Disney Springs vs. Disney's Boardwalk: Complete Guide 2024

Walt Disney World is more than just a theme park destination, it’s a completely immersive experience, in and out of theme parks and water parks. You can go the parks, play golf, minigolf, go to restaurants and pools at resorts, and then there are the entertainment areas.

Disney Springs and Boardwalk are multi-faceted entertainment districts that provide tons of things to do for kids, families, and adults. They both have amazing restaurants, live entertainment, shopping, and a great, walkable experience. However, they are vastly different. Which is better? I’ll lay out the details, give you my opinion, and let you make your own. Of course, the best option is to go to both areas multiple times and decide.

What is Disney Springs?

Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney and several other names throughout history) is an enormous shopping and entertainment area on the eastern portion of the Walt Disney World Resort. Calling it an outdoor mall doesn’t really do it justice, but that’s the best analog. It has tons of stores like a mall, but it also has more than 60 restaurants, a movie theater, Cirque du Soleil, and a hot air balloon (really helium, not hot air). There are multiple places for free, live entertainment, and plenty of paid experiences. It’s large enough to have 3 parking garages and 4 surface lots and can be accessed by a variety of Disney transportation options.

It’s an awesome place for a night away from the parks—with your kids or just adults.

What is the Boardwalk?

A view of the Boardwalk from Beach Club, where we stayed recently.

The Boardwalk, by contrast, is much smaller. It’s an entertainment district connected to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, and sits on one part of Crescent Lake shared with Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and The Swan and Dolphin Hotels (owned by Marriott).

Themed to look like early 1900s Coney Island, it has roughly a dozen restaurants, cafes, and bars, few shopping options, and only a handful of entertainment options. However, what is does have if top notch. Each establishment sits around an actual boardwalk lit up by the bright lightbulbs of an old timey theater sign.

One of the best perks is that you can see the EPCOT Spaceship Earth ball and the EPCOT fireworks in the distance behind Beach Club.

One my favorite views at Disney World, seeing Spaceship Earth rise up behind Beach Club. I’m viewing it from the Boardwalk.

Dining at Disney Springs

Disney Springs operates as a kind of celebrity culinary Mecca. It has over 60 restaurants that are known for celebrity chefs (Art Smith, Wolfgang Puck, Masaharu Morimoto), incredible theming (Rainforest Café, The Edison, Raglan Road), and incredibly creative, upscale offerings (Jaleo, Boathouse, Paddlefish). If you want to an immersive experience with delicious and creative food, Disney Springs has it. They also have several specialty dessert places, food trucks, and craft drink booths.

My personal favorites are Art Smith’s Homecoming for the brunch, Raglan Road for the show and food (Braised be Beef, Bread Pudding), Polite Pig for Quick Service (the only locally owned restaurant), and The Edison for theming and drinks.

Biscuits, gravy, fried chicken, and fried egg at Art Smith’s Homecoming. Boardwalk can’t compare to the weekend brunch. We loved it.

It’s hard to do justice to the sheer breadth (pun intended) of options, so here’s the full list of options https://www.disneysprings.com/dining/.

Dining at Boardwalk

Boardwalk, by contrast, only has about a dozen restaurants, bars, and cafes. After all, it’s really just the resort dining options for Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort. But as I hinted, the options they have are phenomenal.

You have multiple immersive themed bars like the Belle Vue Lounge and the Abracadabar (a Houdini-esque Victorian-era magic themed bar), two great upscale options (Trattoria al Forno and Flying Fish), several easy quick services (the Boardwalk and the Pizza Window) for the family, and a few dessert and specialty drink options. Here’s Disney’s list of the Boardwalk Restaurants.

The outside of Flying Fish. Don’t let the neon fool you. It’s one of the only Disney restaurants with a stated dress code…that they won’t enforce because it’s Disney.

At the time of writing, another restaurant is set to open. The Cake Bake Shop has a bakery portion with wedding-level desserts, and the restaurant portion will be upscale French café food. Both sides look phenomenal.

Dining Verdict

If you love the hustle and bustle of Disney and want a myriad of options, Disney Springs is the way to go. If you want a quieter, more quaint experience with fewer options, head to the Boardwalk. If you pick the right places, you’ll have a great meal either way.

In our experience, Disney Springs is a bigger hit with our kids than Boardwalk is. However, I could go either way when it comes to adult dining. If dining is the only thing on the agenda, I’ll probably pick Disney Springs unless I’m coming from EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, or one of the EPCOT resorts.

