First stay @ SSR..observations

[thelionqueen]

Hi all,
We are currently in the middle of our 12 night stay @ SSR; our first stay @ SSR and as DVC owners. We are staying in a 1BR in The Springs section, and I thought I would share some of our observations for those who are interested.

First of all, the check-in process was great! No wait, the CM was extremely helpful and we were granted our 2 requests as far as section, and linking reservations so we don't have to switch rooms !!

Our room has a partial view of the lake and fountain which is great! We can also see the DTD balloon at night which the kids LOVE!

We do not mind the "concrete walkways" that are often commented about. Had I not read the dislike of them on the DIS I likely would not have even noticed them.

The room itself is WONDERFUL!! VERY clean, nothing out of order or in need of repair. The only odd thing about the room is that the closet is through the bathroom. Usually, I use the closet like crazy, but rarely even go to it this trip. Don't know if it's the size of the villa or the location of the closet, in either way, no biggie.

The High rock pool is nice, but in general, "underwhelming". The resort could have definitely done a little more, but overall is adequate for our needs. The pool is definitely not a selling point for us.

The biggest disappointment for us is Artists Palette. While the CM's are EXCELLENT and the place is beautiful and clean, it is just way too small for the size of the resort. The lack of variety in food choices and shopping was surprising. With all the room at this resort, they could have easily done more with the main shopping and quick service dining area IMHO.

Another disappointment was the arcade. My kids LOVE arcades, and the SSR arcade was just dismal. It is a very small room with VERY little variety. Arcades are probably not a draw for most, Guess we got spoiled with the CR & POP arcades.

On the BIG plus side, the Gym-"Training Quarters" and spa were AMAZING!! I've gone to the gym every day of our trip and REALLY look forward to it. The staff is on point, the equipment is top of the line, clean and overall, truly AWESOME! Since I'm staying close, I visit everyday. I wonder if I were in the Congress Park section if I would go as much :

Another HUGE plus for us is the children's activities. My kids look forward to going to Community Hall nearly every night for some activity.

All in all, we like SSR! However, if given the choice, we would likely choose OKW over SSR. But when making a reservations, and if SSR was the only resort available, we would look forward to another visit. We're glad we got to experience SSR, but will slip near the end of our list of requested resorts. Nothing terrible, but nothing really drawing us back any time soon. Just my thoughts, not trying to bash SSR in any way

 

[LIFERBABE]

Thanks for the report!!

Hope the rest of your trip is as enjoyable.

The SSR Arcade is small, but many of them are. I dont think OKW has much of an arcade either. We find it is cheaper and better to buy the DQ AP's for the boys and let them spend a few hours at DQ to get their video game fix. They go almost every evening when we stay at SSR because it is so close.
When we stayed at AKV, we spent $80 on Arcade cards for the 2 boys

AKL has a nice Arcade though.

Have you tried Turf Club yet. It has always been consistent and we enjoy it. There is always room for improvement, but again, OKW has even less food offerings and their counter service is a pick up window with outdoor seating.

Love the Gym and the Spa!! Definitely try the pedicures. They give the best ones ever.

 

[monkeyknuckler]

Thanks for the report. Good to hear what people think of their first stay. We'll be at SSR in Dec for the 1st time as well.

 

[Meriweather]

Thank you for the review. We will be staying at SSR for the first time in Sept.

 

[PiratesCove]

Thanks as well. We will be staying at SSR at the end of July on dev pts.

 

[Ms. WDW]

Thanks for the report. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

I tend to agree with you about Artists Palette. It really needs to be larger given the size of the resort. The space is just too small.

Have you tried the Turf Club? It's turned into one of our favorite restaurants in WDW. We've always had a great meal there and the service, in my opinion is excellent.

Ohhhhhh yes; the Spa. Definately try the manicures and pedicures. It's amazing what they can do to fingers and toes!

 

[Sammie]

We love Artist Pallette; it is our favorite counter service at any Disney resort and one of the main reason we like SSR.

I am always surprised that some feel they don't offer much variety, when they offer on their menu as many if not more different items than most any other CS.

The lack of variety in food choices

Do you mean number of choices or you did not care for the choices? Certainly if you are comparing it to a value resort food court, then any deluxe resort and DVC resort counter service is going to come up lacking quantity of choices. Same with arcades.

At the values due to the large number of guests and especially families you are going to have big arcades, big food areas and big laundry areas.

Glad you are having a good time.

 

[ParrotBill]

We just returned from a week stay in a Studio in the Grandstands.

I had requested Grandstands 8000s, but got 9000s (a longer walk to the pool, and a little too long to the food.) We really liked the pool in this area, it is a good size and our 9 yr old daughter loved the spray play area.

We liked being the first bus stop as there were numerous issues with late and very full buses (see my post in the Transportation board.)

I agree with those who say Artist Pallete needs more food variety. If they could add more sandwiches and maybe burgers it would round it out. Several other resorts have a general grill for such items. I think they tried to be too upscale with the flatbreads and only 3-4 main items each night.

