Bonnet Creek

[Portugal1000]

I hope we enjoy it at £70+/ticket.
Not used to paying for theatre tickets, Matt does reviews for this online magazine (most on here are his) http://www.on-magazine.co.uk/category/arts/yorkshire-theatre/ so he gets 2 free tickets for any show in Yorkshire.
I came out in a cold sweat paying out over £300 for 2 shows.

I see alot of WestEnd shows, probably 2 a month and very rarely pay full price but did for Charlie, although £55, row B at the side. Good seats but still expensive. Paid £60 each yesterday to see Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic next Month but dont mind that. There are some great deals to be had, especially at the smaller theatres. Seeing Mark Strong at the Young Vic next month, front row £25. We loved Jersey Boys also.

 

[wayneg]

I see alot of WestEnd shows, probably 2 a month and very rarely pay full price but did for Charlie, although £55, row B at the side. Good seats but still expensive. Paid £60 each yesterday to see Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic next Month but dont mind that. There are some great deals to be had, especially at the smaller theatres. Seeing Mark Strong at the Young Vic next month, front row £25. We loved Jersey Boys also.

For Jersey boys I only paid £25pp for front row, I suspect restricted view although there was no warning at purchase. The theatre rang on Saturday and left a message saying they had altered the seating, we are still on front row but now CC instead of BB.
Matt gets spoiled with the press tickets, last one to Lion King included drinks, food, program, picture book, and meet a representative from Disney.

 

[Chilly]

For Jersey boys I only paid £25pp for front row, I suspect restricted view although there was no warning at purchase. The theatre rang on Saturday and left a message saying they had altered the seating, we are still on front row but now CC instead of BB.
Matt gets spoiled with the press tickets, last one to Lion King included drinks, food, program, picture book, and meet a representative from Disney.

We were right at the front for Jersey boys to the right of the stage and the view was fine.

 

[Chilly]

I will be staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for the 6th time in August and cant recommend highly enough. You will see from my signature that I have stayed at Saratoga Springs 3 times which we also love but to be honest I love BC more. The rooms are huge and a fraction of the price of SSR. Even with free dining I worked out that last year we would have had to have eaten about £3000 worth of food just to break even and that was comparing a 1 bedroom at SSR with a 2 bedroom at BC.
No resort fee but if you want to use the park shuttles then I think its $5 per person or something like that. I would recommend a car everytime though as makes life so much easier.
You get housekeeping once a weeks when they change all the sheets etc. I am lucky that my husband is the tidiest man in England so the room is always spotless so dont miss housekeeping, certainly wouldn't pay for it.
Never heard another English accent there in all the times we have stayed, amazed its never caught on with the British, its a great place. However, that makes it even nicer as every time you speak people say oooh you are from England. People always seem fasicinated that we have such long holidays. I feel bad saying we are staying for 3 weeks when they are only there for 3 days.
So feel free to ask anything you like.

Oh that is good to know you do get housekeeping once a week.

I think this is deffo where we will stay.

 

[Chilly]

I've been toying with the idea of WBC.

This thread is where the experts live.

This site has lots of photos.

And apparently this is where the best prices are - http://www.vacationupgrades.com/ and http://vacationstrategy.com/

I think it makes great sense with the baby. Still onsite so no long commutes to the park and you can easily go back in the afternoons. Full kitchen so you can save some money eating in some of the time, breakfasts etc. Bedroom for the baby so you don't wake her up. Cheaper than SSR even with the DDP. Plus now that you have to leave a credit card to book ADRs I don't think i'll want to book as many as I don't know how the baby will be, I don't want to get charged for not showing up because the baby is tired or something.

 

[wayneg]

Thought I would post a few comments on here from UKDEB who is out in Florida now.
Might help some who are undecided between Bonnet Creek or onsite. They have just moved from The Wyndham Grand Hotel to Bay Lake Tower

"So, we've finally been assigned a room. ‪#‎grubby‬ ‪#‎threadbare‬ ‪#‎knockedabout‬ Can we please go back to the Wyndham Grand?"

"It's not awful, it's just the stark reality of a Disney resort after a "proper" hotel."

Hopefully Deb will post some info on return but sounds they enjoyed their stay at the Wyndham.

 

[UKDEB]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Wyndham. Whilst the majority of reviews on TA are good, there's a hardcore of quibbles covering a handful of recurring themes. On top of that, I wasn't convinced that the reality would live up to the promise of the expertly shot professional photos, nor could I work out where the branding sits compared with the neighbouring properties of the Hilton and Waldorf Astoria (both of which I've visited previously).

The resort — comprising the Wyndham Grand (where we stayed) and the timeshare villas — is huge, but beautifully conceived. It surrounds a lake, with the buildings diminishing in height from the towering hotel at one end, to units just a few storeys high at the other. Each individual block has its own pool and you're free to use the facilities at any of them.

The pros:

The hotel is relatively new so both the public spaces and our room were immaculate. The lobby, restaurants, bar and spa are all stunning with sophisticated, contemporary decor.

It has a real high-end resort feel. I felt that it came in above the Hilton, but that could be because it's still got that brand new thing going on. It could also just be a matter of taste. The Hilton's lobby area is on a much grander scale and is very nice, but it has more of a convention hotel feel.

The staff were all friendly, professional and helpful. In keeping with an upscale resort, we were greeted every time we ran into anyone, no matter what their position. Housekeeping was spot on. Some of the TA reviews could give you reason to be concerned on both counts, but we didn't have any issues.

