Just back from a lovely last min SSR trip!

[aimeebarb]

What are your thoughts on best location for us to request for our situation? We have two 6y olds and will have an infant (3m at the time). We are staying with another family who are Disney junkies and in the parks all day (they have a 4y and 2y old).

We've never been to Disney, so I have no idea how much we would go to DTD or how much we will be in the parks.

With the wee little one, I would imagine transportation and ease of getting in and out of SSR would be most important. I'm sure most days my husband or I will want to head back with the baby and any kids who need a break. This could mean we'll be looking for some low-key options to keep a baby and a couple younger kids occupied with only one adult.

I was originally thinking Springs due to proximity to the restaurants and big pool. Now, I'm thinking Congress Park might be best. I could imagine walking over to DTD with the baby and a kid or two or going to one of the smaller pools where it's easier to keep an eye on them...

Any thoughts?

 

[ercrbc]

What are your thoughts on best location for us to request for our situation? We have two 6y olds and will have an infant (3m at the time). We are staying with another family who are Disney junkies and in the parks all day (they have a 4y and 2y old).

We've never been to Disney, so I have no idea how much we would go to DTD or how much we will be in the parks.

With the wee little one, I would imagine transportation and ease of getting in and out of SSR would be most important. I'm sure most days my husband or I will want to head back with the baby and any kids who need a break. This could mean we'll be looking for some low-key options to keep a baby and a couple younger kids occupied with only one adult.

I was originally thinking Springs due to proximity to the restaurants and big pool. Now, I'm thinking Congress Park might be best. I could imagine walking over to DTD with the baby and a kid or two or going to one of the smaller pools where it's easier to keep an eye on them...

Any thoughts?

Hi Aimeebarb! I am no expert on SSR, but I have been traveling to Disney with wee ones several times the past few years. The baby may end up being the easiest one The Paddock pool is an awesome location as the pool and bar/grill is right there and a bit smaller than the HRS pool, but no less awesome Last year in Sept we were in that area and in the building right next to the pool and bridge to the main area/carriage house. It was GREAT. We went to the pool in the afternoons, and it was quick to get back to the room if we needed to but also not far to walk to the CH, main dining, etc. We didn't know about the walk to DTD, we were told the walkway was closed so we used the busses and wasn't the most convenient. Here is a pic from the bridge to the Paddock area: We were in the bldg. on the right and it was incredibly convenient to the bus stop and pool:

Splash pad next to pool, very easy to keep track of little ones as it is gated off from other section:

Night shot of the paddock pool slide:

Pretty morning shot from the bridge of the Paddock area:

If you think you would want to be able to easily head back and forth from DTD and SSR, I would absolutely suggest requesting the CP area. If you want quick access to the pool, quick service dining and CH, the Paddock may be a great choice too. I loved both areas equally and for different reasons, so thought I would put in some thoughts on the Paddock

I think the only spot you wouldn't want to be at would be the Carousel section....not much to do out there and it's far from everything. I had hoped to try the Springs area this trip, or even wanted to be close to the Grandstand knowing that pool has a bar attached and is close to the Carriage House too. But I was so pleasantly surprised with the CP area and now it's our new favorite

HTH! Enjoy your trip planning!

 

[ercrbc]

The weather was NOT nice for our MK evening. We knew it was going to be a rainy night, but I had scheduled a FP+ to see Wishes from the Rose Garden, and it was the only day we had planned to do MK at night. We had a FP for PP and for the Mine Train also. We had an afternoon swim and all got showered and dressed. We went to the bus stop around 5:30, and there were several others waiting. ALL got on the MK bus and it was pretty crowded. We got a seat (well, I squished in two seats with all the kids and DH stood with the stroller) but no one that got on at the Springs had a place to sit. Luckily the trip was fairly quick and we were arriving at the MK gates before 6. It was getting DARK outside! We noticed lots of people leaving the MK with ponchos. Right as we got through bag check and entered the park the rain started. We were heading up to Fantasyland for PP and got soaked. Well, all but me got soaked, we had one cheapo poncho and since I had our phones in my bag DH wanted me to wear it. It was small and not a good poncho so I still got pretty wet, but the phones and my bag stayed dry.

