Live from SSR

[Starr W.]

Hey everyone! Just got back from spending the morning at Epcot.

The DVC gods were smiling on us yesterday. Flight was on time, even landed about 10 min early in Orlando. Not bad for a Friday night. Checked in at ME, usual cluster of course, group of 6 didn't realize they were supposed to put the yellow tags on their suitcases:sad2: and only 3 CM checking in. They were still trying to sort them out when I left.

Get in the SSR line and we are taken right to the bus and off we went. Checked in at about 10pm and got exactly what I wanted(CP close to the pool). Probably the best location I have ever had at SSR. Garden Grocer order was 100% correct. Emily at the front desk was being a real trooper as she was on the verge of losing her voice.

Well off to finish unpacking, I had packed everything for last night and this morning in one bag.

Epcot was not crowded this morning, did everythiing we wanted and had lunch. Heading back tonight for dinner and Iluminations.

Sure beats the weather in OH.:woohoo:

[manntra]

:cool1: Happy you are having a great time so far, and yeah the weather sure is COLD! It's in the twenties here today in upstate NY. I can't wait for my trip to SSR in January. Hope you continue to have a wonderful trip! :goodvibes

[MustangMom]

Have a great time & bring some of that warmth and sun back with you. :yay:

[BWV Dreamin]

So glad you got your building request....can you post a pic looking out your balcony? I love the SSR decor. Glad your having a great time....:thumbsup2

[bobbiwoz]

You are absolutely right about the weather being better than in Ohio...wind chill was 3 this morning in Dayton!!!

Have a great week!

Bobbi:goodvibes

[Rock'n Robin]

Hi Starr, glad to hear you're having a good time. Current weather in Perrysburg is 29 degrees and cloudy. Might get snow tomorrow night. But Ohio State won 42-7!
Robin M.

[lah3hh]

It is very cold for us here in Ohio...can't wait until I am down there in 16 days. How's the weather right now? I need to hear of some warmer temps...please!!!

[Starr W.]

So far the bus service has been really good! We had an 8 min wait this morning for an MK bus at about 8:30 am and a 2 min wait when we left about 1pm. That has to be a record for us!

I'm going to keep a watch on the crowds this week and try to gauge them against what I remember from 07 and 06.

MK wasn't bad this morning(didn't get clipped by a scooter or stroller). :thumbsup2

Heading over to see our guide in an hour, to tour the BLT models. Hoping to get some of those vip fp's and a lift in a DVC van over to the Contemp. We have an ADR at the Cali Grill tonight. Will see how we can drag dinner out with a 12 and 7 yr DS's to catch Wishes from there.

Since Monday looks the best weatherwise here(76 for you fellow Buckeyes). We will spend some time at the pool. DH has the war plans, so other than dinner at JIko I can't remember whatelse we were planning on doing.

Always happy to see OSU win over UM, but was even happier to see my alma mater Purdue kick IU up and down the field yesterday to win the Old Oaken Bucket. :banana:

[DonnaL]

Hey Rock'n Robin......DH and I used to live in Perrysburg 30 years ago when we were first married........his first job out of college was at the Ace Hardware distribution center there. We lived at 118 Three Meadows Court........at the time it was a pretty new planned community type development.....two story apartment buildings with a pool, lake, playground, etc. and also some townhouses and single family homes. We really liked the area and made some good friends while there......still keep in touch with a few in Rossford.

[Rock'n Robin]

Hey Donna, 3 Meadows is now a very big, huge development. Lots of apartments/condos, and many more homes than 30 years ago. I moved over from Maumee in 91 and it has grown even bigger. I live close to that area (same elementary school district) but where I live was a field until 16 years ago.
Starr is from Perrysburg too which is why I mentioned the weather--and if you're on the thread Starr, now it's 36 and windy--may get a teeny bit of snow (1/2 inch or less) tonight. It's "Midnight Madness" tonight at the high school and my oldest is cheering, so I have to try and stay awake! I hope you're doing something a lot more fun! And keep the bus reports coming--I still haven't decided if we will need a rental car for spring break or not.
Robin M.

