Hey Everyone...just back and wanting to share my thoughts for posterity.
Since we just moved recently from Texas to Georgia, being within 7-8 hours of Disney was a perk we decided to exploit this year with multiple long weekend trips to use the last of some non-expiring tickets we bought several years ago. I was hoping to swing Labor Day weekend and saw a listing for a reservation on Craigslist. We stayed in a 2-bedroom on Saturday and Sunday nights this past Labor Day Weekend.
Background...we are timeshare weeks owners and have stayed in several different timeshares all over the continental US. We are enthusiastic Disney vacationers. We hope to hit all the different resorts at some point and have currently stayed at AKL, BC, WL, ASSp, and POR. This was our first trip to Bonnet Creek. I did call one week ahead to make sure that there was indeed a reservation in our name and that we wouldn't have any problems checking in.
We drove down and arrived at around 1 pm. We decided to give check in a try and were pleased to be able to check in to our room. We were in Tower 4 in Room 876, which faces the Parking Lot/Epcot. My SIL and her husband were joining DH, DS12, and myself.
We did visit the parking pass desk. I filled out the questionaire. I did not answer income. We are weeks owners, so we were given a slightly different spiel about how we could learn about how Wyndham may have changed since our last vacation. The way I deal with sales people is to let them talk and just stare and listen. I don't answer leading sentences that aren't questions and I keep my answers short and sweet. My favorite being a simple, straightforward, look in the eye, "No." It was a slightly uncomfortable 10-15 minutes where the lady talked a lot and I didn't interrupt (and felt slightly bad that I couldn't just cut her off...), but we got two parking passes for our group and moved on.
The room was in excellent condition. I was very pleased with the level of the kitchen appointments. The air conditioning was not on at arrival, but it quickly cooled off. I loved the ceiling fan in the living room and master bedrooms. It was slightly disappointing that there was not a ceiling fan in the second bedroom (we have lived with ceiling fans for years and rely on them a bit for comfort and sound both...but this was minor).
The info packet has a list of nearby grocery stores and pharmacies, etc. We decided to go to the Publix listed. It was 6 miles away and a very easy drive, mostly freeway driving, so about 5-10 minutes. The store is a more upscale Publix with a lovely wine area (and a blast chiller available!). Next door is a Publix liquor store that I assume carries hard alcohol. The beer selection was a little shy for microbrews but adequate enough. We did not go into the liquor store...there may have been more beer there, IDK.
We were only buying groceries for dinner that night and breakfast the following morning. And snacks. And beer and wine.
We just hung out the resort that day/night. It took a while for our relatives to arrive. We watched the US Open. We cooked and ate dinner in our room. We walked all around the grounds, taking the path around the lake. We rented a Redbox and watched a movie.
The grounds are beautiful. The lake atmosphere was like a block party on Saturday night. People were grilling, having parties. People were camped out with coolers and major grilling action. Most of the grills were in use. The pools were active but didn't look crowded. Some hot tubs were completely empty.
We were able to see the fireworks...but IDK...it's never the same to me to see something like that in the distance? It was cool, but not a big thrill.
DH and I stayed in the master and slept on the king sized bed. DS sleep in the other bedroom. SIL and DH sleep on the pullout. We used the sofa cushions to block the big gap under the front door. It helped to muffle some random sounds. Fortunately, it was pretty quiet. Whoever sleeps on that bed has the air blowing directly on them for most of the night which was slightly uncomfortable for my SIL. The bed itself was okay for 2 nights for them. The sofa bed is actually a queen size so that was more appealing than a full sized bed.
You can hear the water in overhead rooms in the master. You can hear it move in the pipes. I did not remember post it notes, so we had to fashion a stack of pillows, etc to cover the obnoxious night light in the master bathroom area. The ceiling fan is adjustable at the wall but also with the chain. If it doesn't move much, see if the chain setting is low so that "high" isn't really "high".
We went to Epcot on Sunday. All day. Parking was just as much of a bear as I had read about on these boards. Basically we had to park in the garage. I don't know if there is more than one garage? It is very close to Tower 4, so it wasn't really an issue.
Check out is an early 10 AM. Other than having to leave so early, there were no issues with check out. If you wait until right then to leave, you can have issues waiting for the elevator.
All in all. I really enjoyed our stay. Our most recent onsite stay was POR, which felt very similar to Bonnet Creek in that both are resorts that are somewhat centered around a water feature with a kind located based theme. Bonnet Creek has a villa kind of vibe...somewhat generic seaside resort...but very attractive to me.
We drove ourselves. It was easy to get around. I did miss the resort on the way back from Epcot. The dark. Being unfamiliar. I missed the turn or something. The signage for Bonnet Creek is challenging because it doesn't really get any directional help like the onsite resorts do. We generally drive ourselves around. Bonnet Creek wasn't as easy parking wise as ASSp or POR...but it was way better than BC or WL.
This was our last theme park trip to WDW for a while. Sadly, our non-expiring theme park admissions are now gone. However, we still have 2 more Water and More admissions. I could definitely see planning another visit to Bonnet Creek, enjoying the resort amenities more and hitting a Water Park, Disney Quest, and DTD.