hertamaniac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
Don’t be misled by the title too much. This resort is sprawling. Check-in was easy and our room was ready about 1:15 in the afternoon. The CM showed us a map and said our 2BR/2BA villa was adjacent to DS and was the closest room they had. I thought it was just showcasing a little bit, but we were in the last building in Congress Park and literally next to the short nature path to the boat dock at DS. The location was perfect. So, most times we went to DS, it was via walking out (see what I did there) of our room and over a bridge to the marketplace section. The only exception was a drive to the Orange Garage to see a movie at AMC.
Once we got to our room (2nd floor), I looked and couldn’t find a luggage cart. We were told there are no luggage carts for our building, which seemed odd. I like to make a single trip from our car and load the cart up. Maybe Disney feels the luggage carts would be problematic for some guests....I don’t know the rationale here.
The room itself was immaculate. We had a single deck off the LR that looked into a small, wooded area that shielded us from any light coming from DS. It was relaxing. The deck was not large and basically could fit no more than 2 guests; I did expect a larger single deck or decks off each BR. What the deck lacked in size the room made up with large televisions. They were newer and crisp. The only knock, and it’s super minor, is the default channel is the resort’s home page. It’s redundant song became almost torture-like. Where are/is the original WDW channel that played various Disney music?
The décor was very nice. The colors were muted greens/beiges with plenty of equine nods/hints/art. The LR had a Murphy bed and a single pull-down. Both had wonderful artwork behind them. Our room also had the Disneyfied version of Alexa. This made the ordering room supplies a breeze. Speaking of which, I knew we needed more coffee so one night, about 11 PM, I used the “Hey Disney” option. Not more than 4 minutes went by and a knock on our door with a bag full of Joffrey’s coffee. Service+ to me. We used our local, private pool as the main one didn’t really appeal to me. It just felt that the walk to it wouldn’t yield any better results than our quiet one. The view from our pool was looking over the lake to DS.
The music played throughout the pool area is right in my wheelhouse. It’s a mix of 1920’/30’s ragtime style which added nostalgia. Although, I do wish it was played louder. (edited)
The Community Hall has two large rooms which offer games, crafts and sports equipment rentals. The kids there seemed to be loving the activities and being adjacent to the arcade is a bonus. They had the fire pit going, which is also right next to the Community Hall. A few guests were roasting marshmallows with the CM’s. This resort just beckons for guests to interact with the CM’s.
We also had a bus stop right in front of our building. This made trips incredibly easy. We dined at The Turf Club, and I did a separate review on the food section on this server.
This was my first overnight stay at this resort, and it surpassed my thoughts of it being value/moderate. Given the price, gorgeous grounds, proximity to DS and easy bus transportation this moves up ahead of The Treehouses for me (and a fraction of the price). SSR is quite nice, but just remember to bring your walking shoes.
Once we got to our room (2nd floor), I looked and couldn’t find a luggage cart. We were told there are no luggage carts for our building, which seemed odd. I like to make a single trip from our car and load the cart up. Maybe Disney feels the luggage carts would be problematic for some guests....I don’t know the rationale here.
The room itself was immaculate. We had a single deck off the LR that looked into a small, wooded area that shielded us from any light coming from DS. It was relaxing. The deck was not large and basically could fit no more than 2 guests; I did expect a larger single deck or decks off each BR. What the deck lacked in size the room made up with large televisions. They were newer and crisp. The only knock, and it’s super minor, is the default channel is the resort’s home page. It’s redundant song became almost torture-like. Where are/is the original WDW channel that played various Disney music?
The décor was very nice. The colors were muted greens/beiges with plenty of equine nods/hints/art. The LR had a Murphy bed and a single pull-down. Both had wonderful artwork behind them. Our room also had the Disneyfied version of Alexa. This made the ordering room supplies a breeze. Speaking of which, I knew we needed more coffee so one night, about 11 PM, I used the “Hey Disney” option. Not more than 4 minutes went by and a knock on our door with a bag full of Joffrey’s coffee. Service+ to me. We used our local, private pool as the main one didn’t really appeal to me. It just felt that the walk to it wouldn’t yield any better results than our quiet one. The view from our pool was looking over the lake to DS.
The music played throughout the pool area is right in my wheelhouse. It’s a mix of 1920’/30’s ragtime style which added nostalgia. Although, I do wish it was played louder. (edited)
The Community Hall has two large rooms which offer games, crafts and sports equipment rentals. The kids there seemed to be loving the activities and being adjacent to the arcade is a bonus. They had the fire pit going, which is also right next to the Community Hall. A few guests were roasting marshmallows with the CM’s. This resort just beckons for guests to interact with the CM’s.
We also had a bus stop right in front of our building. This made trips incredibly easy. We dined at The Turf Club, and I did a separate review on the food section on this server.
This was my first overnight stay at this resort, and it surpassed my thoughts of it being value/moderate. Given the price, gorgeous grounds, proximity to DS and easy bus transportation this moves up ahead of The Treehouses for me (and a fraction of the price). SSR is quite nice, but just remember to bring your walking shoes.
