Questions about Old Key West and Saratoga Springs....

[Disneyfan1977]

I need as much info as I can find out about these places. I have never stayed here before and may be renting DVC villa and this is all we can get. Have a few questions.....

Are the studios at OKW bigger?
Which place has a better pool?
Which place has a more Disney feel to it?
Which place is more kid friendly?

Any help is appreciated....

 

[Missytara]

You will find lots of information over on the DVC boards as well as this site under "Resorts".

 

[Pakey]

Yes, OKW rooms are bigger, more square footage. The studios here have 2 beds; the studios at SSR will come with 1 bed and one sleeper sofa.

The pool at SSR is nicer than the pool at OKW but not significantly better.

IMO, OKW has a better feel/theme to it.

Both place are equally kid friendly. One difference that might matter, if you have a stroller, is that there are only a handful of buildings at OKW with elevators. Each building at SSR has an elevator.

 

[noahandallison]

I've stayed at both, and even though SSR has a good restaurant (Turf Club) and is walking distance to DTD, I still prefer OKW. I like the theme more, it feels more Florida and "Disney" to me, plus the room size is bigger. And with two kids I would want the extra bed and not the pull-out sofa.

As an added bonus to OKW, when we were just at Disney last month I noticed that OKW was one of the only resorts that wasn't sharing a bus with another resort.

 

[chalee94]

Are the studios at OKW bigger?

OKW. the 2 queen beds in OKW studios are also better for families. the 1 queen + 1 pullout sofabed at SSR is a better fit for couple-oriented trips.

Which place has a better pool?

SSR has more pool and water play area options.

Which place has a more Disney feel to it?

i'm not sure what this means.

if you want 10 foot tall statues of cartoon characters painted in primary colors, then neither qualifies. SSR is themed after a NY resort with horse racing elements and subtle disney touches. OKW is themed after key west of the 1930s or so (hemingwayish - at least prior to the latest refurb which looks nice but probably muddied the theming a little) in beachy pastels with subtle disney touches.

but both are a little bit of an escape from the disney park hubbub...

Which place is more kid friendly?

both have fun things for kids to do (resort activities and rentals) and boats to downtown disney, but i'm not sure either is really aimed at kids. depends on what you are looking for...

 

[Deb & Bill]

By Disney feel, if you mean big icons, lots of primary colors, goofy kid stuff, neither.

Both tend to look like adults designed them. Both have great theming - OKW is Key West with the "gingerbread architecture and whimsical spirit of the Conch Republic". SSR is the town of Saratoga Springs NY with horses and horse racing themes.

Both have family friendly pools and Community Halls where they have activities throughout the day.

 

[TinkerKell-ey]

I'm a very happy SSR "owner" and have stayed in three different villas (studio/1 br/ grand villa). I have "toured" OWK, but never stayed there.

Yes, OKW villas have slightly more square footage. Regarding the 2 beds vs. 1 bed and a sofa: we are a family of four, 2 adults and 2 kids (well under 10 when we stayed at SSR) and I LOVED the sofa/pull-out. The kids were perfectly comfortable sleeping on it and having the extra floor space and sofa to sit on when the bed was hidden away was fabulous!

The main pool at SSR is nice with slide built into rocks, zero entry and Donald Duck spray feature. A second feature pool (with a slide) is opening this spring in the Paddock area (with counter service food!!!). The Grandstand area also has a water spray/play area and the quiet pools located around the resort are very nice (all with hot tubs and minor water features).

The grounds are beautiful, peaceful - a nice break from park craziness and though it isn't overtly "Disney", it is definitely "resort" and there are plenty of hidden Mickeys to be found!

It is a HUGE resort and has it's own bus system. The buses stop at each area, meaning you are never too far from your room and you can use the bus system to travel the resort if you don't feel like walking (park buses are offset by one stop with the DTD buses so you can hop on and off at the various internal resort stops-they sometimes have an internal resort bus running too). Being close to DTD is awesome! You can walk there in 10 minutes (and see it!) from Congress Park. There is also boat transport too, but we have never used it...

Kid friendly? You betcha...my kids rate it second only to AKV (and we've stayed at BCV with Storm-a-long Bay, so that's saying something!!) There are so many activities, bike rental, community room, pool games, etc, etc.

We can't wait to return home in December!! Try it--you'll like it!!

 

[3PrinceMom]

OKW....laid back....but fun!

 

[auntie]

Have stayed OKW..only visited Saratoga Springs. Prefer the theme much better at OKW.

 

[FirestoneRocks]

We have debated staying at both, so this thread is great info!

 

[the6lees]

I tried to use the SSR bus one time during one of my Disney stays and I was disappointed. We left HS after Fantasmic and waited for the SSR bus, and waited, and waited, and waited. I must have counted at least 20 buses to the All Stars and several buses to other resort before the first SSR bus came. Needless to say, it could not take everyone that was waiting and then we had to wait, and wait, and wait some more. Oh, did I say we had to wait...

IMHO, I would not count on the SSR buses but as for the resort itself, it was beautiful but not overly Disney'd and I definitely enjoyed my stay. My next trip is booked at OKW so I will find out the differences real soon.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I tried to use the SSR bus one time during one of my Disney stays and I was disappointed. We left HS after Fantasmic and waited for the SSR bus, and waited, and waited, and waited. I must have counted at least 20 buses to the All Stars and several buses to other resort before the first SSR bus came. Needless to say, it could not take everyone that was waiting and then we had to wait, and wait, and wait some more. Oh, did I say we had to wait...

IMHO, I would not count on the SSR buses but as for the resort itself, it was beautiful but not overly Disney'd and I definitely enjoyed my stay. My next trip is booked at OKW so I will find out the differences real soon.

Well, you'll see many, many Pop Century and All Stars buses arrive before OKW buses as well. But that doesn't mean they won't arrive. Usually every 20 minutes or so - just like SSR. I think you had one bad experience with that SSR bus - everyone has to have one bad bus experience, no matter where they stay.

 

[amykay9377]

Well, you'll see many, many Pop Century and All Stars buses arrive before OKW buses as well. But that doesn't mean they won't arrive. Usually every 20 minutes or so - just like SSR. I think you had one bad experience with that SSR bus - everyone has to have one bad bus experience, no matter where they stay.

Right, plus you need to remember that there may be 100 people going back to OKW or SSR after Fantasmic, there are probably 10x that amount going back to Values like All Stars and Pop! After staying at Pop in 2008 and dealing with those buses, we were happy to wait a bit for an SSR bus when we stayed there in 2009.

SSR is much more laid back than a Value. There is no DISNEY all in your face, and after a busy day at a park, it's kind of nice to unwind amidst pools, hot tubs and garden-y areas rather than Big Wheels and Bowling Pins. When (if) we ever become DVC, we will get SSR. Until then, we'll stay there when we can.

(Oh, and I'm also partial to SSR rather than OKW because I'm a native Florida Cracker and OKW seems too JUST LIKE HOME to me - I want something different when I'm on vacation!)

 

[chalee94]

IMHO, I would not count on the SSR buses but as for the resort itself, it was beautiful but not overly Disney'd and I definitely enjoyed my stay. My next trip is booked at OKW so I will find out the differences real soon.

i agree with deb&bill. even if you stayed at the poly or GF every time, you're going to have a bus issue sooner or later...