Disney’s BoardWalk Inn Hotel Review 2024 – Post Refurbishment Room Tour, Worth It?
Disney's BoardWalk Inn is one of our favorite resorts at Walt Disney World because of its location, ease of access to Epcot, walkability, and recently refurbished room designs. This seaside-themed resort shines as a timeless example of Disney theming that delivers a delightful vacation experience.
The resort sits above Disney's BoardWalk, a dining and activities destination that is notable for all guests and not just those staying there. You can read specifically about this Disney's BoardWalk area here and our guide to dining at Disney's BoardWalk here.
The BoardWalk Inn is one of the top tier deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World and is located on the crescent bay area of Walt Disney World just outside the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. We recently stayed in one of the newly refurbished rooms at the BoardWalk Inn. We have stayed at quite a few of the Walt Disney World hotels (including other hotels that were recently refurbished) and hotels at Disneyland and this review is based on that wide breadth of experience.
Throughout 2023 Disney's BoardWalk Inn was under refurbishment in the rooms. At this point almost all, if not all, the rooms have been completed. As of midway through last year we heard that all rooms except for the BoardWalk view rooms were completely refurbished.
Disney's BoardWalk Inn Review
Disney's BoardWalk Inn is themed to the seaside amusement parks of days gone by. The resort features themed touches throughout the public spaces, in the rooms, and on the exterior of the resort that truly bring the seaside theme of the hotel to life. The resort evokes the feelings of Coney Island and Atlantic City without any of the seedy environment of those romanticized seaside escapes.
The resort itself in the interior delivers these feelings and the promenade outside also celebrates this time of life. The exterior of the building is an amalgamation of styles that brings to life the grandeur and diversity of architecture along the boardwalk seashores.
Disney's BoardWalk has recently (and is currently) in the middle or a renovation period. We will have a full look at the updated hotel rooms below. Generally the lobby and public spaces do not feel dated and still maintain their original charm. We hope that these remain untouched and they have largely been kept the same up to this point during the Disney BoardWalk refurbishment.
There is something particularly grand about the Disney's BoardWalk Inn property. If you arrive after nightfall you'll pull up into a beautiful portico with an archway illuminated with “Boardwalk” in popcorn lights. this style of popcorn lights feels very much like Main Street and classic Disney to me. There is something here that is different than any of the more modern resorts.
The hotel is both a regular Walt Disney World hotel and Disney Vacation Club Resort. Anyone can book Disney Vacation Club resort rooms with point rentals. In our Disney Vacation Club resort rankings we called this hotel the best DVC resort for couples and gave it an honorable mention for best for accessibility to the theme parks/location.
When you enter the hotel lobby the same feeling of days gone by continues with a classic seaside feeling resort with soaring windows.
There's a beautiful centerpiece here that features carousel horses and a carousel that moves below them that you can see above. You'll also find a roller coaster model.
And some of the scariest items in all of Walt Disney World…these gruesome chairs. During the holidays you can also find one of Walt Disney World's iconic gingerbread houses at the resort.
As you can see just from the look of the lobby alone, these is a bespoke feeling of quality at the hotel. Continuing up to the room I loved all of the furnishings of the hotel with the bright colored traditional carpets and fun chandeliers featuring the Disney character gang in silhouette.
And here are the characters.
How to Book Disney's BoardWalk Inn
Standard rooms at Disney's BoardWalk Inn go for between $500 to $1,100 per night. This is a hotel in the deluxe category of Walt Disney World resorts so this higher pricing makes sense. It is still lower than the pricing for Grand Floridian and other deluxe resorts on the Disney World monorail loop.
As a resort at Walt Disney World, Disney's BoardWalk Inn includes access to make your Walt Disney World Genie+ reservations starting at 7 am rather than when the parks open and early entry to the Disney theme parks. As one of the Deluxe Walt Disney World Resorts, the BoardWalk Inn guests also get access to extended evening hours on select nights. These allow guests to access a theme park for three additional hours in the evening. Though park tickets are still required, these are blissful hours with very low crowds. These are one of our favorite perks of staying at a deluxe resort.
For booking your BoardWalk hotel room, we recommend our travel partner Get Away Today. They have VIP services to help you plan your trip. You can either request a FREE quote from them or go directly to their booking portal (this is where we priced the above standard rooms range) where you will find a much easier system to use than Disney's portal. They will price monitor your trip after you have booked and apply additional discounts released.
Another option for booking Disney's BoardWalk Inn that you should consider is renting Disney Vacation Club points. You can save up to 65% off your stay with these. The two best options for booking are David’s DVC Rental and DVC Rental Store. Read our comparison of Davids DVC vs DVC Rental Store here.
We were hosted by Disney for this particular stay at Disney's BoardWalk Inn but we really love this hotel and look forward to getting back here again.
Room Tour After Disney's BoardWalk Inn Refurbishment
When we entered our GardenView room located just above the main lobby of the hotel I was blown away by the amount of space in the room. Upon further inspection we found that the room was actually on a corner so benefited from the additional space from the way the building was constructed.
Here's another angle of the room.
Now on to the details of on the walls.
The room was recently renovated with new touches of Mickey and Friends enjoying seaside amusement throughout the room. Here are some of my favorite little art pieces in the room.
Look at even this themed air vent in the older style.
Here's a closer look at the coffee area.
The room opens up to a balcony. From our BoardWalk Inn room deck we could see the Skyliner spinning by in the distance above one of the other buildings of the hotel.
The room has two queen beds and a hideaway twin bed in the couch. The queen beds are raised in new-age Disney style which allows for additional bag storage. The couch flips down easily to reveal a hidden bed.
