Anyone else not impressed by SSR ?

[KNWVIKING]

While at OKW, DW and I walked over to SSR for a little self guided tour.

First the good part: We thought the Congress Park portion along the water front was beautiful. The quiet pool looks great & the walkway to DTD should be a nice stroll.

What we didn't like: The common area. I imagine most of the buildings in the common area are just redecorated,repurposed DI buildings. They are too "boxish" , too bland, too something that's hard to explain. Also too much underutelized space. The Community Hall has NO decor, just a couple class-room type spaces with a few TV's, PS2's, a ping-pong & fooze ball table. The main pool looks great, but it feels hidden,out-of-place from the surroundings. Hard to get a handle on what Artist Palett is trying to be. Maybe because the place was deserted it just had an odd feel to it. What really irratated me was the price they were selling wine for there. In other Disney resorts, a bottle of Beringer White Zin sells for $8.00 - standard Disney price. Most of your local wine retailers sell it for about $5.00. Disney's mark-up is not terrible, Eckards on I-Drive sell it for $7.50. At Artist Palett, they had a Beringer Cabernet that routinely sells for $10.00 priced at $32.00. Come on.... why rip our eyes out with mark-ups like those ?

Hopefully when all the construction is done & the place is fully operational it will have a better atmospere & feel for me. Right now though I have no interest in even staying there.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well, I have only seen it from Pleasure Island, and from pictures. I have also seen the model at the BW sales office.
From what I have seen, I think it is absolutely beautiful. I think the pastel colors on the outside are awesome. I also think the stonework, and landscaping are great.
Now, I admit, I have not seen the resort up close and personal as you and many others have. I have not seen the places you descibe.

MG

 

[KNWVIKING]

You're right MG, from the pics & view from DTD, SSR has great curb appeal. My problem isn't with the townhouses, it's withthe common areas, which you really don't get a good perspective of unless you're there.

 

[Margie J]

I thought the common area looked "industrial". It was a bit odd to see the old DI buildings as they were with a pool in the middle. They need more landscaping in that section. It's not a great first impression right now.

The lounge inside the main building had a nice relaxed feel to it. Again, the outside patio area needs work. It looks unfinished and bland, all concrete.

The new villa buildings look much better. They look terrific from the DD side too. I think once the Resort is completed it will have a much better overall impact.

I also stayed at OKW this past week and was glad I did, for now. SSR has a long way to go.

 

[disneycrazed139]

Well, obviously I can't comment much, but will be able to soon. Let's just say, I hope my opinion isn't the same as yours once I've been in June. With regard to the wine markup though, that is outrageous.

I did notice that the Community Hall looked sort of a like an elementary school classroom. Perhaps they are planning to improve that area. I think some of it might just be the style of the resort. I think the conversion of the resort from DI will be more apparent to those that saw it as DI.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by disneycrazed139
I did notice that the Community Hall looked sort of a like an elementary school classroom. .

I am sure when SSR is completely finished it will be 1st class like all of the other DVC resorts.

 

[FLYNZ4]

Regarding the "boxish" look of the community areas. I felt that way as well... in fact, my comment to Deb was that it was almost like the feeling of being in the Disney-MGM back lot areas... I can also understand the "industrial" comment. I think that the look will improve over time... but I will not lose any sleep if they do not upgrade the look.

I bought there anyway... like I said before, mostly because of 50 yr RTU.

BTW, I feel that part of the BWV have a little "boxy" feeling too... especially the dance hall.

From an absolute location standpoint, I still think that BWV/BCV are the best location for us. I think that SSR will be a close 2nd being so close to DD. The 50 yr RTU contract pushed us to choose SSR... and I do not regret that decision.

/Jim

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"I am sure when SSR is completely finished it will be 1st class like all of the other DVC resorts."***

Nick, I'm hopefull and confident it will improve as the park is finished.

My post wasn't meant to imply that people who bought there made a mistake or any such thing. I haven't shown much interest in SSR in the past simply because any add-on would have been impossible. In one respect I was a little hesitant to wonder over to SSR for fear of being infected with the dreaded add-on virus, ( if only Aetna US Healthcare would cover the ailment ). In the resorts present condition though the infection did not take hold.

So now I'm in a Catch 22. I want the resort to appeal to me, but I don't want the desire for an add-on. Hmmmmm.......

 

[Pa@okw95]

Thanks for the report-I thought all the DI buildings were knocked down.

 

[tjkraz]

Many of the common area buildings were simply refurbished from the DI. All of the guest rooms are brand new construction.

The DI Treehouse Villas are still standing, but are being used as CM housing, or some other similar purpose.

 

[crisi]

I haven't been impressed with photos yet. But I'm on record as thinking the decor of the rooms is ugly (YMMV, I happen to like VWL - which a lot of people think is ugly). I like the decor of some of the public spaces - and I do like the idea of their "deli style" food court. To me it looks like the rooms are too far away from the theme pool and community areas (the price for convienient parking, I suppose). I understand the the "halls" are more motel like (open to the outside) with concrete walkways - which I don't like - I really do like interior halls.

