The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread Part 3

[dismom115]

I am so excited. We are heading to our first stay at WBC in June and can't wait. There are six of us (dh, dd9, myself, my sister, her dh and her ds1) sharing a 2 bedroom. This will be our kids' first trip to wdw and the first trip in what seems like forever (pre-Animal Kindom). This is a bittersweet trip for us as we lost both our mother and grandma within a month of each other during the holidays. Grandma was living in a nursing in PA but was buried next to grandpa at the veterns cemetary in Bushnell. After taking care of our mother while she battled cancer for over 2 years, we did not have the time off work or the money to arrange to go down to FL until now. We decided since we were going to be down there anyways, we wanted to take the kids do Disney and after the stress of the last few years, we needed a fun vacation. We will be driving down from Alabama and arriving on June 6 and staying one week. Before we checkin we will making a detour to pay our respects at Bushnell. It will likely be early afternoon when we arrive at WBC and I know we should go ahead and try to check in and if our condo isn't available, we can hang out at the pool. DH is disabled and will just want to rest so I'm thinking of renting a cabana, is this something we should try to reserve ahead of time? Do we need to put a deposit down? If so, are we out of luck if the weather is bad? Also, from the pictures it looks like there are only two lounge chairs per cabana, are there other chairs nearby or just other cabanas? I'd rather just rent one for all of us to share but it looks like we may need to get two. I'm working on a list of things we will need to bring with us and I thought I read cookie sheets were not provided then I saw a post today that said they were? If so, is it just one? We have a ton of frozen cookie dough from the kids' fundraisers so we were planning to pack some in the cooler to bake as snacks in the condo. My family plans to do some basic cooking in the condo, my sister's does not (we will be in two vehicles). I'm thinking about making a lasagna or a cassorole before we leave and freeze it to keep in the cooler. Since this is the kids' first trip, we are splurging on several character meals (somehow I scored reservations for breakfast at the Castle for dd and myself) but I'm trying to offset the splurges by eating in the room for most of the other meals. We plan to take a break from the parks on Monday and I was thinking of grilling some steaks that night. For those that drive, I am wondering what are your "must bring" or "wished I had brought" items? I already have extra papertowels, paperplates, laudry detergent pods and dishwasher pods on the list. Any other suggestions? Thanks! It's because of this board that we learned about and decided to stay at WBC! Thanks for all the helpful tips and advice.

There was one cookie sheet and one metal cake pan when we were there a month ago. I would suggest adding clothes pins (for helping blinds stay closed) and zip lock baggies (never have too many around)!

 

[CTdaizy]

We don't drive, but a must for us is a Britta pitcher, and dryer sheets!

 

[Laineysmom]

There was one cookie sheet and one metal cake pan when we were there a month ago. I would suggest adding clothes pins (for helping blinds stay closed) and zip lock baggies (never have too many around)!

Thanks! I always bring zip locks (both quart and gallon size) when I travel because you never know when you need one but close pins and/or chip clips (my mom apparently had a collection of these) are a great idea!

We don't drive, but a must for us is a Britta pitcher, and dryer sheets!

We were talking about getting a case or two of bottled water but I like the idea of filtered water pitcher, less space and weight in the car plus better for the environment. My daughter and I already have the individual britta water bottles from our Girl Scout Camporee last month so we are taking those to the part with us. I got us water bottle slings at Academy Sports for about $6 a piece and showed my sister yesterday. She loved it and asked me to run over (Academy is right next to my office) on a break this week to get two for them as well. Forgot about the dryer sheets because we can't use them in our dryer at home so yes, I will definitely need to buy a small box.

I was wondering about pool toys like noodles? Are we allowed to bring these? Also, I thought I ready the kids have to know how to swim to do the slide? DD hasn't had much swimming experience but I've got her signed up at the Y for both some group classes and private lessons before we head down so hopefully she'll be able to do the slide. Thanks so much for the suggestions and tips!

 

[skw444]

It has been a long time since our last visit to Bonnet Creek. I remembering taking our router last time (suggested here) since the wifi was so spotty and there was hard wired (sorry, whatever the technical term is) internet in the room. Is this still the case? Should we take a router again?

You will not need the router. We had no problems accessing the wifi both in our room and through out the resort.

 

[joedplumber]

We just got back from staying at WBC for the first time. We stayed in a 2 bedroom in tower 6.

All I can say is WOW!!!

We absolutely loved it at WBC. This will be were we stay for now on. Having so much room was soooo magical.

FYI we never got a parking pass nor did the 2 other familes that stayed at the resort as well. No issues and we never heard anything about timeshare sales.

It was such a great visit, even one of the familes that stayed in a 2 bedroom at BLT last time really enjoyed WBC. They said the price difference could not be justified to stay at BLT again.

 

[cherish2002]

Has anyone been able to successfully put in a room request?

When I called to do this, they told me that they are no longer taking room requests unless you are an actual owner.

