IDK why people gripe about SSR as not being a very good option. IMO it's the best one to stay in for a week. There are 5 pools with 2 feature pools that have easy parking access, with the exception of the Treehouse pool. The theming at SSR isn't the best, but the pool and food choices are great! If you drive from your villa and park in the parking lot of the 1000 building (can't that building via an exchange), Disney Springs is a 3 min walk from there. The path spits you out next to the Earl of Sandwich, Ghirardelli, The Daily Poutine, Marketplace Snacks and the Goofy Candy Co. for easy access to food/snacks. It's also right next to the World of Disney and Basin for Shopping. Basin has so many bath bomb choices that you can use for the tub in your unit. I would avoid on property SSR food though.
Even if you're flying in, I would still always rent a car to enjoy Orlando. SSR is the easiest DVC resort to access I-4. I just got back from a 7 night stay at SSR paired with a 5 night stay at Reunion. I bought $99 season passes to both Fun Spot locations for night time fun for the kids. They're open every night until 12 AM in the summer and have awesome go cart tracks. Both locations were less than a 20 min drive from SSR. The Kissimmee location is attached to Old Town, which has "interesting" food and shops for a reasonable price. The only annoyance I have about SSR is that you have to rearrange the kitchen cabinets in order to make room for your food. The living room took 30 seconds to change from a sleeping area to a lounging area with the new renovations.
I use at least 50% of my points to stay in Orlando since it's only an hour away and I've been pretty happy with my ownership. Overall I think staying in the Presidential units at Bonnet Creek, at Reunion, or at SSR via RCI is a much better value than DVC. Reunion is my favorite of the 3 because of the size and comfort of the rooms. I've seen OKW on RCI frequently, I just don't care for it because the pools suck.
I may eventually add on 50 DVC points for incase I want to do single night stays, but even if I were to vacation 100% in Orlando, I would still pick Wyndham resale over DVC resale. You can get a 1600 sq ft 3 bedroom villa at Reunion (which has its own water park) for the same or less than the price of a DVC studio (when factoring in maintenance fees + buy in cost). Who wants to be cramped in a 300 sq ft studio when you can be spread out in a 1600 sq ft villa? I really don't get it. Sure it saves you 15 minutes to be inside of a park, but is the sleep deprivation from all being cramped into 1 room worth the extra 15 mins?
