SSR observations

[dtauer]

I've been having trouble with posting this message today, I hope all of my attempts don't show up.

We just returned from our first stay as DVC members and wanted to share our experiences at SSR.

First the good.

1. The view of Downtown Disney we had was fabulous. During the day it's nice, but at night it is beautiful and exciting. Although short, watching the fireworks from our patio or window at midnight was great.

2. The walk from our room in Congress Park to Downtown Disney was about 8 minutes. We felt it was a very easy walk.

3. We really enjoyed the member block party. Free ice water and lemonade plus coupons for treats such as ice cream, popcorn and cotton candy. They also had arcade games, carnival games, entertainment, chair massages and balloon animals. All free as long as your a member. They also gave the adults passes to Pleasure Island for the evening.

4. We felt the pool was among the best designed and functional of any Disney resort we've been at. A good slide, zero entry, and plenty of room. We worried about getting a chair since it was a busy week and very hot, but we never had a problem finding enough for our family.

5. Community Hall was a pleasant surprise. They had scheduled towel animal classes, pizza making, ice cream making, pottery etc. In addition, when they closed the pool due to lightning, the staff was on hand to get the kids involved in board games, playstation, and crafts until they reopened the pool.

Now the bad.

1. SSR is huge. We always felt that CBR was a tolerable size and didn't understand when people complain it's too big. If you think the walk from Trinidad South at CBR is long, you haven't seen anything yet.

2. Our biggest disappointment was Artists Pallette. I think the gift shop is the smallest of any Disney resort we've seen and felt the food choices were very limited. We ate there one night and that was enough for us. My son called it "foo-foo" food, and was hoping for chicken, burgers, pizza or one of the other resort common foods. I know Downtown Disney is close, but sometimes we'd rather eat at the resort rather than tackle the masses of people that show up at Downtown Disney every evening at about 7:00.

3. Minor issue with housekeeping with our Privacy door hanger, but this was no big deal.

If anyone wants more details from our trip last week, just let me know.

 

[RealMickey]

Thanks for your great SSR review and observations!

We tried SSR in November and really enjoyed our stay. I agreed with most of your observations, although we liked Artist's Pallette (we are two adults with no kids, and enjoyed picking up dinner to-go and eating in the villa at the end of the day). I can see where AP would not be everyone's cup of tea. Maybe they will add on to or change the dining situation as the resort gets closer to complete.

 

[NMW]

Thanks for the trip report! Glad you had a good time.

 

[Doug7856]

2. Our biggest disappointment was Artists Pallette. I think the gift shop is the smallest of any Disney resort we've seen and felt the food choices were very limited. We ate there one night and that was enough for us. My son called it "foo-foo" food, and was hoping for chicken, burgers, pizza or one of the other resort common foods. I know Downtown Disney is close, but sometimes we'd rather eat at the resort rather than tackle the masses of people that show up at Downtown Disney every evening at about 7:00.

We have to agree with you on Artist's Pallette. We felt that the food was good but the selection too limited and the service very poor . We've been to SSR two times and loved the resort, but both times we were disapointed with Artist's Pallette.

 

[JeanJoe]

Thanks for the report! Makes me look forward to trying SSR someday...

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!! Glad you had a good time.

 

[mjkaferle5]

I think SSR looks pretty cool.................hope to go there one day (or a week or so)!!!!!!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have requested Congress Park for our October and January visits. How long is the walk from this section to the main pool? Also, how was the bus service. We are taking my parents in Oct. and DH's parents in January and are really concerned about all of this walking. Maybe I should request the Springs section? Its our first trip "home" and I am a nervous wreck!

 

[barbnbrian]

I agree with your observations. We've stayed at SSR twice, both times in the Congress Park section. The walk to DTD is not bad at all for us. Most days we walked over to the pool, but we have been know to hop on the bus if there was one at the CP bus stop when we walked up to it. We had to pass the bus stop anyways, so if there was a bus loading, we would get on the bus and tell the driver we wanted to get off the bus at the Carriage House stop (across from the main pool). Same thing with going back from the pool, if a bus was coming, we would get on the bus and get off at CP. If we didn't see a bus, we would just walk back and forth to the pool.

We did eat breakfast twice at Artist Palette and that was good, but we didn't care for the food choices for lunch or dinner and went elsewhere to eat.

Would like to see more selection in the resort store. It's pretty basic merchandise.

 

[barbnbrian]

One last thought - For our next visit to SSR, I do plan to request a room in The Springs section because my 3 kids have indicated they would prefer to be closer to the main pool, arcade, Turf Club (the love to play pool!), etc. The DTD view and walk to DTD from the Congress Park section are all nice, but not a requirement of our family. We would just take the bus to DTD. Just my opinion.

 

[jbwolffiv]

Thanks for your great observations. DW and I feel the same about most of what you said.

 

[aDVCguy]

On my last visit this past April, I found out that there will be a
sit-down restaurant...location will be the awning area just behind
the Artist's Palette.

I feel the same way as do you. We're not going to want to venture over to DTD for dinner all the time. I talked to a cast member there at SSR for that info...no time date as yet but still it's coming. Just compare the other resorts
and what they offer then look at the size of SSR...they have to add one and
then some!

