SSR Lovers and/or Owners Thread!

[MamaCrush]

I am sorry to read that Saratoga was not what you had expected!

It was your post that gave me the excellent intel on where to request! We had room #8527. I was so thankful they were able to accomodate our request. I do believe we would have loved SSR regardless of our location, but maybe with a tad less enthusiasm! Our experience with the buses couldn't have been better, so I'm sure we would have been fine if we had to trek from the "back forty" to the Carriage House by bus. Thanks again for your earlier advice!

 

[timandlesley]

So glad to have found this thread. We bought at AKL and have an 8 night AKL stay planned but are using developer points to stay 9 nights at SSR too, so I need lots of advice and can't wait to see the pics of the beautiful resort, the "largeness" of it scares me a bit though.
Lesley

 

[mtmbyck]

Ok all - here it is....

I am here now and I have to say that room 1827 - a dedicated 2 bedroom in Congress Park has to be the BEST room on property. Our view overlooks the pool and the river - the House of Blues and Cirque du soleil are right across the water. The balcony is amazing and bright - 4th floor so not abstructed by trees.

The buses have been a breeze. The longest wait was yesterday morning for MK and it was about 25 minutes but we summed it up to just missing the one before it. I like being second last on the bus route so you dont have to budget an extra 15 minutes to travel to all stops on your way to parks.

All park buses stop at the Springs (main building) before leaving so we usually take a bus over there if we need to. DTD stops at the Springs first so you can take it back to your buikding if you don't want to walk. IMHO, it is too far to walk on most days - given it is in the 80's and the kids are exhausted and our feet hurt!

I like the Congress Pool MUCH BETTER than the Grandstand pool. EVen though there is no bar, the view is spectacular and I don't know why but I am not a fan of the red colour around the pool at Grandstand - wierd eh? Most of the poolside activites are taking place at Grandstand this month whle the main pool is being refurbished.

Went to OKW for swim/lunch on Sunday.......waited 45 minutes to order and for food to be ready (no food court - only a small quick serve stand) and when we arrived at 11am there were no chairs anywhere around the main pool. DD's loved the slide though.

Weather is amazing in SSR - 4th day of 80's and 6th day of sunshine and heat! Wish you were all here.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Ok all - here it is....

Weather is amazing in SSR - 4th day of 80's and 6th day of sunshine and heat! Wish you were all here.

Sounds like a great trip... Just a few more days and I'll be there... I hope I don't get lost at the resort. LOL It does sound really big.

 

[tomandrobin]

It was your post that gave me the excellent intel on where to request! We had room #8527. I was so thankful they were able to accomodate our request. I do believe we would have loved SSR regardless of our location, but maybe with a tad less enthusiasm! Our experience with the buses couldn't have been better, so I'm sure we would have been fine if we had to trek from the "back forty" to the Carriage House by bus. Thanks again for your earlier advice!

Glad I was able to help. The Carousel section is the one sore spot for me at SSR, but all the resorts have that "one" thing bad.

I am a SSR owner and lover, there is never any doubt of that. So my opinions and perspective is slanted that way. SSR gets a bad rap from the "Pre-SSR" owners If you have never been at SSR, you would get the impression that the resort was a dump, located on I-4.

 

[tomandrobin]

So glad to have found this thread. We bought at AKL and have an 8 night AKL stay planned but are using developer points to stay 9 nights at SSR too, so I need lots of advice and can't wait to see the pics of the beautiful resort, the "largeness" of it scares me a bit though.
Lesley

Don't be scared. The resort is not as big as others make it out to be. What Disney resort is not big?

 

[tomandrobin]

I like the Congress Pool MUCH BETTER than the Grandstand pool. Even though there is no bar, the view is spectacular and I don't know why but I am not a fan of the red color around the pool at Grandstand - weird eh? Most of the poolside activities are taking place at Grandstand this month while the main pool is being refurbished.

Glad you are having great time. We love the Congress Pool, the best DVC "quiet" pool in my opinion. The pool is large with those corner fountains, hot tub, play set and the view! Two years ago at New Years Eve, we spent the evening there, enjoyed the NYE party and watched the DTD fireworks!

 

[shelleym3]

Hi

Might seem like strange request for information but does anyone know if there is a giant chess set on property that can be used by guests.

My son has just learned to play chess and think he would get a big kick out of playing on a giant chess board WDW!

thanks
shelley

p.s. we are off to see Mickey's Magic Show tonight to get us in the Disney mood!

 

[Sheribo]

Ok all - here it is....

I am here now and I have to say that room 1827 - a dedicated 2 bedroom in Congress Park has to be the BEST room on property. Our view overlooks the pool and the river - the House of Blues and Cirque du soleil are right across the water. The balcony is amazing and bright - 4th floor so not abstructed by trees.

The buses have been a breeze. The longest wait was yesterday morning for MK and it was about 25 minutes but we summed it up to just missing the one before it. I like being second last on the bus route so you dont have to budget an extra 15 minutes to travel to all stops on your way to parks.

All park buses stop at the Springs (main building) before leaving so we usually take a bus over there if we need to. DTD stops at the Springs first so you can take it back to your buikding if you don't want to walk. IMHO, it is too far to walk on most days - given it is in the 80's and the kids are exhausted and our feet hurt!

I like the Congress Pool MUCH BETTER than the Grandstand pool. EVen though there is no bar, the view is spectacular and I don't know why but I am not a fan of the red colour around the pool at Grandstand - wierd eh? Most of the poolside activites are taking place at Grandstand this month whle the main pool is being refurbished.

