Dvc vs Wyndham bonnet creek

[suebeelin]

We are going to try a new place, Wyndham bonnet creek, in April.

We own dvc (bwv and BLT) and go every year. This year we are staying at bwv, BLT (2bd with friends) for a week and poly by ourselves for a week- a 13 day trip in December.

Going back to Orlando in April- and trying out Wyndham bonnet creek. Found a ridiculously good rate via a timeshare rental called vacation strategy. It was a 2bd that's LESS than the maint fees for a std studio at bwv!!!!

Although I booked a room over Easter week at bwv, just in case, I'm probably cancelling it bc it's soooo point intensive... And Wyndham BC is so much less.

I'm wondering... Will I catch the timeshare bug? Will I find bonnet creek nicer than dvc? Am I starting to lose that lovin feeling about Disney? My kids are 3 and 6.... Sea world? Universal? Water parks? Gator land? I fear I may no longer be all about dvc after April....

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Bonnet Creek is nice, but in my opinion the Disney resorts are all about the theming and transporting you to another place.
While there may be more luxurious resorts, that's really what Disney does that is not matched.

MG

 

[JimMIA]

I'm wondering... Will I catch the timeshare bug?

I hope not, but if you do, WBC may be one of the worst places on the planet to catch that bug!

Whatever you do, do NOT sign up for a timeshare presentation, welcoming gifts, a survey, or any of the other enticements they offer. They are all hard-sell timeshare presentations by some of the sleaziest sales weasels in a sleazy industry. Do NOT expect your Wyndham sales experience to be anything like what you're used to at DVC. If a Wyndham salesman's lips are moving, they are lying.

The Wyndham timeshare resort system itself is very good. We have owned Wyndham for several years now, and we've been very pleased wherever we have stayed. There are more than 100 resorts in about 60 destinations, and it's a very easy system to use. We spent two weeks in Northern Arizona last year, based at Wyndham Sedona and Wyndham Flagstaff. In a few weeks, we will be at Wyndham Old Town Alexandria for four nights. Next summer, San Francisco and Yosemite National Park for vacation. VERY good system, including their online reservations and account management, and their resort staffs. We have found their people -- with the exception of their sales weasels -- at least as good as DVC's.

But if you want to buy Wyndham, buy resale for pennies on the dollar. Seriously, I got the rough equivalent of 600-700 DVC points for a little less than $2000, including all closing and transfer fees.

Will I find bonnet creek nicer than dvc?

I like WBC, but I think it depends on what you mean by nicer. WBC has many more amenities than DVC resorts -- six pools, two lazy rivers, miniature golf, fantastic free gas barbeque locations throughout the resort, lots of activities, etc. It does not have the theming that DVC has. The WBC Photo Thread over on the Orlando Resorts and Attractions board will give you a good look at the resort.

If you have a car, WBC is great. You have access to all of the many other attractions in the Orlando area, plus offsite dining which is better food, with more variety, no ADR silliness, and less expensive. Even when we stay at DVC, we eat all of our dinners offsite because the food is better. The downside would be that you will have to pay for theme park parking unless someone has an AP.

Without a car, WBC is a bit different story. They have a scheduled shuttle to the parks, but it only runs on that schedule, not continuously like the Disney buses. It is also rather expensive. But a lot of people use Uber or Lyft for convenient and inexpensive transportation.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've had a couple of stays at WBC in a standard 2BR, and have also stayed at OKW (both 1BR/2BR), VWL (both 1BR/2BR), BLT (2BR), BCV (1BR), and BWV (1BR).

In general, WBC's units are a little nicer and much more functional than the "typical" DVC unit, especially at the 2nd Gen DVC resorts (VWL, BCV, BWV). The pools collectively are better than any Disney resort I've experienced save SAB, and even that is arguable. WBC is much more compact, with high-rise buildings and everything is easily walkable to everything else. One of our stays had a panoramic view of many Epcot buildings, with Spaceship Earth staring at us through the balcony door. But, it does not have the location of the near-park resorts, nor the convenience of Disney transportation. The pool bar is a lot less expensive, though.

Overall, we thought our vacations at WBC were comparable to our vacations at OKW. Each has plusses and minuses, but neither was clearly better than the other. All things being equal, I'd probably rather stay at OKW, but if OKW became significantly more expensive for me as an option, I'd stick to WBC most of the time.

And, as Jim alludes to above, I'd *never* stay at WBC without a car. That said, I almost never stay at OKW without a car either.

 

[JimMIA]

The other place I've been wanting to stay in the WDW area is Wyndham's Reunion Resort. It's all three bedrooms, and has a pretty good water park that is included for Wyndham guests. Very convenient to the many good restaurants in Celebration, and a reasonable drive to WDW and other Orlando attractions.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've thought about it, but we tend to take mid-day breaks and return to the parks in the evening. That would be harder to do at Reunion.

 

[suebeelin]

Thx for the replies!

At least one person will have an AP (or all of us if we renew), and we have a car for this trip. We never have a car for our dvc trips bc we only stay at bwv BLT or poly (so far).

I cannot believe a 2bd at bonnet creek costs LESS than the maintenance fees on a std studio at Boardwalk over Easter. That's insane IMO.

If we love bonnet creek and catch the timeshare bug we will ONLY go resale. I've never stayed in a timeshare except dvc, but I'm excited and may want to only stay in a timeshare going forward (vs hotel rooms).

If I catch the bug I'll have a ton of questions about resales and which system is better (marriot, Hilton or Wyndham!).

Very excited and thank you!!

 

[JimMIA]

I cannot believe a 2bd at bonnet creek costs LESS than the maintenance fees on a std studio at Boardwalk over Easter. That's insane IMO.

I don't know what you're paying, but you can often get a 2BR at Bonnet Creek for less than $1000 for a full week. $700-$800 is not unheard of.

You're going in April, and it depends greatly when in April. Early April is Prime season (224,000 points for a week); the latter half of April is Value season (112,000 points). What the owner pays for those points depends greatly on their VIP status and when they book.

If you get the bug, the best place to research is TUG, and I'd add Starwood (Sheraton) and Bluegreen to your list of systems to check out.

 

[Dean]

I don't know what you're paying, but you can often get a 2BR at Bonnet Creek for less than $1000 for a full week. $700-$800 is not unheard of.

You're going in April, and it depends greatly when in April. Early April is Prime season (224,000 points for a week); the latter half of April is Value season (112,000 points). What the owner pays for those points depends greatly on their VIP status and when they book.

If you get the bug, the best place to research is TUG, and I'd add Starwood (Sheraton) and Bluegreen to your list of systems to check out.

And for timeshare exchanges, it can be even less even considering the other direct and indirect costs. When I've been there, I came away with the impression that the regular villas were a little less nice than DVC but the Presidential's a lot nicer and better. I think the main difference was the countertops. I suspect they'll upgrade the countertops when they refurbish (if they haven't already) and the difference will be even less if they do.

IMO one needs a certain amount of volume to make a non DVC timeshare worthwhile, due to the club dues and other factors that tend to make small volume contracts more expensive. Personally I feel that's at least the equivalent of a 2 BR for a week a year on average or some similar volume. If one is looking at Orlando/DVC and to get other trips as well or just non Orlando trips, a non DVC system is likely better by far than DVC. I like the points mini systems for that purpose and which one is best depends on a lot of variables including volume, preferred locations, ability to plan, budget and expectations. For many, the Marriott weeks system is still the best choice and the Marriott Trust Points system better for others that have higher expectations. One of the better choices for those looking to buy something else instead of DVC but also try for DVC at times through exchange is to buy a good non Orlando RCI points resort.

