The we loooooove Bonnet Creek thread Part 3

[Mikscrap]

Originally Posted by Minniedap

auprincess, We used vacationupgrades and booked 11 nights the early part of this past June. We booked it in Nov. of 2011 and at the 60 day point they were able to get us a reduced rate. We had a wonderful stay and are booked again for next year.

Thanks this is what I've been wondering. Vacation upgrades right now is my highest quote for June 2013. If I get the reduced rate though it would be my lowest rate. I've just been trying to gauge how realistic it is to expect the reduction for June. Our dates are 6/7/13-6/15/13. Keep wondering if I should wait to book to see better quotes or to book now and hope for reduction.

[auchs8]

Fingers crossed that the Amtrak Auto Train runs on Wednesday. We're supposed to check in on Thursday

[beth445]

I got nervous about my 6:20 am flight out of Philly Wednesday morning. I convinced the dh to drive and Sunday night we packed up the mini van and 4 kids and off we drove into the storm. Arrived at 10 this morning. Got a 1 night stay at art of animation ( omg it is awesome here) and tomorrow we check in to WBC. Sooooo excited!

[beth445]

Oh, and at 1 today I got a text that our Wednesday morning flight had been cancelled. Soo glad I am already here!!!!!!

[nancy155]

Originally Posted by beth445

Oh, and at 1 today I got a text that our Wednesday morning flight had been cancelled. Soo glad I am already here!!!!!!

Glad you were able to make it ahead of the storm. Enjoy your vacation!

I have been watching the news tonight and it does not look pretty on the east coastline. My sisters and their hubby's were going to go on a cruise in New England up to Canada that was to sail yesterday. They are glad they decided not to go ahead and book it.

[blessedby3]

Originally Posted by auprincess

Just curious, did you book pretty far out? Or was it within 60 days so you got a better deal? We don't know our exact dates ~ but have an idea. Obviously I'd like to get the best deal, but don't want the resort to get booked either. Just not sure when I need to book

I booked more than 60 days out. Cant remember for sure, but probably 7 or 8 months ahead. I got a much better price from vacation strategy at that point (also checked with Ken Price....but his was $180/night and VS was $119/night). If I had booked with Ken Price and there was availability closer it would have dropped, but I got the lower price with VS that far out so I went with them. I had zero problems....they were great!
Just email them both and get quotes and see what you are dealing with. I only had to pay $150 deposit and if I had to cancel I could use that amount to apply to another week.

[auprincess]

Originally Posted by Minniedap

auprincess, We used vacationupgrades and booked 11 nights the early part of this past June. We booked it in Nov. of 2011 and at the 60 day point they were able to get us a reduced rate. We had a wonderful stay and are booked again for next year.

Originally Posted by Mikscrap

Thanks this is what I've been wondering. Vacation upgrades right now is my highest quote for June 2013. If I get the reduced rate though it would be my lowest rate. I've just been trying to gauge how realistic it is to expect the reduction for June. Our dates are 6/7/13-6/15/13. Keep wondering if I should wait to book to see better quotes or to book now and hope for reduction.

Originally Posted by blessedby3

I booked more than 60 days out. Cant remember for sure, but probably 7 or 8 months ahead. I got a much better price from vacation strategy at that point (also checked with Ken Price....but his was $180/night and VS was $119/night). If I had booked with Ken Price and there was availability closer it would have dropped, but I got the lower price with VS that far out so I went with them. I had zero problems....they were great!
Just email them both and get quotes and see what you are dealing with. I only had to pay $150 deposit and if I had to cancel I could use that amount to apply to another week.

Thank you for all of your suggestions! Once the school calendar is out, and we know our dates, I'll go ahead and start getting some quotes. I'm glad that there is a cancellation policy ~ booking so far in advaned makes me nervous, we will be going, but life happens!

Originally Posted by beth445

Oh, and at 1 today I got a text that our Wednesday morning flight had been cancelled. Soo glad I am already here!!!!!!

Glad you are there ~ have a great trip!!

[mcc63303]

Thinking of requesting the Main Building for our stay at BC for Thanksgiving week. Fire works view is not a concern. We have grand kids ages 3, 5, 8 and 9 going. We have a 1 bedroom at BC and a 3 bedroom at Reunion, there will be 9 of us in total so BC will be for lunch breaks, naps and swim breaks (Reunion does have the 5 acre water park also). Doubt anyone will be staying at nights at BC so just looking for convience and think being close to the Splash Pool and Lazy River will be good, along with close to bus stop although we'll also drive to the parks. Appreciate any info and suggestions on the Main Building or any thing else at either resort. We are new owners of BC, Ebay of course and our first visit to our "home resort".

[Chelley00]

We are back from our 14 night stay at WBC. It was our first time staying somewhere other than onsite or in a rental house. Thought I'd do a quick run down of our thoughts:

1. We booked with Vacation Upgrades in March for a 3 bedroom deluxe. I'd love to say it was a smooth transaction, but because we ended up with 3 different owners and 5 different reservations, we ended up not really knowing if we had a place to stay for our entire trip until the DAY we checked in. That was very stressful. VS kept saying everything was okay, but we didn't get confirmation of it, or even an email. WBC said we were checking out on the 21st until we actually got there to check in and only then did they say the 27th. Everything ended up being just fine, but driving to Florida with only half your vacation set in stone is nerve wracking.

2. Check in was easy. We got there around 6:30pm and were second in line. We went to the parking pass desk and she asked me if I was married. I said yes, but that my husband hadn't come. She immediately dismissed me and turned her attention to my mom, asking if she was married. Once she got the story that my step-dad was at home too, she gave us our pass, her spiel about building locations and where to watch fireworks and sent us on our way like we were worthless. We didn't receive any calls, and never was asked to fill out paperwork with our income level or anything.

