SSR Lovers and/or Owners Thread!

[mittelst]

I've just made reservations for the middle of July for my first SSR stay. We've stayed at OKW, BWV, and BCV and liked different things about each of them. We've even stayed at SSR before - as Disney Institute just before they closed it . We're looking forward to this new experience!

A question about buses - we've never really had trouble with them at any resort, but I've read some poor reviews about the SSR buses.
How likely is it that I'm going to have to walk to DTD to get a theme park bus in a reasonable amount of time?

Thanks!

 

[jenniferhornsby]

Yes, they all have balconies. Except, obviously, the rooms on ground level. They have patios. It's a beautiful resort.

Thank you!! We'll be taking a 2.5 yr. old and a 6 mo. old. We'd like to sit on the balcony during naptime. That's so exciting!!!

 

[Arizona Rita]

BPMorley, MamaPrincess and Liljam,
Thank you guys for all your answers! I appreciate it very much!
I plan on putting something in the window so people will know Im a proud Diser,
plan on going to Homedepo this week!
I think we are staying in Congress Park, thats close to DTD?
Gay days? Should be interesting!!
Hopefully crowds wont be too insane!
I look forward to hopefully running into some of you!
Rita

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Rita

Hi Rita. I sometimes (in other forums) go by Arizonaborn. I was born in Fort Huachuca. DW loves the Saguaro desert Especially if we're riding horses.

 

[mouseaddicts]

We're going to add on too, but I'm still having a hard time deciding between AKL and SSR. How did you decide?

We just did an add on too ... at SSR. Just like you, we debated on AKL vs. SSR ....... so, I thought I'd share a bit about our decision making process.

First - We absolutely LOVE SSR! It is truly our home-away-from-home!

So, in making the decision about ownership, we had to look at the #1 advantage of your home resort --- Booking Window! That's pretty much it. Unless I missed something, the primary benefit of your home resort is the ability to book that particular resort only at the 11 month window vs. the 7 month window. We've not had a problem getting what we want at 7 months for the other resorts .... so far .... but our requests aren't too difficult.

Since we alreay knew how many points we were buying, we then had to look at the points chart to determine if that amount of points would be worth owning at another resort - solely for booking at 11 months - or if we would be better off adding at SSR? FOR US ... it made more sense to add at SSR vs. making a "new" purchase at AKL. We weren't buying enough additional points to really take advantage of the 11 month window elsewhere, so splitting ownership didn't make sense. We now have enough at SSR to book a GV at 11 months, should we ever need to!

Remember - in order to book your home resort at 11 months, you must own enough points at that resort for the entire booking. If you are combining points from multiple resort ownerships for the stay, you must wait to book at the 7 month window.

Since you posed the question, I just thought I would share what happened in our house. Best wishes!!!

And ........ Welcome Home to all our new neigbors!!! We can't wait to be back at SSR in December!

 

[gatorfreud]

Just FYI about the busses.... there are no theme park buses to/from DTD!

You could aways go to DTD and take a Contemporary bus for MK, or a BW or BC bus for Epcot...

Enjoy your stay! We can't wait for ours!

 

[Liljam]

I must say that the walk to DTD West from our area of The Grandstand was just perfect! We were there in less than 15 minutes, pushing a stroller even. The route is lit nicely so I was even able to travel it alone after dark. I just had to dodge the sprinklers 2 times ! On the evenings we wanted to start at DTD Marketplace, we just hopped on the boat and then still walked home from West side! I would say based on our walks, either place and even parts of The Springs allow for a great walking path to DTD!

Buses at DTD don't go to the theme parks. I know someone was questioning the buses. They were hit and miss for us, and one didn't even have it's destination listed on the board.

I would give yourself plenty of time if you have a ressie somewhere.

Here are a few pics of the path we walked and the view from it!

The whole walk is on a concrete path and a wooden bridge. The path skirts the golf course and the water. It leads right in to the area of HOB, LN and DQ. I have several photos of our trip and of our villa at SSR in my photobucket account under liljam7 (Album Disney 2008.) I will pst some in other threads here, and I still have a few more to add to my photobucket album too!

SSR is all in all an amazing an beautiful resort. I give it another three years and the parking lots will be barely noticable from most room views. On our walk to DTD I can see where some have mentioned parking lot views.

 

[mamaprincess]

I, too, love SSR! We recently (April) stayed at the Grandstand. What are some of your favorite places to stay at SSR and why?

I am sentimental about Congress Park because that is where we stayed for the first time. It was our first WDW trip and our first trip home to SSR. Congress park was all that was built at the time. The views we had of DTD were just gorgeous. Since then, we have stayed in all of the sections except the Grand Stand which we will be staying in on our trip that is coming up in 2 weeks!