We looked like drowned rats riding PP, and then I made my way through the ridiculous crowds in the shop next door to buy everyone ponchos. $8.95 for adults and $7.95 for the kids, we were pleasantly surprised with the affordability of the Disney poncho and we certainly got our money's worth out of them the next few days (and will have them for future trips too!) We went on the Mermaid ride with no wait and then on to Pooh. Honestly, I think our time on Pooh was the best I had all week. Not sure why, I just enjoyed the moment knowing the rain wasn't going to keep us from having a good time

The Mine train opened back up by the time we were out, so DH took DD8 but DS wanted to ride the Carousel with DD2 and I instead.

We met back up with DH and DD and rode IASW, Haunted Mansion and made our way into Tomorrowland to ride Buzz. I got a perfect score and obviously had to document it:

I don't know how that happens (it's not because I am a stellar space ranger, lol) but DS was not happy with my score. Thankfully an ice cream treat helped him forget all about it. We were about ready to head over to the Rose garden for Wishes. Thankfully the rain had stopped but the crowds had definitely picked back up!

Wishes from the Rose Garden was nice, but I won't do it again. There was a big tree that blocked the entire castle before the fireworks started and it was hard to see the castle light up to the different movies. I took this picture of our view before the show started, but didn't take any during the fireworks:

Wishes was great, but DD2 was upset that Tinkerbell didn't fly. I had told her she would and because of the weather she didn't and I heard about it the rest of the trip

We made our way down Mainstreet to the bus stop through the massive crowds after the show. We got to the bus stop and thankfully it didn't take long at all for an SSR bus to pull up. We were on our way back to the resort by 10:35 and arrived at our stop at 10:58. Not bad IMO

 

[ercrbc]

Staying out late for Wishes had us dragging our last two days. We typically go for long weekends and pack a lot into just 3-4 days. Having an entire week made it much easier for us to just take it slow and do what we wanted. DS wanted to go back to AK and work on more badges, and we very slowly made our way over there the next day. It was after 10 by the time we arrived, but we had no FP+ or intention to ride anything that would have a long wait. We went straight to Rafikki's planet watch to knock out all 6 badges in that area. DS was so thrilled each time he earned a new badge Afterward we wandered through Asia and he completed a few more, and eventually made it to the Dinoland and DH took DD8 and DS on Dinosaur and I took DD2 on the Triceratop Spin several times. They completed the 3 dinosaur badges in that area and we were ready to head out. We had just a few badges left at that point, but they were up in Africa and that area was crazy crowded. We planned to come back again the next day at park opening for DS to complete his book.

That afternoon it rained quite a bit. We were going to spend some time at the Paddock pool but changed our plans. Instead the kids watched a movie in the room and played with the toys they got at DTD. We had plans to go back to Epcot that evening, and I had the ponchos ready. I was really hoping that TT wouldn't be shut down though...

We took the bus over to Epcot and the weather was rainy, but not as bad as the night before at the MK. Unfortunately, TT was closed during our FP+ time. When that happens you get an open ended FP+ to use either at TT any time that day, or at any attraction. I gave DD8 the choice to go on Soarin with DS and I instead, but she wanted to wait and see if it cleared up. We all spent time in the Seas and on Nemo again, and then we rode the Living with the Land ride. DS loved this, we have done it before but it has been a few trips. He really liked seeing all the plants and vegetables growing. I took DS on Soarin (both our favorites) and then we made our way into the WS for a while. We had snacks and a beer in Germany and then the weather started to clear after a ride on the Maelstrom so DH and DD8 went off to use their FP+ on TT. I took the little ones on Spaceship Earth and after we were all tired and no one had the energy to hang out for the Fireworks (which were less than 10 min away, lol) We went to catch the bus and were very happy to be able to see a lot of the show from the SSR stop! Very nice way to spend the less than 10 min before a bus showed up. It wasn't crowded at all (may have been if we had waited until after the fireworks to leave) and we were back at the resort in no time

 

[a742246]

Thank you for posting! Love the pictures, glad you and your family had a great time!

 

[aimeebarb]

Thanks for all the info about SSR locations and the great trip report!

 

[ercrbc]

I think I have hit our last day of Disney magic for this trip. The #1 goal for the day was to take DS back to AK to finish his badge book. I can not speak enough about how much he enjoyed the Wilderness Explorer books and badge hunt through the park.

