Beach Club or Boardwalk Resort - first time in Epcot resort area

Hi everyone! I am currently planning my next Disney vacation. We usually stay at one of the monorail resorts and love them. This trip we want to change it up and stay at one of the Epcot resorts. I did some research and I am having trouble deciding between Beach Club and Boardwalk Inn. I would love to hear people’s opinions on which one they think is better and why. We will be getting 2 rooms. One with grandparents and the other with children ages 6-9. Thanks is advance!

I haven’t stayed at the Boardwalk, but absolutely loved the Beach Club. The location is closest to Epcot, and the pools are fabulous. There are lots of exits that make getting to Epcot easier when the weather is bad, or just plain hot. I hear the Boardwalk has lots of long hallways and everyone has to enter/exit near the lobby, which can make for a long walk just to get out of the hotel.

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The Beach Club pool which is shared with the Yacht club is generally considered the best on property and a mini water park. If you plan on a lot of pool time with the kids, that’s probably reason enough to go Beach right there. The Boardwalk pool does feature a creepy clown though, so if you’re into weird looking clowns, you may want to go that way :slight_smile:

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Beach Club! The pool is amazing and Cape May Cafe and Beaches and Cream are wonderful. We loved it there!

I’ve stayed at both and would definitely recommend the Beach Club. I think the hotel has a better layout. It is crazy close to Epcot. And it has the most amazing pool. Boardwalk has the creepy clown pool.

You can still enjoy the board walk if you stay at beach club and last time I looked beach club was cheaper

Swan and dolphin even cheaper and again you can still enjoy the boardwalk

We’ve stayed at beach club and swan and would go back to either

It’s the location that’s the big winner for these hotels. I feel you need park hopper to go into other parks during the day and world showcase in epcot to dine in the evening though to get the most from the location

Thank you everyone for the feedback! It does sound like Beach Club is the winner. I do want to enjoy the boardwalk during my stay and it sounds like I will be able to do that.

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That creepy clown is the one things that detours us from Boardwalk. I hate that thing.

Beach Club all the way

How long does it take to walk to Epcot and HS from each resort?

Thanks for all the input! What are people’s thoughts about the Swan and Dolphin as an option?

I haven’t stayed at Swan or Dolphin personally, but reading threads I think the general sentiment is “Great deal on a solid hotel in a wonderful location, but it’s missing the DIS magic somewhat and doesn’t quite stack up to a DIS deluxe, but given you may be able to get it at a moderate price, they are worth considering due to location.” And if you can stay on Marriott/Sheraton points, it’s an even better deal.

Do make sure you realize they will charge you a resort fee ($28/), and parking ($20/) plus no DME. Those extras can add up fast so be sure to add them in when comparing to your stay on property…

Here’s a blog from Touring Plans with a more complete summary:

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I’m curious about that as well. We loved TBC villas, they were so close to Epcot. Studios are booked now so considering Boardwalk villas.

Give or take -
10 minutes to Epcot, 25 min to HS. Look at a map, they are pretty close to each other. I know that 10/25 sounds very “general” but once you’re there, you’ll see.

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If you don’t care about DME, or a dining plan, then you should take a closer look at Swolphin. If you are a Costco member, you should take a pretty close look at their package when comparing prices. I believe I made the right choice for my family in choosing Swan, but everyone is different. I will have no problem booking the same package again when we return, and it’s a great baseline to have on what we can get for the price of the Costco package.

We’ll be spending a decent enough time at Epcot and DHS next time, so the proximity is a decent factor when pricing options for me.

Won’t have a car, so don’t care about parking fees.

DME 3 hours before departure, and no grocery stop after pickup from mco? Uber has me covered with that for about 80 dollars total.

I have magic bands at 13 dollars each.

Walking to epcot and using the ig? breeze.

Better food at the hotel? Nice.

Heavenly beds? Nice.

There’s more…The pools, a few Costco extras, (I hate to say it, but walking to ample hills rates very favorably for me.) Kimonos for darned good sushi at a fair price, walking back to the room after illuminations while most people are just getting to their bus q or car. There’s a bunch of little things that add up. It was a great choice for our family.

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Thank you for all of the opinions and information! I ended up booking the Beach Club but I am still debating on changing it to Swan and Dolphin because of the price difference. I will need the DME though.