SSR Downside?

[MamaCrush]

Still considering our options before I call Disney. (Sort of like trying to put something together before reading the directions, I guess!).

Other than just plain ole personal preference, what are the disadvantages to buying at SSR rather than trying to get a resale at one of the other resorts? I know-- this is really a vague question, but in terms of resort dining, pool, location, size of resort, etc., how will SSR compare to say, BCV?

Thanks so much for your patience and input!

 

[spiceycat]

BCV has two advantages that SSR does not - SALB - Storm a long bay - (SB) and being able to walk to Epcot and walk or take a boat to Studios.

BCV also has room service - not sure if SSR does????

SSR is the new center piece of DVC - they will do their darnest to make this the best DVC resort ever!!!

SSR is fancier (in my opinion) than BCV.

Since they are still building SSR - expect changes to be made - they certainly made changes at OKW - BCV and VWL were built at once - so when member later complaints about little things it was too late to fix them. So won't have this problem at SSR.

Have you seen it - it is lovely and will be even better!

SSR has one big advantage - it goes until 2054 - the other stop in 2042. Do you like Pleasure Island? then SSR is the resort for you!!! I intend to seem some younger members of my family there in a few more years.

I think the younger DVC member will appreciate being able to walk home after PI closes.

 

[laceemouse]

Points per night are less at SSR and OKW than at any of the other resorts. I think the proximity to DTD would be nice. We own at BCV and are trying to decide add-on there of buy someplace else. We will be at OKW in a couple of weeks and plan to tour SSR. I know it is a tough decision. Good luck!

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by spiceycat
I think the younger DVC member will appreciate being able to walk home after PI closes. [/B]

Walk may be a generous description.

One thing SSR&S has going for it over BCV, BWV and VWL is a slightly lower points cost per night for at least some, if not all seasons. May mean an extra night depending on your point total.

They also have "Grand Villas"..BCV and VWL don't have those and the GV's seem to reserve out before the 7 month mark.

-Joe

 

[MamaCrush]

I LOVE these boards! Thanks so much for your input. Keep it coming!

 

[tjkraz]

I don't think the current dining arrangements are the greatest. SSR only has a counter-service restaurant, and the daily menu appears to only contain 5 or 6 adult entrees. The restaurants at Downtown Disney aren't too far away, so that does help. Since less than 1/4 of the resort is currently open, it's conceivable that the menu will be enhanced in the coming months.

The main pool area may also be a bit small for the full resort development--partcularly in light of the "Phase 3" development announced earlier this year. When SSR was first designed and approved, only 4 buildings were to be constructed. The design then allowed for 8 additional buildings, which were quickly green-lighted.

Since then, DVC announced there would be another 6 buildings added by 2007. Since no specific plans were revealed for the design surrounding these 6 buildings, it's unknown what sort of pool might accompany the units.

To answer your question about the size comparison, SSR will have quite a few more DVC Villas than BCV (800 vs. 200), but SSR is quite a bit smaller than the entire BC/YC/BCV complex.

 

[DrTomorrow]

The place is just so gosh-darned big - it's about a 2 mile walk from most rooms to the pool/food area, and about a 1/2 hour bus ride to most parks.



Seriously - and SSR is our home resort and we love it - tjkraz has hit on the one "weakness" we found: dining. Don't get me wrong; Artists' Palette is a very nice place. The menu just doesn't suit us; it's a little too "cheffy" for us - bleu cheese this and souffle that. However, we never take full advantage of the restaurants at any of the WDW resorts we stay at, so it's a non-issue for us.

Others in this forum have made mention of the size of SSR, suggesting that a 5-10 minute walk to the main area is too much - some even claim a need for golf carts. We did not find this to be an issue, but some have. It is, however, key to note that SSR is a series of individual buildiings with a separate common area, like the Polynesian and OKW, not a typical hotel layout where you walk through the lobby to get to your rooms.

 

[mydogdrew]

My biggest concern would be the impact on ability to get BCV/BWV and VWL ressies inside of 7 months once SSR is complete. You may not be impacted much right at 7 months but clearly there will be an impact with lots of day by day reservations I suspect. Conversely, as the largest DVC resort (once complete) you really won't have much of an 11 month advantage yourself at SSR. This could change if they adopt a BWV like view for DTD or if the grand villas routinely book inside 7 months (too many points I think). I own BWV and VWL and consider BWV to offer the biggest 11 month benefit to owners (std view/ BW view and 3 BR option). Buy where you think you are gonna want to stay.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree you should buy where you want to stay most, but the biggest advantage SSR has over any resale elsewhere is the 12 extra years of membership!

