ABE4DISNEY
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow...
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2009
Just thought I would share some of our experiences. 
We had a great trip and started off in room 5301 at SSR. We had requested Paddock and got it. We were literally right next to the Paddock pool which was extremely convenient to have that and food service just down three flights of stairs. It made for easy evenings of swimming, and we even used the Paddock Grill for some of our breakfasts. Being three minutes from treats and sweets was wonderful.
The studio room itself was in great shape. We have stayed in three different studios so far, OKW(nice), BLT(never again-too small), and now SSR. For our family we really liked the setup here at SSR the best. The little entry way at the door was a great place for our luggage and with the pull out couch it just felt bigger to us than OKW (although we know it isn't.)
This was our second trip staying at SSR, and we are really falling in love with it. The counter food service options are abundant, and you have healthy choices available. Also, the lush grounds and waterways provide many wildlife encounters. We saw rabbits, lizards, snails, frogs, and snakes--yes, two! One was just a small garter snake, but the other was a huge black racer. It was quite creepy, and we were glad we were not on the ground floor. But our favorite experience was from our balcony; we saw an otter catch a fish and eat it for breakfast. My kids thought that was super cool! We hated to leave for OKW, and we love it too! But we really enjoyed SSR.
When we moved over to OKW, we were in building 38, room 3834 which is a one bedroom in the Turtle Pond area. The funny thing is that we have only stayed in a one bedroom at OKW one other time and believe it or not, it was the very same room! The good news is that it was still in good shape, two years later. The bad news is that you have no view(just major bamboo) and it butts up to a very busy road so it is pretty noisy. (On a side note, we have stayed at OKW four times and have never had a view--always vegetation! Any suggestions for a good one?) Although I think I prefer the ambiance of SSR better, there is not enough that can be said for the SIZE of an OKW one bedroom. It seduces you into loving that place too! We would come back each day from the crowded, hot park and delight in the space we had to relax. It really cannot be beaten.
Also, Olivia's is an amazing table service restaurant. We ate there twice and one time they were understaffed, but the food was still excellent. And, finally, the Community Hall has a very nice staff, and my kids had a lot of fun there as well. Bus service was also very good.
My only negative comment for OKW would be that I really wish they had gutted the bathrooms during the refurb. They really are so outdated and grungy even though our mousekeeping on this trip was fantastic, and I am a clean freak.
Finally, a brief report regarding FP+ and the parks. Our MB and FP+ worked perfectly the entire trip. IMHO, FP+ is wonderful if the park is not super crowded, but not so much if it is. This is our fifth June trip in a row and we found that FP+ seems to be making a more even distribution of the lines, but that means that all the lines are longer. I am speaking mainly of MK here; this was not the case in the other parks so much. Most of the lines were 40+ minutes on the three days that we were at MK. If you did not keep going back to the kiosk to pick another ride, you would be waiting at least that long. Also, that really meant you were really only riding one ride an hour. We would pull a fastpass at the kiosk(had to wait about ten minutes each time in kiosk line), then you would have to kill about 15 minutes before you could ride that ride and then you are back at the kiosk and repeat. Honestly, it was annoying. My kids were tired of the kiosk line...lol.
I can see this system really working well for adults and even teens but as a family, we weren't loving it. Other bothersome aspects were that they need more kiosk locations and the CM's were totally in charge of the selection process, I'm sure to expedite it, but we found it limiting. The headliners were also typically all gone by two o'clock each day. We also learned not to hook up to Disney's wifi as it was slower than our own service on our i-phones.
It was quite hot this week (heat index of 105) most days and we saw our fair share of people melting down and it was mainly over the FP+ issues. As we are blessed and get to go twice a year, we didn't mind and just did other things. (My kids completed the first level of the Sorcerer's game completely!) There are just still a lot of kinks and glitches that need to be worked out. Just my two cents.
All in all, we had an amazing trip!! We love our DVC(members since 2009)and the ability to stay in such nice accommodations. I think this may be our last June trip, just a bit too crowded and hot. We might shoot for May next year.