I also think the main pool should have been bigger and they should have found a way to connect community hall with the pool without walking along a dangerous (yes, dangerous!) road with only a 3' sidewalk. We would not let children go to community hall by themselves like we do at Boardwalk.

We heard a lot of people complain about cleanliness and broken items. We had a couple of small issues - alarm clock broken, toaster broken, but nothing big and the room was clean.

As usual, we saw a lot of people bending rules that cost members money. Why don't they place information in your welcome packet explaining trash & towel schedules, what you pay extra for, and so on!

The worst was the resort mug refills. Shame on Saratoga Springs for having a drink refill counter that is not supervised at the Grandstands pool. Shame on the 9 out 10 people who used it without a currently purchased mug. We saw personal cups and 10 year old Wilderness Lodge cups being used. They should have put this behind the counter. I thought about my dues rising every time I saw someone use it.

Second worst: what is with 50% of guests and pool towels? nearly half of people left their used towels on the chairs, or worse, on the ground. They also moved chairs around without moving them back. People, you are making our dues go up up up every year by doing this.

Third: People leaving their trash in the hall outside their door. Obviously many people this this is OK and leave it right outside their doors. Some realize they are not suppose to and leave it nearby but not at their own door.
I will way this - the only trash in our building was on the first floor at one end of the building. We were on the fourth floor at the opposite end. But I still took my trash down when it was full!

Although our points are at Boardwalk and OKW, we could not get in anywhere but SS with 3 months notice. Still, we enjoyed it and will stay again if we can't get into our home resorts.

 

[Anal Annie]

We just came home from 4 nights in a studio last weekend in one of the 8000 buildings in the Grandstand. It was our first stay at SSR and I was leary of it because of various posts from people who dislike it and because I knew it was big & spreadout like OKW (which we do not like bcuz of a bad first experience). ANYWAY, in general we really liked SSR and the Grandstand area and I was glad I had asked a few questions about where to stay here on the DIS before we went! We liked that pool better than the main pool too (not so crowded). Dumb question: are the pools in Congress Park & the Carousel as nice as the one in the Grandstand?!?

We did not go to the Arcade (we tend not to drop too much money on that sort of stuff) and we only ate at Artist's Palette once. The food was OK...thought it was expensive for the quality (DH had a cheeseburger pizza & DS and I both ordered the pasta special of the day). Not the best QS place we've ever tried. I think the Mara gets top prize for that.

Our room was also clean but was missing some towels & the scrubber sponge thingy for the kitchenette. I called Mousekeeping to have them bring one. This was the first time that we encountered the sofa bed not made up already. But I had read that for some reason the SSR staff does not do that so I was prepared to check it after we got there so I could make it up. Wonder why that varies from resort to resort?? I mean, it IS still a bed!!

Anyway, we're still in the process of trying out all the resorts but have no problem coming "home" again to SSR one day. We really like staying in a different resort each time we go so that each trip is different. So far OKW is the only resort we haven't cared for. So we're happy campers!

 

[vicki_c]

Just for future trips and future visitors - you don't have to walk out to the main roadway to get between the Community Hall and the pool. Community Hall actually has 2 back doors that take you right out into the courtyard near the back entrance to the arcade and there's a protected short walkway to the pool. You can also go through those back doors and down a sidewalk to the stairs that take you to the spa and Artists' Palette.

To the OP - our 1 BR at BCV had the closet in the bathroom as well - I thought that was odd, but maybe a lot of the DVCs are set up that way. The 2 BR dedicated (also BCV) we had had a very large closet in the front hallway which was great.

We loved our stay at SSR.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Our dues dont pay for the soda. The mugs do. That is why the price increases every year for the mugs. Those that purchase are paying for their soda and everyone else's

Many resorts have self service mug stations so no need to be ashamed.

My children use the courtyard entrance to community hall all the time from the pool. They will leave CH to fill their mug at the pool and return or vice versa. No need to exit the pool area unless you leaving altogether.

Also, there are teepees in every villa that explain Mousekeeping services for members and guests on points.

Annie, the Grandstand pool is very nice and I love the red loungers and all the seating. Congress Park pool is lovely but it does not have the splay area. It is very formal with frog fountains in each corner a hot tub and a gorgeous view of the lake and DTD. The Paddock pool is the smallest but does have a hot tub also. So SSR has 5 hot tubs altogether which is pretty awesome.

We've not had our sofa sleeper made up at many DVC resorts. I believe it may be the style of sleeper SSR has. The foam style cant really be made up and stored properly because there is nowhere to tuck the sheets and blankets. We even stayed at AKV Concierge and our sofa was not made up and rarely pulled out with turn down service. AKV has all that heavy furniture to move and the foam style sleepers. BWV and BCV have the newer style and I do recall those being semi-made up when we pulled them out.

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie, the Grandstand pool is very nice and I love the red loungers and all the seating. Congress Park pool is lovely but it does not have the splay area. It is very formal with frog fountains in each corner a hot tub and a gorgeous view of the lake and DTD. The Paddock pool is the smallest but does have a hot tub also. So SSR has 5 hot tubs altogether which is pretty awesome.

