The we loooooove Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek Part 4

[junderwood99]

Starting to do some research for an August '16 trip. We are a family of 5 (kids ages 13, 8, 5 at time of trip). Our past trips have all been on property (Pop, Carribbean Beach). However, the cost to stay on property is getting just crazy. Plus, with the girls getting bigger, we feel like a condo style room is more our style to spread out.

But, I am super unsure about staying off property. We have never rented a car - always relied on Disney Transportation (with a few cab rides here and there). We really don't want to worry about renting a car - but in reading, it doesn't sound like the shuttles are worth it?

If we book with a someone - what type of cancellation policies do most companies have? I know in renting DVC points, it pretty much has no refund. We aren't 100% on the trip yet and need to figure out daughters sports schedules as we get closer.

What other tips or thoughts can everyone give? Really unsure about staying off property - but the price and size of condos is amazing!!

 

[Spanky]

Folks who own points at WBC can book 13 months out - other Wyndham owners can book at 10 months out so this is not a decision you have to make any time soon.
We like having a car - no waiting on a bus - when you are ready to leave you will find your return trip to the resort is much faster than the Disney transportation. WBC is next door to Caribbean Beach so you know where it is located. You will love the big rooms - having 2 bathrooms plus a kitchen to help offset food cost and a washer & dryer right in your condo.
You do not rent from Wyndham but find someone - we like www.vacationupgrades.com but there are several to select from including individual owners who post on ebay. Different owners offer different cancellation policies.
Orlando is the car rental capital of the US so you should be able to find a great deal on a rental car. I find it is super easy to drive from the airport to Disney - just take the south exit from the airport. On property just follow the signs for Caribbean Beach resort and you will find Wyndham Bonnet Creek next door.

 

[maggiew]

Starting to do some research for an August '16 trip. We are a family of 5 (kids ages 13, 8, 5 at time of trip). Our past trips have all been on property (Pop, Carribbean Beach). However, the cost to stay on property is getting just crazy. Plus, with the girls getting bigger, we feel like a condo style room is more our style to spread out.

But, I am super unsure about staying off property. We have never rented a car - always relied on Disney Transportation (with a few cab rides here and there). We really don't want to worry about renting a car - but in reading, it doesn't sound like the shuttles are worth it?

If we book with a someone - what type of cancellation policies do most companies have? I know in renting DVC points, it pretty much has no refund. We aren't 100% on the trip yet and need to figure out daughters sports schedules as we get closer.

What other tips or thoughts can everyone give? Really unsure about staying off property - but the price and size of condos is amazing!!

We are staying at Bonnet Creek for the first time this August. But we are renting a car. We stayed at Residence Inn LBV in 2003 in a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit using Marriott points. It was really great! Loved being able to spread out.

If you don't want to rent a car, maybe you should look into a hotel room at one of the Downtown Disney hotels. They have a better shuttle schedule than most other offsite resorts. When we stayed there (long time ago - when the Courtyard Marriott was there), the shuttles ran every half hour from before park opening to after park closing. I believe this is still the case - but maybe someone has more recent experience.

If you stay at one of the downtown disney hotels, you could get the benefit of cheaper accomodations while having the benefit of better shuttles. The DTD shuttles are as good as the Disney buses but they are better than the other offsite buses.

Maggie

 

[mum2fourkids]

Would someone be able to point me in the direction of the shuttle schedule? Is it online somewhere. Not staying until early dec, so I realise it will change, but just wanted a rough idea of frequency.

Thanks!

 

[lisski76]

WBC has spoiled me! We are taking a family vacation this summer in another state and every place I've looked at online can not even compare to WBC. We can't wait to go back!

 

[Brojoef]

How is the weather in December for swimming? My kids are crazy about the pools but I'm concerned the water temps may be cool around Christmas time. Then again kids pretty much swim anytime

 

[lisski76]

How is the weather in December for swimming? My kids are crazy about the pools but I'm concerned the water temps may be cool around Christmas time. Then again kids pretty much swim anytime

Most of the pools are heated with the exception of the Pirate pool. There may be one other that isn't heated as well.

