Just past the International Gateway, one of the hidden gems of Walt Disney World is visible. Disney’s BoardWalk is a bit incongruous for the area, but this tourist hub is part of a distinct plan. The company wanted to recreate an iconic slice of Americana in a new location. Today, we’ll look at the history of the BoardWalk entertainment district, explaining why Disney loved the concept and how they constructed such an authentic replica.
The first Boardwalk
Image: DisneyWhen you think about Atlantic City now, your mind pictures a tourist destination, a place where residents of New York, New Jersey, and other nearby states love to spend a weekend or part of summer vacation. They hang out for a few days at this timeless oceanfront vacation spot, relishing time on the beach. They may have some fun at the casinos, too, although gambling’s hold on the city has diminished in recent years.
What you may not know is that Atlantic City is also home to the original boardwalk. Back in the 19th century, the sleepy little city by the bench wanted to attract tourists. City planners understood the appeal of the water. They also recognized that the town didn’t offer much else, though. They embarked on a new strategy, a way to entice guests to visit frequently.
Image: DisneyThe key to their plan was to build over the beach. No, I don’t mean to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Instead, they added a second level to the beach, so to speak. On the level above the gorgeous sand, Atlantic City constructed new infrastructure. It was capable of hosting shops and restaurants, ones that guests could walk by on their way to or from the beach.
This boardwalk also solved the largest problem with building around a beach. It’s the issue hidden in plain sight, the sand. You know that sand tracks everywhere, and it gets in all sorts of crevices. After spending time at the beach, you’ll find sand in your clothes, your bags, and…less comfortable places. With a new public space that was controlled the amount of sand, Atlantic City quickly grew in reputation as a great place to spend time, a reputation that it’s maintained for almost 150 years.
Why Disney wanted a Boardwalk of its own
Image: DisneyFor decades now, Atlantic City has been strongly associated with American relaxation. It’s a place to unwind that ties together families from several generations at a place where they can make memories that will last for a lifetime. Does that description sound like anywhere else you know? Well, you’re not the only one.
During the early 1990s, The Walt Disney World Company followed an ambitious plan, one that mirrored Las Vegas to an extent. Disney wanted to copy some of the most famous destinations, bringing versions of them to Orlando, Florida. After the early success of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC), park planners plotted a second DVC property with an attached entertainment complex. They settled on the area at the back of Epcot’s World Showcase. Their ambitious, surprising decision was to create their own version of Atlantic City’s boardwalk.
With this bold choice, Disney could add new reasons for tourists to visit Walt Disney World. Also, they would hurt a major competitor. Yes, the company deems any other non-Disney tourist spot as existential threats. Any dollar you spend at a competing vacation destination is revenue Disney won’t gain. By constructing a boardwalk, Disney would provide something similar to Atlantic City plus all of the extras of a Walt Disney World vacation.
Image: DisneyThe impressive part of Disney’s decision is that they knew how easy it was to implement. The original Atlantic City boardwalk was one mile long and stood one foot off the ground. Yes, parts of it have grown over time, but the first iteration was modest.
Disney could do something similar without going overboard, claiming that their version was a tribute to the original boardwalk rather than the modern one. It was an inexpensive development project that promised significant interest from theme park tourists, people who had previously spent some time or at least expressed interest in Atlantic Beach and other similar beachfront boardwalks.
How Disney built its boardwalk
Image: DisneyThe back of Disney’s World Showcase included a beautiful place where Disney could construct waterfront hotels. They settled on a pair of resorts. On one side of the man-made Crescent Lake, Disney would add the Yacht and Beach Club properties. On the other side, they’d add a boardwalk, a place to entice guests to spend even more money. This complex would have a resort, some shops, and some restaurants. It would also have an explicit design style.
Disney built their BoardWalk as a tribute to the original Atlantic City boardwalk, but they also added a second style. It was similar in nature, thereby avoiding the potential for a muddled concept. Specifically, it was Coney Island, the beloved place where New Yorkers would flock in the summer. By marrying these two kinds of boardwalks, Disney would have their own unique spin on the concept.
