Old, New & Long Lost Friends, with a Side of Frump! FINISHED! DL TR started 1.20.14!

[arbolita]

Haha you are just like us with the Starbucks before flights! My husband's first stop once we are through security is Starbucks on those early-morning flights! We are also from Seattle, so that kind of just comes with the territory of being coffee fiends.

I cracked up at the magazine! DISNEYLAND FLORIDA? Like, how does someone really put that in a magazine?! I'm an English major nerd and love editing like you wouldn't believe, so when I see typos like this in magazines or any other professional-type writing it drives me insane, haha.

I love my pre-flight Starbucks! It was extra necessary for this trip, because I didn't have any milk in the fridge, so I didn't have any coffee at home before getting to the airport. It's a good thing I was so excited about Disney, otherwise I never would have made it out of the house.

And I'm almost caught up on your DL TR! I think I'm only one page behind.

Joining in.

Glad to have you here!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[experiment818]

In!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Joining in!! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures!

 

[arbolita]

Count me in!!

Hello new friend!

In!

Hooray!

Joining in!! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures!

Yay!! So glad to have you over here!!

 

[cheekypoppins]

Happy to tag along on ur tr

 

[arbolita]

Chapter 3 - Guess that means we can skip Animal Kingdom!

We finally made it!! We were back in Florida!! I knew what my first goal was going to be after stepping off the plane.

@GertieTheDino89 First mission of the trip - I will NOT get lost in the airport this time.

Please tell me some of the rest of you have that problem. I get so caught up in the Disney Haze that just about every time I arrive in Florida, I always go to the wrong side of the airport and waste time wandering in circles trying to find the DME. But not this time!

I had my DME information in the side pocket of my carry on, so while we were waiting for it to be our turn to get off the plane,I studied it and was determined to finally go the right direction.

First up - The Fake-o-Rail!

I was bouncing off the walls with excitement by this point. The other people on the Fake-o-Rail didn't really seem all that excited to be in Florida. They must not be going to Disney.

As we got off, I just kept telling myself "Go to B, Go to B, Go to B."

SUCCESS!!

As we approached the DME Motorcoach Boarding, we could see that most of the lines were pretty long, so I had a feeling we wouldn't be getting one of the prime seats near the front.

But that's okay! I didn't care! You know who else didn't care about the long lines? That girl about to do a cartwheel. YOU GO CARTWHEEL GIRL!

Saratoga Springs guests were sent over to line 3, along with Fort Wilderness, Port Orleans and Old Key West. As suspected, we we pretty far back in line. However, the great part about getting into a long DME line? You won't be waiting long for your bus to arrive! We were only in line for a few minutes before we started moving forward.

Both my favorite and least favorite transportation service in the world, depending on which direction it is taking me.

@GertieTheDino89 So far DME has played Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow and the Soarin' music. It's like they knew I was coming.

I didn't catch our driver's name, because the people who were sitting behind us we SOLOUD and talking about golf. WHO CARES ABOUT GOLFING IN DISNEY?

I really wish I had known our driver's name though, because he was hysterical. He told us that they had added some new segments to the DME video (!!!!!), and that the length of time it added meant that it the length of the video was longer than the drive to the resorts. He told us that meant we had 3 options:

• He could pull the bus over and we could watch it
• We could go to Tampa
• We could go straight to Disney and the video will still be playing when people get off the bus

Now, I know I said I was SOEXCITED to get to Disney, but...I totally voted for option one. #sorrynotsorry

However, the rest of the bus cheered when he Option 3, so there were no movie watching stops or Tampa detours for our bus.

So ready to watch the DME video!

As we were driving along and watching the NEW DME CLIPS, featuring New Fantasyland, Test Track 2.0 and Splitsville, the driver also mentioned that the previous day, the people on the bus had seen some alligators during the drive. He said that he'd point out where they were usually spotted, and then said, "If you see the alligators, that means you don't have to go to Animal Kingdom!" Poor Animal Kingdom.

Apparently people did see a small alligator on our side of the bus, but I didn't see it, and I can't identify if he's one of the blurs in the picture I took.

