Disney Institute and SSR

[RweTHEREyet]

What will happen to all the old Disney Institute buildings that are still standing on SSR property? I don't know what they were all used for in the past, but one looks like a cinema, others look like smaller shops, etc. We drove down to the Pro Shop to ask some questions and the drive took us past these building and on around by the SSR buildings that look pretty finished on the outside.

The SSR buildings are huge and very impressive. I could not tell much difference in the construction from our last visit the middle of October.

The folks at the pro shop did tell us that starting in Decemeber (geesh that is now) they will be closed during the week and open only on weekends because they will be bringing in heavy equipment to work on finishing SSR. Not sure if they need those roads or just don't want Guests in there with the heavy equipment or what.

 

[RobDoc]

My understanding is that the remaining SSR buildings will be available for special programs (one is an auditorium and another the cinema) for SSR guests.

The old DI classrooms, I suppose, could be used for shops, but I doubt that will happen with the proximity to DD. As long as they don't detract from the resort, they may want to keep the possibility open for some classroom programs. Some of the DI buildings are gone entirely- notably the Studio (TV and Radio) and classroom kitchen facility.

Stay tuned!

 

[spiceycat]

I think they are tearing everything down - they probably left them standing for now to determine how well SSR is going to sale....

If it kepts selling - like it has been - I would expect they would begin wearing down the other building soon - probably before May when SSR opens.

WDW sure had bad planning (my opinion) with the DI - they closed it right before OKW members stopped getting the free WDW tickets - if they had only waited a few more months - I am sure that the attendence would have been better.....

I was definitely planning on going to it! Now I can't....

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by spiceycat
I think they are tearing everything down - they probably left them standing for now to determine how well SSR is going to sale....

The old Disney Institute residential buildings are being torn down. These were built in the early 1970s, and were later rebranded as the Villas at Disney Institute. The first phase of SSR residential buildings is being built where old residential buildings once stood.

But the main buildings at the actual Disney Institute campus core complex will become the heart of the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. They aren't being torn down. One of the big advantages of building at Disney Institute site rather than at the Eagle pines site was the opportunity to reuse the existing buildings.

The buildings will be remissioned as the new SSR check-in lobby, Artist's Palette dining/take-out market, resort store, and community room. The old Spa at DI has already been renamed the Saratoga Springs Spa. And a lot of space will be consumed by the huge, new 37,000 square foot Sales Center.

In fact, the upstate New York theme of the new buildings was chosen to match the similar theme of the Chautauqua Institute-influenced core complex.