Saratoga Springs

[disneykin]

I just watched the March 2020 reviews of Saratoga Spring in "unplugged." Here's my 2 cents:
Pros: As a solo traveler, I really like SS, particularly its closeness to DS. I always use points on a preferred room in Congress Park. It's quiet, remote, but not too far from the Carriage House. The ambience is lovely. There's a nice little path through the woods near DS. The main walkway to DS always has some wildlife to see.
It's home, so I am more forgiving of the food. Artists' Palette always has nice gluten-free options for me, But, my needs are not high level: give me a g-f Mickey waffle or a savory g-f flatbread and I'll be your best friend!
I ate once at the Turf Club, which was okay. I haven't eaten there since solely due to my only doing one sit-down dinner per week at WDW, and wanting to try as many different restaurants as I can.
Cons: My first DVC stay ever, and I was a true Disney innocent, saw me at The Carousel (aka Siberia); pretty awful: no pool, no walkway to the Carriage House.
The re-done white-on-white rooms are not at all "Disney" to me.

 

[crazymomof4]

We just booked our first stay at SSR for this Oct. After so many trips filled with parks parks parks- rope drop til close, I was ready for a relaxed, non-park stay. My family balked though, so this week long trip is being called "A Taste of the Parks"- 1 day Epcot 1 day MK the rest of the time, non-park activities.
I'm looking forward to exploring this resort. We are horse racing fans so many people have been shocked that we have never stayed at SSR!

 

[lovin'fl]

We stayed there in Jan and LOVED the new rooms. Love the murphy bed instead of sofa pull out. Much much more comfy. That SSR sofabed was the pits...like a patio chair cushion for a mattress. While, yes, DVC has been blanding down the rooms with renovations (making them basic and vanilla), I felt this reno was a nice change from how the rooms looked before. I like the upscale feel (like VGF a bit just on smaller scale). And there were a few themed touches like the chandelier over the table made from horse tack.

We love DS now that we are older and empty nest. Not needing to commando the parks and hit all the rides and character meets and fireworks and all that anymore. But do enjoy having a couple drinks and some food and slowly walking through DS while people watching. So we love the SSR.

In fact we are going in a week and I had OKW booked to save a couple points...but just kept thinking about SSR. So I switched it just 2 days ago.

My sister in law owns there and AKV while we own BWV and CCV so we tend to stay at AKV, SSR and BWV a lot. Which is fine with me as they are my preferred 3 resorts. And we are about to close on a townhome in the Kissimme area so we can snowbird there and will likely be doing many last minute 1 night bookings so SSR will prob be our go to place. Very A-okay with that.

Question...we have preferred booked next week. Didn't put in location request. We have stayed in CP many times and never stayed the Springs (have stayed in every section of SSR but the Springs). We love the CP location so we can walk over to DS. But wouldn't mind checking out the Springs and our stay is just 2 nights. But I am wondering what do folks typically request when they book preferred? Do they like CP for walkway into DS or do they like Springs to be near Carriage House (main pool)?

 

[leebee]

We checked out of SSR yesterday. Never stayed there before so I don't have anything to compare it to, but they are nice enough (NOT nice enough to pay rack rate, hahaha) and the Murphy bed was very comfortable. There's tons of storage space, too; six big drawers, two drawers in the vanity area, two drawers under the cushioned bench, and storage under the pop-up coffee table (the top lifts so you can use it like an eating/working area, as well as a coffee table). The couch is pretty hard, but I'd rather have a hard couch and a decent Murphy bed! One thing we really didn't like was the new floors. They are vinyl, made to "look" like wood (they don't really) and they feel like vinyl. I know people love them, but it's impossible to keep the room clean. There's no broom or swiffer, only a vacuum cleaner, which just blows stuff around on the floor before you can vacuum it up. Every day our socks/feet were dirty within 10 minutes of getting out of the shower. I know- wear shoes inside, but that just tracks around more dirt. Anyhow, that was our big UGH for the refurb. LOVE that there are two shower heads (I'm not a fan of the rainfall-type shower) but wish they'd put a grab bar into the shower, now that I"m getting "up there" in age! We were in Grandstand (8612) so we had a 5' walk to the pool, 5 minute walk to the Carriage House. I had been hoping for Paddock (the end near Congress Park) for the ease of walking to Disney Springs, but this was GREAT location, and we just drove over and parked at CP to go to DS.

 

[crazymomof4]

Sorry, I can't help with your question as it will be our first visit there in Oct, but I love your positive comments about SSR!

.....has been blanding down the rooms with renovations (making them basic and vanilla), I felt this reno was a nice change from how the rooms looked before.

