bfrosty
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
Trip Report 10/29-11/3 – Boardwalk Villas 1Bed Garden View
Well, we haven’t been to Disney in a couple years, but returned to Disney’s Boardwalk Villas. Thanks to the DVC forum, we rented points from member (David) and had a great experience. Our last stay at BWV was in 2015 and I’ve got to say, it looks about 99.5% the same! That’s a good thing. We stayed in room 4093 and I think it was the same room as last time!!!
~ Resort Review ~
Construction – Minimal signs of construction, just a few workers setup behind the main pool during the day and some sidewalk work in front of the “Screen-door” shop on the boardwalk.
Room Review – Room wasn’t ready upon our early arrival. Room was ready about 3pm. Our Room overlooked the DVC pool and community hall and a great view of the waterway, boats and The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror building. Our room was in average condition, the living room tv was 3 blue spots on it, but everything else looked and worked right. I was amazed at the crazy water pressure and endless hot water. Showers and Whirlpool tub filled up fast and hot! Our washer/dryer worked well too. We ended up coming back to the room daily from 3-5pm for rest and that worked great. Also, we did Instacart and Bell Services brought it up (tipped). Our final room bill showed a $6 charge, but then a $6 credit for the delivery.
Resort/Grounds Condition – Well maintained overall, could have used some power washing on the north facing sides. I did however notice how DIRTY the resort boats were! One was repainted though and looked good.
Cast Members & Guests - Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. (AL) at Bell Services was amazing and super nice, friendly and helped us out. The stores and restaurants were open. Nightly performers on the Boardwalk were great, magicians and a pair of jugglers. Halloween night, about 6 stations were setup with a game and treats at each station. We did okay scoring some candy and toys!!! The only food we got was Ice Cream. We spent some time at the community hall with some nice cast members (Colleen), played pool and air hockey. Our DS10 played pool, colored Disney characters and played Nintendo Switch and Minecraft on PS4. Dad played the Stern Star Wars Pro Pinball mostly and made “Grand Champion”!!! Weather was a bit cool, so we didn’t swim. Very relaxing and not many other guest there. I think we rode the elevator every time without other guests!
The typical Halloween designed pumpkins were on display from the many groups of workers at the resort. I think the Front Desk won for their Lady/Tramp Pumpkins setup, Housekeeping won best Halloween vibe for their Nightmare before Christmas design...others were good too.
Transportation - was good and timely, we weren’t in a rush and walked a lot to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We rode the Skyliner a few times and loved it. It was a quiet, cool, breezy ride each time. We skipped Animal Kingdom this year, so we only had to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom.
We used Park Hopper and hopped to Epcot about 4 times during our stay after 2pm.
~ The Parks ~
Magic Kingdom - was busy, a bit above average. We didn’t Genie+ it, but it was tempting. We got on all the rides we wanted. We did VQ for Tron, but also sprung for LL once. Mobile order was the way to go. I walked past so many people just doing the normal lines at Columbia Harbor House and Pinocchio's Village Haus. I felt bad, because absolutely no one was doing Mobile order and I walked right up and waited less than 30secs and received all our food. The park seemed clean, most rides were working. We didn’t see any bears on Tom Sawyers Island!!! We did spend some time shooting the rifles at frontier land at all the targets. My DS10 loved it, we had to drag him away!.
Food – Columbia Harbor House (Mobile Order), was fantastic. We typically get the salmon/rice/green beans. Sleepy Hallow treats, Nutella/Strawberries Waffle was yummy, Pinnochio 4-meat flatbread was very good.
EPCOT - The weather was great. First three days warm, last 3 were cool. We had a cloudy day at Epcot and temps were 65F. Really nice. All the rides were working, except we did get stuck on Remy! We got a VQ for Guardians and my DS10 loved it. We got “Do you Remember” song. We did Mission Space “Green”, Test Track, Elsa ride, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Nemo.
Food - Germany Biergarten for lunch (skipped breakfast!) and the show was terrific and so was the food and service from “Lena”. We tried the Brisket from Flavors from Fire and it had no smoke at all, not sure what the deal was. We tried the PBJ wings from Beaker and Dr. Honeydew and they were good. The Guinness/Baileys shake was amazing from Ireland!!! The Cold Brew nitro from Joffreys by America was good. The Maple/Bacon Funnel cake at America was gross.
