Upgrade to Saratoga Springs!

[OneLittleSpark]

Hello everyone. My mother and I will be going to Disney this September, and we've been given a free upgrade to Saratoga Springs . As we've never stayed there before, I was hoping I could get some information from you lovely people on access around the hotel.

We'll be in a fully accessible 1 bed apartment with roll-in shower, and I'd like to know the differences between this and a 'normal' apartment. My mother is particularly keen to know whether she'll still get the whirlpool tub . Also, is there anything else I should know, to help me get about the place? I'm guessing access is fairly well built in, as it's a post-ADA build, but are there any quirks or awkward areas I should know about? Do the pools have bump steps? I can cope without, but it just makes it so much easier if they're there.

Any information or pictures are very gratefully received. I'm a planner, so I always feel happier when I know as much as I can!

Thanks in advance!

 

[momof1+1+2]

There is lots of info on SSR on the DVC Board. I would look there and post your question there as well.

 

[dclfun]

Alas, the accessible villa will not have the whirlpool tub- only the roll-in shower. The main drawback to this resort is that it's so spread out and you could be a far distance from the food court/main building. Still, it will be nice to have the extra space. Take a look at photos on the WDW website and then read some reviews on the resorts board too, to get a general feel for SSR.---Kathy

 

[peemagg]

I would think it would have the tub along with the shower, since in a regular 1 bedroom they are 2 seperate things in different areas of the bathroom. I am just thinking of the layout of a regular bathroom, and not speaking from experience, since those are features that I do not need yet.

If you are using the bus system for transportation, then I would request the Grandstand section. They the first picked up and the first let off. There is 5 sections to the resort and one bus picks up at all 5 sections. Grandstand is also not far from the main Carriage House or pool. In fact, Grandstand has its own themed pool now.

 

[peemagg]

sorry double post

 

[SueM in MN]

There is still a whirlpool tub in the 'master bedroom' part of the villa.
We have not stayed in a 2 bedroom unit, but have stayed in a one bedroom unit several times. The villa itself is the same size and general plan as the non-accessible shower. The bathroom with the roll in shower is arranged differenty, but the bathroom is the exact same size.
Here are some pictures:
SSR entry. In this unit, the dining area and living room are straight ahead, with the kitchen to the left. The Master bedroom and bathroom at to the right. The 2nd bedroom (studio part) is to the left of the picture:

The kitchen has a slightly wider doorway to allow room for a wheelchair to enter and also has a roll under sink. The microwave is on the counter instead of above the stove:

Other side of the kitchen:

Living room. The door with a curtain is a patio/french door that goes outside to a patio or a porch. The door on the left side of the picture leads to the lock off door that goes to the 2nd bedroom (studio). You can see the edge of the table that was visible in the first picture on this picture in the part closest to you. We usually push the table close to the wall to allow DD's wheelchair to go thru.

The kitchen/dining/living room area of the accessible and non-accessible villas are the same size, but to make room in the kitchen for a wheelchair, they removed a snack bar that the non-accessible rooms have at the front of the kitchen and moved the kitchen 1/3 wall out to make room for it. This makes the kitchen a little larger, but the other room a little smaller.

This is the SSR master bedroom:

Roll in shower in master bathroom:

Fold down seat inside the roll in shower

Other side of the master bathroom:

The bathtub part of the master bathroom. There is a window above the tub that overlooks the bedroom. The only differences in this room are the addition of grab bars and the closet has one lower hanging bar that can be reached from a wheelchair.

Other than those things, an accessible SSR villa is the same as a non-accessible one.

For where to request - it depends somewhat on what you want to be near. We prefer Congress Park. It was one of the intermediate bus stops, but we did not have trouble getting on the bus. Some people prefer the first bus stop, especially if they are going to the park early. It takes us a while to get DD up and rolling in the morning, so our concern with the first bus stop is if people are coming back from the park when we are going to the park, the bus may be too full for us to get on.

If you want to walk to Downtown Disney, Congress Park is close to the paths that go there.

 

[SueM in MN]

THis is a picture of the non-accessible kitchen snack bar so you can see what it missing. The wall in the accessible kitchen comes out to where this snack bar ends, so the living room area is a tiny bit smaller

Forgot to mention the pool - the main pool is a zero entry pool with a gradual ramped area to get in. They do have a water wheelchair and they have a portable lift to get into the hot tub.

You will need to ask for both the water wheelchair and the lift if you need them since they don't leave them out (too tempting for kids/teens to play with).

This page has some pictures of the water wheelchair, zero entry pool and lift for the hot tub.
We did not take DD into the pool (she was suspicious of the wheelchair), but my experience was that the pool was so shallow that it was hard to swim in. When I take DD into the water, it is easier if the water is at least 4-4 1/2 feet deep. You have to go out quite a way in the water until it is that deep.

 

[dclfun]

Ah- good to know about the bathroom and whirlpool tub. We've had an accessible one bedroom villa at AKL Jambo twice and it did NOT have the whirlpool tub- we were told all the one bedroom villas other than OKW were like this.---Kathy

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew that I could rely on my lovely DISers to help me out! My mother will be pleased that she's going to get a bath tub, even better a whirlpool one. I'll send her a link to this page, so she can see the photos (thank you for those Sue, I was hoping you might have some tucked away somewhere ).

Thank guys, you're all wonderful

 

[SueM in MN]

Ah- good to know about the bathroom and whirlpool tub. We've had an accessible one bedroom villa at AKL Jambo twice and it did NOT have the whirlpool tub- we were told all the one bedroom villas other than OKW were like this.---Kathy

They told you wrong.
The only one or 2 bedroom DVC villas with roll in showers which don't have a whirlpool tub are at AKL in the rooms that were converted from resort rooms. All the other 1 and 2 bedroom accessible DVC villas have the whirlpool tub, including the new construction ones at AK and at BLT ( this was what our DVC Guide told us when we took a tour in May)

 

[SueM in MN]

Forgot to mention- the Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge ones are the same as SSR, just the decorating is different.
The Boardwalk ones are pretty much the same, but some rooms are a bit bigger

 

[dclfun]

They told you wrong.
The only one or 2 bedroom DVC villas with roll in showers which don't have a whirlpool tub are at AKL in the rooms that were converted from resort rooms. All the other 1 and 2 bedroom accessible DVC villas have the whirlpool tub, including the new construction ones at AK and at BLT ( this was what our DVC Guide told us when we took a tour in May)

We've only stayed at Jambo House, so these are all converted from resort rooms, but yes, they did give us wrong information! I actually had someone from management come to our room so that I could point out all the problems with accessibility in the accessible rooms so they didn't make the same mistakes with Kidani. We've only stayed in a studio at Kidani but it's good to know about the whirlpool tub in the larger villas as I know in the future my grandkids would enjoy it. I detest the bathrooms, at least in the larger units, at Jambo. They are dark, there's only the shower and the grab bars around the toilet double as towel racks! They did either take my suggestion or figure it out on their own to put an adjustable swivel mirror by the sink. As it is, someone in a w/c cannot see in the regular mirror as it is installed too high.---Kathy