The JW Marriott Near Disney World Is Open. Not That Anyone Noticed

by joeheg

Up until the closure of Walt Disney World in March, people entering Disney World property on Epcot Center Drive saw a brand new hotel taking shape. This 516 room tower would house the second JW Marriott property in Orlando and the one nearest to WDW.

JW Marriott hasn’t had much luck in Orlando. I remember their first hotel, part of the Grande Lakes property, starting construction shortly before 9/11. The hotel was eventually finished, on a slower than planned schedule, in 2003.

In what would be a worst-case scenario for a hotel grand opening, Marriott announced in February that the Disney-area hotel was going to open in March 2020. And then Disney World shut down and the hotel occupancy rates for the area cratered to never before seen levels.

I’m not sure when the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek Resort and Spa actually opened but they’re currently accepting reservations. The property is so new that they haven’t even uploaded pictures of the rooms to their website. Here’s a picture of the Disney Springs view room.

Screen Shot 2020-07-05 at 9.45.40 PM

This JW Marriott is the first hotel in the chain to feature family suites. These two-bedroom suites sleep up to 7, with a double bunk-bed in the second bedroom, and will accommodate two cribs.

Screen Shot 2020-07-05 at 9.48.21 PM

I just can’t find any night where these rooms are bookable and there’s no picture to show what the rooms look like.

What I do know is that right now the rooms at the hotel are cheap for JW Marriott standards. This is a category 6 Marriott Bonvoy property with base award nights costing 50,000 points. Cash rates for July on any date besides WDW’s reopening week are going for less than $200 a night. Of course, that’s before the $35 a night resort fee and $29 a day for on-site parking. Yay, resort fees!!!!

If you’re looking to book for the holiday season, room rates go up to close to $300 a night.

I was looking forward to this property opening, since Marriott’s other hotels on WDW property, the Swan and Dolphin, are showing their age for the prices they charge. The JW Marriott is a legitimate luxury hotel with a price point to match. Right now you can stay there for a fraction of the regular cost, but with the limited number of people wanting to travel to Florida right now, I’m not surprised they need to offer rooms at a discount to get people to stay there.

#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 14,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

1 comment

Keith July 7, 2020 - 10:56 am

Swan and Dolphin may be showing their age but the location can’t be beat. All they need is a better pool area!

Reply

Leave a Comment