Advice please - SSR vs. OKW

[jbish]

We are heading "home" in June and, because we just made this decision, I am not able to get BLT, our home resort. So I'm a total newbie to SSR and OKW and would love your advice. We are booked at OKW now and SSR is available. I'm also waitlisted at AKV, which we hope we can get.

We are a family of five, with a 9 year old and two 6 year olds. We are used to the convenience of walking to and from MK, and having monorail access to Epcot. We've enjoyed the ability to walk back mid-day for naps and the pool or a quick meal, mid-day. We'd still like to either eat breakfast at the resort and possibly pack lunch - mostly to keep costs down and for health reasons. This is also our first trip without a stroller so I'm trying to think about making three tired kids walk from the bus to our room, especially since most of the OKW buildings don't have elevators.

So here are some of the factors I'd like to consider when choosing between SSR and OKW:

1. I'm not sure how practical it would be to go back to either SSR or OKW during the day for the pool or to escape the mid-afternoon crowds. Are either of these resorts more conducive to going back and forth?
2. Do they both have dedicated buses? Any drawbacks to the resort based on the bus transportation - like distance to the parks/travel time?
3. Both resorts seem very spread out and we will be arriving via Magical Express (i.e. no car). So any specific building recommendations is appreciated. Like is there one section of buildings you would not want to be in because they are too far from the bus stops? Is being in a walk-up at OKW going to be difficult for tired little legs at the end of the day? (I know we can request an elevator building, but since we are able-bodied and no longer in strollers, I wouldn't want to take up space that should go to those that really need it.)
4. How are the pools? Should we find a building close to the pool?

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[msp2mco]

We have stayed at both resorts and like them almost equally. They will be a lot different, in terms of convenience to the parks, than BLT. I love OKW for the extra space it affords over SSR. Both offer boat transportation to DS, and you can walk to DS from SSR.

We stayed at the Turtle Pond area of OKW and loved it. We spent tons of time in the pool because we were so close. Just temper expectations from what you liked about BLT and embrace the great things about either resort--the privacy, landscaping, etc.

 

[jbish]

We have stayed at both resorts and like them almost equally. They will be a lot different, in terms of convenience to the parks, than BLT. I love OKW for the extra space it affords over SSR. Both offer boat transportation to DS, and you can walk to DS from SSR.

We stayed at the Turtle Pond area of OKW and loved it. We spent tons of time in the pool because we were so close. Just temper expectations from what you liked about BLT and embrace the great things about either resort--the privacy, landscaping, etc.

Thanks for the insight! Yes, I'm definitely going into this with an open mind as I know that the experience will be very different. That's why I'm trying to think ahead so that I can try to incorporate as much of our needs into making the right choices.

 

[hakepb]

Both resorts have dedicated busses (with multiple internal stops) and they are both on the same road, with OKW being a little closer to the parks.

Dining.. OKW has a sit down breakfast at Olivia's that's decent, but there's not much if you are expecting a QS breakfast at the resort every morning. (With most DVC's it's best to go to the park, then eat vs eating at a resort, then going to the park)
SSR has more QS breakfast options (including Mickey waffles at AP) but no sit-down breakfast.

I appreciate the stairs concern at OKW, but thousands of families survive stairs at moderates like POR.

 

[drusba]

1. Taking mid-day breaks by going back to the room is possible but it is a very different exerience from staying at a monorail or Epcot resort. You must travel by bus and the buses make multiple stops within the resort and depending on where your room is you could have multiple stops while going or coming, and you also can have a decent size trek just from room to bus. Moreover, depending on where room is, you could have a long walk to a main pool once you get back to the room. You can make requests for room location but unless you already have booked OKW near Hospitality House, you should not assume you will necessarily be close to a main pool.

2. Both have dedicated buses. Trips can potentially involve multiple bus stops in the resorts and can take some time to the parks but it is not usually excessive. SSR has had issues in the past with nearby off-site hotel dwellers or persons parking at Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs), walking over to SSR and using the buses to the parks, causing at times overcrowding issues.

3. Both resorts are very spread out. ldeally, you would have booked the Near Hospitality House booking category at OKW to give you best chance to be near the restaurant. Otherwise, you can end up far from the restaurant. The OKW restaurant was mentioned above. SSR's table service restaurant, the Turf Club is actually very good although somewhat on the expensive side and open only for dinner. To be anywhere near it (it is the same building as the pro shop for the golf course) you need to be in Springs or Carousel (generally if you are going to make a request at SSR, the main one should be for one of the resorts sections like Springs or Paddock). The Springs and the Paddock area also have quick service restaurants but quite limited breakfast items. If you actually want a real breakfast, you are better off going to the parks or cooking in the room.

