Reviews of Boardwalk Villas (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by laurenschultzyuhasz Review Date: 01/02/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Getting excited for the boardwalk villas from Jan. 13-17! It is a surprise birthday trip for our 8 year old daughter. Have not told her yet (so hard).
Just wanted to give others a heads up- received notification today the Luna park pool is closed Jan. 2 through early March.
Pros:
locationCons:
Luna Park Pool closed from Jan 2, 2013 to early MarchReviewed by Lou28 Review Date: 01/13/2013
Rating: (2) Recommended
BW is one of my favorite resorts. This time I stayed in a standard studio at BWV. My room was very far from elevator and lobby, felt like 1/4 mile. Before going I received a letter saying Luna Pool would be closed. Surprisingly pool was open, but Boardwalk Bakery was closed, which was disappointing. I checked in later in the evening and had an Epcot tour the next morning prior to park opening. I asked concierge if I could enter this early at International Gateway. Her response was that I would have to walk over to EP that evening and ask. She kept telling me she had no way of finding the answer. Huge fail for concierge. The worst part of this stay was how dirty the room was. Every surface was covered in dust and dirt (vents, ceiling fan, lights, bureau, light switches, phone, clock, etc). The carpet had popcorn on the floor; hairdryer had hairs all over it; lightbulb dead over vanity; bathroom door had toothpaste on it; dark red smears on wall, which I hope wasn't dried blood. I complained to manager who told me room would be thoroughly cleaned the next morning at 9 am. Returned at 7:30 pm the next day to find room being cleaned. I was ready to turn in for the night, but headed back out to give them time to clean. Room was still not thoroughly cleaned. A manager did follow up and was very sincere with apology. Despite this terrible room, I am recommending this resort because I love the location, namely being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I also enjoy the nightly entertainment. The feature pool is nice with a good slide. I hope the next time I stay here my room will be clean(er). I also think it's time for this resort to have room renovations, particularly when compared with the great remodels at many of the less expensive moderate resorts.
Pros:
Walk to HS & EP; BW activitiesCons:
Dirty, dated rooms; Distance of rooms to lobby/boardwalkReviewed by CEB1228 Review Date: 02/18/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
After staying at Kidani Village for three nights, my husband and I transferred to Boardwalk Villas. This was planned to give us an opportunity to try two different DVC properties. Arriving at Boardwalk made us feel like we were home. We prefer the Epcot resorts due to their proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Nothing beats the quick walk in and out of World Showcase, especially when Illuminations ends.
The one-bedroom standard villa was conveniently close to the lobby. The room looked out over the airport baggage check-in area but we were never disturbed by any noise. After some difficulty with key card which required me to return to the lobby twice, I was finally able to enter our room. The room was nicely decorated, very clean and met our needs wonderfully. Each day we went out for the morning and returned in the afternoon for a break either in our room or by the pool. Twice we enjoyed drinks by the Luna pool. The staff st the Leaping Horse Pool Bar were very friendly and attentive.
When our trip came to an end, we were sorry to leave our "little home" away from home. We look forward to our next visit in October.
Pros:
Location to Epcot & Hollywood Studios, resort feels like "home"Cons:
Lack of counter service optionsReviewed by Disneydreamers3 Review Date: 03/28/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We'd been wanting to stay at BWV for the longest time and finally was able to this past week,unfortunately it was with big diasappointment. It started with our room not being ready and them telling us it would only be a few minutes longer and that they would text us when ready. After more than an hour and a half waiting and no text we finally asked and was told it HAD been ready for quite awhile!
We had a great room overlooking the main courtyard and side view of the boardwalk/lake, too bad our room was not as clean as it should have been. Food particles on the rug, dust on furniture and a pair of socks from a previous guest under the chair. Our 4th day housecleaning service proved worse, new washcloths placed but all the dirty ones left where they were last used! Although our room view was beautiful it was extremely noisy with everyone on the boardwalk, the bars, restaurants and hanging in the courtyard to all hours and at around 6am and earlier you can hear workers rolling carts on the walkway and making all kinds of noise to get things prepared for the day. If you decide to rent a car beware that the parking lot is as far away as walking to a theme park and you'll have more luck hitting the lotto than actually finding a spot!( I assume due to the convention center).Another big disappointment to us was the inconveinence of getting any form of quick service food/beverage.You had to go out onto the boardwalk or to the pool area(during open hours)to get anything. On a positive note, the boadwalk entertainers are FANTASTIC!!!! We enjoyed each of them night after night. Watching the EP fireworks from our room was great too. And, of course, the biggest positive of this resort is the conveinence of walking to Epcot(it's a nice walk too) and the boat ride to Hollywood Studios.
