SSR/GF/BLT

[ClaraOswald]

Totally agree. There's also no indoor quick-service dining at OKW. You can pick up stuff from the outdoor counter at the main building (or I think the Turtle Pond shack has food), but then you either have to sit outside at a table, or walk forever back to your room, or ride with it on a bus that's going around the resort. We don't often eat at the resort, but when we do, it's because we're tired and want it to be quick and easy. 15-20 minutes of food transport or sitting outside in heat/humidity/rain/etc is not quick and easy.

Well, that's enough to knock OKW off my list, I think. We always do a QS breakfast before heading to the parks. Sitting outside is fine if the weather is decent but you never know with that in Florida.

 

[10CJ]

Have you considered renting a car?

 

[Sandisw]

Last night my husband and I spent some time looking at youtube videos of the rooms/resorts. We added Kidani Village and Old Key West into the mix. We have 5 more days to mull it over but here's where our heads are at now...

SSR - still nervous about the bus situation. But really love the relaxing vibe of the grounds and we love resorts with scenery that includes water. Years ago we were at POR and we had a long walk to the food court from Alligator Bayou but really enjoyed the relaxing walk by the water to get there. The rooms at SSR look pretty nice as well.

GF - As of now, the only room type that might be available would be the resort studio. And I think the noise reports are enough for me to eliminate it. (If a room in the regular DVC building was ever available, we'd likely try that but I don't see it happening.)

BLT - I am not a fan of being on a very high floor so this building kind of freaks me out. The rooms looks a bit....blah to me. And it just seems like a concrete vibe on the grounds instead of a more scenic looking area.

Kidani - This one actually looks pretty nice...though the lack of a waterway is a bit of a bummer for me. A touring plans page I found said it takes roughly 50 minutes to get to MK where in comparison, to get to all of the parks from SSR they listed times closer to 30 minutes. Not really sure on the accuracy though. It looks like these studios have a pullout couch instead of a murphy so loses a few points for that.

OKW - Seems super quiet and a vibe we really like. Grounds look similar to SSR. The studio room shape is odd. It looks like it lacks some storage compared to the other studios (we are NOT light packers so we like having good storage space to unpack and feel at home.) Also not a fan of the sink/vanity being inside the bathroom.

So as of right now...I think we have definitely eliminated GF and BLT. I think we're still leaning toward SSR but I'm still on the fence about Kidani and OKW possibly being options too.

I am a horrible decision maker!

Something we did last time we stayed at SSR was budget to use Lyft to parks…except MK…in the mornings. So much faster and worth it!

Even when we stay at RIV or VGF, we do that for AK. Buses home aren’t that big of a deal!

 

[Moneypenny]

Something we did last time we stayed at SSR was budget to use Lyft to parks…except MK…in the mornings. So much faster and worth it!

Even when we stay at RIV or VGF, we do that for AK. Buses home aren’t that big of a deal!

You know, our last trip we decided to use Lyft home from the Enchanted Dessert Party in the Top of the World Lounge. We paid $12 and were back to the resort in 10 minutes, rather than having to monorail or walk back to Magic Kingdom, wait for a resort bus, and then probably stand on a packed bus for the ride back. For some reason, we'd never done that before. I think we'll be adding some strategic Lyft rides into future visits!

 

[ClaraOswald]

When I've looked at car rentals they are insanely expensive.

Our son is autistic and lately he won't get into any cars that aren't ours. We have no idea why. So we're too paranoid to attempt Lyft or any type of car service. (Also, he's still too short to go without some sort of booster in a car.)

I'm thinking he'll be fine getting onto buses but any kind of transportation is making me a bit nervous, honestly. I do think buses/boats/monorails should be okay. We are still trying to decide what to do about to and from the airport.

 

[Matty B13]

When I've looked at car rentals they are insanely expensive.

Our son is autistic and lately he won't get into any cars that aren't ours. We have no idea why. So we're too paranoid to attempt Lyft or any type of car service. (Also, he's still too short to go without some sort of booster in a car.)

I'm thinking he'll be fine getting onto buses but any kind of transportation is making me a bit nervous, honestly. I do think buses/boats/monorails should be okay. We are still trying to decide what to do about to and from the airport.

Maybe try the Minnie Vans, and showing him pictures of what they look like before you go to WDW, that way he might feel comfortable with it.

 

[Shellyred8]

For what it's worth, we're always pleasantly surprised at the bus situation at SSR. It doesn't take that long for it to make the loop around the resort, and it's pretty quick to all the parks. If your bus stop is near the end of the loop, you don't even notice on the way there. In contrast, I hate the busses at OKW. It's set up so it has to do a turnaround in very small parking lots for almost every bus stop, which seems to take a long time because the driver has to go so slowly to avoid hitting the vehicles parked in the lot. Drives me nuts when I'm anxious to get to a park or back to my room.

All of this!
Also, if you end up in one of the buildings that is farther away from the Carriage House, you can hop on any of the park busses and take that around to drop you off there (technically - The Springs bus stop).
I was at SSR a couple of weeks ago and was just riding the boats around because it was a lovely day for it...until it wasn't! LOL! I was on my way to OKW when the lightening started, so that was the last boat until the weather cleared. I had to wait for a bus from OKW back to DS. The drive around to all of the OKW bus stops was obnoxious (for all the reasons Moneypenny mentioned). The bus loop around SSR is pretty much a circle and goes much quicker.

 

[StevieB81]

I love Kidani, but if you're not going to be spending much time at the resort this trip I'd save it for another time. This resort should be enjoyed. There's quite a bit to do and see. It could be a destination in itself. SSR is like an apartment complex, but if you're going from one park to the next it's pretty cheap and a good room to get some rest. Might be a 15 minute walk to the quick service...
We stayed at SSR on our first trip with our 4 kids. We bought in direct at BLT before we left, because we knew we wanted to keep coming back and it made financial sense (direct prices were WAY cheaper back then). Our experience at SSR helped with that decision, but we haven't stayed there since. Our first time not staying at BLT after that was at Kidani. That stay caused me to nearly double our number of points. Got a decent deal for Kidani resale, though it was still more per point than what we paid for BLT (crazy how prices went up). Anyway, be careful where you stay next. It could cost you $10-20k if you fall in love with the place

 

[ClaraOswald]

I love Kidani, but if you're not going to be spending much time at the resort this trip I'd save it for another time. This resort should be enjoyed. There's quite a bit to do and see. It could be a destination in itself. SSR is like an apartment complex, but if you're going from one park to the next it's pretty cheap and a good room to get some rest. Might be a 15 minute walk to the quick service...
We stayed at SSR on our first trip with our 4 kids. We bought in direct at BLT before we left, because we knew we wanted to keep coming back and it made financial sense (direct prices were WAY cheaper back then). Our experience at SSR helped with that decision, but we haven't stayed there since. Our first time not staying at BLT after that was at Kidani. That stay caused me to nearly double our number of points. Got a decent deal for Kidani resale, though it was still more per point than what we paid for BLT (crazy how prices went up). Anyway, be careful where you stay next. It could cost you $10-20k if you fall in love with the place

Yeah...that's what happened after we stayed at the Grand Californian this past February...ha! I bet if we were able to get Boulder Ridge, my husband would try to convince me we need a contract there. So probably a good thing a studio isn't going to be available there for our dates.

I'm thinking if we do SSR, I'll request Paddock area. It looks like a bit of a walk to QS but not too bad. Whatever we end up choosing, I'll probably go to the resort specific thread to ask 1000 questions.

 

[ClaraOswald]

You guys....right now, a BRV studio is available for our dates. Do I attempt to get up tomorrow morning and "walk" for a few days?? I'm not even sure how that works.

 

[CarolynFH]

NM. Sorry, I was confusing myself.