4. SSR has the advantage of having two main pools, both of which are very good, at the Springs and Paddock areas rather than just one like at OKW. If you have small kids and plan to use a main pool quite a bit then requesting the Springsa or Paddick arera should be considered. Otherwise, if you want my personal preference, I would get a room in the Congress Park area with a request for high floor, lake view. It gives you the shortest possible walk to Downtown Disney, a quiet pool which is right there, and one of the best views at WDW.

OKW has a significant advantage in room size, particularly 1 and 2BRs, which are huge, and even studios are larger. Note that in OKW all studios have two queens while SSR has a queen and couch double. Also, as 1BRs, OKW has the sleeper chair for a fifth while SSR has only 4 sleeping spaces with the king in the bedroom and couch queen in the living room.

 

[Airb330]

I agree with what everyone said here. It will be a different experience, but my suggestion would be to embrace it. I hope you get your waitlist at AKV, but if not I'd honestly go with whatever resort uses less points. Though, I do think the two feature pools and Springs access might give a slight nod to SSR at this point, which may not have been the case a few years ago. Also consider OKW has 2 queen beds in studios, which is unique.

 

[jbish]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I don't think we will spend much time at Disney Springs this trip. So that takes away one of the perks of SSR.

And as a family of 5, I like the idea of the two queens vs. the couch double and king.

It's probably too late to get a HH room, right? So at OKW, there's only one main pool? What are the other pools? Just smaller pools outdoors? Not as much theming?

Also, being close to the restaurant inside of HH may not be a big selling point - we would probably just prefer to eat in our room or at the parks. Should I just give up on going back to the room mid-day though because of the hassle in the travel time?

 

[Donna M]

You can get the second bedroom at SSR with two queens, you'd request the dedicated 2-bd. The studio is different.

 

[hakepb]

A family of 5 cannot stay in an OKW studio
An OKW 1 BR would have a King, Pullout Queen (couch) and a twin pullout chair.

All OKW 2BR would have 2 queens in the 2nd BR. In addition to the 1BR.

OKW quiet pools are just a pool. Turtle pond area has a playground and a pool bar, but no extra water activities.

SSR has 2 feature pools with slides (including a large child water play area at the Paddock pool) and the Grandstand "quiet pool" has a splash area. The Congress park quiet pool is just a pool, but there is a playground nearby.

Going back to the resort via bus isn't much different (time wise) than taking the monorail from EPCOT to BLT.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

For that matter, a family of 5 cannot stay in an SSR Studio either. It's a queen bed and a sleeper sofa.

 

[Quellman]

The bus ride is quite long for both resorts. We stopped staying at SSR once the kid came along. We always fear he would fall asleep before we made it back to the room anyway. But if you are just going to relax and spend time at the pool to get out of the heat it should be a nice easy trip for you. Just know that 2 hours in the middle of your day will be spent on Disney transport going back and forth to the resort.

I hope your waitlist comes through

 

[Anal Annie]

We prefer SSR to OKW. It's newer and I like the split bathroom setup in the studios. We personally don't worry about a 5 minute difference in travel time from one resort to another. Each resort has parks they're closer to and further from. You can't get caught up on worrying over 5 minutes. We prefer to stay in the Grandstand section of SSR because it's the first bus stop. We prefer either building 8101-8436 or 8501-8836 there. FYI - it is faster to get off there and walk up to the front desk / lobby area than to stay on the bus and ride it thru all 5 stops. The Paddock section would be our 2nd choice - near the pool / bus (building 5101-5436 or 5501-5836). In the Paddock section the worst ones are either 4501-4836 or 6501-6836 - they're both really far from the Paddock pool.

 

[DenLo]

It was less than a 20 minute ride to MK (40 minutes round trip) when we stayed at SSR last June. We usually waited 5 - 10 minutes for a bus although one time we waited 20 minutes for an EPCOT bus which is within the wait time range Disney lists. There were extra buses added in the mornings so when one bus filled up the additional bus could pick guests up the next stop.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Unless you plan on bringing an air bed for your third child, there is no bed for a fifth person at SSR. You'd need to get a two bedroom for each of your three kids to sleep off the floor. OKW has a queen sleeper and twin sleeper chair in the living room of the one bedroom.

Neither SSR or OKW will sleep five in the studio. Only four, plus one under the age of three in the pack and play.

 

[Antonius215]

I would also keep your mind open to renting a stroller while at the parks. With two six year-olds it can be a definite blessing, not to mention a great way to carry the bags when the kids are not napping/riding. With the longer travel time to and from parks a quick nap in the stroller may allow you to stay at the park and avoid the trip back and forth.