SSR Lovers and/or Owners Thread!

[DisneyBride'03]

Glad to hear you are having a great time!! And you got into your room so quickly!!

 

[pennst8r]

We leave next week! It will be our first trip, and we can't wait!

Thanks for all the information throughout this thread.

And bsusanmb, I LOVE the lion in your signature!!!

 

[popstar7867]

First off CONGRATS! If I had the chance to visit Disney regularly at 21 I would have been overjoyed.

I still pinch myself now and again though I'm several years older and have visited for several years now. October is my favorite time to go too. It's my birthday (today by the way); I get to wear a Halloween costume and go trick-or-treating like I was a kid again; I can go over to EPCOT and sample exotic foods with F&W; and at SSR I can (st)roll over to DTD for some shopping and nightlife (if only I hung out with 21 yr olds who liked clubbing, after 30 adults get very boring).

Tips at SSR?

1) One morning get up with the birds. Stroll over to Artist's Palette wth your refillable mug and fill up with coffee or hot chocolate. (The mornings can get a bit nippy.) It doesn't matter how dressed up you are. Just take that cuppa and go for a stroll around the resort. (There's the Congress Park loop where you can see the lake at it's calmest before everyone hits DTD. The Paddocks loop where you get to see the biggest inner resort waterways. Lots of ducks, swans and critters are up and about then. The Carousel/Grandstand loop is where you can walk through the golf course fields, looking like horse paddocks there, and make your way back around by the GS pool.)

Whatever loop you do, head back to Artist's Pallette at the end. Grab some hot breakfast, a cool drink (by 8-9 it starts getting warm), and go eat by the pool or on your room balcony. Watch the resort come alive as people head to the busses.

Best done between 7-10am.

2) If you're a shopper, walk over to DTD for a hot breakfast sandwich at Earl of Sandwich and crowdless shopping in Marketplace. Best done before 11am. By 11am (when the ferries start running), Marketplace crowds form. Hop on the ferry for a ride back to the Carriage House.

3) If you feel like strutting your 21 y.o. wild side, plan an evening at West Side and Pleasure Island. Ferry over to DTD for an early dinner (before 8pm most restaurants are walk-ins, after 9pm they have live bands). Enjoy a specialty drink (now that you're 21 you can legally do this) with your meal. Then walk around Pleasure Island. Use your Plus ticket for entry to all the clubs. There's dancing, comedy and at the Adventurer's Club there's a bit of surrealistic fantasy as you become a guest of a 1930's speakeasy. Stay out as late as you want. The ferries stop running at 11:30pm-midnight, but you can walk home via Congress Park (just make sure you have a friend with you for extra safety sake). Oh and beware the pathways can look different after dark so have a resort map handy in case you get disoriented. The lights of DTD look spectacular glittering on the lake at night.

4) When you find yourself in the park and it gets hot and/or crowded around noontime, hop a bus back to SSR. Go for a few turns down High Rock Springs waterslide and relax with all your fellow owners. No matter what, they tend to find their way over by 3-4pm.

If you're looking for more private time at the pool, pick the Grandstand or Paddocks' pools. Mid-day they are near dead. (Carry your bathing suit in your day backpack and you can just hop off the bus by the nearest pool and change in the bathroom.)

5) For the day you visit Magic Kingdom for the Halloween party, if you have an AP go in early (around the time of the afternoon parade) in your costume. Go get a personal pumpkin pie at the Main Street Bakery, a drink and sit just outside to see the parade pass you by. People will be having a hard time deciding which is the more interesting sight: the parade floats or the costumed adult munching away in the corner. (My dad and I had the best time doing this our first year, both of us dressed as pirates. I think folks worried we might be pillaging early.)

6) There are a lot of other tips for daily use of SSR. Just read through this thread and you'll find them. One thing I'd absolutely do is ask for an extra resort map at check-in. It'll take a few trips around the resort by foot before you know where you are going.

Thanks so much for the tips!!!! I'm sooooo excited! When my Boyfriend and I visited SSR on the DVC tour we loveeed the resort!! Can't wait to be there soon!!! Two more nights of work and then off to a much needed vaca!

 

[nezy]

DisneyBride 03
OMG I am so jealous! What a great thing to be able to do. I have been thinking about doing that-just stealing a weekend away by myself.

I have some free JetBlue flights that I would like to use. Maybe when the kids don't have so many things to do on the weekend-soccer, baseball, Irish fottball cheerleading!!

So what are your solo plans?

 

[DisneyBride'03]

As I said..I am still in shock...he always makes a joke he has ROFR for my trip planning...lol

I will be there just for 3 days...no parks....cause then I will miss my kids more...shop at DTD...maybe a nice dinner...something at the Spa....
Feel free to join me!! Definately want to see WL and GF with Christmas decorations up!

