Disney's BOARDWALK INN Information & Questions

[Best Aunt]

Are these interviews done by phone?

For TSA Pre-check, you have to go to an enrollment center. I don't know about Global Entry.

 

[snappy]

Be sure and makes an appointment online beforehand. I was in and out in no time but there were a lot of people waiting for other things there. I was seen first because I had an appointment. I received an email with the KTTN number in a couple of days, the letter came in a week.

 

[Best Aunt]

Be sure and makes an appointment online beforehand. I was in and out in no time but there were a lot of people waiting for other things there. I was seen first because I had an appointment. I received an email with the KTTN number in a couple of days, the letter came in a week.

Did you have trouble scheduling an appointment? I wanted to do the appointment when I was on vacation. But when I did the online thing, it was scheduling appointments too soon and there didn't seem to be an option for scheduling further out.

 

[snappy]

I did not hsve trouble last year. In fact I think I had to reschedule due to a conflict but I was looking for soonest available.

 

[Akck]

Global Entry interviews are done at a Customs office, mostly at airports.

 

[gwynne]

Lots of helpful information/experiences available on this TSA PreCheck thread.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/tsa-precheck.3750561/page-4

 

[gwynne]

I really enjoyed reading this recent (Aug 2019) review of a stay at BWI. They were on on villa side.
Good photos!
https://wanderingindisney.com/2G019/08/07/disneys-boardwalk-inn-review/

 

[grannyminnie]

For TSA Pre-check, you have to go to an enrollment center. I don't know about Global Entry.

And as I fly out of ATL and would probably have to go there for the interview, that would be an extra hassle for me! It's an hour away.

 

[Best Aunt]

And as I fly out of ATL and would probably have to go there for the interview, that would be an extra hassle for me! It's an hour away.

You can go online and check the closest location for the TSA precheck interview. Mine is 90 minutes away, at an airport, but my flights are always either too early or too late and the office is closed. That's why I thought I would do it when I was on vacation, in a city where I would be available during the day when the office is open.

 

[jsbowl16]

Amplehill is one of my favorite things about staying at the Boardwalk. 40 more days to go! Give me ice cream!!!

I had the Rice Crispy Treat ice cream there this summer five times on a nine night trip. I am still dreaming about it. I am not sure if they still have it but it was life changing, lol.

 

[wendy1974]

I had the Rice Crispy Treat ice cream there this summer five times on a nine night trip. I am still dreaming about it. I am not sure if they still have it but it was life changing, lol.

Was just there last week and they still have it!

 

[wendy1974]

Just returned last Friday from first stay at The Boardwalk Villas and overall I was very impressed and would stay there again. The only real complaint I had was with the bus service to MK. Boat service to HS and Epcot were great and the boats ran on a consistent schedule. 2 days of our trip we went to MK. The first day we went back to the room to rest before the Halloween party. I decided to go back to MK around 1:30pm and when I got to the bus stop the electronic board said time unavailable for MK. I ended up waiting 35 minutes for a bus. In that time I saw a few AK busses, 2 Disney Springs busses and a Typhoon Lagoon bus. The last day of my trip I wanted to get there for the 7am early entry so I was at the bus stop for 6:20am. Around 6:45am a CM bus came and dropped off a CM who was working the Boardwalk bus stop. By 6:50am I saw 2 busses for AK and one for Typhoon Lagoon so I went to speak to the CM. I asked her if she knew when an MK bus would arrive and she said if one didn't come in the next 10-15 minutes she would check on it. I let her know I had been out there for 40 minutes at that point and had not seen a bus. Her response was, "Really. Wow." I was very polite when I approached her and was just trying to make her aware the length of time that had already passed without an MK bus. Anyway, I ended up getting to MK around 7:25am. I get that things happen but I saw the comments about bus issues in the past and just wanted to make everyone aware they still happen. If I stayed there again I would budget money for a Minnie Van or other ride share service on my MK days. Especially if I wanted to be there by a certain time.

 

[AngiTN]

And as I fly out of ATL and would probably have to go there for the interview, that would be an extra hassle for me! It's an hour away.

