Just back from SSR - not the best experience

[Brenle]

We were there last week(never ever again in April) And hubby had said that many of the CM's were complaining about how small the kitchen is as AP , how hard it is to get food out quickly for the guests...This is one of the things that I do miss about staying At POR , the food court I loved , it was huge and had quite the variety and although at times it could be crowed, depending on how you time it, they moved you in and out very quickly...AP can't really say that....The food is ok, I find don't get use to something because they change it that quick.....

First - what a great state you live in. Except when, oh, let's say, there's not a rally about immigration laws and Providence corruption, etc.

You should have lurked on these boards before planning a vacation in April to Disney (which of course I didn't) and then you would have learned almost all of New England is on spring break a certain two weeks in April. (And they all LOVE Disney) Been there. Done that. That's when we said Never Again and have never been there again in April. BTW, May is really nice.

BroganMc posted on another thread that AP has changed their layout and the line formation seems to have eased the chaos and confusion. So maybe it will be smooth sailing on your next trip down.

 

[doconeill]

I heard that last week was especially bad, but this past week was Massachusetts break week - has it gotten any better this week? For various reasons we are planning on going on next year's break...

 

[Brenle]

I've seen other postings recently about how bad the crowds were with comments like: I've NEVER seen it THIS crowded. Trust me, I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but April is usually a very busy time in WDW. Check out some of the other threads and see what you come up with.

There's also another site that gives you crowd levels for the different months. Even if I could remember it, I don't think I could post it here.

 

[smjj]

I have not read this entire thread but I do aggree with two things. The design of the fast food area is poor to say the least. We too found it growded and hard to manuver through. The buses the time we were there were not that bad but a couple of times we did wait more than 20 minutes. Our home resort is OKW and we wanted to try SSR , we are glad we chose OKW as our home resort!!...smjj

 

[Melrosgirl]

bus service was horrible at BCV the week of 4/11-4/18 also. We waited 45 minutes for a Downtown Disney bus.

Parks were super crowded. Unreal.

I agree about the DDP. I cannot stand the thought of planning every meal 6 months in advance. Just not normal.

 

[eva]

Well, we were at SSR from the 15th to the 22nd and I have to agree about the crowds. They were awful. We knew they would be higher than when we normally go in May, but it was a bit ridiculous when we arrived one day at Disney Studios soon after opening and the FP for RNR was already up to 3:15pm. In 6 hours we saw one show and rode three rides. Yikes! We had 10-day passes and decided not to go into the parks but one day. Unfortunately, we had no choice on the dates since we were tacking on a few days with a conference for DH.

Concerning SSR, I have to agree again with the OP. Our rooms were lovely. We stayed in a 1-bedroom on points the first 3 nights and then moved to a studio for the conference. Darn that company! They weren't willing to pay for the 1-bedroom. Both rooms were in great shape and we were able to get a good taste of the resort by staying in Congress Park and then the Grandstand. The 1-bedroom had a fabulous view of DD.

Now after saying that, I don't think that DH and I will stay at SSR again. While the rooms are great, we are not fond of the resort itself. The people at the front desk, the Turf Club, and some at AP were not very friendly. I think the DD has created some pretty crabby CM's at this resort. You should see those poor people at the AP trying to explain the program to nearly every person in line. You sure can see the frustration in their eyes. I have to say that the head chef at AP was awesome. He saw me waiting and waiting to get service and took it upon himself to come up front to help me. AP was pretty much a disaster. Very long waits over 20 minutes in line every time. And since we didn't go in the parks much, we ate there a number of times. Breakfast was plain ridiculous. They need to increase the size of the facility to serve that many people. One time we finally walked all the way over to DD for lunch with our bathing suits under our clothes just to get something to eat. The bathrooms by AP were always trashed with paper, pool towels, and garbage all over. The place just seemed over crowded all the time.

I know that I may get flamed for this. But staying at SSR made me feel like I was staying at a moderate resort with better rooms. I guess it is just a feeling that we got staying there. I'm sure that others love it as much as we do OKW and BCV. As a matter of fact, we took the boat over to OKW for a day just to decompress. What a relief it was to pool hop there and sit at the gurgling suitcase for a great BBC. SSR just didn't seem relaxing to us. One bright light, the few days that we used the bus system, we had no problems at all. We never waited over 15 minutes for a bus. Not sure what we did right there.

 

[mfin]

Same week, different story on the buses. Our bus wait was about 5 -8 minutes each day to the parks. Longest wait was 15 to MK when we just saw the bus pull away as we were walking up to the stop. Perhaps we just timed it right. Also, we never used the bus to DTD, we were only a 15 minute walk away and we have a 6 yo.