Here's the couch converted.
In the bathroom you'll find a split area with the toilet and shower closed off from the two sinks and mirror. This is a nice way for people to be able to continue getting ready in the morning while others are using the facilities.
Here's a closer look at the Disney BoardWalk Inn shower area.
And a look at the artwork opposite the entrance to the shower and toilet room.
One miss in this and a number of other Walt Disney World Resort hotel rooms is the lack of a desk to work from. I had to awkwardly pull the big chair up to the dresser to do work on my laptop. Definitely not an issue for everyone, but if you are working in your room be aware. I better option is to head to Belle Vue lounge which is located just off the lobby if you have a larger amount of work to sit and get done.
Of the newly redone rooms that I have recently enjoyed in the last year, the new rooms at Disney's BoardWalk Inn and the new Mary Poppins room's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort have been my absolute favorites.
You can see a full room tour of the newly completed room here:
Generally the areas around the hotel are all beautifully done. The garden area just outside our hotel room led up to one of the pools. On our walk to the pool I snapped this photo of the exterior of one of the Disney Vacation Club rooms at the BoardWalk Inn. Look at how cute they are with faux mailboxes as the room numbers.
Here's a look at more of that exterior architecture.
Disney's BoardWalk Inn Pool and Recreation
There are two main pool areas at Disney's BoardWalk Inn at Walt Disney World. The main pool is the Luna Park Pool. This pool area used to be home to a creepy orange crown water slide, but it was swapped out for a different waterslide in recent years. The slide is now themed to one of the major roller coasters you would find in an amusement park of the 1920s. Disney describes this pool on their website writing “the 184,217-gallon Luna Park Pool invites you to clown around in the water and make a splash under the spouting trunks of grinning elephant statues”.
There are a number of recreation activities and offerings for the entire family that take place on the deck of the pool. When we were at the pool we watched kids having a lot of fun with a trivia game in the afternoon.
There are also two quieter recreation pools. One is right next to the Luna Park Pool and then another is over on the other side of the hotel in its own pool area which was actually closer to our room. This was a much calmer pool area than the Luna Park Pool area. Both of these pool areas offer hot tubs for BoardWalk Inn guests.
The main Luna Park Pool is also home to a pool bar and the workout facility is also located nearby. You can see our guide to Disney's BoardWalk map for the layout of the resort and the locations of its offerings.
There's also a documented running trail at Disney' BoardWalk which goes all the way around the hotels in this area.
Disney's BoardWalk Inn Dining Options
For our typical Walt Disney World resort reviews we have a section talking about the best dining options for your stay at that property. In this case the BoardWalk Inn is actually located above Disney's BoardWalk, the dining and activity area that shares its name with the hotel. The area features a number of restaurants and nightlife options. Because there are so many great restaurants we actually have a full guide to the restaurants at Disney's BoardWalk that covers both the hotel restaurants and also the restaurants in the area below.
During our recent visit we enjoyed a great meal at the Flying Fish restaurant and drinks at Abracadabar. We also wandered into Epcot to enjoy the best restaurants there. The ease of access to Epcot can't be overstated. That leads in nicely to how to get to the parks from the BoardWalk Inn…
Getting From BoardWalk Inn to Disney Theme Parks
The resort is located a short 7 minute walk from Epcot and a short 15 minute boat ride from Disney's Hollywood Studios (that's the length of the boat ride but you may end up waiting longer for an actual arrival of a boat). You could also take Disney's Skyliner to access Disney's Hollywood Studios. The ease of access to these two parks sets this resort apart. For the same reason that I wrote about loving the Swan Reserve hotel location because of its walkability I really love the BoardWalk Inn. One major thing I prefer about Disneyland in the Disneyland vs Disney World fight is the walkability of the resort. You get some of that walkability when staying at the BoardWalk Inn.
To get to Magic Kingdom or Disney's Animal Kingdom directly from the hotel you'll have to take a Disney World bus or use Uber/Lyft (see those Disney World tips here). If you are park hopping to one of those two parks, you could also use the park to park buses or in the case of Epcot to Magic Kingdom utilize the monorail that connects the two parks.
Is Disney's BoardWalk Inn the Best Disney Deluxe Resort?
Though Disney's BoardWalk Inn is not one of the iconic Walt Disney World monorail line hotels that is in view of the Magic Kingdom, it does have a hidden charm that is perfect for those who want to be closer to Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is iconic in it's own way. In the same way that I love Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge for its removed charm, I love Disney's BoardWalk Inn.
The resort is centrally located but quiet. Even our GardenView room affords a nice view out across beautiful grass and a stunningly designed building that looks charming. A number of years ago I learned that this was Disney CEO Bob Iger's favorite place to stay when visiting Walt Disney World. That makes complete sense to me because of the grandeur of the hotel that is still away from the noise and tourist crowds of the Grand Floridian.
I would place Disney's BoardWalk Inn near the top of my personal list of the best Disney Deluxe Resorts. It may be edged out by Disney's Grand Floridian if I had all the money in the world, but if that was slightly out of budget, I was more focused on Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot during the trip, and I wanted to avoid tourists in my lobby this resort would take the cake.
How Much Does Parking at Disney's BoardWalk Inn Cost?
There is a complimentary parking option at Disney's BoardWalk Inn or a $33 valet parking charge for the resort.
Disney's BoardWalk Inn Laundry Room
There are also laundry rooms at Disney's BoardWalk Inn. Here's a look at the option that was right down the hall from our room.
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