The we loooooove Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek Part 4

[Lisa P.]

When you book thru a points broker like VS, rather than directly through Wyndham, a guest certificate is already being issued from some timeshare owner's account behind the scenes. As a 20+ years Wyndham points owner, I don't know of a way that the guest (or VS either) could authorize changing a guest reservation so that another party would be able to check in. Even if you wanted to show up in person to check them in, you'd have to give the resort your credit card for a security hold. Sorry.

In normal times, it's possible to purchase individual travel insurance through companies like Allianz. But there are specific circumstances which are covered, such as a medical hospitalization of the traveler or immediate family member. The resort is beautiful and easy to maintain as much social distancing as you wish. What are your doubts?

 

[Firestarlife]

When you book thru a points broker like VS, rather than directly through Wyndham, a guest certificate is already being issued from some timeshare owner's account behind the scenes. As a 20+ years Wyndham points owner, I don't know of a way that the guest (or VS either) could authorize changing a guest reservation so that another party would be able to check in. Even if you wanted to show up in person to check them in, you'd have to give the resort your credit card for a security hold. Sorry.

In normal times, it's possible to purchase individual travel insurance through companies like Allianz. But there are specific circumstances which are covered, such as a medical hospitalization of the traveler or immediate family member. The resort is beautiful and easy to maintain as much social distancing as you wish. What are your doubts?

On the vacation strategy website, and in my confirmation email, it says they can process a name change on the reservation for an additional fee. I'm wondering if anyone has been through this process and how it works in this type of situation?

I do love the resort, we've stayed there before. I'm just having doubts about the week I chose to reserve and the crowd levels (=amount of time we will have to spend waiting in lines since there's no fast pass).

 

[dioxide45]

You are probably best to reach out to VS and ask them how this works. I don't know the business model, but from prior posts it sounds like they are a broker for owner rentals. That means a name change would require them to contact the owner to update the name on the guest certificate. The fee is likely for VS to cover their added costs of contacting the owner. Not sure if the owner gets any of that fee. This should be a pretty painless process, the only pain is you finding someone to take the reservation from you.

 

[KristenCarll]

Hi all. We stayed at Bonnet Creek last year in February and absolutely loved it. We decided we need some R&R and that we will be going back down again in March, this time we will not be doing the parks. Does anyone have any suggestions of what to do in the area? We are thinking of doing some resort hopping of the Disney resorts as we never seem to have time for that sort of thing on a trip where we are hitting the parks. We do plan to spend some quality time right at Bonnet Creek. Can we still use utensils for the grills in order to cook outselves some food? Any things we should do at the resort? We loved our meals at the restaurants on site, as well as the pools/lazy river. We will be staying for 4 nights and then go stay at my Mom's house in St. Cloud for a few nights as well. We are renting a vehicle and I was thinking we should try the ocean one day. Any suggestions as to where? Thank you all!

 

[CarolynFH]

We are thinking of doing some resort hopping of the Disney resorts

Assuming you're driving yourself to the Disney resorts, consider paying the $25 to park at one of the parks and then taking Disney transportation to the resorts you'd like to visit. Disney is being fairly persnickety at not allowing people to park at the resorts unless they have a dining reservation at that resort (sometimes a mobile order will suffice, sometimes not) or, of course, are guests there. Parking at DHS allows easy access via the Skyliner and/or Friendship boats to CBR, AoA, Pop, Riviera, BW, BC, YC, and Swan & Dolphin, and the TTC is convenient to the monorail resorts, WL and Ft. Wilderness (the latter two via boat from MK). AKL is the outlier, but it's also easier to park there because it's pretty well closed down right now and doesn't offer pedestrian access to any theme parks. If you pay to park at one lot and then want to park at another, just bring your receipt, and you won't have to pay at the second lot.

 

[missingdisneymore]

Skip all that noise and just park at Disney springs for free and take a bus to one of the resorts and start hopping from there. You can take a bus to Caribbean beach or pop century, then you can jump on the skyliner to a park. Take a park bus back to a resort of your choosing and so on. No need to pay. Explore away!

 

[kkmcan]

What is the best grocery delivery service to use?

I'm also wondering the same thing. My daughter and her new husband are staying at the end of April for their honeymoon and they won't get in until close to midnight. They'll need groceries delivered the next morning. Any suggestions?

 

[CarolynFH]

Skip all that noise and just park at Disney springs for free and take a bus to one of the resorts and start hopping from there. You can take a bus to Caribbean beach or pop century, then you can jump on the skyliner to a park. Take a park bus back to a resort of your choosing and so on. No need to pay. Explore away!

That works too! As long as you don't plan to start until 9 or 9:30 in the morning, when the buses start running from DS to resorts, and I can't imagine wanting to start a whole lot earlier than that.

 

[KristenCarll]

Thanks guys! Definitely not wanting to start too early. I appreciate the feddback and suggestions!

