All Good Things Must Come to an End... (and SSR photos)

[RobDoc]

We have returned home from 11 wonderful nights at OKW. We stayed in room 2421- a 1BR near the Peninsular Road bus stop. This was a very quiet area with a golf course view.

We got up early (6:30 am) each morning and walked to DD. It was about 1/2 mile to Building 55 and another 1.75 miles to the Days of Christmas store at DD. (I did check the distance with a GPS- round trip was 4.45 miles.) Along the way I did some exploration of the progress at SSR (more on that later).

Temps were above 90º most days of our trip, but we took a midday break and escaped the heat each day. Highlites of the trip were the Flower Power concerts at Epcot. We saw the Turtles, Grass Roots and Herman's Hermits. Each performance was great.

I do have a report on the current status of KNWVIKING's towel train. It did come rumbling thru our building's parking area and is surely no quieter than when he endured it- however... it now comes thru at 7:00pm- a distinct improvement over 4:30am. At least that was the schedule the last 3 days!

Since I have already reported on the Member's Update last Tuesday, I won't recap that again here. I did promise some photos of SSR. I'll admit that I did sneak in a few shots of OKW at the top of the page, but here is a <a href="http://disneydoc.homestead.com/SSRMay2003.html"> preview of SSR</a>. To view a larger version of any image just double click on the photo. If you have any questions about the location of any of the pictures, please ask away.

Enjoy!

 

[Tinkrbell]

Glad to see you found your cable . How were you able to walk around so freely? Do they let anyone go through there? I thought they would have it blocked off from public access.

Also, I thought for sure it would be farther along than that. With all of the talk about "BCV's Sell Out by May" They have quite a bit more building to do.

Thanks for the pics.

 

[CarolMN]

WOW! Thanks for posting the pictures, Doc. Kind of makes me anxious to see the finished resort - it looks very nice already!

 

[Candace]

Thanks so much for the pictures, Doc! One question - what will the Cinema building function as now?

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Just what we have been waiting for! Hard to believe they'll be pre-selling in less than a year.

Glad you had a good trip.

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by Tinkrbell
How were you able to walk around so freely? Do they let anyone go through there? I thought they would have it blocked off from public access.

"It's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission." Yes, it's blocked off, but I got very "lost" walking around the lake and since I had my camera with me anyway, I went ahead and snapped a few pics.

Also, I thought for sure it would be farther along than that. With all of the talk about "BCV's Sell Out by May" They have quite a bit more building to do.

Actually, they are making great progress. In Feb they were still clearing the ground and had no structural work started yet.

The reports of a May (or June or July or August, IMHO) BCV sellout are greatly exaggerated. I do expect that by the time BCV is truly sold out, there will be enough completed at SSR to have a product to show. They could still use the existing sales center (with SSR model rooms) until they have the new sales center opened at SSR.

During our stay, there was noticeable progress made on the site. The 2nd building went from the 2nd floor to the 4th floor during the last week and work has already begun on the 2 floor of the 3rd building. A lot was completed on the 1st building during the same time period. They have a small army of construction workers on site each day- even on Sunday!

what will the Cinema building function as now?

The Cinema will likely remain in it's present form, IMO. It is a quaint little theater, but can still serve for Disney films and/or lectures. We went to a DI program a few years ago- on Valentine's Day. It was called Mickey Loves Minnie and featured several early cartoons showing the relationship of the couple! It was narrated by a Disney animator and was very interesting. There is also an auditorium that has been used for lectures and large presentations- it has a much larger capacity. The only thing removed, thus far, from the DI public buildings was the outdoor band shell. It has been leveled. It sat between the classrooms and the auditorium on the hillside in front of the main building, near the spa.

I hope they find a way to utilize those buildings and think there is great promise for some wonderful programs for those staying at SSR and other DVC resorts.

Stay Tuned!

 

[jaysue]

Thanks Doc for the pictures - I made the OKW one my desktop wallpaper. Also, thanks for the update on the laundry train - much appreciated

Cheers
jaysue

 

[Tinkrbell]

AAAHHHH, I see. The old "If you don't ask, they can't say no" tactic. Great Job!

 

[PamOKW]

Thanks, Doc. I knew we could count on you to come through with new info and photos.

Glad to hear you had a good trip.

 

[danny1649]

Thanks for the great photos and welcome home ,well to Indiana anyway.

 

[madcoco]

Thanks Doc for sharing the great pics.

 

[disneyberry]

thank you, Doc, for going on this spy mission!

 

[Loubon]

Thanks for sharing and glad you had a great time.

BTW I'm not sure if your follow-up to tech support got me posting again or not but if it did "Thanks"!

 

[sgtdisney]

Great pics Doc! Thanks for the update. I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Peter Johnson]

Originally posted by WebmasterDoc
Highlites of the trip were the Flower Power concerts at Epcot. We saw the Turtles, Grass Roots and Herman's Hermits. Each performance was great.

Hmmm... While at one of the Turtles concerts, we noticed a distinguished looking fellow, wearing a wdwinfo.com t-shirt, sitting towards the front on the left side of the theater. A few days later we saw him again at another concert, in about the same place. Syl told me I should go see if it was Doc...

 

[Maistre Gracey]

WOW! Great pics, Doc. SSR is really coming along nicely. The entrance looks fantastic. Thanx for keeping us up to date on this!