zoarswimmer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2004
- Messages
- 108
Hi everyone
, this thread helped us so much with planning our first off site stay so I thought we would at least post some pics and answer any questions anyone might have. We rented a two bedroom from Ken and Denise who were very easy to work with. We put in requests for either building 5 or 6 lake view. We checked in at 9:30 p.m. and were given building four, ninth floor lake view. I was disappointed at first but found once we were in the room it was perfect. The parking pass portion was not too bad since I was ready for it. I unplugged the phone in the bedroom and turned the volume down on the kitchen phone. I believe we had four missed calls during the week but we were never there to receive them anyways. Here is my breakdown of the resort.
Room
The two bedroom was huge after being used to studios in the DVC resorts. I liked the layout and the furnishings were in good shape. We have an infant and she loved the jacuzzi tub as well as all of the cupboards not being "baby proofed", she could open everything including doors which I did not think of before we arrived. We originally planned to put the pack and play in the second bedroom so the baby could nap or sleep without being disturbed. The second bedroom ended up not being used at all as she only would sleep if we were in the room with her lol. We just set the pack and play next to our bed and it fit just fine. We had the flat screen televisions but I found the picture to be somewhat fuzzy. We didn't watch much television so it was not an issue. I loved the balcony which overlooked the tower four pool and the bridge in the lake. I could drink my coffee and watch a couple large turtles in the lake each morning. The safe in the closet fit a purse, ipad and a camera just fine and is all electronic so you do not have to worry about losing the key.
Grounds
The grounds are immaculate. Everyday I saw someone working on the flower beds or cleaning up in the pool areas, grill areas etc... The walk around the lake is relaxing and we enjoyed pool hopping. I have read that not many people use the grills. I have to say each day I saw several families, sometimes large groups using them and having large meals. They are set up well and next time I will buy some steaks etc and grill out there.
Pools
I know many people choose their requested building based on view or the pool feature. I can tell you that if you are in building 4-6 all the pools are very close to each other and its easy to walk to any of the three pools. We really liked the lazy river at pool 5 and it was nice that pool 5 & 6 had zero entry depth entrances. It was really hot the first part of our stay and enjoyed our afternoon swim. We took the baby to each pool and she loved the water features at the pool next to the main check in building (I believe tower 2). We enjoyed that pool but found that older children would run rampant through the features knocking down the little ones or shooting the water cannons at them. Again not a huge deal but found it was easier just to let her play in the shallow section of pools 5 & 6. The pool with the blue waterslide did have lifeguards on duty but we didn't spend much time there. We never had a problem getting a chair in the afternoon but did see people out early reserving chairs. We ate at the Escudo pool bar and found the food to be really good and reasonably priced. (Order the chicken diavlito wrap, its great if you like things spicy). I have to give the resort props for having some sort of live entertainment each day. Whether it be a dj with kids games and music to karaoke or even a live band. There were even adult trivia games with the prizes being drinks at the bar. I am not one to keep up with the activity boards but it was nice to see something going on each day. Pool towels were large and soft and you can take out however many you want, just make sure to turn them in before you leave or you could be charged for them.
Parking
I have to say I enjoyed the parking garage between tower 4 & 5. It was in the mid 90's for over half our trip and being able to park the car in the shade was a bonus. I would just drop the girls off at the main door and go park in the ramp.
Staff
I have to say this is the area I was most concerned about being used to staying at Disney. For the most part the staff was friendly but i have to say some things were a bit strange to me. First the positives. The staff at Escudos pool bar and activities desk were very friendly and helpful. The staff member I spoke with at the front desk was ok. He told me he was tired and wanted to go home and felt liked he lived there, then proceeded to tell me it was his first week lol
. My biggest pet peeve was the congregation of staff I would encounter in the parking ramp at building 4. The staff building is across the street from the building 4 parking ramp and several employees park in the ramp. We utilized the late night hours at the parks to avoid some of the heat and two of the three nights when we returned one gentlemen was in the parking ramp in his golf cart putting things in his vehicles trunk. One morning when i came out 5 employees were smoking right next to my vehicle and another morning an employee was working on his cars stereo system. Again not a huge deal since everyone needs to park somewhere but it just seemed a bit strange and thought i would share.
