SSR Lovers and Owners Part 3

[CarolynFH]

We just upgraded from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom standard villa. We usually request the Grandstand section (love water and golf-course views, as well as the first bus stop), but are hoping to give Paddock a try this time. Before I submit a room request, I thought I'd check here. I am thinking about requesting building 8 (4500-4800) or 9 (5100-5400), so that we can benefit from using the Carousel (#2) bus stop. Any experrience or advice regarding these buildings? How is the walk to both the Carriage House and Paddock Pool? We are doing more resort days than park days this trip and are excited to experience the two-bedroom villa!

We were in the 4500 building in 2021 and loved the location. It was maybe 5 minutes to the Paddock pool (just one building in between), 10 minutes to Carriage House? We loved having the Carousel bus stop right outside - we were closer than guests in the Carousel buildings, and of course it was 2nd stop. Our view was mostly toward the next-door building, so not as scenic as water or golf course, though.

 

[Wakey]

Can I ask, I’m looking at buying at SSR but looking at floor plans on one of the DVC resale sites it says for the one bed that they sleep 5 but you have to bring your own bedding for the 5th person. We’re a family of 5 (although eldest is 18 so may not travel a lot with us in the future) and bringing bedding from the Uk just isn’t practical. Do they not provide bedding at all for the 5th person? Is there anyway around this?

We are from UK. We bought SSR on economics mainly initially. I have 4 contracts there and would do exactly the same if I were starting again.
We go 1 beds, and if you do that, with a bit of effort you can literally stay anywhere. Taking the last 6-7 years as an example, I’ve booked (sometimes studios as well), Beach Club (Xmas stay), BLT (Xmas stay), Vero (just before Xmas) Poly, Animal Kingdom, Boardwalk a few times including standard, Riviera standard, Grand Floridian, Copper Creek, Boulder Ridge and I’ve booked Grand Cali 3 times.
However we stayed at SSR 2 years ago post refurb and loved it post refurb. I’ve just booked it again as our top choice at Xmas. its certainly now my wife’s favourite resort.
One reason it’s high on the list is that fifth sleeper bed, as we have late teenage daughter and son so they get a bed each.
I was so disappointed to see that Boulder Ridge didn’t have that in the new refurbs.
We prefer the spread out nature of the resort as we are active people and like walking and running etc. Grounds are beautiful. Gym is fantastic. The pools are some of the best on property. We love taking the boat from near carriage house to Disney Springs and walking back on an evening. Best restaurants there.
We also love the theming. If you haven’t been you cannot pick the full atmosphere up from videos until you are there. The horse racing bugle every hour I love.

 

[arich35]

Booked our 1 week vacation for January of next year. Will be 3 adults (me, wife, and friend) and 2 children, we went with a 2 bedroom lockoff. I didn't realize there were two different 2 bedroom configurations, is there any other downside to a lockoff besides the loss of the non pull down queen bed? It seems perfect for our friend to have their own entrance and basically her own studio.

 

[stitchfan18]

How busy is the Paddock pool with the High Rock Spring pool closure right now? Is it fairly hard to find seating around that pool since it is smaller?

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

The 2024 points chart for SSR has this note at the bottom, so I think it’s probably true but have no idea of the number of villas affected:

Sleeping capacity in one-bedroom and two-bedroom accommodations at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort are subject to change, with the potential removal of the single pull-down bunk-size bed.

This would totally put me in a bad spot. We have a 1 bedroom booked, I specifically picked here because I have a 14 year old boy and a 9 yr old girl and each kid would have their own bed

 

[han22735]

This would totally put me in a bad spot. We have a 1 bedroom booked, I specifically picked here because I have a 14 year old boy and a 9 yr old girl and each kid would have their own bed

The refurb has been done for over a year and you'd think if this were actually the case, we would have at least 1 report of it and I haven't seen a single one across many boards. I think this message was put there when that "one fell off the wall" and it didn't get removed(while they were checking them all..... I think the message was in place if you got a room with the pull down twin was out of order).

 

[Bjaiken77]

Any idea when the Treehouses are going to get a complete refurb? They have to be close. I see pictures and they look awesome but a bit dated. I’d like to wait until they refurb them before giving them a try.

 

[1979figment]

How busy is the Paddock pool with the High Rock Spring pool closure right now? Is it fairly hard to find seating around that pool since it is smaller?

when I was there 2 weeks ago we went around 11 am and all the lounge chairs where taken up. I found a table to put my towels on but there were no chairs.The pool didn’t seem to crowded there was plenty of room for my kids to swim. It was my 1st stay there so I’m not sure if that is normal or not. Oh it was also on a Wednesday i can only image how crowded a weekend would be.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Any idea when the Treehouses are going to get a complete refurb? They have to be close. I see pictures and they look awesome but a bit dated. I’d like to wait until they refurb them before giving them a try.

Originally scheduled for a 2023 full refurb but since nothing was said about it at the Dec 2022 meeting I would figure on 2024 at the earliest.

 

[stitchfan18]

when I was there 2 weeks ago we went around 11 am and all the lounge chairs where taken up. I found a table to put my towels on but there were no chairs.The pool didn’t seem to crowded there was plenty of room for my kids to swim. It was my 1st stay there so I’m not sure if that is normal or not. Oh it was also on a Wednesday i can only image how crowded a weekend would be.

Thank you for sharing! I figured that pool would be extra busy with the main pool being closed.

