(This got longer than I thought it would!)
After some work conflicts caused me to move our May vacation around (and then those work conflicts later disappeared!), we ended up with May 10-16 booked at SSR to use some of our developer points. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but in the end it worked out perfectly. We usually start our vacation on a Saturday, flying out early that morning. That makes Friday very hectic - trying to wrap up things at work, get all the packing done, run last-minute errands and (most importantly
) get my vacation pedicure! Leaving on Sunday made a huge difference - Friday was probably the calmest last-day-of-work-before-vacation I've ever had! And I had Saturday to run errands, finish up the packing and not rush around. (Yes, I got the pedicure, and a manicure, too.)
No delays with our flight (SWA nonstop) - in fact, we arrived about 15 minutes early. DH waited for the luggage while DS (7.5 years old) and I went down to use the Alamo kiosk for our rental car. DS was pretty hungry so we got some McDonald's and ate there and I ran over to the Travelex kiosk and exchanged some British pounds and Euros I'd forgotten to exchange when I returned from Europe in March. In all, it's probably the longest we've ever spent at MCO after arriving!
Went over to the garage to find Alamo was out of minivans (7 passenger, typically Dodge Caravans), so we got upgraded to a Toyota Sienna. Sweet. Plopped the new SunPass transponder on the windshield and off we went. It's a tiny thing, but not stopping for tolls is soooo nice!
Grocery stop was next - we went to Super Target off Orange Blossom Trail. Great selection - had pretty much everything I wanted except for the heat-and-serve bacon (not Oscar Meyer - can't remember the brand, but it didn't heat as well). Groceries acquired, so we headed over to SSR. No wait at check-in and rooms were ready, but only in Carousel and Paddock, and we wanted Springs. So we elected to wait. I stored the cold grocery items with bell services and off we went to MK.
At about 3:30 we headed back and were assigned Springs 3141 - a 1-bedroom on a corner on the first floor. Very convenient location - this building is right across from the DVC model building. Parking was a breeze - we always got a space on the "front row" right in front of our corridor. The walk to everything - main pool, resort center, bus stop - was very short. We unpacked and bell services delivered our cold food and Owner's Lockers about 10 minutes after I called for them.
As for the bus service...we only used the bus 1 time to go to MK - it arrived right after we walked up. 17 minutes from arriving at stop until arriving at MK. The bus back was almost as good - 25 minutes, including waiting a few minutes at the stop, plus all the other SSR stops before Springs.
Our room was clean and in good repair, although by the end of the trip, the overhead light in the bathroom (the part with the whirlpool tub) was flickering pretty annoyingly. And speaking of annoying...what is up with the motion-activated exhaust fans in the bathroom? They bugged the heck out of me! The bath and a half is nice, too, but the set up with all the doors is awkward. I always felt like there were doors in the way.
This was our first trip in a 1-bedroom and we all loved it. Our son loved the big space to explore, loved playing hide-and-seek and really loved the fact that we let him fall asleep watching his own DVDs in the living room on the sleeper. (hey, it's vacation!) As much as I used to be one of those "I don't even want to SEE a kitchen on vacation" people, I loved having it. We ate well in our room...and we enjoyed having easy access to the washer and dryer, too.
Oh, I do a good bit of video blogging, so you can only imagine how amused I was by the fact that when we got to our room, one of the first things my son did was take my camera and start walking around giving a "tour" of our room.
In his trip journal in answer to the question "what did our resort look like?" he wrote "blue-green." And in response to "what was our room like?" he wrote "there is a TV, my own secret bed, a bathtub, a sink, a washing machine, a tiny bathroom and a big bed." On the page for drawing a picture of our room, he drew a TV, a chair and a lamp and wrote the following caption: "Channel 18 is Stacey. She goes through a new episode called Must Do. She's sweet and sassy." 
The pool was...okay. I'm not much of a pool person, and so I don't get too excited by swimming. I really like Stormalong Bay, though, so it's hard for any pool to compete. I did have to use my Stern Mommy voice to break up some rough-housing in line for the pool slide, though. 
A few highlights:
California Grill Excellent as always. (ETA: No flatbreads on the menu - this has been talked about several times recently, so I thought I'd mention it.)
