The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread Part 3

[ready123go]

Thank you to everyone. As with all rentals there is probably always a chance of theft/fraud. How are reservation set up here to prevent the buyer from getting scammed by the owner. Is the name of the reservation locked and can't be changed or can the owner at anytime cancel it and leave me room less? Few places allow you to use a credit card anymore so that you can contest the cost if something goes wrong. And as a rule I try not to use my paypal cause, that is like giving someone a check with your account on it.

You are correct - there is always a chance of fraud. I felt more comfortable using someone with a good reputation (Ken & Denise, VacationUpgrades.com) than just anybody. I did have to rent from a complete stranger once. Everything was fine, no problems, but I was always a bit uneasy until we checked in.

Renting from Wyndham directly might have the benefit of being easier to change dates last minute. Uncertain, but if it's important to you - that could be worth looking into.

eliz603 posted good info re: paypal.

 

[cocoabean1]

This is for people who use their points to reserve. Is it worth 50,000 points to upgrade to a Presidential 2 bedroom unit? Have never been in the Presidential only the deluxe. We are only in the unit for coffee in the morning and nights to sleep and to shower and do laundry. We spend our days at the parks.

Basically we leave the unit at 8:00am and return around 9:00pm.

What do the Presidential units have that the deluxe do not?

 

[staggle]

DVC member here and just got back from my first stay offsite and at Bonnet Creek Resort in a 2 Bedroom deluxe. I LOVED the resort and the extra room, especially for the price. Not sure I am sold yet on the whole driving to all the parks thing but I managed. You do not need a parking pass, however they will also give you some good resort information (menus, directions to area locations, etc.) at that desk as well I thought it was odd they have a gate to enter the resort... but not once did I ever have to insert my room key or have them check a parking pass... as soon as I got to the gate...they basically saw a car and opened it up. haha

Hi..I am staying at Bonnett Creek in March and renting from Kevin Wiseman. Just wondering if you were able to check in early or if check in was difficult. I have read mixed reviews on it.. Any info would be helpful...thanks!

 

[Janet Hill]

This is for people who use their points to reserve. Is it worth 50,000 points to upgrade to a Presidential 2 bedroom unit? Have never been in the Presidential only the deluxe. We are only in the unit for coffee in the morning and nights to sleep and to shower and do laundry. We spend our days at the.

Basically we leave the unit at 8:00am and return around 9:00pm.

What do the Presidential units have that the deluxe do not?

upgraded appliances is about it.

I'll take a free upgrade, but I've never used points to get a presidential.

 

[aubriee]

Hi..I am staying at Bonnett Creek in March and renting from Kevin Wiseman. Just wondering if you were able to check in early or if check in was difficult. I have read mixed reviews on it.. Any info would be helpful...thanks!

not the person you asked, but we've stayed at Bonnet Creek three times in the last year and never had a problem checking in early. This past May we got there right after lunch and they had our condo ready. In Sept I got there about 10:30am and again the condo was ready. When we went down there last month (Dec 6th-16th), we got stuck in the Dallas airport for two days (due to a bad ice/snow storm). I was really worried that we'd lose our Bonnet Creek reservation. I called them both days to let them know we were trying our best to get there. They assured us it wasn't a problem. We were suppposed to land in Orlando at 9:30am Friday morning, instead we landed in Tampa around midnight Sunday morning, had to rent a car, and finally got to Bonnet Creek about 2:00am Sunday morning. Obviously at that time of the night, no one was in line to check in. They checked us in quickly and said that since no one was at the parking pass counter, to just stop in the next day to get our parking pass. We never did and never did hear from them, nor did we ever have a problem not having a parking pass. For the May and Sept trips I did go to the parking pass desk, but just checked the lowest income and told them my husband was not with me. They just handed me the parking pass and never even mentioned the time share presentation. So with three trips in a eight month span, we had no problems.

 

[cruisinpan567]

To me the only question is if the renter -- Ken, Vacations Strategy, whomever -- is delivering on their promises.

