GF or SSR or BOTH?

[cinderlexa's mom]

Right after Thanksgiving trip. 7 nights. DH,Tween,toddler and I.

We love Poly, WL, BC--but want to try something new.

Like idea of space in 1 bedroom at SSR. Have liked non-Disney Orlando vacation villa resorts (Hilton, Marriott). Not crazy about distance from parks, but will have car.

Not REAL excited about GF, but looks pretty for Christmas season, and is on Monorail. Plus might get a newly refurbished room.

We could either split our stay or pick one or the other...any advice? Split stay seems kind of blah because of packing/unpacking and being without a room for 1/2 day--but might be a good way to check out DVC.

 

[brightspark]

Saratoga Springs is lovely, dh and I are DVC members and have SSR as our home resort. It's within walking distance of Downtown too, which is really nice. The pool is great, as are the hot spa pools.

The one bed rooms are amazing with their whirlpool baths, and the kitchens are fab! Sadly dh and I can't justify having one yet... but we will one day.

Such a great time to travel... we're going on the 24th Nov - 3rd December and it's due to be fairly quiet.

You can always take a visit to the GF if you want to... do a character meal (the breakfast is fun) or go for afternoon tea.. which is what we are going to do this time. Strawberries and cream... yum!

 

[WeLoveSpaceMountain]

Depends on what your looking to get out of your trip. If you are looking for something a little more relaxing, taking in DTD / Pleasure Island and a little more of a "home" feel do SSR. If your looking for the "complete" Disney experience, easy Monorail ride to MK / Epcot, much more "themed" environment, more Disney feel to the resort with less in-room amenities go for GF.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[Pakey]

We have stayed at both a couple of times. Although I'm very partial to GF, once the Christmas decorations go up, it's awfully busy there--lots of people coming through just to look at the gingerbread house. For myself, I like a quieter resort than GF offers at the holidays.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

Thanks so much for the replies! I'm still unsure...I have 4 days to decide!

 

[Triton7979]

Ssr

 

[simonkodousek]

I'm voting for SSR. GF doesn't appeal to me very much, and honestly doesn't seem very "Disney".

 

[Amy&Dan]

I voted SSR. I haven't stayed at GF, I have to say that resort appeals to me the least of all the WDW resorts, so my answer is really just geared to my own opinion! I love and own at SSR, the one bedrooms there are so nice for families. The space, having a washer and dryer a full kitchen (great for breakfast, microwaving popcorn and snacks) and the lovely peace and tranquility of the entire resort are so nice. The pool area is wonderful, your tween and toddler would both love the zero entry, slides and spray jet areas. Artist Palette is great for a quick bite, one of the better cs locations in all of WDW imho.

You cannot go wrong with either, GF is certainly lovely at the holidays and the convenience of being on the monorail would be very nice. However, SSR is very centrally located and if you have a car thats even better. We have also enjoyed great bus service at that resort. And trying something new is always fun.

Let us know what you decide to do and good luck!

 

[OKW Lover]

I voted for GF. A couple of reasons -

First I don't see the reason to split stays. To me, it just means packing/unpacking twice during a vacation. I'd rather enjoy my limited time.

Second, if the other choice had been something besides SSR, for example BCV or BWV, then I'd have voted for the 1 BR there. There isn't any doubt that the 1BR DVC units are nice. I'm just not a fan of the SSR location. Yes, its location isn't far from OKW but at least OKW has the larger units. If you have to settle for the smaller units that DVC has standardized on, then at least get something with a convenient location.

 

[Doc CW]

I would only do GF b/c I myself loved it there and thought it to be the best resort I ever stayed at and I couldnt imagine myself doing a split stay away form GF.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

These replies are great--really getting the wheels turning. I think I'm going to have to come up with a Pro's/Con's list!

 

[Grumpymom73]

I have stayed at both resorts and while SSR is really pretty I would vote for GF. It's really just a matter of opinion and what you like in a vacation. Personally, I enjoy being spoiled on vacation. LOL

IMO SSR is very spread out and I wasn't happy at all with the restaurant options there. We also stayed in a 1 bedroom and it wasn't fun coming back after a long day and having to set up the pull out couch for the kids to sleep on. The kitchen was very nice but we didn't use it. (Who wants to cook on vacation!? I get enough of that at home. LOL)

On the other hand GF is very relaxing, has a great location, great transportation and makes me feel like I'm truly on vacation. You know away from my 'real life'.

Did I mention I like to be spoiled on vacation?

In the end I would chose what makes 'vacation' fun for your family. You will have a great time no matter what you choose.

 

[ElizabethB]

We stayed GF in August and SSR last week. I would pick GF hands down. The resort is gorgeous, the monorail is so convenient and we felt right in the middle of everything.

SSR is large, spread out and, frankly, looked not much different from any other condo project in the greater Orlando area, IMO. It wasn't very convenient to anything other than DTD. Even then, the walk is long, so we drove to DTD as well. We had a two bedroom, two-bath with eight people. It was very crowded. The unit could not fit more than four or five around the kitchen table. I understand OKW units are bigger. SSR just seemed to me designed to put as many units as possible in the location in order to extract as much money as possible out of people willing to buy DVC. We were not terribly impressed. Even the "horsey" theme that we were excited about wasn't much to get excited about when all was said and done.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

Any more voters out there?

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[alldiz]

I voted SSR cause I loved the 1 BR and GF does not appeal to me
at all.

Pros.SSR
Great zero entry pool
Very good counter service
Awesome rooms
Great Community hall. .lots of stuff to do
Pool activities
CONS
Spread out.....you can have a far walk(request grandstand or springs)
You have to walk outside to get to everything

Any chance you can get a 1BR at BWV......still a real nice room and
your still in the "middle" of the action. Have you tried there yet?
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[marivaid]

Personally, I'd do 2 or 3 nights at GF and the rest at SSR. But then again I'm a split stay nut, doing 4 resorts in 10 days at Christmas!!

To be honest GF is at the bottom of my list of resorts I'd like to stay in - but if you want to try it, why not, it certainely looks gorgeous around Christmas.

I don't think having to pack twice in a week is such a hassle. It takes us about 20mns and it's totally worth it if it means we get to stay & enjoy two or more resorts in one trip.

As my dear friends Hannah and Miley would say, you get the best of both worlds.²

 

[Skroops]

If you do SSR, maybe you should get the 2 bedroom, because the 1 bedroom only has the king bed and then a pull out sofa. When your tween uses the pullout sofa, you wont really have that extra space of a living area. IMO! We have stayed at SSR a couple of times, both in a studio and the 1 bedroom. It is a very nice resort.
I voted for the GF, because of location, and you'd have 2 beds which would let everyone sleep a little better.
Good luck!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I voted for the split stay.

We have stayed in the MK area (CR&WL), the DTD area (POR), and in the Epcot resort area in a 2 bedroom DVC (BWV).

We love staying DVC for the Washer/Dryer, the Jacuzzi tub, and all of the space. We also like that DVC will eventually make going to Disney much cheaper.

However, there is something very, very magical about having great monorail service, magic kingdom views, and the monorail resort rooms are huge.

The best way to figure out which is better for YOU is to try both. We love our DVC a lot, but really miss staying at the Contemporary. We're hoping for Contemporary DVC