SSR Owners. Tell me the Good, Bad and the Ugly.

[kenny]

Ok, so last night we decide, what the heck lets do. We have both always wanted to do this and the longer we wait the worse the deals get (length of contracts get shorter, price goes up, etc).

That all being said the length of contract was important to us. My DW and I are both 34 so we want a home resort with a long contract (even though we really liked BCV,WLV & BWV, the 2042 end date squashed it for us).

So our choice came down to SSR, AKV and OKW. While they all looked nice and probably can't go wrong with any, we liked the fact that SSR was newer than OKW, and had more options than AKV (right near DTD).

So we are probably going got to buy this weekend so we get the 100 bonus pts deal.

If we choose the SSR, tell me what you like and dislike about the resort. Unfortantely I was too stubborn to go on the tour in Dec (after all we were never going to be able to afford this so why look. ), so we are trying to make our decision about what we know of locations (have been to disney many times) and pictures on the internet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[PSC]

This link will probably give you a view of what people like about SSR

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1329308

 

[tomandrobin]

Ok, so last night we decide, what the heck lets do. We have both always wanted to do this and the longer we wait the worse the deals get (length of contracts get shorter, price goes up, etc).

That all being said the length of contract was important to us. My DW and I are both 34 so we want a home resort with a long contract (even though we really liked BCV,WLV & BWV, the 2042 end date squashed it for us).

So our choice came down to SSR, AKV and OKW. While they all looked nice and probably can't go wrong with any, we liked the fact that SSR was newer than OKW, and had more options than AKV (right near DTD).

If we choose the SSR, tell me what you like and dislike about the resort. Unfortantely I was too stubborn to go on the tour in Dec (after all we were never going to be able to afford this so why look. ), so we are trying to make our decision about what we know of locations (have been to disney many times) and pictures on the internet.

Congrats on your pending purchase! If the expiration of contracts is your biggest consern, buy SSR, AKV or Contemporary (when it goes on sale 2009). We own SSR and AKV. We love SSR and everytrhing about the resort. We love the location near DTD. The resort has great amenities, probably the most complete resort out of the DVC collection. You can argue location, but its a personal preference. If you want to see animals, buy AKV. If you want to go to EPCOT every day, buy BCV/BWV.

 

[ABCanada]

Like
proximity to DTD, enjoy being able to walk over
low annual dues

Like about others (AKV, BCV, VWL)
distances within complex, we prefer the hotel style complexes with internal halls (this does increase annual dues) to condo style
AKV concierge & theme
BCV SAB & proximity to EPCOT & DHS
VWL theme, peacefulness, WCC and boat to MK

 

[DVC Dude]

The thing I like best about SSR is that they have the lowest annual dues of any of the DVC resorts.

 

[culli]

I can say we were in the same boat as you a few months ago. We have 3 kids 5, 2 and 1. The wife and I just got back from a 5 day stay for just us and to "check it out" before the family vacation in Nov. Well I was impressed, I read so many things here it was hard to determine who was exaggerating and who was honest. I really can't say anything negative we loved it. We stayed in the springs and that was close to everything. While the resort is big I think many people went a little far on describing how big. They made it sound like it was impossible to get from one area to another without a car. We walked all over the resort and found it to be big but doable. We walked to DTD almost everynite no problem. It was faster than waiting for a bus or boat and it is an easy walk. Actually a bus showed up as we were leaving and decided to take it and I do think it took longer than walking. I would say about 10-15 min easy walk from springs. That was a nice perk to just go for a nice walk over to DTD and kill some time then walk back.

The dinning was never really busy but I could see that the quick serve would be way too small during busy times. We ate in the room for the most part. The sit down restaurant was awesome. For the most part the cast members were really friendly. One example - it was raining out but we wanted to walk to DTD and was not sure the way to go. We asked bell services if they could point us in the right direction, instead the guy took is in the "golf cart" and brought us there (granted they were slow at the time) he showed us what path to take etc. Just like the rest of Disney you had one or two that could have been nicer. But overall the service was great.

The spa is a really nice perk. Nice gym and they have a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna - all free for guests of SSR. It was nice to go relax after a day at the parks. The pool was also amazing - I can't wait until the kids see it.

I was really impressed and feel we did the right thing. I have been reading the forums for sometime and came to this conclusion: All the resorts have plus and minus and if you stay at one resort you will miss out on something at another resort. For us SSR seemed to offer everything - great place and activities for kids, easy access to park transportation and relaxing atmosphere for adults. The place is so nice as a resort I can see the wife and I just spending a few days enjoying the resort. The atmosphere is understated (as designed) and a nice break from seeing Mickey and friends everywhere. I really found it to be a great balance of relaxation and Disney. It really seemed to have something for everyone. After reading the posts I was really thinking about changing our family vacation to one of the other resorts. But after staying and "scouting" out the other resorts I feel the SSR is the right choice for our situation.

