Disney's BoardWalk Inn — Hotel in Bay Lake

We booked this through David’s DVC, as it was the same price as the swan and dolphin through Marriott. We also knew we wanted somewhere in this location near Epcot and Hollywood studios. We did the mobile check in on our phones (we had 2 reservations that were linked), and we were given rooms across the hall from each other. Note, we had both booked preferred view studio rooms, and one room had a view of the courtyard on the boardwalk with a large open patio, and the other room had a view of the pool with a small enclosed patio. So not all rooms/views/patios are created equal. The room (studio villa) is quite spacious. Upon walking in there is a small indented area which we used to store our luggage. Then there is a countertop/kitchenette/prep area. This has a Keurig with pot and single use pods, a toaster, a sink, a microwave, and a mini fridge. This also comes with dish soap, a sponge, paper plates, paper bowls, plastic silverware, paper cups (hot and cold), and a wine opener/bottle opener. The sink is outside the bathroom door which contains the toilet and shower. There are shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in dispensers on the wall. The sink has large drawers and came with a hair dryer. The closet has a safe, ironing board and iron, extra blankets and pillows, hangers, and a duffle rack/storage. The main room has one queen bed, one queen murphy bed that pulls down from the wall (this is in combination with the couch). Therefore you have a couch when the bed is up. And also one more murphy single pull down under the tv. The tv has many channels and we were able to watch sports games. Under the tv is a very large and long countertop that was great for placing things for our park day. There are two large and deep drawers. There is a coffee table that pulls up and opens for more storage or higher eating. There are two stools you can pull over to the coffee table by the couch for eating as well. Each side of the bed has either a nightstand or a small ledge to put your phone and with plugs/usb ports as well. The smaller patio had two chairs and a table, while the larger patio had 4 chairs and a table. The room came fully stocked, and since it is a DVC villa, there is no housekeeping unless you are staying more than 8 nights. Therefore, on just the 4th day, they provide “trash and towel service” in which they refresh your towels and take out your trash. For us, this was an awkward experience as we were just about to leave for the parks when we received the knock. She mentioned trash and towel service and I told her we were just about to leave. She repeated herself and I said yes, and she motioned for me to move so she could come in. So she is in the room taking out our trash while we are finishing gathering our things for the parks. So we just leave while she is in the room, with the door shut. It was an awkward experience, and I wondered why she did not offer to come back in a little bit, or prop the door open like they usually do. Other than that the room was great for our needs and provided plenty of space. Our rooms were also quite close to the elevators which was nice. There are a few different ways to access to the rooms when coming back from the parks. The location of this resort is great for Hollywood studios and Epcot. The friendship boats and walking paths are located out the back of the resort on the boardwalk side. The location to Epcot is the best because if you are taking the friendship boats, it is the last stop on the way to Epcot (so you go straight there), or the first stop on the way back from Epcot. It is also close in terms of the walking path over the bridge to Epcot as well. Note this is the back entrance called international gateway. For Hollywood studios, you can take the boats, but you do have to stop at yacht/beach, and then at swan and dolphin before making it to Hollywood studios. It is faster to walk the walking path on the other side of the resort that takes you along the waterfront and to the bus area at Hollywood studios. This meant we could take afternoon or evening breaks from the park or take a pit stop to drop things off or pick things up from the room in between park hopping. For Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom, you will have to take the bus. The bus stop is located out front of the resort by the entrance and down to the side. Note you have to be standing behind the yellow line before the busses can pull up (and they don’t announce this). They also load any wheelchair/scooter parties first from the back, and then everyone enters through the front doors. The busses run every 20 minutes and you can see the updated times on the tv at the stop. Plan for extra time as it always seemed that our timing was that we just missed the prior bus and had to wait another 20 minutes. Note for Animal Kingdom on the way back, they combine boardwalk with yacht club and beach club, and boardwalk is the last stop. The resort itself has activities. They have signs posted in the lobby as well as by the courtyard/lawn/turf. They have a movie playing every night, they have a campfire to roast marshmallows every night, and they have yoga some mornings, crafts, poolside games, and other games. The courtyard was a great place for kids to run around and burn off energy, we even saw families picnicking and rolling around their droids from galaxy’s edge. The boardwalk itself has an art shop, as well as a general store and merchandise shop that sells boardwalk exclusive items. There are many different restaurants and quick service places as well. The boardwalk deli is the place for the resort refillable mugs. This is where you can refill your mug with soda, coffee, or tea as much as you want throughout your stay. Note your mug also works at other resorts quick service for refills should you find yourself there. Every morning and every evening we made sure to stop in to get our refills. If you are coming back late, and the deli is closed, the pizza window is the place where you can get your refills (until midnight). The boardwalk has nightly entertainment like jugglers or a Capela singers. You can also rent a surrey bike or have evening entertainment at jelly rolls or dance hall. You are also close by to other resorts for dining as well. There is a main pool and a quieter smaller pool. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim while we were there, so we did not experience it. Every cast member we interacted with was very friendly and helpful. On our last day we used bell services to store our luggage while we went to the park before we left. We used Uber to get to the airport and had no problems. If you have a car you can park for free here with a reservation. We never used the early entry perk because we did not wake up early enough. However check the hours for deluxe extended evening hours. On our trip we had one day at Epcot and one day at Magic Kingdom for 2 extra hours because we were staying at a deluxe resort. We were able to accomplish quite a few more rides and even some big names. They just scan your magic band before entering a queue. The only negative experience we had was on our last day (our check out day) housekeeping tried to come in our room at 9am. Check out is 11am and you can check out on the app (which we had not done) so there was no reason for them to come in. They knocked once and then opened the door. We were still sleeping, but luckily, we had latched the door so they couldn’t actually open the door. Once they realized this, they closed the door and left, but again it was a very awkward experience, and what if we hadn’t latched the door. So be prepared for that to potentially happen on your last morning before you are even checked out. Overall this resort met our needs perfectly, and we will definitely consider this resort again on...