[Buckeye Fan]

Hi Starr, glad to hear you're having a good time. Current weather in Perrysburg is 29 degrees and cloudy. Might get snow tomorrow night. But Ohio State won 42-7!
Robin M.
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: Woooo-hoooo!!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Starr, if you can, please post some pics! I need a SSR and Dis fix about right now. We're not going again until April!!! :scared: Also, if you walk by them, would love an update on the THV! :thumbsup2

Have a WONDERFUL time!!!

[bonrea]

We are at SSR this week also. We just got back from DHS and BOY was TourGuide Mike off the mark with the croud predictions. The place was packed. The line just for the Fast Passes for TSM was so long my jaw hit the ground.
Staying in for a rest on Wed, Spirit Of Aloha Wed night and off to AK on Thanksgiving day.

[Chellymouse]

Rub it in Starr!! It's 30 degrees and snowing in good old OH! At least we beat MI!! Hope you're having a great trip. We're home in 16 days and boy are we counting! DH wants to start packing this weekend!

[Starr W.]

We are at SSR this week also. We just got back from DHS and BOY was TourGuide Mike off the mark with the croud predictions. The place was packed. The line just for the Fast Passes for TSM was so long my jaw hit the ground.
Staying in for a rest on Wed, Spirit Of Aloha Wed night and off to AK on Thanksgiving day.

Other than TSM, I didn't think DHS was that crowded. We got there at about park opening, made DH stand in line and me and the kids did Star Tours.

Made it to rope drop today at MK. Did everything we wanted had lunch and left about 1:30. We've never done MK on Wednesday before, the crowds were pretty manageable.

We're off to DTD tonight, gotta hit the Lego store again! We're going to AK Turkey day morning and spend the rest of the day by the pool.

Stopped off on the way back from MK at the Front Desk to apply my Disney Reward card to my room charges. I really feel for the staff. Now I don't know if they are fellow members, but one couple was going at it with 3 SSR staff about they didn't like the view from their room and wanted to change.

[tomandrobin]

A live trip report.....nice! Can we get some photos too?

Sounds like your trip is going very good. You got your room you wanted, your timing with the buses seem good, and crowds seem to be in your favor.

I am looking forward to the updates. We have only 31 days to our trip to SSR.

[bonrea]

I have to feel for the SSR staff also; but, my complaint today was the tolet broke and called for it to be fixed. That was at 2:30pm today. We left at 5:00pm to go to the Spirit of Aloha dinner. We returned at 10:45pm and the mess was still there.
I don't understand how 9+hours can go by without repairs and no cleaning. I called the manager and they said the toilet is fixed. OK so why the mess left in the floor? Cleaning person in now to mop up and remove the towels from the floors.

I like this place but this is unacceptable. No follow up? Come on! Where's the Disney difference.


Magical day shot to @%&&

[alldiz]

Bonrea....sorry about the mess that is unacceptable....I hope the rest of your stay is magical:goodvibes

OP....Thanks for the live report.....Wish I was there:goodvibes
Checkin on a Fri so late.....I'm impressed.....it would have "killed" me to use those points:lmao:
I hope the rest of your trip is magical....and have a Great Thanksgiving.
Kerri

[Starr W.]

Back from AK! Got there right at 8 am. Biggest crowd I've seen at the CP bus stop this week, and they were all heading to MK! :scared1: . Doesn't anyone read any of the guide books?

Rode EE x3!

At the bus stop, Dis transportation had a couple of CM's keeping track of things(plus 2 spare buses at the ready). The SSR bus was late so they pulled up one of the spares and off we went, as the SSR bus pulled up. So other than another family we had the bus to ourselves. Since the original bus was behind us, our bus just stopped where we needed to get off(Grandstand and CP).

I have noticed every morning a transportation CM at the Springs bus stop with clipboard. I think he was monitoring load levels, timing etc.

The crowd levels to me seem to have been down a bit from last Thanksgiving, but since we were getting in at the park openings(usually we would arrive about 9:30am) my observations maybe off. Went with TGM, and AK was great this morning(a little chilly) but even when we left it wasn't so packed that you could actually stick your arms out without poking someone in the eye. We only did Jiko and Cali Grill for TS meals, Jiko was able to seat us 30 min before our ADR time and it wasn't full on Monday night. Boma was packed though.

