cincinmouse
05-15-2008, 10:31 PM
THANKS TO EVERYONE HERE WITH TIPS TO MAKE FIRST TRIP HOME GREAT.
Wanted to report on our first trip home to SSR we bought from DVC direct without visiting SSR so we were not sure what to expect.
Trip was May 7-12 Me, DW, DS8, DD5, DS1, &MIL
Best part of trip was DS and I got Dream passes as we got off space mountain early Friday morning!
We requested 2 dedicated bedroom Springs section. Flight arrived at 9:30 at MCO and used DME to get to SSR and it all went smoothly. Upon check-in the CM ask me what we were planning on doing. I thought this was an odd question but after clarification she had availability at Springs, Grandstand, and Congress Park so depending on if we were doing Parks, pool, or DTD each location has it benefits. She was very nice. We wanted to be close to main area since it was our first time there. Bellman helped us over to room 3735 in the springs section including the groceries we had ordered. We had already ordered groceries from garden grocery and they had already been delivered. We were eating sandwiches within 30 minutes of arriving at the hotel and since we had been up since 4:00 am this was great.:kickingco
Room
I thought it was very clean although it took a while to find out where everything is. We have stayed in moderates before and we are now spoiled with 2 bed. With 3 children it was great to put kids to bed and still stay up. Note to people staying at DVC for the first time. Find out where the laundry basket is. We did not find it until the third day located under the sink by the tub. This is great because kids on vacation tend to throw dirty cloths in a pile in the closet and this helped to keep the place tidy. Also beware of silverware drawers along wall next to the dishwasher. The drawers are only a foot deep or so and I kept trying to pull them out further. If you plan to eat in the room a lot ask for extra trash bags as you will not make it to the 4th day. We did receive our trash and towel service on the proper day. We ate breakfast in the room every morning to save on cost and to get to the parks faster. Also had a few dinners including pizza delivery from Giordanos.:lovestruc
Main Pool
The kids love the pool both the big slide and little slide. The zero entry pool was also very helpful with little ones. I noticed the life guards tend to pay close attention to what is going on and letting people know when they are getting out of line.
Artist Palette
We only ordered food from there once. The flatbread pizza was very good for a late night snack. We never saw any big lines but can see how the flow of getting food from order, pay, to pickup can cause a problem with lots of people. They should move things around so that you pick up your food from a different area.
New service? I believe it is new that you will be able to view pictures from your photopass at SSR. The photo pass desk is located at the end of the hallway on the right leaving the gift shop area AP
Buses
Since staying in the spring’s section I was worried about being the last bus stop but we never had a problem and never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus to any of the parks. Only once was it standing room only for MK bus. Two of the 5 days there was a Bus driver at the springs stop taking notes of how many people were on the bus and how many people got on at the stop. I was told by some people on the bus that if a bus is full before it gets to the springs stop it just leaves SSR.
Gossip
One evening there was a film crew taking video of the front desk of the DVC center looked like a big deal???? Also talk to one CM who used to stay in treehouses until they were shut down and she said they are being renovated for guest but did not know if it will be DVC or not.
Checkout.
LOVED airport check in at lobby area. Not having to deal with 5 bags and 3 kids at the airport was great. Although I had to be very specific with my questions to the bell desk about what time should they come pick us up. We had a 7:30 am ME departure. They said if I was using airport check in I should be at the desk by 7:00 am so since we were in the springs section they would pick us up at 6:45 and they were right on time. We were checking out on a Monday and they said they did not have many departure that day. There were several people who showed up at the airport check at 7:00 and had a 7:00 ME departure and were not to happy as the instruction are not very clear. I thing some people think ME and airport check in are the same thing and they really are mutually exclusive.
Overall
DW and I really loved SSR we like the laidback layout and it does not seem to spread out to us, although we would stay away from carrousel park area. We were at DTD and did not know the last bus was at 12:00. We just missed by a minutes as it was pulling out when we got there. We spent to much time enjoying our Ghirardellis sundae. I know why you guys are crazy about them.:doublejum: So we walked back to SSR using the path and the same bus was pulling out of congress park stop by the time we got there. We are happy with our purchase and look forward to many future stays. I don't know why so many people "hate" this resort
Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk159/cincinmouse/Photo.jpg
Wanted to report on our first trip home to SSR we bought from DVC direct without visiting SSR so we were not sure what to expect.
Trip was May 7-12 Me, DW, DS8, DD5, DS1, &MIL
Best part of trip was DS and I got Dream passes as we got off space mountain early Friday morning!
We requested 2 dedicated bedroom Springs section. Flight arrived at 9:30 at MCO and used DME to get to SSR and it all went smoothly. Upon check-in the CM ask me what we were planning on doing. I thought this was an odd question but after clarification she had availability at Springs, Grandstand, and Congress Park so depending on if we were doing Parks, pool, or DTD each location has it benefits. She was very nice. We wanted to be close to main area since it was our first time there. Bellman helped us over to room 3735 in the springs section including the groceries we had ordered. We had already ordered groceries from garden grocery and they had already been delivered. We were eating sandwiches within 30 minutes of arriving at the hotel and since we had been up since 4:00 am this was great.:kickingco
Room
I thought it was very clean although it took a while to find out where everything is. We have stayed in moderates before and we are now spoiled with 2 bed. With 3 children it was great to put kids to bed and still stay up. Note to people staying at DVC for the first time. Find out where the laundry basket is. We did not find it until the third day located under the sink by the tub. This is great because kids on vacation tend to throw dirty cloths in a pile in the closet and this helped to keep the place tidy. Also beware of silverware drawers along wall next to the dishwasher. The drawers are only a foot deep or so and I kept trying to pull them out further. If you plan to eat in the room a lot ask for extra trash bags as you will not make it to the 4th day. We did receive our trash and towel service on the proper day. We ate breakfast in the room every morning to save on cost and to get to the parks faster. Also had a few dinners including pizza delivery from Giordanos.:lovestruc
Main Pool
The kids love the pool both the big slide and little slide. The zero entry pool was also very helpful with little ones. I noticed the life guards tend to pay close attention to what is going on and letting people know when they are getting out of line.
Artist Palette
We only ordered food from there once. The flatbread pizza was very good for a late night snack. We never saw any big lines but can see how the flow of getting food from order, pay, to pickup can cause a problem with lots of people. They should move things around so that you pick up your food from a different area.
New service? I believe it is new that you will be able to view pictures from your photopass at SSR. The photo pass desk is located at the end of the hallway on the right leaving the gift shop area AP
Buses
Since staying in the spring’s section I was worried about being the last bus stop but we never had a problem and never waited more than 20 minutes for a bus to any of the parks. Only once was it standing room only for MK bus. Two of the 5 days there was a Bus driver at the springs stop taking notes of how many people were on the bus and how many people got on at the stop. I was told by some people on the bus that if a bus is full before it gets to the springs stop it just leaves SSR.
Gossip
One evening there was a film crew taking video of the front desk of the DVC center looked like a big deal???? Also talk to one CM who used to stay in treehouses until they were shut down and she said they are being renovated for guest but did not know if it will be DVC or not.
Checkout.
LOVED airport check in at lobby area. Not having to deal with 5 bags and 3 kids at the airport was great. Although I had to be very specific with my questions to the bell desk about what time should they come pick us up. We had a 7:30 am ME departure. They said if I was using airport check in I should be at the desk by 7:00 am so since we were in the springs section they would pick us up at 6:45 and they were right on time. We were checking out on a Monday and they said they did not have many departure that day. There were several people who showed up at the airport check at 7:00 and had a 7:00 ME departure and were not to happy as the instruction are not very clear. I thing some people think ME and airport check in are the same thing and they really are mutually exclusive.
Overall
DW and I really loved SSR we like the laidback layout and it does not seem to spread out to us, although we would stay away from carrousel park area. We were at DTD and did not know the last bus was at 12:00. We just missed by a minutes as it was pulling out when we got there. We spent to much time enjoying our Ghirardellis sundae. I know why you guys are crazy about them.:doublejum: So we walked back to SSR using the path and the same bus was pulling out of congress park stop by the time we got there. We are happy with our purchase and look forward to many future stays. I don't know why so many people "hate" this resort
Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk159/cincinmouse/Photo.jpg