The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread part2

[Tinker101]

thank you dsmith. Good to know about the shuttles. I do like the convenience of Disney shuttles and always found them pretty quick to and from. I think we'll rent a car this time. Question to those of you with small kids and carseats and flying. My kids will be 2 and 4 when we come. Can we rent carseats when we rent the car or should we take our carseats on the plane? We already plan on renting a stroller so I'm curious what to do with the seats. Ideas?

I'm so excited about this trip. I've gathered such great information on here. Thanks to everyone!

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

thank you dsmith. Good to know about the shuttles. I do like the convenience of Disney shuttles and always found them pretty quick to and from. I think we'll rent a car this time. Question to those of you with small kids and carseats and flying. My kids will be 2 and 4 when we come. Can we rent carseats when we rent the car or should we take our carseats on the plane? We already plan on renting a stroller so I'm curious what to do with the seats. Ideas?

I'm so excited about this trip. I've gathered such great information on here. Thanks to everyone!

In answer to your question re: car seats - it will cost you about an extra $10/day/seat - so depending on your length of stay, you may want to consider bringing your own.....

 

[jaysmom4285]

I can't speak to anyone else's experience about pool towels, but when we stayed in Tower 5, we got pool towels at a kiosk right by the door that led out to the pool area. We had to sign for them and return them when we were done, and we didn't have to bring our own to swap out. I think the people in Tower 6 can get towels at the activity desk in that building, but I don't know why they also couldn't just get them at poolside, as we did.

 

[Disneyforus]

We arrived on Sunday and I had requested water view, high floor, preferably 5 or 6. Front desk said there was nothing in 6 but she would really try to get us in 5. It was around noon so they took our cell phone number and we went to parking desk. I marked lowest income and were pretty much ushered through with no sales pitch. We went to the Poly for lunch and we were called around 3 to let us know the room was ready. Tower 5 14th floor no waterview. Oh well. Room was mostly nice, the couch was ripped up and no granite, but flat screens and clean. Phone in master didn't work either and no wifi, no big deal. Enjoyed the lazy river although very busy. Then the major problem began at bed time. My husband and I were in our bedroom and periodically we would hear this noise that sounded like it was coming from behind the large mirror near the A/C unit. It was like a loud ticking of a grandfather clock but it was sporadic. I was so tired I fell asleep around 10 pm but by midnight the noise woke us both up. If it had been consistent maybe we could have dealt with it but it wasn't. Finally called front desk for maintenance, 30 min. later no one had come. Called back and cancelled, we were so tired we thought we could handle it. 15 min. later we couldn't. Called back, asked them to please send someone very quickly. Man came about 10 min. later. Of course while he was there, noise didn't happen. He said he would get us a new bedside phone and even though we didn't say anything about the couch, he said, you guys want a new couch, I have some new ones downstairs? O.K.. Well, he finally says, we will just move you guys tomorrow. I said we are going to the parks @ 8, he said just pack and we'll take care of it. Noise was so bad, though, DH & I slept on pull out couch, uncomfortable but quiet. Called front desk in am to ask about move b/c I didn't know if I should pack. They said no rooms avail, so maintenance will have to fix noise. Fine, but I can't deal with another night like last night. I didn't really want to move anyway but I sure want to sleep in the 12 nites we are here. Front desk called back 10 min. later, maintenance can't fix today so they have a room in tower 6. It is 7:10 and we have to be @ bus stop @ 8 and now we have to pack and move. They said they would send bell man in 20 min. OK, wake kids and everyone make a mad dash to throw everything in a suitcase. Bell man arrives promptly @ 7:30 & does an amazing job getting everything loaded, gets us to 6, unloads us & we make it to bus stop a few min. before 8. Tower 6, 7th floor, great room, clean, wifi, granite-AWESOME! I know that was long but I wanted to give this account so you would know they do try to fix problems that exist!
Only thing we are on the fence about is the shuttle service. We have a car but love to save money so took it to Epcot Monday and MK yesterday. It is prompt but we are sure we like the fact that we can't just come and go like a Disney bus, just leave the park when you want, there will always be a bus coming. We are going to AK today and we are going to drive. The 1st shuttle back to the resort is 4 PM and although we like AK, I don't know if we want to stay that long.