 

[Disneychick13]

Can anyone tell me what type of coffee makers there are in the studios? I tried a search but couldn’t find a current answer.

 

[CJK]

Just left a studio yesterday. It's a big pot (see bottom left of picture).

 

[Heightshero]

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself! My wife and I just closed on our 150 (Dec UY) SSR contract and have our first stay booked for 28Apr-5May at SSR in a Studio.

We have two kids, 6 and 2 and can't wait to get our DVC lifestyle started!

Any tips or suggestions for our first trip would be GREATLY appreciated. We are driving down and will have our car at the resort and drive to the parks, therefore not needing buses. I don't like elevators and have requested a low level floor near the pool in the Carriage house area. Any suggestions for Newbies would be much appreciated. I'd love to have time to browse through 3 Parts of this, but just the 157 pages of Part 3 is a little daunting!

 

[Michiel]

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself! My wife and I just closed on our 150 (Dec UY) SSR contract and have our first stay booked for 28Apr-5May at SSR in a Studio.

We have two kids, 6 and 2 and can't wait to get our DVC lifestyle started!

Any tips or suggestions for our first trip would be GREATLY appreciated. We are driving down and will have our car at the resort and drive to the parks, therefore not needing buses. I don't like elevators and have requested a low level floor near the pool in the Carriage house area. Any suggestions for Newbies would be much appreciated. I'd love to have time to browse through 3 Parts of this, but just the 157 pages of Part 3 is a little daunting!

Enjoy your first stay, you'll love it there at Saratoga!

You'll have a lovely time just walking the grounds, taking a stroll from your room to Disney Springs and enjoying the pools.

Regarding transportation; good idea to take your car. However to Magic Kingdom I would take the bus, since driving will get you to the Ticket and Transportation Center, from which you still have to take a monorail or boat. The bus to Magic Kingdom drops you off right at the park entrance, which is much quicker.

Have fun!

 

[miksicnarf]

Can anyone tell me what type of coffee makers there are in the studios? I tried a search but couldn’t find a current answer.

I’m here now—it’s a Stay by Cuisinart, 12 cup with a cone basket.

 

[Heightshero]

Enjoy your first stay, you'll love it there at Saratoga!

You'll have a lovely time just walking the grounds, taking a stroll from your room to Disney Springs and enjoying the pools.

Regarding transportation; good idea to take your car. However to Magic Kingdom I would take the bus, since driving will get you to the Ticket and Transportation Center, from which you still have to take a monorail or boat. The bus to Magic Kingdom drops you off right at the park entrance, which is much quicker.

Have fun!

Thanks so much! I wish we could skip the Ticket and Transportation Center for the MK, but my kids LOVE the boat ride from there to the gates, maybe more so than most rides at the actual park!

 

[KV33]

Can anyone give an update on High Rock Pool Refurb? Other than the blanket Disney statement of late March. Has anyone been there recently? Is the pool still drained? Any info will help, we are going March 25th and are thinking of switching resorts due to the pool issue. Thank you in advance.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Can anyone give an update on High Rock Pool Refurb? Other than the blanket Disney statement of late March. Has anyone been there recently? Is the pool still drained? Any info will help, we are going March 25th and are thinking of switching resorts due to the pool issue. Thank you in advance.

I was there through Monday, 2/27. The pool was still drained and all of the fencing was still up.

 

[The Jackal]

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself! My wife and I just closed on our 150 (Dec UY) SSR contract and have our first stay booked for 28Apr-5May at SSR in a Studio.

We have two kids, 6 and 2 and can't wait to get our DVC lifestyle started!

Any tips or suggestions for our first trip would be GREATLY appreciated. We are driving down and will have our car at the resort and drive to the parks, therefore not needing buses. I don't like elevators and have requested a low level floor near the pool in the Carriage house area. Any suggestions for Newbies would be much appreciated. I'd love to have time to browse through 3 Parts of this, but just the 157 pages of Part 3 is a little daunting!

Welcome Home. There are 5 sections of SSR and there are 2 booking categories for SSR. Preferred and Standard. Preferred areas are The Springs and Congress Park. The Springs is the closest section to the Carriage House and Congress Park is the closest section to Disney Springs. Standard view areas are The Grandstand, The Carousel and The Paddock. The Grandstand area is the second closest to the Carriage House. One building is very close. The Carousel isis next to the Paddock Area. The Paddock area has a second feature pool. The Carousel area is a bit further away and has no pool. So if you want to be close to the Carriage House you would want Grandstand if you booked Standard View and The Springs if Preferred View. Have fun and enjoy. SSR I find to be one of the quietest resorts on property.

 

[Heightshero]

Welcome Home. There are 5 sections of SSR and there are 2 booking categories for SSR. Preferred and Standard. Preferred areas are The Springs and Congress Park. The Springs is the closest section to the Carriage House and Congress Park is the closest section to Disney Springs. Standard view areas are The Grandstand, The Carousel and The Paddock. The Grandstand area is the second closest to the Carriage House. One building is very close. The Carousel isis next to the Paddock Area. The Paddock area has a second feature pool. The Carousel area is a bit further away and has no pool. So if you want to be close to the Carriage House you would want Grandstand if you booked Standard View and The Springs if Preferred View. Have fun and enjoy. SSR I find to be one of the quietest resorts on property.

Thanks so much for this! So if I want to be kind of close to the Carriage House and Kind of Close to Disney Springs, but booked a Standard room, then I'm thinking the Paddock?