Saturday Savers - Nighttime Fun at Disney's Boardwalk Resort

It’s time once again to take a look at inexpensive options in or around Walt Disney World to augment your vacation experience.  Things that you might do on your own or with your traveling companions that are FREE or close to being free. Today we'll take a look at what's going on at Disney's Boardwalk Resort.

Disney's Boardwalk is built around Crescent Lake, just to the west of the International Gateway at Epcot, and a little to the north of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Its design is reminiscent of Atlantic boardwalk resorts of the 1930’s & ‘40’s. The resort itself has many fun things to see and do, and really “comes alive” at sunset and on throughout the evening hours with numerous FREE and inexpensive entertainment offerings.  It's a fun place to just walking around and enjoy the atmosphere! While some of the restaurants are open at lunchtime, the best time to visit the BoardWalk is after sunset. It's beautifully lit up, and really “comes alive” after dark.

Some of the FREE and relatively inexpensive things you can do at Disney's BoardWalk include:  

• Rent an old-fashioned fringe-topped surrey (for up to 6 guests) and ride around Crescent Lake.
• Watch the various street performers (jugglers, comedians, sword swallowers, fire-eaters, musicians, etc.)
• Get some delicious, relatively inexpensive treats at the various food vendors, shops & restaurants around the water’s edge.  Seashore Sweets includes both candy and ice cream treats, including hand-dipped cones, and shakes. 
• Try your luck at carnival-style games – these aren’t free, but can be great fun.
• Sit and watch the Friendship Boats come and go - or sit and watch the upper parts of Illuminations from Epcot (much of the show is lower level pyrotechnics, but many do go over the tops of the Boardwalk Inn and are quite visible).
• Visit Jellyroll's (a dueling piano bar featuring sing-a-longs to pop tunes). There is a cover charge of about $10 per person cover charge – and everyone must be 21 or over to enter.
• Check out Atlantic Dance Hall, which has dancing, usually with no cover charge. Everyone must be 21 or over to enter.

If you drive to the Boardwalk, you can get a FREE 3-hour parking permit from the lot attendant.  If you are staying on Disney property, you can use Disney transportation to get to the BoardWalk – either by bus or by boat.  By bus you will need to get there from one of the theme parks, water parks or Downtown Disney – as there are no resort to resort buses.  So if you are going straight from your resort – hop on any theme park bus and then transfer  over to a Boardwalk bus.  By boat, you can get there from either Disney Hollywood Studios or Epcot’s International Gateway (you could walk from either of these locations in a short amount of time).