The aesthetics

Image: debmomof3, Flickr (license)

When it comes to architectural design from the so-called Disney Decade, you’d be hard pressed to find a greater success story than the Boardwalk Inn. With its intricate and period-accurate design elements, as well as its brilliantly applied theme, the resort embodies the great seaside resorts of the early 20th century. 

Designed by frequent Disney collaborators Robert A.M. Stern, the Boardwalk opened in 1996 — right at the peak of then-CEO Michael Eisner’s reign. It represented everything great about that era of Disney: It was bold, it was well-themed, and it was fun.

Everything from the miniature carousel model located in the main lobby to the artfully designed Belle Vue Lounge perfectly evokes the era at work. The entertainment district itself — also designed by Stern — melts together in a beautifully consistent vista that is absolutely beautiful when viewed from across the lake.

And, as an added bonus, the horticulture and pool features — including the roller-coaster themed water slide — all give the Boardwalk Inn a feeling of classic Americana and whimsical anachronism. It’s a vintage resort that never actually existed in this way — it’s the 1920s how we all imaged them, rather than how they actually were.

The intangibles

Image: christiantlambert, Flickr (license)

It isn’t any one of these elements that makes Disney’s Boardwalk Inn so special, though. It’s how they all come together that makes the resort feel so unique among Disneys’ resort ventures.

The bright lights you see as you approach the resort for the first time both evokes the 1920s era and makes it seem more magical than that era ever truly was. The energy on the Boardwalk itself — a combination of weary park goers, excited diners, and captivated fans of street magic — makes it feel almost like a Disney theme park itself. 

But above all, the combination of entertainment and lodging is what sets the Boardwalk apart among Disney’s resorts. It’s what gives the Boardwalk its unique feeling. Guests staying on the property get to enjoy Disney’s only true urban-style resort offering — with guest rooms existing above restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues. That proximity of nightlife and living quarters makes the entire space feel more alive than any other Disney resort.

Sure, the monorail resorts “feel” more like Disney, but if you’re looking for something right in the middle of it all — with plenty to do and see — you really cannot do better than the Boardwalk Inn.