Hollywood Studios - We thought this park was a bit crowded, but we rode what we wanted over our two visits.
Food - Lunch at Woody’s Round Up BBQ. Tasted great, but we felt rush. 1Min after they brought out salads, our full meal was placed on the table. Martha our server was amazingly helpful, funny and answered our every request.
Lunch at Sci-Fi Drive-In was great. The Pastrami/Burger, Onion Rings, Fries and Chicken Salad sandwich was good and our server was amazing. He took a pic of all of us in the car!
~ Other Places we visited ~
Well, we always have to take the boat from MK to VWL and take in the sights/sounds of the Wilderness Lodge. We ate lunch one day at Roaring forks. The quesadillas were good and my Brisket/Burnt Ends entree was absolutely amazing and smokey!. Purchased a few goodies at the resort shop.
~ Transportation to/from Resort ~
We ended up using Lyft, approx $38/each way...added tip. LyftXL both times was newer Toyota Highlander. Great driver, driving experience and helpfulness.
~ Things we skipped ~
Disney Springs - not a big fan of the new “Casino” style experience there. We liked the old setup much better.
Animal Kingdom – We typically only spend 3-4hrs here on previous trips, we will go next time we visit.
~ Disappointments ~
Mechanical Horse on sidewalk in Hollywood studios still missing. We would take photos each visit of the kids riding it.
Indiana Jones gift shop closed, no eta on when it will ever open again.
Indiana Jones, no longer chooses guests for participation in stunt show.
Muppets gift shop in Hollywood Studios closed, no eta on when it will ever open again.
Werther’s Popcorn in Germany/Epcot no longer made fresh, bagged stuff was stale.
Overall food at Epcot’s Food/Wine Festival was subpar compared to previous events.
The Boardwalk Resort
Room 4093 - 1Bed garden/pool view.
Front Desk Group - Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest Entry - Won 1st Place overall.
Halloween Morning....lots of fog over the HTH.
Tron
Big Thunder from the Fort on Tom Sawyers Island.
Stuck on Remy Ride in Epcot/Paris.
DS10 was Mando one more time....
Candy Haul...not like MNSSHP...but a bit of candy.
Well, we haven’t been to Disney in a couple years, but returned to Disney’s Boardwalk Villas. Thanks to the DVC forum, we rented points from member (David) and had a great experience. Our last stay at BWV was in 2015 and I’ve got to say, it looks about 99.5% the same! That’s a good thing. We stayed in room 4093 and I think it was the same room as last time!!!
~ Resort Review ~
Construction – Minimal signs of construction, just a few workers setup behind the main pool during the day and some sidewalk work in front of the “Screen-door” shop on the boardwalk.
Room Review – Room wasn’t ready upon our early arrival. Room was ready about 3pm. Our Room overlooked the DVC pool and community hall and a great view of the waterway, boats and The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror building. Our room was in average condition, the living room tv was 3 blue spots on it, but everything else looked and worked right. I was amazed at the crazy water pressure and endless hot water. Showers and Whirlpool tub filled up fast and hot! Our washer/dryer worked well too. We ended up coming back to the room daily from 3-5pm for rest and that worked great. Also, we did Instacart and Bell Services brought it up (tipped). Our final room bill showed a $6 charge, but then a $6 credit for the delivery.
Resort/Grounds Condition – Well maintained overall, could have used some power washing on the north facing sides. I did however notice how DIRTY the resort boats were! One was repainted though and looked good.
Cast Members & Guests - Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. (AL) at Bell Services was amazing and super nice, friendly and helped us out. The stores and restaurants were open. Nightly performers on the Boardwalk were great, magicians and a pair of jugglers. Halloween night, about 6 stations were setup with a game and treats at each station. We did okay scoring some candy and toys!!! The only food we got was Ice Cream. We spent some time at the community hall with some nice cast members (Colleen), played pool and air hockey. Our DS10 played pool, colored Disney characters and played Nintendo Switch and Minecraft on PS4. Dad played the Stern Star Wars Pro Pinball mostly and made “Grand Champion”!!! Weather was a bit cool, so we didn’t swim. Very relaxing and not many other guest there. I think we rode the elevator every time without other guests!
