SSR owners, did you buy there just to stay at other places instead?

[LSchrow]

we had bought BWV in 1999. then, we added BCV and SSR - both pre-construction, all direct (with CM discount). while there may have been a resale market at that time, we had no idea of it.

years ago, the 11 month window wasn't needed for many of the now hard- to-get reservations, so we figured we could just book anything we wanted at 7 months (also as stated by our DVC guide).
fast forward 14 years, and now we must use BWV points at 11 months to book our oct trips. we usually use BCV points at BWV for our spring trips.
we find it rather humorous that for all the "SSR bashing", the only points we would sell are at BCV.

thankfully, we found that we love SSR for its elegance, friendly staff, gorgeous grounds, views, walk to DTD, beautiful pools, and dining options.

while we enjoy SSR almost any time of year (as a destination, not a back-up), we will always opt for the BWVs during the F&GF and F&WF - the walk to/fro EPCOT is priceless.

 

[JWG]

Given the experience I've had trying to book at 7 months, I would suggest people always buy where they want to (are ok to) stay most of the time. We don't own SSR (BWV and BLT), but I have not had good luck at 7 months trying to move (at understandably popular times).

I was quite surprised to find that nothing is available at Aulani over Christmas to New Years. Not just certain things, but nothing. I've checked all studios, 1BRs and 2BRs. Understandably popular time, but assumed there would be something and that owners there couldn't fill the place.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We liked what we saw, bought it and have stayed there many, many times.

 

[Orsino]

We bought SSR with the intent of staying at other DVC resorts. We have yet to stay at SSR, so I can't really comment on whether or not we like the resort itself or not. I'm sure it will be fine. We prefer the units that have more of a hotel feel, so we shy away from SSR and OKW.

We bought SSR to save money on lower point cost (resale) and lower maintenance fees. We considered BLT for low maintenance fees, but didn't trust that the fees would stay low. We would be fine staying at SSR if that is all that was left in inventory, but that hasn't been the case yet. We tend to travel during the low periods anyway so buying for the 11-month window wasn't all that important to us. At some point we will want to go in December or October, but we knew going in that those trips will likely be at SSR and are OK with that. We will want to stay at all the resorts eventually, so we are saving SSR for when there isn't anything else available.

 

[sweetdana]

I bought due to resale prices were about 10-25$less than other resorts with much longer life.

It is now my 2 nd fav resort. Had I have gone with I thought I would love it would have been ak. After staying there I would have been slightly disappointed. I had only stayed at bwv when I bought. I love being stuck at ssr

I would buy bc if I bought today ( prolly will actually buy at the poly when it opens).

 

[DebbieB]

Except that those discounts with free DDP are only available in the UK market. There are no discounts to USA travelers at SSR, except the normal free DDP with full rack rate room. I don't think the offers you refer to truly add to anyone's dissatisfaction with SSR or OKW for any US based owners.

There have been posts usually during the August/September free dining period where people were upgraded from All Stars to SSR or OKW for free, sometimes even 1 bedrooms. Not only UK. They have a hard time filling those rooms for cash and have a demand at the values. Plus those upgraded might be interested in DVC. I think it does add to annoyance about free dining among members.

 

[dwight16]

i bought a 160 resale in December of 2010. i have never stayed and don't plan on staying there any time soon. not knocking it but i travel at off times so getting BCV or BWV has been pretty easy for me so far. the only reason i bought it was 58 dollars a point for a loaded contract. BUT i was not really clear on how this worked either so i might have bought something else knowing what i know now.

 

[dansamy]

We're not SSR owners. We have BLT & AKV. We have stayed at SSR & AKV. We will (finally) have our first BLT stay in Sept. We would honestly like to stay at each location. I'm going to try to move our December trip when GFV opens to non-owners. I won't be crushed if we don't get it though. I bought two resorts because DVD was selling both of those resorts. I wanted at least 150 points, but we could afford 200 points by buying 100 at each. In hindsight, I wish I had known about the resale market then. (That was also before DVC limited the usability of resold points.) I could have afforded WAY more SSR points resale....

