SSR - A Newbie perspective

[HayGan]

We just returned from another GREAT trip to WDW. We stayed at SSR on a mix of rented points and developer points in 2 studios. We requested the Grandstands or Congress Park. We received 2 studios in Congress Park. The first was ready upon our arrival (Saturday @ 12:30pm) and the second was ready at about 3pm. Our first studio was 2512 and the second was 2647. Both we nice and somewhat roomy. They were cleaned but I have to say that we were very disappointed in the overall condition of the rooms given the relatively young age of the resort (~4 years) Both rooms showed significant age. The carpets were pretty stained and worn in a number of places. The sleeper sofa while comfortable was really showing its age in both rooms. The upholstery was very dirty - my furniture is much older than 4 years (and I would argue gets much more use) and looks nowhere near as worn as those sofas did. There were other little minor things but the sofas and carpets really stood out in our minds.

Despite our disappointment we had with the overall condition of the room, we would stay here again but it would not be our first choice. The Congress Park location was great for both walking to DTD and to the main pool, community room, laundry, and Artist Palette. We had a nice view of DTD from 2647 although somewhat obstructed by a large tree right in front of the balcony (which wasn't very comforting during some of Fay's winds!) I think the location and views made it much more enjoyable stay for us. I think that we would have been much more disappointed if we had been located in the Paddock or Carousel.

As for transportation we only used the buses once. We used them for our second trip to the MK. In the morning, we only waited about 10 minutes for a bus to the MK for a 8:05 ADR for CP. Only the way backin the afternoon, the bus was there within 5 minutes. When we went back to the MK, we waited 35 minutes for a bus before we used the phone at the stop to call the front desk who patched us through to Transportation. We were really ticked about this service because in that same 35 minutes we saw 4 (yes 4!) Epcot buses as well as 3 DTD/TL buses! Trans. stated that the MK bus was at the Paddock and would be there within a few seconds which it thankfully was! Our trip out of the park that night wasn't too bad as a bus was there within 10 minutes and we just beat a majority of the Wishes crowd.

We had some issues with the front desk in regards to billing but they were fixed relatively quickly and could have happened at any resort. I was a bit miffed that for such a large resort, they really are understaffed at the front desk!!!

Overall, we enjoyed our trip but decided that we are very thankful that we chose AKV as our home as opposed to SSR. It is a nice resort but a bit too spread out for us. We were lucky with our location but you never know where you would be put on future trips. It is a shame that such a new resort is showing so much wear already.

 

[Chellymouse]

I'm sorry to hear that SSR wasn't all that great for you! I was there the week before Fay, stayed in a 2BR in Congress Park and it was awesome. The room looked brand new, everything was clean, our balcony view of DTD was amazing! We even had great bus service for the most part. Our difficulty was getting home at night on the bus, but that was only 2 nights and the wait was under 30 minutes.

 

[Juliet25]

I don't remember our room number, but we also stayed in a studio on the 2nd floor of CP. I was also surprised at how worn the room was. I was hoping the "newness" was still present. Worst part was the filthy fridge that still had the last occupant's food. Or maybe it was the mold growing under the soap holder of the bath tub.

I think I'll request a newer section if we stay there again.