meal.
Pros:
being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood StudiosCons:
no counter service restaurant, extremely long hallwaysReviewed by snovak Review Date: 03/22/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We've stayed at this resort before, and love how we can walk to Epcot and all the activity on the Boardwalk. This time ( March 13 - 18 ) when we entered our room all we could smell was a musty odor , the room looked tired and the pillows on the bed were ripped. A bathroom light burned out and it never got fixed. It's a beautiful resort and I will probably stay here again, I just think for the price of a deluxe hotel everything should be in perfect working order.
Pros:
beautiful resort, close to epcotCons:
—Reviewed by rpayer Review Date: 03/31/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
My mom (uses a wheelchair), my DD (celebrating her 16th bday) and I checked in to the Boardwalk Inn on March 15th and checked out on March 24th. I did online check in before we arrived, so we only spent a few minutes at the front desk. We had our magic bands in hand and were ready to go. We were in room 1292 which was handicapped accessible with a roll in shower on the 1st floor. The room was in excellent condition, was quite large, had a patio with a view of the interior courtyard and was very close to the elevators. We did not hear any noise from the rooms on either side or from the hallway. We arrived on a Sat night and the covered entrance area in front of the Boardwalk was quite busy. We received luggage assistance immediately (we had driven from NJ, so we had tons of luggage and two wheelchairs) and valet parked our car. Since my Mom has a handicap placard we received free valet parking at all disney resorts. This was quite a savings since valet parking is $15. We used valet parking our entire stay which was quite convenient since self parking was a short walk away. We purchased two refillable mugs which we used numerous times. The only slight inconvenience was that we had to go outside the hotel to the bakery to refill them. Too bad there isn't a refill station at the Belle Vue Lounge or the small store that is inside the hotel. We used the quiet pool and hot tub a few times and found it to be quite nice. Pool towels are provided at the pool. The only problem we had during our stay was when we arrived. We had only lukewarm water in our shower, but we called maintenance and they fixed it by the next day. We then had hot, hot water in our shower which was great. Since we were celebrating my DD's 16th bday, there was a bday balloon in our room upon arrival. I also had a bouquet of flowers and balloons delivered the next day which arrived without problem. We loved having the college size refrigerator which we filled with drinks, milk and breakfast stuff. We mostly ate breakfast in our room to save time. We found the store on the boardwalk to have all we needed. We also ate at the bakery, pizza window and the Big River Grille which were all excellent. Walking along the boardwalk was always fun and walking to Epcot and Disney Studios was quite a time saver. That was one of the big reasons for staying at the Boardwalk. We received assistance from the Concierge and all cast members were very helpful. A big thank you to all the valet members. We received help from them every day. I believe that Disney uses a third party for valet services and they were all excellent. We never waited long for our car and they were always offering assistance to my Mom who was in a wheelchair. We had an amazing time at the Boardwalk Inn and I would highly recommend staying there and can't wait to go back again some time soon!
Pros:
beautiful resort, large handicap accessible room, valet parking, helpful cast membersCons:
rapid fill refills only outside, no quick serviceReviewed by Stitch Review Date: 09/03/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
Our most recent Boardwalk visit was July 22 - 29. This was our 3rd Boardwalk stay. The room decor this time was a bit shabby, but it looks like all rooms are being renovated, so this should not be an issue. Almost all cast members are friendly and make you feel welcome.
The location is phenomenal; walking distance to EPCOT and an easy boat ride to the Studios. Getting off the boat at the Swan/Dolphin on the return trip from the Studios and walking over the bridge to the Boardwalk saves about 10 minutes on the trip.
The restaurants are great. We especially like Big River Grill Works and the ESPN club - both have great burgers! Breakfast is a bit problematic if you don't like just pastry; the Boardwalk Bakery offers a couple of egg dishes but they are not especially appealing. Most days we have an instant breakfast drink in our room, and then get fresh fruit and a late breakfast in the parks.
The lobby and other public areas of the Boardwalk are beautiful and there are lots of places to sit, relax, read and recharge from a day in the parks. The Luna Park pool is lovely - big enough to allow for plenty of personal space, but small enough to feel like home. We love the Beach Club and that was our resort of choice when traveling with a tween/teen. We make at least one visit to Beaches and Cream from the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk has more food and entertainment options than the Beach Club, which we appreciate now that we are traveling with a college age daughter.
