First, I have to share some details about our trip down to WDW:
When Amtrak canceled our train down to Sanford due to Charley, we decided to risk running into bad weather and take 95 down to FL. Had a great trip - we were making really good time, until about Savannah, GA. Our van (RIP) died, so we had to detour to repace our vehicle.
But we now have a much newer van that I like quite a bit.
Needless to say, due to the train cancellation and our car difficulties, we didn't make it to SSR as planned on Sunday 8/15.
I expected to have to eat the points...but when we (finally) checked in at SSR at 9 p.m. on Monday night, they told us we would get our Sunday night points back!!! Yay, DVC!!
That was certainly very gracious of them. (That night they said they were at 100% capacity.)
SSR: This was our first stay and we were very favorably impressed. The CM checking us in was earning her ears...poor thing, she'd had a heck of a first week! She joked that now that she'd been through Charley, she could handle anything
Our 1BR (lockoff) was lovely. Lots of room, had a view of DD and the fireworks. Our room 2645 was actually fairly close to the DVC models(2601 ST, 2607 GV) We were in the first building of Congress Park - the end closest to the gazebo.
Turf Club and Community Hall were favorites of our family; ping pong and shooting pool....
Artist Point is enjoyable - we loved the beautiful glass lighting fixtures, but I could wish for a few more food items to choose from. The main pool is very nice. We especially liked the landscaping around it . The "rocks" and trees gave you a feeling of privacy even when the pool area was pretty full. The slide was fun - very fast at the bottom!
Spent a wonderful morning at the spa getting a combo of swedish massage/reflexology....can't wait to go back. We took advantage of the use of spa facilities for showers and whirlpool a few times, too.
Storm damage at WDW seemed mostly limited to LOTS of trees down and broken limbs. Landscaping CM's were working the whole time we were there (Monday 8/16 - Monday 8/23) and there are still trees down. Saw some trees resting on older buildings at SSR; not the treehouses, but green sided buildings...perhaps villas from DIsney Institute?? The boat landing at SSR was closed when we first arrived due to Charley damage. We never did get to take a boat to DD, but it must be open by now.
We finished our visit at Coronado Springs for 3 nights making use of the AP rate. DH noticed that the Cabana section of rooms lost siding; it was being repaired this past weekend. Nice place, fun pool (Mayan ruins, water coming down a huge set of stairs) but we all agreed we've been spoiled by DVC. As one of the CM's told us, CS has its own alligator, too, in the lake. 
We had a great time, even though Charley certainly tried his very best to throw challenges at us all. Happily, it went down to lower category hurricane and finally to tropical storm status. Driving through the Carolinas it looked as if the ground was saturated.
According to local news updates, schools all around the Orlando area and further - they listed a few counties -weren't back in school till yesterday due to lack of power and quite a bit of storm damage.
Kudos to Disney staff; they kept the whole place moving along.
Marti (DVC tour-guide of the models) told us that luckily only one of their people was affected by Charley. This woman lost her house and Disney was taking care of her; put her up in All Star and got FEMA out to her house right away. Yay, DVC/Disney!!
When Amtrak canceled our train down to Sanford due to Charley, we decided to risk running into bad weather and take 95 down to FL. Had a great trip - we were making really good time, until about Savannah, GA. Our van (RIP) died, so we had to detour to repace our vehicle.
But we now have a much newer van that I like quite a bit.
Needless to say, due to the train cancellation and our car difficulties, we didn't make it to SSR as planned on Sunday 8/15.
I expected to have to eat the points...but when we (finally) checked in at SSR at 9 p.m. on Monday night, they told us we would get our Sunday night points back!!! Yay, DVC!!
That was certainly very gracious of them. (That night they said they were at 100% capacity.)
SSR: This was our first stay and we were very favorably impressed. The CM checking us in was earning her ears...poor thing, she'd had a heck of a first week! She joked that now that she'd been through Charley, she could handle anything
Our 1BR (lockoff) was lovely. Lots of room, had a view of DD and the fireworks. Our room 2645 was actually fairly close to the DVC models(2601 ST, 2607 GV) We were in the first building of Congress Park - the end closest to the gazebo.
Turf Club and Community Hall were favorites of our family; ping pong and shooting pool....
Artist Point is enjoyable - we loved the beautiful glass lighting fixtures, but I could wish for a few more food items to choose from. The main pool is very nice. We especially liked the landscaping around it . The "rocks" and trees gave you a feeling of privacy even when the pool area was pretty full. The slide was fun - very fast at the bottom! Spent a wonderful morning at the spa getting a combo of swedish massage/reflexology....can't wait to go back. We took advantage of the use of spa facilities for showers and whirlpool a few times, too.
Storm damage at WDW seemed mostly limited to LOTS of trees down and broken limbs. Landscaping CM's were working the whole time we were there (Monday 8/16 - Monday 8/23) and there are still trees down. Saw some trees resting on older buildings at SSR; not the treehouses, but green sided buildings...perhaps villas from DIsney Institute?? The boat landing at SSR was closed when we first arrived due to Charley damage. We never did get to take a boat to DD, but it must be open by now.
We finished our visit at Coronado Springs for 3 nights making use of the AP rate. DH noticed that the Cabana section of rooms lost siding; it was being repaired this past weekend. Nice place, fun pool (Mayan ruins, water coming down a huge set of stairs) but we all agreed we've been spoiled by DVC.
As one of the CM's told us, CS has its own alligator, too, in the lake. We had a great time, even though Charley certainly tried his very best to throw challenges at us all. Happily, it went down to lower category hurricane and finally to tropical storm status. Driving through the Carolinas it looked as if the ground was saturated.
According to local news updates, schools all around the Orlando area and further - they listed a few counties -weren't back in school till yesterday due to lack of power and quite a bit of storm damage.
Kudos to Disney staff; they kept the whole place moving along.
Marti (DVC tour-guide of the models) told us that luckily only one of their people was affected by Charley. This woman lost her house and Disney was taking care of her; put her up in All Star and got FEMA out to her house right away. Yay, DVC/Disney!!
