Awesome stay at SSR!!!!

LIFERBABE

DVC MEMBER @ BCV BWV OKW SSR BLT AKV
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
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I stayed solo at SSR May 24-28th in a studio.

I like details, so please bear with me! I arrived at SSR at noon on Monday. Received a hearty WELCOME HOME from the guard. More WH's as I pulled up to the Carriage House from Ray, a bellman. SSR will deliver your bags to your room. I was tired, so I opted for the service.

More WH's from Marcus my very helpful front desk CM. He showed me exactly on the Resort map where my room would be located. He pointed out the pool and dining and other places. Very positive check in experience. My room was ready so I drove over to bldg 16 which is located in Congress Park. Connie another front desk CM was very helpful and nice when I needed to fax WDW ticketing to straighten out a problem I was having with a ticket I purchased.

Room #2712 is a studio. It is located on the 3rd floor. Each bldg. has 4 floors. 2712 is a courtyard facing room with angled views of the lake and Pleasure Island. Very nice room, Great View!

I must say, that SSR will have some pretty awesome views. There will be no dumpster views or parking lots. This is a big plus for me not having to stress over views.

At night with the sliders open, you can hear the live bands playing at PI. The glass is all doubled paned, and when closed I heard nothing! It was nice to sit on the balconey and listen to great live music.

Travelling solo, I felt pretty comfortable around the resort. I wont be taking any midnight strolls to DD by myself, but security was very present in the evenings. One night I stopped by the quiet pool and there was a guard making his rounds. My last night I was doing laundry by the main pool and security stopped in the laundry also. Made me feel more at ease.

Artist Pallete was very good. Although it is not listed on the back of the QC vouchers, I was able to use them there with no problem. My average bill was $17 for an entree, side of fruit, drink and dessert. It was so great to have grab and go meals available, that I didnt bother to make a grocery run or even buy staples. Each day they offered a couple of hot combo meals like lasagna or fried chicken or made to order flat bread pizza's (served all the time) and then cold options like chef's salad, fruit and cheese plates, sides of fruit, yogurt parfait, etc. a nice dessert display and then some frozen options and bottled drinks and milk. I did not even use the microwave in my studio. Lots of DVC merchandise too.

The Spa was great as well. I used my DVC discount and had the Swedish massage and Pedicure. I know the pedicure was discounted, not sure about the massage. The staff was very attentive and really treated me well. I will definitely visit again on our next visit in October.

I was very pleased to see how much thought was put into the build and landscaping of the Resort. The grounds are beautiful! Many different flowers were used.

High Rock Spring Pool is wonderful! Don't let the slide pictures fool you! I went down the slide, and it is concealed in the rocks and makes several turns. A nice ride and I picked up speed! The zero entry is great and there are 2 hot spas that are open 24 hrs. The pool closes at 10 pm. I did not think this pool was small at all. It does lack shaded areas, but maybe when the trees mature, they will offer more shade. There are some umbrella tables on the deck. There is also the small slide that is for all small children. The pool is very handicapped accessible and they put alot of thought into it. Very impressed with the lifeguards also. Friday morning I was spending my last moments by the pool, when this little boy came down the slide and struggled a little bit. The very alert lifeguard sounded his whistle, and jumped in the pool shoes and all. The whistle prompted the other LG to hit the switch to kill the water streaming out of the slide. This all happened in seconds. The little boy was alright and jumped out the pool and ran to his mother who was sitting in a lounge on the other side of the pool. With 2 ds's I was very pleased to see they can shut the water off so quickly.

Well I will update more tomorrow....If you have any questions ask away!
Bldg. 16 is the only bldg. currently open and upon check in
 
Thank goodness for that double glass. I was wondering how bad the noise would be from PI--glad to hear it's not a problem.
 
Thanks for the review. We did the tour and it looked great, but it is really nice to hear from someone staying there. It was great meeting you too!
 

Thanks for the update! I cant get enough info since I dont get to see it for myself until August.
 
Details were great...Thanks for sharing we are down there in Oct...cannot wait

Denise
 
Great report. Nice to hear about the presence of security, especially in the evening.

HBC
 
Great report! SSR sounds wonderful, like a chip off the 'ol DVC charm block.

We are really hoping to stay there in Jan. Keeping our fingers crossed that 7 mos window will work for us.
 
Great report! I also loved all the details! This resort sounds like it is another winner. Thank you for posting!:)
 
Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you enjoyed your solo stay, Good for you!!:D
 
Liferbabe:

I was very excited about your trip report! Its sounds like we need to have another N. Texas DIS meet to look at your pictures!!
 
As I recall more details, I will post.


I did visit the Preview Center to pick up my framed litho. Very nice! My guide had not moved over from Celebration yet, so I did not get the opportunity to meet her. The preview center was extremely busy and there were several families taking tours. The high visibility of SSR from DD is definitely generating interest.

