Just booked Saratoga Springs - couple of questions??

[Hodkys]

Has anyone stayed in the Congress Park section of Saratoga Springs and can recommend a location number for a 2-bed villa and can recall the time it took to walk to the bus station at Downtown Disney?

We've only just booked everything yesterday, the accommodation with DisneyUK. We've never stayed at SSR before and with 3 kids we wondered if we should request:

a) stay at the Grandstand and be first on/off for the buses to the parks/resorts or,
b) stay at Congress park and walk to DTD to get the bus to parks/other resorts (benefit of being a bit closer to kids playground and try to request a DTD view 2-bed villa)

Your experiences would be very welcome.

 

[Callum]

We stayed in Congress Park in November 2008. It was a studio in the very last block just as the walkway to DTD disappears into the trees!

A 5 or 6 minute walk to DTD and we never experienced any problems with getting on or off the bus at Congress Park. I honestly don't think you will need to go to DTD to ensure you get on a bus. A similar walk time to the Carriage House and it's facilities.

Don't know about the location of 2 bed villas but almost all the villas in Congress Park seem to have DTD views.

 

[dor1]

Just thought id let you know you dont have to walk to DTD from SSR, you can take the water taxi which leaves around every 20 mins.
The kids will love it.

 

[dazza5931]

Booked Saratoga for sept can't wait sad but true first time in resort stayed riverside last year booked flight and accomdation seperately this year worked out alot cheaper flight 1484 accomadation 1820 so I was well happy thanks for the info on best building to stay near dtd will request that if I knew how to

 

[Disneymad]

It's also worth noting that you can't actually get a bus to any of the parks from DTD either, they only run to resorts.

If it helps, I've never even come close to having any problems getting on a bus at SSR but granted I'm not there at peak times like Spring break, July 4th or Xmas but in those scenario's I'm sure they'd lay on extra busses anyhow.

Not been in a 2 bedroom but stayed in a 1 bedroom that looked out over the pool in Congress Park on the side furthest away from the DTD park (ie on the Carriage House side of the area). Think it took us about 10 mins to get to Marketplace.

 

[UKDEB]

There was a bit of criticism about buses at SSR a couple of years back, but I'm pretty sure it's all been ironed out. In any event, as already mentioned, you can't get a bus from DTD to the parks.

It's worth bearing in mind that some parts of Congress Park are further from the Carriage House/main pool/boat dock than Grandstand. Requests are just that, though, and can't be guaranteed. If you're arriving late in the day from a UK flight during a busy time, there's a good chance you won't get either.

In my opinion, the dedicated 2-beds don't have the best views. Given the choice, I'd opt for a 2 bed lock-off (i.e. where a studio and 1 bed are combined to create a 2 bed).

 

[tinks_1989]

Hello

We stayed at SSR last year and are going back this September

We stayed in Congress park and loved it. We never had a problem with bus's but we did use the bus to get back to down town disney when we had been to the boardwalk and other resorts (as having ADRS there we visited a few resorts)

We never had a que for the bus any where we went and never had a long wait.

I cant help with 2 bed villa as we had a studio

 

[Hodkys]

Thanks for all the info. We're flying from Manchester and land at MCO at 2.20pm. We were thinking of phoning through to SSR a few days before we arrive to reconfirm our requests for preferred area and a water view. It's always worth an ask. Will make a note of asking for a 2-bed lock off.