Have you Stayed at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

[marshmallow]

Where can I find that map? I am a new owner and am looking forward to my stay.

 

[disney4magic]

Hi,

We like the boat rides to downtown, the kids thinks it fun. The rooms are newer too and the resort is quite and peaceful. Enjoy your stay there

 

[DVCRSheridan]

My favorite part of SSR is the convenience of walking over to the DTD bus area and being able to easily get to any other resort. The grounds there are beautiful and the views of DTD, especially @ night are awesome! I've only stayed @ SSR once even though it's my home resort, but I would absolutely recommend it.

 

[evaready51]

I you read the SSR Owners/Lovers thread you mat just get a one sided opinion.
I am going to disney this summer and the only available units were at SSR (hmm???)> Luckily my wait list for OKW went thru.
I particularly did not like the Apartment setup of SSR. OKW to me felt more like a home with much bigger rooms. If I want to use the SSR pool I can just take my car or the short boat ride to SSR . DTD is also a short drive or a short boat ride from OKW.
If you are looking forward to a Hotel type accomodation at SSR you may be disappointed. But then again you may also like SSR. Give it a try if that is your only choice.

It is our home resort - we were just there 6/28 - 7/6 & it was awesome!!!

 

[famsen]

We stayed in a studio at SSR in October of last year and because of out wonderful experience, we are now DVC members.

 

[ont/ohana]

We love our home resort. Our DD's can't wait to craft at communtiy hall and they love the spray pad with the moving horse heads, also a refillable drink fountain and a pool bar too.
It is very relaxing walk around the grounds from a stimulating day at WDW. Our DD's love the onion rings and we shoot billards while in the lounge outside of the Turf club.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[vicki_c]

We just had our first trip home to SSR last month and I loved it! It way exceeded my expectations - there was so much to do there, my kids would have been happy just staying there without the parks. It's a beautiful resort and I think you will enjoy it.

Like another poster said, my DH prefers the "hotel" type resorts (we stayed at VWL as well), so I think some of it is personal preference, but the separate buildings didn't bother me at all. We love the Poly best and that's all separate buildings too, like the other poster said about the Grand Floridian, so it didn't seem all that different to me.

 

[spiceycat]

here is a map of SSR
http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/SSMap.pdf

Caskbill didn't do a map - just did one of his pathway with pictures.

do a search on caskbill and SSR.

he is the nicest person.

 

[lovinthemouse]

This is the resort we own at and I love it. I think the rooms are very nice and have always been clean when we were there. It is a very large resort. We have always stayed in Congress Park and had great view of DTD. I will say compared to OKW the Studio is a bit smaller but since we are just a family of 3 it works for us just fine.

 

[JESW]

It is so nice reading all these reports as we are staying at SSR for the first time in a couple of weeks. We became DVC members last August at AKV and this year got three "free" trips due to developer points. In Arpil we stayed at OKW and in June we stayed at VWL. We loved them both and SSR just hasn't had the same appeal to us. But now that the trip is closer I am getting more excited about trying it. And after hearing more good things about the place I am even MORE excited. Yay!

Jill

 

[vandy]

Where can I find that map? I am a new owner and am looking forward to my stay.

Walking distances from the Grandstand and Carousel are not included, but here is the Caskbill map.

[/IMG]

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Love SSR- Have a great trip!

 

[odc146]

We just got back from a long trip home. June 29-July 11. SSR is our home resort and this was our first trip. We loved, loved loved it. We stayed in the grandstand rm 8141. Very close to the bus stop and just a short walk to the main springs area. Have fun.

 

[Rowaena]

Really depends on what you are looking for in a stay.

Our home resort is SSR. However we stayed with family several times in the other DVC properties before we ourselves bought. While we initially did think we would like SSR, we have ended up only staying there once.

Back when we bought SSR it was so new that only 2 buildings were open, I think it was. Very little. The public areas were nearly a ghost town. We stayed there with family members the same week we bought and we were the only people eating in Artist's Point on multiple occasions. Oh how things have changed!

