SSR Pre Trip Report

[RDP]

Hi All,

welcome to my first Pre Trip report. Myself, DW, DD5 and DS3 are going to SSR on the 26th of October. We have stayed in many Disney resorts over the years (with and without children) see signature! We are also DVC members at Kidani village. The lure of free dining and cheaper park tickets convinced us to roll over our points this year and book direct with Disney.

I looked long and hard at the prices for this year and no one could match the value we got by booking with Disney direct to get the free dining and cheap 2 week ultimate park hopper tickets, flights are with VA and the car hire is with Budget. We tried to cost the package with VH but it was around £1100 more expensive, not being able to use the V room will be a small price to pay.

We have booked the Gatwick Hilton for the night before we fly out so we can do the Twilight check in, we have also arranged meet and greet parking to make things as smooth as possible with the kids. This how we have done it in the past and it works very well with children
(DD and DS)

DW is a fantastic planner and we have some great ADR,s booked - Ohanna, Coral Reef, Chefs de France, Mama Melrose, Via Napoli, CRT, GC, GF Café, Donald,s breakfast safari, Crystal Palace, Sci Fi Diner to name but a few! We also have tickets for MNSSHP, we could also do MVMCP with the dates we are there but the itinerary is already quite full.

I have a few reservation about SSR as its the first time we have stayed there. The size of the resort and the buses are not an issue, I just hope its not too 'Motel ' like. On the positive side I am looking forward to the location and using the Spa and other amenities. My parents join us for the last ten days of the holiday but are staying off site. This gives us the best of both worlds as we will have our space but Will also have some babysitters for a few 'date' nights.

The plan is to stay mainly around Disney, we will leave Universal for a few year until the kids are older and we can enjoy all the attractions as a family (The lines for the WWOHP may have died down by then!) It also makes more sense with the DDP. We love spending time at the Mall at Millenia so no doubt we will visit the shops several times during the two weeks, we also have the urge to try out the cheesecake Factory which we have never been to in all the years we have been going to Orlando!

Great Parks, food and location - cant Wait!

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi, I see I am your first follower

I love airport hotels the night before. It means nothing to do around the house before leaving for the airport - and it makes your holiday start a day earlier!

Your children are soooo cute. Lucky you to have a DW who is a great planner. And lucky DW to have someone who appreciates it!

I don't think you will find SSR motel like. There may be other things you love/don't love as much, but I just don't think a motel fits the bill with that one. The decor is subtle and quite tasteful. It doesn't appeal to me PURELY for theming reasons/personal taste, but it is certainly a lovely resort. All those who just returned from a SSR stay last month loved it.

 

[RDP]

Hi, I see I am your first follower

I love airport hotels the night before. It means nothing to do around the house before leaving for the airport - and it makes your holiday start a day earlier!

Your children are soooo cute. Lucky you to have a DW who is a great planner. And lucky DW to have someone who appreciates it!

I don't think you will find SSR motel like. There may be other things you love/don't love as much, but I just don't think a motel fits the bill with that one. The decor is subtle and quite tasteful. It doesn't appeal to me PURELY for theming reasons/personal taste, but it is certainly a lovely resort. All those who just returned from a SSR stay last month loved it.

Thanks for following. We've also been keeping up with your planning for your DD's surprise trip. Not long to go for you now Bet you can't wait. Everything you've got arranged sounds perfect. Your going to have a fantastic trip. I'm glad you think we'll like SSR because it's new territory for us. We'll keep you up to date.

 

[wickesy]

We stayed at Saratoga last year and I would agree with 2Tiggies, it is definitely not motel like.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[RDP]

We stayed at Saratoga last year and I would agree with 2Tiggies, it is definitely not motel like.

Hope you have a great trip.

Thanks for the reassurance. We're really looking forward to trying somewhere new.

 

[jockey]

Your plans sound great, you really should try out the CKF its awesome, we only tried it for the first time this year after numerous visits to WDW, watch out the the portions are the biggest i have every come across in the states!

 

[mandymouse]

Your plans sound great, I hope you have a fab holiday

 

[irongirlof12]

great plans and your kids are too cute I am a serious planner like your DW, my DH just asks ' what are we doing today? 'when we wake up each day! looking forward to the trippie

 

[jtlover]

We came back from SSR 2 weeks ago and loved it. In fact loved it so much I have already booked for next year.

It is a lovely resort and we loved our 2 bed villa - felt very welcoming

 

[RDP]

Thank you all for reading. It's great to hear from a few people that they enjoyed SSR. Getting more excited about the trip every day. We're thinking of requesting a room in Congress park or the Springs. What are the pro's and cons of these areas ?

 

[RDP]

Your plans sound great, you really should try out the CKF its awesome, we only tried it for the first time this year after numerous visits to WDW, watch out the the portions are the biggest i have every come across in the states!

Will definately try this when we're super hungry after a hard day of shopping !

 

[mark&sue]

We are DVC members and absolutely love Saratoga Springs. We always go to Congress Park so we can walk to Downtown Disney (we even walk to crossroads and beyond). However we stayed at the Treehouse this year and found the boat to Downtown Disney really easy.

Hope you have a great time.



Susan

 

[RDP]

We are DVC members and absolutely love Saratoga Springs. We always go to Congress Park so we can walk to Downtown Disney (we even walk to crossroads and beyond). However we stayed at the Treehouse this year and found the boat to Downtown Disney really easy.

Hope you have a great time.



Susan

The treehouse villas look fantastic - We'd love to stay in one. As our home resort is AKV I'm not sure how easy it is to get availability but we'll certainly try for future trips. Congress park is our first choice of location for this trip so hopefully we'll get it.

 

[jtlover]

We stayed in Congress Park on the top floor and had a good view at night of DTD which is lovely with the lights. We liked this area of the park - we also walked to DTD and also walked back from West Side as well.

 

[RDP]

Doing the single digit dance!

 

[RDP]

My countdown now says its only 16 hours until the fun begins. We are off to Gatwick tomorrow. So today will be spent packing and taking care of all those last minute things. DW plans to get all the packing done, Me (DH) will take care of the 'boy jobs' that mainly entails getting the car ready - cleaned, fuel, oil etc. I will probably take the kids out so DW can have some time to think without interruption, so we don't forget anything! We will probably go out for food tonight and start the eatathon as there is not much left in the house! Looked at booking a last minute airport lounge but there is very little other than the vroom that accommodates children, as we did not book a VH we cant get in the vroom. The only other lounge we could find that is suitable is in the north terminal. Decided we would put the money to-wards extra leg room seats when we check in if there available. We have had the extra leg room seats before and whilst they don't look much when you first see them, they do give that bit of extra space which means the seat in front is not resting on your forehead when the person in front reclines it!

Catch up with you all soon!

 

[strawberry blonde]

Have a fantastic time Your holiday sounds brilliant.