Just to add to what everyone else said:
In the BoardWalk building, the lobby is on the second floor. Buses are outside on the second floor level. But to get to the pools, the boats, and the boardwalk itself, you have to go down to the first floor.
On the BoardWalk Villas side, there is one bank of elevators. They go from the highest floor to the lowest (first) floor.
I have never stayed on the BoardWalk Inn side. Allears.net says this:
"One elevator is located just outside of the Bellevue Lounge, across from the staircase, and runs between the first floor Lobby level and the ground floor Boardwalk level. Two more elevators, located to the right when facing the bar, go from the Lobby level to the room floors."
So my understanding is that if you are staying on the BoardWalk Inn side, you take one elevator from your room to go down to the second floor. If you need to get down to the first floor, you need to get out of the elevator at the second floor and get into a different elevator to go down to the first floor.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.