I was totally immersed in the DME video, that it seemed like only minutes after we had gotten on the bus, I was greeted by this glorious sign!

One of the greatest sights in the world. I was officially home!!

Continued in next post​

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Joining in! We were at Disney around the same time but it was a shorter trip.

We stayed at SSR a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it! Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[arbolita]

Joining in! We were at Disney around the same time but it was a shorter trip.

We stayed at SSR a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it! Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

Hey there neighbor (at least, I'm assuming so by your screen name - I'm in Howard County MD)! Wasn't it nice escaping to Florida for a few days while everyone else in the Mid-Atlantic was dealing with snow and ice storms?

I'll have you check our your TR! And I'm eager to read the one in your signature from your trip to the Poly - that's my dream resort, really hope I am able to stay there one day!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hey there neighbor (at least, I'm assuming so by your screen name - I'm in Howard County MD)! Wasn't it nice escaping to Florida for a few days while everyone else in the Mid-Atlantic was dealing with snow and ice storms?

I'll have you check our your TR! And I'm eager to read the one in your signature from your trip to the Poly - that's my dream resort, really hope I am able to stay there one day![/COLOR][/B]

We are neighbors! Yes, we're in Northern Virginia and usually use BWI to fly to Disney!

And yes, it was so nice to avoid the cold and wintry weather during our trip although it did give us a slight wrinkle in our travel plans

Our Poly trip is probably going to be the gold standard for all of our future Disney trips. Everything clicked and hummed perfectly along for that whole trip. And of course, Poly was our dream resort so that was just icing on the cake.

 

[marDgreen88]

HELLOOO, I'm here! It took me a while but I made it. And I'm so glad I made it right on time for yall to arrive in Disney!!! Can't wait to see SSR pics! I feel like I never see pics of that resort, for some reason. SO YAY.

 

[emilyindisney]

Subbing in! I love reading other Jan '13 travelers take on everything!

My sister and I got lost going to ME, haha! We decided to pick up our own luggage and ended up wandering around side A instead of side B. Whoops!

I love the ME videos! I got so wrapped up in them that it makes the drive go by so fast!

I cannot wait to see your resort photos. I think SS looks lovely and would love to stay there one day!

 

[arbolita]

HELLOOO, I'm here! It took me a while but I made it. And I'm so glad I made it right on time for yall to arrive in Disney!!! Can't wait to see SSR pics! I feel like I never see pics of that resort, for some reason. SO YAY.

Yay, you're here!! I am hoping to finish catching up with your TR by the end of the week. I always open it up to read, but I can never remember where I left off, haha. And I know what you mean about SSR pics - I felt the same way before we went (and I think it's the same with OKW too).

Subbing in! I love reading other Jan '13 travelers take on everything!

My sister and I got lost going to ME, haha! We decided to pick up our own luggage and ended up wandering around side A instead of side B. Whoops!

I love the ME videos! I got so wrapped up in them that it makes the drive go by so fast!

I cannot wait to see your resort photos. I think SS looks lovely and would love to stay there one day!

I'm the same way - I love looking at other TRs from people who were there around the same time I was, even more so if we overlapped days, so I can try to find myself in the background of their pictures

SSR was the very first DVC/Deluxe resort we've ever stayed in, mainly because we got a GREAT deal for renting points. If you like what you see from my pics/TR, I'll send you the info for who we used!

 

[emilyindisney]

Yay, you're here!! I am hoping to finish catching up with your TR by the end of the week. I always open it up to read, but I can never remember where I left off, haha. And I know what you mean about SSR pics - I felt the same way before we went (and I think it's the same with OKW too).



I'm the same way - I love looking at other TRs from people who were there around the same time I was, even more so if we overlapped days, so I can try to find myself in the background of their pictures

SSR was the very first DVC/Deluxe resort we've ever stayed in, mainly because we got a GREAT deal for renting points. If you like what you see from my pics/TR, I'll send you the info for who we used!

We've actually been toying with the idea of renting for our next trip. We're going for the princess half next year, so I don't know if that's too short of a trip/too busy of a time to try and rent though. Can't wait to see your pictures!

 

[arbolita]

We've actually been toying with the idea of renting for our next trip. We're going for the princess half next year, so I don't know if that's too short of a trip/too busy of a time to try and rent though. Can't wait to see your pictures!

It's always worth asking, and I think SSR almost always has availability because of its size and the fact that it's entirely DVC rooms. Renting worked out great for us this trip, since the cost we paid for the room was less than what we would have paid to stay in a moderate.

 

[emilyindisney]

It's always worth asking, and I think SSR almost always has availability because of its size and the fact that it's entirely DVC rooms. Renting worked out great for us this trip, since the cost we paid for the room was less than what we would have paid to stay in a moderate.

I'll let you know if that's the route we wanna go. I definitely think it would be cheaper, but I'm a little nervous at the thought of taking the jump and giving someone else control of my reservations! Plus, we're looking a POFQ and we've never stayed there before either.

 

[Marsheliz]

Gosh the day you arrived was just absolutely gorgeous!! AHH I want to see the sign SOON!

 

[arbolita]

Gosh the day you arrived was just absolutely gorgeous!! AHH I want to see the sign SOON!

It was! We really lucked out with the weather on our trip, because I know the temperatures can vary a lot in January. The only day I was really cold was our last day there.

 

[arbolita]

Chapter 4 - Wait, Where Are We?

Just after 11:00AM, we arrived at the Aratoga Springs Resort!

I kept intending to get a picture where I didn't cut off the beginning of the sign, but clearly that didn't happen. Moving on!

I had never stayed in a Deluxe or DVC resort before, so I really wasn't sure to expect from our stay here. I knew the resort was big and near Downtown Disney, and that was about it!

After we got off the bus and collected our bags, we followed the people ahead of us towards the lobby.

We did online check-in, which had changed a lot since the last time I had used it. With the upgrade to MyDisneyExperience and the new website, when you check in online they give you several options to choose from as far as room preferences, and not just regarding which section you want to be in! They included options of being in a room on the first floor, being near the Carriage House (main building), being near transportation, and I'm assuming each resort other resort-specific options depending on where you are staying. You can choose up to two, so we chose that we wanted to be near transportation and near the walkway to Downtown Disney.

When we reached the Registration desk, I noticed they had one of the new Tap-To-Pay devices at the counter.

They told us those 4 little words that every Disney guest longs to hear during check in - YOUR ROOM IS READY!!

(Okay, maybe hearing "You're getting an upgrade!" is a little more exciting, but still. I don't think our room had EVER been ready at check-in before).

We were going to be in the Congress Park section, in room 1712, which was my top choice based on recommendations of some of my friends. As we were checking in, after we gave them a credit card to use, we used the Tap-to-Pay device to input a 4-digit pin code that we could use when making purchases using our KTTW card. She then gave us our check-in packet, drew on our map to show us where our room was, and we were off.

But first I had to check out the adorable kid's section of the lobby.

Since the resort has a big equestrian theme, I love that they included pictures of horses that have appeared in Disney films!

So...when the cast member was giving me directions, I honestly was trying hard to pay attention and follow her, but I am seriously directionally challenged. I'm not going to lie, for the longest time, my motto was "When in doubt, go left!" And did I mention that Saratoga Springs is a big resort? Yeah.

We probably took the absolute longest route to get to our room, which we realized later wasn't that far of a walk from the Carriage House, but at least it allowed us to check out some of the scenery!

At least we know we're still at the right resort!

Finally we found a directory (in which we realized that bridge we had just walked across in my last picture, wasn't the bridge we were supposed to go over. Whoops).

Finally after HOURS AND MILES of walking, we saw a glimmer of hope!

HOORAY!

We followed the sign to this building...

Took the elevator up to the 3rd floor...

And rounded the corner to find our doorway. WE MADE IT!

Continue to Next Chapter

​

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Looking at your pictures of SSR brings back memories of our trip 2 years ago when we also stayed at SSR. We were a traveling group of 6 so we appreciated the space available in our two bedroom. I found SSR to be a very relaxing resort because it's so sprawled out, you feel completely removed from the hustle and bustle of Disney. Plus with DTD so close by it was very nice to have so many restaurant options!