 

[AeroKU]

We stayed at WBC in Nov. '14. We did not have a car, and instead of taking the shuttles, we used Mears Cabs. It was so great. You call them up 15 minutes before you are ready to leave and they drop you off at the parks. Then when you are ready to leave, there are always cabs ready to take you. It was so convenient for us, and I highly recommend it if you don't want to drive on your vacation.

 

[Dis5150]

We stayed at WBC in Nov. '14. We did not have a car, and instead of taking the shuttles, we used Mears Cabs. It was so great. You call them up 15 minutes before you are ready to leave and they drop you off at the parks. Then when you are ready to leave, there are always cabs ready to take you. It was so convenient for us, and I highly recommend it if you don't want to drive on your vacation.

Can you give a $$ on about how much you spent on the cabs to each location? DD25 are headed there Nov of this year and aren't renting a vehicle.

 

[AeroKU]

Can you give a $$ on about how much you spent on the cabs to each location? DD25 are headed there Nov of this year and aren't renting a vehicle.

It was about $15 each way to EPCOT and HS, $20 to and from MK, and a little more to AK. We had 5 people each time and that was going to cost us $30 a day for the Shuttle, and for a couple bucks more a day, we had a private ride each way and it was ready to go when we were - no worrying about the shuttle schedule. Much better in my opinion.

 

[klledoux]

Hi All, I wondered if anyone has seen any updates on presidential suites in tower 6? We are hoping the refurb will finish early but am not sure when it is even starting!

Thanks!

 

[natenapril]

Can you elaborate on the issues you had?

Sorry. I haven't been on in awhile. I will say we were in a Presidential suite on the 19th (top) floor. You had to use your door key to get the elevator to even go to that floor which was kind of a nice touch. However, we checked in before our room was ready and hit the pools.We went to the other desk and she gave us our parking pass with no pushing of a sale. Easy Peasy. At 4 o'clock we went to check on the status of our room and was told it was ready but they forgot to call.Okay.. Moving on we go out to get a cart and they were gone. We asked them if there was somewhere else we could get one and were told if we were staying in a Presidential suite that we should afford the bell man. That was pretty rude. So after asking if we could just have a cart and we would carry our own stuff and we were bringing our luggage in the lady where you get a parking pass started screaming at my daughter that we needed to come get a parking pass and that we were not allowed to go to our room until we had one. After informing her that we had already taken care of that she continued to yell and say we hadn't. We just walked away from that kind of crazy
We got to our room and it was nice. I'm not sure that I would spend the extra money again on a presidential over a deluxe but it was nice and we all had plenty of room. That was the usual wear and tear on the furniture.
The next day we were gone all day and noticed that they had replaced the alarm clocks with bose alarm clocks. Nice touch but we felt they should have let us know they were in the room. Went to the pool after our first day at MK and the pool was packed with middle aged people who were using 2 flows each and drinking heavily. There were beer cans all over the place. Decided to cut the night short and go back to the room.
The next night we my son and I went to a different pool and he was having a good time and all of a sudden he looks terrified and is getting out of the pool as fast as he can. Turn out there was feces in the pool and when we informed the front desk they seemed less than concerned.
We did call the manager about the lady at the front desk screaming at our teenager to get a parking pass. Unfortunately, they are part of a different team and she could knew without me describing the lady who it was and she had previous problems with her.
Overall, our first night at Art of Animation was a better experience. The room there was much much smaller but the staff was nicer and the pool was clean. To be honest, we even went and toured DVC after this disappointing stay a BC

 

[Tink415]

natenapril, sorry you had those problems. Its understandable to feel leery about another stay after all that.

My 15 yr old DD said about WBC staff 'these sure aren't disney employees', she was right but I pointed out to her it was only a few with poor attitude/tone/helpfulness and for the most part the staff was very good or excellent for a timeshare.