 

[nezy]

Might I suggest going to Cal. Grill. I think you can just go up for apps and a drink in the lounge area. That is what I did w/ a few of my friends-no husbands or kids. It was great.

Actually going to the parks w/o the kids is a different experience. You can definately do it though just do something different. For example, when i go w/ my kids I usally don't drink any alcohol. Without them my friends and I toured EPCOT. We had wine in Italy, beer in Germany. EPCOT is s good choice w/out kids! Also. lots to do at DTD and PI. Have fun!
When are you going?

 

[DisneyBride'03]

THurs, Dec 13 to Sat the 15th...

I like your idea..especially since we rushed through dinner there last month with DD14 mths!! She was great...but I wouldnt take a young one there again...she is great at restaurants...but I do believe now that Cal Grill is an adult experience.
EPCOT would be the one park I would do....like you had mentioned. I can see myself sitting on a bench on Main Street in MK crying I miss my family...lol so no MVMCP for me!!! lol
The Spa at SSR just faxed me over their menu...however, I think I would like EPCOT more and I can shop too!!
My friends here think I am crazy....they dont get how you can stay at SSR by yourself..I even offered for a few of them to join me, knowing they would decline..lol...why does it seem only Disney Lovin' people are here??!!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Anybody know where I can see floor plans showing a dedicated 2 bedroom and a 2 bedroom lockoff?

thanks.

 

[soozaay]

Anybody know where I can see floor plans showing a dedicated 2 bedroom and a 2 bedroom lockoff?

thanks.

Here ya go!
http://www.****************/SSRTwoBedroom.html

 

[ibouncetoo]

Susie, could you PM me with the link...the DIS is filtering it.

 

[soozaay]

Susie, could you PM me with the link...the DIS is filtering it.

you got it....it's on it's way!

 

[tomandrobin]

Apparrenly the filter won't let you link to the disney site either.

 

[ibouncetoo]

nope, link doesn't work either (plus it filters in the PM message to).

I've asked Susie to e-mail me.

Thanks kids!

 

[pennst8r]

Has anyone checked in late? Our flights times were changed...again!...and now we probably won't be at SSR until about midnight.

Just wondering if there will still be someone to help us get our bags to our rooms.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

If you are unhappy with the change they made to your flight, then call the airline and tell them to move you to a flight that is closer to the time you originally booked for. I've done that in the past and the airline accommodated us. If I wanted to leave and arrive at another time, I would have looked for a flight at that time.

Sometimes I think that the airlines just don't get it...

 

[pennst8r]

If you are unhappy with the change they made to your flight, then call the airline and tell them to move you to a flight that is closer to the time you originally booked for. I've done that in the past and the airline accommodated us. If I wanted to leave and arrive at another time, I would have looked for a flight at that time.

Sometimes I think that the airlines just don't get it...

We tried. It was a late flight to begin with, which was ok since the kids didn't have to take another day off. But now it gets in at 11pm. The airline won't switch the flights unless it's been over an hour change....it's about 50 minutes! I can live with the late night...just wondering if we'll have to find our room in the dark by ourselves!

 

[tomandrobin]

Has anyone checked in late? Our flights times were changed...again!...and now we probably won't be at SSR until about midnight.

Just wondering if there will still be someone to help us get our bags to our rooms.

We had a flight get delayed 5 hours because of storms. We checked in at 3:30 am. Bell service to us and our bags to our room. We got to ride in one of those golf carts.

 

[pennst8r]

We had a flight get delayed 5 hours because of storms. We checked in at 3:30 am. Bell service to us and our bags to our room. We got to ride in one of those golf carts.

Thanks! I'm just trying to get everything together today, and wondered. At least there shouldn't be a line!

 

[lyzziesmom]

I checked in around midnight last month and they offered to have Bell Services not only take our bags to our rooms, but they would also take US to our rooms! It was great, checkin was fast and thorough, and there was no crowd at that late hour. Our only problem was getting a little bit lost. The maps are confusing, the buildings are not clearly marked, and there is very little lighting. That place was DARK!! But the checkin process itself went very smoothly. Call a couple days before you arrive and let them know you'll be there very late. That's what we did and we got our requested location of the Springs section for all three of our rooms, the rooms were held for us since they knew we'd be a late arrival.

 

[tomandrobin]

Thanks! I'm just trying to get everything together today, and wondered. At least there shouldn't be a line!

No lines, but your luck, there will be four other families on your flight, all going to SSR. You end up last in line and there is only one person working the counter.

You have to feel a little bad for the Disney employees at the airport, bell service and the check-in counter who basically have nothing to do during the night.

Oh, I hope you don't have your heart set on getting a DTD view. With that late of a check-in, you will be lucky to end up with any view.