# Bonnet Creek resale instead of another Disney Vacation Club contract



## diamand (Feb 8, 2010)

We are Disney Vacation Club owners and thinking about buying a timeshare at Bonnet Creek as an add on instead of another DVC contract. I see one on Ebay for about $3k after everything is said and done for 210,000 points. Which should get us about a week in a 2 bedroom.

I am unfamiliar with how Wyndham's point system works. Can you use those points to stay at other resorts? Would this be a good property that is in demand to trade out to other RCI properties?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
TIA


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## bnoble (Feb 8, 2010)

There have been several DVC owners adding Wyndham resale to their portfolio, for exactly this reason.  I'm sure some of them will chime in.

Wyndham's point system is not as simple to use as DVC's.  There are some minimum stay requirements, and some relating to check-in/check-out days, though both of these requirements are waived for offseason and short-notice bookings.  There are several nuisance fees in Wyndham's system that can be avoided with a little planning, and even if you pay a few, the cost of resale ownership is so low that it almost doesn't matter.

You can use points at other Wyndham resorts; the scheme is similar to DVC's model.  Owners at a resort get an exclusive window for booking (starting at 13 months).  Everyone else gets a crack a littel later (at 10 months).  In general, points are points, though there are a few times of year, at a few resorts, that are hard to book without the home resort advantage.  In general, "non-home" availability is probably a little better in Wyndham than it is in DVC.

Wyndham points cannot get the top-shelf weeks in RCI Weeks.  They can be useful for getting inexpensive access to off-season weeks or over-deposited areas, and there is some ability to trade up for internal exchanges.  But, in general, Wyn trades poorly in RCI.


To get started, I'd encourage you to read the "Primer" over at the Wyndham owners' forum:

http://forums.atozed.com/


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## Twinkstarr (Feb 8, 2010)

bnoble said:


> There have been several DVC owners adding Wyndham resale to their portfolio, for exactly this reason.  I'm sure some of them will chime in.
> 
> Wyndham's point system is not as simple to use as DVC's.  There are some minimum stay requirements, and some relating to check-in/check-out days, though both of these requirements are waived for offseason and short-notice bookings.  There are several nuisance fees in Wyndham's system that can be avoided with a little planning, and even if you pay a few, the cost of resale ownership is so low that it almost doesn't matter.
> 
> ...



DVC owner and new Wyndham owner(Vegas and Alexandria). We bought not for Bonnet Creek, but the variety of locations that Wyndham offered and the flexibility of the point system. Going with 308K EY, 210EOY. Bigger contract is at Alexandria.

Yes, it's a bit more restrictive on check in days and length of stay, but I think in the long run I wouldn't be surprised if DVC went that way too. It's not too hard of a system to learn and it actually tends to work in our favor, start vacation on Fri/Sat and stay 4 nights.

As for RCI, I'll point pool, stay an extra day(if possible) upgrade to bigger unit and will only deposit when it's my last option. I'm too use to II and find searching RCI a pain. I'm going to have to make a deposit in June(154K).
Though I did just make a great trade with my non-Wyndham week Friday!  

So far we are pretty happy, stayed MLK weekend at Bonnet Creek, booked the new resort in the Smokies for early June and was able to get 3 nights in HNL in July to take advantage of the direct Delta flight from Detroit(it doesn't go everyday.)


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## bnoble (Feb 8, 2010)

> the direct Delta flight from Detroit


which days of the week does that run?


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## Twinkstarr (Feb 9, 2010)

bnoble said:


> which days of the week does that run?



I know this year, it heads out to HNL on Wednesday and Thursday, but not Friday(when my 1st exchange starts). I don't know about earlier in the week. 

We are coming back on Saturday, which is great because our Westin Princeville week is Sat-Sat. 

It's only 9hrs 45 min on the way out, 8hrs 55mins on the way back, so in our minds well worth the extra $ for the direct flight. The best connecting flights or 1 stop flights were running 12 hours total. 

Had to keep my fingers crossed while Wyndham dallied putting my Alexandria contract through(I know they held it unitl January, so I wouldn't get the 4 trans. credits for the year), because I needed some of those points to book Waikiki.


