Saratoga and Disney Spring Loop

[boufa]

We are looking to kill time on arrival day at Disney Springs. I was also maybe looking to explore Saratoga Springs, my wife loves POP, but I bet I could get her to fall in love with other resorts if we explored a little.

I know there is a bridge by the nus stops from Disney Springs to Saratoga, and looking at the map, there appears to be a bridge at the far end of Disney Springs over to saratoga (its listed on google as the saratoga springs nature trail)

Has anyone ever done a full loop around the lake, how far is it, and is it reasonable to do in a few hours?

 

[LLM]

I stayed at Saratoga Springs last August. Another option is to take the boat from Disney Springs to Saratoga. We rode the the boat over and back one night. The ride only takes a few minutes and we found it to be nice and peaceful!

Lisa

 

[POOHsie]

We are looking to kill time on arrival day at Disney Springs. I was also maybe looking to explore Saratoga Springs, my wife loves POP, but I bet I could get her to fall in love with other resorts if we explored a little.

I know there is a bridge by the nus stops from Disney Springs to Saratoga, and looking at the map, there appears to be a bridge at the far end of Disney Springs over to saratoga (its listed on google as the saratoga springs nature trail)

Has anyone ever done a full loop around the lake, how far is it, and is it reasonable to do in a few hours?

There's no realistic round trip around the lake. You enter SSR at the main bldg (far left top corner, not shown on map) and you'll be near the boat dock. The boat drops you at the West Side Dock. IMO the Disney Springs West Side doesn't have the shopping that may interest your wife. The Disney Springs East Side (Marketplace) has the shops.

To access the east side bridge from SSR to Disney Springs, park at the SSR resort at the farthest east point. At the Disney Springs east side (Marketplace) dock, there is a water taxi that takes you to the West Side Dock. But it takes time to wait for a water taxi, and travel time. Then repeat that for your return. Disney Springs is very long, and a stroll from the far east side to the far west side would take considerable time. Best to concentrate on the east side (Marketplace). Continue further west if you have time. The center portion of Disney Springs, to the right of the hot air balloon on the map, has some great restaurants and a new gelato shop. That's within strolling range for a few-hour visit.

Here's a link to the map with legends: https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...tinations/downtown-disney/downtown_disney.pdf

 

[jon18uk]

We stayed at Saratoga a few years ago, there is a bridge from behind Cirque that comes out close to the main buildings of Saratoga and another bridge that comes out behind marketplace. We walked over both bridges at various points in the trip

I would allow at least an hour just to walk through from Cirque to Marketplace via Saratoga. Its not a long walk but if you stop to look, or detour around the lake it will take longer. Then it will take at least an hour to walk through Disney Springs as you will get distracted by at least one store!

Google Maps says its about a 20 minute walk on each side of the lake, so if you don't stop it shouldn't take too long https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/W...56d015283!2m2!1d-81.515113!2d28.37148!1m0!3e2

 

[jon18uk]

There's no realistic round trip around the lake

As your map shows there is a walkway at both ends connecting Saratoga with Disney Springs. It is possible to do a round trip walk.

 

[POOHsie]

As your map shows there is a walkway at both ends connecting Saratoga with Disney Springs. It is possible to do a round trip walk.

Yes, there is a path all the way around the lake. But it's not a realistic walk for a casual DTD visitor. It's a long way around the lake. I've never read one time on DisBoards about guests doing it or recommending it to others. Too far, or too time-consuming, or both.

 

[dallastxcpa]

I would explore Disney Springs and then take the boat over to Saratoga Springs. It will drop you off at the main building where the gift shop, restaurant, and quick service is. There is also the main pool there where you could grab a frosty drink. Once you are done exploring you can cross the street past the pool and take a bus to your choice of theme park or back to Disney Springs.

We love SSR as it is our Home resort and we bought there specifically to be near Downtown Disney aka Disney Springs.

 

[boufa]

We stayed at Saratoga a few years ago, there is a bridge from behind Cirque that comes out close to the main buildings of Saratoga and another bridge that comes out behind marketplace. We walked over both bridges at various points in the trip

I would allow at least an hour just to walk through from Cirque to Marketplace via Saratoga. Its not a long walk but if you stop to look, or detour around the lake it will take longer. Then it will take at least an hour to walk through Disney Springs as you will get distracted by at least one store!

Google Maps says its about a 20 minute walk on each side of the lake, so if you don't stop it shouldn't take too long https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/W...56d015283!2m2!1d-81.515113!2d28.37148!1m0!3e2

This makes me think that it might be possible to do, I enjoy a nice peaceful walk. I'm not worried about time, since we will have a long time to play with. 6-8 hours to kill. (I am tempted to do a park, but don't want to add more $$ to the trip... of course a park might be cheaper than Disney Spring with the wife..lol)

Yes, there is a path all the way around the lake. But it's not a realistic walk for a casual DTD visitor. It's a long way around the lake. I've never read one time on DisBoards about guests doing it or recommending it to others. Too far, or too time-consuming, or both.

This is why I asked the question... there are only limited number of things to ask, and they have been answered over, and over, and over again. I had an idea of something to do, and didn't find much information on it. Since the east end bridge isn't that old, I can't imagine that a lot of people have had the chance to even try it.

 

[jon18uk]

Since the east end bridge isn't that old, I can't imagine that a lot of people have had the chance to even try i

Even before the new bridge there was an old bridge alongside the road from Marketplace to Congress Park Saratoga Springs.

If you are keen to see the Saratoga resort then go for it and walk over. If you are interested in Disney History the read about the Disney Institute and try to match the Saratoga buildings to the Institute ones.

 

[MarkF0wle]

I whacked it into Google Earth as I was curious myself, the loop around & through SSR & DTD comes in at under 2 miles. Definitely doable considering I have walked 13+ miles on a Disney park day before. Enjoy, SSR is a lovely resort, very understated.

 

[boufa]

View attachment 128004

I whacked it into Google Earth as I was curious myself, the loop around & through SSR & DTD comes in at under 2 miles. Definitely doable considering I have walked 13+ miles on a Disney park day before. Enjoy, SSR is a lovely resort, very understated.

Great map, that was exactly what I was thinking. We walk a few miles as often was the weather allows, so this would be a great way to spend an afternoon/evening.

My only followup to that is if that corner of the trail to the upper left of your picture gets dark at night, or if that trail has at least some minimal lighting.

 

[MarkF0wle]

Great map, that was exactly what I was thinking. We walk a few miles as often was the weather allows, so this would be a great way to spend an afternoon/evening.

My only followup to that is if that corner of the trail to the upper left of your picture gets dark at night, or if that trail has at least some minimal lighting.

I can honestly only speculate, the blue dot is the boat dock & it's lit from SSR to there, between there & the car park I am not sure. It's part of the golf course & I think I have seen signs that say to be careful walking it after dark as it isn't lit but I have honestly never walked it before so I cannot say. I would say you're only talking a few hundred feet that wouldn't be lit.

If that would be a problem you can jump on the DTD boat at the SSR boat dock & it'll drop you off at Cirque, it's a lovely trip & you'll miss nothing but walking.