Sorry to babble hope this answers some of your questions, feel free to ask if there is something I can answer.

Good luck.

 

[tomandrobin]

I can say we were in the same boat as you a few months ago. We have 3 kids 5, 2 and 1. The wife and I just got back from a 5 day stay for just us and to "check it out" before the family vacation in Nov. Well I was impressed, I read so many things here it was hard to determine who was exaggerating and who was honest. I really can't say anything negative we loved it. We stayed in the springs and that was close to everything. While the resort is big I think many people went a little far on describing how big. They made it sound like it was impossible to get from one area to another without a car. We walked all over the resort and found it to be big but doable. We walked to DTD almost everynite no problem. It was faster than waiting for a bus or boat and it is an easy walk. Actually a bus showed up as we were leaving and decided to take it and I do think it took longer than walking. I would say about 10-15 min easy walk from springs. That was a nice perk to just go for a nice walk over to DTD and kill some time then walk back.

The dinning was never really busy but I could see that the quick serve would be way too small during busy times. We ate in the room for the most part. The sit down restaurant was awesome. For the most part the cast members were really friendly. One example - it was raining out but we wanted to walk to DTD and was not sure the way to go. We asked bell services if they could point us in the right direction, instead the guy took is in the "golf cart" and brought us there (granted they were slow at the time) he showed us what path to take etc. Just like the rest of Disney you had one or two that could have been nicer. But overall the service was great.

The spa is a really nice perk. Nice gym and they have a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna - all free for guests of SSR. It was nice to go relax after a day at the parks. The pool was also amazing - I can't wait until the kids see it.

I was really impressed and feel we did the right thing. I have been reading the forums for sometime and came to this conclusion: All the resorts have plus and minus and if you stay at one resort you will miss out on something at another resort. For us SSR seemed to offer everything - great place and activities for kids, easy access to park transportation and relaxing atmosphere for adults. The place is so nice as a resort I can see the wife and I just spending a few days enjoying the resort. The atmosphere is understated (as designed) and a nice break from seeing Mickey and friends everywhere. I really found it to be a great balance of relaxation and Disney. It really seemed to have something for everyone. After reading the posts I was really thinking about changing our family vacation to one of the other resorts. But after staying and "scouting" out the other resorts I feel the SSR is the right choice for our situation.

Sorry to babble hope this answers some of your questions, feel free to ask if there is something I can answer.

Good luck.

Excellent post! I could not have written a better response.

There are too many SSR haters and distracters, that can give the wrong perception to someone who has never been to the resort.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I can say we were in the same boat as you a few months ago. We have 3 kids 5, 2 and 1. The wife and I just got back from a 5 day stay for just us and to "check it out" before the family vacation in Nov. Well I was impressed, I read so many things here it was hard to determine who was exaggerating and who was honest. I really can't say anything negative we loved it. We stayed in the springs and that was close to everything. While the resort is big I think many people went a little far on describing how big. They made it sound like it was impossible to get from one area to another without a car. We walked all over the resort and found it to be big but doable. We walked to DTD almost everynite no problem. It was faster than waiting for a bus or boat and it is an easy walk. Actually a bus showed up as we were leaving and decided to take it and I do think it took longer than walking. I would say about 10-15 min easy walk from springs. That was a nice perk to just go for a nice walk over to DTD and kill some time then walk back.

The dinning was never really busy but I could see that the quick serve would be way too small during busy times. We ate in the room for the most part. The sit down restaurant was awesome. For the most part the cast members were really friendly. One example - it was raining out but we wanted to walk to DTD and was not sure the way to go. We asked bell services if they could point us in the right direction, instead the guy took is in the "golf cart" and brought us there (granted they were slow at the time) he showed us what path to take etc. Just like the rest of Disney you had one or two that could have been nicer. But overall the service was great.

The spa is a really nice perk. Nice gym and they have a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna - all free for guests of SSR. It was nice to go relax after a day at the parks. The pool was also amazing - I can't wait until the kids see it.

I was really impressed and feel we did the right thing. I have been reading the forums for sometime and came to this conclusion: All the resorts have plus and minus and if you stay at one resort you will miss out on something at another resort. For us SSR seemed to offer everything - great place and activities for kids, easy access to park transportation and relaxing atmosphere for adults. The place is so nice as a resort I can see the wife and I just spending a few days enjoying the resort. The atmosphere is understated (as designed) and a nice break from seeing Mickey and friends everywhere. I really found it to be a great balance of relaxation and Disney. It really seemed to have something for everyone. After reading the posts I was really thinking about changing our family vacation to one of the other resorts. But after staying and "scouting" out the other resorts I feel the SSR is the right choice for our situation.

