In 2010 I went with my wife to Walt Disney World and this blog has spent a lot of time talking about the things we did together based on the day of the vacation. I spoke to the many different things we did each day and didn't spend a whole lot of time with the details of any single events. Since we did many of the same things that we did in 2010, instead of just laying out chronologically what we did and where we ate, I thought I would choose some individual aspect of the vacation and expand upon it in more detail. I want to get into some of the details of some of the spectacular things we saw and did during the vacation and maybe try to give the reader a taste of why we chose to do these things and how we felt about each event. In this case I want to talk at some length about where we stayed for our 2012 trip and maybe compare it a little bit about some of the other places we have stayed at Disney World.
First of all, I want to say that i'm not sure there is a bad place to stay on the Disney Property. Everywhere we have stayed has had a full complement of the friendly helpful cast members that create the immersive experience I love when I go to Disney World. This trip we spent a bit more money to stay at the Boardwalk Resort near Epcot. The Boardwalk resort is located on Crescent lake across form the Beach and Yacht club in the Epcot resort area. Travel to Epcot and Hollywood studios is as simple as taking a 10 minute stroll to Epcot or a 20 minutes walk to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Guests of the Crescent lake resorts can take boats that service the Beach and Yacht club, The Boardwalk and the Swan and Dolphin resorts as well as Hollywood studios and Epcot. Boat rides on a calm lake are a great way to get to and from the parks. Waiting for the boats is not to much of a chore as they arrive at the dock pretty reliably every 15 minutes. The boats don't move fast but they don't need to. Nether park is vary far from any of the Epcot Resorts and that was a big part of what made the Boardwalk Resort attractive to us. Because Epcot was so close, on more than one occasion we chose simply to walk to Epcot. If we chose to we could get all the way to the Magic Kingdom and never set foot on a bus. I must admit, the walk through Epcot to get to the monorail that travels between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom adds quite a bit of time to the journey. The bus is probably the best choice for people that want to go directly to the Magic Kingdom.
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| Beautiful fireplace.. |
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| More lovely Decorations in the Lobby. |
The amenities at the Boardwalk resort are many. Two pools, a video arcade and a health club, along with a bar and a lounge make up the bulk of the things available in the resort itself. I haven't been in a health club for a while but we did visit the pool and the hot tub area where and enjoy a soft drink in our drink cups at the outdoor bar. We also visited the lounge where we were able to pick up juice and sweet rolls in the morning. The rolls were made in the bakery that sits on the Boardwalk. The rolls are.. well .. they are ok... they supplied enough sustenance to get to the parks and have fun for a while. The real charm of the boardwalk is found in the many and varied restaurants and live entertainment visitors can find all across the boardwalk. The best breakfast I had was found at Kat Cora's restaurant and the Flying Fish restaurant was just steps from where we were staying. Just a short walk down the boardwalk was the bakery that supplied the lounge with breakfast items and just a bit further down on that side was the ESPN zone, a restaurant sports bar with games and food and drinks galore. Turning toward the Hollywood studios side of the board walk, Disney provides a "General Store" that supplies small grocery items, drinks and a few over the counter meds. Attached to the General Store Disney offers clothing and memorabilia shops that have everything from Mouse Ears to toys to Pins. Pin trading can be a really big deal and maybe I'll take some time in another blog to discuss it. Further down the Hollywood studios side visitors will find the Big River Grille and Brewing Works. I am fond of beer, especially craft brewed beers. I've made a bottle or two of beer on my own in the past. I love to find Micro-breweries and love the taste of a good hoppy brown ale. The Big River Grille and Brewing Works would have been just the ticket to find the local micro-brewed beers. I just ran out of time and didn't get a chance to visit this place. Next time we stay at the Boardwalk, I will go there and find out about the beer. Jellyrolls is a night club that features a piano dual and the building that was the Atlantic Dance Hall is the last building on the Hollywood Studios side of the Boardwalk. While we were down there, ESPN was preparing the Dance hall for an awards show.