So far, I have heard no reports of anyone showing up and not having a reservation from any of the renters talked about on here.

Renters are competing for your business and they may use various arguments to try to win you over. In the end, you have to be comfortable with who you chose to rent from.

We used Ken Price last August. We were nervous also but we did a lot of research. Everything went very smooth he answered all our questions. I would use them again. Good luck

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

This will be our 3rd year to book with Vacation Strategy with ZERO issues. The last 2 years they had the cheapest rates. This year I wasn't happy with my quote so I got many other quotes. Vacation Strategy has a Best Price Guarantee. I got a lower quote, forwarded them the email and they matched the price. I am happy because I get to use the same company I trust and I got my rate lowered. cant wait till May 21st ! We love Bonnet Creek !

 

[FreeThinker]

Can I ask what your rate was for that week in May? We plan to be there the same week, May18-24.

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

Can I ask what your rate was for that week in May? We plan to be there the same week, May18-24.

Our dates are May 21st to May 31st. We priced 1 bedroom (which is what we have had past 2 yrs) and 2 bedrooms (thought it would be nice to get my dd10 off the fold out couch). We ended up booking 2 bedroom for $1380 total for 10 nights. Farrells has a good reputation but I just felt more comfortable going with Vacation Strategy because we have used them twice before.

 

[staggle]

not the person you asked, but we've stayed at Bonnet Creek three times in the last year and never had a problem checking in early. This past May we got there right after lunch and they had our condo ready. In Sept I got there about 10:30am and again the condo was ready. When we went down there last month (Dec 6th-16th), we got stuck in the Dallas airport for two days (due to a bad ice/snow storm). I was really worried that we'd lose our Bonnet Creek reservation. I called them both days to let them know we were trying our best to get there. They assured us it wasn't a problem. We were suppposed to land in Orlando at 9:30am Friday morning, instead we landed in Tampa around midnight Sunday morning, had to rent a car, and finally got to Bonnet Creek about 2:00am Sunday morning. Obviously at that time of the night, no one was in line to check in. They checked us in quickly and said that since no one was at the parking pass counter, to just stop in the next day to get our parking pass. We never did and never did hear from them, nor did we ever have a problem not having a parking pass. For the May and Sept trips I did go to the parking pass desk, but just checked the lowest income and told them my husband was not with me. They just handed me the parking pass and never even mentioned the time share presentation. So with three trips in a eight month span, we had no problems.

Thanks for the response. Glad to hear they accommodate early check in!

 

[WendyZQ]

I'm going to ask the opposite question: anyone have experience checking in late? Going next month and we fly in around 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night. I'm guessing it might be 9 before we get our rental car and make it to the resort.

 

[Princess Polamalu]

We just booked June 6-16th at WBC in a 2BR presidential with Aaron Washburn. His price was phenomenal for the season. 1500 for the 10 nights. VS quoted me almost 1700 for 7 nights. I have never stayed offsite so I am VERY nervous. The photos look great. We will have a car and will probably get AP's so parking won't be an issue. The units look beautiful and for the price can't be beat. We just cancelled our CSR reservation because it was almost 1900 with the spring discount. This thread has been really reassuring.

 

[aubriee]

I'm going to ask the opposite question: anyone have experience checking in late? Going next month and we fly in around 8 p.m. on a Tuesday night. I'm guessing it might be 9 before we get our rental car and make it to the resort.

See my post above. Due to the ice/snow storm in Dallas Dec 6th we checked in two days late and didn't arrive at Bonnet Creek until 2:00am on an early Sunday morning. They gave us a one bedroom condo in building 6, on I believe the 8th floor. Check in was quick and easy.

We just booked June 6-16th at WBC in a 2BR presidential with Aaron Washburn. His price was phenomenal for the season. 1500 for the 10 nights. VS quoted me almost 1700 for 7 nights. I have never stayed offsite so I am VERY nervous. The photos look great. We will have a car and will probably get AP's so parking won't be an issue. The units look beautiful and for the price can't be beat. We just cancelled our CSR reservation because it was almost 1900 with the spring discount. This thread has been really reassuring.

