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SSR Lovers and Owners Part 3

We’ve owned at SSR since 2012 and had our first stay there in 2015. We absolutely adore it! The grounds are beautiful and we enjoy the proximity to Disney Springs. We have always stayed in a studio but now we can’t come as often so we are staying in a 1BR. I am looking forward to staying here again soon! What do I need to know?
 
Anyone with an idea of the closest grocery store? We'll be flying in and didn't want to rent a car. Hoping to take an Uber to the grocery store for some food for the 2BR. With the changes, I thought I had heard that we couldn't ship packages to ourselves; anyone know for sure? Thanks
 
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Anyone with an idea of the closest grocery store? We'll be flying in and didn't want to rent a car. Hoping to take an Uber to the grocery store for some food for the 2BR. With the changes, I thought I had heard that we couldn't ship packages to ourselves; anyone know for sure? Thanks
Goodings is closest at the end of Hotel Plaza Blvd and S535. But, just a mile further on S535 is a nice Winn-Dixie with regular store prices. Plus, there's a fairly large ABC liquor store located right in the corner of their parking lot.

11957 S Apopka Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32836
https://www.winndixie.com/StoreDetails?search=2215
 
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Do the buildings (congress park) have number (when requesting a certain area)
Yes. 1101-1436 (closest to DS-farthest from Carriage House); 1501-1836 (close to bus stop and leisure pool); 2101-2436 (close to bus stop and leisure pool); and 2501-2836 (closest to Carriage House-farthest from DS). The buildings are set in a rough arc with the top of the arc being the two middle buildings above which are closest to the bus stop and leisure pool, and the two ends of the arc being close to DS or Carriage House, respectively. If you need more info, it's easy to google Saratoga Springs Disney map.
 


When you get a room ready alert for SSR, it is the first 2 numbers from the room "block". So, Congress Park has buildings #11, #15, #21 and #25. However, touring plans has the building numbers listed differently. You may be better off booking something descriptive vs specific building.
 
With the closure, we are still coming late June just to getaway. Does anyone know if the walkway from the resort to Disney Springs is one of the official ways to enter Disney Springs and be screened? I've read the screening locations, but I am not sure where some of them are. I think the closest is the walk-bridge near the Disney Springs hotels.

Is that correct? Can I still walk easily from Saratoga to Disney Springs? We have a preferred room and trying to figure out if I want to request Congress Park or Near Carriage House. If the boats are running from the resort to the Springs, we would almost always take the boats. If the walk way isn't open or easily accessible to a screening point, then I would rather request close to a pool.
 
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Which section is better Grandstand or Paddock. We are not in preferred section but want to be close to a pool and bar.
 
We've been here since Sunday, and coincidentally, we stopped by Chip 'n Dale for a quick bite yesterday. I had the club sandwich, and it was tasty--not great but solid (they don't give you pickle). They can take any sandwich, by the way, and make it into a salad which they did for my wife (she had the club salad). Again, good but not amazing. They do have other options, such as a cucumber-based sandwich which sounds refreshing. Service was quick and efficient. You can ask for any item to go, as well, which we did as we went back to the room and ate there.

Most of the major renovation at CP is done; however, there are still crews working on some rooms here, and given the number of trucks and personnel involved, it appears there is still some serious work being done (some of the trucks are electrical and cooling contractors). We are in 2123, so our room has been renovated, as well as the other rooms here in this particular building. Right next door, however, Villas 25xx-28xx, there appears to be quite a bit of refurb activity. On the other side of us, essentially the rest of CP, there is very little to no work being done that we can see.