Ours aren't done at the airport at all. It's always possible they have a 3rd party office too, as big as Atlanta is. Don't know which side of Atlanta you are on but if it's north, you may be as close to me as you are to ATL. LOL since I'm only about 1 hr 45 min from the airport. No paid parking at the office here either. Anyway, just a thought. Super easy in and out

 

[disney4us2002]

Ours aren't done at the airport at all. It's always possible they have a 3rd party office too, as big as Atlanta is. Don't know which side of Atlanta you are on but if it's north, you may be as close to me as you are to ATL. LOL since I'm only about 1 hr 45 min from the airport. No paid parking at the office here either. Anyway, just a thought. Super easy in and out

After the advice here about how quick it is and the various locations, I checked into it and I have an appointment for this Thursday. I'm also a 75-90 minute drive from our home airport and I had many different locations from which to choose. Meant to add that most of the options were at county motor vehicle offices because that is where a vast majority of people get fingerprinted for jobs and such.

 

[mickeynut1]

Hey all! First ever stay at BWI coming up next week. Have always wanted to stay there! Looking for room request advice: prefer as little noise as possible. Booked standard view. Any suggestions? TIA!

I can't help with room requests, but wanted to say I hope you have a great trip and enjoy your first BWI stay .

Just returned last Friday from first stay at The Boardwalk Villas and overall I was very impressed and would stay there again. The only real complaint I had was with the bus service to MK. Boat service to HS and Epcot were great and the boats ran on a consistent schedule. 2 days of our trip we went to MK. The first day we went back to the room to rest before the Halloween party. I decided to go back to MK around 1:30pm and when I got to the bus stop the electronic board said time unavailable for MK. I ended up waiting 35 minutes for a bus. In that time I saw a few AK busses, 2 Disney Springs busses and a Typhoon Lagoon bus. The last day of my trip I wanted to get there for the 7am early entry so I was at the bus stop for 6:20am. Around 6:45am a CM bus came and dropped off a CM who was working the Boardwalk bus stop. By 6:50am I saw 2 busses for AK and one for Typhoon Lagoon so I went to speak to the CM. I asked her if she knew when an MK bus would arrive and she said if one didn't come in the next 10-15 minutes she would check on it. I let her know I had been out there for 40 minutes at that point and had not seen a bus. Her response was, "Really. Wow." I was very polite when I approached her and was just trying to make her aware the length of time that had already passed without an MK bus. Anyway, I ended up getting to MK around 7:25am. I get that things happen but I saw the comments about bus issues in the past and just wanted to make everyone aware they still happen. If I stayed there again I would budget money for a Minnie Van or other ride share service on my MK days. Especially if I wanted to be there by a certain time.

Thanks for your review. We had our first stay at BWI last year and had the same experience with the MK buses. Plenty of other buses came and went, with MK buses few and far between as we watched the monitor constantly change/add more wait time. It didn't ruin our trip by any means, but we knew anytime we were headed to MK that we'd have a wait ahead of us...lol. Other than the MK bus waits, I'm glad you had a great time and enjoyed your BWV stay .

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Just returned last Friday from first stay at The Boardwalk Villas and overall I was very impressed and would stay there again. The only real complaint I had was with the bus service to MK. Boat service to HS and Epcot were great and the boats ran on a consistent schedule. 2 days of our trip we went to MK. The first day we went back to the room to rest before the Halloween party. I decided to go back to MK around 1:30pm and when I got to the bus stop the electronic board said time unavailable for MK. I ended up waiting 35 minutes for a bus. In that time I saw a few AK busses, 2 Disney Springs busses and a Typhoon Lagoon bus. The last day of my trip I wanted to get there for the 7am early entry so I was at the bus stop for 6:20am. Around 6:45am a CM bus came and dropped off a CM who was working the Boardwalk bus stop. By 6:50am I saw 2 busses for AK and one for Typhoon Lagoon so I went to speak to the CM. I asked her if she knew when an MK bus would arrive and she said if one didn't come in the next 10-15 minutes she would check on it. I let her know I had been out there for 40 minutes at that point and had not seen a bus. Her response was, "Really. Wow." I was very polite when I approached her and was just trying to make her aware the length of time that had already passed without an MK bus. Anyway, I ended up getting to MK around 7:25am. I get that things happen but I saw the comments about bus issues in the past and just wanted to make everyone aware they still happen. If I stayed there again I would budget money for a Minnie Van or other ride share service on my MK days. Especially if I wanted to be there by a certain time.

