Tell me about Saratoga Springs

[mcbj]

We love the WL and have stayed there the past two trips, but thought we would try something new.

Can you walk to Downtown Disney?

We are also considering POR, any comparisons?

Thanks!

 

[gismo1554]

We love the WL and have stayed there the past two trips, but thought we would try something new.

Can you walk to Downtown Disney?

We are also considering POR, any comparisons?

Thanks!

OK yes you can walk to Downtown Disney but they also have a bus and I believe a boat now as well. The walk is quite a way as the path leads you around the edge of the lake and then down by the bus entrance to Marketplace but its a nice little walk

Saratoga is a home away from home resort so you get an apartment where as POR you get a normal room. That said Saratoga I found a bit lifeless and prefered POR but it depends what you are looking for. POR is relaxing and quiet with a lot of nice walking areas and a lovely boat trip to DTD

 

[chalee94]

We love the WL and have stayed there the past two trips, but thought we would try something new.

Can you walk to Downtown Disney?

yes, but SSR is a large resort so it depends on where you're located. i stayed on the DTD side of the paddocks last year, so it was a short 6-10 minute walk to DTD and its bus hub to the other resorts (making it easy to get to narcoossee's or artist point, for example.) if you're not on the right side of the resort (paddocks or congress park, for that side of DTD), it would take longer...

map of SSR, for reference

i haven't stayed at POR, so i can't make any comparisons, but i really enjoyed my stay at SSR and would recommend it.

i would suggest you check out some pics here - descriptions of the room types link to pics of the rooms.

also, here's the SSR owners/lovers thread from the DVC forums.

 

[SharonZ]

We love the WL and have stayed there the past two trips, but thought we would try something new.

Can you walk to Downtown Disney?

We are also considering POR, any comparisons?

Thanks!

I have stayed at both resorts. In January 2007, stayed at POFQ and really liked the resort. Last month, I was at Saratoga Springs and have to admit that I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere much better. I had a 1-bedroom villa and it was much more comfortable than a regular room. I found the bus system to be very good and liked to ability to take a boat to DTD. The boat takes less than 10 minutes, walking is slightly longer. I've also stayed at a number of Deluxes, GF, WL, CR, Poly, but really enjoyed the SSR. Let me know if I can answer any specific questions for you.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

We stayed at SSR excatly one year ago. We LOVED LOVED LOVED it. It was so relaxing. We love being able to go to the parks and then coming back and feeling ourselves unwind a bit. The pool was great for us as it is a zero entry and our then 2 year old was able to play a little bit in that shallow area. We were on the right side so we walked to DTD a lot. Loved the walk. But it would be a longer walk depending where you stayed. There were lots of little lizards on the path. It was fun to try and see them. We also saw bunnies and swans. We also never had to wait too long at any bus areas but we did wait for a while to catch a boat to DTD. Would have been much faster to walk. For us though we just relaxed and had family time while we waited and enjoyed the ride.
The food at Turfs Club was really tasty. And our daughters favorite souvie was the little plastic horses they gave her there.
We are going back next January and my husband will only stay there. He loved how relaxing it was.

 

[wisblue]

with DVC and I really like it there. If you get a room in the Congress Park section the walk to DTD is about 5 minutes so we request that. In other spots you can take the boat, hop a bus to Congress Park, or have a longer walk. I love the relatively relaxed atmosphere as a contrast to the parks.

 

[MissMet]

I've stayed at both & I own at SSR & I prefer POR. I don't have a family of my own yet so I don't need a lot of space & like some one earlier said, SSR has a kinda dead feeling. If you're going to "get away" then it would be good but I don't care for it that much, but in 19 days I'll be at SSR again so I'm giving it another shot.