As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I hate to open the discussion with a negative review, but this is my least favorite DVC resort. I stayed here shortly after it opened, though, which probably isn't fair. I've since heard a lot of very nice things about it. In general, I prefer a hotel feel over a spread-out layout or motel-feel, with the doorways to the rooms outside. I like to go inside a hotel and then walk down the hallway to my room. If I traveled with a car I'm sure I'd feel differently on this point. The bus service took forever just traveling around the resort and I never did figure out which bus stop was best for my location-- the buses always seemed to take a different route. At the time of my stay the one table-service restaurant had no entrees for vegetarians and they didn't offer any suggestions! The rooms, however, were very nice and I loved the walkway to Downtown Disney.
We've stayed here twice and I have to agree that it's among my least favorite DVC resorts. It just doesn't have anything that feels "special" to me. We stayed in the Congress Park section the first time which was nice, there was a quiet pool right behind the building and you could look right across to Downtown Disney. Last time we requested a building near the new Paddock pool area. It was fairly convenient, not too far from the main pool and counter service area but the room we had was in need of refurbishment. The sofa felt like you would sink towards the floor when you sat down and the bathroom in the second bedroom had an awful smell. I also missed having a nice balcony after staying at Kidani.
Honestly, I'd have a hard time choosing Saratoga again unless it was the only resort available for my stay, I'd rather have the extra room at OKW if it came down to the two of them.
We enjoy SSR. Its one of our fav resorts. We also love DTD. So I think that is our draw to there. At this time we have had not a bad experience. Our rooms have always been ready and clean. Towels brought when asked, ect. We tend to use the quiet pools. Sometimes no one is around them, and nothing beats a pool to yourself and family. We like the Granstand area. If you have a car, I would request that or Springs area.
It's our home resort and we love it. The buses are not as bad to us as others seems to feel. Yes, the resort is big, but I think it adds to the restful nature of the resort. It is so quiet and peaceful. It feels wonderful after a busy day at the parks, or in the morning for a quiet cup of coffee on our balcony. (we've always had one and we've been in 1. 2. and 3 bedrooms). The early mornings overlooking the golf course is so peaceful.
The buses all follow the same path starting at Grandstand and ending at Springs with the exception of the DTD bus which runs the opposite direction. If you want to walk to DTD, Congress Park is closest for that. Paddock and The Springs has the best pool. Grandstand is first on-first off the park buses, and has a great little quiet pool, and it has a walking path to DTD, though it is a bit of a walk, we enjoy it. We've driven our car to WDW and stayed at SSR and the car stayed in the parking lot the whole time we were there. I love people watching on the buses anyway. There is also a boat to DTD out behind the Carriage House. We love Turf Club, though we are not vegetarian so I cannot speak to that aspect of their menu.
I don't feel having the doors outside makes it feel like a motel at all. It is patterned after a famous resort in Saratoga Springs, NY and meant to evoke that era. There are plenty of hidden Mickeys to find and the views are great. We've never been disturbed by loud neighbors or people walking down the halls as we have with enclosed halls. The doors are not in a line and there are no windows on the passageways. That is 'motel' to me.
We've been in rooms that need to be refurbished, but we've been in rooms in VWL that also needed to be refurbished, last time being this past January. Last time we were at SSR, they were starting to re-do the rooms, having finished with the repainting of the outside of the buildings. We've always found Mousekeeping to be extremely responsive to any issue we might have, and that goes for any of the resorts.
To me, a resort's appeal or lack thereof really is a subjective thing. We love SSR, others don't. I don't like BLT for the very reason it FEELS like being in a hotel. I don't feel AT HOME there. And at the end of the day, the AT HOME feel is why I like DVC.
It comes down to how it meets YOUR needs, really! (and we have the tree houses! )
This was the first DVC resort DH and I stayed at simply because of the deal we got when buying into DVC -- a "free" stay here! So, of course, we did!
Before we went, I, like you, asked about the resort, including which section(s) is best for the buses, etc. since I knew that the resort was so sprawling. I'm glad I did because when I made the ressie, I requested to be in The Grandstand section. It is first for pick-up; i.e. an empty bus in the morning!; it's close to the Carriage House (main building), so it's close for CS meals, etc.; our "quiet" pool was super pleasant because anyone wanting a "big" pool experience just walked over to the High Rock Spring Pool (main pool) which then left ours, well, quiet.