_____________________________________
Disneyland 8/73
Disney World 3/77
Polynesian 7/04
Saratoga Springs 4/05--1st Visit!

 

[mamaprincess]

That's our home and we love it. My husband has really dug in his heels about saratoga. I don't know if we will be staying anywhere else although I'd like to try all the resorts. Thanks for the report.

 

[dtauer]

I have requested Congress Park for our October and January visits. How long is the walk from this section to the main pool? Also, how was the bus service. We are taking my parents in Oct. and DH's parents in January and are really concerned about all of this walking. Maybe I should request the Springs section? Its our first trip "home" and I am a nervous wreck!

I don't think the walk from Congress Park to the main pool was much further than to Downtown Disney. Probably 8-10 minutes at an average pace. The bigger problem I had with the walk is where you have to walk. At other resorts, to walk from area to area there are generally walking paths. Saratoga Springs has walking paths as well, but in order to get around the lake you have to go up to the road and walk over the bridge on a sidewalk next to the traffic. Then, once you are across the bridge you either continue alongside the road, or you can cut through the parking lot of the DVC tour building which always had a lot of traffic. I never thought it was dangerous along the road, there is a sidewalk, I just like the design of CBR and POR better in which the car traffic is around the perimeter of the resort and people walk on the walking paths in the middle of the resort. A lot of the walking at SSR is on the sidewalk along the road.

I think Springs and Congress Park are still comfortable walking distance, I worry most about the new buildings that are under construction. They won't be close to either the main pool or Downtown Disney.

We felt bus service was about the same as other Disney resorts we have stayed at. However, the service from Downtown Disney to SSR was poor in our opinion. I'm wondering if they have limited bus service to and from Downtown Disney assuming many people will walk?

I really was tentative about this resort, we primarily selected it for initial price, lower maintenance, and the extra 12 years. After our first visit I'm fully comfortable with having SSR as our home resort.

There are a couple of things I'm not as happy about there, but heck, they've got 48 years to improve it!

 

[Amy&Dan]

dtauer: Thank you so much for all of that information! Even though we toured SSR extensively when we bought our points, there was so much info swimming in my head a lot of it got mixed up! I guess I will just stick with Congress Park since there is a quiet pool. Who knows, I may not even get that anyway.

 

[gppnj]

The Community Hall sounds really great. I don't know if the Towel Animal and Pizza Making classes were just for kids, but I'd be interested in both of them.

 

[deide71]

Is it just me or do others think the interior design of the rooms and furniture is fabulous at SSR? I have never seen anyone mention in any posts regarding stays @ SSR.

Maybe I'm just shallow.

 

[athenna]

Is it just me or do others think the interior design of the rooms and furniture is fabulous at SSR? I have never seen anyone mention in any posts regarding stays @ SSR.

Maybe I'm just shallow.

I like the room decor! I remember mentioning in that after my 1st trip 'home' in April. It's not so much 'formal', just feels maybe a little 'upscale'. I can't wait to try the 1 bedroom next fall. Of course I have 3 trips planned before that one rolls around

 

[dtauer]

The Community Hall sounds really great. I don't know if the Towel Animal and Pizza Making classes were just for kids, but I'd be interested in both of them.

The pizza making class did have an age limit, I believe it was 6-12 and cost $30. It never fit into our schedule so my daughter didn't have a chance to do it. I thought $30 was kind of a lot but it in addition to the food, it included an apron and a chef's hat that the kid's got to decorate and keep. Our entire family went to towel folding. They didn't show anything elaborate, but it was fun. My daughter's first thing when seeing her grandma was to show her how to fold towels. We did 3 animals, an octopus, a butterfly, and another I can't remember. Each class member got to keep one of their choice. No cost.

Community hall was nice for us, but it also seemed strange to us. The cast members there were offering our kids board games, handheld games and playstation games. Since this is Disney, I was surprised when there wasn't a charge, I guess it's just one of those DVC perks I'll need to get used to.

To deide71: We also feel the room are upscale looking with very nice furniture. My wife questioned some of the color choices of the walls, but I have trouble matching my own clothes so I didn't notice. Our room was primarily done in subdued greens and yellows. Very nice looking.

 

[MarylandPirate]

We were there from the 13th to the 21st of August. We were also told about the new restaurant as well as they will be adding a grill at the pool! This was our 2nd trip and we enjoyed it as much as the first.No real complaints here....I go with my family looking to have fun. Rented a 1 bedroom instead of a studio and now we're spoiled, looks I'll have to do and add on. Again my DS loves the ladies at the Community Hall, they do a great job. Went to my first DVC owners meeting Wednesday at 4.00 PM and had a good time , they gave some nice prizes if your name was pulled! My son stayed at OKW and he said there is a walking traiL now between OKW and SSR however I didn't verify that for my self. Only problem I had was we ate at Captain Jack's at DTD....Food was mediocre and service was average. First time I've eaten there and will never again....I can get a much nicer meal with more ambience at the CR Steakhouse for less money! Rainforest in DTD also was excellent.