We've been in both the Springs and the Grandstand, but were lucky enough to be in close buildings in both.
This trip, when we stayed at the Grandstand, we actually had two different rooms. Our first room was in the closest building to the Carriage House. We had a nice view of the golf course and were right next to the Grandstand pool. When we got back to the room on the first night, though, we had a message on the phone that they had to move us - there was a leak in the tub above us and our room was supposed to have been taken out of the inventory so the ceiling could be repaired. They moved us into the building on the other side of the pool. In this room, we had a balcony that look down on the pool. This was the perfect building for being close to the pool, bus stop, and Carriage House.
We really liked the Grandstand pool, and used it almost exclusively. The one day we did go down to the main pool, it was really crowded, so we packed back up and went back to "our" pool.
Grandstand is the first bus stop (except the Downtown Disney route), so you're always the first on going to the parks and first off coming home. There were a few buses that we were on that were standing room only by the time we got to the Springs stop.
Getting to the DTD boat is about the same distance from Springs and Grandstand. When walking to it from the Grandstand, walk down to the right of the Carriage House to the golf clubhouse. It's right there. (We thought we might have to walk all the way around by the preview center, but the cart path from the Grandstand area goes right to it.)
If you get the refillable mugs, there's a refill station at the Grandstand pool, but it's only open during the hours that the bar is open (after luch to early evening).