Atmosphere
I was worried that the resort would not have the Disney feel and to a degree I found that to be true. We went from our normal commando Disney trips to only using 5 of our 7 day tickets. And it is because I enjoyed being at the resort relaxing. Part of that was so the baby could rest and enjoy the pools and part was it reminded me of some of our beach vacations where being lazy was more fun then the rush of hitting a park. We have been annual passholders for a few years before so we did not feel we missed out on anything. We caught pixar weekend and the soft opening of star tours which was nice. I felt like there were many families that stay at Bonnet Creek for the relaxation. When we stay on property its seems like most families are up and out early where at Bonnet Creek it seemed most people started a little bit later in the morning.
Extras
Watch out for speed traps. On three separate days there was sheriffs doing radar on the road leading up to the resort. The speed limit is 35mph but the road is longer than I expected and can see how easy it would be to speed. One day I drove to the waldorf to check out the golf course and as I rounded the bend a sheriff was sitting on his hood with his radar gun. If I was not trying to check out the grounds I would have probably been speeding lol. The rate at the waldorf golf course is only $42 after 2pm with the bonnet creek discount and believe me its worth it.
On our last day I was able to get a couple more packets of laundry detergent from the front desk which was nice.
We requested a pack and play and high chair and they were deivered in fifteen minutes. The high chair looked brand new and is the typical wood restaurant style high chair that fits nicely at the table in the room.
Final Thoughts
We loved the resort and the room size and will not hesitate to book again in the future. We are thinking of bringing extended family next winter and the size of the units will be much more enjoyable and reasonably priced over Disney. I will say we did miss the Disney atmosphere and the evening extra magic hours but overall I was very please with Bonnet Creek.
Tower 4, ninth floor lake view
, this thread helped us so much with planning our first off site stay so I thought we would at least post some pics and answer any questions anyone might have. We rented a two bedroom from Ken and Denise who were very easy to work with. We put in requests for either building 5 or 6 lake view. We checked in at 9:30 p.m. and were given building four, ninth floor lake view. I was disappointed at first but found once we were in the room it was perfect. The parking pass portion was not too bad since I was ready for it. I unplugged the phone in the bedroom and turned the volume down on the kitchen phone. I believe we had four missed calls during the week but we were never there to receive them anyways. Here is my breakdown of the resort.Room
The two bedroom was huge after being used to studios in the DVC resorts. I liked the layout and the furnishings were in good shape. We have an infant and she loved the jacuzzi tub as well as all of the cupboards not being "baby proofed", she could open everything including doors which I did not think of before we arrived. We originally planned to put the pack and play in the second bedroom so the baby could nap or sleep without being disturbed. The second bedroom ended up not being used at all as she only would sleep if we were in the room with her lol. We just set the pack and play next to our bed and it fit just fine. We had the flat screen televisions but I found the picture to be somewhat fuzzy. We didn't watch much television so it was not an issue. I loved the balcony which overlooked the tower four pool and the bridge in the lake. I could drink my coffee and watch a couple large turtles in the lake each morning. The safe in the closet fit a purse, ipad and a camera just fine and is all electronic so you do not have to worry about losing the key.
Grounds
The grounds are immaculate. Everyday I saw someone working on the flower beds or cleaning up in the pool areas, grill areas etc... The walk around the lake is relaxing and we enjoyed pool hopping. I have read that not many people use the grills. I have to say each day I saw several families, sometimes large groups using them and having large meals. They are set up well and next time I will buy some steaks etc and grill out there.