As for the room itself (studio), overall, it's a huge improvement over the older style. Naturally, being newer means it's shiny, largely undamaged, and quite clean.
- The new standard bed for the most recent refurbishments and construction is here, so plenty of storage underneath. No duvet, just white top spread, thin blanket, and sheet on top of fitted sheet.
- Big dresser with 6 drawers, a murphy bed mounted in the wall, a movable coffee table that shifts into table with storage inside, a sitting bench with two drawers, and two bedside tables with plugs and ports. The large dresser has power outlets and ports on both ends, as well, so your electronics should be well-served.
- Lighting is decent to good.
- The small fridge has no freezer.
- Utensils, plates, cups, are all plastic or paper.
- Automatic ventilation fan comes on with any activity in the bathroom area and stays on until it senses no movement after 5-10 minutes.
- Wall-mounted dispensers for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. However, they still give you a couple of small soap bars and a small tube of lotion.
- TP is terrible as it is at every location within Disney, anymore.
- Big TV swings out from the wall which is convenient since the bed is off to one side.
- Furnishings are nice but as with most things dealing with Disney theming, quite bland and a bit monotonous. There is a touch of color in the wall behind the murphy bed which has a horse's head in a stable, but even that is mostly browns and grays. In fact, not one thing in the room is anything other than a variation of brown, black, cream, gray, or brass. The only noticeable Disney "artifact" in the room is a riding cap shaped with Mickey ears in one of the small wall prints. My wife calls it clean and minimalistic--I call it boring. Generic is a good word.
- The shower/bath has good water flow and abundant hot water. There is a rainforest shower head along with a removable wand head shower nozzle.
- Coffee maker is typical drip style, not Keurig.
- Bathroom prep area has lighted mirror that swings out from the wall--nice touch says my wife. Oddly, on the opposite wall, the hand towel ring sits about six inches above the counter which makes it rather cumbersome as the towel then proceeds to take up room on the counter unless folded twice.
- Outdoor noise still a bit of an issue, though we've had good neighbors so far. Still, you can hear voices echoing along the hallways and the CM golf carts that roll by at all hours.
- Location is perfect for us--10 to 15 minutes to pretty much any place in DS, and our small verandah looks toward the quiet pool. For the person wondering about pool hours, the main pools are 10-8. The quiet pool is 7-11 which is great for a late night soak in the hot tub. . .and for watching ducks swimming in the actual pool.

Overall, this has been a marvelous trip. Our walk to the gym in the morning is about 5 minutes. We can get to DS in 10. We drive to the parks, and that's been easy enough, too. Never an issue for parking, either. With this new, albeit bland, refurbishment, SSR has risen a few spots in our estimation. We're looking forward to coming back here in future visits.

Having a thick moment what does TP stand for ?
 
Having a thick moment what does TP stand for ?

Thanks last thing I would of thought of :)
pirate: Sorry, yes--toilet paper. There had been a few mentions and discussions re: the quality of toilet paper at Disney resorts over the past few weeks leading up to my post, albeit on other threads. The quality of TP is a rather low priority, I will agree; yet, I stand by my assertion that it's thin, low-quality stuff as you'd expect to see in a military base public restroom (I'm retired Air Force). ;)
 
With the closure, we are still coming late June just to getaway. Does anyone know if the walkway from the resort to Disney Springs is one of the official ways to enter Disney Springs and be screened? I've read the screening locations, but I am not sure where some of them are. I think the closest is the walk-bridge near the Disney Springs hotels.

Is that correct? Can I still walk easily from Saratoga to Disney Springs? We have a preferred room and trying to figure out if I want to request Congress Park or Near Carriage House. If the boats are running from the resort to the Springs, we would almost always take the boats. If the walk way isn't open or easily accessible to a screening point, then I would rather request close to a pool.
This is a great question. Here's the current statement on the Disney Springs site:

"At opening, we have also reduced Guest entryways to 4 locations: Orange and Lime garages, along with the Hotel Plaza Boulevard Pedestrian Bridge and the rideshare location."

The website describes rideshare locations as either bus loop at West End or Marketplace. So I'm not sure what they mean when they say "the rideshare location." The Marketplace bus loop looks to be directly accessible from the SSR bridge walkway, so I think that would be easy if it's open. Depending on the barrier configurations, you may be able to walk from the SSR bridge behind the Marketplace buildings and access the checkpoint at the pedestrian bridge. Or, theoretically, if you walk to the Buena Vista Dr gate for SSR, you could j-walk across that road to access the pedestrian bridge from the hotel plaza area (probably not recommended).

In any case, my guess is an entrance will be accessible from the SSR bridge when the resort opens. That's my hope anyway. I'm considering a trip in mid-August so please report back after our stay.
 
Which section is better Grandstand or Paddock. We are not in preferred section but want to be close to a pool and bar.
Yes I also would suggest Paddock. Grandstand is fine, but the 2 times we were in that section, Quiet, Meant* Quiet*... Like literally no one..lol I do enjoy when some people/kids are around TBH...Paddock had a good mixture of people/ families and yes their pool bar has some good drinks and snacks..
 

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