We eat in our room for breakfast but the times we ate at AP for lunch and once for dinner no hassle and no wait, however; my mom told me breakfast lines were long and she could see the frustration.

My only complaint was the main pool with the guests not with WDW, people hogged the chairs at tables with the umbrellas and sat their butts in lounge chairs, there were days that more chairs needed to be available but these folks didn't give up their space.

Also, my contact with the CM's were great, in the community hall especially.

 

[Sue's Mum]

Food Service / Store - Artist's Pallet seemed to us to be a) limtied in menu items and b) a total nightmare of disorganization. Once again, maybe it was becasue of the small kids and the need to take care of them right away, but we never got to Artist Pallet, got our food, paid and were sitting down eating in under 20 minutes. On some days it took that long just to get to order! The staging was a disaster having to cris-cross back and forth for ordering, paying, pick-up, napkins, beverages, etc etc.

We totally agree.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Well, we were at SSR from the 15th to the 22nd and I have to agree about the crowds. They were awful. We knew they would be higher than when we normally go in May, but it was a bit ridiculous when we arrived one day at Disney Studios soon after opening and the FP for RNR was already up to 3:15pm. In 6 hours we saw one show and rode three rides. Yikes! We had 10-day passes and decided not to go into the parks but one day. Unfortunately, we had no choice on the dates since we were tacking on a few days with a conference for DH.

Concerning SSR, I have to agree again with the OP. Our rooms were lovely. We stayed in a 1-bedroom on points the first 3 nights and then moved to a studio for the conference. Darn that company! They weren't willing to pay for the 1-bedroom. Both rooms were in great shape and we were able to get a good taste of the resort by staying in Congress Park and then the Grandstand. The 1-bedroom had a fabulous view of DD.

Now after saying that, I don't think that DH and I will stay at SSR again. While the rooms are great, we are not fond of the resort itself. The people at the front desk, the Turf Club, and some at AP were not very friendly. I think the DD has created some pretty crabby CM's at this resort. You should see those poor people at the AP trying to explain the program to nearly every person in line. You sure can see the frustration in their eyes. I have to say that the head chef at AP was awesome. He saw me waiting and waiting to get service and took it upon himself to come up front to help me. AP was pretty much a disaster. Very long waits over 20 minutes in line every time. And since we didn't go in the parks much, we ate there a number of times. Breakfast was plain ridiculous. They need to increase the size of the facility to serve that many people. One time we finally walked all the way over to DD for lunch with our bathing suits under our clothes just to get something to eat. The bathrooms by AP were always trashed with paper, pool towels, and garbage all over. The place just seemed over crowded all the time.

I know that I may get flamed for this. But staying at SSR made me feel like I was staying at a moderate resort with better rooms. I guess it is just a feeling that we got staying there. I'm sure that others love it as much as we do OKW and BCV. As a matter of fact, we took the boat over to OKW for a day just to decompress. What a relief it was to pool hop there and sit at the gurgling suitcase for a great BBC. SSR just didn't seem relaxing to us. One bright light, the few days that we used the bus system, we had no problems at all. We never waited over 15 minutes for a bus. Not sure what we did right there.

We were at BWV from 4/19-26, crowds weren't much better, Monday was the best day. I'm trying to decide where to stay for 3 days before my cruise next May 28th, 2009. Since you say you regularly go in May, where would be the least noise? BWV BV was noisy most of the time from Wednesday on. BCV looked just as noisy when we visited there. I was thinking SSR, now don't know. OKW is out cause we want the sofa/bed combo. Any suggestions?

 

[Sammie]

When Disney is crowded at unexpected times the system breaks down, due to lack of staff.

So as someone else said, bus transportation is simply hit or miss. If you are waiting overlong, 30 mins or longer use the phone to call Transportation not MS, they will issue a bus to come on over.

 

[Starr W.]

We were at BWV from 4/19-26, crowds weren't much better, Monday was the best day. I'm trying to decide where to stay for 3 days before my cruise next May 28th, 2009. Since you say you regularly go in May, where would be the least noise? BWV BV was noisy most of the time from Wednesday on. BCV looked just as noisy when we visited there. I was thinking SSR, now don't know. OKW is out cause we want the sofa/bed combo. Any suggestions?

We stay at SSR for Thanksgiving, this will be year #3 and I have never seen conditions like were described in this thread. We love SSR for DTD rest. during the holidays. The gym there is the best according to DH. I must go to AP at the wrong times because I've never seen it as described. We've eaten dinner and lunch there. Now I have waited 20 min for buses, but I consider that the norm. We always seem to meet the "nice" CM's at SSR. Checking in they make sure I want my requested room(may have to wait) or offer a room that's ready.