We got to the AK right at opening and went straight to Africa to knock out his last 6 badges. He was SO proud to complete his last one. I didn't get pics from all, but here are a couple pics of him earning badges:

When they finish the entire book, there is a special pledge they get to repeat and they earn a super special "Senior Wilderness Explorer" badge. Here are a few of DS getting his:

I asked what we will do next trip since he already earned all the badges, of course he says he wants to earn them all again

 

[ercrbc]

Once we had finished the priority of DS achieving "Senior Wilderness Explorer" we decided to go back to SSR and then walk over to DTD for lunch. We hadn't been all the way to the West Side and we wanted to eat at Splitsville, DH and I ate there one night during our F&W weekend last Fall and liked the food. We were immediately seated upstairs and enjoyed watching the bowlers from our table. We ordered a couple appetizers and the kids all wanted cheese pizza, I had sushi and I can't remember what DH ordered but I know he liked it. The food here is really good, and the prices are quite reasonable for Disney. Oh, and to make my kids super happy with this place, they had blue Icees on the menu and the perfect "dessert" to take with to head back out into the heat We will definitely be back to Splitsville and probably try to bowl next time when DD2 is old enough.

We wandered slowly back around to the Marketplace, we stopped in a few stores and then went back to the room to change for a swim. But immediately after we got ready to swim more storms started! So we went back to the room to watch some TV and I did some packing. We had plans to go back to HS that night and I wanted to have a lot done so we could get up and hit the road in the morning.

Our trip to HS was fairly uneventful. We got to the park before 5, but I didn't plan very well as I had no idea on weeknights so many shows had their last show of the day by 5! Disney Jr, Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones and the stunt show were all on their last performances. The Great Movie Ride was down and had been most of the day so we did the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and wandered in to see some of the characters in the Animation area. Ralph and Vanellope were out and DD2 was mesmerized. The line was pretty long and I saw they only had 10 more minutes to be out, so we just watched them meet others. Once they left and there wasn't anything else going on in that area we wandered back over to Star Tours. DH took the big kids and I took DD2 to see the Muppets again.

After that we had nothing to do for the next two hours before Fantasmic....as much as I wanted to see the show it wasn't worth just hanging around. I supposed we could have gotten in the 90 min line for TSM, but we just weren't up for it. We have seen Fantasmic before, and were all really tired so we went to hop on a bus back to SSR and call it an early night.

We did get off at the Carriage House to grab the kids dessert at the AP and DH and I wanted something other than leftover pizza so we got dinner as well.

The kids had no problem falling asleep by 9 and we were packed and ready to go that night. Not the most magical ending but we had a wonderful week and have lots to look forward to next trip!

 

[ercrbc]

Last post and I will wrap up my SSR trip and review! Here is a final picture from the DTD walk back to CP:

Things we love about SSR:
Walking to DTD
Pools
Beautiful grounds
Parking right outside the villa
Pts per night are very reasonable!
Bus service was fantastic all week
AVAILABILITY LESS THAN 30 DAYS OUT!!! Love this one

Our trip was last minute, and we had to give up our week at HHI for it but none of us felt that our vacation was anything other than what we wanted it to be. A fun adventure together that we will remember fondly It was a great week and I'm very thankful that we had the flexibility to change our plans and still have a wonderful time in one of our favorite places!

Next up for us will be an ADULTS ONLY weekend for DH and I to do F&W this Sept, we snagged a room at the BWV and are really excited about being so close to Epcot! We will all be back to WDW in January for a long weekend at OKW. Then finally back to HHI for a long weekend next Spring break (woo hoo!) And after that, we are still planning....another of my favorite things about DVC

Thanks for reading, and happy planning Disboard friends!

 

[lovin'fl]

Love that last picture!!1 Thanks for posting!!! I am sooooo ready for our SSR stay in just 7 weeks-ish.

 

[I Run Long]

Thank you so much for your trip report and congratulations to your DS for achieving his Senior Wilderness Explorer badge!

We are so excited to stay at SSR for the first time in 57 days but who's counting right.

 

[SusieBea]

Adorable family! We've only stayed at SSR once, but they put us in Congress Park also. I loved it, too. Our room actually overlooked DTD. Thanks for taking the time to write the TR!