Just Back from SSR

[spasteranck]

First I'd like to thank all the DVC Members on this board who rent out there points to families like mine. I know some of you have had bad experiences but there are good families out there. We had a great time

Also thanks to everyone who posts on these boards, it allowed me to plan a great trip for my family. Here's my attempt to give a little back

A little background. A Jersey Family of four, two boys ages 8 and 5. We stayed from 11/5 to 11/11

I originally hoped to say at VWL, we had stayed there Easter of 2005 and had a great time. We ended up at SSR and I had some reservations based what I had read on these boards but after our stay I have to say we enjoyed SSR more. The resort is beautiful, the walk from the paddock area to the main area gave us time to step back smell the flowers. watch the birds, talk about anything. I really enjoyed just walking along the path with my two boys.

The kids loved community hall. The five year old like making badges, towel animals, ice cream, coloring. The eight year old loved playing video games with his new friend. Seems he made a new one everyday.

Artist Palette was great for lunch and the store there was great for picking up breakfast.

Pool Temperature was great and I love a warm pool. The water temperature had to be above 80 degrees.

We loved the Disney Dinning Plan. It really forced me to plan our dinning so we could get the best use of the plan. My wife and I really loved our dinner alone at the California Grill. Great food and it nice to have some grown up conversation for a little while. The kids liked the character meals at chef mickeys, crystal palace and 1900 Park Fare. We used our snack credits for breakfast items and that really worked out well for us

My 5 year old absolutly went crazy for the Pirate Adventure at the Grand Floridian. The eight year old enjoyed it as well. The sight of the boat returning all the kids singing yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me is something I don't think I will ever forget

We spent our mornings in the parks, afternoons at the pool/community hall and evenings back in the park. We saw/did all the major attractions but did not see all the parks have to offer but for our family it worked. I knew I would have a great time on this trip but I was suprised at how relaxed I came back. Every family is different but this really worked for us. We saw lots of screaming overtired kids and parents in the parks. Thank god that was not us

I think thats it.

 

[ACDSNY]

You came into SSR on the day we left. I'm glad you and your family had such a wonderful trip!

 

[MILLZ]

Its nice to read stories like yours but could you keep it down about ssr we dont want it to get spread around how nice it is.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

We will be staying at SSR in just a few weeks. It will be our first time there as well. Thanks for the great review.

 

[ro80]

Looking forward to going in April to SSR !!!

 

[kaitlin-n-mom]

Thanks for the report, we will be visiting SSR in January via renting points. I can't wait, I have heard so many great things about SSR.

 

[KLEONARD]

spasteranck, thanks for the report. Like you, I find SSR very relaxing.
The water features and landscaping are second to none. And the veiw of DTD from Congress Park is pretty cool.
It is nice to hear that your boys enjoyed the resort. My wife and I plan to take young neices and nephews when they are old enough.

Off topic: What are they feeding the football team at Rutgers? I am a Buckeye fan, but the Scarlett Knights are fun to watch.

 

[kgkmom]

Yippee! Thanks for such a positive report! DD and I will be there over MLK, Jr weekend in January and we can't wait! It will be our first trip 'home' to our home resort (stayed at BWV in Aug.). I think we're really going to enjoy the proximity to DTD.

You said you were in the Paddocks? I'm not familiar with the layout of SSR yet. Where is that in relation to DTD path and to WDW transportation to parks?

TIA!

 

[Sammie]

Yippee! Thanks for such a positive report! DD and I will be there over MLK, Jr weekend in January and we can't wait! It will be our first trip 'home' to our home resort (stayed at BWV in Aug.). I think we're really going to enjoy the proximity to DTD.

You said you were in the Paddocks? I'm not familiar with the layout of SSR yet. Where is that in relation to DTD path and to WDW transportation to parks?

TIA!

There are buses at each location, Carousel, Paddocks, Congress Park and Springs.

Here is a map, there is bridge from the Paddocks over to the main building area.

http://www.barrybedford.com/dvc/ssropeningmap.shtml

 

[spasteranck]

We stayed in the Paddocks building closest to Carousel (room 4501 studio with a nice view of the pond) so we would take the bus from the Carousel bus stop. This is the first stop so we always had a seat and were the first off the bus when we came home.

I forgot one other thing I would have done differently. We had park hopper passses and we only hopped one day so we could have saved a little money by buying an 8 or 9 day regular pass. If you have little kids you might want to think about that

And off topic to KLeonard. I don't know what has gotten into my Scarlet Knights. They were ok when I was there (Class of 89) and I have been a fan since I was child having grown up 10 minutes from the university. I still can't believe they won. My sons and I wore our Rutgers T-Shirts and Sweatshirts that Friday and walking around MGM I felt like a celebrity. It was very cool.

 

[Parkhopper13]

Thanks for the great review. We also love our home, SSR!!!

 

[corinnak]

It sounds so wonderful....

I am always glad to hear from people who enjoyed their stay at the Paddock - because it seems like it's an under-requested area, and yet there never seem to be complaints about it.

Did you feel that being at the first bus stop was a great advantage - were the busses pretty full by the time they got to the Springs?

 

[spasteranck]

We did like being first on and first off. The busses were full a few nights by the time they hit the springs stop.

 

[byoung]

Glad to hear you had a great trip.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Glad to hear you had a great trip! We went home for the first time to SSR in March, and can't wait to be back in a month's time!

We, too, were amazed at the peaceful feeling of SSR, even staying in CP with a view of DTD. I'm glad to hear your boys enjoyed Community Hall - DH and I wandered in there one afternoon when we were exploring the resort, and it looks like heaven for kids! I'm very excited to share it with my young nieces and nephew next Dec. Shoot, I wanted to sit down and color!