Saratoga Springs Impressions

[ANTSS2001]

who came 1st ??? the chicken or the egg ???

 

[Esmerelda]

Wow..I"m sorry the OP did not enjoy SSR. The interesting thing to me is that we all enjoy something different. If we all enjoyed the exact same place, geez would it be packed there.

I personally have stayed at OKW, BWV, the BCV, and SSR. (I've missed WLV but have stayed at the lodge numerous times ). Our personal favorite is SSR. My most unfav were OKW (didn't feel Disney to me) and BWV (I too had the hallway from hell with the key that didn't not work..lol). I thought SSR was quiet, serene, and just all around great. The staff treated us fantastic. I loved Carriage Hall...the grounds..the quiet pools..and the buses were fantastic!! We have had nothing but good experiences. I asked my family where they would prefer to stay our next trip down..they all said SSR. (we also love to walk to DTD...what a nice change from the parks).

As I said, god makes us all different for a reason. I enjoy reading what brings folks back to certain resorts. I love hearing about others experiences. I hope the next vacation goes much better for the OP.

Esmerelda

 

[tjkraz]

If I remember correctly, Walt was never pleased with the finished product in Disneyland. He didn’t like how the park perimeter was developed and didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes in Florida.

Walt's issue with Anaheim was that he didn't have control over the surrounding area. He didn't like the businesses that had crept into the area immediately surrounding Disneyland.

At WDW they have that control. The multi-story, non-Disney hotels outside of Downtown Disney sit on Disney property. In fact, the Disneyland Hotel in CA is 14 stories tall. The DL hotel was built and operated by a personal friend of Walt's, so I assume the design had his stamp of approval.

On the topic of Walt's supposed hotel philosophy, can anyone name a themed hotel that was designed during Walt's lifetime? It seems to me that the rich theming of Disney's hotel properties was a project undertaken after his passing.

And just to clarify, I'm not trying to tell people what they should and should not like when it comes to hotel design or layout. But I do get a little sensitive when we get a little sloppy in making judgement calls on what Walt would and would not have liked.

WDW is not a carbon copy DL.

The Magic Kingdom's design emulated Disneyland. No, obviously it isn't a mirror image. But it also isn't the E.P.C.O.T. that Walt had in mind when he purchased thousands of acres of Florida swamp. After his death the execs didn't have enough info to move forward with that particular vision, so they fell-back on the hub-and-spoke layout of Disneyland, populating the park largely with copies of existing DL attractions.

 

[DVCPAT]

OKW is the Flagship Resort of DVC. It was where DVC started out and all that DVC was for many years. OKW will always be the first DVC resort built, therefor the Flagship Resort.

So your saying Disney should stop advertising the Grand Floridian as the Flagship resort since it wasn’t the first?

 

[loribell]

OKW is the Flagship Resort of DVC. It was where DVC started out and all that DVC was for many years. OKW will always be the first DVC resort built, therefor the Flagship Resort.

So your saying Disney should stop advertising the Grand Floridian as the Flagship resort since it wasn’t the first?

Try reading it again & read it all this time. I said the Flagship Reosrt of DVC. That is also what it said in the first post you responded to; Flagship DVC Resort.

 

[loribell]

Oh yeah and I would rather stay at OKW or SSR than the Grand Floridian.

 

[mwehttam]

So your saying Disney should stop advertising the Grand Floridian as the Flagship resort since it wasn’t the first?

Disney Flagship resort and the DVC Flagship resort do not have to be the same.

Since OKW original name was Disney's Vacation Club Resort, I think it is safe to say that OKW is DVC's Flagship resort.

 

[DVCPAT]

Try reading it again & read it all this time. I said the Flagship Reosrt of DVC. That is also what it said in the first post you responded to; Flagship DVC Resort.

You’ve missed my point. Disney’s definition of Flagship isn’t the same as yours. Using your logic, the oldest resort will always be the Flagship.

 

[loribell]

If I remember correctly, Walt was never pleased with the finished product in Disneyland. He didn’t like how the park perimeter was developed and didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes in Florida. WDW is not a carbon copy DL.



While OKW and SSR are fine resorts, I wouldn’t categorize OKW as the Flagship resort. OKW and SSR have the lowest rack rates of all DVC resorts. I would reserve the Flagship title for the resort that has the best location, most amenities and brings in the highest room rates. If the architects do a nice job with CRV, it could very well be considered the DVC Flagship resort.