Also, I loved the proximity of the entire resort to DTD. We could have walked -- although I do that enough in the parks! -- so a bus or boat ride is still easy enough and pretty short by comparison to other resorts around property.
I think if you stayed there, you would enjoy it like we did. It's definitely not a resort I would prefer over say the BWV or BLT, simply because of their proximity to the parks, but since it's usually the one resort with availability (since it's the largest), I know I never have to panic if I can't get a room elsewhere because I know I like SSR enough to stay there again.
it is one of our least favorite resorts, It was nice being real close to DTD but for us the size of the place is to big. maybe if we stayed near the carriage house it would of been better
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We love it. We stayed in a treehouse on our visit last year and it was amazing. Yes, the transportation is not the fastest but we are pretty laid back on our visits so we don't mind. We love the quiet, relaxed atmosphere. We also enjoy the boat ride to DTD.
SSR is our home resort, and we have stayed there 5 times in the last few years, and already have 2 more reservations for stays there. We always ask for the Grandstand section (and have been granted that every time we asked!) since, as mentioned previously, it is the first pick-up/drop-off point for the park buses. The quiet pool there is great for those of us that do not care for the craziness of the main pool, and the pool bar there is a great place to get a refreshing adult beverage without the crowds.
We have also stayed at the Treehouses on two occasions, and absolutely love them! Wish they would put in a pool bar there as well. It looks like the building was designed with one in mind. Time will tell.
I guess we are just lucky with the buses, because in all of our stays, we have only waited more than the scheduled 20 minutes once, and that was at Hollywood Studios at park closing, and we learned that our bus broke down. A very nice CM that was driving the OKW bus, took us on and dropped us off at SSR. Most times, are waits are less than 10 minutes. I know other people have had bad experiences, so I guess we are just lucky in that regard.
Other people have stated that they do not like the open hallways, and we have no problem with that at all. It is a very quiet resort, and we like the quiet after a day in the parks. We also love taking the boat to DTD. Very relaxing, and only a few minutes walk from the Grandstand. The main building is also only a few minutes walk, so unless you really want a DTD view, or have to be closer to the main pool, the Grandstand is the place to be.
We also hear that people have had bad rooms that weren't cleaned or appeared very worn. Again, we must be just very lucky, since we have never had that happen to us. We have had a few minor maintenance issues that were fixed promptly (loose handle on a shower door). We even noticed a big scratch on the TV, and told them it would be fine until we left, but they came and replaced it in 30 minutes!
As you can tell, we love this resort! We have stayed at AKL, OKW, VGC, POR, POFQ, and FW on other visits, and we will eventually stay at all of the DVC resorts. I think AKL would be our second favorite.
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We enjoyed our stay in the Grandstand area, too. We only used Disney transportation system and we had no issues. The buses were on time.
The kids the pool area there, and it was very peaceful. Our two bedroom was in excellent shape, and it had a water and treehouse view. The spa there was AWESOME; towards the end of the trip we booked massages and pedicures.
We did not eat there, but the restaurant looked very nice.
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Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
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Sue
I just requested a downtown Disney view, this is also our home resort and we have never stayed here. I like the idea of quite and have no issues with a outside door. Love all the info, thanks everyone!
I've stayed there 5 times over the years, all in the Congress Park area. I like the quiet pools and the Turf Club is very good. That said I'm not a fan of Animators Pallet dining.
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Other people have stated that they do not like the open hallways, and we have no problem with that at all.
Honestly, after staying in a few of the "hotel-style" resorts; i.e. with interior hallways, I think I actually prefer the outside corridors simply because they're not as noisy from foot traffic. The noise seems to dissipate better then it does when people are trudging through the hallways on their way to parks, etc. -- especially when not everyone remembers to use their indoor voices.
We have stayed at SSR, and we chose to request the Grandstand. Never had a long wait for buses, had a perfectly lovely view, and it was so peaceful there.
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the pool area there, and it was very peaceful. Our two bedroom was in excellent shape, and it had a water and treehouse view. The spa there was AWESOME; towards the end of the trip we booked massages and pedicures
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