Reviews

Resort Review: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn

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Location: Epcot Resort Area

Rating:

Category: Deluxe Resort

Stay at this fun, Atlantic City inspired waterfront resort. Complete with a carnival themed pool, there is so much to see and do at this property. 

The Boardwalk itself is complete with tons of restaurants, bars and entertainment nightly – you never know what street performers you might come across! This family friendly spot is great for all ages and offers villas to accommodate larger groups.

 

What We Like

The Epcot Resort Area is a great location – you can walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios (or take the boat). Buses run everywhere else. Having the ability to walk to not just one, but TWO parks is huge, and something we take advantage of when we’re staying in this area.

Another perk of this location is the Boardwalk itself. There is so much to do – there are great restaurants and bars, and it’s a good mix of adult and kid friendly activity. The nightlife is great busting here, especially with Jellyrolls, the popular dueling piano bar. It’s worth a stop on your next visit without the kids! 

The rooms themselves are great, and this resort offers villas if you’re traveling with a bigger group or maybe just want some more space (and a kitchen, washer and dryer!).

My husband and I stayed in a studio villa and had a great location AND view. This was by far one of the best rooms I’ve ever had in my years of visiting Disney. We were right off the lobby (so close to the buses), and we also overlooked the front courtyard facing the Boardwalk and water (just beautiful!). 

Things to Note

The nightlife is different at this resort (with the bars on the Boardwalk) – it can be a little busy and loud, especially on the weekends. So if you have young kids, request a room not overlooking the main courtyard and Boardwalk itself for some quiet!

 

WDW Park Planner Tips:

When should you consider staying at the BoardWalk Inn?

If you know you’re going to be at Epcot a lot on your trip (if it’s the Flower & Garden or Food & Wine Festival, etc.), this is a great option for you! Being able to walk to/from Epcot in less than 10 minutes is a game changer at Disney. We like to spend our evenings at Epcot visiting World Showcase, so being a quick walk home at the end of a long day is great.

 

Planning Tips Reviews

Event Review: Disney After Hours at Animal Kingdom

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Let the fun begin!

Event Details:

  • Select nights at Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom (not Epcot)
  • $125/person, $95 with Annual Passholder discount
  • 3 hour window after park closes (i.e. 9:00pm-12:00am)
  • Can arrive starting at 7pm at the park for the event (without a regular park ticket)
  • Limited restaurants and stores open
  • Some snacks and drinks included with price of ticket (Mickey bars!!)

Our Experience:

The Tree of Life at night is a totally different feel than during the day.

My husband and I went to our second Disney After Hours, this time at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We had never been to that park at night before, so we were excited to check it out! 

We got there at about 8:30pm since we flew in to Orlando that evening, and that was when the park closed to the public. As we were walking in, floods of people were leaving, so we took that as a good sign. We headed straight for Pandora. 

The floating mountains at night are spectacular.

Pandora at night did not disappoint – it was pure magic! I love the Avatar movie and the World of Avatar, so seeing everything lit up at night was breathtaking. We were starving when we arrived, so we went to the walk up Pongu Pongu for dinner (yum!). As soon as we finished dinner, the crowds were noticeably quieter. We walked on to Flight of Passage around 9pm, when the event was scheduled to start and waited maybe 10 minutes for the ride! It took about 25 minutes to get through the queue/pre-show videos. 

Expedition Everest at night is so cool!

After that, we hit up Na’vi River Journey, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest and watched the Rivers of Light Show! We had never seen the show before and absolutely loved it. We walked right up as the show was starting and it was empty – it felt like we had a personal viewing of the show. Then we headed back to Pandora to ride Flight of Passage one more time before we left and got through it even quicker the second time. We got off the ride at 11:59pm and were wiped. 

Rivers of Light is an amazing show – we had never seen it before!

It was the perfect amount of time for us to hit all of the available attractions, but still feel like we got to enjoy the park and weren’t rushing around. We would highly recommend this event and felt like it was worth the money to experience Animal Kingdom at night with very limited crowds. 