Also, I should mention a caveat. Depending on how you look at it, you could include the restaurants of Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Swan and Dolphin in the Boardwalk choices. This would give you two of the best steakhouses on property (Shula’s at the Dolphin resort and The Yachtsman at Yacht Club), one of the best character dining experiences (Cape May Café), one of the most unique casual table services (Beaches and Cream), and what I consider a hidden gem (Ale and Compass). Both Disney Springs and Boardwalk have great ice cream shops, but Beaches and Cream (if allowed to factor in) is by far the most famous.

My daughter is a huge fan of the ice cream at Beaches and Cream

Considering it like that, the quality of restaurants is amazing at Boardwalk, and Disney Springs doesn’t have any character meals. They may also bring the character meal back to Trattoria Al Forno, which would be another huge point in Boardwalk’s favor.

Shopping at Disney Springs

Disney Springs has a mind-blowing amount of stores. First, it has several Disney stores. From the enormous World of Disney (the largest gift shop on property), the Disney Toy Store, several style shops, and niche shops like Star Wars, Marvel, art, Christmas, and Candy shops, you can buy almost any Disney souvenir you want without ever stepping foot in a park.

The entrance to the World of Disney Store. I took the picture from across the lake while we waited for the Rainforest Cafe volcano to blow. That dragon is made of Legos, by the way.

Second, if you want to pretend you’re in the fashion districts of Los Angeles, Paris, or Milan, and you want to spend a lot of money, Disney Springs will oblige you. With multiple jewelry stores and sunglass stores, Lilly Pulitzer, Johnny Was, Kate Spade, and more, you can buy a shirt or blouse for the price of one night in a deluxe resort.

 Third, Disney Springs has plenty of trendy brand stores like Uniqlo, Anthropologie, Levi’s, Sanuk’s, if you want to pretend you’re at the mall in 1995.

Internationally cool clothes, some of which have creative Disney theming. Apparently Uniqlo is a big deal in major US cities and around the world.

Finally, Disney Springs has some amazing kid and family stores besides the Disney stores like the Coca-Cola store, and of course, the iconic LEGO Store.

The LEGO store has a an amazing custom minifigure experience that I wrote about here.

I barely scratched the surface. Here’s the full list of over 90(!!) stores https://www.disneysprings.com/shopping/

Shopping at Boardwalk

Well, there’s not much shopping at the Boardwalk. There’s Thimbles and Threads and the Screen Door gift shop. They are actually just one store, and they are the gift shop for the Boardwalk Inn. This is definitely the biggest weakness when comparing it to Disney Springs.

Verdict on Shopping

This is pretty obvious. The best shopping is at Disney Springs. The only way to make this comparable would be if you included EPCOT in the shopping options for Boardwalk (5 minute walk). I don’t think that’s fair because most people consider the park a separate experience.

Entertainment at Disney Springs

Like the shopping and dining, Disney Springs has an enormous and varied amount of entertainment. There are multiple open-air stages for free live music and other acts. You can visit the House of Blues, go bowling at Splitsville (which has great sushi for some reason), watch a movie at the AMC Theater (buy your tickets ahead of time), see a Cirque Du Soleil show, see the shows at the various restaurants, or take a ride in an Amphicar or on the Aerophile balloon.

The AMC theater at Disney Springs. Get your tickets several days ahead of time, especially if it’s a new movie.

We think the best options at Disney Springs are the live show at Raglan Road (Irish folk music and River Dancing) and the music at The Edison, popular hits played in a 1920s swing and ragtime style.

The baby and I wishing we knew how to tap dance. At Raglan Road.

For the full list, click here https://www.disneysprings.com/attractions-and-entertainment/

Entertainment at Boardwalk

As you’ve probably already guessed, the Boardwalk has far fewer entertainment options, but what it does have is unique and amazing. For families, you can rent surrey bikes to ride around the boardwalk, play boardwalk Midway games for prizes like a fair, crash the Boardwalk Inn movie on the lawn or Boardwalk arcade, or enjoy the street performers.

Midway games at the Boardwalk. My kids begged to waste my money here.

The adults have Jellyrolls and the Atlantic Dance Hall. The Atlantic Dance Hall should be swing or big band, but instead it’s like a high school dance with music videos on a massive screen (and a bar, so more like a wedding reception). We only went once, and there were only about 40 people in the massive venue, but I’ve heard that it can be quite the place.

The Atlantic Dance Hall. We people-watched from the balcony while grown adults did the Cha Cha Slide.