 

[JimMIA]

One of the better choices for those looking to buy something else instead of DVC but also try for DVC at times through exchange is to buy a good non Orlando RCI points resort.

What Dean is referencing in the bolded phrase above is a geographic block on RCI exchanges. Sometimes there are exclusions from exchanging -- for example, if your home resort is within 30 miles of WDW you can't exchange into DVC.

Those blocks do not apply to Wyndham. Wyndham exchanges in RCI through a fixed grid where points are points, no matter where your home resort happens to be. So there is no geographic block anywhere.

I am not familiar with other points systems, but it is possible that some of them exchange in RCI in a similar manner.

 

[JimMIA]

One of the better choices for those looking to buy something else instead of DVC but also try for DVC at times through exchange is to buy a good non Orlando RCI points resort.

The other aspect of this is financial...which is why Dean says this might be a better choice than DVC. Such an option could give you many more vacation options...and still offer the possibility of exchanging into DVC via RCI.

We exchanged into a 2BR at OKW in December 2013. I compared my cost for that exchange -- including the approximately $200 RCI exchange fee and the $95 DVC nuisance fee -- and my exchange cost was just a little more than HALF what the same villa would have cost me using my OKW points. The difference was something like $860 for the RCI exchange including all costs vs. $1,600 using OKW points.

Don't get too excited about that, however, because for almost two years now, I have not seen any 2 BR RCI exchanges into DVC.

 

[edith76]

Good Luck! We did a 3 week stay there a couple of years ago and you could not pay my husband to go back. We've stayed at other Wyndham Resorts and they have been fine so expected the same here or better. Perhaps if you are in the "presidential" ones its ok and only staying for one week. Our accommodations were mediocre/cheap at best. The wall so thin all sounds from the hall and room next door could be heard in our room - talking included. The deal-breaker however was there was no housekeeping except for what I did. The bathroom was not cleaned in the 3 weeks at all. A woman did come and change the sheets after 2 weeks but that was only because I contacted guest services everyday for a straight week. And when I asked her for the dishwasher soap packets she said they didn't give her any - Big Lie - because we happened to enter our building the same time she did and I saw them on her cart. They somehow disappeared on her way up to our room on the second floor. More worrisome however were the strange people walking around in our building. We've been doing timesharing for 25 years and for the last 6 or 7 travel a minimum of 1/3 of the year so I'm not new to this. This was the second worst place we've stayed. The worst was an Interval trade and we left early plus I don't think its still in business anyway.

 

[Gordonk74]

HI
I just recently returned from WBC a few weeks ago. We did use vacation strategy and were very very happy with them, albeit very nervous about renting through a system I had no idea about. My wife and I were DVC owners, and now we are buying back into SSR. (We are waiting ROFR). I will honestly say that the WBC resort was very nice and clean. The only problem that I found was that it just WASNT DISNEY. We had a two bedroom and had more room than we knew what to do with. I did not have one complaint about the resort. The pools were nice, albeit small. The out door cooking grills were very nice and well maintained. Overall, all the employees were very friendly. It just wasn't Disney. The only major problem was the constant harassing about going to a timeshare presentation. They make you go to another desk to get your parking pass. That is where they pressure you into a presentation. I am on vacation, leave me alone. You will like the resort, but if you are a Disneyfile then WBC may not be for you. My wife loved the resort, but she loves the DVC system much better. Overall you can save a ton of money by going to WBC.
Hope this helps. Any questions let me know. Good luck and have fun
Kyle

 

[kniquy]

But if you want to buy Wyndham, buy resale for pennies on the dollar. Seriously, I got the rough equivalent of 600-700 DVC points for a little less than $2000, including all closing and transfer fees.

Where do you look for this type of resale. We are very interested in many of the national park destinations that you mentioned. If you need to PM me with some guidance on how to find the right website for these resales.

 

[larissawbb]

Us too please! I would love to know the website.

