disneycrazed139
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2001
- Messages
- 1,319
We just got back from BWV for 5 days and SSR for 5 days. A little (okay, maybe a lot) about SSR...
Check in: This was probably the least impressive part of my trip. The particular check-in person wasn't especially friendly, no welcome home, and I didn't get the DDT view I requested. I checked in about 11:30 and was told all the views were gone. I was very disappointed at first, but our room that was assigned...2121 turned out to be the absolute best location possible IMO.
Room: 2121, courtyard view, but really an obstructed DTD view. This was a dedicated 2 bedroom. We were precisely behind the quiet pool and on the bottom floor, so could walk out our back door to the pool and to the fireworks viewing area. The views and landscaping were spectacular. I was very impressed. After my initial disappointment, I fell completely in love with this place and feel more at home there than I imagined I would. The playground area was also right there. The viewing plaza at night is a wonderful place to relax. I felt like I was visiting a botanical garden it was so gorgeous. I would definitely prefer this room next time. The furnishings were very elegant and I loved the tones of the wall...very relaxing. Everything was in order, with the exception of a light bulb. At first, I thought the bathroom fans weren't working. They are just extremely quiet. I really loved everything about the decor and the way the room was set up.
One real plus was the sleeper sofa...I actually let my son have the master bedroom because I thought the new mattresses on the sleeper sofas were more comfortable than the regular beds!
Quiet pool: The quiet pool was just a 1 minute beautifully landscaped walk from the room. It was nicely heated, not crowded, and had very relaxing music. Someone mentioned it was elevator music, but I don't remember that...just remember that it set the mood to the surroundings very nicely. Next to the pool was a laundry room. I believe there was a T.V. in the laundry room.
Feature Pool: People have complained about the walk from the buildings to the pool, but IMO, it wasn't that long--5 minutes or so. It's a nice walk. The pool was actually quite large. It looked small to me in recent pictures but there was plenty of room. There were 2 slides...a small one for little ones and a very fast winding slide comparable to a water park slide (except shorter). One cost-cutting feature that I didn't appreciate was that there was no human monitor at the top of the slide. Instead there was a traffic signal, with a recorded message to "wait for the green light" before sliding. IMO this is dangerous. Especially because this slide is definitely not for little kids--it's very fast. There was actually a child and a parent that walked UP the slide after going down, and this could have been disastrous. I think it is a mistake for them not to have a person there. Accident waiting to happen.
Overall, the pool was beautiful. As others have mentioned, more shade would be nice, but I didn't personally mind. The rockwork and falls were beautiful. They were putting gates around it the last day we were there so that kids don't climb on the rocks. One other little problem in this area is that the ground around the pool is made of a stone that gets extremely hot in the sun. My son always ran when he got out of the pool so that his feet wouldn't burn. The lifeguards were always telling him to stop running. Finally, we dediced the best strategy was to keep our flip-flops right by the pool for when we get out. That worked well. The Donald play area was a lot of fun. On our first day, they were having a pool party with music and games for the kids and parents. I made a fool of myself. It was great fun.
Artist Palette: As others have mentioned, the selection here is a little sparse, but keep in mind that there are only 140 rooms open right now. I am sure selections will expand. What was there looked very appetizing. We only got salads there once. The cost of most things in the sundries was astronomical--even compared to the other resorts. I wouldn't plan on doing any major shopping here.
However, the souvenirs and DVC merchandise were great. They had lots of different t-shirts, jackets, hats, mugs, robes, slippers, note pad, pen, etc. The staff was also very friendly here.
Turf Club: We actually spent quite a bit of time here playing pool. They have some nice snacks there too, including chicken wings, chips and dip, and a very nice fruit and cheese platter. It was very quiet there and the staff were always very attentive.
Out the back of the turf club, is a patio as well as steps to the boat dock. The Turf Club is right off the Artist Palette, so everything is very compact once you get to the main pool area.
Boat: Differing from others...I don't think the boat dock is inconveniently located at all. You can just walk through the turf club and go down the steps. We took the boat from DTD Marketplace back to the resort once, but the buses are quicker. The bus stop was actually a 30 second walk from our room, so it made more sense.
Buses: Empty buses. We had them all to ourselves. It was teriffic. They came pretty regularly. Never had to wait more than 15 minutes. The ride to DTD marketplace took 5 minutes.
Health club/gym: I used the equipment here. It is state of the art. Both times I went it was unstaffed. Lots of T.V.s in there.
Spa: I didn't use any services here, but my sister had a manicure and pedicure, which she says were overpriced. I was given a list of DVC discounted services when I asked for them. Nothing was all that reasonable, but it is set up very nicely and if you have the money to spend on this, I'm sure it would be very enjoyable.
Rentals: The community hall had scheduled activities, board game rental, pool noodle/lifevest rental, etc. There were several bicycles for rent of all sizes and a couple of surrey bikes.
Overall, I loved the location of the resort--close to everything we love, loved the atmosphere. I can't really compare it to BWV. It is just such a different feel. Personally, if I HAD to choose, I'd take SSR. I just loved it.