That's really great that they took care of the problem. We also had a terrible noise behind the master bedroom door/mirror area, ours was a very loud clunk...it happened everytime the AC unit turned off. The first night I don't think I slept much...by the second night I figured out if I turned the exhaust fan on high in the kitchen it made so much noise that it softened the clunking enough that it didn't startle me awake. I honestly thought about calling maintenance but lacked the faith that they would do anything...I guess I should have.
That's funny abou the couch The very bottom and back of the parking ramp is FULL of chairs and couches...I don't know if they always have that much stock or they are just getting in a big shipment. We did see lots of furniture going in and out while we were there..

Enjoy your stay!!

 

[agame2323]

How much is parking? And are there frying pans in the room? I like making pancakes. Whaddaya want me say

 

[ibob52]

We just returned from our *best vacation ever* which included a stay at WBC. We enjoyed the resort and the extra room our 2 bedroom provided. General info and observations.

1) Be specific when checking in, state my preferences are (and be flexible)
2) We stayed in Buiding 4 - ninth floor - Lake/pool view = Happy happy ... I would think each building has some good points.
3) Park in the parking garage = cooler.
4) Wifi was being installed in Building 4 (so prolly all buildings will have wifi too = eventually).
5) The torn damaged sofa/couches are being replaced (tossed in the dumpster).
6) This Resort has alot of Rooms and is very popular (turnover) so it will take some time to fix .
7) Bring Dryer sheets - towels are motel quality and are not soft..
8) Dryer takes 90 minutes - 2 hours to dry ... but is convenient (in room).
9) Laundry soap, Dish soap, Shampoo, Conditioner, lotion, mouth wash = are sold in Resort store (mini size) and were not replenished / replaced by Resort (as per phone call - front desk).
10) Flippers Pizza = yes.
11) Lazy River = too shallow and tubes seem small = for adults (floatation) ... *kids have a Blast* ... YMMV
12) BBQ's are cleaned by a dedicated staff member (every morning) - but are used by numerous people ... throughout the day.
13) All in all this was a good place to stay ... No Major issues or Complaints.

 

[DCTooTall]

In answer to your question re: car seats - it will cost you about an extra $10/day/seat - so depending on your length of stay, you may want to consider bringing your own.....

Or even consider purchasing a cheap one once you are down there.

I can't speak to anyone else's experience about pool towels, but when we stayed in Tower 5, we got pool towels at a kiosk right by the door that led out to the pool area. We had to sign for them and return them when we were done, and we didn't have to bring our own to swap out. I think the people in Tower 6 can get towels at the activity desk in that building, but I don't know why they also couldn't just get them at poolside, as we did.

That's been my experience. Towers 3 and 5 you could sign them out and swap them at a kiosk at the pool, but Tower 6 you had to go to the activites desk inside the building. (I think Tower 6 because the activities desk isn't that far it's easier than having someone outside by the pool all day to swap them)

How much is parking? And are there frying pans in the room? I like making pancakes. Whaddaya want me say

Parking at the Timeshare resort section of the resort is free. If you stay at the Wyndham Grand hotel however there is a daily parking fee. You also would need to pay for parking at the parks

We just returned from our *best vacation ever* which included a stay at WBC. We enjoyed the resort and the extra room our 2 bedroom provided. I'm not one to post a Trip Report ... but I will share some General info / observations.

1) Be specific when checking in, state my preferences are (and be flexible)
2) We stayed in Buiding 4 - ninth floor - Lake/pool view = Happy happy ... I think each building must have some good points
3) Park in the parking garage = cooler.
4) Wifi was being installed in Building 4 ( so prolly all buildings will have wifi too = eventually).
5) The torn damaged couches are being replaced (tossed in the dumpster).
6) This Resort has alot of Rooms and is very popular (vast amount of turnover) so it will take some time to fix.
7) Bring Dryer sheets - towels are motel quality and not soft after wash.
8) Dryer takes 90 minutes - 2 hours to dry ... but is convenient (in room).
9) Laundry soap, Dish soap, Shampoo, Conditioner , mouth wash = are sold in Resort store (mini size) and were not replenished / replaced by Resort.
10) Flippers Pizza = yes.
11) Lazy River = too shallow and tubes too small = for adults ... (kids have a Blast). YMMV
12) BBQ's are cleaned by a dedicated staff member (every morning) - but are used by numerous people... throughout the day.
13) All in all this was a good place to stay ... No Major issues or Complaints.

