Hi Everyone,
Just back from a 1 bedroom stay in room 2203 (Congress Park). I'll just hit the highlights and then people can ask questions if they have them.
Remember this is just my opinion, we went to SSR because we wanted to have our own impressions realizing everyone is different.
Room:
Awesome, in 2nd building from DTD facing DTD in Congress Park. About 50 feet to the quiet pool and 50 feet to the bus stop. I mean we were close to 2 of the biggest needs (Pool and Bus Stop), I highly recommend this area.
I thought I would be disappointed with not getting Springs, but no, the walk to the main pool was easy even in the heat and we did it everyday.
I cannot state enough how nice it is to have a 1 bedroom ( for a family of 4 with small kids). The room was very very nice.
Resort:
This place is very nice, very colorful and impressive. Yes, it will be big but we really liked the openness, I think the growth of the vegetation is perfect right now. It felt magical when we drove in despite the construction, which should be done soon. The open hallways were no big deal, it's just SSR's style, you don't spend your time in the hallways.
The spa looked awesome, even though we didn't indulge.
Pools:
The main pool was one of the reasons we chose SSR. The Main pool was great, the small slide for little ones, the water sprite area with Donald, and the Zero entry made life in the pool a very enjoyable experience for my family. If you have small kids this is DVC's best pool area. Yep, you read it right, let the debate begin. (OK, SAB is awesome) but the water sprites gave this pool the edge. The quiet pool was good, it was a pool, but it was close.
Check in:
This was just OK, it could be improved, 30 minutes to 45 minutes is bit long but they were all trying hard, I think it's more the people asking so many questions. I don't know, when I get to my turn I usaully have my you know what together and get checked in fairly quickly, I seen others at the counter for 20 minutes, What are they talking about?
Food and Retail:
Closing at 10:00 at night and not opening until 7:30 a.m in the morning affected us on several occasions. There are alot of people who are up early, not having the ability to get something was a minor inconvienence, this was really my only complain, also one night at 10:00 p.m they were closing up Artist Pallette and there was easy 30 to 40 people in there. I mentioned to the manager that they should look at their hours, he agreed and they might move it to 11:00 p.m close.
Going from Mara at AKL to Artist Pallette was a big drop off in food service. SSR will have to address this going forward or I'm afraid they will get alot of complaints.
Buses:
No problems, like I said we were right near the bus stop, for the most part buses were on time except for one day when we didn't see an MK bus for 30 minutes. The drop off/pick up routine was thrown off because of construction but otherwise good.
Overall:
This is a very nice resort and we will return, maybe even before we go back to BWV. We missed being closer to the parks but managed pretty well, it's not that bad. Being near DTD was nice. The parks were actually not to crowded because of Hurricane threats, but the last thing I want to say is.....
We are not going in summer anymore (if we can help it).
IT WAS HOT.
Had a great time, feel free to ask any questions.
RayJay
Just back from a 1 bedroom stay in room 2203 (Congress Park). I'll just hit the highlights and then people can ask questions if they have them.
Remember this is just my opinion, we went to SSR because we wanted to have our own impressions realizing everyone is different.
Room:
Awesome, in 2nd building from DTD facing DTD in Congress Park. About 50 feet to the quiet pool and 50 feet to the bus stop. I mean we were close to 2 of the biggest needs (Pool and Bus Stop), I highly recommend this area.
I thought I would be disappointed with not getting Springs, but no, the walk to the main pool was easy even in the heat and we did it everyday.
I cannot state enough how nice it is to have a 1 bedroom ( for a family of 4 with small kids). The room was very very nice.
Resort:
This place is very nice, very colorful and impressive. Yes, it will be big but we really liked the openness, I think the growth of the vegetation is perfect right now. It felt magical when we drove in despite the construction, which should be done soon. The open hallways were no big deal, it's just SSR's style, you don't spend your time in the hallways.
The spa looked awesome, even though we didn't indulge.
Pools:
The main pool was one of the reasons we chose SSR. The Main pool was great, the small slide for little ones, the water sprite area with Donald, and the Zero entry made life in the pool a very enjoyable experience for my family. If you have small kids this is DVC's best pool area. Yep, you read it right, let the debate begin. (OK, SAB is awesome) but the water sprites gave this pool the edge. The quiet pool was good, it was a pool, but it was close.
Check in:
This was just OK, it could be improved, 30 minutes to 45 minutes is bit long but they were all trying hard, I think it's more the people asking so many questions. I don't know, when I get to my turn I usaully have my you know what together and get checked in fairly quickly, I seen others at the counter for 20 minutes, What are they talking about?
Food and Retail:
Closing at 10:00 at night and not opening until 7:30 a.m in the morning affected us on several occasions. There are alot of people who are up early, not having the ability to get something was a minor inconvienence, this was really my only complain, also one night at 10:00 p.m they were closing up Artist Pallette and there was easy 30 to 40 people in there. I mentioned to the manager that they should look at their hours, he agreed and they might move it to 11:00 p.m close.
Going from Mara at AKL to Artist Pallette was a big drop off in food service. SSR will have to address this going forward or I'm afraid they will get alot of complaints.
Buses:
No problems, like I said we were right near the bus stop, for the most part buses were on time except for one day when we didn't see an MK bus for 30 minutes. The drop off/pick up routine was thrown off because of construction but otherwise good.
Overall:
This is a very nice resort and we will return, maybe even before we go back to BWV. We missed being closer to the parks but managed pretty well, it's not that bad. Being near DTD was nice. The parks were actually not to crowded because of Hurricane threats, but the last thing I want to say is.....
We are not going in summer anymore (if we can help it).
IT WAS HOT.
Had a great time, feel free to ask any questions.
RayJay