The outside of the buildings looks great and I think the landscaping is very nice. The pool looks good.

 

[canwegosoon]

I haven't been yet to coment... but yesterday I did get a poster on SSR and can see how the Main Building is modeled after the track at Saratoga. (Just no pastels in Saratoga...but Disney is in FLA, and pastels probably don't fade as fast)

 

[chainkid]

I have only seen the SSR room pictures here but to me the decor appears more upscale that the others...aliitle more formal. I own at BWV and love it there but the decor at SSR appealed to me but not the location. To each his own I guess.

 

[stacy6552]

I liked the common areas. i thought it felt like a mainstreet or square in a small town somwhere.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by chainkid
I have only seen the SSR room pictures here but to me the decor appears more upscale that the others...aliitle more formal. I own at BWV and love it there but the decor at SSR appealed to me but not the location. To each his own I guess.

I agree. The interior decor and furnishings are extremely nice.
In fact, my wife says the interior is her favorite of all the DVCs.

As far as location, I LOVE it! My wife and I like to frequent PI, so that is a good match.

MG

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by chainkid
I have only seen the SSR room pictures here but to me the decor appears more upscale that the others...aliitle more formal. I own at BWV and love it there but the decor at SSR appealed to me but not the location. To each his own I guess.

The room furnishings remind me of the Grand Floridian. I liked the public areas of DI, so I am sure the rehabbed ones will appeal to me also.

Can't wait to see it.

 

[RobDoc]

We first stayed on the grounds of the present SSR when it was still Disney Village (long before DI) and enjoyed the layout and feel of the resort. At that time, the check-in area was near the Gooding's entry to the DD Hotels - over a mile away from the current resort entry(that buildling is now home to the AAU). We stayed in the DV Townhomes many times when our daughters were young.

As for SSR:

We loved the room decor and general appearance of the building.

I agree that the Community Hall rooms are boxy (they were classrooms for DI)- but, they do perfectly fit the present purpose. While those "boxes" wouldn't compliment a group activity like the Member Updates (held at OKW and BWV), SSR has the advantage of having a functional theater and functional Performance Center to host gatherings of more than 25 people (I don't think even 25 would be comfy in the SSR Community Hall boxes).

While no announcement has been made about future utilization of the Cinema or Performance Center , I know DVC has given consideration to all sorts of programs that would benefit from those venues. We have attended a first-run movie screening and a lecture in the Cinema and the Performance Center featured a James Earl Jones poetry reading during the DI tenure.

The Carriage House is physically the same as the prior check-in area for DI. Artist's Palette is physically the same as the prior Season's restaurant for DI. The Spa is also basically the same.

IMO, the boat dock is too far away to be a practical means of transport to DD (once buildings 3 and 4 open- it will be a shorter walk to DD using the walkway).

I like the layout of the resort and since the foundation work is evident for the remaining buildings, it's easy to envision how the resort will look in summer 2005.

The Fairway Villas (2BR villas on the LBV Golf Course) are currently in use to house CP CM's. The Treehouses are currently empty. The roadway to the Fairway Villas is clearly marked "CM's Only" and is patrolled by security. That area could certainly be used for an expansion of SSR, if deemed needed. In that same area are two Grand Vista Suites (slept 6) - these are 3 BR single story homes that were built in the early 70's as part of an experiment. They were available to guests at one time. I assume CM may be using those also as they are adjacent to the Fairway Villas in one area.

It appears there will be a second entrance to the resort. The current one is on Disney Vacation Club Way and the construction entrance is on Buena Vista Drive. It had a guard shack at one time and was used for registered guests to the area. When DI was open, it was used as an exit, but I don't think you could enter there.

Artist's Pallette seats far more than it looks on first glance and is not intended as a table service dining facility. Food prices seemed to be reasonable to us, but I agree about the bottled wines- they were pretty outrageous. I'll expect to see more reasonable selections in the future- since dusting those unpurchased bottles will likely get very expensive as time goes by.

We've now had the opportunity to stay in all seven DVC resorts and have found unique features in each location. We have stayed in each at least twice (except for SSR) and wouldn't hesitate to enjoy a vacation to any again in the future. While we've certainly found a few less desirable aspects at each resort, none are significant enough to discourage another stay.

.02

 

[VanHouten]

Originally posted by stacy6552
I liked the common areas. i thought it felt like a mainstreet or square in a small town somwhere.

This is also the feeling I had when walking down the street. It felt like a town center with a cinema and storefronts. I think that feeling will increase when the whole thing is done and the fence on the other side of the street is down.

I haven't been to any other DVC but I liked SSR.

 

[pmcpmc]

maybe with the flies and all yu have to say I will cancel and stay at pop century for the whole trip.

 

[DisFlan]

Our feelings about SSR are sort of indirect. We LOVED the old "Club Suite Villas" and Townhouses that the SSR replaced. We stayed in them many times and they just felt like home to us when were in WDW. We stayed right up until they were torn down.

When they were demolished, we finally started looking into DVC ownership. We needed a new "home"! We just put in for points at BWV.

Maybe our feelings about SSR will change in the future. We'll see.

DisFlan