Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek

Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek occupies a thirteen-storey tower in the Bonnet Creek enclave, the 482-acre parcel that Walt Disney World Resort borders on three sides and never owned. It opened on 1 October 2011, holds 400 rooms and suites, and shares its site with a large timeshare property whose facilities it borrows.

What Gateway Hotel status means, and what it does not

The hotel carries the Walt Disney World Gateway Hotel designation. That is a contractual arrangement letting it be booked inside an official vacation package with park tickets, through the Walt Disney Travel Company. It is convenient, and that is the whole of it.

The designation confers no park access benefit. Wyndham Grand does not appear on Disney's official list of hotels eligible for early theme park entry, and it does not have extended evening hours either. Two Bonnet Creek neighbours, Signia by Hilton and Waldorf Astoria, do have the thirty-minute early entry. Wyndham Grand does not.

One naming trap deserves flagging, because it catches travellers every season. Disney's official list does include a Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista and a Wyndham Lake Buena Vista. Those are two different properties, in the Disney Springs area on Hotel Plaza Boulevard. The word Wyndham on that list does not mean the Bonnet Creek one.

The rooms

All three categories run about 39 m², which simplifies the choice. The Deluxe with two queen beds and the Deluxe with a king bed sleep four. The Family room combines bunk beds with a king bed and sleeps six, which stays rare at this size. Some rooms have a balcony.

The in-room comfort is well handled, with Beautyrest bedding and a 55-inch 4K television, but the kitchen amounts to a small refrigerator and a coffee maker. The units with full kitchens belong to the neighbouring Club Wyndham, a separate property.

Five pools and two lazy rivers

The site has five heated outdoor pools, two lazy rivers and two children's splash areas. Several of these, including the lazy rivers, belong to the neighbouring Club Wyndham; hotel guest access is covered by the daily resort charge, along with mini-golf, shuffleboard and the barbecue areas.

The Oasis pool, the hotel's own, runs from eight in the morning to ten at night and has a pool concierge.

Eating on site

deep blu Seafood Grille is the evening table, built around seafood, closed Sundays and Mondays. Back Bay Bar and Grill serves continuously from lunch into the evening, with a happy hour. Bar 1521 pours cocktails and serves sushi late in the day. Tesoro Cove handles breakfast, where children five and under eat free with a paying adult. The Barista opens at six for coffee, and room delivery runs in the evening, closed Sundays and Mondays.

Blue Harmony Spa offers treatments from ten in the morning to six in the evening, with a discount covered by the resort charge.

Getting to the parks

A free shuttle runs daily to Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Disney Springs, with several departures a day and no reservation. Your hotel key card is required to board. The schedule is handed to you at check-in, so ask for it on arrival rather than hunting for it the night before your first park day.

Who this hotel suits

It suits families who want water in quantity, a room that sleeps six without a suite, and a location inside the Disney perimeter without Disney hotel rates. The ticket package is easy to assemble, since the hotel is sold through Disney.

It suits you less if you are counting on early entry, if you want to cook in the room, or if you were planning dinner at deep blu on a Sunday. A daily resort charge and parking fees are added to the rate: ask your Voyages AquaTerra advisor to build them into the numbers, at 1-866-628-6241. One pet per room is accepted, within a weight limit and a maximum length of stay.