What are the best things about SSR? Need a crash course!

[Antonia]

We are staying here only 2 nights next week so not a lot of time to get to know the resort. We are two grandparents in our mid fifties. Our two grandchildren ages 6 and 9 will be with us. What is the best area for getting the bus, whats the name of the best pool for kids that age? Is there a food court? Any other need to know tips?

 

[AngiTN]

We stayed there in Oct.
My tip is don't let first impressions be your last impression. We, well I, hated it, at first. But it wasn't so bad in the end. It is very quiet. We got the carousel area and turned out to be a great area. Bus stop was right outside our door. Never a full bus, second stop I think. Not to far if we wanted to walk to the main lobby building.
We didn't swim so no help there

 

[GTApex]

We stayed there in Oct.
My tip is don't let first impressions be your last impression. We, well I, hated it, at first. But it wasn't so bad in the end. It is very quiet. We got the carousel area and turned out to be a great area. Bus stop was right outside our door. Never a full bus, second stop I think. Not to far if we wanted to walk to the main lobby building.
We didn't swim so no help there

Agreed... it’s a resort that doesn’t “reek” of Disney, but it’s quiet, very nice, and I really liked being so close to Disney Springs. We were in the building closest to the springs (Congress Park) and walked over to DS several times... Nice if you want a bus somewhere that’s not a park.

We used the two large pools and our 3 kids loved them both. I think the Paddock pool may have been their favorite due to the larger slide.

We also tool the boat to DS once, but it wasn’t really an advantage for us due to our location.

Finally, the view from our unit of DS across the water at night was pretty nice

 

[hakepb]

I think Paddock would be the best overall area. It has the best feature pool area for kids, has a quick Food area (with refills) and is the 3rd bus stop.
(Park busses go to Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, Congress Park, then Springs. At times bus seats are full by the time they get to Congress Park)
On the DVC side, Springs and Congress Park have the “preferred” designation, so you may not get those on a cash reservation.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/Saratoga.htm

The “main” area is the Springs. (And has the other QS, TS)
2 Grandstand buildings are closer to the main areas than the actual Springs buildings. Grandstand also has a pool bar w/refills (no food) and a splash area, but a basic pool. As the 1st bus stop and close to main areas, I really like Grandstand, too.

Congress Park has great DS views and is the quickest walk to DS.

Carousel is close to the Paddock pool, and is the fastest drive out if you have a car.

 

[Antonia]

Thanks all! Great info! We arrive on the 26th!

 

[Upatnoon]

We are staying here only 2 nights next week so not a lot of time to get to know the resort. We are two grandparents in our mid fifties. Our two grandchildren ages 6 and 9 will be with us. What is the best area for getting the bus, whats the name of the best pool for kids that age? Is there a food court? Any other need to know tips?

Our kids loved the Paddock Pool and all the activities they have there. Its a large, sprawling resort, so you may be closer to the other feature pool that is smaller.

They have a quick service food area, but it isn't a giant one like at the values. It never felt as crowded as those places get.

There are several bus stops, you'll pick the one closest to where you are staying. They are covered and have monitors that tell you when the bus is coming.

The ability to walk to Disney Springs or take the boat is a nice feature.

We also liked it because it was a quick car ride to some of the offsite places we like to go.