The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread Part 3

Status
Not open for further replies.
As long as your trip isn't around Thanksgiving, you shouldn/t have a problem finding availability in November. It's a relatively slow time of year.


And you are correct. In order to get VIP you would need to buy the points directly from the developer. With the much higher cost for Developer points, there honestly isn't enough value in the VIP 'perks' to justify the cost. (for the 'average' owner. Between upgrades and point discounts larger owners or commercial renters could probably justify the cost of obtaining VIP status). Even if you buy out someone with VIP status currently, that status will not transfer with your purchase.

The only "status" that can be bought resale would be Presidential Reserve as it is deeded differently and the Presidential Reserve perks are part of the ownership (I believe), and not just a marketting program like the VIP program. (Which is not deeded, and therefor subject to change.... which they have done several times over the history of the program).

No it would be the 10th through the 15th or somewhere in there. but I won't have these points available to make a reservation until September-ish. So I will have about a 6 weeks notice to try for availability. That is one reason I wasn't sure if we could get Bonnet Creek or if we might end up at Star Island.
 
Well someone the timeshare boards said if you don't factor in your initial buy in cost and just factor in your MF's that you can stay in a one bedroom during value season for around $50 worth of points per night. Now of course that goes up as you get bigger units. If we took all the kids we would get a 3 bedroom or at the least a 2 bedroom.

I read a few ppl on TUG said there are a lot of resorts you can sometimes find rentals for that are less than paying MF's. The main reason I want my own points in mostly so I can be in control of my bookings and be able to book whenever I want to and look for my own availability, etc.

You can also use your Wyndham points to deposit points into RCI and trade into a DVC resort but I am not sure that is very wise point wise. I think the point requirements are pretty high to stay in DVC resorts but I can't check until I get my RCI account. I am not sure how Wyndham points translates into RCI points yet.

1. My cost to purchase 49K at Star Island totaled $500, so I don't bother to amortize it. My MF is $356 per year, plus property tax, comes to about $400. That means my price per 1K points is $8.16. Therefore, if I stay low season at Bonnet Creek, the cost for a week equals $685.54, or $97 per night. Monday-Thursday is only 9K, so that would cost me $73 per night. I suppose someone with very low MF could pay $50 per night.
2. The flexibility of owning your own points is a good consideration, and why I bought, too.
3. RCI now requires a ton of points. When I bought in in 2008, first thing I did was deposit 27K to RCI for the $130 fee, and I was able to get a 2 BR at Orange Lake for 7 days in early December! You can not do that anymore. However, I have a friend who keeps telling me she sees all kinds of bargains on RCI for DVC resorts, comparable to staying at Bonnet Creek. But she has a more powerful trading resort than Wyndham.
 
I have seen several ppl in the trip advisor reviews mention a parking fee at the resort. Maybe the are confused with the parking fee at the parks?

Also several ppl have mentioned a "resort fee" I know some hotels charge this but does Bonnet Creek charge it even if you are staying on your own Wyndham points?
 
I have seen several ppl in the trip advisor reviews mention a parking fee at the resort. Maybe the are confused with the parking fee at the parks?

Also several ppl have mentioned a "resort fee" I know some hotels charge this but does Bonnet Creek charge it even if you are staying on your own Wyndham points?

1. No parking fee at Bonnet Creek. The hotel, The Grand at Bonnet Creek, does have a parking fee.
2. There is no resort fee.
 

If you read this thread, you will get a load of information.
For example: you will learn that there are people who will rent you a condo at incredibly low prices. So low, in fact, that it is less than it costs me using MY points to stay there! And presumably they are making a profit. I have seen posts where people have stayed in 2 BR units for under $100 a night.

This Dec we are renting a one bedroom through Aaron Washburn (who lists on myresortsnetwork.com) for $60.00 per night. However he offered us a two bedroom for just $70.00 per night.
 
1. No parking fee at Bonnet Creek. The hotel, The Grand at Bonnet Creek, does have a parking fee.
2. There is no resort fee.

Thank you. They must have been writing a review of the actual hotel and put it under Bonnet Creek instead of whatever that hotel name is.
 
When you pull up, the guard will direct you to which building you need to go to for check in, and it is ONE PLACE for everybody to check in right? So then when you get to your actual tower, is there another desk/lobby/ppl working there in THAT building? Each building has a front desk?
 
