gdrj, I agree that it can be nice to stay at SSR without visiting the parks most days, mainly if one doesn't have a car or doesn't want to drive at all. We enjoy SSR and nearby beautiful, fun-filled resorts as well - especially when we want a 2BR or larger. As you mentioned, those Disney resort activities are mostly open to day guests - just no swimming - and we still enjoy them. Without a Disney resort fee for exchangers, that budget more than covers Uber/Lyft whenever we'll all have a couple drinks out.
For us, since we drive our car to FL, the real value of staying at SSR is primarily to take advantage of early FastPass+ planning and Extra Magic Hours while using a Park Hopper ticket so we can avoid the busier EMH park for the rest of the day. If we don't plan to do much of that, whether we stay at SSR or not doesn't make any difference in our enjoyment of our vacation. If we plan more resort activities or other sightseeing (Universal, Sea World, state park canoeing or wildlife/manatees, NASA, sea kayaking, an ocean beach swim/sail, etc.), it can actually be more pleasant (easier to avoid the major Disney traffic) for us to stay outside the bubble. YMMV.