Now BCV was really busy MLK weekend(the villas were quiet, but the hotel was crazy. I think I got behind every DDP newbie trying to order something at the Marketplace).

Now we went in early May last year and stayed at VWL. I loved it, hotel was fairly quiet. The best time to go IMHO. This was right after the new bus dispatch system came up and I swear you would have thought it was a holiday 25-30 min waits, plus the dreaded 3 Epcot buses in a row.

 

[allshookup]

Sure hope this was an abberation, but we just returned from SSR (4/11 - 4/20). AKV is our home resort, but we couldn't get the accomodations we needed there so our frsit trip as DVC Members was to SSR.

Now I will premise all this by saying I've NEVER seen the parks as crowded as they were last week. Not sure what was going on, but lets face it - when the line for Dumbo exceeds 70 minutes - you know it's a busy park!

The Good - SSR is a beautiful property, and the accomodations were great. Pool and slide were wonderful, if only the weather had been better. Staff was overall very friendly, though the Artists Pallet Staff could be a little better trained and friendlier

The Bad -

Bus Service was a nightmare! We were late for a dinner reservation becasue we waited well over 45 minutes for a Magic Kingdom Bus. At one point I called DVC on the "hot line" phone in the bus shelter and was basically told (politely) - "not our problem." This was not an isolated incident. The "norm" was over an hour of waiting and riding to get between SSR and the MK "Monorail Loop". We were not alone in noticing this, as it became a standard topic of discussion (complaint) with other guests. And since we were hauling around a 2 and 5 year old, transport time was a big deal.

Food Service / Store - Artist's Pallet seemed to us to be a) limtied in menu items and b) a total nightmare of disorganization. Once again, maybe it was becasue of the small kids and the need to take care of them right away, but we never got to Artist Pallet, got our food, paid and were sitting down eating in under 20 minutes. On some days it took that long just to get to order! The staging was a disaster having to cris-cross back and forth for ordering, paying, pick-up, napkins, beverages, etc etc.

Not DVC related, but WDW related - the DDP is just plain a nightmare. Part of our frustration with the transportation was the fact that in order to use or DDP sit dowm meals we had to make our reservations MONTHS ahead of time. While we were there we tryed to change one night and found that it was impossible (that's what they said "Impossible") to find a table for at ANY sitdown restaurant for 4 adult and 2 kids between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00! We talked to one couple who paid for the DDP but didn't know they would need to make the reservations well ahead of thier trip and they could not find any sit-down dining available. And since you cannot swap counter service for sit-down, and since it is none-refundable, they are just "out" the money for the DDP sit-down portion. !!! You can be sure they will be telling everyone they know that Disney screwed them, and I'm not so sure I disagree. Aside form the reservation issue, we found the DDP to be just confusing and a pain to work with and, frankly, fattening! We don't normally eat that much! So for us, DDP will not happen again.

I don't mean to be negative, and believe it or not we LOVE WDW and everything about it (well, except that DDP ). But I think Disney needs to take note that there are things that are not working and the bad PR will eventually catch up with them. And honestly, when the DVC took the "not our problem" position on the transportation thing when they had well over 1/2 dozen vans sitting there, well, that just sort of corked me.

Ok, I'm done now. I think.

I think it's a shame if that's the information you received because it is absolutey incorrect. There are restaurants on the DDP that don't even take reservations like ESPN, Beaches & Cream, and I think Big River Grille. I know they certainly take walk ups even at the most busiest times like Christmas. Plus you can't always go by what guest services/concierge says. Last August we were told by concierge at BWVs that NO WAY would get in Ohana the whole week we were there because they were actually overbooked, so we took Kona instead & when we got there we asked at Ohana's podium for the heck of it & sure enough we got a table with less than an hour wait. Did you try going to the less popular resort locations like the Turf Club, Olivias, or Maya Grill?

Anyway sorry your trip was less than magical. I agree with much of what you said about the DDP.

 

[allicat]

Stayed at SSR 4/16-23 and agree that the bus service was absolutely terrible. One morning, 4 downtown Disney buses repeatedly pulled up-completely empty, as crowds of people waited for all the other parks. I asked the driver if he could radio in or something but he didnt answer me and just shut the bus door!
I found the front desk and concierge CM's to be very friendly and did enjoy the resort-the main pool was just too crowded though and nowhere to sit!