No, there is only one place to check in. I do think tower 6 has it's own check in, but you will be directed where to go. You won't need to check in twice. Don't worry. I think you're over thinking things. It's not as big and intimidating as you are imagining. :)
 
Ok, I have been reading this thread from the beginning and it has brought up a few more questions for me.

1. In the first post it mentions that when you check out you are suppose to strip your beds and put the linens in the bathroom and empty out all your trash into the trash chutes. Is that still something you are suppose to do?

2. Does each building have a work out room or do you have to go to a specific tower or building to use the gym?

3. Are there pool towels at every pool or is there a certain location you have to go to for checking out pool towels?

4. Are presidential suites only in tower 6 or does every tower have them?

5. Someone mentioned if you lie and say your spouse is not with you that the parking pass desk will not try to get you to go to a timeshare presentation. Have any of you tried that? Does it work? Someone else said to say you are unemployed and they won't ask you either.

6. Does this resort require you check in on a weekend day? And are the reservations in lumps of 3 days, 4 days or 7 days? When we stay at WBC for the first time we will only need to stay 5 nights. So I am thinking we may need to make a reservation for 7 nights. Is that true?

7. Someone mentioned an a/c override. Is this something you can do yourself or do you have to call maintenance to override the air conditioning?

Ok that's my ton of questions so far. Thanks to anyone who has any answers for me.
 
Is there a blender in the room?
And I assume the answer is yes, but just verifying you can bring your own alcohol beverages to the pool?
Has anyone here rented a cabana? I think I read it is around $50 per day.
Do you have to wait until you check-in to reserve?
Our flight lands around 6am and our plan is to go get breakfast and stop at a grocery and liquor store before heading to WBC and using the pool area to relax until either our room is ready or we have to head back to airport to pick up another couple around 4in the afternoon.
Thanks for the help. I love reading all the posts on here. Everyone is so helpful:goodvibes
 
All those questions have been asked and answered over and over again in this thread.

But here are your answers:

1. No you don't have to do this. We didn't.

2. There is only one workout room. Not one in each building.

3. You have to check out towels either at the main desk or the desk in Bldg 6. They do not have them poolside.

4. Presidentials are only in Tower 6.

5. I have read that many people use these tactics successfully, however I don't personally believe in lying.

6. You can check in any day of the week, and stay for any length of stay. You may just have to do what's called a split reservation for odd numbered lengths of stay.

7. You can override the a/c by yourself. The instructions are somewhere in this thread. I can't remember them off the top of my head. Something about pushing a button on the left of the thermostat until it says some code (I forget). But it's very easy.
 
1. No parking fee at Bonnet Creek. The hotel, The Grand at Bonnet Creek, does have a parking fee.
2. There is no resort fee.

FWIW.... The grande Also charges a Daily Resort fee.

Thank you. They must have been writing a review of the actual hotel and put it under Bonnet Creek instead of whatever that hotel name is.

The hotel's name is "The Wyndham Grande Hotel at Bonnet Creek"

That Wyndham, and Bonnet Creek, within the name has been known to cause some confusion. It also doesn't help that they are basically on the same property.

No, there is only one place to check in. I do think tower 6 has it's own check in, but you will be directed where to go. You won't need to check in twice. Don't worry. I think you're over thinking things. It's not as big and intimidating as you are imagining. :)

The Tower 6 Checkin is basically there for Presidential units. If you don't have a 1, 2, or 3 bedroom presidential reservation you would need to go to the primary lobby to check in. (I'm not sure how 4bdrm Presidentials are handled since they are located in every tower)

Ok, I have been reading this thread from the beginning and it has brought up a few more questions for me.

1. In the first post it mentions that when you check out you are suppose to strip your beds and put the linens in the bathroom and empty out all your trash into the trash chutes. Is that still something you are suppose to do?

2. Does each building have a work out room or do you have to go to a specific tower or building to use the gym?

3. Are there pool towels at every pool or is there a certain location you have to go to for checking out pool towels?

4. Are presidential suites only in tower 6 or does every tower have them?

5. Someone mentioned if you lie and say your spouse is not with you that the parking pass desk will not try to get you to go to a timeshare presentation. Have any of you tried that? Does it work? Someone else said to say you are unemployed and they won't ask you either.

