The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread! (pics and reviews)

[britt54311]

We booked a 2 bedroom condo back in June for $120 per night, yesterday I got an email from Ken Price stating he was able to rebook our stay (Oct. 25 - Nov. 3) at a cheaper rate of $100 per night. Whoo! Whoo!

 

[Catira]

I am interested in finding a place in June...what is the best way to go about this if I am interested in Bonnet Creek. We are hoping for mid June and about 10 nights....thanks for any help or tips anyone can offer.

Hi, I had first contacted Ken, and my dates were not available. I then checked Ebay and found the second christmas week we needed. We had already booked the first week using our own wyndham points. You can also check, redweek.com as well as vrbo.com.

Good luck with your search

 

[Bkk40in2011]

OK my signature is a little boring - this is my first post but I have been lurking for a couple of years! I will doll it up soon.

For those of you who have used Ken at Vacation Upgrades, looked on Ebay, Redweek, etc. How successful are you in finding your dates? I would like Nov 11 (a Thurs) - Nov 21 (a Monday) of 2011. These are odd times as they aren't a start of a week or weekend.

Two Questions for anyone in the know - educated guesses are expected:

Is the High/Value season going to change at Bonnet Creek for 2011 like it did for Disney for these times?

How hard will it be to book at Bonnet Creek for this time period for around the $100 - $120 a night time period? I am not used to waiting until 60 days out to book my lodgings! I don't want to spend all year planning and then find out we can't get our dates or have to pay $180 a night.

Thanks in advance!

 

[traveldoode]

Hi, relatively new here. My trip to Bonnet Creek is coming up in less than a month and very excited. Hope this doesn't sound strange, but we booked through RCI, 2bd unit, will our unit be in a reasonably good spot? Won't get a bad room because we are an exchange from another resort? Will be my first time at Bonnet Creek. We will have a car, but is it possible to get to any of the Disney hotels without a car? I am assuming not possible without a car, but thought i'd ask that anyway.

 

[khertz]

Hi, relatively new here. My trip to Bonnet Creek is coming up in less than a month and very excited. Hope this doesn't sound strange, but we booked through RCI, 2bd unit, will our unit be in a reasonably good spot? Won't get a bad room because we are an exchange from another resort? Will be my first time at Bonnet Creek. We will have a car, but is it possible to get to any of the Disney hotels without a car? I am assuming not possible without a car, but thought i'd ask that anyway.

Don't know about trading in through RCI.

It's possible to get to the resorts without a car, but it would be a huge hassle in my opinion. The WBC buses only go to the parks, so you would have to take one of those shuttles, and then transfer to a Disney bus/boat/monorail depending on which resort you are trying to access. Much easier to just drive your car! We did that for our breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, and it was no problem.

 

[garmich]

I would like Nov 11 (a Thurs) - Nov 21 (a Monday) of 2011. These are odd times as they aren't a start of a week or weekend.

Two Questions for anyone in the know - educated guesses are expected:

Is the High/Value season going to change at Bonnet Creek for 2011 like it did for Disney for these times?

How hard will it be to book at Bonnet Creek for this time period for around the $100 - $120 a night time period? I am not used to waiting until 60 days out to book my lodgings! I don't want to spend all year planning and then find out we can't get our dates or have to pay $180 a night.

1. The High/Value seasons do not change from year to year. I suppose they could be changed by Wyndham, but ever since I've owned there, they have never revised the seasons chart at Bonnet Creek.

2. The dates that you want are in weeks #46 & 47. At BC, the value season is from week #43 thru week #50. You would be within the "value" season. Reservations made during the value season are not limited to 3,4 & 7-night stays. During value season, a 2-night minimum stay is required, and you can check-in on any day of the week. A stay that is longer than 7-nights may require a room change, but in the value season that may not be necessary.

3. Some other posters have said that some VIP owners that rent out their points will re-book your current reservation at 60-days and pass the discount to the renter.

 

[Bkk40in2011]

Garmich,

Thank you so much for the quick response. This was exactly the info I was looking for! WBC - here we come!

 

[Upatnoon]

Hi, relatively new here. My trip to Bonnet Creek is coming up in less than a month and very excited. Hope this doesn't sound strange, but we booked through RCI, 2bd unit, will our unit be in a reasonably good spot? Won't get a bad room because we are an exchange from another resort? Will be my first time at Bonnet Creek. We will have a car, but is it possible to get to any of the Disney hotels without a car? I am assuming not possible without a car, but thought i'd ask that anyway.

Some rooms may be better than others, but all the rooms i've had were fine. I ask at check-in for the area I want and so far they have always had something available.

If you don't want to drive your car, you can always take a taxi. Even when you are staying on Disney property, a taxi is often the fastest way to get from one resort to another. Because Bonnet Creek has such a great location, taxi fares would be very reasonable. The resort is very close to the Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach and Downtown Disney.