Went to OKW for swim/lunch on Sunday.......waited 45 minutes to order and for food to be ready (no food court - only a small quick serve stand) and when we arrived at 11am there were no chairs anywhere around the main pool. DD's loved the slide though.

Weather is amazing in SSR - 4th day of 80's and 6th day of sunshine and heat! Wish you were all here.

We're at SSR in the Grandstand section right now and took a walk down behind Congress Park and over to DTD tonight. Absolutely gorgeous. We're back in November and that will be our request. Might try out the CP hot tub tomorrow evening.

 

[kamikazecat]

Hi everyone! We are not DVC members yet but are seriously considering it. We just switched our trip to a two week stay at SSR. I would like to know what is the best area to request. We have a 3yo so we would like to be close to the main pool and main buildings. Thanks

 

[wic0721]

Hi everyone! We are not DVC members yet but are seriously considering it. We just switched our trip to a two week stay at SSR. I would like to know what is the best area to request. We have a 3yo so we would like to be close to the main pool and main buildings. Thanks

We stayed at the Springs when we were there in November and loved it. It's close to the main pool and main buildings. If we go again, we will definately ask for the Springs building again.

 

[kamikazecat]

We stayed at the Springs when we were there in November and loved it. It's close to the main pool and main buildings. If we go again, we will definately ask for the Springs building again.

Thank you so much!

 

[Gina35]

The Springs is definitely the closest and most convenient. If, by chance, there isn't room in the Springs, I would shoot for Grandstand and ask for the closest building to the Springs. We stayed there last time & it was great. It was a VERY short walk to the Artist's Palette for lunch, buses worked out beautifully, and the pool has a nice kiddie water playground of sorts. The main pool isn't far away so you can go there as well. Just something to consider if Springs is congested & the available rooms are on the far side. Be sure to tell them when checking in that proximity to the main areas is very important. You can have them show you a map with the available rooms in both Springs & Grandstand...and then make your decision.

 

[BlakeNJ]

This was posted on the board but I wanted to add it to the SSR thread (in case you missed it!)

I just got back from BCV and wondered if I would be as excited to stay again at SSR. Lucky for us, we stayed at SSR for one night this week. Boy, do I really love my home resort.

We (crammed) into a studio. We were in the Grandstand Section, room 9601. On the very end of the building. We are spoiled and have only stayed in a 2br. We are 2 adults, two children and an infant. We really need the space. Space was not an issue, at least for a night. The pack and play fit just fine after a little re-arranging of the table and chairs. I did noticed a little wear and tear on the room--thanks to a not-so-considerate previous occupant. They hung something on the wall using clear tac and when they removed whatever it was they hung up, pulled paint off the wall. It looked terrible. Wonder why it has not been fixed?

We had a great view of the THV from our balcony and one TH had lights on inside. We wondered if someone (CM) was staying in it. We also notice a construction area to the left of building 9100 that clearly seemed to be the construction of a pathway--possibly connecting the THV to SSR???? The path seemed to go around the back of the building--from there, I am not sure where it went or was to go.

We spent the day at the Grandstand pool. It wasn't too crowded considering the main pool is still closed for rehab. My kids really enjoyed the splash area and didn't miss the slide.

Overall the resort looked great. Very clean and well manicured. Staff was very nice and quick to help (called for a pack and play and they were up in less than 10 minutes!). I went on a nice run the next morning and I think I'd like to stay in the Paddock Section in the future. The view of the lake and bridge is so pretty and you can't beat watching the beautiful swans float around!

We checked out around 10am and headed over to the Poly to rent a boat. Not realizing the lake doesn't open up to rentals until 11am, the kids and I headed over to MK. Went back and rented our boat a little after 4pm. We rented a 21' boat and had so much fun!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Blakely

 

[kaysmommie]

I had a question for you SSR experts. Do they have pool towels at all the pools or just the springs pool? Also I read there are movies by the main pool. Anyone know where to find a schedule? Thanks.

 

[toocherie]

does anyone have a fax number for making requests to the resort for room location? I am doing a solo trip later this week and because I'll be alone I don't want to be on the ground floor. Thanks!

 

[tomandrobin]

I had a question for you SSR experts. Do they have pool towels at all the pools or just the springs pool? Also I read there are movies by the main pool. Anyone know where to find a schedule? Thanks.

There are towels, laundry and bathrooms at all of the SSR pools.

 

[tomandrobin]

does anyone have a fax number for making requests to the resort for room location? I am doing a solo trip later this week and because I'll be alone I don't want to be on the ground floor. Thanks!

Just call the member services and put in your request.

 

[Sheribo]

I had a question for you SSR experts. Do they have pool towels at all the pools or just the springs pool? Also I read there are movies by the main pool. Anyone know where to find a schedule? Thanks.

We just got back on Saturday. The main pool is still closed for the rest of the month but towels are available at all pools. Usually, the movies are at High Rock Pool but during renovations, they played them at the Grandstand pool. The schedule is done monthly so I only have the March schedule. Movies on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

I would LOVE to have an advanced copy of the activity schedule so I could plan our visit but they just don't release them.

 

[toocherie]

Just call the member services and put in your request.

well, I will do that in the morning, but being that I check in on Friday I thought with it this close that it was out of Member Services' hands and transferred over to the resort already?

on another topic--I made a reservation for a massage and pedicure for Friday!