Could not agree more. I feel like most of the refurbs in the past 5yrs or so have downgraded the Disney-themed rooms to a basic Hampton Inn motif. Hoping it will cycle back around with future refurbs after they get feedback from those missing the Disney touches in their rooms.

a few themed touches like the chandelier over the table made from horse tack.

Only someone who knows a bit (pun intended) about horses, would use a term like this.

We love DS now that we are older and empty nest. Not needing to commando the parks and hit all the rides and character meets and fireworks and all that anymore. But do enjoy having a couple drinks and some food and slowly walking through DS while people watching. So we love the SSR.

We are not empty nesters yet but our youngest will have turned 21 before this trip so it will be the first time she feels comfortable sitting in a Disney lounge/bar type establishment with us. So we are anticipating a few more adult activities as opposed to all previous trips.

In fact we are going in a week and I had OKW booked to save a couple points...but just kept thinking about SSR. So I switched it just 2 days ago.

For Oct I rented points. 5 nights in SSR. 2 in OKW. Two new-to-us resorts. Excited!

And we are about to close on a townhome in the Kissimme area so we can snowbird there

Our oldest son wants to go halfsies on a WDW area property when my husband retires. Seems like a good idea.

 

[crazymomof4]

We checked out of SSR yesterday. ..... the new floors. .... impossible to keep the room clean. ..... Every day our socks/feet were dirty within 10 minutes of getting out of the shower.

Thanks for the heads-up about the floors!
Will be sure to pack slippers as I hate wears shoes indoors

 

[lovin'fl]

Sorry, I can't help with your question as it will be our first visit there in Oct, but I love your positive comments about SSR!


Could not agree more. I feel like most of the refurbs in the past 5yrs or so have downgraded the Disney-themed rooms to a basic Hampton Inn motif. Hoping it will cycle back around with future refurbs after they get feedback from those missing the Disney touches in their rooms.
Only someone who knows a bit (pun intended) about horses, would use a term like this.
We are not empty nesters yet but our youngest will have turned 21 before this trip so it will be the first time she feels comfortable sitting in a Disney lounge/bar type establishment with us. So we are anticipating a few more adult activities as opposed to all previous trips.
For Oct I rented points. 5 nights in SSR. 2 in OKW. Two new-to-us resorts. Excited!

Our oldest son wants to go halfsies on a WDW area property when my husband retires. Seems like a good idea.

My youngest are twin DDs that just turned 22 and graduated in Dec. One still lives in our basement apartment...so not 100% empty nest but basically. And when we went in Dec, with one twin, it was the 1st time since she turned 21 and she enjoyed sitting with us at the lounge in Beach Club. It wasn't too overwhelming for her. She also enjoyed a drink at the new Epcot American pavilion bar by thr BBQ place. Can sit outside on picnic tables to partake (the bar is actually outside). And then Jock Lindsay's in DS....that is a cool place to try. My DD didn't get there with us but maybe this upcoming trip. She is the only one coming with us again. She is WFH and can do that from anywhere while other 2 are in a workplace now and can't join as often....maybe this summer.

We are buying a 4 BR townhome in Regal Palms. It has great amenities. We were trying to buy in Windsor Hills to be super close to Disney but the market went bonkers and we were having to pay above list and try to outbid people (and pay over appraisal). So wild. So Windsor Hills became a bit out of reach for us considering they are older units needing a lot of updates (counters, appliances, flooring, HVAC, pool equipment, etc). The place we are buying is newer and updated... and larger too. Plus cheaper. So we have to drive 22 mins to AK instead of 10 from the other place. We shall see if that is an issue...lol.

But buying a vacay place down there is pretty affordable (compared to other places like the beach). And there is tons to do aside from Disney and US. You have cruise ports and the beaches and cities with pro sports. And so much more. Plus it is super rentable...so you can rent when not using and pay some or even all of the costs (depending on where you buy...closest to Disney is the best). Just some info for you.

 

[Zach197]

We have stayed at SSR twice and just purchased 125 points direct on Monday. I have not stayed at SSR since the refurb but we loved it prior to the refurb. The distance to DS is awesome, being able to walk to the some of the best food and drink is clutch. Being able to walk into Epcot for Food and Wine is great but personally I think the food and drinks are better at DS. We enjoy the Paddock Pool and main High Rock Spring Pool a lot. We book standard rooms and request the Paddock area which we have gotten both times.

 

[disneykin]

Like yourselves, I am older, and enjoy the resorts in the same way you do. The walk from Congress Park to DS is a favorite of mine, and, you're right, the people watching is great fun!
I do about three parks per week when I'm at WDW. The other days are spent visiting other resorts, or just lolling by the pool.

 

[CarolynFH]

We're looking forward to our first SSR stay, which will actually be an inbound RCI exchange using another timeshare, so we expect to be in one of the Standard locations. DH wanted to request Carousel because it looks so quiet - but I decided just to request a "water view" because I'm not so sure I want that much quiet!