6. Does this resort require you check in on a weekend day? And are the reservations in lumps of 3 days, 4 days or 7 days? When we stay at WBC for the first time we will only need to stay 5 nights. So I am thinking we may need to make a reservation for 7 nights. Is that true?

7. Someone mentioned an a/c override. Is this something you can do yourself or do you have to call maintenance to override the air conditioning?

Ok that's my ton of questions so far. Thanks to anyone who has any answers for me.

1. It used to be the policy that the checkout procedures included emptying the trash and stripping the beds. (and running the dishwasher). This policy was changed sometime after 2009 (I'm thinking in part due to the increasing popularity of the resort as a rental location by people unfamiliar with the way timeshare resorts traditionally required a bit more involved checkin/checkout procedure). Now you don't have to do much of anything when you check out. You aren't even required to run by the front desk anymore.

2. There is a fitness room located in both the main building (by the activity center) and in Tower 6.

3. On my last trip it appeared that they had consolidated the pool towel checkouts to the activity desks. You can get them at the main building or in Tower 6.

4. The 1,2, and 3bdrm presidentials are located exclusively on floor 10 and above in Tower 6. There are 4bdrm Presidential units located in every building in the resort.

5. I've heard reports that it works. Basically there are a couple requirements that must be met for you to "qualify" for the sales tours. The First is that if you are married, both spouses must attend. This is because they require that both people sign the documents if you buy anything, and they don't want to give you the easy out on the sales presentation.

the other is a minimum income level requirement. Again... This is because if you don't make enough money, then you can't afford and there is no way they could finance you to buy a contract at their inflated pricing. They don't want to waste their time [or the 'gift' cost] if there is no way you could buy anything.

As an owner, If you have someone on the contract with you, they may ask if the other person is there as well for your owners update.

6. This one is a bit more complicated to answer. The short answer is that no, You do not need to check in on a weekend.

However, Since you are an owner, You should be aware that the Wyndham system in general runs on a 7 day schedule. All Reservations in the Wyndham system are treated as being a part of a Friday-Friday, Saturday-Saturday, or Sunday-Sunday week. What this means is that if you want a Thursday - Tuesday reservation, The system will force you into 2 seperate actual reservations, One could run from Thursday-Saturday, and another from Saturday-Tuesday. The resort would then combine them into a single stay so you likely wouldn't need to change rooms. (You can manually take advantage of the same system to make reservations longer than the 7 night max supported by online reservation system...ala Make a 7 day Sunday-sunday reservation and a second Sunday-wednesday reservation to get a 10 day stay)

This system will impact you, as an owner in potentially a few different ways. First, As two different reservations, it will impact the way your housekeeping points will be used. A 7day midweek to midweek stay utilizing 2 different reservations will cost you more housekeeping points than a 7day weekend-to-weekend stay using a single reservation. Second... If your reservation straddles a "season", you could end up in a situation where the first reservation could fall into Value season for the point costs, but the second is in prime season. [the point cost calendars and checkin week calendars on the wyndham site will help you in translating the actual dates into the weeks used in determining point cost each year. You can sometimes find that friday-frirday and Saturday-saturday weeks are considered 1 week, while the Sunday-sunday is considered a different week]. Third.... If you even make a reservation which you, as the owner, are not going to be there to check in for and therefor need to use the guest certificate, You'll end up needing a certificate for each reservation in the system, even if the overall stay is under 7 days. And Lastly.... Wyndham reserves the right, especially during higher demand seasons at some resorts. to require a minimum 2 night stay and a checkin/checkout to fall on the weekend. This can sometimes make long weekend trips interesting to book since the system could report back that a 3 night stay starting on Thursday night isn't available, but a 4 night is. (ie. inventory management is splitting your 3 night into a 2 night reservation checking out on saturday, and a 1 night reservation from saturday-sunday.... BUT.. 1 night reservations aren't allowed, so by upping it to a 4 night you get the thursday-saturday and then the saturday-monday, thereby getting the required minimum stay requirement).

I know.... A bit more than you asked for, but I figured you might be interested in knowing a bit more about how the system works based off your past questions.

7. It's a simple button combination on the in-room thermostat. I forget what it is exactly off the top of my head, but it's something simple like pushing the F/C button and holding it in for several seconds until you get something to display on the lcd display.