 

[eva]

We were at BWV from 4/19-26, crowds weren't much better, Monday was the best day. I'm trying to decide where to stay for 3 days before my cruise next May 28th, 2009. Since you say you regularly go in May, where would be the least noise? BWV BV was noisy most of the time from Wednesday on. BCV looked just as noisy when we visited there. I was thinking SSR, now don't know. OKW is out cause we want the sofa/bed combo. Any suggestions?

We love BCV. It is close to the action, but is on the back side of the resort. So they see little traffic. Since BC and YC are not DVC resorts, they are rarely at 100% capacity the first two or three weeks in May. This means that the resort seems less crowded. We can walk right into SAB and have our choice of seats, even in the middle of the afternoon. We didn't have any problems with crowds at BCV the first week in October last year either. Now if you are going over Memorial Day weekend, you will fine the crowds pretty high the week before and the week after. We always go the first couple weeks of the month.

After thinking about it, maybe one of our problems on this trip to SSR was that we were without a car. Most trips we drive and stay a couple weeks. Since we had no car and DH's company was paying, we thought we would just eat out all our meals. Normally we eat breakfast in the room and lunch in the parks or around the pool. But since SSR was so crowded, we couldn't find seats at the main pool most days and ended up at the Grandstand quiet pool. Their selection of lunch items there is pretty slim. Either a ham and chees sandwich or a tuna sandwich. And guess what? They were out of the tuna every day. So we had to head over to AP to bring something back to the pool each day. I guess we just aren't used to that at OKW and BCV. I really do think that the size of SSR and number of people staying there are taxing the services and amenities.

PS - I was really looking forward to trying a new resort. And I feel bad writing a more negative review about a DVC resort. This is the first DVC stay in 11 years that disappointed me.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We stay at SSR for Thanksgiving, this will be year #3 and I have never seen conditions like were described in this thread. We love SSR for DTD rest. during the holidays. The gym there is the best according to DH. I must go to AP at the wrong times because I've never seen it as described. We've eaten dinner and lunch there. Now I have waited 20 min for buses, but I consider that the norm. We always seem to meet the "nice" CM's at SSR. Checking in they make sure I want my requested room(may have to wait) or offer a room that's ready.

Now BCV was really busy MLK weekend(the villas were quiet, but the hotel was crazy. I think I got behind every DDP newbie trying to order something at the Marketplace).

Now we went in early May last year and stayed at VWL. I loved it, hotel was fairly quiet. The best time to go IMHO. This was right after the new bus dispatch system came up and I swear you would have thought it was a holiday 25-30 min waits, plus the dreaded 3 Epcot buses in a row.

I want to check in on Monday, memorial day holiday and stay for three nites, leave Thurs. for the cruise. I know Mon. is a holiday, but hoping the rest of the days will be a little less crowded. I'm not going to do the dining plan or any parks. Just want to relax, use the workout facilities, and have some quiet before the cruise. BCV was just too much going on with the restaraunt there inside the resort. I think I'm gonna take my chances on AKV savanna view, if I can't get it, gonna try for SSR with a Grandstand request. Do you think I should consider VWL also?

 

[Coach81]

We no longer use the DDP. We've found that it is better for us to eat one or more meals in our room, and then just pay out of pocket for our other meals. The last time we used the plan, we had more than a few "wasted meals" which of course = wasted $$$.

 

[starbox]

After thinking about it, maybe one of our problems on this trip to SSR was that we were without a car. Most trips we drive and stay a couple weeks. Since we had no car and DH's company was paying, we thought we would just eat out all our meals.

PS - I was really looking forward to trying a new resort. And I feel bad writing a more negative review about a DVC resort. This is the first DVC stay in 11 years that disappointed me.

You know, we were at AKV in a value studio a week prior to you (we were told every single resort DVC and non were at 100%) and it was a great trip but now I don't want to stay in a value studio again. A number of non-DVC issues made the trip not as great as other trips.

1. DH had to work - so he was not with us.
2. The crowds were so bad that it just made the parks less fun to be in.
3. The crowds were so bad that it made dining less relaxing and enjoyable.

A kid pooped in the pool one day and AKV does not have any quiet pools, so the whole thing was shut down. Overall - it just felt like a more stressful vacation - more like we had to "work" to do things (even simple things like walk through the parks and eat). I also HATED the changes to the dining plan. Tried DDxP one day and hated it - found DDE better but still less relaxing than the old prepaid DDP w/gratuity included. I miss the emotional convenience of a 100% pre-paid plan where you don't have to think about money during vacation.

