Once upon a Food & Wine, I had been sippin’ and savorin’ around the World Showcase with some new friends with whom I had fundamental traits in common — a love for Walt Disney World and SEC Football.
My girlfriend and I, alumni of the illustrious University of Georgia, and our EPCOT entourage, alumni of the new-to-the-SEC University of Missouri, were bandying around the idea of watching the match-up between their Tigers and our Bulldogs after we’d had our fill of Food & Wine. Being a connoisseur of Disney resorts, I suggested we catch the game at the ESPN Club on the BoardWalk. Our companions agreed, and as we swiftly slurped down our margaritas on the way toward the International Gateway, I was surprised to learn that Jack and Allison hadn’t known of the area between the France and U.K. pavilions which allowed guests entry and exit directly to and from the World Showcase.
Making our way past the Friendship Boat dock, the strings of lights across Crescent Lake caught Jack’s eyes. He wondered at the world he entered, just steps away from one of the world’s most-visited theme parks, and bathed in neon from the signs and the warm glow emanating from the upper-level balconies, he asked, incredulously, “Ally, did you know about this place?”
Strangely, these two annual passholders from families who took annual trips to the Vacation Kingdom of the World had never come upon Disney’s BoardWalk.
While waiting for a table at ESPN Club, we moseyed down to AbracadaBar, and I gave my best elevator pitch for the expansive variety of experiences that the BoardWalk offered. But, once we were chowing down on game food at the ESPN Club, I knew that the best testimony for the BoardWalk was their own experience: stepping onto a turn-of-the-century Atlantic boardwalk just a breath away from EPCOT, tucking into a 1920s illusionists’ watering hole for a libation and finishing the night with the best game experience and stadium food outside of, well, the actual stadium.
Disney’s BoardWalk is a hidden gem full of enough magic to awe even the most experienced Disney Parks veterans.
Ally, did you know about this place?
The first Disney hotel I stayed at was Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. We checked in after sunset on a chilly November night for a weekend stay in celebration of our third anniversary. Walking into the front doors, emblazoned with warm, nostalgic lights spelling out the resort’s name, I couldn’t help but feel like an early 19th-century captain of industry checking into a seaside resort at the dawn of outdoor amusements.
Everything, from the music and radio broadcasts, filling the air inside the resort to the authentic antique furniture and decor, served to continue the holistic realism of being dropped into a turn of the century amusement hub on the Atlantic coast. A vacationer can easily lose themselves in this narrative and create their own story in this scarily-accurate historical setting. The definition of “theme” in theme park and themed entertainment was most fully explained to me in the practical experience of exploring Disney’s BoardWalk Inn.
Our room’s balcony was overlooking Crescent Lake and the titular BoardWalk, giving us perfect views of the glowing lights shining on the lake while we sipped a nightcap from the Belle Vue Lounge and of the sunrise during our morning coffee hour. And, the room, my was it perfect — just enough distinctly Disney touches while all the elements were utilized in service of strengthening and continuing the theme.
A seaside resort at the dawn of outdoor amusements.
The resort was far too vast to completely explore in our first weekend stay there, yet we were able to indulge in many of their offerings, including a wonderful grab-and-go breakfast from the BoardWalk Bakery and a decadent dessert from Ample Hills Creamery. After several visits back and a longer stay at Disney’s Yacht Club just last year, I’ve had more wonderful moments around Crescent Lake, however, almost two years later, I haven’t come close to checking off all of the delightful entertainments I long to experience.
Disney’s BoardWalk area is a vacation destination unto itself, enchanting and enveloping in equal measure.
Disney fans will find magic here and possibly…even, themselves.
Austin Vaughn is a columnist for the Boardwalk Times
