Our first stay at SSR...what to expect?

[Beast2Prince]

We will be staying at SSR for the first time the last week of April. We are staying in a studio and requested the Grandstand section. It will be myself, DW, and DS3. What are some of the things we should know about this resort? We stayed at OKW last year. What are the main differences and similarities? Thanks for any input about this resort.

 

[BroganMc]

We will be staying at SSR for the first time the last week of April. We are staying in a studio and requested the Grandstand section. It will be myself, DW, and DS3. What are some of the things we should know about this resort? We stayed at OKW last year. What are the main differences and similarities? Thanks for any input about this resort.

Rooms are smaller of the BCV/BWV/VWL cookie cutter variety.

You get a queen bed and pull out sofa in the studio vs. two beds in OKW studios.

Furnishings are often described as more elegant. Lots of deep mahogany woods.

Walkways of the resort only border the roads at the Springs. The other sections have more scenic around the front of buildings.

All areas are roughly .25 - .5 miles to the resort center. Most .25 miles. So if you were at Turtle Pond in OKW and wanted to go to Hospitality House everyday at OKW, you'd find a shorter walk to SSR's center in comparison.

Bus hopping is possible just as at OKW.

The main pool has a zero entry, but no sandy play area.

Walks to DTD are much shorter. Ferries tend to be a bit more frequent since they stop at SSR twice in the DTD-OKW leg. (OKW-DTD-SSR and DTD-SSR-OKW)

 

[eeyoresmom]

Both the main pool and the grandstand pool have great toddler interactive areas that your 3 year old will love. The main pool has a Donald water play area. The Grandstaend has horses that squirt each other ( and anyone else within reach !) Last year they showed movies at night at the Grandstand pool. My kids loved it.

 

[Beast2Prince]

How far is the walk to DTD if we do get the Grandstand section we requested?

 

[eeyoresmom]

Too far for a 3 yo. But the ferry is very close to Grandstand and should enjoy that.

 

[eporter66]

It's a great resort. I like it better than OKW, probably because it is a little newer, it does have an elegance that OKW lacks (due to the theme - it is a great resort too), and has that laid back feel.

I like having DTD so close, fun to just walk around over there at the end of the day. SSR is a very pretty resort to walk around as well.

 

[eva]

Glad that you asked this question. We will be checking in on April 15th for our first stay at SSR too. Sorry to hijack a bit, but the CM I talked with said I should request Congress Park if we are going to walk to DD a lot. Is that a wise choice? It's just DH and me and we are walkers. I really don't care how far the walk is, I want a nice place with maybe a lake view. But she put Congress Park and lake view as our requests. Any thoughts? Do any of the quiet pools have a bar and/or snack area? That would be great.

 

[nhdisnut]

Glad that you asked this question. We will be checking in on April 15th for our first stay at SSR too. Sorry to hijack a bit, but the CM I talked with said I should request Congress Park if we are going to walk to DD a lot. Is that a wise choice? It's just DH and me and we are walkers. I really don't care how far the walk is, I want a nice place with maybe a lake view. But she put Congress Park and lake view as our requests. Any thoughts? Do any of the quiet pools have a bar and/or snack area? That would be great.

If you are able to get a view of DTD then I'll bet you will love Congress Park! It's a fairly quick walk to DTD from there (to the Marketplace side). CP has a very nice quiet pool/hot tub, and is one of our two favorite locations at SSR (the other being the Grandstand).

Enjoy!

 

[NYMomof4]

Congress Park is the best location (and only I believe) for the DTD lake views and it is the closest walk to DTD. The pool at CP is very nice, overlooking the water. The only other "quiet pool" with a bar area is at Grandstand but the hours seems to vary. We stayed at CP and loved it. We also stayed at the Springs and Grandstand before and liked both too. For walkers, SSR is a great resort for morning/evening walks around the resort or to DTD.

The main pool, High Rock Springs, has the biggest outdoor bar area. There is a ferry service that goes to DTD too.

