SSR Lovers and/or Owners Thread!

[BroganMc]

The first thing we always do is turn on the tv to watch Stacy and the top 7. well the tv isn't working. So I call the front desk to tell them about this. 20 minutes of the girl trying to tell me that it must just be the batteries in the remote, even though I explained that I hit the button on the tv. In the end I just asked to have them send someone up to look at it. Now we go out for the day and get back around 11pm. The entire room has no electric. Now don't you think that if they sent someone up to look at the tv they would have found this. So now my wife calls the front desk to report this. She's told to stay put and someone should be out by tomorrow morning. So we ask for another room and what do you think they said??? They will have to charge us to move rooms. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? so off to the front desk my wife goes. It would have been me, but she knows that if I go someone is gonna get punched in the face if they give me any flack. She marches in front of everyone and tells the guy at the desk. he looks on his computer and neither girl has reported the problem. He gets on the phone and has a maintenance guy to the room in 5 minutes. What made this even worse was we met a couple at the pool one night and they were staying on cash. They claimed that their room smelled like smoke. When they called the front desk, they were upgraded to a 2bdr, and there were only 2 of them, given there money back and given a $50 credit on their room cards. This was the first time in 5 stays that I've ever had a problem, but this was a doozy. Sorry for the rant but I needed to vent a little.

Ah, I've heard of this. It would be the "Before the Castle" Cinderella prize. You know, instead of being grand marshalls of the parade and getting a free night stay in MK, you get the rustic room (read: powerless, so true to fairy tale land) on the outskirts of the kingdom. Didn't you notice the helpful little mice hiding in the closet?

 

[bpmorley]

Ah, I've heard of this. It would be the "Before the Castle" Cinderella prize. You know, instead of being grand marshalls of the parade and getting a free night stay in MK, you get the rustic room (read: powerless, so true to fairy tale land) on the outskirts of the kingdom. Didn't you notice the helpful little mice hiding in the closet?

Huh?

 

[punkin413]

The only option is for them to buy the dining plan for the entire stay. The dining plan is designed to be a length-of-stay plan. Part of Disney's justification for the plan is the assumption (hope!) that some credits will go unused. If they let people buy it for just a partial stay, people would schedule their meals to maximize the value.

If they tried to accommodate guests who arrive late, people would lie to abuse the loophole. The only option is to buy the dining plan for every room occupant, for every single night of the stay.

Taking this one step further, if your friends are listed on the reservation and don't want to pay for the dining plan for all 6 nights, YOU cannot buy the dining plan either. Again, it's all or nothing--if you want it you must pay for all occupants, all nights.

thanks for the info. i understand the logic, but it is kind of frustrating. makes the concept of buying into DVC a little questionable for me since one of the big "advantages" is to be able to share the benefits with friends and family.......that is as long as your friends and family have the same vacation plans as you do! i understand this is one of the very few drawbacks of DVC.....just a little frustrating.

 

[DVC Mike]

thanks for the info. i understand the logic, but it is kind of frustrating. makes the concept of buying into DVC a little questionable for me since one of the big "advantages" is to be able to share the benefits with friends and family.......that is as long as your friends and family have the same vacation plans as you do! i understand this is one of the very few drawbacks of DVC.....just a little frustrating.

The DDP rule is just that -- a DDP rule. It applies to both CRO reservations and DVC members. So, this is not a drawback of DVC.

 

[JsMom2]

thanks for the info. i understand the logic, but it is kind of frustrating. makes the concept of buying into DVC a little questionable for me since one of the big "advantages" is to be able to share the benefits with friends and family.......that is as long as your friends and family have the same vacation plans as you do! i understand this is one of the very few drawbacks of DVC.....just a little frustrating.

As Mike pointed out, it's not a DVC rule. What you can do though is to book a studio separately for your friends for the nights they are there.

 

[bpmorley]

thanks for the info. i understand the logic, but it is kind of frustrating. makes the concept of buying into DVC a little questionable for me since one of the big "advantages" is to be able to share the benefits with friends and family.......that is as long as your friends and family have the same vacation plans as you do! i understand this is one of the very few drawbacks of DVC.....just a little frustrating.

Have you looked at the new DDP for 2008? You may not want to get it anyway. We've used it twice, but most likely won't use the new plan.

 

[punkin413]

The DDP rule is just that -- a DDP rule. It applies to both CRO reservations and DVC members. So, this is not a drawback of DVC.

good point. thanks for clarifying!

As Mike pointed out, it's not a DVC rule. What you can do though is to book a studio separately for your friends for the nights they are there.

i doubt they'd want to spend that much. if they stay at a separate hotel (which now they probably will), they'll probably just go to pop.

Have you looked at the new DDP for 2008? You may not want to get it anyway. We've used it twice, but most likely won't use the new plan.

i know we're going to use it. they may not want to. i still have to go over the ins and outs with them as they're not disney-obsessed like me and don't know the details! having said that, we may go back next year for christmas and may not use the DDP then, depending on what we think of it in april. we'll see!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Dawn! We enjoyed using the DDP and will use it again for a short 2 day stay this fall - we ended up our last two days w/o the DDP as we changed resorts and didn't think we would want as much food without our guests, then my BIL and DN came - we found that we spent about $80 more a day for the two days we didn't have the DDP. Now with the tips not being included, it will cost a little more, but still not $80!

