Just got back from 11 days at SSR... thoughts and photos inside.

[figment97]

One complaint... buses. We had an aweful time with the buses. The shortest time we waited (if the bus wasn't sitting there) was probably 30 minutes... not to mention we had 3 buses pass for the same park, in a row, before we saw ours. Bad, bad, bad.

BUT... we didn't let it ruin our trip. We had a great time. Our first at SSR, and our first as DVC members. SSR (The Springs) was great. Little disappointed in the size of the (gift) shop, but I'm guessing that's due to Downtown Disney being so close.

I won't bore you with the details. We'd definitely stay at SSR again. Loved it.

Now for the show....

Cap'n Jack was awesome!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2624716646_201227a5c2.jpg

Construction at the Contemporary...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2623890073_269497cdb4.jpg

The castle...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2624714810_42bbdb9427.jpg

The ball...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2623888617_9df225bf65.jpg

The ball again...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2624713316_b5d42d7cb0.jpg

SSR...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2623881037_ba25c83c41.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2624694094_cdb0867e1c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2624693786_08cc231c33.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2623867039_d40e62abbb.jpg

A mickey head cloud???
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2624691188_be718b425f.jpg

More SSR...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2623865381_53aa5a7f57.jpg

[rgoulette2]

Great pics. The one of the castle always makes me smile.





[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10706;110/st/20081130/e/Goulette+Disney+trip/k/5c54/event.png

[slp87]

Love the Mickey head cloud!

[glennbo123]

Disney even controls the cloud formations over Orlando....I believe it!

Very nice photography.

[Disney_Mama]

I love SSR. Sorry about your bus experience. Thank you for sharing your pictures.:thumbsup2

[GANUT4WDW]

Loved the pictures as well! What type of camera did you use for these pictures?:confused3

[alldiz]

Thanks for the pics:goodvibes ....I hope they fix this new bus system.....lots of complaints at ALL the resorts:sad2:
Kerri

[BlakeNJ]

I am glad you enjoyed your trip. You surely have a knack for photography!

Please do us all a favor and report your transportation troubles. If not for your fellow neighbors, do it so when you visit SSR again, you will not have the same problems! A simple e-mail will do. When at the DVC Member homepage, click, "Account Help" in the box to the right, then click "E-mail Member Services". Or simply call MS.

[figment97]

Loved the pictures as well! What type of camera did you use for these pictures?:confused3

I was planning on reporting the bus issues... not really to complain, but just make them aware of what's going on.

Thanks for the props on the photos... I love taking pictures. I think I came home with close to 600. I use a Sony Alpha 100 for those who are wondering. I'll try to post more as time permits.

[BigEeyore]

GREAT pictures - especially of the mickey cloud! I wasn't aware they had a Cap'n Jack character - pretty close to Johnny Depp I'd say! :worship:

[DVCJones]

Loved the Mickey cloud!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing:)

[AKV707]

Thanks for the report. Glad that you had a great time. Thanks for the pics as well!

[LIFERBABE]

:wizard: Thank you for sharing!

Your SSR photo's look like postcards!!

We had a great stay at SSR 2 weeks ago. :wizard:

[groverdog]

Glorious pictures, makes me homesick :(

[Iggipolka]

The bus problem at SSR and many other resorts is just horrible! When we were there in June, we waited a good 40 minutes for an MK bus at SSR. We saw three DHS buses go by before the MK bus.
There was a CM at the bus stop who was writing down what time the buses came and how many guests were waiting for each park bus. She said that the bus drivers had been getting lots of guest complaints, but that her manager didn't believe the bus drivers! So, she was there to prove to management just how bad the system really is. She said that she couldn't believe how long people were having to wait for buses.

Hopefully our feedback and the CM's feed back will help fix the bus situation.

oh..and to the OP, your pictures are incredible! I love the Castle pic. :)

[KELLY]

Great pic can't wait to go back.

[janni518]

One complaint... buses. We had an aweful time with the buses. The shortest time we waited (if the bus wasn't sitting there) was probably 30 minutes... not to mention we had 3 buses pass for the same park, in a row, before we saw ours. Bad, bad, bad.

BUT... we didn't let it ruin our trip. We had a great time. Our first at SSR, and our first as DVC members. SSR (The Springs) was great. Little disappointed in the size of the (gift) shop, but I'm guessing that's due to Downtown Disney being so close.

I won't bore you with the details. We'd definitely stay at SSR again. Loved it.




I just had to say something about the bus situation. We stayed at the Beach Club at the end of May had almost exactly the same situation with the buses. Seems like it might be more of a Disney transportation problem than a resort problem.

[mwmuntz]

I was planning on reporting the bus issues... not really to complain, but just make them aware of what's going on.

Thanks for the props on the photos... I love taking pictures. I think I came home with close to 600. I use a Sony Alpha 100 for those who are wondering. I'll try to post more as time permits.

Sorry to hijack, but what lens did you use? I just ordered an Alpha 300, and I am very excited about it, seeing your pictures.

These are excellent photos!

[KAT4DISNEY]

From another Sony alpha owner - Loved the photos! Thanks for posting.:goodvibes

[spaddy]

Great photos.

Didn't you see this article about cloud ads?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/smallbiz/stories/DN-cloudads_29nat.ART.State.Edition1.4d61526.html?npc

[Cee]

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for them. Can't wait to go home to SSR on July 20!

[figment97]

Great photos.

