Bonnet Creek for Two Weeks with New Baby & Minimal Disney??

[nichanda]

Hi all. I'm pregnant with our first child, due in October. I will be on mat leave for a year, so would like to get some traveling in there while we can.

In Feb 2012 DH and I traveled solo to Disney for 10 days, but stayed in a hotel. Just about that time I first found out about Bonnet Creek, and wish terribly we had of found out about it sooner. The hotel was nice, but a basic hotel room lacks relaxation for me, that I feel Bonnet Creek can provide.

We are thinking of traveling (from Canada) in January or February 2014, when the baby is about 3-4 months old, for two weeks and renting a car for the entire time. We are used to traveling every winter, however this year we didn't get a chance to travel anywhere due to my pregnancy (and morning sickness) and it was the longest winter EVER. We've vowed next year we will get some sun one way or another!

Anyway, because Bonnet Creek looks like a vacation in itself, I was wondering if anyone has ever booked it, with the resort being the main destination? I just love the Orlando area as there is always something to do, and it accommodates tourists so well. Plus you can take a day trip to the beach in just a couple hours. DH loves the outlet shopping too. I was still planning on taking in Downtown Disney, and the boardwalk, because they are two of my favorite places at Disney. Also thinking maybe 2-3 days at Disney, here and there with the baby, but mostly relaxing at the hotel, doing the pools/lazy river, enjoying the deck, using the BBQ's etc. Basically some R & R and a break from the Canadian winter.

Has anyone ever done anything like this? Or is there another resort/rental that may be better for this sort of thing? The reason we are leaning towards Orlando is because it's a familiar place, rather than blindly showing up in a new city with a new baby and staying a few weeks. I'm looking for something with the "comforts of home", such as a kitchen, laundry, etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

I haven't done this yet but will be in June. We're staying there for 7 nights (but will be staying at another hotel the night before we check in and possibly the night after we check out). We're doing 3 days at the parks, then DH has a convention the following 5 days so it will just be the kids and I during that time. I wanted a resort where we really wouldn't have to leave the property if we didn't have to. I loved the idea of having all the pools, lazy river, mini golf, and kid activities offered at WBC!

 

[pigletto]

You'll get better answers than mine I'm sure because I haven't stayed at either of the properties that I am about to mention. We are looking at Bonnet Creek and Sheraton Vistana Villages for the same sort of trip. We have a big onsite Christmas trip planned, but have a week in August and some money left in the trip budget. Because we'll be doing all Disney in December, I'd like for this trip to be A) less expensive B) more Orlando focused and C) have a kitchen and room to spread out with some nice facilities (pool, hottub etc).

Both of the resorts I mentioned seem to fit the bill and get great reviews. Sheraton Vistana Villages is a little further away but the travel time is somewhat negligible since this isn't necessarily an all Disney trip. Both seem to be lovely properties with nice units and the prices are great.
I think we have decided on Bonnet Creek because I had a deposit credit with them for a stay we booked last summer and then switched to onsite.

There's a subforum up top with a great Vistana thread and honestly I kind of wish it had worked out cheaper just to give it a try but since Bonnet Creek is coming in 500 cheaper for my dates it's the direction we are leaning in. From what I have read you can't really go wrong with either. Good Luck!

ETA) and I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! I too had morning (all day!) sickness and I know how excited you must be to plan a trip with your new baby and feeling better again!

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

My family is headed back to Bonnet Creek May 22nd for 11 nights. This will be our second stay at Bonnet Creek and I cant imagine staying anywhere else. So many pools to choose from, two lazy rivers. Every pool is within just a few minutes walk. Minature golf, movies on the lawn at night and we loved the BBQ grill areas. A few nights while we were there they did karoke by one of the pools (could not hear it in you room so dont worry) and it was so much fun. One of the pool bars serves food and we loved the pizza (inexpensive and good). The room itself was just like an apartment. Rooms were also very quiet, we never once heard anyone in the hall or in the rooms next door. Decorated very nice and very comfortable. You could easily stay and relax for 2 weeks. We also could not beat the rate - for 11 nights (May 22nd to June 2nd) $1050 (all fees included). We booked thru Vacation Strategy last year and this year. I highly recomend them. Enjoy you vacation and congrats on the new addition

 

[mjohnson96]

Doing this again in just a few weeks, only staying for 4 nights but going there on an no kids trip before a conference. My family is from florida so my mom, sister, and a friend of mine are going to just hang out and relax.

Last year I booked it for 2 weeks, the first week I was there with my mom, DD 9 and DD 2 and they hung out at the resort during the day while I was at the conference. They loved it. We stopped at Walmart and picked up lots of breakfast/lunch foods and they didn't need to leave the property at all.