Most of the time we travel to Disney in off season. However our first SSR trip was in an April spring break window, and we really had a difficult time on the trip. Because we had a studio that trip, we needed to do more "eating out" than usual. We bought the dining plan. That worked out extremely well for the days in the parks, when we had lots of reservations and plenty of counter options. But for the breakfasts at SSR and the lunches around the pool, and the occasional "extra meal" for ever-starving growing boys, we had a really hard time at SSR just getting food.

Artist's Point was in no way equipped to handle a resort the size of SSR; the line to get food was often out the door and down the stairs toward the pool, with 50 or more people waiting - you needed to plan 30-45 minutes in line to use counter service credits there, then wait additional time while they cooked the food itself. Almost quicker to leave property, but when you needed to rest and stay around "home", that was kind of a joy killer.

The pool was our other big issue... with our kids who wanted to play at the rock pool more than any other pool. At the time it was that, or one quiet pool elsewhere. But the rock pool was so overcrowded. People were bringing towels and personal items to put on the chairs as early as 7am, and just leaving them there, otherwise you had no shot at a seat for the day at all. Basically the resort's amenities just were not enough to handle the volume of guest rooms. Having stayed at BCV so many times I appreciate what it means to have a pool that is properly sized for the number of potential guests, given that many families with kids are not going to go to the quiet pools. The rock pool is 1/2 to 1/3 the size it should have been (I know it was the old institute pool, but they should have filled it in and made a new one nearby! Or kept it as a small quiet pool and built another big family theme elsewhere, lord knows they have the land there.)

IMHO SSR also needs at least one more counter service eatery, and also Artist's Point should be redesigned using part of the adjacent lobby so that cashier-line people are not having to cut across the hot food line and such. Also the hot line area should be bigger so that more people can be moved through in a timely manner.

We also had a lot if difficulty with bus transport that week, it was often late or just did not appear - but at the time this was a common complaint from multiple resorts, not just SSR.

I think we'd be happy at SSR under a few circumstances: a one- or two- bedroom when I was doing most of the cooking, so as to avoid Artist's Point or having to go offsite just to eat a simple quick service meal. Also, off season when the pool might not be so bad (though if you are not a pool person, this would not matter to you).

As it is, with children who are rabid for swimming pools with slides, all our other stays the last 3 years have been at Beach Club Villas. The very large pool area, and the no-pool-hopping rule, ensures that finding chairs for mom and dad is easy no matter the time of day we arrive. The other nice thing about BCV is when you are doing a studio trip and can't properly cook meals, there is so very much counter service available in the adjacent hotels and poolside.

(Not that BCV is perfect... last year our room's toilet was broken the entire trip, we had to use the one in the BCV lobby - despite multiple trips from hotel maintenance, management claimed they had no other place to put us and we were stuck like that for a week! Nothing like sitting awake at 1am while a worker snakes the toilet again, after a long long day in the parks, LOL!)

At any rate, yes we own SSR and someday it will probably fit our vacation needs better than it does now. Maybe when the kids outgrow the pool obsession a little bit.

Thankfully we have never had any problems making reservations elsewhere when the window opens up. But that's what's nice about DVC - every resort is a little different so everyone can find something that suits their current needs! And mostly it really does not matter where you buy, as long as you plan far ahead for reservations.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Really depends on what you are looking for in a stay.

Our home resort is SSR. However we stayed with family several times in the other DVC properties before we ourselves bought. While we initially did think we would like SSR, we have ended up only staying there once.

Back when we bought SSR it was so new that only 2 buildings were open, I think it was. Very little. The public areas were nearly a ghost town. We stayed there with family members the same week we bought and we were the only people eating in Artist's Point on multiple occasions. Oh how things have changed!

Most of the time we travel to Disney in off season. However our first SSR trip was in an April spring break window, and we really had a difficult time on the trip. Because we had a studio that trip, we needed to do more "eating out" than usual. We bought the dining plan. That worked out extremely well for the days in the parks, when we had lots of reservations and plenty of counter options. But for the breakfasts at SSR and the lunches around the pool, and the occasional "extra meal" for ever-starving growing boys, we had a really hard time at SSR just getting food.

Artist's Point was in no way equipped to handle a resort the size of SSR; the line to get food was often out the door and down the stairs toward the pool, with 50 or more people waiting - you needed to plan 30-45 minutes in line to use counter service credits there, then wait additional time while they cooked the food itself. Almost quicker to leave property, but when you needed to rest and stay around "home", that was kind of a joy killer.

