It took us awhile to get to Bonnet Creek. DH apparently REALLY likes to look at that famous welcome sign a LOT... lol... we finally found the driveway to Bonnet Creek and we went to check in.
Check in is at 4pm. We arrived in the lobby at 3:45pm.
I walked up to the desk and gave them our name. There were no records showing we were staying there for that week. They had us in the system for the FOLLOWING week! The man behind the desk was not very helpful or reassuring. I started flipping out. I thought we have nowhere to sleep tonight!?! OMG, what do we do!?
I had prepurchased this week from someone on Ebay. He was very reputable and had great feedback. Luckily, I had printed out my confirmation letter and showed it to the guy behind the desk. He took it in the back to show it to management. He came back out and said that they would take my phone number and then call us when they had something available. I asked if they would have something tonight or if we needed to start looking elsewhere. He assured me it would be tonight. I also reinstated that I had called previously to request a fireworks view room. He said they can't guarantee it but they would try. Wonderful. In the meantime he said we could go over to the parking pass desk and get our stuff over there.
Bonnet Creek is a timeshare resort. So of course, the lady behind us was trained to grill us about buying a timeshare. Luckily, we make less than the SMALLEST amount on the survey we filled out (haha!) so she didn't even question us once. We went and sat down in the lobby area and waited. And waited. And waited. They were serving snacks as well as lemonade so we filled up on that and then took a walk around to check everything out.
There was a nice bar area outside leading to the pool. They had live music going on. We walked over to the game room and sat in there for a bit.
There was a lady doing free face painting but she just took her last kid
We went and sat in a living area with a tv, computer & pool tables that were occupied already. We sat there and watched a basketball game on tv for about 30 minutes. It was now 5pm and I was really beginning to get mad. DH said if they didn't call within 5 minutes, he was going back in to raise some ****.
Those were the magic words. As soon as he said that, my phone rang. We have your room ready! Hallelujah! We ran to the front desk, collected our keys and they gave us the superb news that we did indeed get a fireworks view. WHOO!!! I was still a little peeved but that made me feel better. We stopped on our way out in the general store they have in the lobby to pick up a 6 pack of beer for the night. I needed something after all that... I paid $13.64 for a 6 pack of beer. That better be the bestest stuff on the planet I tell ya!
We were in Tower 5 and on the 15th floor. Goodness! We grabbed a few bags and made our way to see where our new digs were going to be.
This place was AMAZING. I've only stayed on property before this (at Pop Century both times) so staying off property scared me a bit but seriously, how can you go wrong here? It costed LESS than a Disney value and had over 1,000 square feet MORE. They have pools, stores, music, bars, restaurants, room service, activities & shuttle service.
The master bedroom & bathroom...
MIL & the kids' bedroom & bathroom...
Not to mention... that fireworks view that we got? Yes. Truely AMAZING.
I had ordered groceries from We Go Shop. I looked into Garden Grocer but they didn't have the certain types of pizzas that DH will eat so I had to order special and We Go Shop seemed the most reasonable. I ordered him Mountain Dew & Jack's pizzas. Everything else, we really didn't care if it was off brand. We Go Shop called us at 6pm when they were supposed to deliver our groceries and said they were running late. No problem, we were going to be in our resort all night. At about 7:30pm she called again to say she was on her way. We met her downstairs and brought a luggage rack down to haul all of the groceries. As soon as we got upstairs, we realized that she had bought Publix 4 cheese pizzas. DH was livid. This was the one thing (his safety) that assured him he would eat well while in Disney and not have to suffer. It was a huge deal to him. Ugh. Never again.
I also participated in the "Pay it Forward" thread here on the Dis for Bonnet Creek. We got Bin #1 which was stuffed FULL of goodies. There were all kinds of spices, some food, alcohol, straws, napkins, pool inflatable, crockpot, etc. It was a wonderful way to stock the kitchen without having to go shopping.
We spent the first night on the balcony enjoying a few beverages and watching Illuminations & Wishes. It was awesome. I recorded both of the shows and MIL came out in the middle of me recording. She had a few too many already and was talking NONSTOP. She started to go into detail about her financial situation and pretty much laid out everything they make and what they pay out. Let's just say, it does NOT balance out. The only reason she was on this vacation was because she took a loan out from her 401K! So here we sit, our family of 4 making 1/4 of what her & her DH make and we had the whole trip prepaid before we even left. It made me feel like I was doing something right. MIL realized I was recording about halfway through her rant and then she told me to edit that all out. Yeah, I'll get right on that. lol...
I spent every single night watching the fireworks either from the balcony or our bedroom window. MIL said she got sick of watching fireworks after the first night (yeah, I know! ???)
If we'd ever gotten her to Disney, she totally would have been off buying some overpriced trinket when I'm wanting her to be enjoying the coolness of the castle! 
And there are some things she Just Didn't Get, like the waitresses' uniforms being part of the theme. But she would have been soooo happy to be there having fun with her son and his family. Bet your MIL really enjoyed that, too. 
Glad you and your DH were up to the challenge. 
Can't wait for more!
. DD had a blast and I had my proud mama moment as I watched her belt out all of MMMBop!
Very cute countdown calendar and I love the movie night ideas, that looks like alot of fun!! Beautiful pictures of the castle and dessert party! Can't wait for more updates! 
-- but, although hubby had some some food quirks when I met him (he wouldn't eat tomatoes because they were "larval"), he was nowhere near as bad as your DH. However, it took me years to convince him that he's not saving money by buying the same sort of worthless junk his mom does, only at a lower price. *sigh*
Of course hubby was all, "Can we go now?" the whole time. I am totally going without hubby next year. 
That resort was awesome. I would stay there again if I was guaranteed the same room and same view BUT if we have 4 or less people in our party, I'll most likely stay on property.
I kept a cool washcloth on her while she napped on the couch. The couch was just small enough that I couldn't get comfortable. I tried to sleep on the chair but that was even worse. At 4:30am I crawled back into bed for an hour since DD's fever had broke. I got an hour of sleep. YES! Bring on Magic Kingdom!
