Just back from a long weekend. Ill share some of our observations and opinions if you care.
Group: Me and DW (we share this klaubaugh login), 37, DD9 and DD6.
Background: We are both teachers here in Michigan. We like to travel. As often as possible. Girls are seasoned travelers. Bought SSR sight unseen the summer of 05 just a few weeks before a trip to the Poly. Walked thru SSR when we were there just to see what we had done. Add-ed on at 3 others since, just after stays at each BCV, BWV, and HHI. Were doomed!
This Trips Purpose: Intrigued by the Food & Wine Festival. Great airfare from Detroit on Spirit Airlines. Have a 3 day weekend from school after conferences, so added on 2 more days using comp time and presto! 5 days in WDW from 11/10 11/14.
Pre-Trip: Booked a 1BR at SSR borrowing some points. (As an aside, my points activity statement for my SSR contract is a mess 4 full pages with reservations, transfers, changes, cancellations, waitlists, in only 14 months of ownership. My wife is lucky I like spreadsheets and am logical otherwise we would be in trouble!) Tried getting in to BCV or BWV to be close to F&W, but nothing available. Tried waitlisting no luck though apparently they messed me up somewhere along the line and cancelled them without telling me. Tried splitting our stay 2 nights somewhere no luck.)
Didnt tell anybody we were going. We are getting those family members that think were nuts you may want to check our signature to see why! Also we didnt tell our girls until Thursday night. We played it up like if their conferences went well with their teachers wed do something fun that weekend. They totally freaked out DD9 burst out in tears. (Geesh wait til they find out we are going on a cruise at a Christmas good thing I know CPR). This was fun but waiting to pack til the night before set DW up for some stress. She generally likes to start the suitcases about 2 weeks prior to departure.
Travel: Had to leave at 3:45 a.m. for drive to Detroit airport and 7:00 a.m. flight. In Spirit line at 6:00 a.m. Checked 2 bags and security line was HUGE! Made it through at like 6:40 after me being tagged as a security risk and getting my patdown I get tagged like 4 out of 5 trips and wife getting special inspections for her bleach-free Clorox wipes. Shes got this thing with public dirty stuff ya know toilet seats, door handles, phones, etc I guess Im healthier for it. Anyways we get to gate walk on sit down and plane leaves. Im sure we left people behind. Whew! Smooth flight in on time.
Magical Express checked in - no problem walked on fairly full bus and left. Made DW sit in front of bus to sprint to checkin counter as soon as we stop. 1st stop POFQ lots get off. 2nd stop PO Riverside most got off. Only 2 other couples on the bus now. 3rd stop OKW one couple got off. Last stop SSR we got off and beat the other couple to check-in! Yea! No wait room not ready but assigned to Springs like we requested.
Buses we had no problems. We were close to bus stop could sometimes see a bus pull away as we got ready and could kinda guess on the next one coming. Never waited more than 15 minutes anywhere the whole trip. Had to stand a couple times on full buses but really had no problems. Usually got off the bus at the Paddock stop and walked across the bridge our building was right there and that was faster than completing the bus route.
Walking we walk a lot. One day took bus to EPCOT, did that park, then walked from there to MGM and did that park. And Ill say SSR is not as big to us as we had thought it might seem to be. Walked to and from DTD 3 days no problems. Our girls expect it and they dont complain.
The Resort and Our Room: Were in a 1BR - #4145. This was the absolute closest 1BR to the Springs bus stop. Ground floor. We were back and forth to the pool in 60 seconds from our room. Very convenient. We dont care so much about view prefer convenience if Im in the room Im probably napping.