As I was waiting for my litho, I was telling people about the DIS. One thing I noticed, was that many of the Members I met during MH week didnt fully grasp the understanding of their points. Thanks to the DIS for filling a big void. Even as I sat in the Ice Cream Parlor a lady that had just finished the tour asked me several questions. I told her about this "unofficial" board and to please visit us!

On the boat from DD there was a lady that was headed over to the Preview center to add-on. She used 900 points to take her family on a 4 day cruise. I told her she needed to hurry up and get on the boards. She wasnt ready for transferring or renting but in a couple of years maybe.

The majority of my points are at BCV, and I was one of the ones to panic thinking that all the new members will want to stay other than SSR. After staying there, I think it will be the reverse! LOL

SSR is not perfect, but DVC did listen and addressed several of members issues and put those into SSR.

The views, again look at Doc's Resort map and look at the buildings and what they face.

The location, DTD all lit up at night lots of activity to look at, boating on the lake, great restaurants, Mcdonald's and DisneyQuest a teenage heaven.

Convenient parking to your bldg, no long corridors. All bldg's will have elevators.

Great Pool, not too big not too small. 2 slides and zero entry.
The bar does not serve burgers and such, but there is a self serve drink station to refill mugs.

Artist Pallete's Great mix of food, convenience items and merchandise. Serves breakfast lunch and dinner. Open til 11 p.m.

Spa and fitness center is located right off the pool deck. I checked out at 9 am and had Spa services and use of the facility until it was time to head for the airport.

Well appointed rooms. The furnishings are Thomasville, the fixtures are Kohler, and the ceiling fans are Hunter and the windows are double paned glass.

Beautiful quiet pool and a large covered picnic pavilion with grills. The playground located by the quiet pool is very cute and looks like a Victorian playhouse.

LBV golf course is on the premises. SSR and LBV share the same entrance. This threw me a little, because when approaching the entrance, the LBV sign is more prevalent, as the SSR signs are angled. Also when leaving the resort, always go right unless you are going offsite! LOL (A little tip from me to you)

When I toured the Villas with my MH group, I heard several comparing SSR to the other DVC's. You cant sleep in the lobby, no matter how beautiful it is, you can only occupy the square foot you are standing or sitting in and as far as unit size, computers used to take up an entire building, now they are faster and better and can sit on your lap!

I personally like to look at each resort on it's own merits and ask myself is this somewhere I would CHOOSE to stay. I would choose to stay at SSR for many of the above reasons. For those that purchased because that was all that available, I think you will be very pleased and pleasantly surprised, as I was. DVC did an excellent job and I can't wait to stay there again!

And yes I own at BCV, OKW and SSR.
 
I wanted to reinforce the point above about teenagers and proximity to Disquest. Oh my. We had a gaggle of late teens and early twenties types with us this trip and they are big Disquest fans. Since their UPH gave them unlimited access, they were over there every night and just walked home along the path from DTD to SSR (not officially open yet, but workable. Will very exciting and pretty when that path is complete! Such a pretty walk that will be!) They were gone every night from about 9pm until 1am and it was really nice that everything was so handy for them and they didn't have to worry about missing the last bus home. Or sitting around waiting for a bus at 1 in the morning. Same for our late-night shopaholics and my husband, the new #1 fan of the Adventurers Club. The way it is set up, it almost feels as though SSR is an extended part of DD and all of the late-night fun that brings. I find it very similar to BWV in that way. Although, as many others have noted, those double glass doors and windows at SSR (the thickest I have ever seen -- they must have cost a fortune! Would love to have them on my house!) cut out ALL noise. SSR is now the best spot for napping, IMHO, because of the absolute quiet in those rooms.
 
>> Also when leaving the resort, always go right unless you are going offsite! <<

Uh Oh!! We always went left when leaving the resort! :-)
 
Glad you had such a great solo trip. Sounds wonderful. Someday maybe....

Good to hear such a positive report about the Artist Palette, too. Interesting that the qc vouchers work there. Maybe this is one of those spots where the qc vouchers turn out to be a money-saver.
 
I wanted to reinforce the point above about teenagers and proximity to Disquest. Oh my. We had a gaggle of late teens and early twenties types with us this trip and they are big Disquest fans. Since their UPH gave them unlimited access, they were over there every night and just walked home along the path from DTD to SSR (not officially open yet, but workable. Will very exciting and pretty when that path is complete! Such a pretty walk that will be!) They were gone every night from about 9pm until 1am and it was really nice that everything was so handy for them and they didn't have to worry about missing the last bus home. Or sitting around waiting for a bus at 1 in the morning. Same for our late-night shopaholics and my husband, the new #1 fan of the Adventurers Club. The way it is set up, it almost feels as though SSR is an extended part of DD and all of the late-night fun that brings.

Having a 13 year old who is becoming increasingly more independent makes SSR the perfect location for us. Thanks for pointing this out again.
 
Thanks for the report - terrific information. We'll be there in July also for a few days and really looking forward to it after hearing all of these wonderful reviews. :wave:
 



















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