We've only had one stay at WBC but we're going again this summer. Our stay this April was great! There were a few little issues (e.g. a pool full of bugs for an unbelievable amount of time - but I didn't report it and maybe no one else did either) and I think we met the same parking pass lady ! But overall, considering the cost and value of a WBC rental, and the cost and value of a DVC stay or rental (we own DVC but don't have enough points to stay multiple weeks every year like we have been), I'm happy to stay at WBC again.

DVC is not a perfect timeshare. Some of the same issues could and can happen at a DVC resort. We've been going a long time and have run into issues. Especially after owning DVC I notice more. The Disney resorts that aren't DVC (e.g. AOA) seem to have less of these issues, but I've had incidents that left a sour taste at the non DVC resorts; I forgot eventually!

Anyway, I hope your next Orlando vacation is much better, wherever it is!

 

[KristinU]

Sorry. I haven't been on in awhile. I will say we were in a Presidential suite on the 19th (top) floor. You had to use your door key to get the elevator to even go to that floor which was kind of a nice touch. However, we checked in before our room was ready and hit the pools.We went to the other desk and she gave us our parking pass with no pushing of a sale. Easy Peasy. At 4 o'clock we went to check on the status of our room and was told it was ready but they forgot to call.Okay.. Moving on we go out to get a cart and they were gone. We asked them if there was somewhere else we could get one and were told if we were staying in a Presidential suite that we should afford the bell man. That was pretty rude. So after asking if we could just have a cart and we would carry our own stuff and we were bringing our luggage in the lady where you get a parking pass started screaming at my daughter that we needed to come get a parking pass and that we were not allowed to go to our room until we had one. After informing her that we had already taken care of that she continued to yell and say we hadn't. We just walked away from that kind of crazy
We got to our room and it was nice. I'm not sure that I would spend the extra money again on a presidential over a deluxe but it was nice and we all had plenty of room. That was the usual wear and tear on the furniture.
The next day we were gone all day and noticed that they had replaced the alarm clocks with bose alarm clocks. Nice touch but we felt they should have let us know they were in the room. Went to the pool after our first day at MK and the pool was packed with middle aged people who were using 2 flows each and drinking heavily. There were beer cans all over the place. Decided to cut the night short and go back to the room.
The next night we my son and I went to a different pool and he was having a good time and all of a sudden he looks terrified and is getting out of the pool as fast as he can. Turn out there was feces in the pool and when we informed the front desk they seemed less than concerned.
We did call the manager about the lady at the front desk screaming at our teenager to get a parking pass. Unfortunately, they are part of a different team and she could knew without me describing the lady who it was and she had previous problems with her.
Overall, our first night at Art of Animation was a better experience. The room there was much much smaller but the staff was nicer and the pool was clean. To be honest, we even went and toured DVC after this disappointing stay a BC

Thanks so much for stopping back in to let us know about your experience!

 

[DisneyDazed]

We are booked for next week and am curious what towers have been redone? We last stayed there 7 years agao and it was amazing but i must say im kind of scared after reading some reviews.

 

[Upatnoon]

We are booked for next week and am curious what towers have been redone? We last stayed there 7 years agao and it was amazing but i must say im kind of scared after reading some reviews.

All the towers have been redone except tower 6, which is next. Tower 5 is the most recent.

 

[Floridacrazy001]

When was tower 5 redone because I just read a review on Tripadvisor about someone staying in May in Tower 5 on the 9th floor and finding bed bugs? I'll be there for 3 weeks in July and I'm getting a little worried after reading some reviews, especially about bed bugs.

 

[DisneyDazed]

When was tower 5 redone because I just read a review on Tripadvisor about someone staying in May in Tower 5 on the 9th floor and finding bed bugs? I'll be there for 3 weeks in July and I'm getting a little worried after reading some reviews, especially about bed bugs.

I saw that as well but none of them were recent. Even some disney hotels had them. Thos things are nasty and can hitch a ride from anywhere. Even movie theaters or the plane ride to Disney. Just do a good bed big check before you unpack.

 

[lindsmom]

There was one bedbug review on trip advisor from 3 days ago. I agree that anyone can get them, just yikes.

 

[KristinU]

Anyone know how the running is around Bonnet Creek? Any decent trails? What kind of mileage can you get?