Our room seemed spotless to us and remember my wife dont like germs. Now we dont search for mold in the shower and dust in the corner, and we dont look for nicks on furniture so all seemed good to us. A little wiping down of surfaces with the contrband bleach wipes and were home! We have only been in a room bigger than a studio once a 2BR with my parents last Christmas. Weve stayed in studios lots of times. We loved the space. Girls used the sleeper sofa and an air mattress (brought own linens had housekeeping drop off a blanket.) in the living room. We used the bedroom. Love having a washer/dryer. I took 3 outfits only wore 2. Did a laundry load every day. Makes packing way easier. I still dont understand the bathroom design some door manufacturer got rich off Disney!
Girls loved the main pool. Pool temp seemed very nice to us. Girls could each use a slide. Zero-entry pools are great. Used the spa locker rooms on check-out day. Didnt leave until 3:30 so stayed at the pool all day and then cleaned up there WOW those were nice! Didnt use Community Hall or other facilities since trip was short. Did have some music one day at the pool and they had beach balls and hula hoops out. Our DDs enjoyed that.
Since we had never really experienced SSR, I will say we liked it. Having read some past poor opinions, we werent sure what to expect. Seemed to good to us we are easily pleased and this sure beats Michigan in November!
Dining: We opted for the dining plan this trip. We had done it as a couple in May and it worked out great. We do have the DDE card though so we werent sure if we needed it this time we usually snack in the room for breakfast and lunch (bringing lots of food with us) and then a nice dinner somewhere. But we decided a short trip was the best time to try it as a family and the F&W booths for the snack credits would be cool. So we stuck with it. We made multiple ADRs, since we werent sure of our touring plans. In the end while it worked out OK and we probably didnt lose money, it was kinda cumbersome for us. Wed do it again if we were closer to Epcot and the Boardwalk bakery!
Table Service: We ate at Wolfgang Pucks, Kona Café, Crystal Palace, and Artist Point. Good meals everywhere. We love Artist Point. Puck was great huge servings, and tried a California Roll (not for us Michiganders). CP and Kona good as expected. Busy everywhere but Artist Point.
Counter Service: We shared everywhere, we could never in a million years eat 4 meals at one setting. Tried Artists Palette (lunch and bfast), Pizzafari, Seasons, French bakery, and Earl of Sandwich. No problems anywhere though some places are more confusing than others.
Snacks: This didnt work as planned. Had planned on using at the F&W festival, but the crowds on Sunday night drove us away so we still had 13 snack credits come Monday morning. We were so full from having 3 meals a day my kids never once asked for ice cream. Used the first 3 on donuts, cookies, and chips at the resort. Used 4 for 2 pretzels and 2 frozen lemonades in MGM on Monday. Used the other 9 at Goofys Candy Company on leaving day. Havent opened that bag yet hope it all made it home OK.
Parks: We have Annual Passes. We usually tour parks in 2-4 hour segments. We always rest in the afternoon with pool time and naps. We use Fastpasses a lot. Friday just enjoyed the pools and went to DTD. Saturday went to AK in the a.m. Headed right to Everest. DD6 was traumatized shes not the brave one. Shouldnt have talked her into it. Set a bad tone for the rest of her day. DD9 loved it. She rode it 3 times. Once in standby line first thing. 2 more times with DW using fastpasses we got at 9:00 am. No Nemo shows this day drats! Also did Primeval Whirl, Triceratop Spin, Pocohantos Show (DD6 and me this was new to us, she liked this a lot) and then Lion King. Gave away fastpasses on the way out we love doing this. We just get them whenever we can and usually we make somebodys day. Girls even got brave about doing it this trip I think there is a life lesson here somewhere! Saturday night went to MK for a bit. Rode Buzz and Big Thunder. DD6 didnt like Thunder either She has liked it in the past, but it was dark and loud. More trauma. Probably scarred for life. Sunday Started at MK opening. Did loads of things quickly. All of Fantasyland including Philharmagic and then to Crystal Palace for breakfast at 10:30. After meal did the High School Musical Pep Rally daughters L-O-V-E this movie. Then split up for Space Mountain and Barnstormer, and then met