Great to be back at Bonnet Creek - Live Trip Report with photos!

Villains night on Saturday didn't start well. Massive parking detour in place so took us 30 minutes to get there despite being 4 minutes away.. Then we got there and no maps or times as all the leaflets had run out so if you didn't have a phone it was a pain. Luckily for first time we had taken I pad so could get one on line but people weren't happy. Then I saw the queues for characters. OMG. There were hundreds of people in queues for characters that weren't even appearing for an hour. The schedules showed they would be out for 30 minutes then gone for 30 minutes so those people were going to be queuing all night I thought. On a good point we did TS, RNR and TOT in less than an hour but to be honest we had done them before using free fast passes. Thankfully the Star Wars area was packed with characters both roaming and stationary so we were able to get them all except Palpatine who we found too late which was a shame. Harry loved running after the roaming characters and got more confident as the night went on about being forceful and getting a photo. He loved taking selfies to send to his friends.. The night would have been a disaster if not for Star Wars. Biggest mistake of the night was going to Fantasmic. The programme made it sound like there was a special pre show, well it was exactly the same except the quiz was about villains.. A CM had told me it was a special Fantasmic show, it was exactly the same and such a waste of time, its already old but when you use over an hour of time on a night you paid $200 for then it was quite annoying also.. Anyway we weren't going to let it ruin the night. We really just wandered around looking at the queues for characters after that. However the biggest queue I saw was for merchandise, it was massive. I just don't get it.
The fireworks were amazing however, but I had seen frozen ones night before and hadn't had to pay extra so that kind of put it into perspective.
This is first hard ticket event I had been too and was very disappointed but loved seeing Harry in Star Wars area. I heard lots of people requested and got refunds. I really hate complaining on holiday and just wanted to make the best of it. I am going to complain that none of my photo pass photos have appeared on my account which is really annoying, guess they are lost forever. Thankfully I took loads.
So all in all it was ok but definitely not worth the money. Disney either over sold or just did not have enough characters or other things going on. Also told there was a goody bag at the end of the night. Well we left as soon as fireworks had finished and CM told us they were all gone.
Definitely wouldn't buy again. Hope others had a better time.
 
Always enjoyed the hard ticket events but they seem to have got this one wrong, lots of complaints. :(
 
On Sunday we had a lazy morning as we didn't get home till late. Just had a swim in the main pool then went for lunch at Applebee's. the boys had eat all you can ribs and I had salad as I think I am pretty much done with eating big meal now. It was good as always. Then back to BC for more swimming, really do love the pools.
Then broke the Disney law again!! Parked at Boardwalk at 5 as we wanted to look round before going to Epcot. It's really easy from there. I know you aren't meant to but I like looking round and seemed crazy to get back in the car. Have never parked there before for Epcot but really easy. I didn't feel as guilt as when we parked at Caribbean beach. I think spending over $200 on villains night helped!!
So we had 3 FP for evening, space ship earth which we didn't even need, test track and Norway. My job deals with Norway 80% of the time so I always feel I should go on this even though its not very exciting. Heard lots of rumours of it being turned into a frozen ride and I actually think that would be good although I guess you'd never get near it again if it was. FP for TT took forever, should have gone single rider but it was great in the dark. Then just wandered back to exit and fireworks started. Although seen them so many times from my balcony that wasn't too worried about seeing them. Then bonus, we had a clear view of frozen fireworks from front of boardwalk. No music though but still good. So another lovely day in Florida. Next report Legoland. One quote from Harry"legoland is so much better than Magic Kingdom"
 


When we bought our universal tickets from ATD we got free legoland tickets. Had never really considered going before. Have been to legoland Windsor several times and really enjoyed it but last time we went in school holidays crowds were insane so never went back. So it's a really easy drive and got there in under an hour right at 10am opening. There are loads of rides and I don't think I have been on as many in one day. The longest we waited was 10 minutes for boating school. Everything else was walk on, no one in the queue. It's such a lovely park the way it's set out. However the highlight was a ride called Chima. It's a water ride where you fire water guns at people watching and visa versa. All done in good spirits and you get absolutely drenched.Harry went on it seven times and would have been more but spent alot of time firing the water guns on the other side. Wei literally had to drag him away. I got lots of video of him, he just loved it. Lots of people didn't realise they were standing in a splash zone, it was just to funny. Anyway, it's the most fun we have had for free in a long time. Luckily it finally cooled down a bit yesterday and really made a difference. I hope the same deal is on next year as will definitely go back. Great if you have young kids or really like Lego.
On the way home we stopped at Carrabbas again for their Monday night deal which is excellent. $50 for so much delicious food. A great find
Days are going too fast now.
 


