SSR First-Timer-Ideal Location and Things to Know

[glaserjm]

Hi all! We are staying at SSR for the first time in February for Princess weekend. A cursory look at the resort map makes me think that Congress Park would be an ideal location for getting to/from the Carriage House and proximity to DTD since we're doing dinner there at least once.

Any opinions on this? Also, is there anything you wished you knew about SSR before you stayed there?

Thanks!

 

[hakepb]

Grandstand and Springs are a lot closer to the Carriage House than CP. if you don't mind a ~10 minute walk it's fine, but the distance turns off some.

But CP has the best DTD proximity and DTD views (the quiet pool is a wonderful setting)

The park bus order is Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, CP, Springs. It's not unusual for a bus to be standing room only by the time it gets to CP. this also means you can take any park bus to get closer to the Carriage House (near the Springs stop)

SSR has 2 feature pools, Springs and Paddock. There is a QS and Refil station at Paddock. Grandstand pool has a pool bar with Refil station (during bar hours)

SSR is great when you plan to spend time there, and enjoy the scenery! (And somewhat frustrating if you just rush around and want to get out) SSR also has a great, world class spa (I'm not sure if it is still the best in WDW after the GF spa remodel)

 

[Gillyrose779]

Grandstand and Springs are a lot closer to the Carriage House than CP. if you don't mind a ~10 minute walk it's fine, but the distance turns off some.

But CP has the best DTD proximity and DTD views (the quiet pool is a wonderful setting)

The park bus order is Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, CP, Springs. It's not unusual for a bus to be standing room only by the time it gets to CP. this also means you can take any park bus to get closer to the Carriage House (near the Springs stop)

SSR has 2 feature pools, Springs and Paddock. There is a QS and Refil station at Paddock. Grandstand pool has a pool bar with Refil station (during bar hours)

SSR is great when you plan to spend time there, and enjoy the scenery! (And somewhat frustrating if you just rush around and want to get out) SSR also has a great, world class spa (I'm not sure if it is still the best in WDW after the GF spa remodel)

Agree with everything hakepb said. If proximity and possible view of Disney Springs is a priority then Congress Park is for you. We love that area but we are going to try Paddock next for the newer and less busy pool... and I hear the QS is great.

If being close to the main building is priority then Grandstand or Springs is ideal.

We love SSR. If you have a TIW it works at their main QS- the Artist Pallete- you get 10% off. We enjoy the community hall too. We have two young boys so the crafts are fun.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

We love SSR - it's our home. Don't expect in your face Disney theming. Do expect a calm oasis that allows your ears/eyes to stop ringing after the hub-bub of the parks. We love the Grandstand area - 1st bus stop and a 5 minute walk to the boats and main pool/Turf Club.

 

[m3owbox]

Now I'm worried about the bus situation. We are going next week and I requested the Springs section. Worried about missing a lot of the buses.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

For what you stated you will be doing, Congress Park. Love it there btw!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are running the Princess and need to catch the bus to the start, you'll want to be in the Springs since the bus will not drive around the resort, but only pick up at the Carriage House (like for Magical Express).

We have stayed in Congress Park (before they opened all the other areas) and the Springs (after all the other areas were opened). We didn't have any problem getting on a bus at the Springs stop.

 

[pinklotusflower]

There is usually another bus fairly soon after at busy times like first thing in the morning, I only saw a couple of buses not stop at Springs these were magic kingdom buses and the next one was about 5 mins after. It's also not far to walk to an early stop if you want to make sure you get on.

 

[glaserjm]

Thanks all! This is an unusual trip for us as we're flying and it's a short trip, we usually drive and stay 8 or so days at OKW.

So for this trip, convenience and bus proximity does make a difference since we won't have a car. I think it may make sense to do Grandstand for it's proximity to everything since we'll be walking or using the bus for all of our to/fro adventures. We won't be spending a ton of time at the resort since it's a short trip, but we will hopefully be using the pool at least once!

 

[matheke]

The park bus order is Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, CP, Springs. It's not unusual for a bus to be standing room only by the time it gets to CP. this also means you can take any park bus to get closer to the Carriage House (near the Springs stop)

The DTD bus stops at the Springs first and then travels to Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, Congress Park and then to DTD. With the park busses ending at the Springs and the DTD busses starting at the Springs they can be used as internal transportation to get around the resort.

The Springs bus stop is on the other side of the pool from the Carriage house. You don't know how many people over the years we have had to tell/show where the park busses pick up.

As always have a great time and welcome to 1 of our home resorts.

 

[Pakey]

I just returned from a week at SSR; it was my 6th stay at this very nice resort. I have stayed in all sections except Carousel. This week was at Congress Park. We went to Disney Springs several times and the walk is so much faster now than it used to be. One thing I noticed was the buses. We stood almost every time we left the resort as the bus was already full by the time it got to the 4th stop, regardless of the time of day. I've been to WDW dozens of times and I've never been on so many standing room only buses as I was this week. It doesn't bother me to stand but since I'm in my late 50s, I'm not trying to do it with small children.

 

[glaserjm]

Yes, the standing room only on the bus isn't too much of an issue for us on this trip (I might feel differently after running the half-marathon!) since it will be adults only, but if we were bringing our son, it would be a different story!