Community Halls are a wonderful feature of select Disney Vacation Club resorts, but they’re so often overlooked! Did you know that anyone is welcome inside Community Halls, and you do not need to be a DVC member or a resort guest to enjoy everything that Community Halls offer? The Frank W. Eahlers Community Hall at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas is the perfect place to spend some time on a rainy day, before your room is ready on arrival day or after you’ve checked out on departure day, or if you just need a quiet place to relax and escape the park crowds. Obviously, it’s easiest to hang out here if you’re staying at BoardWalk or visiting BoardWalk for a dining reservation, but it’s also walking distance from the nearby Yacht & Beach Club, Swan & Dolphin, or Swan Reserve. And it’s a relaxing Friendship Boat ride away from Hollywood Studios or Epcot’s International Gateway, which makes it a great place to take an afternoon break from the parks.

You’ll find the BoardWalk Community Hall just past the Luna Park Pool - follow the path toward Hollywood Studios until you reach the DVC Courtyard. There, you’ll find a quiet pool, the BBQ grill area, the fire pit for nightly campfires, and the Community Hall building. There are a few outdoor games available, such as ping pong, giant Connect 4, billiards, and cornhole.

The Community Hall is open from 10:00 AM-10:00 PM daily. It’s a very cozy space with a big, comfortable sofa, bean bags, plenty of craft tables, and friendly Cast Members who will gladly welcome you in. There are a wide variety of free and paid activities available.

Let’s look at the free options first - you’ll find a couple of cool video game stations with big screens, gaming chairs or bean bags, and a list of available PS4 games, and you can just let a Cast Member know which game you’d like and they’ll grab the game and controllers for you. There are also some free arcade games in the Community Hall, including Star Wars Pinball, Ms. Pac-Man, Foosball, and Air Hockey. You can also select from a wide variety of Disney coloring pages, and they’ll provide you with plenty of washable markers to use. You might even be chosen to be one of the Artists of the Day! DVD rental is also free but is only available to BoardWalk guests, as well as sports equipment rental. There are even a few board games you can borrow!

There are a lot of paid crafts available, ranging from $5.00 to $20.00. A lot of these are painting projects, so keep that in mind if you’re just visiting BoardWalk and not staying there - if you want to leave your project at Community Hall while the paint dries, you’ll need to plan to come back and pick it up before the end of your trip.

The biggest focus on crafts is ceramics. There are so many different options, including banks, plates, bowls, character figures, mugs, dog bowls, magnets, and more. You can paint these with acrylic paint, which dries within a few hours and can be sealed with a spray gloss (and you can even add glitter!) Or, you can glaze them and have them fired in a kiln for a food-safe and washable finish, which is a great option for the dinnerware pieces. If you want to glaze your ceramic pieces, Cast Members will let you know that glazing and firing is a two-day process, so you should make sure you have at least a few more days of vacation left before starting this project. When it’s finished, your completed project will be set out on the Community Hall Craft Pickup shelf so you can grab it whenever you have a chance.

They also have Magical Memory Shadowboxes available, which are $20.00. This is a nicely framed art piece that you’ll paint the background for, and then use stencils to create an iconic Disney silhouette in the foreground. It serves as a great memento of your vacation and it’s not too big, so it can be easily packed in your luggage.

Finally, there are bunch of other crafts available, including Make Your Own Ballyhoo Goo (Slime) ($5.00), Make Your Own Pixie Dust Necklace ($6.00), Make Your Own Bracelet ($15.00), Decorate Your Own Drawstring or Tote Bag ($5.00), Decorate Your Own Umbrella ($6.00), and more! Cast Members will walk you through any of these projects and are there to help however they can.

As you can see, there’s a lot to do at BoardWalk’s Community Hall! Another perk is that kids over the age of 12 are allowed to hang out in the Community Hall without an adult, so you can let teens spend a few hours here playing video games while the adults go have a nice dinner at Flying Fish or drinks at the amazing AbracadaBar. This is also a nice, quiet place with familiar activities like video games, coloring, or just cuddling up on a sofa to watch a Disney movie that’s perfect for kids with sensory sensitivities - it’s a wonderful, homey environment that’s a great escape when the parks start to feel overwhelming or overstimulating. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity for you or your kids to create an inexpensive yet meaningful souvenir here the next time you visit BoardWalk!

Frank W. Eahlers Community Hall | Daily from 10:00 AM-10:00 PM | BoardWalk

*Activity dates and times listed here were accurate at the time this review was published. Resort activities and activity schedules may change month-to-month, so be sure to check the current BoardWalk Recreation Calendar for updated times/dates when making plans to participate.