Hey Chimera! (First SSR Trip Report)

[PoohsPal]

Anxiously awaiting a trip report for an SSR owners first trip home! NO pressure or anything, though. ;)

[chimera]

I swear I've started it about 3 or 4 times, but it always seems goofy...I mean, who wants to read about how I spent my weekend.

Anyway, trip report as requested...

We arrived at SSR late, about 8 pm. DH had a choice of rooms near Downtown or near Artist's Palette...he chose near Downtown Disney. We were sent to the Congress Park section, room 2412. The resort is huge, phase 2 has opened since we were last there and it's hardly recognizable. Still a lot of construction on new buildings around the entrance.
The studio was nice, seems a bit larger than VWL. Unfortunately, neither my key nor DD12's key worked in the lock, but found a nice CM (Jason) in the parking lot, who said he'd make the trip back to check-in to re-do the keys, then bring them to our room.
Enjoyed the balcony, though our view was of the Congress Park bus stop. Fortunately, DD2 loves to watch the buses! Got her settled for the night while DH and DD12 went off to Ghirardelli's to meet BIL and niece. They report a 5 minute walk from our room to Downtown.
Next morning was breakfast in the room, then off to AK. Everything they say about the SSR buses is true...no one rides them! One difference from OKW...you don't feel like you're on the bus forever before you even get out of the resort, but then we were the last stop before leaving the resort.
AK was actually more crowded than we expected, but still had a great time. Xmas decorations were already up, including the big tree at the entrance. DD2 won two prizes all by herself at the Cosmic Crasher in DinoLand, including one of the XL prizes. Took BIL, SIL and niece to Tarzan Rocks so they could see it before it disappears forever. Got great seats in the front section right next to the stage...SIL got an up-close personal view of Tarzan and his loincloth.
Back to SSR after dinner at Boma. My favorite item at Boma wasn't on the menu that night...the butternut squash soup. I asked our waiter, Jeff, about it... said they'd had it the night before. Next thing we knew, he'd brought out 3 bowls of it for all of us to share! Jeff is our new favorite Boma waiter :)
Wandered around the resort a bit in the evening. Our building was near a large pool with jacuzzi and playground. Very nice! We were able to walk along the water and look out at Downtown. Went back to the room to get DD2 settled in. She was nap-free for the day, so needed early bedtime. DH and DD12 went off to meet the rest of the family at MK for Wishes. They really enjoyed Wishes, then got to take in BTMR in the dark! I spent the evening watching the FL-Vandy game which was a bit ugly, but certainly not as ugly as this past weekend's game :sosad:
Up next morning for checkout :tearsaref Apparently, the DVC resorts won't do late checkout, so we got our stuff together, loaded up the Mystery Machine and went up to Artist's Palette for breakfast. DH and I got the large protein platter, DD12 had a cinnamon roll and DD2 had Mickey waffles. All good food! :chef:
I 'borrowed' some honey packets to try for half-marathon training and we went off. DH and DD12 tried out the arcade, while DD2 tried the pool. The pool has one of those inclined entrances which is perfect for 2 year-olds...just like a day at the beach sans sand. We got her all dried off then went off to EPCOT for F&W. Only made it half way around WS before we needed to leave, but had some yummy pierogies. Noticed some new things in the patisserie in France...strawberry mousse and lemon tarts were very good!

That's our lot...next trip, Dec 2 to 4 at VWL. Meeting up with Michael Jackson and his family :)

[PoohsPal]

Sounds nice. Didn't know about the bus stop view. Still better than dumpseters I woudl think. ;) Glad you had a nice trip!! Thanks for sharing (even if you had to be coerced)!

[withdisneyspirit]

Thanks for coercing her, Carrie! I enjoyed it too :beaniepro

[PoohsPal]

Me? Coerce? I wouldn't do that. :innocent:

[withdisneyspirit]

Me? Coerce? I wouldn't do that. :innocent:

See...such a cute little innocent smiley :innocent:

[chimera]

I'm also open to bribery...will do trip report on Dec trip for chocolate :yummy:

[PoohsPal]

Can that be in the form of a snickers marathon bar? lol.