The pool area was gorgeous. The only other pool we saw at close quarters was the one at the timeshare block right next door. It had a pretty impressive pirate theme and I would imagine kids would go mad for it.

We had a balcony overlooking the pool and lake (so the entire resort). We could see the whole gamut of Disney fireworks. We were that close to Epcot and sufficiently high up, that we had a great view of IllumiNations — we could even see all the countries around World Showcase as they lit up. Not all rooms have balconies and some look out towards the Hilton and the Waldorf.

There's the swanky 1521 Bar (which we made good use of!), the acclaimed deep blu seafood grille (which we ate at one night and which I'd highly recommend), casual dining at Tesoro Cove (we ate there just once for breakfast, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the quality of the food and the light, bright airy space), the Back Bay Pool Bar (more about that under "cons") and the Barista Coffee Shop (we didn't use it, but it was a very pleasant spot).

The cons:

We felt the food choices were a bit limited. We really enjoyed our meal at deep blu seafood grille and, although it isn't ridiculously expensive, it's definitely occasion dining and not something you'd want to do more than once. Tesoro Cove is more than pleasant, but not an evening venue in my opinion. 1521 Bar has a small plates menu (which everyone and his dog seems to be doing right now) but charcuterie and cheese plates are a lazy option to my mind. They don't even offer the obligatory sliders. It's possible to order from the deep blu menu, but it's hardly your standard bar fare. One evening we ate at the pool bar because we just fancied a burger. It wasn't up to the standard of the other food at the resort.

The pool bar looks lovely in photos, but once you're inside, it feels very concretey and the lighting is unbearably harsh. The outdoor patio area is much nicer The night we ate there, the temperature was perfect, but I'm not sure I'd want to sit there in the height of summer.

There was live music each night in the 1521 Bar which I'd initially imagined would be fantastic, but it was way too loud and very difficult to have a conversation. We saw 3 different acts and, whilst they were all very talented, it was just too much. It doesn't help that the bar is open to the lobby and the acoustics just aren't good.

The Bonnet Creek resorts are located on a piece of land which is geographically onsite but not owned by Disney. It's very close to everything and easy to get anywhere with a car, but you don't have the luxury of being able to walk anywhere (other than to the Hilton and Waldorf Astoria which we made the most of). They run shuttle buses, but only 5 times a day. There is one bus for both MK and Epcot and it goes to MK first which is crazy given that Epcot is a stone's throw away. We asked Concierge how much a taxi to Epcot would cost and were told "no more than $30". WHAT?! We can see it from our room! To be fair, I think she was erring on the side of caution because we ended up getting a taxi to the BoardWalk (and then walking to Epcot) and it only cost $10 with the tip.

Overall:

We loved our stay there and I'm missing the space and luxury of the room, but now we're at BLT we've gone into the next phase of the trip and a totally different experience. I'd definitely stay there again, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it for 3 weeks (the duration of our trip this time). I'd be very tempted to book one of the timeshare units in the knowledge that I could use the hotel facilities.

 

[wayneg]

Thank you for taking the time to post, much appreciated. Looking forward to trying the timeshare part of Wyndham in Sept.

 

[Portugal1000]

Glad you liked BC. We always stay in the timeshare and really love it. I like the addition of the Wyndham Grand, lovely pool area.

We really enjoy the day time activities and would make a special mention for the guy that sings most days. Just him and a guitar but he's really good. He usually at a different pool most says and also runs the music quiz and other activities. We always go to whichever pool he's at. Can't believe I can't remember his name. I hope he's still there this August. Have been to the outdoor restaurant at the Grand once and had a lovely meal so will go again. Would like to try fish restaurant but with a 13 year old it would probably not be his cup of tea..

I definitely recommend a car while at BC. We have used shuttle when it was free and excellent service but might as well pay car park charge at Disney now that they charge.

Enjoy rest of your trip..

 

[Portugal1000]

https://www.wyndhamvacationresorts.com/ffrweb/pdfs/BonnetCreek_AG.pdf

Thought I would post the activity schedule for Bonnet Creek incase anyone interested. I think there's also a separate schedule for the hotel. There's pretty much something always going on.

 

[Chilly]

Can't wait to book our stay but still ages away.

https://www.wyndhamvacationresorts.com/ffrweb/pdfs/BonnetCreek_AG.pdf

Thought I would post the activity schedule for Bonnet Creek incase anyone interested. I think there's also a separate schedule for the hotel. There's pretty much something always going on.

Do you know how much these activities tend to be?

 

[Portugal1000]

I have never paid for any of the activities we have taken part in by the pool. The bingo was free although you could only win chocolate bars but everyone seemed to win. All the games had prizes for the winners. Cocktails, pizza etc. I think there is a charge for the arts and crafts stuff but never did that. The ice cream social is $2 but you get 2 bugs scoops and topping, whipped cream etc. very popular. As I said always something going on but at the same time never any pressure to take part. It's a lot of fun though if you like quizzes, pool games etc.

 

[Chilly]

I have never paid for any of the activities we have taken part in by the pool. The bingo was free although you could only win chocolate bars but everyone seemed to win. All the games had prizes for the winners. Cocktails, pizza etc. I think there is a charge for the arts and crafts stuff but never did that. The ice cream social is $2 but you get 2 bugs scoops and topping, whipped cream etc. very popular. As I said always something going on but at the same time never any pressure to take part. It's a lot of fun though if you like quizzes, pool games etc.

Thanks, there is quite a few things I like the sound of, and with a toddler in tow we might want more time away from the parks chilling by the pool.