As for AP here at SSR, they have been running on the SSR tv station to avoid lines at breakfast try to go before 8am or after 10am. I haven't been around for dinner.

Saw a lot of 1st timer buttons, did find out for any of you on the BLT fence that there is room for about 90-100 names left on the fountain. I would include myself in that crowd, still choke on the price for 200 points.

Bonrea, what section are you stayng? I've seen at least 2 carts driving by with carpet cleaners on them this week.

Well we are headed home tomorrow, so I will need to pack. We're having an Irish Thanksgiving at Raglan Road tonight(bangers & mash or perhaps fish & chips).

[bonrea]

We got on the AK bus at 8:30am + and arrived at the gate at 9+am (give or take). It was a cold morning and the crowd was lite. We went straight to the safari ride and it was great. The giraffes were very active in a full gallop on the savanna. We got into the line for Festival of the Lion King and it was full but we had seats in the Elephant section 3rd row. WHAT a great show. :cheer2: We loved it. We then made our way over to Bugs Life 3D and got right in. Then the NEMO Musical line was short and got right in at the 1:00pm showing. We went to Dino Land and got lunch, again no line because everyone was done. We road the triceratops ride and waited only 2 rides. We did Wack-a-mole (dino version) and no one was there. We won lots of toys. We then went to KALI Rapids and got right on and road it 5 times with no waiting. What a great day.

We are back in the room at SSR and are resting before heading to the CR and the California Grill for dinner. Then to see Wishes from the roof top to top off the day. We also depart tomorrow morning after breakfast with Mickey at Chef Mickey’s.

We’ll be back in march!

[Silver Queen]

What's a first timers button?

[amartel9]

What's a first timers button?

It is a big round pin that cast members give to people on their first visit to WDW so they can wear it during their trip. They are really cute!

[bonrea]

Bonrea, what section are you stayng? I've seen at least 2 carts driving by with carpet cleaners on them this week.


Starr, we were in 3141 in the Springs. We left at 1pm today and went to visit with Grandpa in Daytona tonight and Saturday night. This helps break up the trip to NC.

One other note on crowds; we rode the monorail one more time for fun before leaving today and went on the EPCOT train. The crowd at 11am to get into EPCOT was huge. I guess everyone went to MK yesterday and EPCOT today.

Heading home Sunday; we'll right more when we get home next week.

[addsomebling]

We arrived at the SSR for the first time today. It didn't go as smoothly as I would hope because they deleted a person in my party from the dining plan and had to reissue my entire reservation and it took about 45 min. for everything. I kept hearing around me, "your room is ready now" so I was excited and hoping we would have the same luck...nope we had to wait until 3:30. Hey, but I'm on vacation and I'm not going to let anything ruin my trip. We are still having a great time!

We ate at the Turf Bar & Grill and it was delicious!! DH, DMOM and I all had the NY Strip which they typically don't offer during lunch, but he made a special exception for us. HOW NICE!! It was one of the best steaks I've ever had. So much flavor...yummy!!! DB had the Rubin and liked it and his GF had a burger and she loved it. My 2 DD had Mac & Cheese and were happy with their selections. Dessert was fabulous! Mmmmm. We each had something different and tested each others.

After eating we checked out the pool...we are from NY and didn't pack bathing suits in our carryons so we were in long pants and long sleeve shirts, but not too uncomfortable. The pool is very nice.

I am use to staying a Caribbean Beach where they have the food court so I think I might miss that, but we will be eating breakfast each day in our 2BR so we won't really need the food court like usual.

After walking around the pool we decided to start walking to the area where our room is and by the time we reached the front of our building I received a call that our room was ready!! How very exciting!!

We are in a 2BR and I am so very pleased! I wish I could show everyone I know our room.

The only bad thing and I'm sick to my stomach over it is....I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!! I ended up buying a disposable, but I wanted to be able to post pics. from our vacation on DIS. Oh well! That is not going to ruin my vacation either. I'm at DISNEY!! YAY!!