I must say I was a little disappointed with Disney’s Boardwalk villas. We are DVC members and have not stayed here before. It’s definitely spread out. Unless you utilize valet parking, you will have to park a good ways from the entrance. The elevator is at the main lobby and there are long hallways to the rooms ( unless you’re staying near the elevator) with stairs at the end of the hallway. We asked for an upper level near a “quiet” pool. We were placed on level five and had a view of the pool at Community Hall. The view was great! We were at the end of the hallway so it was either take five flights of stairs down or walk the halls back to the elevator, go down to level one and walk around to the pool. The pool at Community Hall was very nice and quiet! I did notice debris from the trees and such on a lot of the chairs and loungers. We went to the feature pool (Luna Park Pool) which boasts a water slide and a carnival themed area to get alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. As soon as I sat down, the seat of the lounge chair sank in. I looked and it was coming apart where it was attached to the frame. There were no other chairs available so I prayed I wouldn’t fall through. As I looked up under the umbrella covering me I noticed it was covered in mildew. I thought about how much money is spent there and that they could do a better job. Be aware if you buy the refillable cups. There is only one refill station and it is out on the boardwalk at the deli. The feature pool beverage bar will give you a refill if you have your cup with you but will put it in a plastic cup for you to pour into your refillable cup. Which, by the way, did not fill it all the way up. There is no refill station or beverage bar at Community Hall pool. There is however a soda machine where you can buy drinks. We stayed in a one room villa that was very nice with the exception of the refrigerator. It was very small and you could not put anything tall on the shelves. A 20 oz soda would not stand up. The kitchen had minimal supplies but you only had to ask and what you needed was brought very quickly by a smiling employee. There is one transportation station outside the lobby. There is also water transportation to limited areas. The Skyliner is near Epcot, which is a little hike, but doable. The food available was good and averaged...

We took our 8 year old twin grandnephews to Disney for their birthday. Wanted to be on property and have not been to Disney in 20 years. We had a 1 bedroom villa which worked out great - we had the bedroom and the boys slept in the Murphy bed (turned into a couch so easily). We used the kitchen to make breakfast and snacks. The sink and shower w toilet were in 1 room adjacent to a huge tub and sink and an adjoining room.||||This location was great for us as we could go down to the boardwalk and walk in the evenings or grab a snack. We ate the first night at the Flying Fish which was delicious and right by the hotel. The bus to Magic Kingdom was steps away; we could walk to Epcot or take the ferry. Very convenient for both parks we were visiting. And easy to come back for a brief rest before returning to the parks in the late afternoon/evening. On our off day, we rode the skyline, the ferry and used the Villas pool which had a huge slide that the boys loved. ||||Our room was not ready at the 4 pm check in; while they were willing to give us one that was, it was quite far from the main pool and not in the main building. They sped up the process and got us checked in as soon as they could. Our door lock broke and no one could get in to the room 1 day so they called the "engineers" to come fix it; and they cleaned room very late 2 of the days. When we complained, the staff were helpful, and responsive. We used a food delivery service which was quite helpful so we had milk, and other items available to be picked up when we arrived. ||||We used a Disney consultant to choose this property and were fairly specific about what we wanted. She delivered on our requests and is paid by Disney to help visitors make their experience the best it can be. Liz Halstead can be contacted at...