howie411

Stayed at the Bonnet Creek this weekend. Let me start off by saying its a very nice hotel. We had a 7th floor removing overlooking the pool. We could see the Fireworks from Hollywood Studios from our window (at 8:00pm) We could also sort of see whatever movie they were playing at the Pool on Saturday night. We are a Gold Hilton member, and we got a $20 a night room credit instead of a free continental breakfast. I'm not exactly sure if we got a room upgrade, but short of a suite, our room was hard to beat. There is a Sushi restaurant in the hotel that is really good and from 5-7 is happy hour where drinks are cheaper (bringing them close to a normal price) as well as cheap sushi.

I do have few issues with the hotel though.

1. Parking. They charge $27 a night to park. This is absolutely no reason for this unless they are trying to deter folks from parking there and taking a shuttle to Disney. Even their Disney Springs Hotel 2 miles down the street only charges $18.
2. Drink Prices: Holy smokes, yes I know drinks at hotels are expensive but this was a little overboard. 2 Shots of Fireball cost $22 + tip, 2 Pina Colada's at the Pool bar cost $34 + tip.
3. Resort Fee: Short of the 2 bottles of water and the premium internet (which actually was horrible), we didn't use any other items that the resort fee included (10% off at the Spa, 1/2 off Kids breakfast, free gold club rental, free golf after 2pm.)

Zelucifer

Has anyone stayed here more recently? I'm contemplating a stay towards the middle of the month and I'd love to hear how stays have been recently. Thank you!

ConsultanSea

aww3583

Zelucifer

I wound up staying at the Hilton Orlando (Destination Parkway) and thoroughly enjoyed the stay.

pauleeepaul

Just finished a great 5 night stay here over Xmas. Two rooms booked on points (5 for 4 and part of my Q4 "requal is in the bank" usage strategy ). Both rooms upgraded to Fireworks view on 12th floor, and both provided Diamond benefit of $20 in F&B credit per room per day. Diamond and Gold reduction in breakfast rates at Harvest Bistro as outlined above. Icing on the cake was a Gold/Diamond complimentary breakfast in La Luce from 12/27 forward (to 1/3 I believe), I presume to reduce crowding at Harvest Bistro during the holiday period. I thought taking this breakfast might result in a reduction in the daily F&B credit- they were monitoring/checking room numbers carefully at the door- but it didn't. Will be back again soon.

ConsultanSea

mjw703

I believe Magic Bands are given to people who are staying at an actual Disney resort. There is a Disney store at the resort where you can buy a Magic Band, and then link your ticket to the band. As for snacks and formula, I think there's not a great selection at the Disney store and there are some expensive snacks at the coffee shop called Muse, but again, the selection is not all that great.

writerguyfl

As mjw703 notes, Magic Bands are only given to guests staying at Disney Resorts or Annual Passholders. Here in the US, Annual Passholders have their Magic Bands mailed to them. I'm uncertain how that worked for international Passholders.

If you want to purchase one, there is the store that mjw703 mentions. According to the hotel website, it's open from 7am to 11pm daily. That said, you'll find a better selection of for-purchase Magic Bands at Disney Springs or any of the theme parks.

https://www.hiltonbonnetcreek.com/activities/disney

For anyone not staying at a Disney Resort, the Magic Band is only able to hold your admission tickets and Fast Passes. It does include charging privilege back to your hotel room account nor will it open your door. The only other function is that a tiny number of attractions have long range readers that sort of personalize the experience in a tiny way. For example, at the end of "It's a Small World", your name might appear on a video screen right before you exit the boat. It's buggy and not particularly engaging.

As an Annual Passholder who hasn't worn a watch in decades, I don't bother with Magic Bands. I find them annoying, especially when it gets really hot.

atlantaflyer1

Can anyone confirm if Hilton Dimond members receive a free breakfast? I am planning my first trip to Bonnet Creek in October.

aww3583

If I remember correctly, the continental/cold buffet is free for Diamond members and 1 additional guest in the room. Kids under 5 eat free. The cold buffet was more-than-adequate, containing cold cuts, pastries, etc. I think it included oatmeal, too.

shmom

Does anyone have an email for this hotel. Would love to email to ask if I could get a second room discounted. We are staying during the December holidays, would be great if we got the La Luce breakfast like they did last year!

aww3583

We got our 2nd room discounted by calling in directly to the hotel. Don't let them pass you off to the corporate reservation call center. The on-site team was very outgoing and helpful setting up the reservation.

matt12j

I just called in to the hotel front desk to book a second room and she said this was sometimes a promotional deal they do every now and then and it was usually only day of, not in advanced. Doesn't seem right from everything I have read online. Any pointers?

Edit: not only did they say the above but they also quoted me a good bit more than the online price ($205 vs $170 per night)

ConsultanSea

For me, they gave me a decent deal (including some haggling) when I contacting them one or two days ahead of check in on the chat function. Note that the quote did not include tax, which might throw you if you’re not used to US pricing methods!