We started off watching the fireworks, then sat down for late dinner. DS had grilled cheese as always and pointed out how we should arrange the chairs so he could nap after he finished eating - he's a pro at eating and then napping, and CA Grill is just as skilled at dealing with sleepy kiddos. Although in this case, he fell asleep before our server could bring over a table cloth to put down under him, so she just covered him up and rolled up a cloth to serve as a pillow.
We always have the cheese course, and this time it included Brillat Savarin (triple cow's milk - buttery, creamy), El Farcell (my favorite, another cow's milk cheese, bathed in coffee with a smoky taste), Monte Enebro (goat's milk cheese, creamy and lemony), Manchego (one of the better Manchegos I've had) and Point Reyes (Holstein cow's milk, lightly blue veined and very full flavored. I had the Sonoma goat cheese ravioli and DH had the crispy Blue Point oysters with hearts of palm, bacon, avocado aioli and green garlic chimichurri. For our second course, I had the filet of beef with cheesy potato mash, buttered aspargus and teriyaki barbeque sauce. DH had the pan-roasted Pacific halibut with stir-fry vegetables, sticky rice and ginger-soy-Hijiki broth. My stake was very undercooked (more like rare, not medium rare) so back it went, and they handled the situation nicely. No dessert for us this time, and no Tables in Wonderland discount since it was Mother's Day. (Valet parking was still free, though.)
I don't know how long ago they did this, but our server was telling us that they removed 7 tables from the restaurant to reduce the load because the chef was concerned with the capacity and its impact on quality. I was surprised at the difference just a few tables could make in terms of total dinners prepared.
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Amazingly, we'd never been to see this. DH was very skeptical but in the end we enjoyed it thoroughly, although DS was not as amused (one song/bit had him laughing like crazy, but the rest seemed to bore him).
Jedi Training Usually DS watches with interest but has always insisted he didn't want to take part. This time, he was all for it. I had no idea that they pick just a few kids for each show! (That's what happens when you don't stay for the whole thing and you never see the beginning when the kids go up.) Thankfully, DS was picked! He did a great job and the Photopass photographer got TONS of pictures.
Owner's Locker OMG, I can't say enough good things about this service! DH had coffee made from freshly ground beans every morning. We had a great time playing Disney Scene It. My baths were so comfy thanks to my inflatable bath pillow. We didn't have to buy tons of bottled water thanks to our Brita pitcher. When a piece from DS's arsenal of tiny Star Wars ships broke, I quickly fixed it with super glue. When we all watched "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", we were able to snuggle under a fleece blanket (with the castle on it). No packing ponchos, misters, umbrellas, swimsuits, toiletries (most of them, anyway). There were so many little touches of home that made our trip so comfortable and cozy! On Tuesday night we braved the rain (there was also a hailstorm that afternoon) to go to the Owner's Locker wine night at France in Epcot. John is just about the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet and he certainly knows how to treat his customers well!
This is a pretty resort - very quiet and subdued but no shortage of things to look at. I can understand why people like it, and why some people hate it. It worked well for us, but isn't something we'd choose over and over again.
Being so close to the models, we popped in several times and it finally hit me - the BLT 1br is a good bit larger than the SSR 1br. Yes, it has an extra full bath, but that's just part of it. The living area seems bigger, too. I know they had to allow more room for the sleeper chair, but having never stayed in a 1br before and having only seen the AKV and BLT models (I saw a BWV model in 1999, but don't remember it at all), I didn't realize what a treat we were in for with BLT. I also didn't realize why people were making such a big deal about the pull-out pantry at BLT until I put away groceries at SSR - there really isn't much storage space that isn't already filled with dishes! So now I get it! Plus there's more counter space at BLT. And this may seem like a silly thing, but at BLT, the washer/dryer isn't *right outside* the bedroom door - a nice detail when you want to throw a load of clothes in before going to bed! Needless to say, our first 1br experience at SSR has us primed and ready for our first trip to our real (BLT) in December!
The trip home was uneventful and coming home on Saturday has worked well - no late arrival and a full day to decompress and get ready to head back to work and school on Monday!
