Bonnet Creek Availability

[sonomom]

I have been looking for Wyndham bonnet creek through RCI points for June 2020 and haven't seen anything at all for anytime actually. I have stayed there two times in the past and haven't had any problems getting in wondering if they aren't depositing into rci as much anymore if i should just book somewhere else or keep waiting.

 

[jwalk03]

Your best bet would be an ongoing search. I don't see Bonnet Creek pop up to often otherwise, especially when school is not in session.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Bonnet Creek is usually at capacity from the owners. Your best bet is to rent from an owner on here, Redweek or Ebay, or get your own resale contract.

 

[bnoble]

Sonomom: if you join TUG as a Member ($15/yr) you will have access to the Sightings forum. Bonnet is one of the resorts people track and you can see what the deposit patterns look like and know when it will be time to start looking for alternatives.

 

[DianneL]

I was able to book a two-bedroom recently for a February, 2020 date. Of course, that is easier to get than a summer date when school isn't in session. I am not a Wyndham owner and have never stayed at Bonnet Creek.

 

[tschwa2]

Wyndham does bulk Bonnet Creek but it is still a bit early for June. They are just opening it up for club members who don't own there. I think 4-8 months in advance is more realistic to see weeks in RCI for June. I would start an ongoing search now though.

At less popular resorts where they know they will have plenty of excess availability you will see bulk deposits at 10-13 months in advance. You may also see early deposits at wyndham resorts that still have weeks owners actually depositing.

 

[sonomom]

Sonomom: if you join TUG as a Member ($15/yr) you will have access to the Sightings forum. Bonnet is one of the resorts people track and you can see what the deposit patterns look like and know when it will be time to start looking for alternatives.

I just paid and can see the resort reviews but can't find or don't see the sightings..??

 

[sonomom]

Wyndham does bulk Bonnet Creek but it is still a bit early for June. They are just opening it up for club members who don't own there. I think 4-8 months in advance is more realistic to see weeks in RCI for June. I would start an ongoing search now though.

At less popular resorts where they know they will have plenty of excess availability you will see bulk deposits at 10-13 months in advance. You may also see early deposits at wyndham resorts that still have weeks owners actually depositing.

thanks! I'm afraid im going to miss out on something else if this resort isn't going to be available but ill keep looking!

 

[tschwa2]

thanks! I'm afraid im going to miss out on something else if this resort isn't going to be available but ill keep looking!

I know how you feel and unfortunately RCI doesn't let you hold something and switch without losing the exchange fee. The good news with Orlando is even if you can't get Bonnet Creak for the dates you want at 6 months you still should have a decent selection of resorts.

 

[sonomom]

I know how you feel and unfortunately RCI doesn't let you hold something and switch without losing the exchange fee. The good news with Orlando is even if you can't get Bonnet Creak for the dates you want at 6 months you still should have a decent selection of resorts.

I have only stayed there, what would you suggest as a backup? I have a 12 and 14 year old to entertain
p.s. im scared of the resorts with the lakes you can go in am i being unreasonable about the crocs in the water?!?

 

[bnoble]

I just paid and can see the resort reviews but can't find or don't see the sightings..??

You need to explicitly add your membership to the BBS account. You can find instructions here: https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-do-i-become-a-tug-member.92692/

 

[weleftmn]

We have stayed at Wyndham Palms and Vacation Village at Parkway.
Wyndham Palms is a smaller resort but still very nice. The pools lack the lazy river and water slides but the resort still has the arcade and such.
Vacation Village we got through RCI Last Call, ~$300 for a week. The units are not as nice as Bonnet Creek or Palms but still nice. The place is huge though, spread out several different complexes. Lots of walking, a few different pools, the normal amenities. Some of the buildings seemed a bit older. We called and asked for a fireworks view room and they gave one to us.
That said our favorite is Bonnet Creek, though.

 

[Lisa P]

I have only stayed there, what would you suggest as a backup? I have a 12 and 14 year old to entertain
p.s. im scared of the resorts with the lakes you can go in am i being unreasonable about the crocs in the water?!?

I think you may have a decent change of getting WBC through RCI for June with an OnGoing Search (OGS) request placed as early as possible. The earlier in June that you can travel, the better your chances of a match. Wyndham has not yet deposited April 2020 or later. When Wyndham deposits June weeks to RCI, if your OGS doesn't match within a week of that, it's time to add other resorts to your OGS. Some nearby resorts may not have a lazy river but they are large enough to offer multiple pools and plenty of arcades, sports, and activities for teens.

For example, these are located just 2-3 miles from Disney Springs and they're popular with teens:

Sheraton Vistana Resort-Fountains Villas
Sheraton Vistana Resort
Cypress Pointe Resort
Cypress Pointe Grande Villas

Silver Lake Resort-Silver Points is less than 3 miles from Disney's Animal Kingdom, also popular for families with teens. It's a longer drive to the other parks though.

