Why Disney wanted a Boardwalk of its own

Image: DisneyFor decades now, Atlantic City has been strongly associated with American relaxation. It’s a place to unwind that ties together families from several generations at a place where they can make memories that will last for a lifetime. Does that description sound like anywhere else you know? Well, you’re not the only one.

During the early 1990s, The Walt Disney World Company followed an ambitious plan, one that mirrored Las Vegas to an extent. Disney wanted to copy some of the most famous destinations, bringing versions of them to Orlando, Florida. After the early success of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC), park planners plotted a second DVC property with an attached entertainment complex. They settled on the area at the back of Epcot’s World Showcase. Their ambitious, surprising decision was to create their own version of Atlantic City’s boardwalk.

With this bold choice, Disney could add new reasons for tourists to visit Walt Disney World. Also, they would hurt a major competitor. Yes, the company deems any other non-Disney tourist spot as existential threats. Any dollar you spend at a competing vacation destination is revenue Disney won’t gain. By constructing a boardwalk, Disney would provide something similar to Atlantic City plus all of the extras of a Walt Disney World vacation.

Image: DisneyThe impressive part of Disney’s decision is that they knew how easy it was to implement. The original Atlantic City boardwalk was one mile long and stood one foot off the ground. Yes, parts of it have grown over time, but the first iteration was modest.

Disney could do something similar without going overboard, claiming that their version was a tribute to the original boardwalk rather than the modern one. It was an inexpensive development project that promised significant interest from theme park tourists, people who had previously spent some time or at least expressed interest in Atlantic Beach and other similar beachfront boardwalks.

How Disney built its boardwalk

Image: DisneyThe back of Disney’s World Showcase included a beautiful place where Disney could construct waterfront hotels. They settled on a pair of resorts. On one side of the man-made Crescent Lake, Disney would add the Yacht and Beach Club properties. On the other side, they’d add a boardwalk, a place to entice guests to spend even more money. This complex would have a resort, some shops, and some restaurants. It would also have an explicit design style.

Disney built their BoardWalk as a tribute to the original Atlantic City boardwalk, but they also added a second style. It was similar in nature, thereby avoiding the potential for a muddled concept. Specifically, it was Coney Island, the beloved place where New Yorkers would flock in the summer. By marrying these two kinds of boardwalks, Disney would have their own unique spin on the concept.

Ultimately, Imagineers constructed a quarter-mile long boardwalk complex attached to the hotel we now know as Disney’s BoardWalk Resort. To keep the boardwalk authentic, they hired a design firm out of New York City that had expertise in the field. Architect Robert A. M. Stern actually did double duty, working on the BoardWalk and Disney’s Beach Club inn.

For the actual boardwalk, Disney used a herringbone pattern to populate 1,300 feet worth of pavement. It’s 35 feet wide, much smaller than the current sizes of the boardwalks that inspired Disney’s version. They honored Coney Island as much as they could, though, particularly with regards to Luna Park. It was the first amusement park at Coney Island, which was in turn inspired by Atlantic City’s boardwalk. Disney’s use of this style is recursive to an extent.

The main goal with Disney’s BoardWalk was to build a respectful version of those two classic styles of beachfront tourism. In combination with the BoardWalk, Disney added a resort that was also the first of its kind. BoardWalk Villas was the second DVC property, but it also hosted regular resort guests at BoardWalk Inn. This dual occupancy has since become the standard for DVC participants.