Much of the sense that SSR has not been a much desired
DVC Resort is the result of history. In 2001, DVD announced that it was going to build a new resort, the Villas at Eagle Pines near the Eagle Pines and Osprey Ridge Golf Courses near Fort Wilderness (which were both Disney owned and run golf courses at the time). Then 9/11 happened, which had an impact on Disney reservations and resulted in Disney’s taking out-of-service the Disney Institute Resort rooms. Rather than doing Eagle Pines, DVD switched in 2002 to announcing it was going create a new DVC Resort, named Saratoga Springs, to replace all the hotel units in the Disney Institute.
Saratoga Springs opened in 2004. It was a huge, spread-out resort like OKW with a huge number of units to be sold. At the time, the only other WDW DVC Resorts were OKW, BWV, BCV and BRV (then called the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, VWL). SSR had only one themed pool at the time in the Springs area (the other large themed pool in the Paddock area was not added until 2011). At the time, there was no difference in points needed per room per night, e.g., studios cost the same everywhere. The standard and preferred room location difference did not begin until 2017. As to comparisons, SSR was readily compared to being just another OKW because of size and location and the need for buses, which had multiple resort stops, to get to all parks, but its nightly point costs per room were higher than OKW’s. e.g., during much of the Fall a 2BR cost 255 points for a week at SSR compared to OKW’s 232, while its rooms were significantly smaller in square footage than OKW. Its rooms were similar in size to BWV, but while BWV had the significant advantage of near park location, its standard view rooms cost fewer points per night than SSR, and for some times of the year it was still possible to book BWV standard view rooms at 7-months out.
And then added to that concept of being an overpriced OKW, there was the usual sales pitch being used by DVD which included emphasis on the purchaser’s ability to be able to book the other WDW resorts at 7-months out, including lower cost OKW and standard view at BWV (occasionally open, particularly in the summer in the early 2000’s at 7-months out), and for some extra points, an SSR owner could get BRV, BWV preferred pool/garden view and even BCV, particularly in the summer when BRV was invariably open at 7-months out, BWV pool/garden view was also open a significant amount of that time, and BCV could occasionally be reserved at 7-months out. The result was that there were many who purchased SSR with the intent to usually reserve elsewhere, and, as years passed, the 7-month window got more difficult, particularly at BCV and BWV as more and more member/owners of those resorts made it a point to reserve 11-months out.
Bottom-line is that SSR has had a lot to overcome from the impressions created in its earlier years. What I believe now is that it has actually become a much more desirable resort to reserve. I have even personally done so three times since the SSR
point charts were changed to standard and preferred in 2017, once in a GV, once in a 2BR, and once in a 1BR. The standard point cost applicable to reserving the large majority of rooms at SSR is now comparable to OKW and to BWV’s standard view point cost, with a number of times during the year being somewhat higher and other times being somewhat lower than rooms at OKW and BWV standard view. The rooms since the refurb are really nice. The buildings all have elevators, unlike OKW. The overall property is kept in top shape, with trees and bushes well-trimmed. It is impressive just to take a walk around the resort, including one along the lakeshore with the view of Disney Springs. If you golf, there is an excellent course right on site which you can walk to, and if you intend to golf multiple times you can store your clubs at the course while staying at SSR. There are now two very good themed pools. You can walk to Disney Springs which has good restaurants, lots of nice stores, and even Cirque du Soleil. Yes, the busses make multiple stops but it is not really a long trip to the parks, other than AK which is, of course, far from most resorts. Moreover, we always have a car, giving us the option to just drive to the parks (other than MK), and the resort provides parking close to whatever building you are staying in. And although this may not be true for everyone, each time I have stayed at SSR, the employees I have dealt with have all been first rate, answering any questions I had and providing excellent service. There is in fact only one thing I have considered a downside at SSR: I stayed in one of the GVs, an excellent room but the washer/dryer was upstairs rather than downstairs where I prefer it, but not a reason to never stay there again.