Btw, we love boating but we never swim in Florida lakes... unpredictable bacteria levels and we're not interested in alligator surprises (no fan of snakes either, although those can be anyplace). If visiting a state park with natural springs that offers beach access at the headspring, swimming at the headspring is totally fine with us. Water comes up out of the rocks there and it's pure, crystal clear, and so cold that the gators move down river. Refreshing on a hot day.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Bonnet Creek, the resort, doesn't have a gator issue because it's surrounded by pavement and far from the actual creek. Bay lake/Seven Seas Lagoon is another story because the majority of the Lake is undeveloped and is swampland. Lake Buena Vista naturally is a swamp. The toddler at the Grand Floridian only died because his parents were negligent.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Ouch... I don't think negligence on the families part was in question. Negligence by other parties, perhaps, but certainly not on the part of the parents. Several things have happened since that terrible accident (redesign of the beach area, posting of signs).

 

[sonomom]

So I have looked at least once a week and never does bonnet creek come up for me in RCI points not even one week so I’m sure they have deposited into 2020 by now so my chances of getting June are looking pretty bad??? They must have cut back with their deposits because a few years ago I had no problems getting in

 

[paxsarah]

In addition to dribs and drabs at various other times, Wyndham tends to bulk deposit to RCI approximately 7 months in advance, give or take, so we’re not quite there yet. If you have an ongoing search running it should catch it if/when the deposit is made.

 

[sonomom]

In addition to dribs and drabs at various other times, Wyndham tends to bulk deposit to RCI approximately 7 months in advance, give or take, so we’re not quite there yet. If you have an ongoing search running it should catch it if/when the deposit is made.

Yah but wouldn’t I see anything from them even earlier in the year if I just search them with open ended dates I get nada

 

[bnoble]

Wait until the rest of Wyndham goes in for June and see what happens. There should be plenty of other good Orlando choices still available if it's not in the deposit set. I wouldn't automatically assume that the lack of Spring Break-ish units means a lack of summer units. There are a lot of places I'd rather be in June than Orlando, but fewer in March.

I'm about to post something in Sightings; check there.

 

[cbyrne1174]

As per the contract with RCI, when an owner exchanges through RCI, they have to deposit a minimum certain % of their inventory of a given area. Since RCI categorizes Bonnet Creek and Cypress Palms as Florida - Orlando Area, when an owner makes a RCI deposit, Wyndham only deposits Star Island and Cypress Palms since those resorts have less demand with owners and are less point costly. A 1 Bedroom at Bonnet Creek costs 166,000 points a week in the prime season, but through RCI it would cost 126,000 points so it makes no sense for them to deposit it when they can just deposit Cypress Palms 1 bedroom suites for a fraction of the cost.

That is why you see mostly suite deposits on RCI. Here is a perfect example. The exchange price for Nov 10-17 is 105,000 points, but to book it directly through Wyndham it's 77,000 points. These are the types of rooms that they deposit, NOT BONNET CREEK. You have to own where you want to stay, and can't rely on RCI and II to have good availability.

 

[bnoble]

I don’t think it is that simple. It doesn’t explain for example why Bonnet used to be common or why e.g. Austin was ever deposited.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I think Austin is deposited because it's the only Wyndham in that area. Panama City is always deposited too in the off season. Since I'm not VIP, I would only stay at PCB if it was an RCI exchange. It's 166,000 points booking through Wyndham, but 77,000 points + exchange fee through RCI. Last I checked, it was in there. If you look at Reunion, Worldmark is always deposited in the off season because that inventory goes unused. The points chart for Worldmark Reunion has every single week costing 17,000 credits, so they deposit the weeks that people won't pay 17,000 WM credits to stay for the week.


To stay relevant to the posting, they don't deposit Bonnet Creek because it is their flagship resort and they don't legally have to. Their thought process: If you want to stay at Bonnet Creek, own at Club Wyndham. Just like if you want to stay at Beach Club or the Grand Floridian, own at DVC.

 

[paxsarah]

To stay relevant to the posting, they don't deposit Bonnet Creek because it is their flagship resort and they don't legally have to. Their thought process: If you want to stay at Bonnet Creek, own at Club Wyndham. Just like if you want to stay at Beach Club or the Grand Floridian, own at DVC.

But the point Brian is making is that Bonnet Creek used to be perfectly common in RCI, just like I’ve stayed at Beach Club through RCI, but something changed with the pattern of DVC deposits a few years ago, and it looks like something may be in the process of changing with Wyndham’s deposits to RCI right now. So to say Wyndham doesn’t deposit Bonnet Creek for presumed reasons may adequately describe the immediate present moment, but it doesn’t otherwise describe the entire past history of Wyndham RCI deposits in which Bonnet Creek was pretty common, and which up until, I don’t know exactly, the last few months (?) was a pretty reliable indicator of what we could expect in the future.

 

[BDMX2]

I wonder if Bonnet Creek is seeing an increase in booking both owners (and their renters) and through Extra Holidays since Disney's rates have been increasing and they started charging resort guests for parking. I know there's a lot of buzz on the Disney forums I frequent about long-time on-site only people switching to off-site hotels and resorts.

 

[jwalk03]

I think the popularity of Bonnet Creek has increased A LOT! With the higher Disney prices, and the addition of the parking fees. Bonnet Creek is a really really good alternative that a lot of people have discovered.