Wouldn't it be nice if SSR.....

[Snookies]

...Third, I certainly don't want to have my maintenance fees go up for them. Or deal with kids hoping on the carts and joy riding thru the resort, like they do now with the motorized wheelchairs in the parks.

I agree with Tom and Robin. I don't want to pay higher maintenance fees to pay for golf carts and / or trams. If someone thinks the place is too big and unmanageable, the more efficient solution is for them to not stay there. I also think that if golf carts and/or trams are needed at SSR, they're also needed at all of the other moderates and values, maybe even the Poly and Grand Floridian as well. Now that I think of it, they are most definitely needed for those long, long, long hallways at BWV.

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Sometimes the walk is unbearable in the heat. And then I don't like walking back to our room after using the pool in my suit and stuff. Yes, we do walk all day at the parks - so who wants all the walking in the resort? What I think they should do is have trams. Like enough for say about 10 - 15 people specifically for people getting around SSR. They should ride around the loop continuously so you would never have to wait that long.

They have an internal resort shuttle bus that loops continuously.

 

[cobbler]

Sometimes the walk is unbearable in the heat.

It's Florida, what do you expect??

Yes, we do walk all day at the parks - so who wants all the walking in the resort?

My statement below is in general as I see posts like this A LOT, not directed at any specific poster. Seriously, the way a lot of posts come across, that extra 5, maybe 10 minutes, you would think these people are going to die! I am so dumbfounded sometimes by these statements that it is midly amusing after a while.

It almost makes me want to go off on a tangent about how lazy our society has become. But I won't

 

[bababear_50]

I'm absolutely against golf carts but not because of taking away any beauty of a resort.

A few years ago I got a call from my step mother--following a golf tournament while my dad was putting his clubs away in the trunk of the car a golf cart drove up behind him and pinned him between the cart and car. The driver was very apologetic (and extremely intoxicated) but my dad suffered two broken legs and multiple bruises and was hospitalized along time. End of their holiday.
The well being and safety of people needs to be taken into consideration,,and people need to understand the consequences of their actions.
Ok enough of my rantings --feel much better
Mel

 

[Twingle]

I have to admit, when I saw maps of the resort, I thought it was gonna be way honkin huge (yes, I really said that.taught my kids to say it also).

Imagine my surprise, when we actually STAYED there - the long, long, llooooonnnnnggggg distance from the check in desk to the out-in-the-boonies Paddock took about seven minutes, including time for my kids to look at every lizard that crossed our path. And the eons it would take to walk to Downtown Disney? You know, the dark side of the moon from the Paddock area? About 12 minutes, give or take. It took my DH and my dad about 30 minutes waiting for the bus, riding the bus, and then getting to our room.

My DH especially likes SSR because it is so roomy - he has plenty of trails and such to chose for his morning jogs. Granted, we haven't stayed there for almost a year, we're returning in June, but I still think we'll be just fine walking around.

If not, like pp's have said, there is a bus that loops around and it is possible to rent a ECV, if you require one.

 

[abk96]

A few years ago I got a call from my step mother--following a golf tournament while my dad was putting his clubs away in the trunk of the car a golf cart drove up behind him and pinned him between the cart and car. The driver was very apologetic (and extremely intoxicated) but my dad suffered two broken legs and multiple bruises and was hospitalized along time. End of their holiday.

Oh wow! That's horrible. And that's a very good point to bring up. Not that I'm saying all people would get into a golf cart while intoxicated but you never know.

 

[Esmerelda]

I would think that could make for some accidents as there is traffic and buses thru the resort all the time. (bababear50..that is a horrid story!! I hope he recouped ok..poor guy)

We have stayed at SSR 3 times now. I have a bad knee (too much running) and a son with bad asthma. We walked a couple of dozen times from the far end of Congress Park area to the main pool and the hall and it was not bad at all. Its no different then being on the out far side of BWV which we have done also. (those hallways go on forever there...lol) I think maybe it seems longer to some because its outside? I really don't know. Also there is an internal bus if you want to hop that but there was really no more than 2 people on it when it would pass us? We found no more walking here than some of the other resorts.

anyhow...have a great trip at SSR...its one of our favs,
Esmerelda

 

[Starr W.]

I'm absolutely against golf carts but not because of taking away any beauty of a resort.

A few years ago I got a call from my step mother--following a golf tournament while my dad was putting his clubs away in the trunk of the car a golf cart drove up behind him and pinned him between the cart and car. The driver was very apologetic (and extremely intoxicated) but my dad suffered two broken legs and multiple bruises and was hospitalized along time. End of their holiday.
The well being and safety of people needs to be taken into consideration,,and people need to understand the consequences of their actions.
Ok enough of my rantings --feel much better
Mel

I saw something like that happen at the Detroit airport in front of the Northwest terminal. Someone unloading the trunk and a car ran into the guy. Don't think he was drunk just in a hurry to drop someone off.

Well back to golf carts at SSR. No way! It's not that big of a resort(I could go into DH's rant about the health benefits of walking! New convert that just lost about 30lbs).

 

[starbox]

I don't know, while I like SSR because of the walking, I really do think it is perfectly okay for people to not want to walk on vacation. I also believe that's a valid reason for disliking SSR. There's a difference between "destination walking" and walking for health/pleasure. I can understand people not wanting to walk while at a resort. If your idea of "vacation" involves not walking - .