WDW Park Planner Tips:

  1. Get there at 7pm
    • You’re able to enter the park starting a 7pm. If you want to do any of the attractions that are closed during the event (Kilimanjaro Safari), or dine a any of the restaurants that are closed (I wanted to go to Nomad Lounge), get there early! We weren’t able to because of when our flight got in, but if we do another one I would definitely get there early!
  2. Ask and you shall receive! 
    • The cast members let us stay on Dinosaur twice in a row without having to go through the queue again (as much as I do love that pre-show video). Usually cast members will be pretty accommodating when the crowds and lines are quiet! Maybe not for Flight of Passage, but always worth asking 😉
  3. Take an Uber/Lyft home
    • We had a long day of work, travel and hitting the pavement at Animal Kingdom, so by midnight we were exhausted! The bus line was surprisingly long for the Boardwalk (and was combined with the Beach and Yacht Club), so we didn’t even know if we’d make the first bus. We decided to “splurge” on our $7 Lyft back to the resort. Worth every penny to be in bed by 12:45am 🙂
Reviews

Resort Review: Dolphin Resort

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Location: Epcot Resort Area

WDW Park Planners Rating:

Resort Category: Deluxe Resort

The Swan and Dolphin Resorts are two separate properties located next to each other. They are Disney affiliate resorts but are not owned by Disney. The Swan is a Westin property, while the Dolphin is a Sheraton.

That means you can use points to stay at these properties, which is what we did! My husband and I stayed at the Dolphin hotel this past June when we visited Disney for a long weekend. Points don’t get you very far, but every bit helps, right? We used points for 2 of the 3 nights and also received a complimentary room upgrade to a suite.

Take the boat to Epcot or Hollywood Studios!

What We Liked

We’re all about location when we go to Disney, and the Epcot resort area is by far our favorite. You’re either a quick boat ride or a 20-minute walk (depending on how tired your feet are) to Epcot AND Hollywood Studios. Having those options saves a ton of time, and honestly, we like walking around those areas! For Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, you’re a bus ride away and receive complimentary transportation on the Disney buses to those parks (which isn’t the case for all affiliate resorts).

The lobby of the Dolphin is awesome – it was recently renovated and is big and spacious. There’s a cool bar in the middle and a yummy little coffee shop that we went to a few times. Between the Swan and Dolphin, they offer tons of great dining options (4 signature restaurants, 5 casual spots, 5 lounge areas, and 3 quick service options). They even have an on-site character meal at the Swan – check out the Garden Grove restaurant which has characters every night for dinner as well as on the weekends for breakfast!

The pool area is shared between the two properties and is a great set up. It’s incredibly family friendly, with lots of games and activities for the kids!

The lobby at the Dolphin is always bumpin! Lots going on – there’s a great bar, coffee shop and retail stores!

Things to Note

One thing to note, especially if you’re traveling with a family, is that the Swan and Dolphin don’t have access to the Magical Express to/from the airport. This was actually okay for us since it was a quick weekend trip (and my husband doesn’t love the Magical Express like me), so we grabbed a Lyft and were at the hotel in 30 minutes. It cost about $30 each way, which isn’t too bad for us Chicagoans!

The Dolphin feels less “Disney” than an actual Disney resort. It’s a conference hotel, so as we were leaving on a Monday, there were tons of business people there walking around, which felt a little strange on vacation. The little touches of Disney that I love – all of the magical TV channels (WDW Today, Disney Must Dos with Stacy, etc.), the Disney shampoos and soaps and the towel characters on your bed (I still love when the maids do that!) – are not at the Dolphin. So, if any of those things are important to you, consider yourself warned!

The room itself was mediocre, especially considering we got upgraded to a suite. The room was spacious and the bathroom was really nice, but the room felt like they hadn’t done a very thorough job cleaning it. We’re barely in the room on our quick weekend trips, so the room wasn’t the end of the world, but, if you’re someone who spends more time in the hotel room you may want to reconsider.

WDW Park Planners Tip:

Spend an evening walking around the Boardwalk area – it’s extra magical at night! The Swan and Dolphin are super close to it, so be sure to make time to enjoy all the Boardwalk has to offer. Adults can visit the dueling piano bar Jellyrolls, while kids can enjoy the “street” entertainers such as magicians or musicians! Be sure to stop by Ample Creamery for some of the BEST ice cream – I’m obsessed!