 

[kellyballoon]

Some rooms may be better than others, but all the rooms i've had were fine. I ask at check-in for the area I want and so far they have always had something available.

If you don't want to drive your car, you can always take a taxi. Even when you are staying on Disney property, a taxi is often the fastest way to get from one resort to another. Because Bonnet Creek has such a great location, taxi fares would be very reasonable. The resort is very close to the Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach and Downtown Disney.

Speaking of Carribean Beach, is there anything to do there if you're not actually staying there?

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to get discounted parking at the parks, or can you buy some kind of parking pass for the week or anything?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brian Noble]

You can eat or shop at CBR, but I don't know that there's a reason to. I'd keep driving past CBR to get to the Epcot area resorts, with much more interesting dining options. Not too much farther. You also couldn't really walk form Bonnet to CBR without cutting a fence and crossing a drainage ditch---probably not a good idea.

The only discount on parking is to buy an Annual Pass, or stay in a Disney resort.

 

[lillygator]

We booked a 2 bedroom condo back in June for $120 per night, yesterday I got an email from Ken Price stating he was able to rebook our stay (Oct. 25 - Nov. 3) at a cheaper rate of $100 per night. Whoo! Whoo!

this just happened with us as well....a nice surprise!

 

[gina_g]

this just happened with us as well....a nice surprise!

Us too! Gotta love Ken! 23 days to go!!

 

[Bkk40in2011]

Did the two of you who got the email from Ken book months in advance? I am going in November and wanted to see what time frame we are looking at even at the $120 rate. Do you pay him upfront and then if he finds a discount you receive a refund for that amount?

 

[indydisneymom]

We will be staying at Bonnet Creek Oct 16-23, our first visit here. Thanks to all for the awesome info on this thread. I have 3 kids, ages 2 -8. We plan to be in the parks one night for Illuminations and another for MK fireworks. I am thinking bldg 2 (Torre del Viento) lakeside view, fireworks in the distance would be a nice room request. Since Bldg 2 is one of the "older" buildings, are the amenities live tv/appliances not as nice as the new bldgs (#5 & #6)? Anyone stayed in both and have a preference?

 

[mrzrich]

Speaking of Carribean Beach, is there anything to do there if you're not actually staying there?

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to get discounted parking at the parks, or can you buy some kind of parking pass for the week or anything?

Thanks in advance!

How many days are you going to the parks? Only one person in your party needs an AP to get free parking. In some cases it pays to upgrade one ticket to an AP to get the free parking. (Even if its a child's AP) Figure $14 times the # of days you'll be in the parks.

 

[gina_g]

Did the two of you who got the email from Ken book months in advance? I am going in November and wanted to see what time frame we are looking at even at the $120 rate. Do you pay him upfront and then if he finds a discount you receive a refund for that amount?

I started talking to Ken back in February and I think we paid our deposit to him in April. When you are 60 days out from your trip, Ken checks to see if there is any availability at the resort. Not sure if this is overall general public availability or specific to points owners (I can't even begin to understand the timeshare system!). In our case, there was still availability at the resort and Ken was able to rebook our trip using fewer of his points so he passed his savings along to us. Then at the 30 day mark, you owe the remainder of the balance, so there is no worry of overpaying and having to wait for a refund. This is my basic understand of the situation. I'm sure there are others on here who can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[katallo]

I started talking to Ken back in February and I think we paid our deposit to him in April. When you are 60 days out from your trip, Ken checks to see if there is any availability at the resort. Not sure if this is overall general public availability or specific to points owners (I can't even begin to understand the timeshare system!). In our case, there was still availability at the resort and Ken was able to rebook our trip using fewer of his points so he passed his savings along to us. Then at the 30 day mark, you owe the remainder of the balance, so there is no worry of overpaying and having to wait for a refund. This is my basic understand of the situation. I'm sure there are others on here who can correct me if I'm wrong.

This is the way it usually works for us as well.

 

[Bkk40in2011]

gina g - that's what I was looking for! Have fun on your trip!

 

[saucymb]

For those of you who have used Ken at Vacation Upgrades, looked on Ebay, Redweek, etc. How successful are you in finding your dates? I would like Nov 11 (a Thurs) - Nov 21 (a Monday) of 2011. These are odd times as they aren't a start of a week or weekend.



Thanks in advance!

We booked a 7 night trip through a guy on eBay. I found a reservation that was close to what we wanted date-wise, but was only 5 nights and not 7. I emailed him and asked him if he could add two nights to it, he said sure and gave me a quote (which was great). So he then set up an auction for me and I purchased it with Buy-In-Now. We're going in November. Can't wait!

 

[Tina]

Us too! Gotta love Ken! 23 days to go!!

I think we'll be crossing paths. We leave in just 22 days! We also booked through Ken for $120 and had the rate reduced to $100.