 

[Tinker mommy]

We bought at SSR to add extra points, and have not yet stayed at the resort. We are definitely planning to stay there some time. It looks lovely and we think the treehouses will be super fun. But right now DD and DS are at that age where they want to be at the parks all of the time (oh ok, DH and me too), so we stay at the resorts with easier park access.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

We bought SSR points real cheap through a bankruptcy resale for the sole purpose of staying at the GFV

 

[JWG]

We bought SSR points real cheap through a bankruptcy resale for the sole purpose of staying at the GFV

Let me know how you like your stay at SSR

Having stayed at SSR and OKW, we'd take OKW over SSR if given the choice. For the points savings and room size, we prefer OKW. Those resorts mean we rent a car either way, so OKW is our preference. Though, when staying at SSR we do like being able to walk over and see the models easily. Our guide not so much, we never buy more.

 

[bakenatj]

We will be staying at ssr for the first time this December. We are really looking forward to it. Bought in 09 and have yet to stay there.

 

[Carl'n'Ellie'sDad]

Bought into SSR direct in 2004 direct when it was what was offered. Continue to stay there because it's the most convenient resort when you have a car -- we usually go for extended stays and drive from PA. Bought in when Treehouses were still housing College Program CMs, but THVs would be the appeal for a future SSR resale add-on.

 

[DVCJones]

We bought SSR because that was the 'new' resort at the time. We have been DVC owners for almost 9 years and we have only stayed there once. Not because we didn't like it, but because we wanted to try all the DVC resorts. (I would feel this way no matter my home resort) As of our last visit we finally did it. So, I have already booked our next trip for SSR. I actually like it very much. If I had to put them in order of preference, it would probably go like this...
1. AKV
2. BCV
3. BLT (as much as I like it, I can't justify the number of points needed to stay there)
4. SSR
5. VWL
6. OKW
7. BWV

I am currently looking to add more points at SSR. I think it offers the most bang for your buck.

 

[SnowWhite2]

We bought at SSR and it is our favorite resort. We also own at AKV and I'm not a fan of the dark décor.

We've stayed at BWV once and don't plan to do that again. Not our thing. Too far to walk to the hotel after a day in the parks. Then too far to get to your room.

The great thing about DVC are the different options. I've very happy that people have a bad opinion on SSR. I don't have any problem getting in there. i'll keep the secret to myself.

 

[Cbowman]

We bought re-sale for SSR. We knew we'd only be going to Florida once every couple of years and SSR had the lowest maintenance dues. We are in CA so we have 80% of our points at VGC.

We booked SSR for our December trip with the hopes of changing at the 7 month window. We set our alarms for 4:00am three days in a row, it was very difficult to get anything other than SSR. So, if we were planning on going to WDW often, I would only buy at the resort I loved knowing it may be difficult to switch on higher demand days.

 

[missycj96]

We bought resale at ssr because of the good price, low maintenance and (at the time) late expiration. I wanted a larger contract and with ssr resale i could get a good amount of pts with lower maintenance. I also bought a small vwl contract for christmas decorations using the 11 month reservation. We had stayed at ssr before we bought and liked the pool and community hall and food court (but not how spread out it is). We have stayed at almost every dvc resort. We dont travel at peak holidays, though we are pn the school calendar,. At 7 months we can always get something we like. The only thing is at blt we often have to take lake view. The key is flexibility - if i'm flexible in my dates, view or unit size i find i can pretty much always get a good reservation (we love most of the dvc resorts).

 

[Sammie]

I think most buy what is available at the time, what has the best pricing and dues and most everyone wants to sample the others resorts at some point. After that most settle at their home resort.

Have to remember members can't trade out of SSR into other resorts unless there is a member there trading out or staying at another DVC resorts.

So it works both ways.

 

[dwelty]

We bought at SSR and have stayed at every DVC resort except BLT and Aulani. We still prefer SSR to the others, and are staying there next week in fact.

 

[Starr W.]

We bought SSR back in 2006 after a cash stay(yes we liked it that much). We usually do 2 trips per year, one at SSR and one at another DVC.

Kids(16/12 yr old boys) like SSR the best. If I ask about booking at 7 months, SSR is most of the times mentioned as the 2nd resort(1st choice sometimes is BLT or BWV), most times they don't want me to do the switcheroo!