[wdw&tk]

Hi everybody,

I read the threads and I mostly read negative comments about SSR, I am thinking of buying and I see great benefits to buying SSR. The maintenance fee is more reasonable than AK, you get 12 extra years of use compared to the other resorts, the complex is new and has great potential over the years. The point usage is not bad, granted it does not have a grand lobby and it is very large, however, You are not staying in the lobby and I imagine as the years pass and the trees begin to mature it will be nice resort, close to downtown Disney.

What do you current owners think about SSR? Am I wrong or am I right

[DisneyTeacher]

I am not an owner at SSR but I stayed there last May. The resort is beautiful and the rooms are as nice as any other DVC room. I didn't like how big the resort was, it was a very long walk to refill my mug or go to the main pool. We were what was then the farthest area from the main building area and I think it was a mile walk round trip. There are now building across from where we were that are even farther.

Would I stay there again? Yes, but it wouldn't be my first choice, it was just too big for my taste. I think you should try to stay there before you buy so you really get the feel of the resort that way you can make up your own mind. What's important to one family means very little to another.

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by wdw&tk

Hi everybody,

I read the threads and I mostly read negative comments about SSR, I am thinking of buying and I see great benefits to buying SSR. The maintenance fee is more reasonable than AK, you get 12 extra years of use compared to the other resorts, the complex is new and has great potential over the years. The point usage is not bad, granted it does not have a grand lobby and it is very large, however, You are not staying in the lobby and I imagine as the years pass and the trees begin to mature it will be nice resort, close to downtown Disney.

What do you current owners think about SSR? Am I wrong or am I right

I am not a DVC owner, but I agree with you. The 12 extra years are worth buying into SSR. Besides, no one says that you need to stay there every time you use your points, right? If you want to get into the DVC program, go for it. The price for the points will only go up.

Good luck

[Boss Mouse]

We absolutely love it. So much, that we bought additional points there. We are planning a Dec '08 trip and the family is not interested in staying anywhere else. The rooms are bright and clean. The bus service was excellent. We have stayed in various locations. Each with their perks.

I highly recommend it. Hands down.

Ps. I say this only in comparison to staying at the BW and the BC. I have not stayed at the others villas.

[rshenry]

We own in the SSR as well. We love it!! It is a big resort, so it has so many cool features! I also like the 12 extra years..... No regrets here!

[WishUponAStar]

I own at SSR and dislike it. I wish I would have stayed there before I bought or I wish I would have had more concrete knowledge that AKL Villas were coming b/c I would have waited. Are you sure about AKLV maintenece fees & year expiration b/c it's newer than SSR so I would assume it would be cheaper and a longer membership time.

Anyway, I found Saratoga to be way too big for my tastes, it reminded me of a "cookie cutter" Florida condo park, the food options aren't very diverse or exciting, it REALLY is nearly EXACTLY the same common areas as when the Disney Institute existed so I personally didn't feel like they put enough into it, and I just don't feel like I am staying at a Disney resort when I am there. The biggest problem I am finding is that it's hard to get the "waitlist" to any other resorts when you are going during busier times. So when I bought my rep said; "Well you can own at SSR and never stay there if you want," that was kind of a falsity b/c I am stuck there during Thanksgiving Week and have been waitlisted at EVERY other DVC resort for months.

The positives I witnessed were it's proximity to DtD, the bus service is quick and plentiful, the rooms are new & comfortable, and I got a GREAT deal on buying into it (a BIG referral discount).

I would trade it for AKL Villas in a HEARTBEAT!!!

[Nastory4]

We own there. It is nice, the twelve years is a big advantage. Remember, you can stay in any DVC property, you can only book seven months ahead instead of the eleven at your home resort.

[llama]

We own SSR and love it. Everyone is different in their tastes, but we prefer the quietness and privacy of the DVC like SSR and OKW over the ones attached to the hotels. (I hope that doesn't sound snobby - it's not meant to be - but SSR & OKW are villages to themselves. The other DVC properties are beautiful - but they're always extremely busy, because they are hotels as well as DVC properties. I get enough busyness in the parks - when I come home I want some peace and quiet. One nice feature of SSR & OKW is that you can park right outside your door, not long hikes with packages, etc. from the parking lots.

