SSR Lovers and Owners Part 3

[tidefan]

I'm giving you both the "like" thumbs up for trying to explain, but honestly it still makes no sense. We will stick with SSR for trips where we are skipping the parks and just doing things at SSR and DS. We will continue to book preferred, request Congress Park and just walk everywhere

It's not really that hard. If you are wanting to go anywhere else from Grandstand, just hop on any park bus and get off where you want (i.e. - Congress Park). On the way back, take any park bus (or the boat) from CP back to the Springs. From there you can walk to Grandstand or wait for a DS bus.

 

[MissLiss279]

The buses drop off and pick up at each location, so the buses go in the same order around the resort.
They start at Grandstand - drop off, pick up, they then go to the Carousel stop - drop off, pick up, then on to the Paddock stop - drop off, pick up, then to Carriage House, then to the Springs, then leave for whatever park they are going to…

 

[DonMacGregor]

To add: the bus stops are only on one side of the street, so they have to travel in the same direction every time. The busses FROM the parks (which will become the busses TO the parks when they leave) always enter at the same gate, so the sequencing of the stops is always the same (see above).

When a bus “from” a park stops at, say Grandstand, everyone coming FROM the park staying at Grandstand gets off and everyone going TO the park staying at Grandstand gets on the same bus. Once the bus completes the loop, dropping off and picking up, it heads back to the park. There aren’t separate “to” and “from” busses.

 

[Crescent_Lake]

To add: the bus stops are only on one side of the street, so they have to travel in the same direction every time. The busses FROM the parks (which will become the busses TO the parks when they leave) always enter at the same gate, so the sequencing of the stops is always the same (see above).

When a bus “from” a park stops at, say Grandstand, everyone coming FROM the park staying at Grandstand gets off and everyone going TO the park staying at Grandstand gets on the same bus. Once the bus completes the loop, dropping off and picking up, it heads back to the park. There aren’t separate “to” and “from” busses.

Thank you! I think I've got it now. These were the details I needed to make it all click!
In addition, for DS the order changes slightly because the buses headed to DS exit SSR from a different point than those headed to a park, correct?

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you! I think I've got it now. These were the details I needed to make it all click!
In addition, for DS the order changes slightly because the buses headed to DS exit SSR from a different point than those headed to a park, correct?

Exactly! I'm sorry I didn't realize you might think that the buses to the parks were different from the ones coming from the parks.

 

[Crescent_Lake]

Exactly! I'm sorry I didn't realize you might think that the buses to the parks were different from the ones coming from the parks.

No problem, thanks for not giving up on me!

 

[tidefan]

Exactly! I'm sorry I didn't realize you might think that the buses to the parks were different from the ones coming from the parks.

Same! Sorry about that!

One thing I think is key to staying at SSR is to master the Parks/DS bus system as an internal bus system, as well as using the boats.

Another thing a lot of people don't realize is that Artist's Palette is not the only QS on property. There are 2 others. There is the Paddock Grill at the Paddock Pool (good Chicken Sandwich!) as well as Chip n Dale's by the Golf Course Clubhouse.

 

[Crescent_Lake]

Same! Sorry about that!

One thing I think is key to staying at SSR is to master the Parks/DS bus system as an internal bus system, as well as using the boats.

Another thing a lot of people don't realize is that Artist's Palette is not the only QS on property. There are 2 others. There is the Paddock Grill at the Paddock Pool (good Chicken Sandwich!) as well as Chip n Dale's by the Golf Course Clubhouse.

Well, it would be easier to understand it if the CMs understood it better themselves. I guess they don't need to use it!

The quick service options are great and everything is really good too! There is no reason to go hungry staying at SSR!

 

[CableKC]

I was initially going to request a room in the Grandstand area since it was the 1st bus stop for the internal bus. But based off of my plans to walk over to Disney Springs, I decided that it maybe best to stay at Congress Park so that we can walk over there.

The only concern I have is taking the internal bus since it's the last stop on the route around the resort.

How long is the internal Bus ride from the Carriage House to Congress Park?

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to get off at the main Carriage House after returning from the Park and then simply walking over to Congress Park. From what I can tell, it's only a 10 minute walk when I check Google Maps. Especially when it's the end of the day coming home from the Park, I just want to get back to the room as soon as possible.