After some work conflicts caused me to move our May vacation around (and then those work conflicts later disappeared!), we ended up with May 10-16 booked at SSR to use some of our developer points. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but in the end it worked out perfectly. We usually start our vacation on a Saturday, flying out early that morning. That makes Friday very hectic - trying to wrap up things at work, get all the packing done, run last-minute errands and (most importantly
) get my vacation pedicure! Leaving on Sunday made a huge difference - Friday was probably the calmest last-day-of-work-before-vacation I've ever had! And I had Saturday to run errands, finish up the packing and not rush around. (Yes, I got the pedicure, and a manicure, too.)No delays with our flight (SWA nonstop) - in fact, we arrived about 15 minutes early. DH waited for the luggage while DS (7.5 years old) and I went down to use the Alamo kiosk for our rental car. DS was pretty hungry so we got some McDonald's and ate there and I ran over to the Travelex kiosk and exchanged some British pounds and Euros I'd forgotten to exchange when I returned from Europe in March. In all, it's probably the longest we've ever spent at MCO after arriving!
Went over to the garage to find Alamo was out of minivans (7 passenger, typically Dodge Caravans), so we got upgraded to a Toyota Sienna. Sweet. Plopped the new SunPass transponder on the windshield and off we went. It's a tiny thing, but not stopping for tolls is soooo nice!
Grocery stop was next - we went to Super Target off Orange Blossom Trail. Great selection - had pretty much everything I wanted except for the heat-and-serve bacon (not Oscar Meyer - can't remember the brand, but it didn't heat as well). Groceries acquired, so we headed over to SSR. No wait at check-in and rooms were ready, but only in Carousel and Paddock, and we wanted Springs. So we elected to wait. I stored the cold grocery items with bell services and off we went to MK.
At about 3:30 we headed back and were assigned Springs 3141 - a 1-bedroom on a corner on the first floor. Very convenient location - this building is right across from the DVC model building. Parking was a breeze - we always got a space on the "front row" right in front of our corridor. The walk to everything - main pool, resort center, bus stop - was very short. We unpacked and bell services delivered our cold food and Owner's Lockers about 10 minutes after I called for them.
As for the bus service...we only used the bus 1 time to go to MK - it arrived right after we walked up. 17 minutes from arriving at stop until arriving at MK. The bus back was almost as good - 25 minutes, including waiting a few minutes at the stop, plus all the other SSR stops before Springs.
Our room was clean and in good repair, although by the end of the trip, the overhead light in the bathroom (the part with the whirlpool tub) was flickering pretty annoyingly. And speaking of annoying...what is up with the motion-activated exhaust fans in the bathroom? They bugged the heck out of me! The bath and a half is nice, too, but the set up with all the doors is awkward. I always felt like there were doors in the way.
This was our first trip in a 1-bedroom and we all loved it. Our son loved the big space to explore, loved playing hide-and-seek and really loved the fact that we let him fall asleep watching his own DVDs in the living room on the sleeper. (hey, it's vacation!) As much as I used to be one of those "I don't even want to SEE a kitchen on vacation" people, I loved having it. We ate well in our room...and we enjoyed having easy access to the washer and dryer, too.
Oh, I do a good bit of video blogging, so you can only imagine how amused I was by the fact that when we got to our room, one of the first things my son did was take my camera and start walking around giving a "tour" of our room.
In his trip journal in answer to the question "what did our resort look like?" he wrote "blue-green." And in response to "what was our room like?" he wrote "there is a TV, my own secret bed, a bathtub, a sink, a washing machine, a tiny bathroom and a big bed." On the page for drawing a picture of our room, he drew a TV, a chair and a lamp and wrote the following caption: "Channel 18 is Stacey. She goes through a new episode called Must Do. She's sweet and sassy." The pool was...okay. I'm not much of a pool person, and so I don't get too excited by swimming. I really like Stormalong Bay, though, so it's hard for any pool to compete.
I did have to use my Stern Mommy voice to break up some rough-housing in line for the pool slide, though. A few highlights:
California Grill Excellent as always. (ETA: No flatbreads on the menu - this has been talked about several times recently, so I thought I'd mention it.)