 

[Joyful2018]

last year we were planning on using Tripbound to book at bonnet creek for this april, we decided last fall to just postpone to 2022 and knowing tripbound is not open, where is the best place to book that has a good cancellation policy?

 

[Upatnoon]

last year we were planning on using Tripbound to book at bonnet creek for this april, we decided last fall to just postpone to 2022 and knowing tripbound is not open, where is the best place to book that has a good cancellation policy?

If you want to book and have a good cancellation policy, extraholidays.com is the timeshare-renting arm of Wyndham. You will pay more, of course.

 

[dioxide45]

Yeah, cheap prices and lenient cancellation policies don't usually go hand in hand. You can rent from an owner at a bargain price and have no refunds or pay a lot more and rent direct and perhaps be able to cancel up to a few days prior for 100% refund. It is the risk/reward you need to be willing to take.

 

[bcuinohio]

If you want to book and have a good cancellation policy, extraholidays.com is the timeshare-renting arm of Wyndham. You will pay more, of course.

I booked a 2 BR through extra holidays for a week in July. Total with tax was about $1,735. It is fully cancellable until 48 hours before. We booked this as a backup. Our intention is to go to Maine but with the strict Covid restrictions in the Northeast, we need a backup.

 

[Upatnoon]

I booked a 2 BR through extra holidays for a week in July. Total with tax was about $1,735. It is fully cancellable until 48 hours before. We booked this as a backup. Our intention is to go to Maine but with the strict Covid restrictions in the Northeast, we need a backup.

Interesting how the math works here. Let's say you can rent a week for around $800 with no cancellation policy.

If you go with Extra Holidays you would "lose" $900.
If you book and don't go with the rental you would "lose" $800.
If you go with the rental you would "win" $900.
If you don't go with Extra Holidays you "win" the $800 you would have spent on the rental.

The only way to "win" this game is to not go at all, which is kind of a bummer.

 

[bcuinohio]

Interesting how the math works here. Let's say you can rent a week for around $800 with no cancellation policy.

If you go with Extra Holidays you would "lose" $900.
If you book and don't go with the rental you would "lose" $800.
If you go with the rental you would "win" $900.
If you don't go with Extra Holidays you "win" the $800 you would have spent on the rental.

The only way to "win" this game is to not go at all, which is kind of a bummer.

I can always cancel a couple of weeks before and rent from a private owner. Even at 1,735 it’s a good deal for a unit of that size. Vistana was a few hundred bucks cheaper but pools looked better at Bonnet Creek. Plus no lazy river at Vistana.

 

[CarolynFH]

@dioxide45 and @CarolynFH

Here are some pics I got today. There were people at the counter so I didn't get any inside pictures (pretty small inside).

Well, I told DH about it, and we walked over for a Brownie Sundae the night we arrived. It was yummy! I was glad we could choose our three ice cream flavors - I could try the Red Velvet Cake but also get the PB & Cream and the chocolate for him!

 

[dioxide45]

We booked our first stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We are usually Marriott & Sheraton folks. It is just the two of us, but we decided to go with a 2BR vs a 1BR. We have been going to a bunch of the Orlando properties over the last 9 months (we live in Florida) and try to stay in a 2BR if we can. It is just great to have the extra space. We will only have four nights at the resort.

 

[twocat]

We booked our first stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We are usually Marriott & Sheraton folks. It is just the two of us, but we decided to go with a 2BR vs a 1BR. We have been going to a bunch of the Orlando properties over the last 9 months (we live in Florida) and try to stay in a 2BR if we can. It is just great to have the extra space. We will only have four nights at the resort.

I'm usually a solo traveler and when I stayed at BC in November in a 1 bedroom, I would have enjoyed some extra space but it wasn't necessary. I think the 2BRs are considerably larger in the 'public areas' in the unit.

I couldn't help but think that if this 1 BR was my 'permanent home' I could never ever live in a space this small.

This probably didn't help LOL but those are my thoughts on a 1 BR vs a 2 BR.

 

[Upatnoon]

I'm usually a solo traveler and when I stayed at BC in November in a 1 bedroom, I would have enjoyed some extra space but it wasn't necessary. I think the 2BRs are considerably larger in the 'public areas' in the unit.

I couldn't help but think that if this 1 BR was my 'permanent home' I could never ever live in a space this small.

This probably didn't help LOL but those are my thoughts on a 1 BR vs a 2 BR.

A 1 BR supposedly has 900 square feet, which is bigger than my first apartment. The units seem a bit bigger to me because they don't have all the giant closets most homes and apartments have now.

 

[KristenCarll]

Has anyone used VRBO to book for Bonnet Creek? Because our trip is last minute most places are booked up since it is the weekend before Easter. VRBO is the cheapest I can find right now for $1162 for 4 nights. I know its high but it is last minute. I have tried Vacation Upgrades, Vacation Strategies, and Extra Holidays so far otherwise. VU and VS are sold out understandably, but VRBO is cheaper than Extra Holidays at this point.