We were staying in a one bedroom studio villa. Essentially this is a hotel room with a small fridge and small bar with a sink. The room included dishware for four people and a microwave. The bedding included in the room were a very comfortable queen size bed and a queen size sleeper sofa. Now the sleeper sofas at Disney are very much unlike those uncomfortable things with springs and a bar that sticks you in the back. This is Disney and Disney means comfort in the rooms. Probably, in order to avoid the bar that makes conventional sleeper sofas so uncomfortable, the bed unfolded in a very unorthodox manor. To unfold the sleeper sofa, one pulled on a strap that folded the top of the sofa down and under the bed as it came out form the base of the sofa. We just left it deployed in bed mode once we figured out how to unfold it. I had the luxury of sleeping on the queen bed but the folks that slept on the sofa bed said that was wonderfully comfortable. I have slept on the sofa beds in Disney World before at the Tree House Villas and they are as good as any bed I have slept on. I had no reason to doubt that the sofa bed would be comfortable. I must admit, every time we came to the room at night we were so tired form the days adventures that we collapsed into bed and feel almost instantly to sleep every evening. the real telling thing about the comfort of the sofa bed is the lack of back pain in the morning.Our "villa" had a balcony that all of us would use from time to time. We would especially use the balcony while we awaited others in our party to wake up or shower and dress. Our room overlooked the pool area for the resort and we could also see the Swan and Dolphin resorts that were just across the channel from us. The mornings were special at the Boardwalk resort. The first morning we were there we spotted Hot air balloons floating over the Disney World forest. At one time I counted at least five balloons peacefully floating carried by the early morning air currents. It was a beautiful sight. Another morning I sat eating a cookie and drinking my coffee on the balcony. It wasn't long before a number sparrows and other small birds where hopping around on the balcony cleaning up any crumbs I might have dropped. I started looking for left over cookie to give these birds that came very close to me. I'm sure they would have fled if I would have made some sort of aggressive move. One morning we saw a bald eagle swoop out of the sky and land on the head of the swan. Now as for my self, I hand not seen many bald eagles. I think a saw one driving back between Evansville and Terre Haute one time and I have seen them in bird shows. Most of the time they were immature birds who didn't have the beautiful white feathers around their heads yet. The bald eagle I saw that day was full grown and maybe the second wild eagle i have seen. The eagle was there for as long as it took to get ready to set off for the days adventures. I couldn't believe i had seen an bald eagle among all the civilization, roads and buildings of the resorts of Walt Disney world. What made this even more amazing was the fact that a couple of days later, we saw two beautiful eagles. One was perched on the head of each of the swans at the Swan and Dolphin resorts. I think the memory of those birds will be with me forever now.
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| Gingerbread house in the Lobby.. You could smell the ginger! |
The Boardwalk always has something going on. Disney has tried with a great deal of success to bring back the spirit of the Atlantic City board walk. I have been to the boardwalk at Atlantic City and to my tastes Disney's version is better. The Boardwalk at Ocean City was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy when it made land fall. Up till then it was my favorite Boardwalk on the coast. Disney's Boardwalk resort had much more the flavor of the Ocean City Boardwalk. Ocean City was full of people and life and food. Atlantic City was fun but in a much more adult way. Disney talks about the Boardwalk being inspired by the Boardwalk of Atlantic City back in the late 1800's and 1900's. Besides the restaurants, the length of the Boardwalk is filled with food stands that serve funnel cakes or hot dogs. Visitors can even grab a margarita and sip it while looking out over Crescent lake. We almost rented one of the surrey bikes to ride which looked like a lot of fun. The morning before we left we took a few minutes just to enjoy crescent lake and the board walk. we sat at a table and admired the view. Looking out over the lake, during an uncrowded time of year made for a very peaceful and relaxing experience.
