There's a Great Big Beautiful Blog: The Boathouse in Disney Springs

We've had the pleasure of eating and drinking at one of the newest restaurants in Disney Springs, The Boathouse. We've walked in right off the street and sat at the bar and at the surrounding first come first serve tables. We've had reservations a couple times and one time even walked up and got a table immediately. At first the Disney Dining app did not allow for reservations, however it does now.
The atmosphere is amazing, even if you're not a nautical person. Each wall is decorated with some sort of miniaturized boat, a full size boat engine, some sort of propeller or part of a boat or ship. Outside are multiple boats, most of which are 'art work' and not meant for use. Two boats are for hire and offer champagne and strawberry cruises around the lake. We have not taken advantage of this yet but plan to. Boathouse also has the amphicars for hire and the price was $125 for an hour (with a captain), however I believe this price has been reduced recently.

These half boat half car machines are really cool to see, and while we haven't made the time to actually ride one we have stopped and watched them in the lake from time to time. With the prices dropping, I suspect lots of people will be giving them a go very soon.

The original menu was a bit intimidating and has been modified so as to not scare off the economic minded diner. Originally the menu had items like the 32oz rib chop for 2, priced at $115.00. Other items like caviar were also priced quite high. This type of high end dining is still available at The Boathouse, however the main menu you see as you walk up will not show the rib chop or caviar. These items are on a smaller menu available upon request. The rib chop is also reduced down to a 28oz and the price is lowered to $89 on our last visit ($100 the visit before that). The point I'm making is they appear to be feeling out the crowd at Disney Springs and making adjustments to fit the needs of the guest.

The bar service is great, as expected. The staff is very well trained and very friendly. One bartender made me a Sazarac one evening and it was perfect, it's not every bartender that even knows what that drink is. The Moscow Mule is a good choice for a nice cool drink and my wife loves that one, we've tried it here a couple of times now. Margarita's appear to be a common drink here and they are also very good. All in all we enjoy the bar area and have had no very little wait time for a seat. On our last visit, our server Tonia, was the best and most attentive server of all. She took time to explain why the menu changed, how it intimidated customers and she was familiar with Tables In Wonderland although The Boathouse is not a member of TIW yet. Once we discussed the TIW discount and discussed how we were hoping The Boathouse would join the program, she asked if we were passholders and told us about how they offer discounts for annual passholders. Always a great experience here, but Tonia was above and beyond. Look her up if you go.

You'll also notice more and more that Disney is referring to the former Downtown Disney area as Disney Springs. We found brochures for the first time titled Disney Springs. It's quite exciting, even as the sounds of construction echo in the background, that Disney Springs is starting to take shape. The pedestrian bridge is also open now and it looks great and really helps with congestion!

Next door to The Boathouse is a rumored Indiana Jones themed restaurant/bar called The Hangar. I hope to be there when it opens and blog about it as soon as possible!

The food is delicious, and who wouldn't expect that? We've tried burgers and they are so soft and melt in your mouth. We've shared a porterhouse and it was cooked perfectly both times, just the right amount of char yet pink to red inside. The muscles appetizer is amazing, we try to get it every time with an extra order of the bread that it comes with to soak in the juices! The prices for the steaks are a bit high, but they have dropped significantly since the restaurant opened, while the quality did not fall off at all. The restaurant is huge and I mean lots of seating! There are three dining rooms, a bar area and a private party area plus the outside patio seating and outside bar. This appears to be the new model for dining around Disney Springs. Lots of seating, lots of servers, good food and good drinks. We would definitely recommend The Boathouse to all our friends and we will probably see you there........