 

[eporter66]

If you are walkers, then it really does not matter where you stay unless you want a view of DTD. Otherwise, it should be no big deal no matter where you are in SSR to walk over to DTD.

Enjoy

 

[RLRDA]

I think there's a walkway from the Grandstand area to the West Side of DTD although we never used it (or came across it). BroganMc, I looked at your map of SSR in your signature but it's not a wide enough view to show this walkway. Do you know where it is and how long the walk to the West Side would be??

 

[eporter66]

I believe you get to the walkway by the way of LBV Golf Course. We were just at OKW a few weeks ago, and we took a path called the Saratoga Springs Resort Nature Trail. It went along the canal that the boats take to get to DTD from OKW & SSR.

The trail led us to the putting green at LBV, and then we just walked up and into the West Side Parking lot and came in by Cirque and House of Blues.

I assume there is an area from the Grandstand that gets to that same location.

 

[eva]

If you are walkers, then it really does not matter where you stay unless you want a view of DTD. Otherwise, it should be no big deal no matter where you are in SSR to walk over to DTD.

Enjoy

This was kind of my thought as well. And I am not too picky about the view as long as it isn't of the parking lot. In the 11 years we've been member I've never put in a request except nonsmoking. But the CM asked questions about our stay and what we were going to be doing. She recommended the requests. But now I am a bit nervous. All but one trip we have had wonderful rooms, views, etc. And the one time we didn't was because we didn't check-in until 10:00 pm. So we got the bottom of the barrel. Oh well, in 5 weeks I will be in WDW. I guess that is the most important thing.

 

[jlieblaw]

We have stayed at congress park and had a view of DTD and water and the walk was less than 10 minutes to DTD. We have also stayed at the springs and walked (without kids) and the time was maybe 15 minutes to DTD. It's very enjoyable except that walk up to the bus area at DTD and inhale a lot of bus fumes. I don't know about the walk through west side as we tried to find it from DTD and had trouble and no one we asked seemed to know what we were talking about. We have always put in requests and I think we have always pretty much gotten what we requested. We've never had bad rooms unless you count AKL and WL, the long trek from the elevators, but the views made up for that.

 

[MegansMom]

We will be staying at SSR for the first time the last week of April. We are staying in a studio and requested the Grandstand section. It will be myself, DW, and DS3. What are some of the things we should know about this resort? We stayed at OKW last year. What are the main differences and similarities? Thanks for any input about this resort.

I had to hop on and say something because last year we stayed at SSR and this year is our first trip to OKW--we might be able to REALLY help each other out because I have the same questions about OKW!!! We liked SSR as a whole--the pool is great, the resort is decorated very elegantly, and the views are beautiful and serene. We also ate at the Turf Club and had one of the best meals of our entire trip. The biggest downfall we felt dealt with the resort's size--it is SO big! I think because the resort is so large, we often had issues with the buses. We stood a lot, and often had to wait through several buses to get on both at the resort and at the parks. We stayed in The Springs area (3500 Bldg.) looking out over the lake. It was a very short walk to the bus and main pool. I hope that helps you out with info on SSR--any comments/suggestions about OKW are greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[BroganMc]

I think there's a walkway from the Grandstand area to the West Side of DTD although we never used it (or came across it). BroganMc, I looked at your map of SSR in your signature but it's not a wide enough view to show this walkway. Do you know where it is and how long the walk to the West Side would be??

Yes it's on the bottom of my updated map in dusty blue. I know, hard to read unless maximized but I ran out of different colors on my map.

This route presumes you are walking from Grandstand and pick up the pathway via the Clubhouse. (Instead of rounding the corner toward Bell Services, you veer right toward what looks like a golf cart parking lot. It's actually a shortcut route to the ferry as well as the walkway. The trees on satellite obscure it, and it looks like you're in a golf cart only path, but really it is a shared path to the bridge over the canal.)

If you're coming from anywhere else in the resort, namely via Artist's Palette, you'd take the winding walkway to the right of the ferry entrance. That's where the difference in hundredths of miles come in my various Google Pedometer measurements.

