Convince me to try WBC rather than two onsite moderate rooms.....GO!!!

[mmouse1239]

Here's our situation....traveling in November (week after Thanksgiving 2016) with 5 adults and 2 toddlers. Grandsons first trip to Disney. We are former DVC owners. We have considered renting points, but rooms aren't connecting and we want togetherness. Can't really afford a 2br renting points. Have considered Wyndham Bonnet Creek, because a 3br would probably cost us about half as much as renting points for a 2br onsite. I was worried about not being able to get dining reservations, fastpasses, etc if we aren't on property. Can someone please explain this to me? TIA.

 

[powellrj]

You will still be able to make all your reservations and fastpasses, you just won't be able to make them as soon as people on-site.

If you stay at Bonnet Creek you will have more room to spread out and people will be able to stay up after the toddlers go to bed. As long as you have a car, I would stay at Bonnet Creek and not give it a second thought.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Our daughter is doing the Disney College Program and can get us rooms at 50% off, but we still prefer to stay at WBC. The space, amenities and overall vibe of the resort blows Disney away for way less. We use our savings to buy APs every year and take as many trips as we can. As powellrj said, as long as you have a car, then WBC is the way to go.

And we've never had trouble making the FP+ and dining reservations we want. We have had to change times around a bit for 7DMT but we've always gotten what we want.

 

[momof2cuties]

We've only stayed onsite - 4 trips from 2003 and 2008 and then we just went a couple of weeks ago for a wish trip that was granted to my husband. Kind of think that may be our last trip to Disney, but I'm pretty sure I have a bad case of post disney depression and have been trying to figure if there is any possible way we can go again. Been thinking about saving of staying off site and will check out WBC!

As far as ADR and FP, I've been trying to figure out what the big deal is. I did all of ours in the last few weeks - a month or less before leaving and didn't have any issues. I really don't get it. We got pretty much all of the restaurants we wanted and though the parks were busy, many of the restaurants were not.

 

[mmouse1239]

I was wondering about the "fuss" as well. I always marked my calendar to the day, got up early, etc. However, my relatives recently traveled over the Christmas holiday. They stayed offsite and had no problem with their fast passes. I don't know if they did any ADR's though.

 

[Rosebud123]

I will! Stayed at WBC three times, always in a two bedroom deluxe (that's their "standard" room). I've had a bad room, a good room, and an amazing room, and I would choose any of those over a moderate resort. In fact, I'm going to the Poly/Beach Club for 10 nights at the end of the month on a "magical" deal and I agonized over giving up WBC for those two deluxe resorts.
WBC is really, really awesome. It's right next to the CBR so, to me, it really is onsite. The rooms are huge and nice. I loved having two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a washer/dryer, and a full kitchen. In our stay in the "great" room, our balcony overlooked the lake and two sets of fireworks. It was incredible (Tower 2, lake view). There are about 6 pools, a mini golf course, a yummy outdoor restaurant at The Grand, beautiful grounds, etc., etc. It's much prettier than WDW moderates, IMHO. That being said, for our last WBC trip I booked a one night "throwaway" campsite to get magic bands, two days of free parking (although I was waved through the gate a few other times) and, most importantly, the ability to book FP 60 days in advance for our entire 10 day stay. I would not rely on their shuttle service, however. We always rent a car (whether onsite or off) so it was a moot point for us, but it's worth mentioning if you don't like driving yourself at Disney. Although I'd probably still stay at WBC and just take Ubers.

Try it!!!

 

[Rosebud123]

Also, I love, love, love Ken and Denise Price at Vacation Upgrades. I know some folks find slightly better pricing from other vendors, but I trust VU completely and would only book through them!

 

[mmouse1239]

So by a "throwaway" reservation, you are saying that you make the reservation, but don't show up??