You’ve missed my point. Disney’s definition of Flagship isn’t the same as yours. Using your logic, the oldest resort will always be the Flagship.

I have an idea, call DVC and ask them. I would bet they will say that the original is the Flagship Resort. Not because it is the oldest but because it is where the concept originated.

Flagship Resort status for the Grand Floridian is because of it's supposed superiority & prestige, not the order in which it was built.

 

[tjkraz]

Very well. It appears that I am guilty of using the word "flagship" inappropriately. My apologies.

In response to the suggestion that Disney will never design a resort in the same style as SSR, I will simply point out that SSR's layout (multiple stand-alone buildings) is not unique among either WDW resorts or even DVC resorts. Old Key West, the original DVC resort, was constructed in that same manner and I don't see any reason for Disney to be hesitant about going back to that well again.

There is no "one-size-fits-all" resort design given varying personal tastes.

 

[BroganMc]

I'm not sure that a resort so polarizing is good for DVC as a whole given the relative size of SSR.

Just wait until AKV comes online. Then we'll have the best and worst debate of hotel vs. condo style vs. hybrid, not mention the location debates. (Let's just say everytime I've driven to AKV I either get lost or end up on the interstate. At SSR I just end up on Buena Vista.)

 

[Dean]

Just wait until AKV comes online. Then we'll have the best and worst debate of hotel vs. condo style vs. hybrid, not mention the location debates.

Actually I suspect this will not be the case. More likely posts from people that were luke warm or didn't think they would like it that really do. But we shall see. Remember that most of the negative posts related to SSR are from a system issue and not the resort itself. Mostly from the affect all those points will have given that the demand for SSR is less comparatively than some of the other resorts.

 

[a.little.goofy]

Just returned from a 6 night stay at SSR, April 29 - May 4. This was our first trip to SSR and we loved it. I liked the fact that I could park my car just outside the building and not walk down endless hallways to get to our room.

We liked being able to walk to DD and never had any problems with the Transportation system when we used it.

The grounds are beautifully landscaped and the rooms were excellent, we stayed in a studio at "The Springs". The property looks spread out, but really is less than a ten minute walk to any areas from the main building.

We just booked a return trip to SSR for October and are counting down the days until we return.

 

[DizWacko]

Walt's issue with Anaheim was that he didn't have control over the surrounding area. He didn't like the businesses that had crept into the area immediately surrounding Disneyland.

At WDW they have that control. The multi-story, non-Disney hotels outside of Downtown Disney sit on Disney property. In fact, the Disneyland Hotel in CA is 14 stories tall. The DL hotel was built and operated by a personal friend of Walt's, so I assume the design had his stamp of approval.

On the topic of Walt's supposed hotel philosophy, can anyone name a themed hotel that was designed during Walt's lifetime? It seems to me that the rich theming of Disney's hotel properties was a project undertaken after his passing.
.

You are really stretching it ... many have already said that DVC chose SSR location because facilities were already there .. or put another, it was the CHEAPEST option. Given this and the real world spilling all around SSR that Walt would like it .. you could never convince me.

Use your common sense ... SSR is always the LAST to reach full occupancy .. and its the newest which you think would be the opposite. Do you think people dont know about SSR yet?? LOL ..

And talking about the mods .. you can totally avoid the cars and noise at the mods unless you are ready to leave there.. SSR everywhere at the resort is within sight of a road, except for a small portion of the perimeter of the resort.

And to the poster who states that OKW is DVC flagship resort - a double LOL !!!!!

 

[MrsNick]

Who cares whether a resort is a flagship or isn't?

 

[DVC Grammy]

Just wait until AKV comes online. Then we'll have the best and worst debate of hotel vs. condo style vs. hybrid, not mention the location debates. (Let's just say everytime I've driven to AKV I either get lost or end up on the interstate. At SSR I just end up on Buena Vista.)

IMO, one of the factors that will make AKV's location not such an issue is that it will be close to the western version of DTD that's scheduled for development. Once that's done, the perceived borders of WDW will move, and AKV won't be at the edge any more.

(This isn't an AKV vs SSR post; in fact, we own both, along with BWV. )

 

[jarestel]

You are really stretching it ... many have already said that DVC chose SSR location because facilities were already there .. or put another, it was the CHEAPEST option. Given this and the real world spilling all around SSR that Walt would like it .. you could never convince me.