The pool was our other big issue... with our kids who wanted to play at the rock pool more than any other pool. At the time it was that, or one quiet pool elsewhere. But the rock pool was so overcrowded. People were bringing towels and personal items to put on the chairs as early as 7am, and just leaving them there, otherwise you had no shot at a seat for the day at all. Basically the resort's amenities just were not enough to handle the volume of guest rooms. Having stayed at BCV so many times I appreciate what it means to have a pool that is properly sized for the number of potential guests, given that many families with kids are not going to go to the quiet pools. The rock pool is 1/2 to 1/3 the size it should have been (I know it was the old institute pool, but they should have filled it in and made a new one nearby! Or kept it as a small quiet pool and built another big family theme elsewhere, lord knows they have the land there.)

IMHO SSR also needs at least one more counter service eatery, and also Artist's Point should be redesigned using part of the adjacent lobby so that cashier-line people are not having to cut across the hot food line and such. Also the hot line area should be bigger so that more people can be moved through in a timely manner.

We also had a lot if difficulty with bus transport that week, it was often late or just did not appear - but at the time this was a common complaint from multiple resorts, not just SSR.

I think we'd be happy at SSR under a few circumstances: a one- or two- bedroom when I was doing most of the cooking, so as to avoid Artist's Point or having to go offsite just to eat a simple quick service meal. Also, off season when the pool might not be so bad (though if you are not a pool person, this would not matter to you).

As it is, with children who are rabid for swimming pools with slides, all our other stays the last 3 years have been at Beach Club Villas. The very large pool area, and the no-pool-hopping rule, ensures that finding chairs for mom and dad is easy no matter the time of day we arrive. The other nice thing about BCV is when you are doing a studio trip and can't properly cook meals, there is so very much counter service available in the adjacent hotels and poolside.

(Not that BCV is perfect... last year our room's toilet was broken the entire trip, we had to use the one in the BCV lobby - despite multiple trips from hotel maintenance, management claimed they had no other place to put us and we were stuck like that for a week! Nothing like sitting awake at 1am while a worker snakes the toilet again, after a long long day in the parks, LOL!)

At any rate, yes we own SSR and someday it will probably fit our vacation needs better than it does now. Maybe when the kids outgrow the pool obsession a little bit.

Thankfully we have never had any problems making reservations elsewhere when the window opens up. But that's what's nice about DVC - every resort is a little different so everyone can find something that suits their current needs! And mostly it really does not matter where you buy, as long as you plan far ahead for reservations.

IMHO comparing SSR now to how it was when only 2 buildings were open is a bit unfair.

BCV and all of the resorts have had issues with people saving chairs at the pool, not just SSR and they've all cracked down on it. We've stayed at SSR in June the last 2 years and have not had a problem getting chairs +/or tables at High Rock Springs Pool or the Grandstand pool.

Also, just to clarify, Aritist's Palette is the CS at SSR. Aritist Point is the signature restaurant at WL. If you haven't been to Artisit's Palette recently, you should check it out again. The menu has expanded since it first opened and they are working on the problems with the lines

 

[podsnel]

I stayed at SSR in June (see the link to my TR in my sig- lots of resort pics including CH stuff at the end), we thought it was absolutely lovely and I would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[hakepb]

Really depends on what you are looking for in a stay.

Our home resort is SSR. However we stayed with family several times in the other DVC properties before we ourselves bought. While we initially did think we would like SSR, we have ended up only staying there once.

Back when we bought SSR it was so new that only 2 buildings were open, I think it was. Very little. The public areas were nearly a ghost town. We stayed there with family members the same week we bought and we were the only people eating in Artist's Point on multiple occasions. Oh how things have changed!

Most of the time we travel to Disney in off season. However our first SSR trip was in an April spring break window, and we really had a difficult time on the trip. Because we had a studio that trip, we needed to do more "eating out" than usual. We bought the dining plan. That worked out extremely well for the days in the parks, when we had lots of reservations and plenty of counter options. But for the breakfasts at SSR and the lunches around the pool, and the occasional "extra meal" for ever-starving growing boys, we had a really hard time at SSR just getting food.