Is there a blender in the room?
And I assume the answer is yes, but just verifying you can bring your own alcohol beverages to the pool?
Has anyone here rented a cabana? I think I read it is around $50 per day.
Do you have to wait until you check-in to reserve?
Our flight lands around 6am and our plan is to go get breakfast and stop at a grocery and liquor store before heading to WBC and using the pool area to relax until either our room is ready or we have to head back to airport to pick up another couple around 4in the afternoon.
Thanks for the help. I love reading all the posts on here. Everyone is so helpful:goodvibes

I THINK I remember a blender..... but honestly, I can't be sure. I do remember doing frozen drinks one year in the room, but now that I think about it I can't remember if we make them in a blender or used those frozen single serve type pouches.

Yes you can bring your own alcohol to the pools.... BUT.... they frown against any glass containers in the pool areas. You may want to keep that in mind. There are also several pool bars around the property which you can also get tasty beverages from.

I've never rented a Cabana, But from my understanding the cost can vary depending upon the time of year and demand. I also don't know how quickly they fill up or if you must have checked in and gotten a room before you can rent one. You might want to contact the resort's activities desk since they can probably give you a better answer than I can.
 
I just want to thank you DCToTall for answering all those wonderful questions so nicely!:cool1:
 
A big thank you to everybody that has been answering my questions. And I do appreciate the extra info about how Wyndham reservations work. This is all new to me so any info I get is helpful.

I thought there might be answers to some of my questions buried somewhere in this thread but I am only up to about page 21 so far and I have over 100 pages to go. I guess I was anxious to ask the questions.

I appreciate your patience in me asking things that have already been asked.
 
I just want to thank you DCToTall for answering all those wonderful questions so nicely!:cool1:

yes, thank you. I know stuff gets asked a lot but frankly, with a thread this long it's gonna happen no matter what. Some time when I can sit down for about 2 days I can read thru this whole thread! lol Just kidding, I plan on setting aside some time little by little to read the full thread and to educate myself on this place.


Anyway, we are excited about staying in a 3 bedroom presidential next april. Have always wanted to stay there but we always tried to get along with a 2 bedroom at other places for the price. My kids really want the third bedroom since they are older, 21, 18 and 14, and I am excited about sitting on that balcony! :thumbsup2

I thought our spring break was like this year, the first week of April but it got moved to the week before Easter. I was shocked when I found out this is value season for BC! What a nice surprise! So my rate actually went down! I am so used to Disney and how they do their rates that I was really worried there for a minute. :yay:
 
Ok, I am up to page 66 of this thread. From what I have read I am to understand that if we book a one bedroom presidential we will be in tower 6 because that is where all the 1,2 and 3 bedroom presidentials are. But I also have read some posts that have me thinking that if you are staying in tower 6 you are basically not going to have any theme park/fireworks view, correct?

I would never even ask for a fireworks view to be honest because from what I am reading asking for a room request basically doesn't do you any good like it does at Disney.

But I thought if you accidentally got a fireworks view it would be pretty cool. But it seems you can't see them from tower 6, right?
 
Ok, I am up to page 66 of this thread. From what I have read I am to understand that if we book a one bedroom presidential we will be in tower 6 because that is where all the 1,2 and 3 bedroom presidentials are. But I also have read some posts that have me thinking that if you are staying in tower 6 you are basically not going to have any theme park/fireworks view, correct?

I would never even ask for a fireworks view to be honest because from what I am reading asking for a room request basically doesn't do you any good like it does at Disney.

But I thought if you accidentally got a fireworks view it would be pretty cool. But it seems you can't see them from tower 6, right?
No, you can see the fireworks from some of the rooms there. Good luck!
 
Working out getting from Sanford to WBCend if sept if I decide not to drive who do you recommend for transfers at a decent price???

We used Happy Limo last November from Sanford to WBC. We got a strech limo and the driver met us near the bagage claim. The Limo was really nice and our 3 kids LOVED! it. They had a movie on for the kids and free sodas/water. We also got a 30 minute grocery stop at a store close to WBC. It was $328 for round trip. You could get a regular car or a van for cheaper, but for us it was worth it to start our vacation out in style. It was totally worth it.
 
Has anyone used the shuttles since they started charging? When we went in November, it was free, and it was a great service. It looks like some are saying it's $6 per person, per day, and others are saying it's $6 round trip, so if you were to come back to the resort mid day, you'd have to pay again. Which is correct?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

New Posts



Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE








DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom