It has always been a dream of mine to stay in a deluxe resort at Walt Disney World, more specifically the Boardwalk Inn Resort. Unfortunately I haven't been blessed with a salary anywhere close to six figures and no matter how many "how to save at WDW" blogs I read, a deluxe resort will probably never be in my budget. I take that back, I could swing it for sure, but I would need to plan on never returning to WDW again (well for at least 5 years or so). I'm not prepared to do that, therefore on all of my vacations I have understandably chosen a value or a moderate resort. And hey, I'm not complaining. I've visited most all of the resorts and to be honest a couple of the moderates have my favorite theming overall. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop dreaming however.
Fast forward to March of 2013.
My husband's parents have been renting a condo in central Florida during the month of March the past two years. They've made it clear that any time we want to stay we are welcome. Last year we didn't take them up on the offer due to me being pregnant but this year there was no excuse and we were excited for a vacation! The condo isn't in Orlando, but it's a couple hours drive to get to Walt Disney World. When deciding to make the trip to Florida, my husband (who is not a fan of Disney...I know...why did I marry him?) told me it might be nice if while we are in Florida we take a short trip to WDW, leave the baby with the parents, and have a little getaway just the two of us. He knew I had been itching to check out new Fantasyland. Now normally I don't bring up WDW to him. I know it's not his favorite place to go so I try to be kind as he has to deal with my constant babbling about the World while at home. So as you can imagine I was completely shocked and thrilled!
Since this would be a short trip, a 1 night stay and two days park tickets (non hopper), I decided it might be time to make my dream a reality. I knew that we would never be able to afford a week long stay at the Boardwalk, but surely we could afford one night. Especially since the rest of our stay at his parent's condo was covered. I immediately emailed my wonderful Disney travel agent, got the prices, and made the reservation! My dream was coming true!
Fast forward to March of 2013.
My husband's parents have been renting a condo in central Florida during the month of March the past two years. They've made it clear that any time we want to stay we are welcome. Last year we didn't take them up on the offer due to me being pregnant but this year there was no excuse and we were excited for a vacation! The condo isn't in Orlando, but it's a couple hours drive to get to Walt Disney World. When deciding to make the trip to Florida, my husband (who is not a fan of Disney...I know...why did I marry him?) told me it might be nice if while we are in Florida we take a short trip to WDW, leave the baby with the parents, and have a little getaway just the two of us. He knew I had been itching to check out new Fantasyland. Now normally I don't bring up WDW to him. I know it's not his favorite place to go so I try to be kind as he has to deal with my constant babbling about the World while at home. So as you can imagine I was completely shocked and thrilled!
Since this would be a short trip, a 1 night stay and two days park tickets (non hopper), I decided it might be time to make my dream a reality. I knew that we would never be able to afford a week long stay at the Boardwalk, but surely we could afford one night. Especially since the rest of our stay at his parent's condo was covered. I immediately emailed my wonderful Disney travel agent, got the prices, and made the reservation! My dream was coming true!
We've arrived!
We arrived at the Boardwalk fairly early in the morning as I wanted plenty of time to check out the grounds and still have a good amount of park time. Since we were checking out the next morning before we headed to the Magic Kingdom I made sure to take as many pictures of the resort and grounds as possible that day. We headed into the lobby first thing to check on our room and it was already available well before check in. The room was awesome. I could definitely tell the difference between moderate and deluxe although I've never stayed in a bad room while at WDW. We had a standard room with a garden view and luckily it was towards the inside of the resort so we did not overlook the parking lot. Our room was very close to one of the quiet pools
This picture is from outside looking directly at our patio doors on the first floor.
We spent most of the day in Epcot and then returned to the Boardwalk after Illuminations. Our intent was to grab a drink at a couple of the bars on the Boardwalk but several of them were already packed. Not to mention it was freezing outside that night. Well, freezing for a dumb Michigan girl who literally only brought shorts and t-shirts to Florida thinking it would be warm. Apparently, it was an unseasonably cold first week of March this year in Florida. I don't think it broke 70 degrees in the middle of the day the entire week. Since I was turning into a popsicle we headed back inside the resort. We stumbled upon the Belle Vue Room and it quickly became our favorite spot in the entire resort. We had a couple of drinks to cap off our night and relaxed in the exquisitely beautiful surroundings of the Boardwalk Inn.
The Belle Vue Room
Thus concluded our very short stay at the Boardwalk Inn. But hey, now I can say that I have stayed at a deluxe resort in Walt Disney World even if it was only one night. There are many more photos of this resort to be shared, but I will save that for a Boardwalk Inn Photo Review in the coming months on the blog. I'm happy to say that I have now checked one item off of my Disney Bucket List. Man, I've got a long way to go!!!!
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