Artist's Point was in no way equipped to handle a resort the size of SSR; the line to get food was often out the door and down the stairs toward the pool, with 50 or more people waiting - you needed to plan 30-45 minutes in line to use counter service credits there, then wait additional time while they cooked the food itself. Almost quicker to leave property, but when you needed to rest and stay around "home", that was kind of a joy killer.

The pool was our other big issue... with our kids who wanted to play at the rock pool more than any other pool. At the time it was that, or one quiet pool elsewhere. But the rock pool was so overcrowded. People were bringing towels and personal items to put on the chairs as early as 7am, and just leaving them there, otherwise you had no shot at a seat for the day at all. Basically the resort's amenities just were not enough to handle the volume of guest rooms. Having stayed at BCV so many times I appreciate what it means to have a pool that is properly sized for the number of potential guests, given that many families with kids are not going to go to the quiet pools. The rock pool is 1/2 to 1/3 the size it should have been (I know it was the old institute pool, but they should have filled it in and made a new one nearby! Or kept it as a small quiet pool and built another big family theme elsewhere, lord knows they have the land there.)

IMHO SSR also needs at least one more counter service eatery, and also Artist's Point should be redesigned using part of the adjacent lobby so that cashier-line people are not having to cut across the hot food line and such. Also the hot line area should be bigger so that more people can be moved through in a timely manner.

We also had a lot if difficulty with bus transport that week, it was often late or just did not appear - but at the time this was a common complaint from multiple resorts, not just SSR.

I think we'd be happy at SSR under a few circumstances: a one- or two- bedroom when I was doing most of the cooking, so as to avoid Artist's Point or having to go offsite just to eat a simple quick service meal. Also, off season when the pool might not be so bad (though if you are not a pool person, this would not matter to you).

As it is, with children who are rabid for swimming pools with slides, all our other stays the last 3 years have been at Beach Club Villas. The very large pool area, and the no-pool-hopping rule, ensures that finding chairs for mom and dad is easy no matter the time of day we arrive. The other nice thing about BCV is when you are doing a studio trip and can't properly cook meals, there is so very much counter service available in the adjacent hotels and poolside.

(Not that BCV is perfect... last year our room's toilet was broken the entire trip, we had to use the one in the BCV lobby - despite multiple trips from hotel maintenance, management claimed they had no other place to put us and we were stuck like that for a week! Nothing like sitting awake at 1am while a worker snakes the toilet again, after a long long day in the parks, LOL!)

At any rate, yes we own SSR and someday it will probably fit our vacation needs better than it does now. Maybe when the kids outgrow the pool obsession a little bit.

Thankfully we have never had any problems making reservations elsewhere when the window opens up. But that's what's nice about DVC - every resort is a little different so everyone can find something that suits their current needs! And mostly it really does not matter where you buy, as long as you plan far ahead for reservations.

I completely understand your fustrations with SSR with the kids.
I just got back from SSR with just DW and absolutely loved it (but at the same time thought this would not be near as good with the kids) We were in a far Grandstand building and the view was stunning! The layering of the SSR landscaping, then the (18th?) fairway, then boats on the river going to OKW, followed by the mature trees lining the area was near perfect landscape composition!
But, you wind up walking ~2+ blocks to the Grandstand pool, bus stop, or AP which would not be enjoyable as a family

In regards to breakfast at AP, the SSR Tv channel info did recommend avoiding AP during the busy hours of 8-10am, so management is aparantly aware of an issue, but that message is not a real solution.

Since we wanted to avoid the trek to AP in the AM, we bought a sleve of bagles after check-in, then while ending the day at MK, we had the brilliant idea to buy a few giant cinnimon rolls at the Main Street Bakery "to go" Still yummy warmed up in the AM!

SSR really should figure out how to host a character breakfast at the Turf Club, it would add some (IMHO much needed) Disney magic to SSR plus reduce some breakfast congestion at AP. Or at the very least, add a Spoodles-type good, fairly cheap breakfast at the Turf Club.

 

[Rowaena]

IMHO comparing SSR now to how it was when only 2 buildings were open is a bit unfair.

