Checking out in the AM, my thoughts (SSR)

[tor]

propose the internet question at the annual meeting it tells you in the piles of paper you got when you joined the process for that but im voting no if you cant disconnect at disney and let go and have fun you are never going to

as for the bus issue is it any worse than the buses at okw seems that the multi stop hotels dont do well and peoples lack of knowledge sometimes doesnt help as i have seen people waiting close to an hour for the internal at okw when they could hop on any bus as they all stop at the commodores house on the way in and out

 

[PamOKW]

I'm all for free internet access but not before we also drop the fee for towels and soap. If that's paid for by those who use, then internet should also be paid for by those who use.

It's kind of funny how the more expensive a hotel, the more likely you are to be charged for things. Coutryard by Marriott gives you free coffee, breakfast and internet access. A high-end NYC hotel charges $10 a day for internet access, $8 for the in-room pot of coffee and $400+ per night for the room.

 

[Laurabearz]

I maybe wrong, but I could swear they told me at BWV there was free WiFi in the lobby, and I did see a couple of people with laptops hanging out in the lobby...

Can anyone confirm??

 

[dvc_john]

I pay it and use it. I don't mind. I figure it is better for those of us who use it to pay rather then the dues go up MORE so that we can have FREE internet.

I disagree. I think free internet is an amenity whose time has come. If we are to have fee based amenities, here are a few suggestions that could lower dues:

Parking: $9 per day per car
Bus/Boat Transportation: $1.50 per person per ride
Work out room: $10 per person per day
Pool slide: $5 per person per day
Cable TV: $9.95 per day
Telephone access: $4.95 per day
Washer: $1.50 per load
Dryer: $1.50 per load
Tennis courts: $10 per hour
Bell services: $2 per bag

All of the above are items that only some people use, but everyone pays for.
And let's not forget: Magical Express, airline baggage check-in services, valet parking, high chairs and cribs, etc. etc. etc.

BTW, most name brand timeshares (Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt for example) have free internet service.

 

[auntsue]

We always stay at the BWV. I always ask for feather pillows and the last three times we called for them, we were told, "There are none available." I don't know if she meant there weren't any available at the moment or they just don't have them anymore.

Next month will be our last trip where we'll be flying from NJ. From then on in we'll be driving up from our retirement home in Naples, so I'll bring my own. Can't wait!

 

[shellbelle1971]

DH started a business (then called STSN, now called I-Bahn, check out their website here: http://www.ibahn.com/ ) which provides secure, high-speed internet access for the hospitality industry. They have more Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Ritz, etc. hotels installed and functioning than any other provider in that space. In most higher-end hotels, if you have to pay $9.95 per night (or something like that) you're probably using STSN. If it's free you probably aren't.

Disney properties do not use STSN; when they were in contract talks, the Disney people felt that STSN's security features (and therefore cost to operate) would require too high a percentage of revenues compared with other options.

FWIW, dh won't connect unless he's familiar with the firewall(s) and security protocols of a particular provider. I-Bahn's are very good. Many others...not so good...a few are extremely scary. When we stay at SSR (which we ) we just consider ourselves on an internet vacation. If we really NEED a connection, we go over to the Marriott Orlando World Center's business center.

Many people never have a problem, but some do. We're probably just overly ISP-paranoid b/c DH is "in the industry" and has seen too many horror stories up close...

 

[Ali and boyz]

here is a bit of the disney website off ammenities on request at SSR:

Bed boards and rails
Full size cribs and extra portable cribs
Down pillows
High chairs and booster seat
Shower seat and toilet seat for Guests with disabilities
Smoke detector for hearing impaired
Telephone for hearing impaired
Electric adapters
Hand lotion
Tea bags and

 

[OKW Lover]

I maybe wrong, but I could swear they told me at BWV there was free WiFi in the lobby, and I did see a couple of people with laptops hanging out in the lobby...

Can anyone confirm??

The WiFi in the lobby is NOT free. It costs $9.95 for 24 hours, just like the wired internet access in the rooms. But they are not interchangable - the fee for each is separate.

 

[DrTomorrow]

To those who think that internet access should be as common (and free) as cable TV in a hotel room / timeshare, well, duh, of course you feel that way - YOU'RE ON THE INTERNET!

I'd be willing to be a few DVC points (priced significantly higher that $10 points ) that the majority of DVC owners (not just the rarified few that post here on the DIS) doesn't even have laptops, much less worry about internet access while on vacation. And even among those who do have a laptop, I bet that most of them - myself included - don't travel with them on vacation. Heck - most trips we don't even turn on the TV!

So, IMHO, internet access should still be a those-few-who-use-it-should-pay option - at least for now.

 

[canda]

I just got back from a great stay at SSR. HHI is my home resort and for WDW I love SSR. my travel partner thought the pillows were the thickest pillow he has ever slept on. He was wanting to know if they had any thin pancake type pillows. In the mean time, I was sleeping on three, I guess you can't beat your own pillow at home.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We all know that nothing is free. Either we pay an extra fee, or it gets budgeted into our annual dues.

Oh yes, I'm sure the cable TV charges are buried somewhere in our dues...

MG