WOW that is awful. We just stayed last month and never had any MK bus issues but on our PPO BOG day we did take a minnie van since we knew we didn't want to chance it. I don't really mind waiting for a bus most other times other than rope drop and ADRs. We have had too many other resort (mostly POR) stays where buses just passed us because they were crowded and we would arrive at the park 30 min late because of that. So now we either uber or take a minnie van for that reason. But we had several other bus rides to MK on our stay and never waited more than 15 min maybe. I will say the minnie van will spoil you. Sometimes we use it when we leave the park at the end of the day too.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Just returned last Friday from first stay at The Boardwalk Villas and overall I was very impressed and would stay there again. The only real complaint I had was with the bus service to MK. Boat service to HS and Epcot were great and the boats ran on a consistent schedule. 2 days of our trip we went to MK. The first day we went back to the room to rest before the Halloween party. I decided to go back to MK around 1:30pm and when I got to the bus stop the electronic board said time unavailable for MK. I ended up waiting 35 minutes for a bus. In that time I saw a few AK busses, 2 Disney Springs busses and a Typhoon Lagoon bus. The last day of my trip I wanted to get there for the 7am early entry so I was at the bus stop for 6:20am. Around 6:45am a CM bus came and dropped off a CM who was working the Boardwalk bus stop. By 6:50am I saw 2 busses for AK and one for Typhoon Lagoon so I went to speak to the CM. I asked her if she knew when an MK bus would arrive and she said if one didn't come in the next 10-15 minutes she would check on it. I let her know I had been out there for 40 minutes at that point and had not seen a bus. Her response was, "Really. Wow." I was very polite when I approached her and was just trying to make her aware the length of time that had already passed without an MK bus. Anyway, I ended up getting to MK around 7:25am. I get that things happen but I saw the comments about bus issues in the past and just wanted to make everyone aware they still happen. If I stayed there again I would budget money for a Minnie Van or other ride share service on my MK days. Especially if I wanted to be there by a certain time.

The bus situation stinks. My limit is 20 min before I am going to find someone and let them know there is an issue. I have seen this happen at all levels of resorts, and usually finding a resort CM and letting them know gets a bus there pretty quickly.

 

[disney4us2002]

Just returned last Friday from first stay at The Boardwalk Villas and overall I was very impressed and would stay there again. The only real complaint I had was with the bus service to MK. Boat service to HS and Epcot were great and the boats ran on a consistent schedule. 2 days of our trip we went to MK. The first day we went back to the room to rest before the Halloween party. I decided to go back to MK around 1:30pm and when I got to the bus stop the electronic board said time unavailable for MK. I ended up waiting 35 minutes for a bus. In that time I saw a few AK busses, 2 Disney Springs busses and a Typhoon Lagoon bus. The last day of my trip I wanted to get there for the 7am early entry so I was at the bus stop for 6:20am. Around 6:45am a CM bus came and dropped off a CM who was working the Boardwalk bus stop. By 6:50am I saw 2 busses for AK and one for Typhoon Lagoon so I went to speak to the CM. I asked her if she knew when an MK bus would arrive and she said if one didn't come in the next 10-15 minutes she would check on it. I let her know I had been out there for 40 minutes at that point and had not seen a bus. Her response was, "Really. Wow." I was very polite when I approached her and was just trying to make her aware the length of time that had already passed without an MK bus. Anyway, I ended up getting to MK around 7:25am. I get that things happen but I saw the comments about bus issues in the past and just wanted to make everyone aware they still happen. If I stayed there again I would budget money for a Minnie Van or other ride share service on my MK days. Especially if I wanted to be there by a certain time.

Yikes, what other options are there? I have hoppers so I could walk to EPCOT, go thru to the front and get on the monorail to MK? That sounds like it would take some time. Where do these new skyliners go?

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Yikes, what other options are there? I have hoppers so I could walk to EPCOT, go thru to the front and get on the monorail to MK? That sounds like it would take some time. Where do these new skyliners go?

Yeah, you are right. I would never walk to epcot to hop on a Monorail to go to MK, I would just wait for the bus or uber/minnie van if I needed to be somewhere on time. The skyliner station is at the international gateway so that won't be far from BWI/Epcot but it won't get you to MK, only to DHS and Epcot.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Yikes, what other options are there? I have hoppers so I could walk to EPCOT, go thru to the front and get on the monorail to MK? That sounds like it would take some time. Where do these new skyliners go?

I wouldn't walk through EPCOT to get the monorail. A bus delay can happen anywhere, but in my experience they are the exception, not the rule. It;s the reason Disney always says to allow 90 minutes travel time. It rarely takes that long, but they are covered in the event of a delay like this We always have a backup plan if we have a reservation or need to be somewhere at a specific time. In this situation I would probably have just gotten an uber.