Suzanne,
Thanks for the question!
The great news for you is that since the addition of the
Disney Skyliner, your transportation to
Disney's BoardWalk is significantly easier and faster than it used to be!
So what you will want to do is hop on the Disney Skyliner at your resort, headed towards
Epcot. The trip, once you are on a gondola, is about 11 minutes or so. The station when you arrive is located just outside the park's International Gateway entrance, so you will not have to enter the park to get from the station to your meal. The walk from the Skyliner station to the center of the BoardWalk is about 1/3 of a mile. Not very far at all.
I would give yourself about half an hour for the overall trip, knowing that you could face some lines to get on the Skyliner.
The best alternative, if for some reason you don't want to use the Disney Skyliner, is to take the resort
bus to
Disney's Hollywood Studios, then
boat or walk from there to the BoardWalk. Your overall transportation time will be much longer, likely over an hour. So I would only do this if you have someone unwilling to ride in the gondolas.
I hope that this helps?
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug