Trip Report: Starting at BWV and then to SSR

[mcqueengroupie]

We just returned from a split stay at BCV and BLT. We had bell services move our luggage as well as left over groceries and everything went well. We kept the original grocery bags to store the remaining groceries. We put all cold items into two bags and bell services tagged them with red tags that indicated the items needed to be kept cold. When we received our luggage and groceries all the cold items were cold. So, no worries...

Thank you, I had no idea they did this, we always rent a car, so I just assumed we had to move our luggage over....its been 2 years since our last visit and I feel out of touch....

 

[rmonty02]

5) I thought I had a GREAT idea today. As my family got ready for the parks, I ran over to DHS with all of our tickets and tried to get a fast pass for Toy Story Mania. Well, it wouldn't let me get fast passes for people who were not in the park. I thought that might happen, but I was really hoping it wouldn't. It was super hot, super humid, and I came back to the room soaked in sweat without much to show for it. I was able to get a couple, though, so at least my sons will be able to go.

Total bummer. But you just answered a question I had last night,Thanks. Maybe that hustling counted as your work out for the day(not a total loss).

 

[rutgers1]

Greetings from SSR. We made the jump from BWV to SSR earlier this afternoon. I actually wrote my first report shortly after arriving, but when I submitted the post, the wonderful Disney Internet system proceeded to take me back to the login page. Apparently I had been inactive for too long and it bumped me off the web. When it logged me back in, my post was gone. Oh well, here goes my second attempt. This time, I am typing it in Microsoft Word and I will paste it in later.

To answer the previous question, everything went smoothly with the hand-off at BWV. They picked up our stuff and, as I type, they are delivering it to our room. No problem! I peeked in the luggage room before, and they have a row of refrigerators, so I figure you are set if you have cold items. As for us, we finished all of our refrigerated items and tucked some cookies and other assorted snacks in our baggage.

Here are our initial positive and not so positive thoughts about SSR.

The good…


1) The grounds and buildings are beautiful. Everything looks new. In that regard, it was everything that I expected.
2) The pools are awesome. We walked past the main pool, and we went swimming in the Grandstand pool. It is the nicest “quiet” pool that we have ever seen at a Disney resort. In fact, even though they though the main pool was cool, my sons (8 and 10) preferred to swim at the Grandstand pool. They have water spraying all over, with mounted water cannons that the kids can shoot. They had a blast.
3) The gym is much better than the one at BWV. It has everything that you need.
4) The Artist’s Palette is nice. We enjoyed the flat bread pizza and cheeseburger, though the way they process your orders is a bit strange. I wanted to go back for more, but I gave up when I saw the line.
5) Our 1BR villa is beautiful!

The concerns…

1) I totally understand what people are saying when they say that this place is too big and amorphous. I am someone who likes condo style accommodations, and I don’t mind walking, but this seems to be a bit much. It doesn’t appear to have been designed very well.
2) I don’t get the sense that there are enough dining options on the property. I figure that the designers thought that the guests would consider Downtown Disney to be part of the resort and, therefore, eat there…..but I think most guests would prefer to have more dining options within a short walk of their room.
3) If this resort was ¼ the size, I don’t think that there would be any problems. At that size, it would be a niche resort that fits the needs of those people who want to be close to DTD, near a spa, or near the golf course. However, it is HUGE, and there aren’t enough people who see those amenities as overly desirable. For most Disney guests, being close to a park is preference #1. For the others, they want a resort that features a lot of “action”, primarily for the kids. So, unless they address the need for more action, it will not be overly desirable for the masses. Disney definitely got greedy when they planned this resort.

I think I have a plan for making SSR a viable option for most families. Here goes:
1) For starters, they have to increase the dining options.
2) There is a building near the Carriage House that was intended to house performances (from what I was told). I would transform this building into a mini version of the boardwalk (like at the BWV). It would have food stands and small entertainment offerings. This would not only increase the food offerings, but also bring life to the main area of the resort, giving people a sense that it is a hip, happening place. One silly thing they might have is one of those water shooting games that they have on the boardwalk, but in this case, when you shoot the target, horses would run along a track. Other booths could be themed in a horse racing way (giving away stuffed horses as prizes, etc.).
3) Considering the resort is on a golf course, why not let guests rent golf carts and keep them by their villas? Before you tell me that this isn’t a viable option, consider Fort Wilderness. At FW, they have a certain number of carts available, and they peacefully coexist using existing roadways/pathways. This would add to the golf/spa sub-theme of the resort.
4) To make the resort more kid friendly, I would build Disney’s coolest kids’ playground. Once again, it would be a horse racing theme. Make it big, spectacular – and families will take notice.
5) Last but not least, since the resort is on a golf course, they should continue the theme and add a small miniature golf area.

Every thing that I suggested would generate money and pay for itself (aside for the children's playground), and they would help to make SSR a place where families will want to go. I still think that a tent next to Magic Kingdom would be more popular than ANY hotel that is far from a park, but Disney definitely has a problem with this resort. They built a gigantic resort that appeals to a niche group of people. Unless they make some changes/additions, it will forever be the resort that is last on people's lists.

 

[rutgers1]

We just got in from a late night at Magic Kingdom. We rented a car today, so it was our first time driving into SSR at night. Well, perhaps it was the exhaustion, or maybe the enormous layout of SSR, but we traveled in a circle or two before finding out building.

Prior to heading to MK, we had dinner at the TRex Cafe at Downtown Disney. The ride over was great, prompting me to reevaluate my previous statement about needing more dining on the SSR property. However, after discussing it with my wife, we felt it was no different than the Boardwalk having access to all of the great restaurants at Epcot. Despite the proximity to Epcot, Disney still felt that the Boardwalk deserved a ton of places to eat. For some reason, they didn't feel the same way about SSR.

So, at the end of day 1 at SSR.....Love the room. Love the Pool. Love the overall look of the grounds. Not so excited about the size and lack of dining options.

 

[toniosmom]

I agree with every one of your suggestions, especially the one about dining options. I was the only person at Artists Palette and waited forever for my sandwich. The system is horrendous.

While we thoroughly enjoyed our stay this past March, I doubt we will stay there again any time in the near future. Our home is AKV, so I can't imagine choosing SSR over AKV. Just not enough kid-friendly options. Of course, it didn't help that the main pool was closed for refurbishment while we were there -- something I didn't discover until our ressie was booked and couldn't be changed.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I am loving your trip report.

BWV is so wonderful. I am so glad to see that you are so enthusiastic about the Boardwalk.

For future reference, BWV is within walking distance to the Hess station, which has reasonably priced beer.

I agree with your comments about SSR.

 

[Greg K.]

I feel your pain.

We love BWV, and feel much the same way you do about SSR, too. Lovely to look at but, frankly, not all that much atmosphere or theming. And the food options are poor. Does AP still not open until 7:30? That struck me as bizarre and wildly impractical, especially for people trying to get out the door for an 8 a.m. park opening.

Oh: and the Hess station also has Krispy Kreme donuts

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm enjoying your posts. Have a great SSR stay!

Bobbi

 

[MissMet]

I totally agree with all your statements about SSR and will add that to me when I stay at SSR, I don't even feel like I'm on disney property. It's pretty, but it doesn't have that disney feel/magic.

My first experience was like you, a split stay leaving BWV for SSR. We really were unhappy with SSR. A couple of trips later I decided that I would give SSR a second chance, because maybe we were just really hard on it 'cause of our deep love of BWV.

Well, I spent a week there & went with a clean slate. I wanted to like it. Didn't work. I really, really dislike the resort. We were in the Springs building, well that's the last bus stop. You don't even want to know how many times our bus would just pass us by cause they were full! I really don't like that resort, to put it nicely

Glad you have a car & not at the Springs building.

 

[mcqueengroupie]

Still loving the report...SSR is our home resort, and although it isn't my first choice, we are stuck with it....we always rent a car so we never deal with the buses, I like to come and go as I please, so we will always put out the money for a car...I agree with the lack of dining, for the size of the resort, AP is much too small, and it is crammed in with the shop! It is so spread out, but I don't think Disney had much of a choice because it took over the Disney Institute and those buildings were already there. We stay in Congress Park because it is the quickest walk to DTD...and there is a back entrance right there! I do wish they would do more with some of the buildings, but a the end of the day, I'm just glad to be a DVC owner, and being at Disney just makes me happy!!
Enjoy the rest of your trip, and keep those reports coming!

 

[figmentfan0724]

love your TR thus far, I love SSR but I guess I am one of the few! Keep the updates coming

 

[suzycute]

Just found your great trip report! We own at SSR but I would love to own more points at BWV or BCV for the walk to Epcot.
Look forward to reading more!

 

[rutgers1]

I began my day at the SSR spa. My wife had bought me a massage for our anniversary. It was awesome.

In light of the direction that this thread has been taking, I looked at the entire experience through the "Does this make SSR a great destination?" lens. The first thing that hit me was that I was one of three people at the entire spa. The place was built to handle many more people, but as was the case the last time I was there, it wasn't running at full capacity. Plus, considering you can go to the spa whether you are staying at SSR or not, there is no way to tell whether the other two people (a mother and daughter) were SSR guests or not. The last time I was there, I was staying at POR. I bring this up because my two trips to the SSR spa suggest that it isn't a HUGE selling point for the majority of the people who stay at the resort. Unlike the pools and restaurants, it is used by a small percentage of the guests. In other words, although it sounds great in the sales pitch, odds are that most people are looking for something different in a Disney hotel.

After the trip to the spa, we went over to Downtown Disney, as my sons wanted to spend more of their money on souvenirs. We started at the TRex Cafe, where they made their own stuffed dinos. We then stopped in a few other stores. The thing that struck me was some of the conversations about why Disney was closing things like the comedy club and the Adventurers Club. As I looked around and saw places like Planet Hollywood and the House of Blues, I wondered why they weren't closed if Disney truly felt that the "family" friendliness of Downtown Disney was suffering. There is no lack of places down there where people can drink and get rowdy. I haven't been to either enough to consider myself an expert, but I think more local hooligans would be likely to frequent Planet Hollywood than the Adventurers Club. Hopefully some more entertainment options will open in the future...Another thought I had was that perhaps Disney should consider opening a theater at Downtown Disney for traveling versions of their Broadway shows. That would not only draw more people to the area, but it would also be a neat draw to SSR among the DVC community. A BCV/BWV person has little incentive to stay at SSR now since they already have restaurants nearby (on the boardwalk and in Epcot), but more theater and other entertainment options might do the trick......Last but not least, and this might be a bit corny, but perhaps Disney should have Downtown Disney go CRAZY for the opening of a new movie. They could have the AMC show the new movie on every screen the first night and have all of the stores run specials and basically CELEBRATE the new Disney movie. Perhaps a star or two of the movie could come out, media, etc.

After that, we went driving around. Our primary goal was to simply see what was beyond the gates of Disney. We drove a bit towards Sea World. We had a cheap $33 (for the whole family) meal at the Olive Garden and then realized how much cheaper it is to eat off Disney property. We had a meal fit for a king for the price that we'd spend at a cheap Disney counter service.

We then came home and used some bleach to clean out the bathroom jacuzzi. I had read horror stories of black gunk coming out when it was first run, but ours must have been well loved in the past. No problems. My kids wanted to try it out, so they splashed around in there for a while.

Then it was off for our first dip in the main pool. It was very nice. I would say that it is comparable to every other DVC pool that I have visited aside from Stormalong Bay at BCV. If you have seen the Wilderness Lodge pool, it is basically the same concept. When you add that pool to the quiet one by the Grandstand, you have a winning combination.

If there is one thing that I have learned in my DVC experience, it is to better use my kitchen. I have spent WAY too much on Disney food this week. In fact, in our first experience using the Tables in Wonderland card, I am not quite sure if it was a better deal than the meal plan. We simply didn't use it well and didn't plan things the best that we could plan them. Next time, we'll buy more food for the villa, and if we have a car we will eat off property more often. During a long vacation, I quickly tire of Disney food.

The more I think about SSR, the more I think that the original idea for the place was a winner. When compared to everything else that Disney had to offer, a quiet, quaint, condo style resort bordering the golf course and Downtown Disney sounded like a great idea. The person who conceptualized it was a genius for recognizing that there are people whose idea of a Disney vacation is more than theme parks, children everywhere you look, and bustling hallways. The person was a genius for realizing that some people want to get away from it all, play a round a golf, and drive their car right up to their room at the end of the day. BUT....whoever thought that there were THOUSANDS of people who wanted that experience was way, way off the mark. As I stare out across the SSR compound, I can't believe that Disney thought that this sprawling complex would attract this many devoted followers. At the end of the day, this is Disney, and only a small group of guests are looking for what SSR currently has to offer. If you are a park nut (most people), you want to be close to the parks. If you are a theming nut, you want to be totally immersed in a them. If you are an action junkie, you want a lot of things to do, as well as some hustle and bustle, surrounding you at all times. And if you are a parent, you want things that will make your kids say "Let's come back here next time!!!!!"........My kids won't be saying that.

Fixing SSR and making it more palatable to the masses will be difficult. Yes, they can add amenities to make it more appealing, but I think it will always suffer from the fact that it is too big. Even if you LOAD up the Carriage House area with things to do, the people out on the periphery will feel slighted. Part of me things that they should divide the resort in two and create two separate resorts, each with its own feature pool and lobby/restaurant area. As an SSR owner, I definitely want to keep the conversation going. I'm in this for the long haul, and I have faith that Disney has been noting the dissatisfaction among guests and is planning some type of upgrade for the future.

 

[Corinne]

Oh: and the Hess station also has Krispy Kreme donuts

Woo! I guarantee our son will be walking over there! hehe!

 

[Corinne]

And if you are a parent, you want things that will make your kids say "Let's come back here next time!!!!!"........My kids won't be saying that.

Fixing SSR and making it more palatable to the masses will be difficult. Yes, they can add amenities to make it more appealing, but I think it will always suffer from the fact that it is too big. Even if you LOAD up the Carriage House area with things to do, the people out on the periphery will feel slighted. Part of me things that they should divide the resort in two and create two separate resorts, each with its own feature pool and lobby/restaurant area. As an SSR owner, I definitely want to keep the conversation going. I'm in this for the long haul, and I have faith that Disney has been noting the dissatisfaction among guests and is planning some type of upgrade for the future.

Sounds like you have given this a lot of thought, and you have some great ideas. I agree the resort is enormous and I think DVC made a big mistake in creating such a large property in an area that may not be as desirable (I sell real estate, so I know location is a big factor ). If only BCV could have as many units as SSR! I am enjoying your report!

 

[MissMet]

...The more I think about SSR, the more I think that the original idea for the place was a winner. When compared to everything else that Disney had to offer, a quiet, quaint, condo style resort bordering the golf course and Downtown Disney sounded like a great idea. The person who conceptualized it was a genius for recognizing that there are people whose idea of a Disney vacation is more than theme parks, children everywhere you look, and bustling hallways. The person was a genius for realizing that some people want to get away from it all, play a round a golf, and drive their car right up to their room at the end of the day. BUT....whoever thought that there were THOUSANDS of people who wanted that experience was way, way off the mark. As I stare out across the SSR compound, I can't believe that Disney thought that this sprawling complex would attract this many devoted followers. At the end of the day, this is Disney, and only a small group of guests are looking for what SSR currently has to offer. If you are a park nut (most people), you want to be close to the parks. If you are a theming nut, you want to be totally immersed in a them. If you are an action junkie, you want a lot of things to do, as well as some hustle and bustle, surrounding you at all times. And if you are a parent, you want things that will make your kids say "Let's come back here next time!!!!!"........My kids won't be saying that...

I totally agree & will add, IMO, that's what OKW is for. I feel that OKW is plenty big enough for the small group that do enjoy the "get away from it all" style hotel at WDW. SSR was not necessary, but they had the room & they need a lot of rooms to make a lot of money.

Just my opinion.

 

[Greg K.]

SSR was an attempt by Disney to turn a lemon (The Disney Institute) into lemonade (ka-ching! DVC!)

In the early '90s, they started out with an interesting notion (that sprang from the mind of Michael Eisner's wife, if the stories are true): to create in Florida a Disney-esque replica of the fabled Chataqua Institute in upstate New York, a legendary place for artists to gather and share and learn. Thus was born the Disney Institute, a theme-park vacation without the theme parks, with quaint New England-style out-buildings designed to evoke the area around Chataqua.

It bombed. Big time.

And Disney was left with a lot of infrastructure, and a lot of buildings, and no idea what to do with them.

Voila, SSR was created to fill the void. And make. A ton. Of money. Which, evidently, it has. It's the largest and most expansive Disney Vacation Club resort. But, curiously, it's not the most popular. Not by a long shot. Every time my wife calls Disney for reservations, they always have room at SSR.

I think they tried very hard to do something a little different, making the most with what they had. (And, obviously, cutting a few corners along the way. Exterior hallways? Smallish villas with Marriott furnishings? A cafeteria and gift shop combined?) It is what it is.

Disney must be happy, though: they got a LOT of new members on board with it.

 

[rutgers1]

GregK, interesting post.

I went for a run around SSR today. It was neat checking out the buildings and enjoying the gold course view. The only downside was the lack of consistent sidewalks. I had to REALLY be aware of my surroundings, as buses were frequently cruising by. That's another plus for BWV. The run around the water at BWV can't be beat, plus the loop is just about a mile long.

 

[ccoymsrd]

Yay!! I found your TR!

We had a fabulous time with your family as well!! I am so glad you decided to split the cruise and I'm glad we got to share it with you! The kids had so much fun together and we really enjoyed talking with the two of you as well! Hopefully we can meet up again on a future trip!

Subscribing now and can't wait to see the pics when you get home too! I really intend to do a TR too, so I will try to get working on it soon!!

 

[rutgers1]

ccoymrsd...Glad you found my thread! We definitely hope to see you guys on another trip. You have a great family!

Back to the report..........

