Welcome Mouse Bound Adventurers!
It has been suggested that I should either become a travel agent or write a blog about WDW because we visit so often. And it's because of our experience that we are frequently asked for advice by our friends planning their own trips. So the purpose of this blog is share our experience from visiting WDW parks and resorts. We hope you enjoy what you read, find it useful, and that it helps you plan your own successful Disney vacation. Best of luck, and have a magical day!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Our Favorite Place to Stay
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Wyndham Bonnet Creek (BC) is on a piece of land inside the Disney Property but it does not belong to Disney. In addition to the BC resort on this plot there is a Hilton, a Waldorf Astoria, and 18 hold GC opening fall 09. The BC resort has 8 buildings around it's lake. Most of the construction is completed and we've witnessed no construction noise when staying there. BC offers 1, 2, and 3 bedroom condos, all with full kitchens and laundry machines. The resort has 4 pools, 2 lazy rivers, 1 pool slide, free miniature golf, volleyball, a kids activity center, and bars and snack bars at each pool. And the best part is, it's very cheap. For what you get, it is significantly cheaper than Disney Deluxe resorts and DVC Villas. Granted it's not on a Monorail or a 10 minute walk to Epcot, but it's pretty close. It's also pretty new and in great shape.
There are two completed buildings in the empty lot you see in this image. One of which is a Wyndham hotel. But this aerial shot gives you an idea how close you are to Epcot and DHS. From the certain BC buildings, you can request a room with a fireworks view of the Epcot World Showcase Lagoon.
Although BC is a timeshare development, they have 1000 units and 52 timeshare weeks per unit to sell. So until they are all sold out, they will continue to have days or weeks to rent to you and me like it's a hotel. And rates are low. When we went directly through the Wyndham reservations, we paid $289/night for July 4th (peak) week, and $170/night late August for a large 2 bedroom condo that slept 8. Again, full kitchen & laundry.
Ebay! If you go through an Ebay travel agent, you can get down to $120/night. But you must plan far enough ahead and do a "buy it now" auction for the dates they are selling. Which may not necessarily be the dates you initially wanted. So bid once you're certain you want those dates.
BC does offer it's own shuttle to Disney theme parks. It is not part of the Disney transportation system. We rented a car the times we have stayed there and drove to the parks ourselves. From BC, it's a 5 minute drive to DHS & Epcot. Another 10 minutes to MK.
The one thing you will notice at BC, is that your phone will ring often. A very friendly staff member is calling to invite you to a free breakfast, or an ice cream social, or free hot dogs and hamburgers and a moon bounce for the kids. If you show up to any of these events, you will be greated by sales people there who will try to sell you a timeshare or at least take a tour. They will offer you cash, or park tickets, or a free cruise, or free nights at BC. Don't buy into it. Either never answer it or just unplug your phone when you arrive in your unit. Thank me later.
Each unit has wired internet with a very short ethernet cable from the phone on the bar in the kitchen. Bring your own wifi or a longer cord if that is a problem.
We called ahead a few days to block off a specific room that we preferred. A recommended practice for any hotel stay. We mapped the place out and requested ground floor, lake view, building two. So we were right in front of the put put course, right next to the pool with the slide, and we never had to wait for the elevator. If you opt for a north tower, high floor, Epcot view, then you'll be able to see Epcot fireworks up close at 9pm every night. And possibly Wishes fireworks at MK in the distance. Check YouTube for videos of this fireworks view.
Again, blocking off your room prior to arrival is a great way to ensure a better experience. All too often I've read negative reviews by people because of where their room was positioned around the resort. This can be anticipated and avoided.
If you are serious into put put golf like our kids. You might consider packing your own putters for BC. Clubs and balls are lent out for free from the main building activity center, but you must return them when you're done playing or get charged. It's a big resort and a very long walk to pick up and drop off those clubs. So by packing his own gear, one ball and one putter, Joe shot 72 holes a day and I watched him from our patio. We learned this trick after our first trip to BC. It worked out very well.
Finally, do your own research by reading this resort's 200 plus reviews on Trip Advisor. Especially read the negative ones, the insight being offered is invaluable as well as amusing.
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