Btw - my reservation from Vacation Strategy was finally put into the system ~10 days before arrival.

 

[eeyoresnr]

Has anyone been able to successfully put in a room request?

When I called to do this, they told me that they are no longer taking room requests unless you are an actual owner.

Btw - my reservation from Vacation Strategy was finally put into the system ~10 days before arrival.

They have not been doing room request for quite a while now.

 

[ChloeH]

Vacation Upgrades is a very reputable company. However I have always used Vacation Strategy. We are using them for the 3rd straight time for our trip next month. I cant recommend them enough. They have a best price guarantee and will price match other quotes you may get. They also have super customer service.

Do you know if that is true for all quotes such as from Ebay too?

 

[Upatnoon]

Do you know if that is true for all quotes such as from Ebay too?

Many of the ebay renters have been on there for years and do it as a business just like Vacation Strategy.

Sometimes its just an owner renting a reservation to pay their maintenance fees or they suddenly can't go.

The great thing about ebay is there is feedback you can check. Plus you can also look at the sales history to see what the going rate is.

 

[Upatnoon]

Has anyone been able to successfully put in a room request?

When I called to do this, they told me that they are no longer taking room requests unless you are an actual owner.

Btw - my reservation from Vacation Strategy was finally put into the system ~10 days before arrival.

You can make a request when you check in, but the days of calling ahead to try and get a fireworks view are over.

 

[joedplumber]

Is it common to end up with more days then you actually booked at WBC through vacation strategies? Booked and paid for a Saturday checkin and a Thursday Checkout. However upon arriving at WBC they had us checking out on Friday. Not sure where the extra came from.

 

[Upatnoon]

Is it common to end up with more days then you actually booked at WBC through vacation strategies? Booked and paid for a Saturday checkin and a Thursday Checkout. However upon arriving at WBC they had us checking out on Friday. Not sure where the extra came from.

It is likely they are using various tricks to maximize their Wyndham points and it was more cost-effective for them to give you a reservation with the extra day on it.

Or it could of been a mistake and they don't know about it -- or its too late to change it.

 

[stace1214]

Has anyone been able to successfully put in a room request?

When I called to do this, they told me that they are no longer taking room requests unless you are an actual owner.

Btw - my reservation from Vacation Strategy was finally put into the system ~10 days before arrival.

We didn't try to request in advance but when I was checking in I asked for a fireworks view and the man working with us changed things around so we could have one. He was very willing to make it happen for us.

 

[ibob52]

Is it common to end up with more days then you actually booked at WBC through vacation strategies? Booked and paid for a Saturday checkin and a Thursday Checkout. However upon arriving at WBC they had us checking out on Friday. Not sure where the extra came from.

This happened to me too ... but it worked out very well for me ... instead of checking out at 10am
I was able to take my time and check out later in the afternoon (the day before my reservation stated it ended).

 

[joedplumber]

This happened to me too ... but it worked out very well for me ... instead of checking out at 10am
I was able to take my time and check out later in the afternoon (the day before my reservation stated it ended).

That's exactly what we did. It was so nice taking our time in the morning and not rushing to check out!

 

[kleighh1]

We will be staying at WBC in November for the first time. I am a Disney Vacation Planner, so it was a tough decision for me to stay off site. I have to say, the savings and amount of space were the key! Our group includes Me, DH, DD9, DD5, DS1, and my Mom. We have outgrown the Disney resorts that are within our budget. On our last trip we stayed in a family suite at Allstar Music. We loved it, but wanted something with a real kitchen. We booked a 2 BR deluxe through Ken Price at Vacation Upgrades. He has been awesome! When he told me the price it was a no brainer for me. We plan to cook breakfast each morning, lunch in the parks, 2 dinner reservations, and the rest of our dinners in the room. My husband and I both love to cook, and we try to eat clean most of the time. It just makes more sense for us to stay somewhere with a kitchen. I have read this entire thread and am making notes. Thank you to everyone who posts advice and reviews for us newbies. Y'all are the best!!!!

 

[canadadoug]

Anyone know of a good place for us to stop on the way from the airport so the DDs 3&5 can blow off some steam? Maybe get a good ice cream. Something different and fun for them before we hit publix for some groceries and spend all the time checking in and getting settled?

 

[jagfanjosh3252]

So thinking of staying here for my Everest 5K trip next week. I have a car, so don't need to worry about the busses or anything. I have another Hilton property booked off 535(Garden Inn) as wondering if this place is worth the extra $100 or so. I don't plan on doing much park time since I wanna be ready for the race and the lazy river looks REALLY nice.

So, is it worthy the extra cash to stay for two nights? Especially if I plan on relaxing

The only thing that gets me is the parking fee. I hate paying for it. Especially since we will have two cars there.

 

[ge0rgette2]

How much is parking?

I didn't even think of that ….
I was told no other fees when I book thru an agency.

I guess they mean no fees on their end

 

[CTdaizy]

Parking is free for the timeshare part- but there is a hotel on property that charges to park