sounds like you are having so much fun and you seem to have really packed in lots

we had photopass pics missing and they did retrieve them i t was a bit tedious filling forms in from home with what you were wearing etc on day but all photos were eventually found
 
Villains night on Saturday didn't start well. Massive parking detour in place so took us 30 minutes to get there despite being 4 minutes away.. Then we got there and no maps or times as all the leaflets had run out so if you didn't have a phone it was a pain. Luckily for first time we had taken I pad so could get one on line but people weren't happy. Then I saw the queues for characters. OMG. There were hundreds of people in queues for characters that weren't even appearing for an hour. The schedules showed they would be out for 30 minutes then gone for 30 minutes so those people were going to be queuing all night I thought. On a good point we did TS, RNR and TOT in less than an hour but to be honest we had done them before using free fast passes. Thankfully the Star Wars area was packed with characters both roaming and stationary so we were able to get them all except Palpatine who we found too late which was a shame. Harry loved running after the roaming characters and got more confident as the night went on about being forceful and getting a photo. He loved taking selfies to send to his friends.. The night would have been a disaster if not for Star Wars. Biggest mistake of the night was going to Fantasmic. The programme made it sound like there was a special pre show, well it was exactly the same except the quiz was about villains.. A CM had told me it was a special Fantasmic show, it was exactly the same and such a waste of time, its already old but when you use over an hour of time on a night you paid $200 for then it was quite annoying also.. Anyway we weren't going to let it ruin the night. We really just wandered around looking at the queues for characters after that. However the biggest queue I saw was for merchandise, it was massive. I just don't get it.
The fireworks were amazing however, but I had seen frozen ones night before and hadn't had to pay extra so that kind of put it into perspective.
This is first hard ticket event I had been too and was very disappointed but loved seeing Harry in Star Wars area. I heard lots of people requested and got refunds. I really hate complaining on holiday and just wanted to make the best of it. I am going to complain that none of my photo pass photos have appeared on my account which is really annoying, guess they are lost forever. Thankfully I took loads.
So all in all it was ok but definitely not worth the money. Disney either over sold or just did not have enough characters or other things going on. Also told there was a goody bag at the end of the night. Well we left as soon as fireworks had finished and CM told us they were all gone.
Definitely wouldn't buy again. Hope others had a better time.

There have been a lot of complaints about this event on the TPAS board. It seems as though disney have openly acknowledged the event fell "below its usual standards" and have been issuing full refunds without question.

If you were sorely disappointed, it might be worth a complaint. They have also offered comped MNSSHP tickets as an alternative. It just sounds as though they sold too many tickets and it wasn't very well organised.
 
When we bought our universal tickets from ATD we got free legoland tickets. Had never really considered going before. Have been to legoland Windsor several times and really enjoyed it but last time we went in school holidays crowds were insane so never went back. So it's a really easy drive and got there in under an hour right at 10am opening. There are loads of rides and I don't think I have been on as many in one day. The longest we waited was 10 minutes for boating school. Everything else was walk on, no one in the queue. It's such a lovely park the way it's set out. However the highlight was a ride called Chima. It's a water ride where you fire water guns at people watching and visa versa. All done in good spirits and you get absolutely drenched.Harry went on it seven times and would have been more but spent alot of time firing the water guns on the other side. Wei literally had to drag him away. I got lots of video of him, he just loved it. Lots of people didn't realise they were standing in a splash zone, it was just to funny. Anyway, it's the most fun we have had for free in a long time. Luckily it finally cooled down a bit yesterday and really made a difference. I hope the same deal is on next year as will definitely go back. Great if you have young kids or really like Lego.
On the way home we stopped at Carrabbas again for their Monday night deal which is excellent. $50 for so much delicious food. A great find
Days are going too fast now.