 

[jbrowna]

SEGWAYS!!!!

I took the two-hour segway tour at Epcot last year, and if they kept the price reasonable I'd rent one of those in a minute.

Of course, I could see the need to impose some training. Have some Disney-issued Segway training cards or something.

 

[CR88]

Is SSR really that big? I haven’t stayed there yet, we just bought in this past January and our first stay is this December. But, when my wife and I toured the facilities and walked throughout the resort it really didn't seem all that big. Actually we really liked the layout. We stayed at CBR a couple years ago and it seemed like a big resort. Pop Century last year didn't seem quite as big, but a whole lot noisier! We didn't mind CBR's size as we like to walk, but SSR didn't seem nearly as big as CBR. Maybe it is and it's just our perception. Then again, I have never been to the 3 smaller ones either, although I would love to one day when we really want to be close the parks. Maybe they are just so much smaller that SSR seems like the Sahara in comparison. Not sure, but I am honestly just so surprised to see all of the posts that refer to SSR as being unmanageably large. Again, I haven’t stayed there yet, so maybe when we return from our first stay we’ll be singing a different tune.

 

[cobbler]

Is SSR really that big? I haven’t stayed there yet, we just bought in this past January and our first stay is this December. But, when my wife and I toured the facilities and walked throughout the resort it really didn't seem all that big. Actually we really liked the layout.

Well since you toured and know the layout and didn't think it was big then it isn't big.

It's not like the resort "grew" (in the sense of the space between things). You have a good idea of the layout, you will be fine.

 

[CR88]

Well since you toured and know the layout and didn't think it was big then it isn't big.

It's not like the resort "grew" (in the sense of the space between things). You have a good idea of the layout, you will be fine.

I just wasn't sure if we were missing something, or if being there over the course of an entire vacation seems to take a toll on you. We only toured the resort before buying, we never actually stayed there. People seem pretty adamant that the resort is ridiculously large.

 

[BroganMc]

I just wasn't sure if we were missing something, or if being there over the course of an entire vacation seems to take a toll on you. We only toured the resort before buying, we never actually stayed there. People seem pretty adamant that the resort is ridiculously large.

It's a relative thing. Keep in mind a few things.

VWL has 136 rooms.
BCV has 208 rooms.
BWV has 383 rooms.
SSR has 828 rooms.

At SSR there are 57 rooms per building (including 2 GVs). So the Carousel has 114 rooms. Paddocks have 285 rooms. Congress Park has 228 rooms. Grandstand has 228 rooms. Springs has 171 rooms.

So it's like all three of those hotel resorts were inside SSR and there's still 101 rooms to spare.

Those used to staying at the smaller hotel resorts look for the amenities of the Springs (where you toured) in every section. That means having a pool, gift shop, restaurant and bus stop. Four of SSR's sections have pools of their own. Only Grandstand and Springs are within yelling distance of the gift shop. Congress Park has all the DTD restaurants within reach giving it an Boardwalk like view, but without the noise.

Probably the only section one can reasonable complain out is the Carousel. That only has two buildings and no pool. It's great if you are driving a car and want to first out of the resort (or first in), but staying there can get a bit tiresome if you're walking to the Springs alot. Ideally they should have included at least a small quiet pool over there. Then it would be a pleasant hideaway spot. As it is, it's more like drawing the goose egg in the room ready raffle.

 

[La2kw]

Let you rent golf carts like FW does? I keep reading about how large the resort is and thought why not have golf carts to get around the resort. What do you think?

It's not that large of a resort and there are already internal buses to get around on. Having a bunch of golf carts clogging the sidewalks is just unneccessary.

 

[veenstra56]

Having just returned from a lovely stay at SSR (Congress Park), I thought I'd throw in my two cents on this subject:

I too heard all those horror stories about SSR being a gigantic resort, devoid of intimacy, and miserable to get from point A to point B, and I have to be honest- I was a little dubious about even bothering to stay in such a 'huge' place.

I was very pleasantly surprised, however, to find that it took only about 10 minutes to walk from our room at Congress Park to the main pool. And what a beautiful walk at that! I found the grounds around SSR to be so scenic, in fact, that the first of every morning I would walk the entire property, and it only took about 30 minutes or so (depending on the route).

I can completely understand those who tire of making 20 minute round trips to pick up a gallon of milk, but I think that the 'long' walks are just not that big of a deal; certainly not enough to ruin a vacation.

 

[tjkraz]

The furthest room at SSR to the main complex is definitely much shorter than the furthest room at OKW to the Hospitality House area.

That's the comment I was just about to make.

Funny how OKW owners seem to have gotten by all these years...

 

[BroganMc]

Funny how OKW owners seem to have gotten by all these years...

Well OKW owners are far more experienced about these things. They've add the "hop the bus" to their mantra for years. It's those who say OKW is an "easy walk to DTD" that have me mystified.

 

[rigsby25]

Say what you will, I would appreciate the convenience of a tram. Hop on and hop off. What about blisters? We have a fitness center in the building where I work, and I walk twice a day. Half hour at lunch and half hour after work. I do a lot of walking in the parks. Exercise is not what I vacation for. When I'm on vacation, I like to be leisurely. I don't want to walk all day at the parks, and then walk all over a resort. I own at OKW and I've thought about the trams then too. I think they are both big. Long walks in the hot sun are just not enjoyable to me.