Now, knowing I LOVED AKV last summer - my emotional reaction is to say "maybe if we'd have had a savanna view room it would have felt more like other vacations". But honestly, I think it was just a bunch of factors with the biggest one being unusually large crowds. A value studio with DH relaxed and vacationing with and normal crowds would have probably been fine.

My most negative DVC experience involved a trip where DS got motion sickness and it was cold, crowded, and rainy. None of that was the resort's "fault" - but I still emotionally rank the resort we stayed in at the bottom of my list and I just don't feel like I want to go back there.

I've stayed everywhere but BCV and, so far, I've never had a bad experience that I felt was due to any inherent short-comings of DVC in general or a specific resort.

 

[Starr W.]

I want to check in on Monday, memorial day holiday and stay for three nites, leave Thurs. for the cruise. I know Mon. is a holiday, but hoping the rest of the days will be a little less crowded. I'm not going to do the dining plan or any parks. Just want to relax, use the workout facilities, and have some quiet before the cruise. BCV was just too much going on with the restaraunt there inside the resort. I think I'm gonna take my chances on AKV savanna view, if I can't get it, gonna try for SSR with a Grandstand request. Do you think I should consider VWL also?

I think you should be okay with the crowds anywhere checking in on Memorial Day. It depends on what you want to do, personally since we own at SSR, I try to book other resorts during non-busy times, since we stay there at Thanksgiving. I'm waiting until the construction cranes are gone at AKV before even trying over there. We stayed at VWL in May last year and I actually like VWL better than BCV. If you are close to being a foodie, I would go with AKV or VWL as you could do Jiko or Artist Point. I only go to DTD when staying at SSR, so I can walk. We liked Raglan Road, Wolfgang Puck's Express(not the sitdown cafe) and House of Blues(service was a little off, but we went on Thanksgiving day last year, and the people behind us were giving the server a hard time about the T-day menu, like they had the "wrong" kind of stuffing or something really crazy).

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I think you should be okay with the crowds anywhere checking in on Memorial Day. It depends on what you want to do, personally since we own at SSR, I try to book other resorts during non-busy times, since we stay there at Thanksgiving. I'm waiting until the construction cranes are gone at AKV before even trying over there. We stayed at VWL in May last year and I actually like VWL better than BCV. If you are close to being a foodie, I would go with AKV or VWL as you could do Jiko or Artist Point. I only go to DTD when staying at SSR, so I can walk. We liked Raglan Road, Wolfgang Puck's Express(not the sitdown cafe) and House of Blues(service was a little off, but we went on Thanksgiving day last year, and the people behind us were giving the server a hard time about the T-day menu, like they had the "wrong" kind of stuffing or something really crazy).

Yep, a foodie here. Do you think VWL at 7 mos. during that time might be ok? I think all of the resorts have a work out facility, so I guess I will book BWV standard view and try to switch at 7 mos. By end of May 2009, I think the new kidani village should be open. I think I won't have any problems with SSR, so I'll take your advice on that one, and ressie there if nothing else is open. It's so hard to decide when you haven't stayed at these places...pictures only go so far. But I will NEVER do the dining plan with these new changes...OMG the people at Earl of Sandwich was packed with the line out the front door! We just wanted a sandwich, not on the plan. But obviously everyone else in there was on the DDP!!

 

[Starr W.]

Yep, a foodie here. Do you think VWL at 7 mos. during that time might be ok? I think all of the resorts have a work out facility, so I guess I will book BWV standard view and try to switch at 7 mos. By end of May 2009, I think the new kidani village should be open. I think I won't have any problems with SSR, so I'll take your advice on that one, and ressie there if nothing else is open. It's so hard to decide when you haven't stayed at these places...pictures only go so far. But I will NEVER do the dining plan with these new changes...OMG the people at Earl of Sandwich was packed with the line out the front door! We just wanted a sandwich, not on the plan. But obviously everyone else in there was on the DDP!!

I just wing it, when we stayed at VWL, we were on the WL for BCV or VWL and the VWL villa came open first. I bought VB sight unseen and I was worried we wouldn't like it, but we loved it(might skip KT and add-on there ). Personally I would give AKV a shot, just to try Jiko and Boma. At VWL you could take the boat and hit Cali Grill, Narcooses(sp?) or Citricos also. I'm being so helpful aren't I!

The DDP, you can't escape it, even if you don't do it yourself. We got behind a woman at Peco Bill's last May, who decide she had to check her meal count with the cashier. Then what I think causes the headaches in the CS lines at the resorts, people who don't make up their minds what they want by the time it's there turn to order or have no idea what 2 sides the kids want.

Then of course the whole ADR thing and trying to decide where you want to eat 6 months!