3. Plus it's a lot less stress finding a parking spot at the end of the day. Rather than going back and forth trying to find an open spot in the surface lot, you can just pull into the garage and be virtually guaranteed to find an open spot.

 

[tripplanner2]

We've never been to Universal but are taking the plunge in less than two weeks. It may sound weird, but we're going to be double-booked the night in between our two Universal days at RPR and Bonnet Creek - so just one overnight bag has to be left with the valet that morning when we check in at our resort to get our FOTL passes for the two days (what a deal!). Then we laze around since we don't have to wait in any lines, enjoy the hotel a little for the night, laze around the next day, and come back to our cozy 2 bedroom at WBC. It only cost about $90 to hold the room for the night since it was a weeknight and the relaxation of not having to check in, check out, check in ...totally worth it!

Our Disney days will only be 2 or 3 this time - haven't even purchased tickets since there's not much discount for so few days; we can decide when we get there what to do (although I do already have an ADR lined up !)

Good luck with your plans!

You paid the $90 for the room at BC, right? The room at RP was $300. If I could get some sort of discount I would do that in a heartbeat, but so far...nada!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Just wondering where most of you got your rentals through? We don't need a week rental so it's hard to go through VRBO, since most of them are weekly rentals.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I can't speak to anyone else's experience about pool towels, but when we stayed in Tower 5, we got pool towels at a kiosk right by the door that led out to the pool area. We had to sign for them and return them when we were done, and we didn't have to bring our own to swap out. I think the people in Tower 6 can get towels at the activity desk in that building, but I don't know why they also couldn't just get them at poolside, as we did.

Just curious as to when you were there? I know that they used to have towels poolside without signing them out, then you had to go to the activities desk to sign them out which is what we did in Jan...wondering if it's changed again?

 

[jaysmom4285]

We were there February 11-18, so maybe things did change after your January visit.

 

[DCTooTall]

Just curious as to when you were there? I know that they used to have towels poolside without signing them out, then you had to go to the activities desk to sign them out which is what we did in Jan...wondering if it's changed again?

We were there February 11-18, so maybe things did change after your January visit.

Maybe it has to do with the weather/crowds. The end of December and January have been known to get quite cold in Florida the past couple years, so maybe they plan on inside only sign-out for the colder period?

 

[Destructsean]

Haven't been here in a while. Reading back over the tons of post sI've missed is making this six month wait UNBEARABLE!

 

[Branabb]

Just wondering where most of you got your rentals through? We don't need a week rental so it's hard to go through VRBO, since most of them are weekly rentals.

The most commonly mentioned renters on this board seem to be Vacation Upgrades & Vacation Strategy LLC. I have spoken with both and they are great folks.
I personally rent from Paul @ Utopia World Vacations because his Presidential Rates have been lower both times than the others.

5starresorts is another I have seen mentioned hear and there but never dealt with them personally.

You should be able to search nay of those names and find the people. I don't think posting site links is allowed.

 

[chuchujew]

The most commonly mentioned renters on this board seem to be Vacation Upgrades & Vacation Strategy LLC. I have spoken with both and they are great folks.
I personally rent from Paul @ Utopia World Vacations because his Presidential Rates have been lower both times than the others.

I aslo rent from Paul @ Utopia World Vacation and everything seems fine so far, my day is next week, so will see how it goes.
I did check w/ VU and VS. VS price is higer. I like Ken from VU, very helpful, just that he didn't have a 3 bedroom available for my time.

 

[chuchujew]

We just returned from our *best vacation ever* which included a stay at WBC. We enjoyed the resort and the extra room our 2 bedroom provided. General info and observations.