The typical Halloween designed pumpkins were on display from the many groups of workers at the resort. I think the Front Desk won for their Lady/Tramp Pumpkins setup, Housekeeping won best Halloween vibe for their Nightmare before Christmas design...others were good too.
Transportation - was good and timely, we weren’t in a rush and walked a lot to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We rode the Skyliner a few times and loved it. It was a quiet, cool, breezy ride each time. We skipped Animal Kingdom this year, so we only had to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom.
We used Park Hopper and hopped to Epcot about 4 times during our stay after 2pm.
~ The Parks ~
Magic Kingdom - was busy, a bit above average. We didn’t Genie+ it, but it was tempting. We got on all the rides we wanted. We did VQ for Tron, but also sprung for LL once. Mobile order was the way to go. I walked past so many people just doing the normal lines at Columbia Harbor House and Pinocchio's Village Haus. I felt bad, because absolutely no one was doing Mobile order and I walked right up and waited less than 30secs and received all our food. The park seemed clean, most rides were working. We didn’t see any bears on Tom Sawyers Island!!! We did spend some time shooting the rifles at frontier land at all the targets. My DS10 loved it, we had to drag him away!.
Food – Columbia Harbor House (Mobile Order), was fantastic. We typically get the salmon/rice/green beans. Sleepy Hallow treats, Nutella/Strawberries Waffle was yummy, Pinnochio 4-meat flatbread was very good.
EPCOT - The weather was great. First three days warm, last 3 were cool. We had a cloudy day at Epcot and temps were 65F. Really nice. All the rides were working, except we did get stuck on Remy! We got a VQ for Guardians and my DS10 loved it. We got “Do you Remember” song. We did Mission Space “Green”, Test Track, Elsa ride, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Nemo.
Food - Germany Biergarten for lunch (skipped breakfast!) and the show was terrific and so was the food and service from “Lena”. We tried the Brisket from Flavors from Fire and it had no smoke at all, not sure what the deal was. We tried the PBJ wings from Beaker and Dr. Honeydew and they were good. The Guinness/Baileys shake was amazing from Ireland!!! The Cold Brew nitro from Joffreys by America was good. The Maple/Bacon Funnel cake at America was gross.
Hollywood Studios - We thought this park was a bit crowded, but we rode what we wanted over our two visits.
Food - Lunch at Woody’s Round Up BBQ. Tasted great, but we felt rush. 1Min after they brought out salads, our full meal was placed on the table. Martha our server was amazingly helpful, funny and answered our every request.
Lunch at Sci-Fi Drive-In was great. The Pastrami/Burger, Onion Rings, Fries and Chicken Salad sandwich was good and our server was amazing. He took a pic of all of us in the car!
~ Other Places we visited ~
Well, we always have to take the boat from MK to VWL and take in the sights/sounds of the Wilderness Lodge. We ate lunch one day at Roaring forks. The quesadillas were good and my Brisket/Burnt Ends entree was absolutely amazing and smokey!. Purchased a few goodies at the resort shop.
~ Transportation to/from Resort ~
We ended up using Lyft, approx $38/each way...added tip. LyftXL both times was newer Toyota Highlander. Great driver, driving experience and helpfulness.
~ Things we skipped ~
Disney Springs - not a big fan of the new “Casino” style experience there. We liked the old setup much better.
Animal Kingdom – We typically only spend 3-4hrs here on previous trips, we will go next time we visit.
~ Disappointments ~
Mechanical Horse on sidewalk in Hollywood studios still missing. We would take photos each visit of the kids riding it.
Indiana Jones gift shop closed, no eta on when it will ever open again.
Indiana Jones, no longer chooses guests for participation in stunt show.
Muppets gift shop in Hollywood Studios closed, no eta on when it will ever open again.
Werther’s Popcorn in Germany/Epcot no longer made fresh, bagged stuff was stale.
Overall food at Epcot’s Food/Wine Festival was subpar compared to previous events.
The Boardwalk Resort
Room 4093 - 1Bed garden/pool view.
Front Desk Group - Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest Entry - Won 1st Place overall.
Halloween Morning....lots of fog over the HTH.
Tron
Big Thunder from the Fort on Tom Sawyers Island.
Stuck on Remy Ride in Epcot/Paris.
DS10 was Mando one more time....
Candy Haul...not like MNSSHP...but a bit of candy.
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lots of helpful information! Seems like you had a great trip- thanks for taking the time to share.