on Splash Mountain together. Train to the front and then back for naps. Sunday night went to EPCOT hoping to try the F&W booths for dinner. Had been saving my snack credits for this. Had 13 ready to use. Walked over to Living Seas got right on Nemo ride cute and walked into Turtle Talk. Headed to World Showcase. Lots of people. Long lines. No way my kids were standing for this. Headed back to Sunshine Seasons for dinner then home. Monday Started at Epcot. I got fastpasses to Soarin then we met on Test Track. They rode it twice before I even got there. Crowds were non-existent this day. A Cast Member told us they only were projecting 16,000 in Epcot that day. Headed to Figment, then to Soarin to ride and thats where we won Dream Fastpasses. Of course we were about done with the park and most things were walkons all day so we didnt even use them. We gave them away that night at the bus stop. Had lunch at France bakery love that place the girls waited for Miyuki the Japanese candy lady and they each got one then we strolled to MGM. Its 12:30 by now and were pushing our daily limit but we decide to walk there, go in, maybe do one thing and Ill stick around and collect some fastpasses for that night. Crowds were light here too so we stayed longer. DD9 did Tower (2x), and RockN Coaster. DD6 did Beauty & Beast show, then Little Mermaid. DD6 stuck around for the parade with me, and we didnt get back to room for rest until 4:00. Decided to change dinner to Artist Point. Saw Wishes at 6:00 p.m. then dinner. Took bus to DTD and walked home. Tuesday had done all the biggies, knew we were going back at Christmas break so we stayed at the resort. Did walk over to DTD for Christmas ornaments, snack credits, and lunch at Earl of Sandwich.
OVERALL
A great break for us. Weather was nice. Pools great. Girls loved it (except Everest for DD6 of course). Monday showed us what WDW was like in the off-season and we could get used to that! Of course, us teachers dont get an off-season so well enjoy it in small doses I guess. This is what we bought DVC for and it worked great for us!
Group: Me and DW (we share this klaubaugh login), 37, DD9 and DD6.
Background: We are both teachers here in Michigan. We like to travel. As often as possible. Girls are seasoned travelers. Bought SSR sight unseen the summer of 05 just a few weeks before a trip to the Poly. Walked thru SSR when we were there just to see what we had done. Add-ed on at 3 others since, just after stays at each BCV, BWV, and HHI. Were doomed!
This Trips Purpose: Intrigued by the Food & Wine Festival. Great airfare from Detroit on Spirit Airlines. Have a 3 day weekend from school after conferences, so added on 2 more days using comp time and presto! 5 days in WDW from 11/10 11/14.
Pre-Trip: Booked a 1BR at SSR borrowing some points. (As an aside, my points activity statement for my SSR contract is a mess 4 full pages with reservations, transfers, changes, cancellations, waitlists, in only 14 months of ownership. My wife is lucky I like spreadsheets and am logical otherwise we would be in trouble!) Tried getting in to BCV or BWV to be close to F&W, but nothing available. Tried waitlisting no luck though apparently they messed me up somewhere along the line and cancelled them without telling me. Tried splitting our stay 2 nights somewhere no luck.)
Didnt tell anybody we were going. We are getting those family members that think were nuts you may want to check our signature to see why! Also we didnt tell our girls until Thursday night. We played it up like if their conferences went well with their teachers wed do something fun that weekend. They totally freaked out DD9 burst out in tears. (Geesh wait til they find out we are going on a cruise at a Christmas good thing I know CPR). This was fun but waiting to pack til the night before set DW up for some stress. She generally likes to start the suitcases about 2 weeks prior to departure.
Travel: Had to leave at 3:45 a.m. for drive to Detroit airport and 7:00 a.m. flight. In Spirit line at 6:00 a.m. Checked 2 bags and security line was HUGE! Made it through at like 6:40 after me being tagged as a security risk and getting my patdown I get tagged like 4 out of 5 trips and wife getting special inspections for her bleach-free Clorox wipes. Shes got this thing with public dirty stuff ya know toilet seats, door handles, phones, etc I guess Im healthier for it. Anyways we get to gate walk on sit down and plane leaves. Im sure we left people behind. Whew! Smooth flight in on time.
