Just returned last night from five wonderful nights at the Boardwalk Inn. Our stay was lovely, and it cemented the Boardwalk as my favorite Crescent Lake resort.
Some observations:
We were in room 2298. I used the Touring Plans fax service to request room 2300, or anywhere on the second floor near the elevator to the Boardwalk, to make things more convenient for my mom who uses a
scooter. We ended up only one door away from our request, so they must read faxes at the BWI.
It was a fantastic location, very convenient to everything. We could hear some minor hallway noise from time to time, but the room was still very quiet overall. The balcony overlooked a manicured courtyard, and even offered a view of the Illuminations fireworks through the leaf-bare trees in the evening. It was a lovely surprise!
The room itself was in good condition, and any quibbles we had were small. My mom loved the decor because it has more color, warmth and character than some of the newly remodeled generic-beige resort rooms. Mattresses and pillows were in good condition and super comfy! My 28 year-old 5’8” niece slept on the sofa bed and said it was fine. The tub/shower had a wall dispenser for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Honestly, I didn’t like it. Some of the pump bottles were past their prime and wouldn’t dispense properly, and the metal holder was partly broken and didn’t hold them in snugly. The bottles were jiggling all over the place and pumping them was quite difficult. Plus the thing was visually rather tarnished and gross. I’m OK with the idea of wall dispensers, but the implementation in this room was a fail. We were also supplied with personal sized soaps, a toiletry kit (including nail file!), shower cap, hand lotion, and mouthwash. I personally would like to see a curtain or sliding door across the vanity area, like is found at some other resorts. I rise early to get ready, and always felt as if I was disturbing the others who were still trying to sleep. We managed though.
The coffee maker was the old-style filter pack machine which worked just fine. The fridge was cold enough to keep my half-and-half fresh for five days, so coffee was easy-peasy in the early morning when I needed it most.
Mousekeeping was great — they stopped by every day while we were out of the room. They worked around our breaks without us asking, even though we were in the room at different times each day. One day the room was serviced in the morning/early afternoon, and the next day Mousekeeping saw we were in the room and didn’t service it until we left around 4:00. I had to call the second day for extra blankets and coffee packs, which were delivered after about 30 minutes. Overall very pleased with Mousekeeping!
Friendships were operating to both HS and the International Gateway. We usually walked to both parks and found the increased (detour) distance to the Studios noticeable but not prohibitive. It will be great to have the regular path back open again though. You still can’t beat the convenience for walking (or scootering) to two parks. Mom loved it!
Buses worked just fine. No waits of more than ten minutes coming or going, and enough buses for everyone at the stop. Shared a bus once coming back from MK in the afternoon. Morning buses arrived empty and went straight to the parks.
The evenings during our stay were too chilly to hang out on the Boardwalk, but everything looked fun! Did enjoy beers and margaritas by the lake in the afternoon, and the fresh-cooked loaded chips from Boardwalk To Go were a hit!
My mom loved BWI so much that I would have happily booked a Bounceback for the same dates next year, but couldn’t find any availability. I look forward to the day we are lucky enough to return!