1) Be specific when checking in, state my preferences are (and be flexible)
2) We stayed in Buiding 4 - ninth floor - Lake/pool view = Happy happy ... I would think each building has some good points.
3) Park in the parking garage = cooler.
4) Wifi was being installed in Building 4 (so prolly all buildings will have wifi too = eventually).
5) The torn damaged sofa/couches are being replaced (tossed in the dumpster).
6) This Resort has alot of Rooms and is very popular (turnover) so it will take some time to fix .
7) Bring Dryer sheets - towels are motel quality and are not soft..
8) Dryer takes 90 minutes - 2 hours to dry ... but is convenient (in room).
9) Laundry soap, Dish soap, Shampoo, Conditioner, lotion, mouth wash = are sold in Resort store (mini size) and were not replenished / replaced by Resort (as per phone call - front desk).
10) Flippers Pizza = yes.
11) Lazy River = too shallow and tubes seem small = for adults (floatation) ... *kids have a Blast* ... YMMV
12) BBQ's are cleaned by a dedicated staff member (every morning) - but are used by numerous people ... throughout the day.
13) All in all this was a good place to stay ... No Major issues or Complaints.

ibob52, good to hear you have a great time. this will be my 1st time at BC, so excited. I am thinking of requesting building 5 or 6.
when i called the resort to do the request, they told me they provide shampoo/conditioner/dish soap and i can just call front desk to replenish, so this is not true then.
Did you use their shuttle serive to the park? is it one time? a lot of ppl?

 

[Tracey123]

I read a few pages ago about the Walmart Stop and killing vacation time. Why not use wegoshop.com or Garden Grocer. We used Garden Grocer on our last trip and they were good, but next time I think I would try Wegoshop. For $25 it beats doing it yourself - you are on vacation

 

[ibob52]

ibob52, good to hear you have a great time. this will be my 1st time at BC, so excited. I am thinking of requesting building 5 or 6.
when i called the resort to do the request, they told me they provide shampoo/conditioner/dish soap and i can just call front desk to replenish, so this is not true then.
Did you use their shuttle serive to the park? is it one time? a lot of ppl?

When checking in ... Building 5 & 6 was my preference ~ High Floor ... all High Floors (Bldg 5 & 6) were taken (a Saturday 7pm ish) ... Building 4 (9th Floor) was very good and closer to the Main Building (which I frequented 2-3 daily) ... We brought Shampoo and Conditioner ... But when I called to request more liquid dish soap = I was informed it was for sale at Gift Shop ... *I assumed all the mini supplies sold in the gift shoppe were not comp* ... in the end I got the soap brought to me after I mentioned the (in room) paper said to call for more needed supplies ... pretty sure there is a mix up in the SOP (Front Desk ~ Housekeeping etc).

We rented a car ... so we could spread out our vacation from Disney (2) ... Universal (2) ~ Sea World (2) and possibly Clearwater Beach (no = Tropical Storm Beryl).

 

[budafam]

I read a few pages ago about the Walmart Stop and killing vacation time. Why not use wegoshop.com or Garden Grocer. We used Garden Grocer on our last trip and they were good, but next time I think I would try Wegoshop. For $25 it beats doing it yourself - you are on vacation

We used WeGoShop and while I hate to diss them in anyway... they were running late. It ended up being about 2 hours later than our scheduled time before they arrived. It wasn't a huge deal since we were in our room hanging out for the night. I did make our shopping list pretty specific. DH is an extremely picky eater (you can read about him in my dining report in my siggy) but he NEEDED Jack's pizzas so that he would feel comfortable and have something to fall back on if he couldn't find anything in the parks that day. We didn't realize it but once we got back up to our room with our groceries, they had bought all Publix 4 cheese pizzas. 4 cheese is a NO GO for hubby and he was so upset. It was a huge let down and really the only reason we ordered groceries in the first place. I won't place an order with them again unfortunately.

 

[Branabb]

I aslo rent from Paul @ Utopia World Vacation and everything seems fine so far, my day is next week, so will see how it goes.
I did check w/ VU and VS. VS price is higer. I like Ken from VU, very helpful, just that he didn't have a 3 bedroom available for my time.

I am renting my second time with Paul. Last year was smooth as butter. I like the fact that he ALWAYS calls me back or responds to emails same day. That's a big deal to me.