Just Returned from 11 days at SSR!!

[Tiggerfan40]

We just returned from our first trip "home" to SSR. We were in a 3rd floor studio room in Congress Park- Rm #1323- excellent view of Fulton's Crab house and Downtown Disney- beautiful! We watched the midnight fireworks at Pleasure Island from our balcony about 8 of the 10 nights we were there! They only last about 30 seconds, but they were nice!

The problems I had with SSR were these:1. bus service (about 20-25 minute wait or longer) for every bus we took! 2. Resort is very large and spread out- long walk from the last building in Congress Park up to the main pool area 3. No Palm trees!! I come to florida to see Palm Trees- I missed them at SSR - looked like back home in MA. 4. Housekeeping service was not great - on our full cleaning day she did not vacuum or dust (we had a layer of dust on top of our entertainment center.

It was nice to be able to walk over to Downtown Disney (about a 5 minute walk) and we enjoyed the quiet pool! I loved the view of Downtown Disney, and the room was nice. I would stay there again, but I think I might prefer to stay at Old Key West - we took the boat over and walked around - it felt like a large Florida village (town) over there - and they had a lot of Palm Trees!! he- he -- they also played Jimmy Buffet music - a big plus!

Any questions?? I will be happy to help out if I can!!

 

[maja36]

Glad you had a great time... 11 days... WOW... We can only do about 7 days at the most. I guess you weren't worried about additional weekend points, it's probably a lot easier to stay in one resort rather than move.

We're ssr members but will stay in 1br at okw in january and cannot possibly move over weekend nights due to small kids. Glad you think okw is nice b/c all we want is a relaxing week and not use all our points up.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Tiggerfan40,

I'm curious about the bus waits. Where these at stops in SSR, or at the parks waiting for the SSR bus? Both times we've been there (May '04 and Dec '04) we thought the service was prompt at the resort but a tad slow at the theme parks.

As for palm trees - I didn't know they had that many palm trees in Saratoga Springs, NY!

 

[lllovell]

I can't wait until SSR is complete and the real feel of the theming will come through. Sounds like a great trip overall though!

I have never liked the LONG ride through the OKW complex on the bus, but since we stayed near the first stop this last trip, most of our "ride" time was mornings when you were just excited to be going so I didn't mind it so much this time! We also only use the buses for MK, prefering to drive to the rest since the tram service takes you about as close as you can get anyway . Hopefully, the SSR bus waits are just growing pains.

 

[Safari Queen]

Well, it is supposed to be Saratoga NY where palm trees are seldom seen. Glad you enjoyed it. We had no issues with buses, but that seems to be variable. While we like Congress Park for the quiet, the long walk (not too long to us) is solved by requesting the buildings closer to the middle. Thanks for the report.

 

[cristbaby]

Sounds like you had a great trip. We'll be staying at SSR for our first trip home in October. Thanks for the report.

 

[Tiggerfan40]

Dr Tomorrow - in answer to your bus service question - we had to wait an average of 20-25 minutes at both the parks and at SSR. Some people had waited 45 minutes one morning at SSR for a Magic Kingdom bus! We waited close to 35 minutes a few times at Typhoon Lagoon for an SSR bus. Maybe it was our timing? not sure? ***The plus side was- during our first week there, we were the only 4 people on 95% of ALL the SSR busses we took!! Very strange!? SSR was like a ghost town up until last Sat. when the "school vacation" crowd started coming in! and yes - I do realize that Saratoga NY does not have Palm trees!! he he - guess the "theme" of the resort just isn't one of my favorites!?

 

[sweetinmaine]

We just returned from our first trip "home" to SSR. 3. No Palm trees!! I come to florida to see Palm Trees- I missed them at SSR - looked like back home in MA. I would stay there again, but I think I might prefer to stay at Old Key West - we took the boat over and walked around - it felt like a large Florida village (town) over there - and they had a lot of Palm Trees!! he- he -- they also played Jimmy Buffet music - a big plus!

Any questions?? I will be happy to help out if I can!!

Hi Tiggerfan40, It sounds like you had a nice trip home to SSR. We recently bought into SSR but questioned the theme of it. We live within 2 hours of Saratoga Springs, NY and the trees are what made us question our purchase. As it is, we are going home for the first time in September. We have reservations at OKW. I'd never say that we won't ever stay at SSR but you're right. The trees are too close to what we have in VT. Glad you had a good time.. PS: The Jimmy Buffet music will be a plus for us too

 

[athenna]

I think the waits for the busses have a lot to do with timing. We were lucky, we just so happened to be at the right time at the right place. The longest I waited for a bus was 15 minutes, once, while returning to SSR from Epcot. Other than that 1 wait, it was right away. And this was last week, when losts of New Englanders (and I'm sure some others) had their April school vacation week.
In terms of palm trees, I do think of them when I think of Florida, but they would look out of place in a place themed to NY. I didn't miss them.