By Budget DivaI just returned from a great Disney World vacation that I almost had to cancel due to unforeseen medical problems. I had originally booked a family suite at the Art of Animation Resort for my family of 5. Then just a few months before we were scheduled to go, my husband developed appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed. This left us with many medical bills (even with excellent health insurance) and we were faced with the decision of either cancelling our long awaited Disney vacation or staying off property to save money.After researching many options we cancelled our Art of Animation suite and rented a timeshare at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We had never rented a timeshare property before, but everything turned out wonderfully. The resort was so conveniently located to the Disney parks. The resort is located beside Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. The drive to Epcot took less than 5 minutes! We rented a two bedroom, two bathroom condo that had a fully stocked kitchen, dining room and balcony. Some of the units even have views of the Epcot fireworks. There are 6 towers at the resort and each tower is situated around the beautiful lake. There are walking paths, playgrounds and 6 different pools at each tower that guests of the resort are free to use. There were lazy rivers, children’s pools and even a splash pool. My children loved the resort so much and begged to go to the pirate themed pool everyday when we got back from the theme parks.
I would highly recommend the Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We ended up having much more space in the condo than we would have had in the family suite and we saved over $1,000. The cost to rent varies by the size of your condo and time of year that you go. There are one, two and three bedroom units available. It is much cheaper to rent directly from an owner vs renting from Wyndham.
the dining room/kitchen
the kitchen
the den
master bedroom
master bathroom with separate shower and toilet
the view from our balcony of the golf course
my son loved the splash park
the different towers and the lake
beach entry pool and pirate ship water slide
the playground was really nice and had a soft ground and plenty of shade
We are thinking of staying at this resort this winter. So I’m glad that you reviewed it and enjoyed your stay! My question is this, now that you have stayed offsite, which do you prefer? Staying onsite at a value resort or offsite in a 2 bedroom condo? Thanks for the review!
We enjoyed having much more space and saving the money. We were still just as close as someone staying ‘on site’ however if money were no option I would stay at a monorail resort for sure 🙂 -Budget Diva
Great review! I have a question though… you didn’t really get into a detail about transportation to the parks. Is there a bus system running to each park like the on-site resorts have or is it a wait a while before you can get to the parks kinda thing? Also, were is the pick-up/drop-off for each of the four major parks? I have heard some negative things about some of the off-site resorts and their transportation, so I was wondering about this place you reviewed.
Thank you Jordan! We drove our own vehicle to the parks each day but the resort does offer a shuttle service. It is not free however 🙁 It is $5 per person per day for a shuttle pass. I believe the shuttle picks up at the main building and drops off at the main entrance to the parks. If you have a big family it would be better to drive yourself and pay the parking fee at each park.
Quick question….did you rent from an owner or from Wyndham directly?