Sorry to babble hope this answers some of your questions, feel free to ask if there is something I can answer. Good luck.

Great Post!!

Im an old SSR fan. I was there on opening day and have spent every NYE there since it opened. We own at all the onsite DVC's except for VWL which is beautiful, but just not for us.

When Dh and I scouted out the DVC's, SSR was still dirt. We purchased there anyway. We also purchased BCV, BWV and OKW. SSR is the resort we enjoy the most. There is so much to do there, easy access to DTD and the waterparks, and a SPA!

We love all the recreational activities and I like the brightness of the resort. You still get the sun but in a beautiful garden-like setting. I like the sun and SSR seems to have achieved the perfect blend of sun and green. BCV and BWV have very little green and though I love them, it is more for their location.

Dh and I take morning walks around SSR to DTD and OKW. The castmembers are really some of the nicest we have encountered. They remember you, your likes, etc. I did a little craft project at Community Hall in July and when I returned in December, Tori brought it out from the back and said you forgot this!

I have stopped "campaigning" for SSR. We love it and that is all that matters. It is a great place to vacation with lots to offer when you tire of standing in the lines at the parks. My boys (11 and 9 now) prefer hanging out at the resort as opposed to the parks, and I ask them all the time "where do you want to stay this time" and they always say SSR. Last Christmas we split between AKV Concierge and SSR. They enjoyed Concierge, but this year they want the entire trip at SSR.

I agree, you should try it for yourself. Some people would never live in Texas, although I love it here and dont like snow. So you do have to maintain perspective that we all have different likes and dislikes.

 

[ChelleinNC]

ITA with the pp's! SSR is a wonderful stand alone resort, with the added bonus of being at Disney We stayed for 10nts last June, and loved that we could easily go to the parks, but even better, that we could just have a vacation at a beautiful resort.

 

[culli]

Hmmmmmmmmmm maybe we should take an different approach. SSR is really bad you would hate it don't stay there go anywhere but SSR . The less people who want to stay at SSR the better for us that love it right? The less people who stay at SSR the less crowded the spa, pool, restaurants and better chance I GET TO GET my preferred location and time

Just a thought as I really don't care if other like it, the more haters the better for those who love it

 

[La2kw]

We think the interior furnishings are the nicest out of all the DVC's. The design and colors used in the units are very nice. We also have found SSR to have the friendliest and nicest cm's. A huge advantage for us is that we can walk to Ghiradelli's for sundaes any time we want to. We also enjoy Artists's Pallette and wish OKW and BWV had a place like this. The Turf Club is also an excellent restaurant which we enjoy even when we aren't staying at SSR. We love the vibe of the resort. It's laid back and calm, even with the number of rooms it has, you never feel crowded like at some of the DVC's that were shoehorned into existing hotels.

We wish the units were larger, like OKW and Kidani. With all the space there, they could have definitely made the units larger. We have mixed feelings about those funky inside/outside hallways. We wish they showed movies at the theater instead of using it for DVC models.

 

[DVCTiff]

Congrats to Kenny and well said culli!

We own at SSR and love it (totally forgot or didn't know there was a sauna - definitely will hit that up next time), though we seem to split our visits with VWL lately. But that's the beauty of DVC ownership really. I feel like no matter what's available, I'm always happy if they ONLY have SSR available!

 

[LIFERBABE]

Hmmmmmmmmmm maybe we should take an different approach. SSR is really bad you would hate it don't stay there go anywhere but SSR . The less people who want to stay at SSR the better for us that love it right? The less people who stay at SSR the less crowded the spa, pool, restaurants and better chance I GET TO GET my preferred location and time

Just a thought as I really don't care if other like it, the more haters the better for those who love it

EXACTLY!

At SSR, I always get what I want, if we want to stay an extra day it's available AND we dont have to move, (which is every trip we add a day ) and the hot tubs and pavilions are always available. We get to focus more on us at SSR than other people which we get plenty of at WDW.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I own at SSR and love it. However, one thing to consider is both OKW and SSR are pretty easy to get into at the 7 month mark. There's really not a huge advantage to having it as a home resort, unless you're trying to book a GV.

The other thing to consider is whether you like a condo style resort or something that's more like a hotel. OKW and SSR are more condo in style, where AKV and the other resorts have more of a hotel feel, with a lobby and room right off the elevators. The hotel style feels more active, so if you like peace and quite, opt for SSR or OKW.

While I've never stayed at AKV (yet!!! ), I wouldn't hesitate to buy at SSR or OKW. I truly LOVE both resorts.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

Good:
Beautiful, peaceful, relaxing resort

Bad:
Artist's Pallete can be busy at times - - worst I can do.