We started off watching the fireworks, then sat down for late dinner. DS had grilled cheese as always and pointed out how we should arrange the chairs so he could nap after he finished eating - he's a pro at eating and then napping, and CA Grill is just as skilled at dealing with sleepy kiddos. Although in this case, he fell asleep before our server could bring over a table cloth to put down under him, so she just covered him up and rolled up a cloth to serve as a pillow.
We always have the cheese course, and this time it included Brillat Savarin (triple cow's milk - buttery, creamy), El Farcell (my favorite, another cow's milk cheese, bathed in coffee with a smoky taste), Monte Enebro (goat's milk cheese, creamy and lemony), Manchego (one of the better Manchegos I've had) and Point Reyes (Holstein cow's milk, lightly blue veined and very full flavored. I had the Sonoma goat cheese ravioli and DH had the crispy Blue Point oysters with hearts of palm, bacon, avocado aioli and green garlic chimichurri. For our second course, I had the filet of beef with cheesy potato mash, buttered aspargus and teriyaki barbeque sauce. DH had the pan-roasted Pacific halibut with stir-fry vegetables, sticky rice and ginger-soy-Hijiki broth. My stake was very undercooked (more like rare, not medium rare) so back it went, and they handled the situation nicely. No dessert for us this time, and no Tables in Wonderland discount since it was Mother's Day. (Valet parking was still free, though.)
I don't know how long ago they did this, but our server was telling us that they removed 7 tables from the restaurant to reduce the load because the chef was concerned with the capacity and its impact on quality. I was surprised at the difference just a few tables could make in terms of total dinners prepared.
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Amazingly, we'd never been to see this. DH was very skeptical but in the end we enjoyed it thoroughly, although DS was not as amused (one song/bit had him laughing like crazy, but the rest seemed to bore him).
Jedi Training Usually DS watches with interest but has always insisted he didn't want to take part. This time, he was all for it. I had no idea that they pick just a few kids for each show! (That's what happens when you don't stay for the whole thing and you never see the beginning when the kids go up.) Thankfully, DS was picked! He did a great job and the Photopass photographer got TONS of pictures.
Owner's Locker OMG, I can't say enough good things about this service! DH had coffee made from freshly ground beans every morning. We had a great time playing Disney Scene It. My baths were so comfy thanks to my inflatable bath pillow. We didn't have to buy tons of bottled water thanks to our Brita pitcher. When a piece from DS's arsenal of tiny Star Wars ships broke, I quickly fixed it with super glue. When we all watched "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", we were able to snuggle under a fleece blanket (with the castle on it). No packing ponchos, misters, umbrellas, swimsuits, toiletries (most of them, anyway). There were so many little touches of home that made our trip so comfortable and cozy! On Tuesday night we braved the rain (there was also a hailstorm that afternoon) to go to the Owner's Locker wine night at France in Epcot. John is just about the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet and he certainly knows how to treat his customers well!
This is a pretty resort - very quiet and subdued but no shortage of things to look at. I can understand why people like it, and why some people hate it. It worked well for us, but isn't something we'd choose over and over again.
Being so close to the models, we popped in several times and it finally hit me - the BLT 1br is a good bit larger than the SSR 1br. Yes, it has an extra full bath, but that's just part of it. The living area seems bigger, too. I know they had to allow more room for the sleeper chair, but having never stayed in a 1br before and having only seen the AKV and BLT models (I saw a BWV model in 1999, but don't remember it at all), I didn't realize what a treat we were in for with BLT. I also didn't realize why people were making such a big deal about the pull-out pantry at BLT until I put away groceries at SSR - there really isn't much storage space that isn't already filled with dishes! So now I get it! Plus there's more counter space at BLT. And this may seem like a silly thing, but at BLT, the washer/dryer isn't *right outside* the bedroom door - a nice detail when you want to throw a load of clothes in before going to bed! Needless to say, our first 1br experience at SSR has us primed and ready for our first trip to our real (BLT) in December!
The trip home was uneventful and coming home on Saturday has worked well - no late arrival and a full day to decompress and get ready to head back to work and school on Monday!