Today is our last day on Disney property. We head to Universal tomorrow. We haven't taken as many photos as I had aniticipated, but I will definitley post some next week.

Well, I am 1 for 2 on disboards.com meet-ups this week. We met up with ccoymrsd and her family for the aforementioned Wishes cruise early in the trip, and we were supposed to meet up with a bunch of people on Tuesday at the Boardwalk pool for a drink. A nasty storm swept in about a half hour beforehand, so "Napping Beauty", who was going to meet us there, and I decided to cancel. That would have been fun, but there was no way I was going to be able to get the kids out of the room in that storm.

I definitely have mixed emotions about our car rental....

Reasons to like the car rental:
1) We feel like we can dart out at a minute's notice and get somewhere on time.
2) We can go off property (more about that later)

Reasons not to like the car rental:
1) There really is only one reason, but it is a big one to us. When we leave Disney property (or when we get lost and end up in employee areas, lol) kind of ruins the Disney magic for us. As we were sitting in an enormous McDonald's yesterday somewhere off property, my wife and I looked at each other and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. We just like being on Disney property and being in the hands of the Disney transportation system. Even when we are waiting for a bus, we feel like we are in it together with other guests.

So, no onto our trip off property....We went to Kennedy Space Center yesterday. It was a shorter ride than anticipated (1 hour) and, overall, we had a lot of fun. Plus it made us feel like better parents since we balanced our Disney trip with something "educational."

Now to the bad part...Somewhere along the line, I got it into my mind that I wanted to see a manatee and an alligator. We don't see too many of those in NJ, lol. Well, the lady at the space center told me that they were a short drive away. About 30 minutes later, I entered the nature preserve that she had guided us to. However, that was just the beginning of our tour, as we proceeded to enter some type of nature pathway that was only 1-way. The land was BEAUTIFUL, but we got kind of scared after a while, as we only saw one other car the entire time. It went on for miles and miles and miles, and we were starting to wonder if it would ever end, or what we would do if some of those ominous looking clouds burst over our heads. We made it out about 20 minutes later, but it was a long 20...and still no manatee and no alligator. We continued to drive, hoping to find our way out of the general nature refuge area and, lo and behold, we found a place labeled "manatee viewing area." They were AWESOME. There were about 10 of them there, including one tiny baby that surfaced every so often........Then came the ride home. I had apparently managed to steer us another hour out of the way. So, instead of 1 hour home, it was 2. As we pulled into the SSR parking lot, I think that I had sucked all of the enthusiasm out of the car. I probably should have just been content with the space center. Oh well...

Speaking of animals....If you stay at SSR, keep an eye on the walls in the hallways outside of your room. We have seen countless cute little frogs scaling the walls each night. I also found a really, really cool snail with a green, glassy shell on the sidewalk. I definitely don't see stuff like that in Jersey!

This last observation is perhaps a silly one, but maybe someone else will concur. I have read countless posts on various Disney boards over the years about the number of out-of-shape people who are seen at Disney. I don't mean to say anything about out of shape people, as I weighed 30 pounds more just a few months ago, but my point is that I didn't see as many as I had seen in years past. Yes, there were people who definitely needed to hit the treadmill - perhaps a lot of people - but I also saw a lot of people who appear to REALLY be working out and staying VERY fit into their 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond. Looking around the SSR and Boardwalk pool, there were tons of mommies who looked better than most teenagers. I really think that the health food and fitness movement is starting to make a strong dent in American society. I see it where I live, as there are multiple gyms in every town, and different types of racing (running, biking, etc.) are gaining more popularity. It is great to see.........

That brings me to food. As someone who recently lost 30 pounds and has been spending a lot of time trying to stay in shape, I wish that Disney would do more to promote healthy eating. My wife was overjoyed when she found a fruit cart in Hollywood Studios. Yet, I think they could have more, including restaurants that serve primarilly healthy food. I bet a high-end "healthy" restaurant (organic, veggies, etc.) would go over very well down here.

Keeping with the health theme, I'll end this post by bringing things back to SSR. As we have discussed earlier, Disney hoped to hit a home run with the "spa" theme here at SSR. I really thought that the spa and the health club would be big draws to the guests. However, my two trips to the spa suggested that few people are using it, and I rarely saw many other people in the health club, either. It was usually me and one or two other people. For a resort with thousands and thousands of people, you'd think that more would be interested in those services....but they are not. Of all the people I spoke to randomly, none of them used the golf course, either. So, once again, they built an enormous resort on the premise that thousands of guests would find golf, working out and receiving spa services a draw to SSR. That isn't the case. This place needs to be rethought. It can be saved, but they have to invest the money in adding features that will appeal to more families.