Thoughts on this?

 

[CableKC]

Request specific buildings via email or chat, either the building starting with room 5501 in Paddock or 8501 in Grandstand. You might have a slightly better chance at the grandstand building.

Oh, I didn't think of that. I was just thinking of requesting a room in a specific area of the park ( like Congress Park ), but didn't think of requesting a specific building within Congress Park.

Any recommendations on where to stay at Congress Park for a Standard 1BR room?

 

[Disdreaming479]

Grandstand is standard and Congress Park is preferred. Either way, ten minutes in the bus at end of the night is better than 10 minutes walking.

 

[Disdreaming479]

Standard villas at SSR will include Grandstand, Carousel, and Paddock. Preferred will include the Springs and Congress Park.

 

[jess2022]

I was initially going to request a room in the Grandstand area since it was the 1st bus stop for the internal bus. But based off of my plans to walk over to Disney Springs, I decided that it maybe best to stay at Congress Park so that we can walk over there.

The only concern I have is taking the internal bus since it's the last stop on the route around the resort.

How long is the internal Bus ride from the Carriage House to Congress Park?

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to get off at the main Carriage House after returning from the Park and then simply walking over to Congress Park. From what I can tell, it's only a 10 minute walk when I check Google Maps. Especially when it's the end of the day coming home from the Park, I just want to get back to the room as soon as possible.

Thoughts on this?

I’d request Paddock. The last Paddock building is right across from Congress Park. The Paddock bus stop is in the middle both ways so we never felt like we were on it too long. This way you can walk to DS and have a bus that drops off pretty quickly. We were in the Paddock by the pool and I think it was a 10-15 minute walk to DS with my 6 year old walking with us.

 

[CastAStone]

I was initially going to request a room in the Grandstand area since it was the 1st bus stop for the internal bus. But based off of my plans to walk over to Disney Springs, I decided that it maybe best to stay at Congress Park so that we can walk over there.

The only concern I have is taking the internal bus since it's the last stop on the route around the resort.

How long is the internal Bus ride from the Carriage House to Congress Park?

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to get off at the main Carriage House after returning from the Park and then simply walking over to Congress Park. From what I can tell, it's only a 10 minute walk when I check Google Maps. Especially when it's the end of the day coming home from the Park, I just want to get back to the room as soon as possible.

Thoughts on this?

As @Disdreaming479 noted, those areas are different “views”. You need to check whether you have standard or preferred booked. Saratoga Springs is unusual in that the views are in reference to physical building locations, not rooms within a building.

 

[CastAStone]

Hi,

I have it down that Paddock Grill has a limited service bar (premixed drinks, beer and wine only) while Backstretch pool bar and On The Rocks are Full Service (have liquors and mixers to make whatever you want). Does anyone know if that's still true?

 

[zackiedawg]

I was last there in Sep 2023, but there was full bar service (there weren't just pre-mix drinks - they had a pretty extensive selection of frozen and non-frozen cocktails including with higher end liquor options - so though I didn't order shots to confirm, it seemed to be a regular bar service).

 

[CastAStone]

So I was finding myself frustrated that a lot of the information in the first few posts was getting so outdated. @BirdsOfPreyDave did a wonderful job managing it for a decade, but seems to have decided to take leave of the site.

So I have started a new thread, SSR Lovers and Owners Part 4, with updated information in post 1 (and 2, and 3, etc) to try to keep things more up to date. Hopefully you will all join me over there:

Welcome to the “official” Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa thread, part 4!

This thread is intended to pick up where the 3rd thread, authored by @BirdsOfPreyDave, left off.

You can also find thread 1 here and thread 2 here, both authored by @mamaprincess.

I decided to create a new thread because Dave appears to have moved along to other passions, and a lot of the information at the top of the old thread was outdated. But much of the below is a straight pickup or modification of all the work BirdsOfPreyDave did on this page, and I want to acknowledge that much of the below isn’t my original work!

The purpose of this thread is to

• Ask questions
• Share stories
• Tell tales
• Share updates
• Tell other people that, actually, SSR is great, thank you very much