BCV and all of the resorts have had issues with people saving chairs at the pool, not just SSR and they've all cracked down on it. We've stayed at SSR in June the last 2 years and have not had a problem getting chairs +/or tables at High Rock Springs Pool or the Grandstand pool.

Also, just to clarify, Aritist's Palette is the CS at SSR. Aritist Point is the signature restaurant at WL. If you haven't been to Artisit's Palette recently, you should check it out again. The menu has expanded since it first opened and they are working on the problems with the lines

Yes, I agree, comparing the amenities at SSR to 2004 to what they are now is unfair because they have added so many units since then - but they have not added enough amenities to match, especially dining. The biggest DVC resort there is should have the biggest counter service availability onsite.

I always reverse those two restaurants' names, it's some weird glitch in my brain. They are too similar! We stayed at WL for our honeymoon long ago and Artist's Point is stuck in my brain forever (back then it was a table service character breakfast, very fun.)

I'm glad to hear they are reworking the CS at SSR. It was just way too small for a resort of that phenomenal size. Hot food line needed to be doubled in physical size, and have twice the workers, and the lines criss-crossed through the space in a very difficult way. Given how very, very good Disney is at "cattle management" (as my family calls the ride lines, LOL), Artist's Palette was a shocking failure. It really was not built to accommodate more than a few dozen simultaneous guests. There are now what, somewhere around 800+ units there?

As for the pool, I think it depends on when you are there. I have noted in other threads here that people have commented the pool is still quite overcrowded and some allegations that they are permitting people on the tours to use that pool for the day post-tour. I know that when we originally did our sales tour, we were told we could spend the day there too.

However with SSR now sold out, perhaps the DVC sales office will relocate to Kidani or Contemporary and the extra "tourists" will no longer be around AP and the Rocks pool.

Again, I think SSR would suit fine for people with different needs than ours. If you want a large pool with lots of space to play and slide, and multiple on site counter options to eat, SSR is not the right one.

I can only see us there for winter, non-swimming trips, and only if we stay in a unit with a full kitchen so we don't have to go use AP constantly.

 

[Rowaena]

I completely understand your fustrations with SSR with the kids.
I just got back from SSR with just DW and absolutely loved it (but at the same time thought this would not be near as good with the kids) We were in a far Grandstand building and the view was stunning! The layering of the SSR landscaping, then the (18th?) fairway, then boats on the river going to OKW, followed by the mature trees lining the area was near perfect landscape composition!
But, you wind up walking ~2+ blocks to the Grandstand pool, bus stop, or AP which would not be enjoyable as a family

In regards to breakfast at AP, the SSR Tv channel info did recommend avoiding AP during the busy hours of 8-10am, so management is aparantly aware of an issue, but that message is not a real solution.

Since we wanted to avoid the trek to AP in the AM, we bought a sleve of bagles after check-in, then while ending the day at MK, we had the brilliant idea to buy a few giant cinnimon rolls at the Main Street Bakery "to go" Still yummy warmed up in the AM!

SSR really should figure out how to host a character breakfast at the Turf Club, it would add some (IMHO much needed) Disney magic to SSR plus reduce some breakfast congestion at AP. Or at the very least, add a Spoodles-type good, fairly cheap breakfast at the Turf Club.

Yes it is beautiful! And everything is a bit too far with young children.

And yes having to avoid using the on site restaurant is just bad. They have SO MUCH land on that property I still cannot understand why they don't build an additional counter facility. And now that it's sold out, they almost assuredly won't. They've certainly got the space to put a pool like Stormalong Bay there, too.

A character breakfast there would be really nice, too. It seems like they could cram in a buffet of some kind at least.

We wanted to love SSR. It's our home resort. But we never stay there anymore because it simply doesn't meet our family's needs at this time.

 

[ont/ohana]

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to add that my kids love the spread out design of SSR. They love being able to get off the bus a stop ahead and RELAX (as DD's say) and play with (as they put it) "the disney lizards". My older DD11, loves quiet, so when we stayed at BC she loved it except for the busy walkway around the lake. THey both asked to go back to SSR this trip and when we stayed at OKW they asked to take the boat back home for a small visit to Donald.
I find it funny, most kids would be wanting for the busy atmosphere, but mine love thier quiet home and so do we!!
156 more days yahh!