I'm not sure you caught one point in the post above - if your guests are registered in your room, you have to either get the DDP for all of the days for all of you, or else they won't let you have it. The dining credits are per room.

You get so much food on the plan, maybe it would be cheaper just to share some meals, which they don't let you do on the plan. Another way for them to get around the games people play with things like this.

 

[tjkraz]

The DDP rule is just that -- a DDP rule. It applies to both CRO reservations and DVC members. So, this is not a drawback of DVC.

Yup.

DVC is actually quite a bit LESS restrictive than CRO when it comes to the dining plan. CRO package reservations have a minimum 3-night stay requirement. DVC members could book just a single night an get the dining plan.

CRO also requires that you purchase the room (normally at full price with no discounts applied) AND your park tickets in a package just to get access to the dining plan. Most people could buy tickets from third-party vendor for $20-40 less per ticket, so the package deal is certainly adding to Disney's bottom line in other ways.

DVC has no ticket purchase requirement for the dining plan.

 

[chipmunkfan]

I went home for the first time in the beginning of December and I have to say I was worried if I made the right purchase decision. I am 100% satisfied . I was second guessing my resort selection the whole year....I absolutely love SSR. The decor is beautiful and let's face it the best part is the toilet! This thing can suck you down with the flush!!! My husband loved it

The only thing that I missed was the mattress from WL. I don't know why but the studio we were in at SSR had the bobo mattress that was pretty very hard. Other than that, it was a perfect trip.

We stayed in Congress Park which was a very short walk on the lighted pathway to DTD. I had to point that out because I read so many posts on the pathway. Walked it several nights and early mornings, as always just be cautious. The walk was only 7-10 minutes for two adults. I love the fact you can catch the bus to any resort over there. I didn't realize this added bonus but it came in handy to get to dinners at Cape May Cafe and the Yachtsman.

I just wanted to say how pleased I am with this resort. Oh yeah, to put my mind at ease, DH and I even went to AKL to scope out the resort. It was nice, but I love SSR....I think it's the lake. There is nothing better than walking along a path beside a lake. *Another quick note...DH and I did the fishing excursion on that lake. I think we caught about 15 bass in two hours. I highly recommend doing the excursion.

 

[bpmorley]

*Another quick note...DH and I did the fishing excursion on that lake. I think we caught about 15 bass in two hours. I highly recommend doing the excursion.

Shame you can't catch 'em and cook 'em

 

[macman752]

Shame you can't catch 'em and cook 'em

Disney fish are not good eating. Too many transistors in those audio animatronic bass.

 

[bpmorley]

Disney fish are not good eating. Too many transistors in those audio animatronic bass.

and I thought they were just crunchy fish

 

[nezy]

What do you mean "catch a bus to any resort"? Did you mean that you can easily walk to to DTD to catch the buses to other resorts or that resort buses come right into SSR?

RE: fishing >Doesn't each boat come with its own fish that is secretly hidden below the boat, opened only when you lower a baited fishing line?
Well trained fish!

 

[bpmorley]

What do you mean "catch a bus to any resort"? Did you mean that you can easily walk to to DTD to catch the buses to other resorts or that resort buses come right into SSR?

RE: fishing >Doesn't each boat come with its own fish that is secretly hidden below the boat, opened only when you lower a baited fishing line?
Well trained fish!

DTD has buses going to every resort. Just like every park. There is no resort to resort direct transportation. except for the monorail or the boat that runs between BW & BC/YC

 

[nezy]

That is what I thought-re: bus transportation.

 

[mikeandkarla]

Just got back from a wonderful first visit home for christmas. What I noticed on the buses at SSR is that it is all luck and timing. We stayed in the Grandstand and loved the short walk to the 1st stop on and off. Sometimes the buses arrived when we got there, and others we had to wait no longer than 20 min. It was our first time since 2001 using Disney transportation, and, we really enjoyed the extra time spent with our children as opposed to driving a car. Also a short walk to the main complex for the High Rock Springs pool, Artists palette, etc.. The ferry boat launch to DTD is also very timely.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hi Everyone!
I am a new member and as of yet havnt been home. First visit will be May 31st, 2008.
Ive been reading this site since we joined on June 1st and have learned alot from some interesting conversations. Ive run the gambit of loving SSR to having buyers remorse! Overall Im still very excited!

Anyway, I just wanted to wish all of my neighbors a very healthy and happy new year!
Rita

 

[naf917]

Just wanted to check in and say that we loved our first visit home. We were there from the 20th to 24th. We had a great time and the resort is awesome. It was a short trip and concentrated on the parks with the kids but next time we are making time to spend a day or two at the resort.

Nothing beats that very first "Welcome Home"

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Welcome Home! I know you will be happy once you have stayed at our beautiful resort! We bought site unseen and were a little worried about our decision, too - now we feel it is one of the best things we have done!