 

[tbaptista]

The only major problem was the constant harassing about going to a timeshare presentation. They make you go to another desk to get your parking pass. That is where they pressure you into a presentation. I am on vacation, leave me alone.

There is a very easy trick to avoid the pressure sale. I check in with the kids while my DW stays in the car. At the parking pass table I tell them my DW couldn't make the trip. Done... They won't try to sell you if your not both present. Works every time like a charm.

 

[Dean]

What Dean is referencing in the bolded phrase above is a geographic block on RCI exchanges. Sometimes there are exclusions from exchanging -- for example, if your home resort is within 30 miles of WDW you can't exchange into DVC.

Those blocks do not apply to Wyndham. Wyndham exchanges in RCI through a fixed grid where points are points, no matter where your home resort happens to be. So there is no geographic block anywhere.

I am not familiar with other points systems, but it is possible that some of them exchange in RCI in a similar manner.

To my knowledge all of the systems thats are primarily points oriented are exempt from the geographical block with RCI but this could certainly change.

The other aspect of this is financial...which is why Dean says this might be a better choice than DVC. Such an option could give you many more vacation options...and still offer the possibility of exchanging into DVC via RCI.

We exchanged into a 2BR at OKW in December 2013. I compared my cost for that exchange -- including the approximately $200 RCI exchange fee and the $95 DVC nuisance fee -- and my exchange cost was just a little more than HALF what the same villa would have cost me using my OKW points. The difference was something like $860 for the RCI exchange including all costs vs. $1,600 using OKW points.

Don't get too excited about that, however, because for almost two years now, I have not seen any 2 BR RCI exchanges into DVC.

Not just financial but many other timeshare options are FAR better to do both Orlando and others and basically ALL are better for non DVC trips to other timeshares. Two 1 BR through RCI is far better for us than a 2 BR anyway even with the extra $300 in cost.

Where do you look for this type of resale. We are very interested in many of the national park destinations that you mentioned. If you need to PM me with some guidance on how to find the right website for these resales.

Many options including TUG classifieds, EBAY, redweeks, and many Facebook and email group lists. If you figure out which ones you're interested in, asking in one area will often get you recommendations to such groups/lists. For Marriott I'd say Ebay and Redweeks as well as working directly with brokers, for Bluegreen & Wyndham, EBAY and the lists/groups I mentioned are likely best. Like anything else I'd say educating oneself is the key to a great outcome.

 

[suebeelin]

We are staying April 16-19 (3 nights) at a non presidential suite. The rate was $115/night. We are at Kennedy space center on Easter weekend (April 14-16).

I'll stay in the car with kids to avoid timeshare hassle! Since kids are 3 and 6, they wouldn't do well staying in one place for a few hours.

Or, I've heard you should say you make under 35k/yr. lol.

Still checking websites to see if I can get cheaper rates. Right now, doesn't look like it!

 

[JimMIA]

Where do you look for this type of resale. We are very interested in many of the national park destinations that you mentioned. If you need to PM me with some guidance on how to find the right website for these resales.

I got mine on eBay, but there are lots of other channels. Dean mentioned several of the top ones.

Just for clarification: there are NO timeshares that I know of that are inside any National Park.

There are some close to several parks, especially Great Smokys NP. There are a number of timeshares on the Tennessee side in and around Gatlinburg.

National parks tend to be in pretty remote locations, but sometimes you can find timeshares close enough to use as a base of operations like we did in Northern Arizona last summer. For Yosemite next summer, we are staying inside the park at a lodge run by the park concessioner.

 

[JimMIA]

There is a very easy trick to avoid the pressure sale. I check in with the kids while my DW stays in the car. At the parking pass table I tell them my DW couldn't make the trip. Done... They won't try to sell you if your not both present. Works every time like a charm.

Easier is to just not go to the parking pass desk. You don't need the parking pass; its only purpose is to put you face to face with a Wyndham weasel.