Disney's BoardWalk Resort - Things To Know For First Time Guests
- Nicki
- May 7
- 5 min read
Is a stay at Disney's BoardWalk Resort perfect for you and your Walt Disney World travels?
Disney's BoardWalk Resort is beautiful and offers everything you could hope for in a deluxe Disney resort experience. The BoardWalk Resort is located in the EPCOT area and offers guests a relaxing atmosphere between their park adventures. Here are all the things I learned and enjoyed during my first adventure at Disney's BoardWalk Resort.
Getting To And From The Parks:
Like all the other Walt Disney World resorts, Disney's BoardWalk Resort has buses to and from the parks. However, it only has buses to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs. When the weather permitted, we traveled to and from EPCOT and Hollywood Studios by boat.
The boats dock at The BoardWalk every 15 - 20 minutes to take guests to either EPCOT or Hollywood Studios. This is a great option if you want to leisurely make your way to the parks. Depending on which park you are heading to, the boat will make a stop to pick up guests across the pond at Yacht/Beach Club and The Swan and Dolphin Resort before heading to the park. This makes the trip to either Hollywood Studios or EPCOT feel a little too long.
I found that walking to the International Gateway and Hollywood Studios was a great option when staying here. Yes, you can walk to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios from here!
The International Gateway is really close to The BoardWalk resort and within minutes, you're entering the park by the Skyliner station. Since you're so close to the Skyliner, it does make it easy to then resort hop to the Riviera Resort or Caribbean Beach for dinner at Sebastian's Bistro.
Dining Dockside At The BoardWalk
I'll be honest, I didn't do much research on this resort before staying here. I figured it would be similar to many of the other Disney resorts I had stayed at. That being said, I have only ever stayed at the Moderate and Value Resorts. This was my first Deluxe Resort and I didn't realize we wouldn't have a food court. It wasn't an issue, though, and we quickly adapted to the food options on the boardwalk.
Quick-Service options here were great. We used mobile ordering for breakfast and lunch from The BoardWalk Deli several times. The deli also had the fountain beverage offering and we took advantage of the refillable mugs here. The Blue Ribbon Corn Dog Stand had just opened when we stayed here, and the dogs were fabulous!
We also took advantage of the newly-opened Cake Bake Shop and its decadent sweets counter while staying here. All three locations were busy and I highly recommend taking advantage of the mobile order options. I mobile ordered our lunch from EPCOT and by the time we walked over from the park, everything was ready.
We were really happy with the Table-Service options and bars at The BoardWalk. We had dinner and breakfast at Trattoria al Forno, and both meals were absolutely wonderful. We skipped Flying Fish simply because seafood wasn't what on our personal menu. Since we were within walking distance of EPCOT, my sister and brother-in-law took advantage of walking there for a late-night Food & Wine Festival stroll of eating and drinking around the world.
Fireworks & Boardwalk Entertainment:
If you've read any of my other posts, you already know that I do not want to stand in a crowd to watch the fireworks. Thankfully, you can watch EPCOT fireworks from The BoardWalk Resort. If you walk along the boardwalk and sit between The BoardWalk and Yacht Club Resorts, you'll get a great view of the EPCOT Fireworks. Similarly, the bridge you cross as you leave The BoardWalk and head towards EPCOT also provides a nice view of the fireworks.
Fireworks aren't the only entertainment on the boardwalk. Seasonally, you'll find live entertainers with midway games, jugglers, and even magic shows on Thursday to Saturday nights from 6:30pm - 10:30pm.
We happened to be at The BoardWalk Resort for Halloween and they had trick-or-treating activities and outdoor Halloween movies on the lawn.
Fun Ideas For A Resort Day
Disney's BoardWalk Resort is great for non-park day adventures. I really enjoyed the two newest additions to the boardwalk, Blue Ribbon Corn Dog and The Cake Bake Shop. Both proved to be great spots to grab a snack. With the boardwalk layout, it was also really easy to walk over to Swan & Dolphin, Yacht Club and Beach Club to try the restaurants at those locations. Lots of food options within walking distance without having to resort hop with the bus!
The BoardWalk Resort pools are also a fantastic place to relax. With the large pool, Luna Park Pool, guests can relax with a drink from Leaping Horse Libations and lounge away the day.
Looking for inside activities, there are great bars and lounges at The BoardWalk resort. AbracadaBar might even be my favorite bar at Walt Disney World, with a fantastic atmosphere, food and drinks. We ordered one of each of the small plates served here, and it was a great dinner option whilst sampling the bar offerings. As a Haunted Mansion Fan, I sipped on the Pepper's Ghost Cocktail. You cannot beat having spirits with your spirits.
Watch Out For runDisney Weekends
We purposely stayed at The BoardWalk resort on our last trip because my sister and I were running the Wine & Dine 10k and 1/2 Marathon. The course includes a run along the boardwalk. This allowed my mom to cheer us on as we ran by, which was perfect for her.
That being said, if you’re staying at The BoardWalk and not aware that your vacation is overlapping a runDisney weekend, you may have other thoughts about the experience. Races typically start at 5am, and you can hear feet pounding along the boardwalk around 5:30am. My mom thought it was heavy rain at first, then she remembered it was the first group of runners coming through. This is also an easy course location for family members to drop in to cheer on their racer. You’ll find people standing along the boardwalk with signs, cowbells, and cheers for their participant. Be sure to check the runDisney calendar before booking here in November, January, February and April.
What do you think? Is a stay at Disney's BoardWalk Resort on your Disney bucket list?
Have you already stayed here? What did you enjoy about your visit?
Let us know in the comments below.
Photo Source: Walt Disney World Adults Only
Boardwalk is my favorite resort and this blog does a great job of showing all it has to offer.
I loved my stay at the Boardwalk Resort for the lovely rooms and the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios