Disney's BoardWalk Villas — Hotel in Bay Lake

We booked this through David’s DVC, as it was the same price as the swan and dolphin through Marriott. 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. 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. 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. The resort itself has activities. They have signs posted in the lobby as well as by the courtyard/lawn/turf. 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). 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. The only negative experience we had was on our last day (our check out day) housekeeping tried to come in our room at 9am. Overall this resort met our needs perfectly, and we will definitely consider this resort again on...

This was a disappointing stay for us. I will start by saying that Boardwalk has always been our favorite Disney hotel and we've stayed at a bunch, but this trip was SERIOUSLY off from the moment we arrived. We arrived and opened the trunk to our rental car right next to the fully staffed valet desk. Not a single valet offered any help. We unloaded our own car and were signaled to push the cart on our own (I have never had to take my luggage to my room myself upon arrival at Disney before). About 5 minutes into our trek to the room I told my family that this was wrong. We were lost, we didn't know where we were going, we were tired (flight delayed numerous times) and this was not the Disney I knew. So, I went to the bell desk inside the hotel instead... where I said to one of the gentlemen, hi, we are tired, we just arrived, no one has offered to help with our luggage, and we do not know where we are going. He then asked me my room number and pointed me in the right direction. To this, I responded, does Disney no longer walk guests to rooms and help with luggage? To which the cast member said sure, and finally came and walked us to our room. It was really disappointing that it took so much to get some simple help and direction to our room.

The good: We got a newly renovated room, and it was super tastefully done. We really liked what Disney did here. The bad: The floors were FILTHY. Like hair and solid stains all over, especially in the bathrooms. As I mentioned earlier, we arrived late in the evening and were traveling with three children. We were EXHAUSTED. I called housekeeping service and told them that I was too tired to deal with it tonight but that the floors needed to be cleaned the next day. They were DISGUSTING. they promised they would.... we leave to the park and arrive back the next day, floors have not been clean. Suspect hair that did not belong to us still all over the floors. To this I called again, they came by that night, but my sister was in the room with a headache and asked them to please clean them the next morning when we were gone to the parks. Long story, short - floors were never cleaned. I really could not understand it. We were at Boardwalk in Jan and although found some of the construction intrusive we had a lovely in room stay. This trip was just super disappointing for us. Another disappointing experience, the pizza counter: That evening we arrive late and were starved. We go down to the pizza counter and try to order. It took a while before we could order because there were two cast members having a disagreement about who was going to go on break… finally we get to order…. Disgruntled cast member tells me that they no longer sell whole pies… fine, I say how many slices make up a pie of pizza to which he responds four… I say great, please sell me four slices of pizza, he responds fine but it will be at least 30 minutes. We are starved so of course say no problem. He gives me a receipt and tells me to walk into the lobby of trattoria al forno is where I am immediately handed our pizza. No 30 min wait. It really felt as if we were trying to be discouraged from placing an order there. Overall, really non-magical experience. Another issue, we spent one afternoon by the pool and left early because we found it dirty. There were dirty napkins all over the floor and food / wrappers near the pool. I have never seen a Disney property so poorly managed in my 10+ trips within the past 6 or 7 years. What was supposed to be a special girls trip with my little sister and daughters turned out to be a big disappointment. Won’t return to Boardwalk, which is so sad because it has always been...

This mid-May visit we stayed in a 1 bedroom villa on the second/main floor. Ideal for us since we had a big stroller, less elevator time. The hallways here can be very long if you are near or at the end.

1 bedroom was roomy for 3 adults, 5 yr old, & 2 yr old. 2 yr old is considered a baby so we could have 5 in the villa. Otherwise, 1 bedroom says 4. There is a king size bed in the bedroom. The living room/area has a pull down bed, that lays over the couch. I believe it is a queen size. I sleep in a king at home so it felt small, so maybe a double/full size. Entryway has a large closet.

I think having the kitchen was invaluable, because we had 2 little ones. They ate better when we “cooked” in the villa. Refrigerator is not a full size, but was large enough to fit 6-7 days of food, juice boxes, milk, etc. I do not think the freezer was cold enough. Chicken nuggets/ice cream were not super frozen. Photos show size & appliances.

The oven and microwave worked very well. I did take photos of the items that are in the cupboards & drawers. The only thing we needed to buy was a grater for cheese. Dishwasher cleaned well. Maybe better than my home dishwasher.

This was a cash stay in the Boardwalk 1 bedroom villa, so we had housekeeping daily. Sometimes we had evening cleaning, due to nap time for kids. It actually worked well. The room would end up being cleaned up after kids had breakfast & lunch. The housekeeping staff would not take the tips we left for them each day. The only way they would is if we handed it to them. I didn’t like that because too many times they didn’t get tipped. We also had a potty trainer all off his schedule and needed bedding changed 3 times I think. Full king size bedding changed. They came so fast & were so helpful. I really appreciated the “Mousekeeping” Staff.

The In room LAUNDRY! Stacked washer & dryer! Another great detail. We went home with all clean laundry. We needed to bring less clothes, because we could wash & dry clothes each day! There is even a small laundry basket. It shows in one of my photos.

Main Bathroom is big for resort room. Has single sink, walk in shower, & toilet.

The attached bath & closet to the bedroom has a deep tub and 2 sinks. No toilet though. I was amazed how big the walk-in closet was. Nice to store suitcases in there too. There is another door that connects main bathroom to this part of the bedroom.

Staff were excellent as always. Pool was fun! The last few days of our trip they started scanning magic bands to verify we actually were guests at BW using their pool. This is not odd. Some Disney resorts already do this. Our room over looked the “Quiet” pool, it was quiet. We never spent time there. We used the main pool. My granddaughter did tye dye as an activity. Pillow case was so cute! Many other products to tye dye. Minimum cost. We went down to movie night in the yard. Stayed awhile, but was buggy that night due to heat/humidity.

Food along Boardwalk was easy to get. The Boardwalk deli, pizza walk up window, Cake Shop, & resort store also had food/drink choices. Even oven/microwave type food to take to villas.

I have stayed at Boardwalk a few times, but in the studio rooms. I really liked having room to spread out in the 1 bedroom. I loved the huge Balcony of...