Aaron Washburn is great. We used Vacation Strategies this past May and had a good experience too though. For our Sept and Dec trips I requested quotes from Vacation Strategies, Vacation Upgrades, Farrells, a couple renters on ebay, and then three renters on myresortsnetwork.com. Aaron Washburn was one of those. Shelby Resorts gave me the best price for the Sept trip, but Aaron Washburn easily beat everybody for the Dec trip. He offered us a one bedroom for just 60.00 per night or a two bedroom for just $70.00 per night for Dec 6th-16th. He was a little higher than Shelby Resorts for my Sept trip though. I asked him why Sept was higher than Dec and he told me it just depended on the season and on what inventory each renter had. We tried to get a quote from him for our late March trip, but apparently our dates are fully booked already.

 

[eangel12]

We just booked August 23rd-30th at WBC in a 3BR presidential with Aaron Washburn. We were very happy with the pricing and he seems to be on top of things. Very impressed so far! Hoping we like WBC. We NEVER stay off site so we are trying it this time given we need the extra space. I am really torn over this...I want to stay on Disney property especially with the FP+ fiasco but it just isn't in the cards. We are staying on site for the 3 days prior to this and that is double what we are paying for the entire week at WBC.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Can anyone tell me if one bedrooms are typically difficult to book? I recommended WBC to my nanny and she called VS yesterday about booking a week during Veterans Week (so...November). She said they only saw one 1 bedroom unit available. I thought this was hard to believe since Veterans Week is busy but not THAT busy (I was there that week in 2013 myself). Are 1 bedrooms just hard to come by?

I hadn't even begun picking dates for my fall WDW trip, where I plan to book a 3 bedroom...but I'm wondering if I need to get on that soon!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[eliz603]

What are the practical differences between a 'regular' unit and a 'presidential' one? Curiosity got the better of me, and I got a third party quote. It came back for presidential. So was just curious.

 

[Upatnoon]

What are the practical differences between a 'regular' unit and a 'presidential' one? Curiosity got the better of me, and I got a third party quote. It came back for presidential. So was just curious.

Slightly upgraded decor, stainless appliances and you will be in the newest tower (Tower 6).

Is it worth paying extra for? If you are allergic to white appliances, certainly. For me, it would be nice to stay presidential, but I would pay very, very little extra for it.

 

[eliz603]

Slightly upgraded decor, stainless appliances and you will be in the newest tower (Tower 6). Is it worth paying extra for? If you are allergic to white appliances, certainly. For me, it would be nice to stay presidential, but I would pay very, very little extra for it.

Thank you. Very helpful. In our case , the quote for this 3 bedroom was only $50 more than getting a 2 bedroom direct. The quote only included the presidential level. I've got sticker shock in a good way right now!

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

Funny you mentioned cost difference being minimal between 2 and 3 bedroom quotes you received. The cost difference between 1 bedroom deluxe and the 2 bedroom deluxe was $3 for me ! yes $3 It was a no brainer ! sometimes It pays to check.

 

[disney*mom*82]

Hello! We are going to be staying at WBC for a week in March. We never have stayed off property before, but my in laws wanted us to all go with them to WDW and there is 13 of us, so this was where they choose. We were trying to get a 4br presidential, but that didnt work out, so we now have 2-2 bedroom units, which Im happy with! I have a few questions maybe some of you can answer...
1. If you have had to separate like we are in 2 rooms, are you usually close together? Same floor? Same building?

2. What building/floor do you recommend for the best view. Prefer park view, but if not possible, something else nice.

3. Anything we should know about WBC? Special activities, unexpected fees, anything about the room, pools, etc??

Thanks, kinda nervous about staying at WBC, we like having the DDP and staying on property, but this will be a great family trip and everyone wanted to be there for our sons first trip! He came home from China in September and is in LOVE with everything Disney!