I reccommend this resort only for the close proximity to EP and HS however, I don't think we'll stay here again.
Pros:
Location, Boardwalk EntertainersCons:
HOUSEKEEPING, noise level, parking lotReviewed by arielwatcher Review Date: 03/29/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
OK, perhaps a 7.5.
While I checked in an off duty cast member chatted with the next station's cast member about the young man serving us. Of course he was half paying attention so you can imagine how our check in went.
I made a point about Wilderness Lodge messing up the 'charging' function of our first 3 day's stay and asked him to be sure our keys were loaded correctly. The first set of keys had only my husband being about to charge, my guest and I didn't have that ability. I handed them back and he had an epiphany then remade them.
Our room was on the lobby level (very convenient but a waste of the pool view points because it was into a thicket of trees)
It was worn, the carpet had a run in the middle of the room, the sofa worn and colorless. It didn't smell but it didn't smell fresh.
Everything worked fine.
The 2nd day my gal pal and I went to Ft Wilderness for a trail ride. When I attempted to charge $43. to my room key I was told I didn't have privileges. The clerk called BW and after several minutes talking to the Front Desk I was told I had to walk to the concierge at Ft Wilderness to get a corrected key....
I put the items back and returned to the BW loaded for bear. I simmered down by the time
I met a Manager in the lobby and quietly explained my situation as well as my embarrassment.
He found my reservation had to be completely backed out and reloaded for our charging privileges to be established. We were given new keys and a credit to our account for our time.
Later that day a tray with three decorated cupcakes and a birthday card were delivered on an elegant wooden tray (I've never had that in all my birthdays at a Disney resort).
After all their recent work on the pool area the Hot tub was abysmal, no real movement from the jets. Very disappointing.
Just a note about reservations:
I had made reservations from the 12-20th in two resorts (Because they didn't have a 1 BR in one resort) I also made a studio reservation for my son and a friend at SS.
The week before we arrived I called Disney to change who was in which room (Because I could not change the names online)
The clerk was surly about having to move a party from SS to Wilderness Lodge Villas because 'The magical express is expecting to take them to SS and now she has to go to WLV'
(And that could be adjusted couldn't it?) Evidently this cast member was put out because she said, 'I have to change the entire group of reservations!' (Isn't that her job since DVC won't let ME change it online?)
Our reservations were hinky from the time we arrived at Wilderness Lodge Villas. I had to ask for a receipt for the $500. cash I put on the account, twice!
All of the snafus had led me to dread the new wristbands they are planning......
Pros:
close to EPCOT/Disney StudiosCons:
worn out carpet/sofa, hot tub doesn't workReviewed by stenson4 Review Date: 04/04/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Stayed in a deluxe studio from March 24th to the 31st. View was of the village green which was very nice but a bit noisy at times. We were able to watch the Easter Candy Scramble on the green on Easter morning right from our balcany. The room was in good condition. This is our DVC home and we love the location as it is a very easy walk to and from Epcot International Gateway. Boardwalk Bakery was under construction so that limited our dining options but we still enjoyed the ESPN club and Kouzina. Only complaint during our stay was only one working elevator at times which left a long back up on the first and second floors. Another issue was the bus from Downtown Disney stopped not only at the Swan and Dolphin but also the Yacht and Beach then the Boardwalk on the way home - long ride and full bus. We will continue stay at this resort and love to call it our home.
Pros:
locationCons:
elevators, bus to downtownReviewed by travelwiseotown Review Date: 04/19/2013
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
When checking in, be sure to get keycard pins for all those in your room using the Disney Dining Plan, even your 5 year old. Not charging privileges for kids, just pins for their keycards. We were told teens pins did not work when they tried to use my pin at 3 eateries. These quick service locations should have called the Boardwalk in order to contact us. Took our entire stay to get it straight thanks to the CM who didn't tell us this at check-in. We even asked if it would be a problem with DDP with no charge privileges or pins-the CM replied "no". Should retrain. Concierge could not add park tickets to our key cards after we checked-in. She didn't ask for supervisor help either so we had 2 sets of cards instead of 1 card. Poor training.