We've stayed in every DVC property so far - and I can't wait to try out the Contemporary and AK - but for us they're more "novelty" stays - we feel "at home" at OKW and SSR. But - everyone is different - if you like a lot of action, you might want to consider AKL - but you'll get more bang for your buck at SSR. Also - we've been members since 2000 (we also own at Vero Beach where we've never stayed)and have stayed at ALL the resorts - so it's not like your hooked into SSR forever. OUr personal favourite is OKW.

[gcbdad]

We are proud owners of 210 points at SSR and I happen to love it. Although to be honest I love all of the DVC resorts on WDW property. We have stayed in all of the DVC resorts on WDW property since we bought in 2005. We are only 60 miles away so we come allot and always have our van so OKW & SSR being spread out doesn't bother us. I can see where this might be an issue if you are from out of town and do not have a rental car at your disposal. But at the same time I hear the same people complaining about LONG walks down hallways to get to their room. The bottom line is.........

You can't please all of the people all of the time!

[wdw&tk]

Hi everybody, your replies are encouraging. I have visited the resort and it is large, one advantage to this is that you will most likely be able to get accomodations to your home resort even after the 7 month window. Wish upon a star, I am sorry to hear about you being misled, my feeling is that even if you owned in the other top three (BC, WL & BW) and tried to book accomodations during the US thanksgiving, you would have a hard time if you did not book at or near the 11 month window. With reference to the expiration date AKL is also a 2054 expiration and the maintenance fee is $4.63 compared to $4.12 for SSR and this difference will probably be greater as the years go by because of the added cost to maintain the park, the hotel portion was not as great of a success as Disney had hoped and this was a way to boost the bottom line. Our travel plans are seldom done 11 months in advance so even though I would like to have one of the other three as my home resort I could not justify the loss of the 12 years or the current and future higher maintenance cost of AKL.

Keep those positive comments about SSR coming!

[MJD]

Originally Posted by Boss Mouse

We absolutely love it. So much, that we bought additional points there. We are planning a Dec '08 trip and the family is not interested in staying anywhere else. The rooms are bright and clean. The bus service was excellent. We have stayed in various locations. Each with their perks.

I highly recommend it. Hands down.

I agree 100%. We really enjoyed the resort. Our last stay was in a one bed villa. The views of DTD are amazing & the walk is not that bad. If your a golfer you'll love it............

MJD

[A Goofy Family]

We've been DVC Members at SSR since 2003 and love our "home". It's everything that llama says above. I love the peaceful feeling of the resort , the 50 year membership and the fees are better than most...that being said, we've spent more trips at OKW than SSR only because of the Points Savings.

[lawwin]

My parents, myself, and my daughter bought into SSR a couple of years ago and I love this resort. We have taken to trying out all the DVC resorts and my parents enjoy the convenience and look of Wilderness Villas (they are staying there again in Feb. for their anniversary). But, I have to say that enjoy SSR. I like long walks and we almost always walked to Downtown Disney when we went there. We enjoyed the pool outside our building more than the resort pool (apparently, a popular choice by the number of people that were always there.) We took the launch to Downtown Disney and from there went to POFQ for beignets and POR for a nice leisurely dinner and walk through the resort (we stayed there before we bought into DVC). The next DVC resort that I want to try is OKW. We honestly have no interest in staying in Animal Kingdom Villas, because of the distance that it is from everything else at Disney. Check the map for the property. It is farther away from everything than any other resort. I know we took a trip there on the bus from MK for the Christmas Pin Pursuit in 2005. After experiencing the resort, and the distance it just really wasn't one I felt the need to stay at. I know that there are some people out there who love it. But, you need to remember that the resort that you buy into is not the resort you are locked into staying at. You can hop all over resort and stay at any resort on the property. You just have to remember that it takes more points to stay in the non-DVC properties, than at DVC. But, hop around and find the one you like. It is a really nice experience.

[wdw&tk]

Lawwin, I felt the same about the distance of AKL, we too enjoy walks and SSR is large enough that you can go for a nice long leisure walk. We own at Sheraton Vistana and enjoy our walks there, SSR is similar in size. I am glad I have had the oppoortunity to hear all of the positive comments about SSR.

Everybody thank you for your feedback.

[rlcarmichael]

I own at SSR but we've only stayed there a couple of times.

Rooms are as nice as any place on site in my opinion but the beauty of DVC is being able to stay at ANY WDE property. Sure a night at GF will cost a few more points but it's all in where you want to be.

When we have a convention at the Contempary, I like to stay at Poly and ride the monorail back and forth.