This is great to hear so thanks for reporting! :)

We have the dame deal - tickets came yesterday! DS has been asking to go back to Legoland Windsor as he was 3 the last time we went and could hardly go on anything there - especially in comparision with DLP. He's now 6 and well into Lego, think this will be a sure fire winner with him. Loving the short queues reported here, we went to Windsor term time as it was before the kids started school and I must admit it's how busy it gets there that puts me off going back!
 
After a busy day at Legoland I thought we would have a rest but then realized that if we didn't go Sea World then we probably wouldn't get there. We dropped David off at Premium Outlets at 8.50 (only to discover later that it didn't oprn till 10, oops) Harry and I got to SW for opening. We had done 2 long days there last year so this was just going to be 3 hours of rides. He rode Manta straight away, then we went to the water ride which we love. Just as he got to Kraken it broke down and so he waited 25 minutes but they gave him a free fast pass so he was able to ride Manta again. Also went on Penguins for first time, no wait and its a fun ride but massive queues last year. Twice more on Kraken and we were done. I woud have liked to wander round but had to pick David up at 12. Then went to Steak and Shake again. Really great find. Had a triple burger and Fries and a mint Oreo shake, $7, bargain. All served to you by really nice staff. place is lovely and clean. Its cheaper than McDonalds.
Back to Bonnet Creek for a break and more swimming, surprised we haven't turned into fishes. Then 3.30 headed off to Aquatica for the last 2 hours which is a great time to go. Harry got on all his slides again and even I braved a few. I dont mind anything where I am sitting on a float and of course the lazy river there is great. Left at closing, still wish they were open later than 6pm.
Really couldn't face going out again so just spent an hour swimming in the dark at BC, more lazy rivers, then a couple of episodes of the Office and bed. Early start for Busch on Wednesday.
 
Left BC about 8.45 to drive to Busch. So easy to get onto I4 from there so really just a straight road. I wasn't impressed with the signs coming off the I4, thought they were a bit confusing but could see roller coasters in the distance so just headed there. For some reason I have lost my nerve a bit when it comes to driving on I4. There were so many trucks and I really hate driving fast so of course just being overtaken all the time. What made it worse was 3 Busch shuttles had passed me so was kicking myself for not just going on the shuttle and saving me the stress. Anyway, got there safely. Had a great day although this really is a Harry park. he rode every single roller coaster and thrill ride including Falcons Fury which had no wait (probably because most people are like me and thinking why would I want to do that). When David saw it it actually said for the first time that Harry couldn't go on. But when we got close and saw there was no queue he gave in, although to be honest Harry didn't argue. I think the scale of it took him by surprise at first. He went on and I couldn't even watch. Then he cam off and said not even that scary, thought it should have dropped faster and more times. My son is completely fearless.
Had a disappointing lunch at the smokehouse place. Should have gone to the proper sit down restaurant, mainly to get out of the heat, it was so hot again. Then more water rides, it was great to get drenched.
We were done by 4, Harry would have stayed till close. Then for first time got stuck in worst ever traffic jam. I4 was at a complete standstill. Took about 2 hours to go from exit 7 to 14. In the end I was just relieved to get off the I4, I really don't like driving on it. David always say he feel completely safe with me driving (he doesn't drive) but I am not a motorway driver.
So we had planned a sushi restaurant that had been recommended but none of us were up to it so just went to Hess garage for snacks and ended up with their two hot dogs for $3 and a box of Dunkin Donuts. i think Harry enjoyed it as much as our $80 meals. Must admit it was quite nice.
Another long day but pretty good.
 
