BOARDWALK INN vs BOARDWALK VILLAS

[ccafe]

My husband, myself, and our 3 year old are going to Disney in early February. Because of availability, we're trying to decide between Boardwalk Villas and Boardwalk Inn. We really wanted Yacht Club but it's not available, and I worry we'll be a little disappointed by the quality of the rooms at BWI and BWV compared to Yacht Club. We've never been to Disney before: Between Boardwalk Inn and Villas- Which should we choose and why?

-We're going M-F with park days on T, W, and TR. (MK, HS, Epcot)
-Our daughter shares a bed with us, will not sleep alone
-King or 2 Queens at the Inn seems more appealing than 1 Queen at Villas
-Inn room would be Garden View, Villa room would be standard (roof or parking lot)
-Does one of the resorts have a floor with slightly bigger balconies? (I feel like I saw that in a review video)

THANKS!

 

[kanerf]

Boardwalk Inn are hotel units, while Boardwalk Villas are timeshare units. The Villas will have a kitchenette with refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. You will have a coffee maker in the Inn units, not sure about a refrigerator. The Villas have one queen, but also have a sofa bed. There are free laundry facilities on the DVC side, but not on the Inn side of the resort.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Not sure how you are planning to stay at BWV. Are you planning to rent points from a member? If so you may have a hard time getting a reservation for early February. We have reservations and had to waitlist a couple other nights and still haven't been able to get a reservation for our same type of room for the other night. We love BWV but have never stayed on the Inn side. If you are gonna do something I wouldn't wait. Edit: I just checked the availability calendar and I'm not seeing anything available for like the first 10 days of February. At this point you would have to rent from someone who already has a reservation made.

 

[Marthasor]

Not sure how you are planning to stay at BWV. Are you planning to rent points from a member? If so you may have a hard time getting a reservation for early February. We have reservations and had to waitlist a couple other nights and still haven't been able to get a reservation for our same type of room for the other night. We love BWV but have never stayed on the Inn side. If you are gonna do something I wouldn't wait. Edit: I just checked the availability calendar and I'm not seeing anything available for like the first 10 days of February. At this point you would have to rent from someone who already has a reservation made.

If BWV is available through WDTC, OP can just do a cash booking. That would have nothing to do with what you are seeing in the DVC availability calendar.

OP, I find the villas side of the resort to be quieter and the rooms seem more spacious due to the sofa instead of a second queen. You could also consider booking the Inn and requesting a king bed so you have a bigger bed and more floor space.

 

[AliceIn]

Boardwalk Inn are hotel units, while Boardwalk Villas are timeshare units. The Villas will have a kitchenette with refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. You will have a coffee maker in the Inn units, not sure about a refrigerator. The Villas have one queen, but also have a sofa bed. There are free laundry facilities on the DVC side, but not on the Inn side of the resort.

Boardwalk studios have the small Murphy bed for the three year old. You have the couch for just relaxing. The Villa rooms are very nice.

 

[CarolynFH]

-Our daughter shares a bed with us, will not sleep alone

Based on this, I'd book a room on the Inn side and request a King size bed. You will probably need to call them, since for a party of 3 they'll routinely assign a room with 2 queens. The studio villas have a queen size bed, a full size (not queen) sofa bed and a bunk size Murphy.

 

[reluctantredhead]

We have stayed on both the Inn side and the BWV side. Two of my favorite rooms in all of WDW are there -- the Garden Cottages on the Inn side, and the 1BR on the BWV side. In both of these rooms, the bed is a King, and it's one of the reasons we love them, as my husband is 6'6", and there aren't a ton of rooms at WDW that will guarantee you a king bed -- but both of these will. And when our daughter was your D's age, she slept in our bed too, so all the more reason to want to guarantee a king.

The Garden Cottage won't work for you because the max occupancy is 2 people, but the 1BR at BWV would, and WOW...we love that room! It has a wonderful little kitchen and living room with a sofa, it has a split bathroom (so one person can be showering in one room while the other is taking a bath [in an oversized jacuzzi tub!] or doing hair/makeup in the other bathroom), and it has a stacked washer/dryer. We've stayed in that room several times over the years, and it has always worked out great...so if the 1BR would be a possibility for you, it would get my vote. I wasn't sure if by "standard" you meant a standard view, or whether you meant a studio room.

As an aside, we aren't DVC members, so we always do a cash booking through WDW when we stay in a DVC Villa. We tend to be risk averse, and have never felt comfortable with the non-refundable aspect of renting points from a DVC member.

I agree with the PP who said the Villas side is a little quieter...but I find both sides to be quiet compared to most WDW resorts. Every room we've stayed in on the Villas side has also been a bit shorter walking distance to DHS.

Good luck choosing! I honestly think you'll enjoy either one.