Didn't you see this article about cloud ads?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/smallbiz/stories/DN-cloudads_29nat.ART.State.Edition1.4d61526.html?npc

that is awesome. but according to the article, maximum width is 4 feet... this was a little bigger.

that said, it would be very cool to see these in action.

thanks for the article.

and for those interested in the lense... it was just the 35-80 that came with the camera. i have a 300 but liked the smaller one for disney. i love the alpha. i still have some work to do learning all the settings and what they do, but i started getting the hang of it down at disney. good luck.

i'll try to post more pics sometime...

[figment97]

SSR
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2628217504_4acc874394.jpg

Norway
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2628217048_bdd2097fae.jpg

America
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2627398489_7865679275.jpg

SSR
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/2627397757_22b97e10ef.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2627397085_561fca21aa.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/2628214482_a70002a883.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2227/2628214056_9ff4009d54.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/2627395653_0c2d5a5f7a.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/2628212454_957bdd62d9.jpg

The ball
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2627394275_d6831e5e95.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/2627393615_f04dd8aacb.jpg

One of my favorites... oldest at legoland
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2628208290_394a2366e7.jpg

SSR
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2628207866_428e7651f6.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2627388849_4dcb632f6c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2628206012_8c71a67cbd.jpg

The castle
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2627387745_f3b1ce914d.jpg

Visit to the boardwalk
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2628204164_1ed5d2b44a.jpg

Star Wars weekend
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2628203566_aa6451674d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2628202954_4669c7fcf8.jpg

[cocowum]

Wow! you pics are FANTASTIC!

[madcoco]

Ditto. Thanks for sharing them! pirate:

[Maribell]

Thanks for sharing! Your pictures are awesome! I am wishing I was there right now!

[dianeschlicht]

When you see a Mickey head cloud like that, you KNOW you are in the magic of Disney!

[Wedgeh]

I loved those photos, thanks for sharing them!

[stlocke]

Love, love, love the photos! The Mickey cloud and the first Castle pic are GREAT! I experienced the same bus issues as you did....we were there from June 20-June 30!!!! :confused3 Hope they fix those issues before we visit next time. I felt like we spent hours on the bus each day!:headache:

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are booked at SSR for 7 nights next month. The bus thing is absolutely killing me. Can you please tell me what time you were typically trying to get on a bus from SSR to a park in the morning? We are HUGE on being at the parks at opening. If I need to be at the bus stop at 7 AM to get there by 8 AM (or 8 AM to be there by 9 AM) then that's what I will do. I do NOT want to rent a car. But I have one reserved in case the buses are so bad that we can't work with them.

DH has a Sony Alpha 100. He'll be using it for the first time at WDW in August. I'll have to make sure he looks at this thread! :)

[figment97]

Love, love, love the photos! The Mickey cloud and the first Castle pic are GREAT! I experienced the same bus issues as you did....we were there from June 20-June 30!!!! :confused3 Hope they fix those issues before we visit next time. I felt like we spent hours on the bus each day!:headache:


Cool. We might have passed each other. We were in The Springs, room 3221, which is the farthest building to the right (at The Springs).


"We are booked at SSR for 7 nights next month. The bus thing is absolutely killing me. Can you please tell me what time you were typically trying to get on a bus from SSR to a park in the morning? We are HUGE on being at the parks at opening. If I need to be at the bus stop at 7 AM to get there by 8 AM (or 8 AM to be there by 9 AM) then that's what I will do. I do NOT want to rent a car. But I have one reserved in case the buses are so bad that we can't work with them.

DH has a Sony Alpha 100. He'll be using it for the first time at WDW in August. I'll have to make sure he looks at this thread!"


We were at the bus stops at different times of the day, so it would be hard to answer your question. Mainly, we tried to get on around 8 or 9 in the morning. The buses start running 1 hour prior to park openings, but we couldn't get out of bed that early.

Hope hubby likes the Alpha. I sure do. :)

Thanks to all for the positive feedback on the pictures.

[Corinne]

Fabulous pictures! Thanks for sharing!:goodvibes

[tea pot]

WOW
Boy you are good
Thanks so much for the photos.... Is this your day job???
Thanks so much for sharing. :cloud9:

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We were at the bus stops at different times of the day, so it would be hard to answer your question. Mainly, we tried to get on around 8 or 9 in the morning. The buses start running 1 hour prior to park openings, but we couldn't get out of bed that early.

Hope hubby likes the Alpha. I sure do. :)

Thanks to all for the positive feedback on the pictures.

Thanks! We rarely sleep past 6 AM at WDW. In fact, I am usually up closer to 5 AM. We're at breakfast no later than 7 AM unless we are eating in the park. This is the one area where I am completely inflexible - we HAVE to be at the park no later than the minute it opens. The bus thing is giving me stress. ;)

DH has the Alpha and an Olympus Evolt 410. Apparently he is bringing both.:rolleyes: Good thing SSR is pretty to look at because we may have LOTS of time to take pics of it while we wait for buses! :rotfl2:

[disneyfinatics]

Great pictures! I really love the one of the castle. I can never seem to capture the color.

If you contact Disney about the buses they will call you. It took about 2 weeks, but they called me today. We had noticed people using the SSR bus to Congress Park to get to DTD. They weren't resort guests. We were there in Jan. the buses were slow & standing room only for SSR. I was pleased to see that they will respond to your e-mail.

[jdg345]

Thank you for sharing! :thumbsup2

:goodvibes

[disneymom8589]

I LOVE your pictures. There are some very creative shots! The picture of the Mickey cloud is unbelievable!! :)

[Markeymouses]

Those pictures are fabulous!!!!:)
We leave in 20 days for SSR (1st DVC stay) I didn't think I could be any more excited than I already am....then I saw your pics :lovestruc :lovestruc great job thanks a million for posting!:goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes