Wyndham Bonnett Creek or Disney Resort Family of 5

[leighmerz]

We are considering a trip in April 2024 after a current trip planned to Universal with school and want to keep it cheaper if possible. We like Bonnett Creek as it is a condo with a kitchen and could eat either lunch or dinner there to save. We are a family of 5 and it is harder to get a Disney resort at a value. The price is better at B Creek but we would not get early extra magic hours and parking at Magic Kingdom is harder. Any tips on how people do this and make it work?

Is Magic hours (early 30 min) really worth over $1,000 more? We do like to get to the parks at rope drop and make best use of lower crowds.

Any tips on getting to Magic Kingdom or to navigate that parking lot in the best way?

Is there a shuttle from B Creek?

We have been once about 10 years ago to Disney and lots of changes have happened. Our kids are not into princesses anymore at this age. We will be at Universal prior to this and it is a slower week in April so we considered getting a few days of Disney in while we are there if we can handle it financially.

Thank you for any words of wisdom!

 

[Brian Noble]

Any tips on how people do this and make it work?

It's not hard at all to drive to MK. Getting from the lot to the ferry/monorail and to the park takes a little time, but on the other hand you don't have to wait for the bus to come. We have never used the shuttle, and always driven.

We could not imagine cramming the four of us into a single hotel room for more than a day or two. When we stay onsite, we stay in DVC villas, but our offsite stays at Bonnet Creek are great as well.

 

[HopperFan]

We always drive from there - and mostly stay offsite and drive to parks. I want control of my arrival and departures. Most shuttles are extremely limited, may need reservations and have a fee.

WBC does have a shuttle but you must make reservations, pay a fee that would cost more than parking for 5 and still drop you at TTC at MK just like those who drive. Zero advantage.

How can Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek help me plan for my Disney vacation?​

The resort offers scheduled transportation to the Disney Theme Parks. Guests at Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek utilizing the transportation shuttle to a Disney theme park or Downtown Disney will need a ticket to board the bus. Tickets will be sold at the resort for $7 per person per round trip including children.

 

[erinch]

We stay at the Vistana, renting from owners, through advertizing on the timeshare user group website. We can get a gorgeous 2 bedroom, 2 bath, full kitchen, living room, screened porch very reasonably. I paid $1100 per week for 2 weeks for an upcoming trip. It's an easy drive in, and not cramming everyone into a hotel room is so worth it.

 

[teawar]

I do not feel the extra $1000 is worth it to stay on property for a smaller room for a long period of time.

If you are worried about missing the 30 minutes in the morning of early entry, consider getting genie+ to make up for the couple of rides you may have been given the opportunity to ride during that window. That extra cost may still be less than $1000. The extra magic hours benefits aren’t what they used to be pre 2020.

Best wishes planning your adventure!

 

[keishashadow]

We like Bonnett Creek

As do we, my preferred place to stay when I can’t get into one of the preferred DVCs

We have been once about 10 years ago to Disney and lots of changes have happened.

Be careful, things have changed dramatically with renting WBC over the past few years as to blackout dates for non-owner rentals etc. very last thing you want to do is rent a unit and be turned a way at checkin

find it so confusing I won’t even start to try to explain it

There are threads here that do a fine job and people familiar with the shift that can guide you

 

[Brian Noble]

We will be at Universal prior to this and it is a slower week in April so we considered getting a few days of Disney in while we are there if we can handle it financially.

I missed this the first time around.

When we go to Orlando, we generally either do Disney, or we do Not Disney. I think I've only had one trip when I went to both a Disney park and some other one, but that's because I was there for two weeks, could not get an AP, did not want to buy a second day ticket, and Sea World had a really good deal on their top-level AP.

It just seems to work better for us to focus on one or the other, and do it at a more leisurely pace than to cram everything in, and that's even before thinking about the money part.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

We are considering a trip in April 2024 after a current trip planned to Universal with school and want to keep it cheaper if possible. We like Bonnett Creek as it is a condo with a kitchen and could eat either lunch or dinner there to save. We are a family of 5 and it is harder to get a Disney resort at a value. The price is better at B Creek but we would not get early extra magic hours and parking at Magic Kingdom is harder. Any tips on how people do this and make it work?

You will love Bonnet Creek. We are DVC owners and Wyndham owners and alternate between the two.

Is Magic hours (early 30 min) really worth over $1,000 more? We do like to get to the parks at rope drop and make best use of lower crowds.

No, in our opinion, definitely not.

Any tips on getting to Magic Kingdom or to navigate that parking lot in the best way?

We always pay the extra $20 or $25 and get preferred parking on our Magic Kingdom day. You can justify it with the money you saved by staying offsite. From preferred parking it is an easy walk over to the monorail or ferry. (We prefer the ferry, and I think the ferry is often faster, especially at park close). An alternative if you don't have a car is to rideshare over to the Contemporary Resort, and walk from there to MK. (I've heard this can be hit or miss at rope drop though).

Is there a shuttle from B Creek?

Yes, but it costs extra, and is not worth it versus renting a car or using rideshare in my opinion.

We have been once about 10 years ago to Disney and lots of changes have happened. Our kids are not into princesses anymore at this age. We will be at Universal prior to this and it is a slower week in April so we considered getting a few days of Disney in while we are there if we can handle it financially.

Thank you for any words of wisdom!

 

[mom25kiddos]

If you are concerned about parking, we have also used rideshares, it was easy, efficient and can even be cheaper than the price of parking.

 

[mom23guys2]

We stayed at WBC in November with 5 of us. We took a ride share to MK even though we had a rental car. It dropped you at T&T very close to security. The cost was the same as parking,about $14 including tip each way And virtually no wait, 2-3 minutes. We will do this again when not staying onsite.

 

[BostonEd]

We always pay the extra $20 or $25 and get preferred parking on our Magic Kingdom day.

Do you know if you have "in and out" privileges with that? Like, could you drive back to WBC for a mid-day break, and then get back in a preferred spot later?

 

[CarolynFH]

Do you know if you have "in and out" privileges with that? Like, could you drive back to WBC for a mid-day break, and then get back in a preferred spot later?

Yes, once you pay to park at WDW, just keep your receipt to show at the booth. You can return to the same park or go to a different one.

 

[travelgirl06]

We are a family of 5 and did a split stay last summer with 2 nights at BRV then a week at WBC. We did our main MK day when we were at Boulder Ridge for easy access, hit also commented to MK for the Halloween party from WBC.

We love being “in the bubble”, and our freshly renovated room at BRV was wonderful, BUT I think it would have been way too cozy for the whole trip. It also did not have a full kitchen, and while we don’t cook a ton on vacation it’s nice to be able to make breakfasts, some lunches/dinners
and have a full fridge for drinks, leftovers, etc. Having multiple bathrooms at WBC was also a big plus

We didn’t mind driving to the parks - I reminded myself that the cost of parking was much, much less than staying on site

The rooms art WBC were a bit dated, but totally functional and clean. We loved the pools and were able to enjoy some of the resort activities (face painting, dueling pianos at the pool).

 

[travelgirl06]

A few more thoughts on Early Entry/Extended Evening Hours (we were there in late Aug.)

Missing out on Early Entry didn’t seem like a huge deal. Yes, it’s nice to have, but depending what rides you are going for might not provide a huge advantage over regular rope drop. (To mitigate this on DHS day, we bought Genie for the older kids and DH who were wanting to ride the big rides - I think it was like $75 total for 3, and they got on everything they wanted to that day).

We were able to do Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT on one of our BRV days and that was really nice. It’s only available to Deluxe guests and by the last hour crowds were really low. This seemed like much more of an added-value than the 30-min Early Entry.

 

[BostonEd]

Yes, once you pay to park at WDW, just keep your receipt to show at the booth. You can return to the same park or go to a different one.

I'm not sure if you answered my question. I wasn't asking about parking in general. I was asking @AnnaKristoff2013 specifically about the preferred parking. It probably works the same way, but it may not.

 

[CarolynFH]

I'm not sure if you answered my question. I wasn't asking about parking in general. I was asking @AnnaKristoff2013 specifically about the preferred parking. It probably works the same way, but it may not.

It does! Once you pay to park, whether regular or preferred, you’re good for the day. Valet parking at the deluxe resorts works the same way - pay once, re-enter or move from one resort to another that day at no additional charge.

I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear.

 

[BostonEd]

It does! Once you pay to park, whether regular or preferred, you’re good for the day. Valet parking at the deluxe resorts works the same way - pay once, re-enter or move from one resort to another that day at no additional charge.

I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear.

 

[Penmac]

I have stayed at WBC twice. It's not perfect and I have my hang ups with certain aspects of it but all in all it's a great condo unit.
We have a larger family size (7), so it's more of a necessity. I have toured many Disney resorts and would only choose to stay onsite if I were going Deluxe. If you can't walk to the park, it's not worth the trade off to me. I would rather rent a car with the accommodation savings and drive myself. If you can afford a deluxe that enables you to walk to a park (Epcot or MK), then it might be worth giving up the condo set-up and squeezing into a room with a murphy bed. I have yet to try it, though! We save so much money staying offsite with not just hotel fees but all the things afforded when you rent a car- less expensive groceries, coffee runs, etc. We go once a year. If I was willing to curb my Disney addiction and go every 3 years then we could probably splurge and get a DVC condo through a rental site. But going once a year is more important to me!!!

 

[pigletto]

I love an on-site stay as much as the next person, but not with our current family configuration. My kids are young adults, they want to bring their respective partners and one is still a student and we help pay his costs. So we would have been paying for a larger DVC unit or two rooms. Add in that we are Canadian and paying 30% more because of exchange… no thanks. I’ll happily pay $3k less and stay in a condo unit with all the space.

We’ve stayed at Bonnet Creek twice and liked it both times. I love having a kitchen for snack foods and easy meals. I love having a washer/dryer so I can come home with clean laundry. I love having space to spread out and everyone having their own room. It so close to being on Disney property that I don’t feel outside of the “bubble”.

And for us, all the savings means we can splurge on the meals that we really like, pay for genie + most days, and buy Christmas party tickets. It’s win/ win at this stage in our life.

 

[MsChristy12]

We have stayed at BC quite a few times and that has always been our default before we became members. We have family members who are Wyndham members so that's even a better deal for us.

I would say BC is definitely a better value for families vs Disney hotel rooms. Unless you book a DVC villa, otherwise cramming 5 in a hotel room isn't comfortable (not to me anyways). It's just the 2 of us, and we are one-bedroom people. Even at Wyndham, we book one-bedroom. We don't cook full meals on vacation, but it's still nice to have the full kitchen to heat up leftovers and do simple breakfast.

Personally, I don't think the 30 mins early entry is worth $1K. Whenever we stay at BC, we always drive to all the parks and never taken the shuttle. We like to come and go as we please, don't like waiting for shuttles and have to follow their schedules, and it's not free anyway. BC is pretty much within the Disney bubble, both Epcot and Studios are less than 10 mins away. If you look at space, location and value, honestly BC is probably one of the better properties.