We've not had our sofa sleeper made up at many DVC resorts. I believe it may be the style of sleeper SSR has. The foam style cant really be made up and stored properly because there is nowhere to tuck the sheets and blankets. We even stayed at AKV Concierge and our sofa was not made up and rarely pulled out with turn down service. AKV has all that heavy furniture to move and the foam style sleepers. BWV and BCV have the newer style and I do recall those being semi-made up when we pulled them out.

We were quite impressed with the Grandstand pool...although DS did not get a chance to play with the water cannon things (they were off when we went). DH noticed that the pool bar closed up early too...

We found our sleeper sofas were already made up at both VWL and AKV (value studio) when we went before...guess we'll find out what we get at BCV in August.

 

[Tara]

I agree with those who say Artist Pallete needs more food variety. If they could add more sandwiches and maybe burgers it would round it out. Several other resorts have a general grill for such items. I think they tried to be too upscale with the flatbreads and only 3-4 main items each night.

I couldn't agree more. We eat mostly table service meals (and most of those are signature restaurants), so for something quick, a burger or something more "comfort food" like is a good thing.

I also think the main pool should have been bigger and they should have found a way to connect community hall with the pool without walking along a dangerous (yes, dangerous!) road with only a 3' sidewalk. We would not let children go to community hall by themselves like we do at Boardwalk.

There is another way into Community Hall from the courtyard side of the building that doesn't require walking anywhere near the road (if you are coming from the pool or resort center.

 

[thelionqueen]

OK so I took the advice of PP's and treated myself to a pedicure...WOW, it was AMAZING!!

I must say that the gym and spa alone might just be enough to lure me back in the near future, they TRULY are magnificent! And my husband wanted to personally thank the PP's who suggested I get a very pricey pedicure

 

[wrighter]

DH and I just returned from a kid-free trip down to WDW, where we stayed in a Congress Park studio for the first time. Overall, we really enjoyed the resort and would stay there again in the future if we wanted to save some points.

Am I the only person who really didn't like the music they were piping in to the pool areas? Maybe it was just ours, but it was this horrible, jazzy elevator music. We've stayed at OKW (lots of Jimmy Buffett) and BWV (definitely more uptemp stuff) and were surprised at this choice. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[starbox]

OK so I took the advice of PP's and treated myself to a pedicure...WOW, it was AMAZING!!

I must say that the gym and spa alone might just be enough to lure me back in the near future, they TRULY are magnificent! And my husband wanted to personally thank the PP's who suggested I get a very pricey pedicure

SSR has, by far, the BEST fitness center at any Disney resort - some of them are really dismal.

I'd suggest doing a late-night swim at the Congress Park quiet pool.

 

[ParrotBill]

Thanks to those of you who mentioned the back way into community hall. I did not see that, I saw only the signs on the front side.

I don't believe, for one second, that the sales of the mugs covers the cost of soda when 9 out of 10 users did not pay for the mug! I am not kidding, I sat and counted each afternoon I was there. Struck up conversations with a few people.

"Hey, are those mugs a good deal?"

Most people really believed the resort mugs are good for life.

 

[Tara]

Thanks to those of you who mentioned the back way into community hall. I did not see that, I saw only the signs on the front side.

I don't believe, for one second, that the sales of the mugs covers the cost of soda when 9 out of 10 users did not pay for the mug! I am not kidding, I sat and counted each afternoon I was there. Struck up conversations with a few people.

"Hey, are those mugs a good deal?"

Most people really believed the resort mugs are good for life.

I'm pretty sure that DVC leases back food operations to Disney, so I would think the cost of soda would be Disney's, not DVC's.

It's unlikely that even with 9 of 10 people not paying that Disney is losing money. At an average of about a penny per serving, think about how many servings are paid for with the price of the mug (the mug itself probably costs $2, maybe $3?). They cost a whole bunch of pennies!

 

[mecllap]

Third: People leaving their trash in the hall outside their door. Obviously many people this this is OK and leave it right outside their doors. Some realize they are not suppose to and leave it nearby but not at their own door.
I will way this - the only trash in our building was on the first floor at one end of the building. We were on the fourth floor at the opposite end. But I still took my trash down when it was full!

.

I don't yet know what trash policies are at SSR, but I have stayed at other timeshares where the housekeepers bag up the trash when they're doing a unit, leave it out by the door, and someone else comes later in the day to take it all away.

(But have also come across lots of evidence during my travels of people/guests being pigs about one thing or another -- I am so not looking forward to more than two weeks of using public bathrooms where women/girls have no sense of courtesy to others [even with automatic flushers, so many stalls are left in a mess -- some people do it deliberately, but of course sometimes it is just because they get used to auto-flushing, which isn't always a feature or working properly]). Sorry -- too much OT. But other than that, really looking forward to my trip (especially my first stay at SSR, where that shouldn't be much of a problem).

 

[Nikisha421]

enjoy your trip happy to hear the positives about SSR...and happier to hear that someone besides myself uses the gym while on vacation!!!