So our last full day was finally here. We let Harry sleep till 11 while we did some packing. Then headed to the pool as our favourite singer Jake was playing. He really is good and was taking requests. He played Al Greens, Let stay together for us (our favourite song) Then for first time ever there were some really horrible Americans at the pool who basically started shouting abuse about the Al Green song and some racist actions. I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked and disappointed. I really hope the singer didn't see of hear them. Such a shame and on our last day. If anyone does get to stay at Bonnet Creek then please do go and watch the Live Entertainment. He also does a great music quiz. An all round nice guy.
After that we went bowling which was a lot of fun. harry got so many strikes, he was so happy. We are both quite competitive whereas my husband definitely isn't. Only down side we had a suicidal fly that kept attacking us all through our game. People on the other lanes must have wondered what those crazy English people were doing flapping arms and menus all over the place.
Its become a but of a tradition to spend our last afternoon at Aquatica and thats exactly what we did. So got there by 4 and once again no one charging for parking. We had bought a parking pass from Discovery Cove and to be honest I dont think we ended up breaking even because we would have got into Aquatica free on all 3 occasions. Harry did lots of slides including Breakaway Falls (not in a million years) but we mainly just kept going round and round the lazy river. Right at the end I found a little girl crying who had been separated from here family so got out to take her to lost children which meant I ended up losing my family and then by the time they came round again they made us get out, but we had a great time.
Dried off and went to Longhorns. Such a great restaurant, probably our favourite. David and I had the 30 oz Porterhouse to share. Melt in your mouth steak.
On the way home we saw a great lightning display a long way in the distance, really lit up the sky, but no rain for us. I still cant believe it had only rained 3 times up to this point. We only had one thunderstorm when we were at Blizzard Beach. The last 5 days had been glorious weather, just right.
So just relaxed back at BC, hate the last night, feels so final but what a great holiday we had.
 
We had an early lunch at Toojays, delicious as always and bought some of their macaroons to go for the flight (they didn't last that long!)
Got to airport at 1.30 for 4pm flight. The guy at Dollar said he could drive us to the departures in our car (for a tip of course). Actually made life a lot easier, will do it again.
Didn't have much time for anything at the airport and before we knew it were boarding our American Airlines flight for Miami. Only 40 minutes so really quick. Nice plane, a 737 -300, very spacious. Then a quick stop in Miami, good airport, lots of shops and restaurants. Again, before we knew it we were boarding. AA were asking for couples to fly the next day and would pay for hotel, all meals and give them $1000. Would have done it if just the 2 of us. Not a bad deal I thought.
We had front row of main cabin extra, definitely worth the upgrade fee. The in flight entertainment s best I have ever had. 250 films, loads of TV and games. Watched films all the way home. Meal was nice and flight went pretty quickly. Landed right on time at 8am. Home by 9.30am, bed by 10am.

So thats it. I will do a separate highs and low although I will struggle with the lows. Fantastic 24 days. Cant wait to go back.
Hope everyone else who is going has a great a time as us.
 
Thank you for the TR, been great following along.

Which Steak & Shake did you goto? I think I have only seen one on SR535 about half a mile past Crossroads.

Never been to a Longhorn, always goto Texas Roadhouse or Manny's for a steak.

Next Saturday we board the cruise in Barcelona then 3 weeks today we check in at BC, hope we like it now you have built it up so much:rotfl2:

Moved your thread to TR's now you are home:goodvibes
 
Thank you for the TR, been great following along. Which Steak & Shake did you goto? I think I have only seen one on SR535 about half a mile past Crossroads. Never been to a Longhorn, always goto Texas Roadhouse or Manny's for a steak. Next Saturday we board the cruise in Barcelona then 3 weeks today we check in at BC, hope we like it now you have built it up so much:rotfl2:


That's the steak and shake we went to. Longhorns is bet popular. Always lots of people in there. Steaks are great and best baked potatoes I have ever tasted. Just don't eat too much if their delicious honey oat bread, addictive. I really hope you enjoy Bonnet Creek. I have loved all six of our trips there. So glad we stumbled across it all those years ago. Rooms are great and in 18 nights I never heard a sound in our room from anywhere , except the nightly fireworks.
 
Thanks for the great trip report! We've just booked bonnet creek through ken and Denise for summer 2015. It will be our first trip to orlando and wdw very excited! Thanks for sharing.
 
Really enjoyed your trip report.

Thanks for heads up about carrabas Monday offer.

We loved steak and shake too - agree it it great value.
 
Thanks for the great trip report! We've just booked bonnet creek through ken and Denise for summer 2015. It will be our first trip to orlando and wdw very excited! Thanks for sharing.

Oh that's great. They are fantastic to deal with and I hope you love Bonnet Creek. We won't stay anywhere else.
 
Oh that's great. They are fantastic to deal with and I hope you love Bonnet Creek. We won't stay anywhere else.
Been very happy with them so far! We are from Australia so will be in the USA for a month. 19 nights in orlando so we are splitting the stay to try it all out. On site at POR 4 nights - 11 night bonnet creek and then 4 nights a t one of the universal ones. Loved all your bonnet creek pics and will certainly appreciate the extra space and facilities the resort provides given the time we will be there!
 

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