 

[kes601]

We're looking forward to our first SSR stay, which will actually be an inbound RCI exchange using another timeshare, so we expect to be in one of the Standard locations. DH wanted to request Carousel because it looks so quiet - but I decided just to request a "water view" because I'm not so sure I want that much quiet!

Carousel is the one area that is not refurbed yet. They are finishing up Grand Stand and then will move to Carousel. There are only 2 buildings in that section so I would think they might just block it completely when they begin there.

 

[The Jackal]

We're looking forward to our first SSR stay, which will actually be an inbound RCI exchange using another timeshare, so we expect to be in one of the Standard locations. DH wanted to request Carousel because it looks so quiet - but I decided just to request a "water view" because I'm not so sure I want that much quiet!

While I haven’t stayed in all of the WDW DVC resorts, BCV, BRV, CCV and RIV are the four we haven’t stayed in yet. SSR has been the quietest resort room we have stayed in and we have stayed in the Grandstand, Congress Park and Paddock areas. I would put AKV Kidani second. OKW can be quiet if you get a building off of the bus loops, otherwise it is buses and golf carts buzzing around all day.

 

[Brian Noble]

OKW can be quiet if you get a building off of the bus loops, otherwise it is buses and golf carts buzzing around all day.

The two sides of OKW lock-offs are not particularly well-insulated for sound either.

 

[lovin'fl]

The two sides of OKW lock-offs are not particularly well-insulated for sound either.

And due to flooring, being below another unit can be noisy as well.

 

[Nice Work Pal]

Question...we have preferred booked next week. Didn't put in location request. We have stayed in CP many times and never stayed the Springs (have stayed in every section of SSR but the Springs). We love the CP location so we can walk over to DS. But wouldn't mind checking out the Springs and our stay is just 2 nights. But I am wondering what do folks typically request when they book preferred? Do they like CP for walkway into DS or do they like Springs to be near Carriage House (main pool)?

I’m in the same boat staying at a preferred in July. We booked for 7 nights dvc. First time staying at SSR. I’d rather be close to the main pool. Walk to DS isn’t a big deal. We just got back from the Poly last week, I requested two buildings through online check in but got neither. Any tips on how to get the area you want through dvc at SSR and which areas are best?

 

[Brian Noble]

Any tips on how to get the area you want

All you can do is ask. The Standard/Preferred split makes this a little easier, because there are only two sections: Springs and Congress Park. Both are attractive, but for different reasons, so hopefully that spreads the requests between the two sections.

 

[PackPride]

We have stayed at SSR twice and just purchased 125 points direct on Monday. I have not stayed at SSR since the refurb but we loved it prior to the refurb. The distance to DS is awesome, being able to walk to the some of the best food and drink is clutch. Being able to walk into Epcot for Food and Wine is great but personally I think the food and drinks are better at DS. We enjoy the Paddock Pool and main High Rock Spring Pool a lot. We book standard rooms and request the Paddock area which we have gotten both times.

I agree with this entirely. We have two kids and love staying at SSR, and the food options within short walking distance to DS are amazing! We've gotten lucky the last 3 stays over the past few years and had the refurbished rooms, and they're really nice. The lack of acknowledgment from Disney reviewers online is a bit mystifying, it's always the last resort (no pun intended) if you can't book anywhere else, but we love it!

Also, we're in the process of becoming new DVC direct members and making SSR our home resort. It's certainly further away from the parks, but it's such a beautiful resort property near DS, and the recent refurbishment help solidify why we want to make this our home resort.

 

[qwerty2k]

As someone from the uk and doesn't want to drive and instead rely on disney transport wouls you say SSR is a valid resort choice? It seems massive and almost like we would need a car to simply transport our luggage from checkin to our room potentially?

 

[PackPride]

As someone from the uk and doesn't want to drive and instead rely on disney transport wouls you say SSR is a valid resort choice? It seems massive and almost like we would need a car to simply transport our luggage from checkin to our room potentially?

There's people on here who are a lot more knowledgeable that can correct me, but I can tell you from our past three visits we have stayed at SSR and didn't find that to be an issue of needing a car. In fact, besides staying at The Springs section that is close by to the check-in area, we've been transported over by a stretch golf cart to our room. There's five pick-up locations for buses, and you're never too far away from a bus stop. That being said, you may have to walk a little bit further than others depending on what building you're in....but, you're already walking upwards of 10 miles everyday in a park, so it's a good warmup for your day. Lol.

 

[Brian Noble]

As someone from the uk and doesn't want to drive and instead rely on disney transport wouls you say SSR is a valid resort choice?

Sure! Bell services will help you with your luggage. If no one in your party has mobility issues it's easy to get around after that--nothing is more than a 10 minute walk away from the main building.