We had a 4th floor 2BR overlooking the lazy river. It was great, my oldest DD was able to go to the pool while Grandma sat on the balcony and watched her. At night we went out to eat and went to a couple Disney options as well as offsite places to eat.

The 2nd week we had a 3 BR unit in Tower 6 overlooking the lake and it was amazing! This time my dad, sister and her family joined us so everyone had a great time. My dad is not a huge fan of Disney but he really liked this resort and stayed the whole week with us.

 

[klledoux]

We loved WBC so much we lengthened the stay for our Oct 2013 to 10 nights so we could include more downtime. The only drawback I see for staying such a length of time is lack of housekeeping - I am a bit of a neat freak and would like a good vacuum etc. but since it is not a hotel they charge for it. Once we hit 7 nights they turn over the room I believe. Really I just need a proper vacuum - they give you some little roller sweeper!

 

[lilpooh108]

Have you thought about renting points and staying at Animal Kingdom Villas? We own and its a great place to stay when not doing parks since the pools are so nice, there's animals to keep you busy, there's tons of stuff to do at the community hall and the restaurants are so great. It's also far enough out of the Disney bubble that you can get on to "real" roads and freeways pretty quickly. When I was recovering from surgery I had considered staying at AKV for a week just to relax (but I had a harder recovery than I thought). Good luck w/your decision!

 

[Familytradition]

This is going to be our 4th stay @ Bonnet Creek. We go for 2 weeks as well. The last 2 years we've done nothing but lounge by the pool, participate in their pool games, take in the fireworks from the Poly or the Contemporary and visit DTD. Plenty to do other than the parks. We love it there, don't think you'd be had pressed to find something to do or nothing at all

 

[DCTooTall]

We actually spent 10 days at the resort last October with our 3.5 old. The resort was great because of it's central location compared to all the Disney parks.... and the ability to put the baby in the other room while he slept and to sit on the patio or living room and watch TV was great.

the resort (and trip as a whole) was a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from the previous couple months.

the biggest things I could recommend.

1. Invest in a good stroller fan. Make sure you run it before you go and it actually moves the air. We had bought one before our trip, but discovered it didn't realy help much in the florida heat (even in October), so baby would get hot/cranky pretty easily. We had to buy another one at Disney that did a better job at keeping him cool.

2. Make a note of where the baby care centers are when you visit the parks. (even Universal) You will find yourself becoming quite familiar with their locations and offerings and spending more time there than you may expect

3. Relax and have fun and be very flexible. At that age, while the baby may do a lot of sleeping (so you can do what you want to while it's asleep), when it comes time to wake up or the baby wants something, You will have to drop what you are doing and take care of the baby. Thankfully, the parks and the resort give you plenty of space and places you can go do what you need to do.

 

[nichanda]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. You've put some of my worries to rest about if this is a ideal place for relaxing. So for long term stays, do you have to change rooms after a week? Also, are the fireworks views on the lazy river side or the lake side?

Have you thought about renting points and staying at Animal Kingdom Villas? We own and its a great place to stay when not doing parks since the pools are so nice, there's animals to keep you busy, there's tons of stuff to do at the community hall and the restaurants are so great. It's also far enough out of the Disney bubble that you can get on to "real" roads and freeways pretty quickly. When I was recovering from surgery I had considered staying at AKV for a week just to relax (but I had a harder recovery than I thought). Good luck w/your decision!

I hadn't thought of that lilpooh108. I'll have to check into that. I've always wanted to stay at the Old Key West Resort because of the watertaxi to DTD, but it was so expensive it was never an option. I'm pretty sure they are part of the DVC, so I may check into renting points at both the Animal Kingdom Villas and Old Key West. Thanks for the idea.

 

[DCTooTall]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. You've put some of my worries to rest about if this is a ideal place for relaxing. So for long term stays, do you have to change rooms after a week? Also, are the fireworks views on the lazy river side or the lake side?

The buildings surround the lake. the pools are between the buildings and the lake.

For the fireworks views, It depends upon which tower you are put in. Since the fireworks are launched from EPCOT, based off the resorts location you will have some towers that will face the parking lot to get to the fireworks, and some which will face the lake and the fireworks.

I'll be honest though, I tend to feel the fireworks views are over rated. You MAY get to see some of the higher launched fireworks from EPCOT, but you aren't going to see the lower exploding shells, hear the music, etc. AND... I may last 30min out of your entire day. Personally, I'd much rather have a lake view where I can sit out on my balcony and enjoy the lake and pools during the entire day.