Saratoga Springs...Kid friendly

[smraynor]

Hi all,

I was looking at the various DVC resorts and I was wondering if Saratoga Springs would be considered "kid friendly". As a new parent who is thinking about buying a membership, my home resort being friendly to children is important to me!


Thanks for any input!

 

[rocketriter]

Every DVC resort is kid-friendly. You're at Disney! Plenty of fun, plenty of activities, a pool with shallow-entry and so forth. Your kids will have a great time, and find new things to do as they grow up.

 

[athenna]

Just one thought to add to what rocketriter said.
They won't be little forever, and as they grow up, I think they will love the convenience to DTD. It's so close by that SSR will appeal to them now, and later.

 

[laughingplace]

Our DD (2 yrs old) loved the play area next to one of the quiet pools; there is a very large playhouse there. She also had a great time splashing around in the Donald Duck fountain by the main pool. We took one afternoon and played with the toys and colored in the Community Hall.

I know 2 year olds love to play with anything, but I believe she will continue to enjoy the resort as she grows older too.

 

[LIFERBABE]

They are 6 and 8 and they have a hard time choosing between SAB at the BC (their favorite reason for wanting to stay at BCV) and SSR location and activities.

For our Christmas trip, they have chosen SSR. They like being close to Disney Quest, and the Community Hall has lots of activities that they enjoy.

 

[mom2rb]

My boys love SSR. They were six when we were there. We are going to BWV and OKW this trip, but I have already been told that next time we will be going back to SSR.

 

[Beach_Bound9]

I believe one of the pools is zero entry, isn't it? That's very kid friendly. Although for purchase, you may want to consider the distance from the parks in your decision. With younger children, it is certainly very nice to head back to the room for an afternoon nap. Not bad for mom and dad either. Close proximity makes that even easier. Personally, I'm not a big DTD fan, except for PI at night. Just some thoughts to consider, hope they help. You may want to check out SAB and the sand bottom pool.

 

[abbysmema]

We also love SSR. On Sunday afternoon the lifeguards have activities for the kids at the main pool. My dgd (4yr.) is practicing the hulla hoop for our next visit in October. We have some adorable pictures of her trying to do this for the first time on our stay in May. Since we plan to keep our October visit less busy (only MK and EC) she'll get to enjoy the Community Hall activites and the playground. Our adult children also enjoy SSR. They use the exercise room at the Spa and go into DTD.

 

[Anewman]

We just got back from a week at WL, my parents stayed at SSR.
My 13 year old son spent most nights at SSR, he just felt more comfortable in the pools over there. Lots less crowded than WL pools. My 15 year old girl prefered WL.


My parents and Sister had a 1bedroom so they had the room and did not break any rules, they acctually registered him in their room too.

 

[smraynor]

This is wonderful knowledge and this is helping us make some decisions. I had no idea that there were play areas for the kids in addition to the pools!

 

[tjkraz]

Define "kid friendly". Not sure exactly what sort of criteria you might be using.

This is wonderful knowledge and this is helping us make some decisions. I had no idea that there were play areas for the kids in addition to the pools!

Quiet Pool Playground:

Arcade:

Community Hall:

Hot Springs fountains:

Large pool slide:

Small pool slide:

Zero access pool entry:

(All photos courtesy of allearsnet.com)

 

[smraynor]

Thanks so much for the photos of the "kid friendly" areas. I guess what I was thinking is that when you see kids at the All-stars or Pop Century they get really excited about the theming. Whereas the Grand Floridian seems a bit less kid oriented.

Having never seen Saratoga Springs in person I had a fear that it may be a more adult orieted resort. But seeing more photos is helping me change that impression!

 

[Sammie]

Thanks so much for the photos of the "kid friendly" areas. I guess what I was thinking is that when you see kids at the All-stars or Pop Century they get really excited about the theming. Whereas the Grand Floridian seems a bit less kid oriented.

Having never seen Saratoga Springs in person I had a fear that it may be a more adult orieted resort. But seeing more photos is helping me change that impression!

Kids will get excited at all Disney resorts.

A bit of advice you might not have been looking for, but at DIS, we give anyway,

Do yourself a favor as a new parent, and make the choice based on your needs and wants. The kids will love wherever you take them.

 

[HILARYDUFF1209]

My children ages 5, 10 and 11 give SSR a thumbs up as being very kid friendly. We have mostly stayed at OKW and while the community room is nice, there was much more to do at the SSR community room.

 

[wtpclc]

OT - tjkraz - Thanks for the awesome photos!!!!! I'm so excited to go there! Now I just need to wait until January.

 

[smraynor]

Can you tell I am a new first time parent? My daughter will have just turned 1 yr. when we take our first family trip to WDW together in December! I am way overplanning her first Disney experience!

Mommy and myself have been 50 plus times so we are trying to plan a trip with plenty of distractions for a one year old! It looks like we will be staying at the Beach Club Villas!

 

[Sammie]

Can you tell I am a new first time parent? My daughter will have just turned 1 yr. when we take our first family trip to WDW together in December! I am way overplanning her first Disney experience!

Mommy and myself have been 50 plus times so we are trying to plan a trip with plenty of distractions for a one year old! It looks like we will be staying at the Beach Club Villas!

Yep it was kinda obvious, believe me the kids love all Disney resorts and are happy anywhere Mom and Dad are.

 

[lts862]

Our children are 5 and 2 1/2 and love Saratoga!! The playground was a big hit with them...it was too cool to use the pool when we were there in January but they are excited about that, too, and hope to take a dip in November...hope the weather cooperates for them.

On our first trip to WDW with the children, we ran around like crazy trying to see and do everything. We felt that we might not be back for a while so we went commando style, stayed in a monorail resort, etc. We came back exhausted and sick. We bought into DVC (Saratoga) on that trip.

I know that many people are concerned about not being able to walk or boat over to a park from Saratoga. It is not an issue for us. We had no problem with the buses to the parks or walk to DTD. Our feeling is, a)you are in Disney World, b)will have many vacations there in the years to come and c) have the option of trying the other DVC resorts through this flexible program. It doesn't matter if it takes a few minutes longer to get to a park from SSR. Enjoy the bus or boat ride (DTD) and just have a great time with your family.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[JimFitz]

I would say that SSR is very kid friendly, but I also agree with the other posters who mentioned that they won't be young forever.