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## littlestar (Feb 9, 2010)

We're DVC owners who are in the process of closing on a Wyndham contract. I just got my assignment papers to have notarized for Wyndham (if only the snow will stop for a few days so we can make it to the notary!).  $x!*# snow :ignore: 

We plan to use our Wyndham points some at Bonnet Creek, but the main reason we bought where we did - Smoky Mts- is because it has stable fees and it's within a day's drive of where we live and we like Pigeon Forge.  All the other Wyndham locations are just icing on the cake.  We plan to use the points at our home resort, Bonnet Creek, Destin, Panama City, Alexandria VA (which is within walking distance to the DC metro subway), and San Antonio, TX. I will occasionally try to use leftover points and deposit them in RCI for exchanges back into Orlando off season. I'm not sure how well this will work for off season, but I'm going to experiment with it with straggler points I don't use within Wyndham's internal system. 

Our price was $26.00 for $154,000 points. The closing costs with our Ebay seller and the transfer fee with Wyndham puts the purchase total at under $600. We are paying maintenance fees for this year's points, but I figured if I use the points that's only fair. 

Here's a link to the Wyndham directory.  Click on Contents and it will take you to the resorts and the point charts.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/memberdirectory0910/

Good luck.


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## littlestar (Feb 9, 2010)

I forgot to add - as much as I adore my home Disney Vacation Club resort of Saratoga Springs, I just couldn't turn loose of the money to buy more DVC points in this economy. 

I weighed the under $600 total Wyndham resale purchase against the $12,000 and up equivalent resale purchase for more SSR points and decided on the Wyndham points.   The Wyndham purchase gives me access to a lot of locations on the east coast, too, within their internal system.  To stay internal with DVC I'm limited to Orlando, Disneyworld/Disneyland, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, and Hawaii.


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## bnoble (Feb 9, 2010)

> I know this year, it heads out to HNL on Wednesday and Thursday, but not Friday


Hmm.  Doesn't seem to be running this May.  Hopefully it will next year, when we are going.


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## chriskre (Feb 9, 2010)

As a DVC owner, I purchased Wyndham also specifically to use at Bonnet Creek but have found that it's going to be good for many other great places too.  

I think Wyndham is a great TS system with lots of variety.  They are not the most luxe but they are good enough to have a great vacation IMO.

You sure can't beat the price these days either.  Definetely alot cheaper than DVC but still a great product and if you ever tire of Disney you can still vacation in great places without having to purchase another TS system.

There seems to be good availability in BC at the times that I've looked at the Wyndham website.  I've yet to do any deposits to RCI so can't speak to the exchanges.  

The pictures of BC look nice if not nicer than the DVC units.  I visited the resort last year and the grounds are nice too with a very nice pool.  
Brian has said you can see the Wishes fireworks from the balcony in the parking lot view units.


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## Twinkstarr (Feb 9, 2010)

chriskre said:


> As a DVC owner, I purchased Wyndham also specifically to use at Bonnet Creek but have found that it's going to be good for many other great places too.
> 
> I think Wyndham is a great TS system with lots of variety.  They are not the most luxe but they are good enough to have a great vacation IMO.
> 
> ...



We stayed in a 3br deluxe at BC, I think the decor might be a little nicer than DVC. Plus they have fitted sheets on the beds!   13 yr old son didn't think it was "themed" enough! I've raised a DVC snob!:hysterical: 

If I was out of DVC points and needed a Disney fix I would stay at BC, but I'd rent a car.


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## Culli (Feb 10, 2010)

chriskre said:


> As a DVC owner, I purchased Wyndham also specifically to use at Bonnet Creek but have found that it's going to be good for many other great places too.
> 
> I think Wyndham is a great TS system with lots of variety.  They are not the most luxe but they are good enough to have a great vacation IMO.
> 
> ...



This is what surprises me with DVC owners who plan to use their DVC pts to trade outside of DVC.  This thead alone gives a flexible option and a fraction of what it would cost with DVC.  Just don't see the value of using DVC for anyplace other than WDW or WDL


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## logan115 (Feb 12, 2010)

Culli said:


> This is what surprises me with DVC owners who plan to use their DVC pts to trade outside of DVC.  This thead alone gives a flexible option and a fraction of what it would cost with DVC.  Just don't see the value of using DVC for anyplace other than WDW or WDL



Agree with you 100%, and I'm very tempted to buy something else in additionto DVC just to "help" my fellow DVC owners that would like to exchange their DVC points for a trip somewhere else  

Chris


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