Report from SSR - long sorry!

landsm99

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Messages
93
Hello again from SSR. Have a little down time so I am posting my thoughts:

For background we are 1st time DVCers. We stayed at VWL last september and were convinced that DVC was the way to go for us. We purchased only 150 points anticipating a trip every 2 years.

SSR is (going to be) beautiful. I really like the look of the resort. I can't wait for it to be finished. The room is OK-VWL was a larger room (1 bedroom).

SSR Cast Members have not impressed me at all. It took over 45 min to check in, 1st they had my 2 year old DD listed as 10. I corrected that but when I wanted to add UPH passes dropping the day of arrival (it was after 6 by the time we arrived) and the day of departure. The cast member checking me in wanted to charge me for the 3-9 year old pass. I explained again that my daughter was under 3 and even called her over from the TV-"But that is what the computer says..." was his response. OK that got taken care of. The keys were printed and the UPH dates on the keys were incorrect. OK that took 20 minutes for the CM to figure out-I could not understand why he found it confusing that I did not want 12/1 on my hopper. The parks were already closed (OK not all but...). The keys were printed again-1 key showed the correct UPH dates, the 2nd did not. Another 15 minutes to get that straight. On top of all that, when assigning my room he said "it is too bad you are late, all the good rooms are gone. I only have bad rooms left" OMG! Do not say that to me. As it is we have a view of a courtyard and the glorious bus stop. OK not a good view but I would have delt with it. But sinceI was already told it was a 'bad' room I got up to the room and was all p**** off about it. This leads me to a question. One of the 10 groups that were able to check in while I was waiting had called ahead and had a room assigned to them. I thougt (and I am a DVC newbie) that you could no longer submit requests that rooms were assignned as you arrived. Not the case for them they received a decent Downtown Disney view. That made my bus stop view even more annoying.
Other things:
Artists Pallette-I really like. It is no where big enough once the resort is complete, but i do like it. However it does not open in the AM until 7:30. That is crazy.
I just called the front desk because my room suddenly smells like a college frat house - marajuana smell wafting in. I dont have issue w/ its use, just not near my kids. I called front desk and they will send the 'duty manager'??

Location is great-we love walking to Downtown Disney, taking the back way out cuts down on all the DD lights.

Our thoughts are while we like SSR we will try booking into some of the others before staying here again.

Thanks for listening to the (sort of) rant.
 
It sounds like your CM needs some extra training and I would be letting the Front Desk manager know about it.

Marijuana smell!!! Are you kidding? I would have serious issues with that, and I would also be requesting to be moved. Is this even a smoking room? Hope things improve. Sorry about the view, it happens sometimes. Too bad that the CM made it even worse for you. Again, sounds like they need some re training.
 
landsm99 said:
Hello again from SSR. [...] I just called the front desk because my room suddenly smells like a college frat house - marajuana smell wafting in. I dont have issue w/ its use, just not near my kids. I called front desk and they will send the 'duty manager'?? [...]
Hmmm, does that mean that MS will now take (Pot) Smoking / Non-(Pot) Smoking requests.... ;)
 
landsm99 said:
SSR is (going to be) beautiful. I really like the look of the resort. I can't wait for it to be finished. The room is OK-VWL was a larger room (1 bedroom).

VWL 1B = 727 sq ft
SSR 1B = 714 sq ft

VWL is 1.8% larger.

SSR Cast Members have not impressed me at all. It took over 45 min to check in...

Sorry to hear you had such a bad check-in experience. Make sure you follow-up with the resort manager before you leave and send an email to DVC when you return. Making your experiences known is the only way to help protect another guest from a similar experience.

Sounds like DVC Member Services may have touched-off the situation by listing your daughter's age incorrectly. But it shouldn't have taken 30 minutes to rectify.

Other than that one CM, did you have problems with others?

On top of all that, when assigning my room he said "it is too bad you are late, all the good rooms are gone. I only have bad rooms left" OMG! Do not say that to me. As it is we have a view of a courtyard and the glorious bus stop. OK not a good view but I would have delt with it. But sinceI was already told it was a 'bad' room I got up to the room and was all p**** off about it.

The CM's comment was definitely inappropriate. Again, this should be repeated, verbatim, to resort management.

But try to remember that getting a "good" or "bad" view is largely the luck of the draw. There is no guarantee that you would have gotten a "better" room if check-in hadn't taken 45 minutes. Many people have similar tastes and there are only so many rooms that meet those tastes. With 50 years of trips ahead of you, come to terms with the reality that sometimes you will get a "good" room and other times you will get a "bad" room. It's not worth beating up yourself (or the resort) over the end result.

This leads me to a question. One of the 10 groups that were able to check in while I was waiting had called ahead and had a room assigned to them. I thougt (and I am a DVC newbie) that you could no longer submit requests that rooms were assignned as you arrived.

No, you are not supposed to make requests directly to the resort. However if you have a late arrival time or other travel delays, it's never a bad idea to call the resort and verify that you are actually on the way. I'm sure hotels have subtantial no-show rates, DVC not totally excluded. It's my understanding that if you call the resort midway through your arrival day and let them know that you have a late flight, they can begin the check-in process on some level.

I just called the front desk because my room suddenly smells like a college frat house - marajuana smell wafting in. I dont have issue w/ its use, just not near my kids. I called front desk and they will send the 'duty manager'??

Last time I check, marijuana is an illegal substance. No need to take the "Politically correct" high road on this one. Complain loudly and make certain that it is addressed, no matter the cost.


Our thoughts are while we like SSR we will try booking into some of the others before staying here again.

No question that's one of the great features of DVC--access to so many different resorts. But don't let a bad experience with one CM get you down. Honestly, you could have had an identical experience at any resort. Fortunately encounters with subpar CMs aren't commonplace, but they can be memorable. ;)

Enjoy the rest of your stay.
 

Thanks for all the comments. I don't want to be negative about SSR at all. As I said, I like the resort and think it will be great once complete.

VWL is only 1.8% bigger wow that does not seem like much maybe the layout just flows better.
 
landsm99 said:
Artists Pallette-I really like. It is no where big enough once the resort is complete, but i do like it. However it does not open in the AM until 7:30. That is crazy.

I suspect DVC will add some additional eating options as the resort continues to grow.

I talked to a DVC management CM who said the question about the time Artist Pallette opens came up at the SSR annual meeting. The CM said AP tried opening earlier, but had very, very few guests.

I am sorry your check-in took so long. I would ask to speak to a front desk manager & let the CM know what you have told us.
 
I agree the SSR staff definitely needs better training. We stayed there in October and it took an hour to check in, an hour to pick up HDDR tickets, and an hour to apply my rewards card to the bill. No one person knew how to do it. It was a combined effort of at least three CMs for each thing.
 
Smoking pot???? I would have called the cops not the front desk!!!???
 
landsm99 said:
On top of all that, when assigning my room he said "it is too bad you are late, all the good rooms are gone. I only have bad rooms left" OMG! Do not say that to me.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
I'm sorry but that was pretty funny.
Enjoy the rest of your trip! :wave:
 












New Posts





DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Back
Top