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

addsomebling! Thank you for the info! We are there in 7 days! Forgetting my camera is one of my worst nightmares! There is quick service just down the hallway from Turf Club, I'm sure you saw it. We also love CB, love being able to go lay down on a hammock and listen to music! Have a great trip!~

BTW, we are 2 hours south of you...Ballston Lake is beautiful!

[addsomebling]

We slept in today in our 2BR. Had bagels for breakfast and the kids had cereal. We did get to the park DHS fairly late, 10am and shortly after arriving there were monsoon rains and the streets were flooded. However, no one in our group was grumpy over the situation. We were in the shops for about 1.5hrs. then the rain stopped for a bit and we went on some rides.

We ate at Prime Time Cafe and everyone really enjoyed the meal. Especially being in the rain we were all ready for a nice home-style meal. We did find out the McDonalds French fry huts do count their fries as a snack also, hot pretzels are a snack. I'm very happy about that.

We saved a counter service today because we had a late breakfast and our SD meal was at 3:30 and we were way too stuffed to eat anything the rest of the day.

Looking forward to a day at MK tomorrow. Up early for the extra magic hour.

Some things I love about our room:
1. A TV in each room (BR1, BR2 & LR)
2. Girls loved the deep tub with the jets (DD 5 & 7) Baby girl did not like it but we didn't have the jets on with her.
3. Being able to have a fridge and food in our room
4. Walking to Marketplace...a few of us did that tonight while my mom watched the girls in the room. It was nice. Checked out the new T-Rex restaurant. We had a drink at the bar and really enjoyed the atmosphere.
5. FREE Internet access!!! Since I'm a manager with lia sophia jewelry, I need to be able to access my e-mail and the web, so it's a fantastic perk. It is ONLY Free for vacation club members.

Tomorrow for breakfast Egg and cheese wraps...mmmm then off to MK!!! The first timers in our group are amazed and really loving the experience.

We used wegoshop for our food delivery service and I was very pleased with them. They also only charge 1/2 price if you need another grocery delivery during your stay.

I find the bus service to be acceptable. No complaints here!!!

[bonrea]

I have to feel for the SSR staff also; but, my complaint today was the tolet broke and called for it to be fixed. That was at 2:30pm today. We left at 5:00pm to go to the Spirit of Aloha dinner. We returned at 10:45pm and the mess was still there.
I don't understand how 9+hours can go by without repairs and no cleaning. I called the manager and they said the toilet is fixed. OK so why the mess left in the floor? Cleaning person in now to mop up and remove the towels from the floors.

I like this place but this is unacceptable. No follow up? Come on! Where's the Disney difference.


Magical day shot to @%&&


Well!!! We received a very pleasant phone call from the DVC Customer Satisfaction Department today. DH had sent the above information to our DVC CM on Monday and she forwarded it on to them.

They were very apologetic to us that we had the problem and are working to resolve the issue with us not receiving any follow up and why the room was still in a mess after 8 hours. :scared1: They said the way this problem was handled by Disney’s reps was unacceptable and not something that we should ever experence. They will be talking with the SSR night manager and the housekeeping manager and we should NEVER have this kind of problem again.

And What Do Ya' Know! They refunded us a full day of points for the room because it was a mess, unusable, and we had to use the restrooms near the pool. :thumbsup2 We did not ask for this nor did we expect it. :banana:

NOW THAT IS THE DISNEY DIFFRENCE! pixiedust:

Our Magical Day Has Been Restored!! :dance3:

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

Well!!! We received a very pleasant phone call from the DVC Customer Satisfaction Department today. DH had sent the above information to our DVC CM on Monday and she forwarded it on to them.

They were very apologetic to us that we had the problem and are working to resolve the issue with us not receiving any follow up and why the room was still in a mess after 8 hours. :scared1: They said the way this problem was handled by Disney’s reps was unacceptable and not something that we should ever experence. They will be talking with the SSR night manager and the housekeeping manager and we should NEVER have this kind of problem again.

And What Do Ya' Know! They refunded us a full day of points for the room because it was a mess, unusable, and we had to use the restrooms near the pool. :thumbsup2 We did not ask for this nor did we expect it. :banana:

NOW THAT IS THE DISNEY DIFFRENCE! pixiedust:

Our Magical Day Has Been Restored!! :dance3:

:yay: :yay: YAY!!!