Shower did not drain well and finally clogged leaving us in 2 inches of standing water. Fortunately maintenance arrived quickly and solved the problem at 10:30 at night. Maids could easily check showers during room clean-up. House keeping repeatedly referred to guest as "Mama". Very derogatory. Should retrain. Had to battle foreign speaking concierge just to get a supervisor. She couldn't understand the problem we described to her.
Bellman unpacking us cold and unfriendly on arrival. Lots of job seekers can at least force a smile. He should look for noninteracting position like grounds keeping, etc. but even the grounds keepers and maintenance employees tried harder to be friendly.They couldn't speak English well but they knew how to smile and be friendly to guests.
Elevator out several days, jacuzzi at main pool not working and Boardwalk Bakery closed for remodeling during Spring Break. Overnight "guests" either pay $15/day for valet parking or park at the lot closest to employee parking, quite a distance away from guest rooms. Poor Imagineering.
We are DVC members and will stay elsewhere next time, even though Boardwalk is our home resort. With the Downtown Disney remodel, more people may stay at SSR and the Boardwalk can concentrate on being the $600/night Disney resort it should be. Maybe they'll pay a little more to front desk employees who can properly perform their job, problem solve quickly and in a friendly manner. We did find one employee who could do this, so it is possible. If you're not happy with your experience, Disney or otherwise, the best way to bring about change is by saying so.
Pros:
Epcot Resort LocationCons:
Cast Member Training and AttitudeReviewed by 1283alex Review Date: 05/29/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
This is our home resort vacation club but have only stayed here twice. Good location, but need to have an inside casual food place to get a snack, fill up drink mugs, instead of having to walk out onto the boardwalk. Still a nice resort. Boardwalk used to have more entertainment, but that seems to have decreased over the years. Rooms are very nice & overall I would recommend this resort.
Pros:
location to Epcot/Hollywood StudiosCons:
lack close restaurants - counter serviceReviewed by hello12345 Review Date: 06/04/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
Stayed in a studio for 5 nights in late May. We arrived at hotel around 3pm and our room was ready. We had to switch rooms after first day due to separate reservations. Our second room was ready before 10am and received a prompt email notification as requested.
We did have issues with our key cards when trying to use the dining plan. When we tried to eat QS lunch at MK it would not accept PIN. Had another problem getting snacks. Snack kiosk said it was a PIN problem. Checked with front desk and they said PIN was ok, but the dining plan was not set-up at check-in correctly? Not sure what the problem was but it was fixed after that and we had no further problems.
Main problem with the Boardwalk is the parking lot. Self parking is a long way from the front door of hotel.
The other issue is the feature pool area. The hot tub was not working very good. The water jets were not all working and the ones that did had the force of a garden hose. Also, only one hot tub in Luna pool area. Most of the time it was swamped by kids because the hot tub is right next to the entrance to the coaster slide. Boardwalk needs to have a second hot tub for the amount of people. They could also use more tables/umbrellas at pool. Only a handful of tables/umbrellas around pool.
They have no self-use refillable mug station at pool! Not very convenient to have to walk to Boardwalk or ask bartender for drink refill.
The resort is located in one of the best spots. Five minute walk to Epcot or 15 minute walk to HS. We used the bus to MK twice and first bus arrived about 1 hour before MK opened. Bus is either shared with Beach Club or Swan/Dolphin. Not too bad if you get on an early bus. The water taxi from HS to Boardwalk can be very slow since you stop at Swan and Beach Club first. We get off at Swan and walk the 3 min to Boardwalk.
Overall it is a nice resort in a good location. Some areas are starting to show their age though. If you enjoy Epcot and HS then this is the place to stay. Other than the location I am not sure the Boardwalk is worth the money when compared to other DVC resorts. if I had to pay cash I would probably not stay here. Until I stayed at the Yacht Club later in our trip I would have gave the Boardwalk a 8 or 9.
Pros:
LocationCons:
ParkingReviewed by disneymom211 Review Date: 06/17/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
This is the third time we have stayed at the Boardwalk. There were four of us in a studio and even though it was a little close for comfort we made it work. We stayed here from 5/19-5/22. This resort offers everything. The pool and bar are great and you couldn't ask for a better location. The new and improved Boardwalk bakery is awesome. We love being able to walk to Epcot and taking the boat to Hollywood Studios. You couldn't ask for a nicer resort.
