Disney Springs vs. Disney's Boardwalk: Complete Guide

Disney Springs and Boardwalk are both free-to-visit entertainment districts that provide activities, dining, and shopping for kids, families, and adults. They both have amazing restaurants, live entertainment, shopping, and a great, walkable experience. However, they are not the same place, and they are vastly different experiences.

Is Disney Springs or Boardwalk better? Quick Take

Disney Springs is much larger, has many dining options and is better for shopping. Boardwalk is less chaotic, more aesthetically coherent, and has some specific gems worth seeking out on their own. Boardwalk is also easier to get to during an EPCOT or Hollywood Studios park day or if you’re staying at an EPCOT or Skyliner resort.

What is Disney Springs?

Disney Springs from the water.

Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World) is an enormous shopping and entertainment area at Walt Disney World Resort, but it isn’t one of Disney’s theme parks and doesn’t require paid admission.

Calling Disney Springs 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 additional surface parking 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. Again, visiting Disney Springs is free.

Note: Today, Downtown Disney is the name of Disneyland Resort’s similar shopping district in California.

What is the Boardwalk?

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

The Boardwalk, in contrast to Disney Springs, is a much smaller, quarter-mile stretch around one side of Crescent Lake. It’s an entertainment district connected to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, and sits opposite the lake from Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and The Swan and Dolphin Hotels (run by Marriott rather than Disney).

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 it does have is 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 of 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 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 Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ for the brunch, Raglan Road for the show and food (Braised be Beef, Bread Pudding), Polite Pig for Quick Service (the only restaurant with a local chef presence), and The Edison for theming and drinks.

Newer options include Six Ravens from the creators of Gideon’s Bakehouse, serving its unusual hand-pie-style “Coffyn” sandwiches.

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), a great upscale option (Flying Fish), a delicious Italian restaurant (Trattoria al Forno), several easy quick-service options (the Boardwalk Deli 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. They’re fancy.

The Cake Bake Shop has a bakery portion with wedding-level desserts, and the restaurant portion serves upscale American and French-Creole 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 one of the best steakhouses on property (The Yachtsman Steakhouse at Yacht Club), our favorite Italian restaurant (Il Mulino), one of the best character dining experiences (Cape May Café), one of the most fun table-service restaurants (Beaches and Cream), and what I consider a hidden gem (Ale and Compass, get breakfast there if you can).

Il Mulino is most famous for its locations in New York. Get the bone-in chicken parmigiana.

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. If they ever bring the character meal back to Trattoria Al Forno, it would be another huge point in Boardwalk’s favor. That was one of my girls’ favorites when they were little.

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), Once Upon a Toy (huge 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, and Levi’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 an amazing custom minifigure experience that I wrote about here.

I barely scratched the surface. Here’s the full list of roughly 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

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 to International Gateway, the back entrance of EPCOT). 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, play more than 60 interactive games and challenges at LEVEL99, 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 the Cirque du Soleil and Disney show Drawn to Life. You can also see the shows at the various restaurants or take a ride in an Amphicar or in 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 Irish tap 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.

As of October 1, 2026, Hurly-Burly is now the centerpiece of entertainment for the Boardwalk. Before 9PM, it’s an all-ages lounge with trivia and games. After 9, it becomes an adults-only venue with live music, cocktails, and bar food.

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 used to give a slight edge to Boardwalk because of Jellyrolls (a dueling piano bar), but since it closed, I’ll have to wait and see if Hurly-Burly delivers.

Transportation to Disney Springs

Disney Springs is most easily accessible by car. It has plenty of free parking (multiple decks and surface parking lots).

If you’re staying at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort or one of the Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels (non-Disney hotels), it’s a short walk that doesn’t involve crossing any major roads. The non-Disney 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. However, to go to a Disney resort from Disney Springs you may be asked to show your room key or valid reservation.

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. This also is only for eligible guests when leaving Disney Springs.

We watched the Sassagoula 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

To get to Boardwalk by car is tricky. You can park at one of the EPCOT resorts (Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Inn) for complimentary parking if you have an eligible reservation, but this parking can fill up, and you may have to pay for valet. You can also park at Hollywood Studios or EPCOT (you’ll have to walk through EPCOT), but this costs money. The Swan and Dolphin charge for parking as well unless you have a dining reservation at one of the hotel restaurants that offers complimentary parking.

However, any resort on the Skyliner can go to the EPCOT stop for a short walk to the Boardwalk (you don’t have to go into EPCOT to use this). You can also easily walk to Boardwalk from Hollywood Studios or EPCOT.

Finally, if you’re at a Disney resort, a bus can take you to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for a quick walk or longer ride on the Skyliner. Taking the Skyliner from Hollywood Studios will require a transfer at Caribbean Beach, so it’s not as efficient as walking.

You don’t want to go to EPCOT unless you have admission to the park because EPCOT access to the Boardwalk is only available at the International Gateway in the back of the park. You’ll have to walk through 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 your day involves EPCOT or Hollywood Studios, you’re much better off heading to the Boardwalk. From Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, you can take a direct bus ride to one of the EPCOT area resorts to get to Boardwalk. It’s much more difficult to get to Disney Springs on the bus system. 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 has enough activities that you could spend several days without running out of things to do.

Here are 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. The AbracadaBar at Boardwalk is a great lounge that feels cozier and less hectic than most bars at Disney Springs. Hurly-Burly stays open until 1AM, which is significantly later than the bars at Disney Springs. However, these are just two locations, and there are so many amazing restaurants and bars at Disney Springs.

The incredible interior of AbracadaBar

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

How to Get From Disney Springs to Boardwalk

To get from Disney Springs to Boardwalk, you can take a Disney bus to one of the EPCOT resorts (Beach Club, Yacht Club, or Boardwalk Inn). However, you may be asked to show a room key or valid reservation. If you’re not eligible for the bus, I recommend driving or taking rideshare.

If you really want to take Disney transportation but aren’t eligible for the bus, you can walk to the Congress Park stop at Saratoga Springs and take a bus to Hollywood Studios, then you can walk to Boardwalk, take a boat to one of the resorts at Boardwalk, or take the Skyliner to EPCOT.

How to Get From Boardwalk to Disney Springs

To get from Boardwalk to Disney Springs, just walk to Boardwalk Inn or any Disney resort and take the bus to Disney Springs. It’s very easy. Don’t walk to Hollywood Studios or through EPCOT, the parks do not have direct transportation to Disney Springs.

Conclusion and Further Reading

The Boardwalk and Disney Springs are alike in that they both offer entertainment, restaurants, and fun activities. However, that’s where the similarities end. Disney Springs offers 10x the number of Boardwalk restaurants and shops, but Disney Springs is also more crowded. If I’m shopping or with my kids, I’m going to Disney Springs. If I’m on a date, it’s a toss up. If I’m taking a quick break from Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, it’s Boardwalk every time. 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.