Re walking, is Jan. 17 available, plus the number of nights you’d want? If so, you could start today.

 

[Sandisw]

You guys....right now, a BRV studio is available for our dates. Do I attempt to get up tomorrow morning and "walk" for a few days?? I'm not even sure how that works.

Yes! It’s always a big plus if you can snag the days you want, even if it means starting a few days early and dropping them later.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Sadly, the 17th isn't available. And I'm guessing someone else will snag the 18th (or one of the days I actually need) before me. The last time I checked, a random day in the middle of our trip with unavailable but it's there now. I'm going to just get up every morning and check maybe? If we don't get it, I think we've settled on SSR over all of the other options.

 

[CarolynFH]

Sadly, the 17th isn't available. And I'm guessing someone else will snag the 18th (or one of the days I actually need) before me. The last time I checked, a random day in the middle of our trip with unavailable but it's there now. I'm going to just get up every morning and check maybe? If we don't get it, I think we've settled on SSR over all of the other options.

Yep, check every day. And if you end up booking SSR, you can waitlist BRV and another resort - you have nothing to lose.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I see people mention waitlisting but I couldn't quite figure out how that works. Do you have to have enough points to be able to have that plus an SSR reservation at the same time? Does it automatically switch over if it becomes available?

 

[CarolynFH]

I see people mention waitlisting but I couldn't quite figure out how that works. Do you have to have enough points to be able to have that plus an SSR reservation at the same time? Does it automatically switch over if it becomes available?

When you set it up, you can check a box telling them to replace the SSR reservation. You also set an end to the waitlist, either 31 days or 7 days before checkin. If the SSR costs more points than BRV, set the expiration at 31 days, because if it fills at 30 days or less, the freed-up points will go into Holding. If the BRV costs more, you can let it go to 7 days.

One note: the WL will fill only if all the nights you want become available at the same time. The longer the reservation you want, the less likely it is to fill, but again you have nothing to lose, so I say Go for it!

 

[ClaraOswald]

When you set it up, you can check a box telling them to replace the SSR reservation. You also set an end to the waitlist, either 31 days or 7 days before checkin. If the SSR costs more points than BRV, set the expiration at 31 days, because if it fills at 30 days or less, the freed-up points will go into Holding. If the BRV costs more, you can let it go to 7 days.

One note: the WL will fill only if all the nights you want become available at the same time. The longer the reservation you want, the less likely it is to fill, but again you have nothing to lose, so I say Go for it!

So I would make a reservation for SSR and then make a second one for BRV that's waitlisted? Sorry, I'm so lost. Ha! SSR would cost less points than BRV.

 

[CarolynFH]

So I would make a reservation for SSR and then make a second one for BRV that's waitlisted? Sorry, I'm so lost. Ha! SSR would cost less points than BRV.

No, you would book SSR. Then click on Modify and try to book BRV for the same dates, or start from the Book link, doesn’t matter. If they’re not available, it will offer the option to Waitlist This Stay. Click there, and it will walk you through it. Since BRV costs more, I’d set the expiration to be 7 days, because you have nothing to lose by that.

 

[ClaraOswald]

No, you would book SSR. Then go through the same process but trying to book BRV for your dates. If they’re not available, it will offer the option to Waitlist This Stay. Click there, and it will walk you through it. Since BRV costs more, I’d set the expiration to be 7 days, because you have nothing to lose by that.

Thanks. I just remembered that we plan to bank our remainder of the 2023 points so we can use them for VGC in June 2024 (we have June UY.) So I'm not sure if we'll waitlist this time because we need to book VGC next month and I don't want to be extra confused about using the 'wrong' points, if that makes sense.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks. I just remembered that we plan to bank our remainder of the 2023 points so we can use them for VGC in June 2024 (we have June UY.) So I'm not sure if we'll waitlist this time because we need to book VGC next month and I don't want to be extra confused about using the 'wrong' points, if that makes sense.

Yes, it does make sense. You can learn to waitlist another time!