Magical Express checked in - no problem walked on fairly full bus and left. Made DW sit in front of bus to sprint to checkin counter as soon as we stop. 1st stop POFQ lots get off. 2nd stop PO Riverside most got off. Only 2 other couples on the bus now. 3rd stop OKW one couple got off. Last stop SSR we got off and beat the other couple to check-in! Yea! No wait room not ready but assigned to Springs like we requested.
Buses we had no problems. We were close to bus stop could sometimes see a bus pull away as we got ready and could kinda guess on the next one coming. Never waited more than 15 minutes anywhere the whole trip. Had to stand a couple times on full buses but really had no problems. Usually got off the bus at the Paddock stop and walked across the bridge our building was right there and that was faster than completing the bus route.
Walking we walk a lot. One day took bus to EPCOT, did that park, then walked from there to MGM and did that park. And Ill say SSR is not as big to us as we had thought it might seem to be. Walked to and from DTD 3 days no problems. Our girls expect it and they dont complain.
The Resort and Our Room: Were in a 1BR - #4145. This was the absolute closest 1BR to the Springs bus stop. Ground floor. We were back and forth to the pool in 60 seconds from our room. Very convenient. We dont care so much about view prefer convenience if Im in the room Im probably napping.
Our room seemed spotless to us and remember my wife dont like germs. Now we dont search for mold in the shower and dust in the corner, and we dont look for nicks on furniture so all seemed good to us. A little wiping down of surfaces with the contrband bleach wipes and were home! We have only been in a room bigger than a studio once a 2BR with my parents last Christmas. Weve stayed in studios lots of times. We loved the space. Girls used the sleeper sofa and an air mattress (brought own linens had housekeeping drop off a blanket.) in the living room. We used the bedroom. Love having a washer/dryer. I took 3 outfits only wore 2. Did a laundry load every day. Makes packing way easier. I still dont understand the bathroom design some door manufacturer got rich off Disney!
Girls loved the main pool. Pool temp seemed very nice to us. Girls could each use a slide. Zero-entry pools are great. Used the spa locker rooms on check-out day. Didnt leave until 3:30 so stayed at the pool all day and then cleaned up there WOW those were nice! Didnt use Community Hall or other facilities since trip was short. Did have some music one day at the pool and they had beach balls and hula hoops out. Our DDs enjoyed that.
Since we had never really experienced SSR, I will say we liked it. Having read some past poor opinions, we werent sure what to expect. Seemed to good to us we are easily pleased and this sure beats Michigan in November!
Dining: We opted for the dining plan this trip. We had done it as a couple in May and it worked out great. We do have the DDE card though so we werent sure if we needed it this time we usually snack in the room for breakfast and lunch (bringing lots of food with us) and then a nice dinner somewhere. But we decided a short trip was the best time to try it as a family and the F&W booths for the snack credits would be cool. So we stuck with it. We made multiple ADRs, since we werent sure of our touring plans. In the end while it worked out OK and we probably didnt lose money, it was kinda cumbersome for us. Wed do it again if we were closer to Epcot and the Boardwalk bakery!
Table Service: We ate at Wolfgang Pucks, Kona Café, Crystal Palace, and Artist Point. Good meals everywhere. We love Artist Point. Puck was great huge servings, and tried a California Roll (not for us Michiganders). CP and Kona good as expected. Busy everywhere but Artist Point.
Counter Service: We shared everywhere, we could never in a million years eat 4 meals at one setting. Tried Artists Palette (lunch and bfast), Pizzafari, Seasons, French bakery, and Earl of Sandwich. No problems anywhere though some places are more confusing than others.