 

[DrTomorrow]

Hmmmm, so the 12-year advantage compensates for the 11-month "disadvantage"....

 

[rinkwide]

...the biggest advantage SSR has over any resale elsewhere is the 12 extra years of membership!

I'll take exception to that.

If you really love SSR, great, buy it. If not, I highly recommend buying the resort you like now instead of having to wait until 2040 to see the benefit from a property you don't like as much.

Ask your accountant, paying $2,000 extra today for 12 weeks of vacations that are 40 years away is a losing proposition.

 

[DisneyKidds]

It all comes down to personal preference.

As for my preferences..................

BCV/BWV/VWL have better location.
BCV/BWV/VWL have better dining options.
BCV has a better pool.
BCV, BWV, VWL are "cozier" than the huge complex that will be SSR.

SSR has 12 extra years............but it will also cost you more than a resale.

If you like SSR and it is where you want to stay more often than not, and if proximity to DTD is a priority for you, then buy SSR and you won't be disappointed.

SSR wasn't a choice when we bought our resales at BWV and VWL, but I'd still take those two over SSR. Not that there is anything wrong with SSR, but we love the proximity to the MK (VWL) and Epcot/MGM (BWV), as well as the dining options and access to the Boardwalk that our home resorts provide.

 

[tixx]

I backed out of SSR after placing a $10,000 deposit at the preferred price of $79.00 per point.. for my family I like the walking to the parks and the steakhouse at the Swan hotel..DTD is nice but its not epcot

im waiting for the DVC on the monorail line!

till then I will happily rent points at just over cost

 

[The Great Baboo]

We just stayed at SSR from 8/25-8/29 -- the room was very nice - nice view of DTD (Fulton's Crabhouse lit up at night) -- short work (about 10 mins) to DTD -- the problem we had with all of it was that EVERYTHING WAS TOO FAR AWAY FROM OUR ROOM -- luckily we rented a car, so when we wanted to swim in the main pool, we drove over (about 1/2 mile from our bldg)....which was also right next to the Food Court (which was nice, but limited choice)....we just felt very isolated, not too many people walking around at all, buses were empty, etc.....on the 29th we switched to the BCV (which is our home resort)...everything was hopping there...you interact with people ...short trip to Spoodles...or a walk over to Epcot....We have SSR ressies for Christmas.....but we'd like to change to BW or BCV....but we're waitlisted....As far as buying DVC ...maybe worth going with SSR just to get the extra 10 years of use, even if you don't wind up staying there.....good luck with your decision.........

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by rinkwide
Ask your accountant, paying $2,000 extra today for 12 weeks of vacations that are 40 years away is a losing proposition.

(Assuming you meant 12 YEARS, not weeks)

And what exactly does your crystal ball say that Disney resort rack rates will do over the next 40 years???

DVC is all about pre-paying for vacations. Any financial analysis is filled with assumptions which may or may not prove valid 4 decades from now.

If you want to get into a penny-pinching debate, the higher Annual Dues alone at BCV, VWL or BWV cost you upward of $2k more than SSR over the life of the contract.

IMO, it's better to choose a Home resort with your head than your pocketbook. If you definitely want to stay at a single resort more than 50% of the time, AND will consistently book your trips more than 7 months ahead of time, then by all means purchase points at that resort.

If you have no strong resort preference or are unable to book more than 7 months ahead and can finance the purchase yourself, you might as well buy OKW on the resale market. OKW points typically sell for less than BCV, BWV or VWL, and the dues are the lowest in the program. You also get access to the "cheap" Grand Villas at 11 mos.

Finally, if you have no strong resort preference, need the DVC financing and/or just plain want those additional 12 years, SSR is the logical choice. Oh, and SSR also makes sense if you just happen to like the resort itself!!!

Financially you can manipulate the numbers to reflect just about whatever you want. Choose the resort that best suits your tastes and you'll avoid years of second-guessing your decision over a couple thousand dollars.

 

[Beca]

I, too looked into buying SSR at first, then purchased BWV instead, and am now adding on at VWL. I can only talk from personal experience (my reasons for deciding not to purchase SSR).

Looking at the size of the resorts:
VWL 136 accomodations
BCV 208
BWV 383
OKW 531
SSR 860+

Makes me believe that the smaller resorts will become more difficult to get into after the 7 month window. I think if there are ever ANY rooms available to rent...the chances of those rooms being SSR rather than VWL or BCV are pretty good. Therefore, owners of other resorts will not have much of a problem booking SSR 5 or 6 months out...but, SSR owners might have a difficult time booking VWL or BCV seven months out.

