Met family at the Disney Boardwalk hotel for a week of fun. Caught a Disney shuttle from the Orlando airport and dropped us off at the front doors of the Boardwalk hotel. Boardwalk hotel was clean, quiet and transportation to the various parks was excellent. We went the last week of October so park line ups were not too bad. The Electric parade was great. More importantly I felt very safe on the Disney world resort. It is on the pricey side, but I guess you get what you pay for. The convenience of staying on the park site was well worth it. I will definitely return in the future, hopefully with other younger family members.

The rooms are immaculate, spacious and in good repair, the staff are friendly, the beds are comfortable and the hotel is a five minute walk from EPCOT. The hotel has good facilities too. With a sauna and steam room in the gym area, a jacuzzi next to the quiet pool and free wireless internet, there is a lot to like about this place. The only drawback is the price. While we got a room with a fantastic view of the lake and plaza for a mere $220 a night because February 1 is about as "off-season" as you can get, this room sky-rockets to nearly triple that rate during vacation periods. I can see paying $300 a night, I can even see $350. But $655 a night? That is just crazy talk.

Disney offers a variety of hotels for a variety of tastes, features, and budgets. I've stayed at most starting with the original 2 (Poly & Contemp) back in the 70's, and became a vacation club member in the 1st year or so of operation ('93). I stayed at the Boardwalk Villas when it opened in '96, and just returned from a stay. It is not among my favorite DVC properties, but does have it's attraction and advantages. The pros: Easy access to 2 of the parks (Hollywood Studios & EPCOT), most conveniently by boat (launch) running at short & regular intervals, and being in the heart of the EPCOT resort area. In other words, location. The Boardwalk itself is themed to the hayday of the Atlantic City Boardwalk & has numerous shops, restaurants, clubs, & attractions. There is, of course, the obvious advantage of a family-style villa (or smaller studio), be it a 1, 2, or 3 bedroom. While my list of 'pros' is short, it's significant. Location can be paramont. Also, the nightclub or ESPN crowd will like this resort. The advantage of a villa can be had at any DVC resort.
The cons: I point these out not to be necessarily critical, rather so you know what to expect. 1st, parking is a real hassel. Unlike some DVC resorts you can't park at your villa, rather in remote central lots which are a hike. You can valet park - at a price. You can stop at the front just to unload & villas can be a long way off. When you pull up, staff is ready (& eager) to load your luggage on a cart - a separate bellman delivers to your villa, so there are 2 to tip. This is a very large complex, so your room/villa can be a very long way off, and potentially a very long walk to the actual boardwalk.
The original 3 DVC locations (Old Key West, Vero Beach, & Hilton Head), built around '92-'94, were much more spacious, comfortable, and accomodating. I had a chat with a DVC exec around the building of the Boardwalk Villas, who said they had realized they'd been wasting a lot of square footage. I disagree. Spaciousness is luxury. The original Disney World location, Old Key West, has room for a family to enjoy. It has a large dining area & full size table, and a spacious living room with a huge easy chair that can fit 2, along with an L-shape sofa arrangement of a 2 seat sofa & 3 seat sofa. Six can sit & chat comfortably. The Boardwalk LR is cramped, with one not-so-easy chair & a 2 cusion (sleeper) sofa that can seat 3, but we found not very comfortable. Totally, only 4 can sit comfortably. Dining is at a very small table with 2 chairs & 2 more chairs at a shelf on the kitchen half-wall. The kitchen is VERY compact. The 2nd BR lock-off has a queen & a sleeper sofa. So, you have a 2 BR villa, but only 2 beds. Someone is bound to get stuck on the 2 sleeper sofas, which may be OK for kids. Overall, the villas are showing their 17 years of wear & tear. They refurb every so often, but ours was rather worn. Balconys are very small with 2 chairs. For comparison, Old Key West has large balconys with a table & 4 chairs you can eat dinner on.
So, chose this resort if it suits your needs. The location will have advantages for many, but there are far better DVC resorts. The overall complex, to me, has the appearance & feeling of not-so-high-end apartments. We stayed for 2 nights this trip. It was nice to be on the boards for that time, but it was nicer to then move to another DVC resort for the remainder of our vacation.
Note: We stayed at Bay Lake Towers DVC the rest of our visit, which is a high security building. We then stayed at DVC Hilton Head en rt. home, which is on it's own island & you cannot even get onto the island unless you're staying there. The Boardwalk, however, is different. Many people not actually staying here have access & come there to walk the boards, party & drink, or go to the dance club. Theme Park goers can easily exit a park & access your resort. Be particularly aware of security here.

Two friends and I had adjoining rooms for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. We all agreed we had picked the perfect resort for our time at Walt Disney World. We were a 5-10 minute walk to Epcot (for Pasta in the Park and the finish of the Marathon), a 10-15 minute walk to Hollywood Studios, the Swan, the Dolphin, the Beach Club and the Yacht Club Resorts. We were happy to have the water taxi as a post-marathon transporation option. The buses ran frequently, and if you find yourself in a rush there were cabs available (we took one to the Contemporary Resort one night at a $15 fare.)

We're all in our early 30's and appreciated having a few places to go for drinks on the Boardwalk. There was the Disney Dance Club, Piano Bar ($12 cover charge every night we were there), Brew Pub and ESPN Zone, not to mention a few restaurants and a general store where we could pick up a few things for the room.

I agree with other reviewers that the rooms were dated and could use a makeover, but thought they were mostly clean and well maintained. They were quite large too. The room decor was not my style, but i found the grounds, lobby and common spaces charming and welcoming.

We had a great experience working with the Concierge Desk one afternoon and felt they went far and beyond to make our stay comfortable and "magical". I recommend using them to add park passes if you have not already purchased them, or if you need dinner options/reservations.

On the afternoon prior to the marathon we had a few hours by one of the small pools which was a welcome adult only experience. There were 2 smaller pools on the hotel grounds (one with a hot tub) and the Luna Pool which was quite accomodating to families. The gym was available 24 hours which was perfect because I could use a foam roller the morning of the marathon.