Use your common sense ... SSR is always the LAST to reach full occupancy .. and its the newest which you think would be the opposite. Do you think people dont know about SSR yet?? LOL ..

Sounds like you don't care for SSR and that's certainly no crime. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But why the crusade to point out why people who do enjoy it are wrong to do so?

 

[tjkraz]

You are really stretching it ... many have already said that DVC chose SSR location because facilities were already there .. or put another, it was the CHEAPEST option. Given this and the real world spilling all around SSR that Walt would like it .. you could never convince me.

I never said whether Walt would like it or not. All I've done is drawn comparisons to other projects that Walt actually did supervise. YOU are the one deciding what Walt would and would not like.

The facts remain:

1. 15-story hotel tower constructed adjacent to Disneyland with Walt's blessing.
2. ZERO themed resorts constructed during Walt's lifetime (perhaps he didn't even like the idea--he may well have subscribed to a philosophy of "the park is the show".)
3. Walt's big issue with the area surrounding Disneyland is that he didn't have control over the type of businesses constructed there. WDW has that control as the structures you keep referring to as "real world" are all on WDW property.

For all we know, Walt may not have like 95% of what we currently have at WDW. He didn't buy the land for 4 theme parks, 2 water parks and dozens of hotels...he bought it to build futuristic model city.

As for SSR being the "CHEAPEST" option, what bearing does that have on the discussion? I suspect the cheapest project in the history of DVC is the one they are working on now--conversion of AKL rooms to AKV. Does that automatically earn AKV a black mark? If the next property is a 15-story tower on the former site of the Contemporary's North Garden Wing, does that make it a lesser project because they are re-using another site?

Use your common sense ... SSR is always the LAST to reach full occupancy .. and its the newest which you think would be the opposite. Do you think people dont know about SSR yet?? LOL ..

Actually that's quite easy to explain.

Let's assume that owners at BCV and SSR both book their Home resorts to equal 75% occupancy levels before 7 months. At BCV that leaves 52 rooms available to non-owners at 7 months. SSR, due to the larger number of rooms, would have 207 vacancies. Given equal demand for each resort, the 52 openings at BCV will always fill faster than 207 rooms at SSR. No great mystery there.

That said, is it really necessary to turn this into yet another "mine is better than yours" debate? As jarestel said, we get that you don't like it. Fair enough.

My first post in this thread was to point out what I contend is an inaccurate statement about the volume of road / parking lot view rooms at SSR--particularly in comparison with other properties. Since then you've taken it down the "Walt would have hated it" path and now down the "other resorts are better" path.

Can't we just stick to facts and acknowledge that each of us has different tastes?

And as far as facts go, while SSR clearly has more roadways running through the property than some other resorts, I still think you have blinders on in terms of the amount of "real world" intrusions at all of the resorts.

And talking about the mods .. you can totally avoid the cars and noise at the mods unless you are ready to leave there.. SSR everywhere at the resort is within sight of a road, except for a small portion of the perimeter of the resort.

Again I have to disagree. My only moderate experience was at POFQ. Every single day our trip to the bus stop took us right alongside the parking lot. In fact the most direct route was to walk THROUGH the parking lot. And the resort's sole bus stop was next to the parking lot.

And to the poster who states that OKW is DVC flagship resort - a double LOL !!!!!

If we're defining flagship as "the best or most important one of a group or system" (Dictionary.com), one could certainly make a strong argument for OKW. As this poll shows, there is no clear concensus as to the "best" resort. And since failure at OKW would have meant the end of the DVC program more than a decade ago, there's validity in labeling it the most important resort in the history of DVC.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...If we're defining flagship as "the best or most important one of a group or system" (Dictionary.com), one could certainly make a strong argument for OKW. As this poll shows, there is no clear concensus as to the "best" resort. And since failure at OKW would have meant the end of the DVC program more than a decade ago, there's validity in labeling it the most important resort in the history of DVC.

Hear, hear!!

We wouldn't be celebrating 15 years of DVC without OKW.

 

[mwehttam]

Use your common sense ... SSR is always the LAST to reach full occupancy .. and its the newest which you think would be the opposite. Do you think people dont know about SSR yet?? LOL ..

As tjkraz pointed out very well, this is due to size. I think it is safe to say that while SSR is the last to sell out, OKW is the second to last. And look, OKW is the second largest largest.

I thought we were past the SSR bashing? I can't wait till AKV is done then we can all write about how bad that resort it! (insert sarcasm)

-Matthew