0.46 via Grandstand/Club House entrance: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1689491
0.48 via AP/Ferry dock entrance

 

[BroganMc]

How far is the walk to DTD if we do get the Grandstand section we requested?

About 1 mile if you're destination in DTD is Marketplace where the ferry drops off. About 1/2 mile if you're destination is West Side. Pleasure Island will meet in the middle.

It's a nice stroll if the parents are up for a little walk, the weather is too pleasant to stay inside, and the 3 yr old is happily tucked away in a comfy stroller.

But if it is a hot & sticky day, your feet are tired from walking the parks, and the 3 yo is cranky and/or grumpy, you'll all be miserable.

I imagine if you hate ferried over for dinner and the 3 yo was the type to pass out in a car or stroller ride, it could make for a pleasant couples' walk back. You leave the hustle and bustle of DTD, cross what looks to be a bridge (just an overpass at the lake mouth), then walk along the waterfront watching the lights dance and only hear the distance sounds of crowd and music. Next you see is the resort center (people playing at the pool), pass by the bell staff (who are usually in a friendly mood come evening) and find yourself in the crepe myrtle covered walkways of your secluded Grandstand retreat.

I enjoyed many a post-PI evening doing that last May. Of course, I was driving myself in a powerchair and had imbibed quite a few Double Berry Tini's at Raglan Road. Needless to say I was in a very good mood.

Glad that you asked this question. We will be checking in on April 15th for our first stay at SSR too. Sorry to hijack a bit, but the CM I talked with said I should request Congress Park if we are going to walk to DD a lot. Is that a wise choice? It's just DH and me and we are walkers. I really don't care how far the walk is, I want a nice place with maybe a lake view. But she put Congress Park and lake view as our requests. Any thoughts? Do any of the quiet pools have a bar and/or snack area? That would be great.

As my above map shows, pretty much anywhere in Congress Park is the shortest walk to DTD Marketplace. Now if you're idea of visiting is to go to WestSide every night, you'll be adding another .4-.5 miles to your journey. If so, take the DTD shuttle ferry from Marketplace and meander your way back. Ferry stops are Marketplace (by Cap'n Jacks), Pleasure Island and West Side (by House of Blues).

The one thing you will be missing at Congress Park is proximity to SSR's resort center. A quick walk over to Artist's Palette for refill drinks will take you about 10-15 minutes one way. This is why I think they really needed to put the extra pool bar in Congress Park not Grandstand. Too bad the architects didn't consult me first.

 

[lisareniff]

I just have a little clarification question. Is the distance from CP pool to DTD Marketplace O.35 miles (the yellow line) or is that only the distance to road?

 

[eva]

As my above map shows, pretty much anywhere in Congress Park is the shortest walk to DTD Marketplace. Now if you're idea of visiting is to go to WestSide every night, you'll be adding another .4-.5 miles to your journey. If so, take the DTD shuttle ferry from Marketplace and meander your way back. Ferry stops are Marketplace (by Cap'n Jacks), Pleasure Island and West Side (by House of Blues).

The one thing you will be missing at Congress Park is proximity to SSR's resort center. A quick walk over to Artist's Palette for refill drinks will take you about 10-15 minutes one way. This is why I think they really needed to put the extra pool bar in Congress Park not Grandstand. Too bad the architects didn't consult me first.

Thanks so much for the information. I am really starting to doubt the CM's recommendations. Oh well, we do really enjoy walking and are not going into the parks this trip. So I guess it really doesn't matter.

 

[Madi100]

We have always stayed in Congress Park and really enjoy it for the closeness to DTD. Not only for visiting there, but for visiting other resorts. It's really easy to hop on a bus to DTD and then walk home. Our views have gotten worse each time. The first time it was beautiful. The second time, we had to lean to see anything. And, this last time, well, we had a great view of the bushes. But, my favorite location has been the view of the bushes, because we were right by the bus pick-up and had we used the pool, right next to it.