Ultimately, Imagineers constructed a quarter-mile long boardwalk complex attached to the hotel we now know as Disney’s BoardWalk Resort. To keep the boardwalk authentic, they hired a design firm out of New York City that had expertise in the field. Architect Robert A. M. Stern actually did double duty, working on the BoardWalk and Disney’s Beach Club inn.
For the actual boardwalk, Disney used a herringbone pattern to populate 1,300 feet worth of pavement. It’s 35 feet wide, much smaller than the current sizes of the boardwalks that inspired Disney’s version. They honored Coney Island as much as they could, though, particularly with regards to Luna Park. It was the first amusement park at Coney Island, which was in turn inspired by Atlantic City’s boardwalk. Disney’s use of this style is recursive to an extent.
The main goal with Disney’s BoardWalk was to build a respectful version of those two classic styles of beachfront tourism. In combination with the BoardWalk, Disney added a resort that was also the first of its kind. BoardWalk Villas was the second DVC property, but it also hosted regular resort guests at BoardWalk Inn. This dual occupancy has since become the standard for DVC participants.
The quirks of the BoardWalk
Image: DisneyTo create a plausible representation of other famous boardwalks, Imagineers infused this region with special touches. Some of them are even authentic for the era. The Miniature Carousel that you’ve seen in the hotel lobby dates back to the 1920s, the glory days of the Northeastern boardwalks.
A craftsman named Marcus Charles Illions built a series of three carousels over a short period of time. Others coined his work as the Masters Series of Carousels. Illions didn’t build the one that you see at Disney’s BoardWalk. Instead, it was a sales tactic. He wanted to market his carousels at a precursor of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the main convention for the amusement industry.
Illions showed his creation to the observers there in hopes of finding new clients. The carousel that you know and love wasn’t even used again until the 1990s. Disney bought it and then lovingly retouched it to display at the resort starting in 1996.
Image: DisneyThe companion piece is the Hippocampus Electrolier, which rests about the Miniature Carousel. In simpler terms, it’s a bunch of golden horses hanging above the carousel. This piece is a chandelier with a specific purpose. Its sole purpose is to garner attention, as was the case with many showy sights from the boardwalk tourist areas. The catch with this “electrolier” is that it uses electric lamps rather than candles or gas lighting. Electricity was still new back when Atlantic City built its boardwalk, a nice touch of symbolic tribute.
Two other items in the hotel lobby hearken back to the glory days of boardwalk vacations. The Flip Flap Railway is a curious item from the history of the roller coaster, and Disney honors the Luna Park ride with a model at the BoardWalk Resort. You can examine one of the earliest thrill rides in the industry. Similarly, you can look at the last remaining Clamshell Mutascope. In the early days of BoardWalk, the hotel had several of them, but Disney gradually removed the others. If you’re wondering, the Clamshell Mutascope is a kind of a Viewfinder, although its actual intent was as an early form of motion picture display. It was a staple of the boardwalk era, as it was the height of tourist activities at the time, particularly in penny arcades.
Image: DisneyDisney also extended the boardwalk theme to the pool and grounds. You’re probably familiar with the dreaded clown pool at Disney’s BoardWalk. It’s a roller coaster track waterslide that sends swimmers out through the mouth of a clown. While many Disney fanatics, myself included, joke about the creep factor with this pool, it’s authentic in detail. The combination of the older wooden coaster path and over-the-top clown facing are perfectly thematic for the old-school style of Luna Park and other early amusement parks at boardwalks.
In constructing, their BoardWalk, Disney wanted to honor the history of theme park tourism while also hurting the competition. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, as park attendance has spiked since the debut of this part of Walt Disney World. Meanwhile, Atlantic City has withered during the 21st century. Its form of entertainment seems woefully outdated. Somehow, Disney does Atlantic City better than Atlantic City does.
