Need opinions on hotel

[magicjasb]

We have never stayed offsite and have never wanted to. Most of our stays have been at the monorail resorts, with the last two being at the Contemporary. My dilemma now is that I have 5 children, and except for a DVC 2 bedroom villa, we have to get two hotel rooms. A friend just suggested looking at Wyndham Bonnet Creek that is located right next door to Caribbean Beach. A 3 bedroom villa, that sleeps 12, is available for less than what 2 rooms at Pop Century are! Plus it has a full kitchen, jucuzzi tub, and washer and dryer. We are really considering it for our next trip, but wanted to hear from people who might have opinions of this hotel or of staying offsite. Thanks.

[WRWDisney]

Two comments. First, while we have never stayed at Bonnet Creek, our neighbors did and truly enjoyed it. Now, to be fare, they are in their late 50's and are not Disney people, but they thought it was lovely.

But, depending on your circumstances (age of the kids, etc.), you can stay at one bedrooms in BLT, Animal Kingdom and the newly renovated rooms at OKW. All three now have sleeper chairs (a fold-out single bed) as well as the fold out sofa. In AKV and BLT you also have two bathrooms in the one bedroom. In OKW, you have HUGE villas.

Just some food for thought

[BigRedDad]

I will comment on the pullout options at DVC resorts. The floor is more comfortable. Also, you will pay an arm and a leg for a 1-bedroom DVC unit even if you rent points. If money is a concern, then Bonnet Creek is definitely a viable option.

[luvmyboys4ever]

Bonnet Creek is wonderful. It is so comfortable and slow paced. There is plenty of room with all of the amenities of home. We loved being able to spread out in the rooms. I loved being able to do laundry while the kids slept, and not worry about running back and forth to the laundry room. It's always nice to have no laundry to do when we get home. The pools are great, and so are the lazy river and mini-golf for that matter. They have special things for the family everyday. One day we went to an ice cream social, which was all you can eat for $5. One day they had a pirate come to the pool and play games with the kids...they won little bears. They have little parties with music by the pool. Things like that make it feel like a real resort. I'm not sure about their shuttle, but they do have one. We always use a car, so transportation is not an issue for us. We avoid parks with EMH, so that's not an issue for us either. The only thing I missed from the on-site hotels was being able to have the things I bought sent to my resort. The room more than makes up for that lost perk.We are going back this year and we can't wait!

[diz_girl]

Unless the OP is a single parent with one of her children under 3, then she cannot stay in a 1BR. Usually WDW allows one child under three in a crib not to count for occupancy. So a 2 BR is probably her only option.

If the the DVC resorts are too pricey and the Bonnet Creek resort gets good reviews, they why not. But FYI - depending on when you go, some with some discounts you can get 40% off DVC villas, like the offer going on right now for this fall and winter. So a discount like that can bring the price down to not much more than the monorail resorts. Especially if you go to the lower-priced DVC resorts like SSR or OKW.

[BigRedDad]

Our neighbor is going in Nov and due to circumstances needs to change from 2 rooms at Pop Century to offsite. Because of this post I went looking around. For their dates, they can get a 3 bedroom at Bonnet Creek for $500 from eBay. That is less than the price of 1 room at Pop Century for the same time. I think they went ahead and booked it.

Thanks for posting.

[WRWDisney]

Hate to beat a dead horse, but "diz_girl" in wrong. The DVC resorts that I mentioned in my earlier post (BLT, Animal Kingdom and the newly renovated rooms at OKW) all accommodate 5 adults and the one child under three. The newest resorts have incorporated the sleeper chair I mentioned which has increased their capacity numbers. Feel free to check the capacities at the DVC member site (OKW does not currently reflect the change, but that is because all of the rooms have not been renovated yet). It shows on the point chart that "All sleep up to 5" on BLT; AKL states that "All sleep up to 4, most 5" (this is because the value rooms--only available in Jambo and a specific point category--don't have the sleeper chair thus don't sleep 5); and as I stated previously, OKW doesn't reflect it yet (though if you follow the updates, you see that they include the addition of a sleeper chair and thus have the needed capacity).

Just want to make certain that the OP and any one else who reads the thread understands the different occupancy limits in the different resorts

[BrerGnat]

OP, how many in your party? How many adults, one or two?

If there is only one adult, I'm not sure Disney will allow you to book two rooms, knowing that there is only going to be children in one of the rooms, will they?

So, is your party 7 total, or 6?

If six, you can stay at the All Star Family suite. If seven, you''ll need either a 2 br DVC as you mentioned, or just go offsite. But then, will you need to rent a car? Cost might offset some of that savings...

[WRWDisney]

Ok, first, a big mea culpa. I apologize. I misread the OP's initial statement and thought that it was a party of five, not five children.

[luvmyboys4ever]

Our neighbor is going in Nov and due to circumstances needs to change from 2 rooms at Pop Century to offsite. Because of this post I went looking around. For their dates, they can get a 3 bedroom at Bonnet Creek for $500 from eBay. That is less than the price of 1 room at Pop Century for the same time. I think they went ahead and booked it.

Thanks for posting.

They had a 4 bedroom for $899 for our dates, but we are going with my mother, who is timeshare owner, so we couldn't buy it. I was so upset!!! Now, that is a beautiful suite...larger than most homes. But, a free room is better than paying, so we'll go with the 2 bedroom!

[magicjasb]

Thanks for all the great responses! Just to clarify, we have 2 adults and 5 children who will all be over the age of 3. We stayed at BLT on our last trip and had a PIN for 45% off. Our 2 bedroom villa was still about $400 a night (luckily we split that with the inlaws!) Bonnet Creek is $120 a night for a 2 bedroom condo. We will be driving down, so having a car would not be a problem. I was wondering if anyone has stayed there that usually stays onsite and can tell me about it. Thanks.

[BrerGnat]

Yeah, if money is a concern, Bonnet Creek would be a great solution. I've not stayed there myself, but it's well represented on other discussion boards. It has quite a large fan base...