Check in: This was probably the least impressive part of my trip. The particular check-in person wasn't especially friendly, no welcome home, and I didn't get the DDT view I requested. I checked in about 11:30 and was told all the views were gone. I was very disappointed at first, but our room that was assigned...2121 turned out to be the absolute best location possible IMO.
Room: 2121, courtyard view, but really an obstructed DTD view. This was a dedicated 2 bedroom. We were precisely behind the quiet pool and on the bottom floor, so could walk out our back door to the pool and to the fireworks viewing area. The views and landscaping were spectacular. I was very impressed. After my initial disappointment, I fell completely in love with this place and feel more at home there than I imagined I would. The playground area was also right there. The viewing plaza at night is a wonderful place to relax. I felt like I was visiting a botanical garden it was so gorgeous. I would definitely prefer this room next time. The furnishings were very elegant and I loved the tones of the wall...very relaxing. Everything was in order, with the exception of a light bulb. At first, I thought the bathroom fans weren't working. They are just extremely quiet. I really loved everything about the decor and the way the room was set up.
One real plus was the sleeper sofa...I actually let my son have the master bedroom because I thought the new mattresses on the sleeper sofas were more comfortable than the regular beds!
Quiet pool: The quiet pool was just a 1 minute beautifully landscaped walk from the room. It was nicely heated, not crowded, and had very relaxing music. Someone mentioned it was elevator music, but I don't remember that...just remember that it set the mood to the surroundings very nicely. Next to the pool was a laundry room. I believe there was a T.V. in the laundry room.
Feature Pool: People have complained about the walk from the buildings to the pool, but IMO, it wasn't that long--5 minutes or so. It's a nice walk. The pool was actually quite large. It looked small to me in recent pictures but there was plenty of room. There were 2 slides...a small one for little ones and a very fast winding slide comparable to a water park slide (except shorter). One cost-cutting feature that I didn't appreciate was that there was no human monitor at the top of the slide. Instead there was a traffic signal, with a recorded message to "wait for the green light" before sliding. IMO this is dangerous. Especially because this slide is definitely not for little kids--it's very fast. There was actually a child and a parent that walked UP the slide after going down, and this could have been disastrous. I think it is a mistake for them not to have a person there. Accident waiting to happen.
Overall, the pool was beautiful. As others have mentioned, more shade would be nice, but I didn't personally mind. The rockwork and falls were beautiful. They were putting gates around it the last day we were there so that kids don't climb on the rocks. One other little problem in this area is that the ground around the pool is made of a stone that gets extremely hot in the sun. My son always ran when he got out of the pool so that his feet wouldn't burn. The lifeguards were always telling him to stop running. Finally, we dediced the best strategy was to keep our flip-flops right by the pool for when we get out. That worked well. The Donald play area was a lot of fun. On our first day, they were having a pool party with music and games for the kids and parents. I made a fool of myself. It was great fun.
Artist Palette: As others have mentioned, the selection here is a little sparse, but keep in mind that there are only 140 rooms open right now. I am sure selections will expand. What was there looked very appetizing. We only got salads there once. The cost of most things in the sundries was astronomical--even compared to the other resorts. I wouldn't plan on doing any major shopping here.
However, the souvenirs and DVC merchandise were great. They had lots of different t-shirts, jackets, hats, mugs, robes, slippers, note pad, pen, etc. The staff was also very friendly here.
Turf Club: We actually spent quite a bit of time here playing pool. They have some nice snacks there too, including chicken wings, chips and dip, and a very nice fruit and cheese platter. It was very quiet there and the staff were always very attentive.
Out the back of the turf club, is a patio as well as steps to the boat dock. The Turf Club is right off the Artist Palette, so everything is very compact once you get to the main pool area.
Boat: Differing from others...I don't think the boat dock is inconveniently located at all. You can just walk through the turf club and go down the steps. We took the boat from DTD Marketplace back to the resort once, but the buses are quicker. The bus stop was actually a 30 second walk from our room, so it made more sense.
Buses: Empty buses. We had them all to ourselves. It was teriffic. They came pretty regularly. Never had to wait more than 15 minutes. The ride to DTD marketplace took 5 minutes.
Health club/gym: I used the equipment here. It is state of the art. Both times I went it was unstaffed. Lots of T.V.s in there.
Spa: I didn't use any services here, but my sister had a manicure and pedicure, which she says were overpriced. I was given a list of DVC discounted services when I asked for them. Nothing was all that reasonable, but it is set up very nicely and if you have the money to spend on this, I'm sure it would be very enjoyable.
Rentals: The community hall had scheduled activities, board game rental, pool noodle/lifevest rental, etc. There were several bicycles for rent of all sizes and a couple of surrey bikes.
Overall, I loved the location of the resort--close to everything we love, loved the atmosphere. I can't really compare it to BWV. It is just such a different feel. Personally, if I HAD to choose, I'd take SSR. I just loved it.