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| View from the Balcony.. over there is Hollywood studios. |
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| The View across Crescent Lake. |
All the Resorts at Disney World were built for different purposes. Each of them have a flavor of their own. Each of them serve a different niche for visitors to Walt Disney World.. Comparing this resort with others where I have stayed might be a little like comparing Apples and Oranges as the saying goes. But there are a few things that are worth noting that might influence someone to choose a resort over another. The Boardwalk for example has a lot of amenities that many of the other resorts do not. Many of the things offered at the board walk are exclusive to that area. the more expensive Disney's Boardwalk qualifies as a deluxe resort and when compared to all the other resorts in Disney World is more expensive. The Boardwalk, however, isn't the most expensive place to stay in Walt Disney World. That honor currently goes to the Grand Floridian near the Magic Kingdom. As a matter of fact, the Deluxe resorts on the monorail around the Seven Seas Lagoon are some of the most expensive resorts on the property, because these resorts are in such proximity to the Magic Kingdom and the amenities available at make these resorts the most desirable among the Disney properties. The Boardwalk's proximity to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood studios also command a premium to stay there. If you include the Boardwalk, I have stayed at three of the "Deluxe" resorts and have enjoyed them all. I have also stayed at two of the "Moderate" resorts and have been more than happy there. Each has a lot to offer and each are different.
Of the Deluxe Resorts, I have stayed at the Kadani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Tree House Villas at Saratoga Springs, and Disney's Board Walk. Of the Moderate resorts, I have stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort and the French Quarter at Port Orleans. I must say that of the Deluxe Resorts I have enjoyed the Boardwalk the most. The proximity of all the Boardwalk restaurants and the closeness of the parks gave us more time to enjoy more of the Disney Experience. In 10 minutes time we could be in Epcot. In 15 we were in Hollywood studios. The Animal kingdom and the Magic kingdom were both closer to Boardwalk that any of the other Deluxe resorts we have stayed. Kadani Village is very close to the Animal Kingdom. Since the Animal Kingdom Lodge is next to the Animal Kingdom the time spent getting there from Kadani was short. Of course, visitors still have to wait for the bus because Animal Kingdom park is further from the Animal Kingdom Resort than what an average vacationer wants to walk. When we stayed in the moderately priced (for Disney) French Quarter, we had a Bus that would usually visit just our resort then go off to the parks and attractions. Other than Epcot and Hollywood studios, getting to the parks from the Boardwalk Resort was a bit more difficult than the French Quarter because visitors there share a bus with the Swan and Dolphin and the Beach and Yacht club across Crescent lake. Our shared bus made the riding time to Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom longer and sometimes the bus was packed with people from the other resorts leaving us to stand and ride. Of course, standing and riding the bus is not a new experience for us at Disney World. We would often have to stand and grab the rails in the bus as we drove the night in Disney World.
Then one down side that I found at the Boardwalk was the lack of a quick service restaurant near the resort. Most of the other Resorts offered a counter service/food court where visitors could grab breakfast before venturing off into the parks. I kind of missed my Mickey waffles or the biscuits and gravy that are available at the food courts. Tanking up for a long day in the parks was always a good idea. Sometime lunch was delayed till late afternoon because we had a reservation for a favorite restaurant. That always increases the importance of the Mickey waffle before leaving. The French Quarter had a food court and we could always stop at the food court at Saratoga Springs because the Tree house bus always stopped there to transfer passengers to the resort buses. On a side note, We had a wonderful time at the Tree Houses but the extra bus was not one of my favorite Disney attractions. The Caribbean beach resort had a food court at the main building for the resort. This was very important when you had hungry kids with you on the trip.
All in all I thought our stay on the boardwalk was magical. With wonderful eateries and watering holes near by, With the convenience of walking to Epcot and the closeness of Hollywood studios Visitors would be hard pressed to find a better place to stay. The rooms were cheery and bright. The beds were comfortable and the view from the room was terrific. I would love to stay there again sometime.
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