Old Key West vs Saratoga Springs?

[Eniale]

Doing some preliminary planning for next year - we're hoping to snag a reservation for Victoria & Albert's next summer.

I'd like to stay in a room with a Jacuzzi, and both OKW and Saratoga Springs came up in my search. Is one better than the other for access to GF?

Or, alternatively, would it be equally worth spending less on a non-Disney room? There are several other options (one in downtown Orlando, one "near" WDW) that would be much cheaper. Is it worth staying in a Disney room for V&A if it's not at the Grand Floridian?

 

[CarolynFH]

Two comments:

After the recent refurb, SSR has soaking tubs, not jacuzzis, in the bathrooms. OKW was refurbed just prior to SSR, but I don’t know whether they still have jacuzzis or not. As far as access to GF, they’d be the same - no direct Disney transportation, so bus and transfer via MK, not something I’d want to do all dressed up for V&A!

Reservations for V&A are made online now, and onsite guests can book ADRs for their length of stay as early as 60 days from checkin. Offsite guests can’t book until 60 days from the desired date. As popular as V&A is, I’d want to have the onsite booking advantage.

 

[Brian Noble]

Is it worth staying in a Disney room for V&A if it's not at the Grand Floridian?

If your only "Disney" plans are a single dinner at V&A's, I'd be inclined to stay at a nicer property than Disney generally can offer. My first choice would probably be the Four Seasons. The Waldorf Astoria might be good too. I am not sure if either of these have in-room jacuzzis (they are not particularly common outside timeshares, but who knows).

 

[RoseGold]

I had a jacuzzi in my BR 1BR. I guess we will see if it survived the renovation that is "coming soon." Boardwalk has them too.

 

[PalmettoPath]

Doing some preliminary planning for next year - we're hoping to snag a reservation for Victoria & Albert's next summer.

I'd like to stay in a room with a Jacuzzi, and both OKW and Saratoga Springs came up in my search. Is one better than the other for access to GF?

Or, alternatively, would it be equally worth spending less on a non-Disney room? There are several other options (one in downtown Orlando, one "near" WDW) that would be much cheaper. Is it worth staying in a Disney room for V&A if it's not at the Grand Floridian?

We love V&A. If that's a main reason, just stay at the Grand. I know you mentioned a jacuzzi, but the convenience of staying there (especially when you're dressing up with a jacket) is worth it (as far as we are concerned). We stay at the Grand mostly, so we've always been at the hotel when we've done V&A. I personally wouldn't want to dress up and commute in the heat, but that's just us.

 

[Eniale]

Oh, major oops, I just realized I posted this in the wrong forum! How do I get it moved?

Thanks for the responses so far! A lot of things to think about for sure.

 

[drusba]

Regardless of where you stay, that 60-day reservation rule for the restaurant has a good chance of adversely affecting your plans. Guests staying in a Disney resort can book restaurant reservations for the days they will be staying in the resort at 60-days from date of arrival, e.g., someone staying for a week can reserve, at 60-days out from date of arrival, a restaurant for that date of arrival and for six more days after that. If you stay off-site, you can only book a single night at 60 days from date you want to go to a restaurant.

It sounds like your intent is to reserve probably only one-night in a room. In that case, even if you stay on site, you can make a restaurant reservation for that one night only when 60 days out from arrival date. That means that anyone arriving days before your arrival date, who have included your arrival date in their room reservation, can reserve restaurants like Victoria & Albert's for the night you want before you can.

What I have been seeing as a result of Disney's current, short 60-day rule (it used to be a far more reasonable 180-day rule) is that popular restaurants, such as Victoria & Albert's, can often be shown as already full when an attempt is made at 60-days out from the date one wants the reservation. In essence, there is a decent chance you may not be able to reserve Victoria & Albert's if your plan is for a single night stay even at a Disney resort.