We considered BCV and BWV because we liked the location, and knew we would want to stay near Epcot most of the time, and although we were tempted by SAB, we felt that we could experience that benefit of BCV when we stayed there...not because we owned there. We cannot use SAB even if we OWN at BCV if we choose to stay at BWV. But, as a BWV owner, we could stay at BCV (when we can get a ressie) and use SAB. That benefit is tied to occupants, not owners.

However, BWV had a little bit of a "different" perk. BWV is the only resort to offer 2 different "tiers" of points...standard view rooms and boardwalk/preferred view rooms, with different point values assigned to the different views. Thanks to these boards, we were informed that the standard view rooms (often with as much as a 30% in points required to stay) go VERY quickly, and are frequently not available to people who book after the seven month window. Due to the scarcity of these rooms (I heard they are less than 10% of the available rooms at BWV), the standard view points tier is mainly an "owners only" perk. With a 6 or 7 nite stay, this difference could add a night (or sometimes 2) to your stay...that is a big difference. These standard view rooms are cheaper than the rooms at SSR. Requiring fewer points to stay makes BWV standard views the bargain of the Epcot area, and IMHO makes the points more valuable.

Anyway...I don't mean to offend anyone with my opinions, and I hope I have not done so. The bottom line is this...if I REALLY liked SSR more than any other resort, I probably would've bought there. Or, if SSR had been a "tiny" resort rather than a large one...I might have bought there. We chose to buy into a specific resort for the "advantages" that ownership in that resort could give us. At appx $4.25 per point, per year...maintenance fees (not initial costs) are the big expenditure...and in that, all the resorts are roughly similar, so I would decide what features are important to you, and go from there. You can make yourself absolutely crazy if you try to "balance" the scales...there's just too much info to weigh in on...just pick what is important to...whether that is location, length of contract, amenities, price, or one of the MANY others....and, put your money where it makes you feel good (now THAT statement could be easily misinterpreted!! Oh my...I am blushing ) After all, it's just money...but, life is short, and you only get one go at it...buy where you will be HAPPY!!!!



Beca

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by rinkwide
I'll take exception to that.

If you really love SSR, great, buy it. If not, I highly recommend buying the resort you like now instead of having to wait until 2040 to see the benefit from a property you don't like as much.

Ask your accountant, paying $2,000 extra today for 12 weeks of vacations that are 40 years away is a losing proposition.

No need to get your undies in a bundle over the statement. It is my honest opinion. If you are younger than I am, the extra 12 years would make a difference. To me, it doesn't matter, because I plan to be dead long before that. Have a good day!

 

[las3888]

The best advice we received when buying our resale was buy where you want to stay. At the time of our resale purchase, DVC was pushing Vero Beach, so we were given the pitch that we could just book Disney at 7 months and stay at Disney (we don't have alot of intentions of staying at VB for the most part). I'm glad we didn't go that route. We ended up with 2 resale contracts at BWV and are very happy. As Beca mentioned, we can book a standard view and save points -- we love that option, plus if we want, we can book the much-coveted boardwalk views without problem. After 7 months, it will be very difficult to book anything but a preferred view (which mostly overlooks pools and such). We really like staying at BWV since it feels more a part of Disney to us - lots of dining options, walk to 2 parks...the resort is all under one roof - it has a more hotel feel than a time-share feel to us. These are just some of the things we like about it. Others will sing the praises of just the opposite - alot of it is just personal preference.

I know alot of people love SSR and you might just as well. We personally thought about buying a small add-on there sight-unseen, but were really glad we did not after a recent visit to tour the place. Just not our style. In our opinion, the resort was too sprawling, making the rooms too far away from dining options and main pool etc. Actually getting to DD was alot farther than we thought it would be.

Good luck with your decision!!!

 

[tixx]

the poster that talked of the place being huge and empty right now..glad i passed.. but I will let them give me a tour of SSR

 

[Disneylovers]

We stayed at SSR last month. It was our first experience with a DVC resort, so I'm sorry, I can't compare size of resorts. However, in five of our six previous trips to WDW, we stayed in a moderate resort, (CBR twice, and CSR twice), and the walk to get to the food court every morning was every bit as long as the walk from our room to the pool and food area at SSR (which, by the way, was probably the second to the last farthest away room to the pool and food area in the entire complex). I had read some posts here that SSR needs to provide golf carts for those staying there, because of the great distances to get around, my family and I laughed! Even with my daughter who can not walk quickly, we never took more than 10 minutes to get from room to pool.

The resort is lovely. Yes, it's going to be crowded when it's finished, right now it's empty because only a quarter (not even) of the resort is open. I'm hopeful Disney will make changes as the resort grows. It is our home resort, so maybe we're a bit biased, but we love it.