 

[mouseaddicts]

Thanks for posting the walkway photos liljam! We've never taken the walkway to DTD from SSR ...... dunno why! We likely will make that walk while we're there in December though!

 

[DisneySJB]

We will be at SSR on NYE also!

 

[mouseaddicts]

Sweet DisneySJB!!! Are y'all planning to attend the owners party at the Quiet Pool for NYE to watch the DTD fireworks? I think that's our plan - stay out of the crowded parks! Hopefully, my parents will also be with us, so we don't want to overwhelm them with the NYE crowd - espcially in the MK!!!

What are your NYE dates? We'll be there 12/28 - 1/2

 

[Brave teacher]

Question...

I became an owner of 200 points at AKV today. With the current incentive, I must use my current 200 points at SSR in the next year.

What is the order of bus stops at SSR? I'd prefer to request an area that would be the first or second.

Any help?

Thanks in advance!

 

[punkin413]

Question...

I became an owner of 200 points at AKV today. With the current incentive, I must use my current 200 points at SSR in the next year.

What is the order of bus stops at SSR? I'd prefer to request an area that would be the first or second.

Any help?

Thanks in advance!

if i remember correctly, it was grandstand, carousel, paddock, congress park, the springs. we were in congress park and it was nice getting on the bus because there was only one stop after us. but then coming back to the room there were 3 stops before us, so it took awhile. it didn't take that long to get around the stops, though, IMO.

and just to throw this out there, we loved congress park. we were in the building closest to DTD marketplace and it was literally a 10-minute walk. awesome! the walk to the main pool area and carriage house was only about 15 minutes.

 

[punkin413]

hey, guys! we stayed at SSR april 27 - may 3 and we absolutely loved it! i took tons of pics one morning while letting DH sleep in. i don't have them uploaded to photobucket yet, but i will post them here as soon as i do! i do have this video that DH took. he's standing on our porch looking at DTD. we stayed in congress park in room 1123.



the only complaint i had about SSR was the busses, but only coming from parks. it was weird - catching a bus to the parks wasn't a problem. but waiting for a bus at the parks to go back to the resort always seemed to take a really long time. we waited almost 40 minutes at epcot one day.

other than that, SSR was absolutely beautiful and i miss it already! i'll be back in a few days with my pictures.

 

[Arizona Rita]

You all were so helpful before-I have another question!
How do I contact Gardengrocer? And how far in advance do I need to contact them?

Liljam-great photos and especially since they were taken from a different area I hadnt seen before!

Thanks everyone!
Rita

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hi Rita. I sometimes (in other forums) go by Arizonaborn. I was born in Fort Huachuca. DW loves the Saguaro desert Especially if we're riding horses.

Living in Virginia must be way different! Ive lived here all my life, Born in Phx and lived in Gila Bend, Glendale and Peoria! Im like one of those Saguaros! Deep roots and for 100 years!! DL is really my "other home"!
Congrats on the smoke free thing! Keep going!
Rita

 

[MAGICFOR2]

You all were so helpful before-I have another question!
How do I contact Gardengrocer? And how far in advance do I need to contact them?

Liljam-great photos and especially since they were taken from a different area I hadnt seen before!

Thanks everyone!
Rita

Go to www.gardengrocer.com, you can bring up a shopping list and choose your items, put your info in and pay. I'm not sure how far in advance you're required to do your order - I did it at 60 days out, I think. You an probably find that info on their website!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Go to www.gardengrocer.com, you can bring up a shopping list and choose your items, put your info in and pay. I'm not sure how far in advance you're required to do your order - I did it at 60 days out, I think. You an probably find that info on their website!

That was so fast!! Thank you very much!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Sending back the fed ex envelope in the morning. I can't wait to see our new home when we visit in October. I am so glad I found this thread and had a chance to see some of the great photos ppl have posted. Thanks for all the great information.

just got back from our 7-night DCL cruise where we bought in to the Best Kept Secret. We are now proud owners at SSR and have already booked a long weekend in October. We also have booked some time in November at OKW. Looking forward to getting to know you all. i'm sure I'll have LOTS of questions.

Dawn McG

My partner Lisa just bought into SSR for us, also on the May 3-10 Western. We are truly excited about this new adventure and we are both a little overwhelmed with learning all the ins and outs. I know we will have lots and lots of questions.

Looking forward to getting to know some other members!

Linda

Welcome Home to all of you! It is so exciting to look forward to all of the trips you'll be taking to the best place on earth!

That was so fast!! Thank you very much!!

You're welcome. Funny how that works out sometimes!

 

[mamaprincess]

Liljam those photos are so beautiful!!! I have never seen the walk path before. Now it will be a priority to do that walk. Hopefully, we will get our request of Grandstand.

Awesome video punkin413!!! I was at Saratoga for a moment! Just 2 more weeks!!!