Pools
I know many people choose their requested building based on view or the pool feature. I can tell you that if you are in building 4-6 all the pools are very close to each other and its easy to walk to any of the three pools. We really liked the lazy river at pool 5 and it was nice that pool 5 & 6 had zero entry depth entrances. It was really hot the first part of our stay and enjoyed our afternoon swim. We took the baby to each pool and she loved the water features at the pool next to the main check in building (I believe tower 2). We enjoyed that pool but found that older children would run rampant through the features knocking down the little ones or shooting the water cannons at them. Again not a huge deal but found it was easier just to let her play in the shallow section of pools 5 & 6. The pool with the blue waterslide did have lifeguards on duty but we didn't spend much time there. We never had a problem getting a chair in the afternoon but did see people out early reserving chairs. We ate at the Escudo pool bar and found the food to be really good and reasonably priced. (Order the chicken diavlito wrap, its great if you like things spicy). I have to give the resort props for having some sort of live entertainment each day. Whether it be a dj with kids games and music to karaoke or even a live band. There were even adult trivia games with the prizes being drinks at the bar. I am not one to keep up with the activity boards but it was nice to see something going on each day. Pool towels were large and soft and you can take out however many you want, just make sure to turn them in before you leave or you could be charged for them.
Parking
I have to say I enjoyed the parking garage between tower 4 & 5. It was in the mid 90's for over half our trip and being able to park the car in the shade was a bonus. I would just drop the girls off at the main door and go park in the ramp.
Staff
I have to say this is the area I was most concerned about being used to staying at Disney. For the most part the staff was friendly but i have to say some things were a bit strange to me. First the positives. The staff at Escudos pool bar and activities desk were very friendly and helpful. The staff member I spoke with at the front desk was ok. He told me he was tired and wanted to go home and felt liked he lived there, then proceeded to tell me it was his first week lol
. My biggest pet peeve was the congregation of staff I would encounter in the parking ramp at building 4. The staff building is across the street from the building 4 parking ramp and several employees park in the ramp. We utilized the late night hours at the parks to avoid some of the heat and two of the three nights when we returned one gentlemen was in the parking ramp in his golf cart putting things in his vehicles trunk. One morning when i came out 5 employees were smoking right next to my vehicle and another morning an employee was working on his cars stereo system. Again not a huge deal since everyone needs to park somewhere but it just seemed a bit strange and thought i would share.Atmosphere
I was worried that the resort would not have the Disney feel and to a degree I found that to be true. We went from our normal commando Disney trips to only using 5 of our 7 day tickets. And it is because I enjoyed being at the resort relaxing. Part of that was so the baby could rest and enjoy the pools and part was it reminded me of some of our beach vacations where being lazy was more fun then the rush of hitting a park. We have been annual passholders for a few years before so we did not feel we missed out on anything. We caught pixar weekend and the soft opening of star tours which was nice. I felt like there were many families that stay at Bonnet Creek for the relaxation. When we stay on property its seems like most families are up and out early where at Bonnet Creek it seemed most people started a little bit later in the morning.
Extras
Watch out for speed traps. On three separate days there was sheriffs doing radar on the road leading up to the resort. The speed limit is 35mph but the road is longer than I expected and can see how easy it would be to speed. One day I drove to the waldorf to check out the golf course and as I rounded the bend a sheriff was sitting on his hood with his radar gun. If I was not trying to check out the grounds I would have probably been speeding lol. The rate at the waldorf golf course is only $42 after 2pm with the bonnet creek discount and believe me its worth it.
On our last day I was able to get a couple more packets of laundry detergent from the front desk which was nice.
We requested a pack and play and high chair and they were deivered in fifteen minutes. The high chair looked brand new and is the typical wood restaurant style high chair that fits nicely at the table in the room.
Final Thoughts
We loved the resort and the room size and will not hesitate to book again in the future. We are thinking of bringing extended family next winter and the size of the units will be much more enjoyable and reasonably priced over Disney. I will say we did miss the Disney atmosphere and the evening extra magic hours but overall I was very please with Bonnet Creek.
Tower 4, ninth floor lake view
This will be our first offsite stay and I am glad to hear you enjoyed it. I have a days planned out and we have lots of time at the resort. Hope we enjoy it as much as you did!