Ugly:
Nothing - it's very nice

SSR...

 

[veenstra56]

Several months ago I surprised my wife by offering to purchase an add-on at any DVC resort she chose (we already owned at BWV). To my surprise, she chose SSR. I say 'surprised' because I expected her to choose VWL or BCV, since they are smaller, harder to book resorts, and of course because they are fantastic places. When I asked her why she chose SSR, her reply was, simply, "That's the resort I like best".

People tend to focus on the fact that SSR is not near any of the parks, like BCV. They also dislike the fact that the resort is so large. This, I believe, gave SSR a bad rap even before it was built. Alot of people just decided they weren't going to like it from the beginning.

The reality is that SSR is a fabulous, stand alone resort. It has a great restaurant in Turf Club, a highly regarded Spa, a top notch golf course, and is within walking distance to DTD, so you're only a 15+- walk to a movie theater, restaurants, shopping, etc.

In fairness, I dislike the layout at Artist Pallete and wish that Disney would have built another quick service restaurant like Hurricane Hanna's (at BCV) for things like hot dogs and burgers. I also am not a huge fan of the main pool, although I will say that the quiet pools are excellent.

In the end, we have no regrets with our SSR purchase.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[TinksDH]

Like: EASY to get into. For some reason, SSR has a bad rap. And to be honest, I felt that way until last month. We stayed there early on in the construction and for some reason I didn't care for it. We stayed there again a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't figure out WHY I didn't like it the first time! We'll be going back in December. Also like that it is "DVC-II" with a longer amount of time until is expires. Although I would wager that DVC will do something with the other resorts like they are doing with OKW...

Dislike: Similar to OKW, the bus route take a little bit of time. Instead of 1 stop, like many of the DVC resorts, there are 3 (maybe 4?) in SSR, and you have to meander all the way through the resort to get to your stop. It sounds worse than it is....

They all have there plusses and minuses....

 

[La2kw]

Dislike: Similar to OKW, the bus route take a little bit of time. Instead of 1 stop, like many of the DVC resorts, there are 3 (maybe 4?) in SSR, and you have to meander all the way through the resort to get to your stop. It sounds worse than it is...

Which DVC resorts have only one stop? Both BWV and BCV have to stop at BWV, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club and Beach Club. VWL have shared with various MK resorts over time, including FW at one point.

 

[BroganMc]

So our choice came down to SSR, AKV and OKW. While they all looked nice and probably can't go wrong with any, we liked the fact that SSR was newer than OKW, and had more options than AKV (right near DTD).

So we are probably going got to buy this weekend so we get the 100 bonus pts deal.

If we choose the SSR, tell me what you like and dislike about the resort. Unfortantely I was too stubborn to go on the tour in Dec

I don't like that SSR doesn't have booking categories for the various neighborhoods. If you go expecting a DTD view and lots of quick walks to DTD but arrive after noon, you may find yourself in the Paddocks instead merely because someone arrive 3 hours earlier and took the last Congress Park unit.

The living rooms could be bigger, but then you get the same problem at BWV, BCV and VWL.

Walks around the resort are fabulous 10-11 mos of the year. The one month that it drops below 50 degrees it is darn chilly out there.

All the tables by the main pool are mostly located in the one spot you don't want to be... in the shade behind the lifeguards. All the tables on the other side of the pool are usually claimed early and held all day. Grandstand pool has a much better layout of tables and chairs.

The automatic AC/heating sensors can make you freeze or boil at night when you're still until you figure out how to reset them. I have a code for that.

The breakfast and dinner lines at Artist's Palette are confusing the first few times you use them. Especially if you get a child's meal. You line up in the middle, order then step to the left to get drinks and cut through the line to pay at the register's on the right. Then you go back up to the counter to wait. It could be a lot more elegant.

And most of all, I hate when I have to leave.

These are the few pet peeves I have. They aren't really major on my announces list just things I've noticed over the last couple years. As my sig says, I can probably wax poetic for pages and pages about my love for the resort.

I adore the landscaping of the resort, the handicap accessibility and the staff of the resort.

 

[Starr W.]

I'm really getting tired of AP getting a bum rap. If you want to be really annoyed stay at BCV and go to the Marketplace. The food line there is a nightmare, do not get behind a multifamily group trying to order kids meals, you'll be there all night. I got in a rather short line, only 2 people in front of me and it took me 15 minutes to get some gelato, because these 2 women couldn't figure out what 10 kids wanted to eat.

The checkout lanes are no different than AP, you can get in front of someone with a bunch of Disney stuff while your food gets cold. Plus the menu is much more interesting at AP.

To be honest I've stayed at SSR during Thanksgiving and it was much easier to get in and out of than BC Marketplace at MLK weekend.