Jellyrolls on the other hand, was like no Disney experience I’ve ever had. Dueling pianos, playing any song that’s requested, creates an unbelievably fun environment. When we went, there were at least 200 people there, and it was wild. The musicians were phenomenal, the bartenders came up on the stage several times to do ridiculous dances, and the musicians would sing amazing four-part harmony on occasional songs. Disney songs, current pop songs, metal songs, classic songs, they could play it all. When we walked in, tfhe whole crowd was screaming along to the Cranberries’ Zombie, and then they moved into Sinatra’s I Did it my Way.

The wild world of Jellyrolls. We barely managed to get seats in the back.

Both Jellyrolls and the dance hall were open well past midnight and were for adults only. If you’re looking for lively nightlife, very few things at Disney Springs can compare.

Verdict on Entertainment

If you want to have fun as a family, Disney Springs has much more to offer. However, as an adult, both Disney Springs and the Boardwalk have plenty of things to do. I give a slight edge to Boardwalk for adults because I don’t think I’ve had as much fun at Disney World outside the parks than I when we went to Jellyrolls, and it’s open much later.

Transportation to Disney Springs

Disney Springs is most easily accessible by car. It has plenty of free parking (multiple decks and surface parking lots), and free parking is hard to come by on Disney property.

If you’re staying at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort or one of the Good Neighbor Disney Springs hotels, it’s a short walk that doesn’t involve crossing any major roads. The Good Neighbor hotels have multiple sky bridges to cross the roads.

Skywalk: safe enough to make my daughter push the stroller.

Here’s my reviews of the Disney Springs Drury and my review of the Disney Springs Hilton Palace.

All the Disney Resorts have bus access to Disney Springs as well. Finally, you can take a boat to and from Disney Springs from Saratoga Springs Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort, or Disney’s Old Key West Resort.

We watched the Friendship boat go by on its way to Port Orleans Riverside from Disney Springs.

The only thing you can’t do (at least not easily) is get from Disney parks to Disney Springs on the Disney transportation system. Here’s how to get to Disney Springs from the Parks.

Transportation to Boardwalk

Boardwalk has some interesting options for transportation. To get there by car is tricky. You either need to be parked at Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, be staying at one of the EPCOT resorts (Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Inn, Swan, Dolphin, or the Swan Reserve), or you need a reservation for dinner at one of these resorts (including the Boardwalk restaurants) in order to park there.

However, any resort on the Skyliner can go to EPCOT for a short walk to the Boardwalk. You can also easily walk there from Hollywood Studios or EPCOT. Finally, any of the buses can take you to the Skyliner at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a quick walk. You don’t want to go to EPCOT unless you have admission to the park because access to the Boardwalk is only available at the International Gateway in the back of the park.

We’ve just walked from EPCOT to Boardwalk, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t understand the photo instructions our wives gave us.

You can also take Friendship Boats from EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, or one of the EPCOT resorts if you don’t feel like walking.

Verdict on Transportation

Disney Springs is much more accessible for the average Disney World guest. However, if you happen to find yourself at a Skyliner resort, or even better, one of the EPCOT resorts, it’s much easier to get to the Boardwalk.

If you’re day involves EPCOT or Hollywood Studios, you’re much better off heading to the Boardwalk. If you’re at Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom, it will take a little bit of work to get to either venue. Don’t forget, rideshares like Uber or Lyft can take you anywhere you want to go.

Disney Springs or Boardwalk for Kids?

It’s pretty obvious that there is much more to do for kids and families at Disney Springs. There are some fun things to do at The Boardwalk, but Disney Springs activities can last you for several days.

Here’s all the best things to do with kids and families at Disney Springs

Disney Springs or Boardwalk for Adults?

This one is a toss-up. Both venues have great restaurants, bars, and entertainment for a date night or a group of adult friends. However, The Boardwalk alone offers true adults-only entertainment that stays open much later than Disney Springs. If I had to pick, I’d end a grown-up night at Jellyrolls every time, but there are so many amazing restaurants at Disney Springs.

Here’s all of my date night ideas for Disney World.

Conclusion and Further Reading

The Boardwalk and Disney Springs are alike in that they both offer entertainment, restaurants, and fun activities. But, that’s where the similarities end. Disney Springs is more than 10x larger than The Boardwalk but also more crowded. I recommend checking out both multiple times. I hope this helps you make a decision on your next Walt Disney World vacation.

For further reading, check out my things to do besides the parks at Disney World for some great options when you’re not at the parks. Have you been to Disney Springs and the Boardwalk? Let me know your opinions in the comments below.