We had a great trip and started off in room 5301 at SSR. We had requested Paddock and got it. We were literally right next to the Paddock pool which was extremely convenient to have that and food service just down three flights of stairs. It made for easy evenings of swimming, and we even used the Paddock Grill for some of our breakfasts. Being three minutes from treats and sweets was wonderful.
The studio room itself was in great shape. We have stayed in three different studios so far, OKW(nice), BLT(never again-too small), and now SSR. For our family we really liked the setup here at SSR the best. The little entry way at the door was a great place for our luggage and with the pull out couch it just felt bigger to us than OKW (although we know it isn't.)
This was our second trip staying at SSR, and we are really falling in love with it. The counter food service options are abundant, and you have healthy choices available. Also, the lush grounds and waterways provide many wildlife encounters. We saw rabbits, lizards, snails, frogs, and snakes--yes, two! One was just a small garter snake, but the other was a huge black racer. It was quite creepy, and we were glad we were not on the ground floor. But our favorite experience was from our balcony; we saw an otter catch a fish and eat it for breakfast. My kids thought that was super cool! We hated to leave for OKW, and we love it too! But we really enjoyed SSR.
When we moved over to OKW, we were in building 38, room 3834 which is a one bedroom in the Turtle Pond area. The funny thing is that we have only stayed in a one bedroom at OKW one other time and believe it or not, it was the very same room! The good news is that it was still in good shape, two years later. The bad news is that you have no view(just major bamboo) and it butts up to a very busy road so it is pretty noisy. (On a side note, we have stayed at OKW four times and have never had a view--always vegetation! Any suggestions for a good one?) Although I think I prefer the ambiance of SSR better, there is not enough that can be said for the SIZE of an OKW one bedroom. It seduces you into loving that place too! We would come back each day from the crowded, hot park and delight in the space we had to relax. It really cannot be beaten.
Also, Olivia's is an amazing table service restaurant. We ate there twice and one time they were understaffed, but the food was still excellent. And, finally, the Community Hall has a very nice staff, and my kids had a lot of fun there as well. Bus service was also very good.
My only negative comment for OKW would be that I really wish they had gutted the bathrooms during the refurb. They really are so outdated and grungy even though our mousekeeping on this trip was fantastic, and I am a clean freak.
Finally, a brief report regarding FP+ and the parks. Our MB and FP+ worked perfectly the entire trip. IMHO, FP+ is wonderful if the park is not super crowded, but not so much if it is. This is our fifth June trip in a row and we found that FP+ seems to be making a more even distribution of the lines, but that means that all the lines are longer. I am speaking mainly of MK here; this was not the case in the other parks so much. Most of the lines were 40+ minutes on the three days that we were at MK. If you did not keep going back to the kiosk to pick another ride, you would be waiting at least that long. Also, that really meant you were really only riding one ride an hour. We would pull a fastpass at the kiosk(had to wait about ten minutes each time in kiosk line), then you would have to kill about 15 minutes before you could ride that ride and then you are back at the kiosk and repeat. Honestly, it was annoying. My kids were tired of the kiosk line...lol.
I can see this system really working well for adults and even teens but as a family, we weren't loving it. Other bothersome aspects were that they need more kiosk locations and the CM's were totally in charge of the selection process, I'm sure to expedite it, but we found it limiting. The headliners were also typically all gone by two o'clock each day. We also learned not to hook up to Disney's wifi as it was slower than our own service on our i-phones.
It was quite hot this week (heat index of 105) most days and we saw our fair share of people melting down and it was mainly over the FP+ issues. As we are blessed and get to go twice a year, we didn't mind and just did other things. (My kids completed the first level of the Sorcerer's game completely!) There are just still a lot of kinks and glitches that need to be worked out. Just my two cents.
All in all, we had an amazing trip!! We love our DVC(members since 2009)and the ability to stay in such nice accommodations. I think this may be our last June trip, just a bit too crowded and hot. We might shoot for May next year.
and am doing the reverse of your trip. I will be staying at OKW first and then SSR. I am glad to hear that you enjoyed yourselves, and that the accommodations were great. Do you have any tips or suggestions about switching between the two resorts?