Snacks: This didnt work as planned. Had planned on using at the F&W festival, but the crowds on Sunday night drove us away so we still had 13 snack credits come Monday morning. We were so full from having 3 meals a day my kids never once asked for ice cream. Used the first 3 on donuts, cookies, and chips at the resort. Used 4 for 2 pretzels and 2 frozen lemonades in MGM on Monday. Used the other 9 at Goofys Candy Company on leaving day. Havent opened that bag yet hope it all made it home OK.
Parks: We have Annual Passes. We usually tour parks in 2-4 hour segments. We always rest in the afternoon with pool time and naps. We use Fastpasses a lot. Friday just enjoyed the pools and went to DTD. Saturday went to AK in the a.m. Headed right to Everest. DD6 was traumatized shes not the brave one. Shouldnt have talked her into it. Set a bad tone for the rest of her day. DD9 loved it. She rode it 3 times. Once in standby line first thing. 2 more times with DW using fastpasses we got at 9:00 am. No Nemo shows this day drats! Also did Primeval Whirl, Triceratop Spin, Pocohantos Show (DD6 and me this was new to us, she liked this a lot) and then Lion King. Gave away fastpasses on the way out we love doing this. We just get them whenever we can and usually we make somebodys day. Girls even got brave about doing it this trip I think there is a life lesson here somewhere! Saturday night went to MK for a bit. Rode Buzz and Big Thunder. DD6 didnt like Thunder either She has liked it in the past, but it was dark and loud. More trauma. Probably scarred for life. Sunday Started at MK opening. Did loads of things quickly. All of Fantasyland including Philharmagic and then to Crystal Palace for breakfast at 10:30. After meal did the High School Musical Pep Rally daughters L-O-V-E this movie. Then split up for Space Mountain and Barnstormer, and then met on Splash Mountain together. Train to the front and then back for naps. Sunday night went to EPCOT hoping to try the F&W booths for dinner. Had been saving my snack credits for this. Had 13 ready to use. Walked over to Living Seas got right on Nemo ride cute and walked into Turtle Talk. Headed to World Showcase. Lots of people. Long lines. No way my kids were standing for this. Headed back to Sunshine Seasons for dinner then home. Monday Started at Epcot. I got fastpasses to Soarin then we met on Test Track. They rode it twice before I even got there. Crowds were non-existent this day. A Cast Member told us they only were projecting 16,000 in Epcot that day. Headed to Figment, then to Soarin to ride and thats where we won Dream Fastpasses. Of course we were about done with the park and most things were walkons all day so we didnt even use them. We gave them away that night at the bus stop. Had lunch at France bakery love that place the girls waited for Miyuki the Japanese candy lady and they each got one then we strolled to MGM. Its 12:30 by now and were pushing our daily limit but we decide to walk there, go in, maybe do one thing and Ill stick around and collect some fastpasses for that night. Crowds were light here too so we stayed longer. DD9 did Tower (2x), and RockN Coaster. DD6 did Beauty & Beast show, then Little Mermaid. DD6 stuck around for the parade with me, and we didnt get back to room for rest until 4:00. Decided to change dinner to Artist Point. Saw Wishes at 6:00 p.m. then dinner. Took bus to DTD and walked home. Tuesday had done all the biggies, knew we were going back at Christmas break so we stayed at the resort. Did walk over to DTD for Christmas ornaments, snack credits, and lunch at Earl of Sandwich.
OVERALL
A great break for us. Weather was nice. Pools great. Girls loved it (except Everest for DD6 of course). Monday showed us what WDW was like in the off-season and we could get used to that! Of course, us teachers dont get an off-season so well enjoy it in small doses I guess. This is what we bought DVC for and it worked great for us!
). Oh yeah...Go Bucks!! 
This cracked me up. I'll bet the girls are going to be thrilled 
), so we went to SSR...we loved it..we were in Springs bldg, real close to pool and food. I thought the living room of the 2 bedroom was a little smaller than OKW and got tight at night time with DW, DS(14),DS(11),DD(8) along with my in laws.....but other than that it was awesome...