3. I called and requested a Tower of Terror view (it's my favorite) and was given the "it can't be guaranteed" speech which was fine. We were assigned Tower 4, Room 864. We knew walking in we were going to have a parking lot view and I was a little disappointed, but didn't realize this was what we would see from our balcony





Wishes


This is from my phone, I don't have the good camera uploaded just yet, but this is Illuminations to the left and Wishes to the right


and from the bedrooms, the Characters in Flight balloon



4. We did have the new blue couch (so hard!) but still had a brown chair with a little peeling at the end of the arm rest. The only other thing we noticed was a broken tile in the master bathroom shower. Other than that, everything was in good condition, other than the microwave, which worked, but the table didn't rotate and we had an incident with burned popcorn.

5. Elevator service was great. We never waited.

6. We liked Tower 4. Close to the parking garage, our view was great, but it was really noisy. We could hear the busses coming and going, and the bedrooms faced the maintenance building so we would hear pounding a few early mornings.

7. The back bedrooms would always be chilly, but the master bedroom stayed pretty warm. We used the override every day, more for the "drown out the noise" factor than anything.

8. We came back one evening hoping to order a pizza from La Cucina, but they were closed. The little restaurant in the main building by the pool had closed at 6pm too. It was a little disappointing not to find anything on property to eat at 7pm. We ordered Chinese instead.

9. We never heard our neighbors, which was nice

10. One day someone in our hallway apparently had someone sick in their room, as when we left that morning, there was a pile of bedding thrown in front of their door with vomit stains all over it, and a bag of trash full of vomit beside it. It sat there for THREE days. So nasty.

11. We spent one entire day pool hopping, and the kids decided they actually like pool at building 4 the best because it was warmer than the rest.

12. My mom used the shuttles a few times when we had other things going on. One day they waited for over 40 minutes from the time the schedule said there would be a bus. A gentleman in a scooter had been waiting even longer because they couldn't find a bus that could accommodate him. He even went inside to ask for a manager and still had to wait.

13. Driving everywhere was really easy, not much traffic, and really didn't take that much time. I really missed having a bus going to MK just because of the ferry/monorail to the park factor, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. The close access to I-4 made getting to US/IOA, Seaworld etc very easy.

14. We ordered groceries from Garden Grocer and they were up to our room not very long after I got the text they had been delivered. I also had to have a package delivered via UPS and was notified as soon as it arrived.

We really liked WBC, and kept talking about how nice it was to have our own space, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer. Our last trip was at the Poly, and honestly, we liked WBC better, especially for such a long trip.

[blessedby3]

Originally Posted by Chelley00

3. We were assigned Tower 4, Room 864. We knew walking in we were going to have a parking lot view and I was a little disappointed, but didn't realize this was what we would see from our balcony

Thats funny that we were right down the hall from each other (we were in 877) and right after each other in the bin swap. Weird thing is we never saw another person in the 8th floor hallway....ever! I did smell lots of food cooking when we were in the hallway, so we knew some people must be there, but never saw a soul.
I agree with the shuttle service. I only used it one day and wont do that again. Not worth the trouble and the bus driver was SO not friendly!

[Disfan15]

Hello,

If you we're planning on going to WBC next summer, would we be able to book a presidential room by renting from someone? Also I know that requests wouldn't be guaranteed but if someone's an owner that books a presidential room will it be guaranteed?
Thanks!

[tjmw2727]

April will be our first time off site and I am spoiled by the transportation service at the WDW Resorts. We will have one car for myself and my two dd's and my sister and brother in law and I know we will want to split up at times.

The BC bus reports are making me wonder about using a taxi now & then in addition to or instead of the buses when we separate.

How easy is it to grab a cab from BC - are they lined up in front or will we have to call ahead?

Thanks!!

[blessedby3]

Originally Posted by tjmw2727

April will be our first time off site and I am spoiled by the transportation service at the WDW Resorts. We will have one car for myself and my two dd's and my sister and brother in law and I know we will want to split up at times.

The BC bus reports are making me wonder about using a taxi now & then in addition to or instead of the buses when we separate.

How easy is it to grab a cab from BC - are they lined up in front or will we have to call ahead?

Thanks!!

I dont remember seeing taxis waiting around...although I wasnt looking for them so I could have just overlooked seeing them. I got out my bus schedule from our trip last week and it does say at the top "We have taxis too!" 24 hrs a day/7 days a week. 407-390-0000...Maingate transportation.

I also noticed at the bottom it says that anyone with disabilities or wheelchairs needs to call for a reservation at least 2 hrs prior to boarding. I post this because I remember someone posting on this thread or another about someone in a wheelchair having to wait a horrible amount of time for a bus that could accomadate them. When I was on the shuttle (one and only time) a lady had a scooter and they had to manually lift the thing onto the bus. NO Lift or ramp!! She had to have another passenger help the bus driver pick it up and lift it off the bus at AK. Just a little FYI for anyone traveling with a scooter, especially older folks.

[Teacher03]

Originally Posted by tjmw2727

April will be our first time off site and I am spoiled by the transportation service at the WDW Resorts. We will have one car for myself and my two dd's and my sister and brother in law and I know we will want to split up at times.

The BC bus reports are making me wonder about using a taxi now & then in addition to or instead of the buses when we separate.

How easy is it to grab a cab from BC - are they lined up in front or will we have to call ahead?

Thanks!!

We had to call for a taxi when we used them. We planned on using the bus system but didn't have a good experience the one time we tried. We drove our car most of the time.

[AeroKU]

We will be arriving on 11/11. Will the pool maintenance be done by then? Also, do the busses for WBC continue to run until midnight on Party nights? We will be going to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on 11/16. Will we be able to take a bus back or will we need to get a taxi?