Reviews of Saratoga Springs Resort (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by Andybren01 Review Date: 01/06/2013
Rating: (5) Recommended
We stayed here on 11-29-12, our first villa experience. While over all it was ok, I don't know how much I would want to stay here again. Our sliding doors in our villa didn't work, the sofa was hard, the resort itself is huge. Not bad, very friendly castmembers, but just missing that extra touch.
Pros:
Clean room, friendly staffCons:
huge resortReviewed by quintenglish Review Date: 01/07/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
I've visited Disney World countless times as this is by far my favourite place to stay. The staff here are friendlier than anywhere else I've been, the area is gorgeous and the facilities are great. Of all the Disney resorts, this is probably the best value for money you will find.
This place is huge though - everything is very spread out, but I don't think this is a bad thing. After all, who wants to be crammed in like sardines?
The only downside is that it feels a little remote in relation to the parks, so unless you have your own car, you will be very dependent on the shuttle buses.
However, Downtown Disney is very accessible by footpath, which can be a near-perfect evening stroll if you can summon the energy.
I would absolutely recommend this hotel 100%. It's far from the most expensive Disney resort, but it's among the best.
Pros:
Quiet, beautiful, fantastically welcomingCons:
A bit far from the parksReviewed by peters Review Date: 01/20/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
I've avoided Saratoga for years based on many reviews I've read here and other sites. Thankfully, I was able to see first hand how beautiful this resort is during a 2 night stay in January 2013.
The rooms are spacious and nicely appointed. Cast members were very friendly & helpful, even by Disney standards and the main pool area is wonderful!
The only reason I didn't give the resort a 10 was due to the bus service. As others have stated, there are 5 stops and it takes a long time to go around that resort. While I understand why Disney has it set up this way, it definitely makes the resort seem more like a moderate. If you have a car, I would highly recommend Saratoga!
Pros:
Rooms, swimming pool, staffCons:
Large resort, bus stopsReviewed by toolmanjan Review Date: 01/20/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed (myself DW DD & DS) at SSR 1/13 to 1/20. Springs Section southern most building. Our room (2br dedicated) was in excellent condition. We disagree with the previous poster that said SSR was like a moderate resort (far from it).
The only issue we had was with bus transportation. Bus rides to and from the parks are lengthy because of the resorts size. There are 5 bus stops total. The boat service to DTD was great.
My wife was in a walking cast so we asked the front desk for a loaner wheel chair. This worked out great.
The food at Artist Palette (CS) was good. The Caprese flat bread was really good.
One of the highlights of our stay was dinner at the Turf Club B&G. Excellent food & great staff
I won’t say this resort is my favorite however we wouldn’t hesitate staying here again. We would like to try staying in the Congress Park section when we do.
Pros:
Clean & freindly resortCons:
Transportation to parksReviewed by WingsAt46 Review Date: 03/09/2013
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
Cons:
Our room, #3334, was overlooking an intersection and across from the Disney Vacation Club van parking. Every morning we could hear the back-up beeping of the vans, and all day the traffic of buses constantly decelerating and accelerating at the corner. Much too loud to sit on and enjoy the balcony.
The thermostat would (we discovered 2 days/nights into our stay) have to be set at 80°F to keep the place from getting below 72° - according to the dial. However, 72°should feel a LOT warmer than THAT 72°! It was freezing in our villa but we couldn't open the door wall for some warmth because of the bus noise outside. Still, I'd need to get up during the night to re-set the thermostat back up to 80° because it would not warm up the rooms until the temp hit 72°. There was just one extra blanket.
The couch really needed to be replaced. Just sitting on it (I weigh 144#) would leave a deep fold in the cushion and when my husband sat on it (200#), it almost folded in half. We simply could not be comfortable on it for long.
Now for a vacation club suite, I would think storage space would have been of greater importance. In the bedroom, there were 2 small drawers for each my husband and for me. A Hope Chest type piece had a broken drawer so we couldn't use that. There was another in the living room but we stored extra sheets and pillows in that for the pull-out bed.
The SPA portion of the resort was down for refurbishing but we were not notified of that until we read through the Welcome Packet at check-in. The Spa was one of the reasons we chose Saratoga.
Pros:
The bed was comfortable, the room darkening curtains kept the room dark, the H2O hair products were great and we had plenty of sheets and towels, coffee, shampoo (dropped off in a basket at our door each morning).
I was SO glad that we didn't buy into the Vacation Club as we had been considering!
We will not be returning to Saratoga. Every year we stay on Disney Property and have never had a complaint. Until now. It was an expensive lesson.
Pros:
beautiful grounds, near Downtown Disney,Cons:
not enough storage space for clothing or groceries, too much noise from buses and vansReviewed by bill_p Review Date: 03/25/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
My family of 4 stayed in a studio for a week, and had a great time. We were in Carousel, close to the buses (and also fairly close to the Paddock pool). The room was a good size for a week's worth of clothes and supplies, and the fold-out bed was very comfortable for our kids (12 and 8). The older daughter is approaching that "teen angst" phase, and probably would have preferred a hotel with a Haunted Mansion theme, but by our 2nd morning there was talking about how much she loved the setting.
The staff was friendly. Service at the Turf Club was wonderful (Rob was our server). Buses were almost always quick to arrive.
Yes, the sections are spread out, so until you learn your way around, it can be a bit of a hike, but overall, we very much enjoyed our stay here and are looking forward to coming back.
Pros:
Quiet, very peaceful settingCons:
Maybe a bit spread outReviewed by kermike Review Date: 04/09/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
We had the pleasure of staying from 5/30-4/6, I had checked-in online so I could request the Grandstand area since this is first on the bus stops. Staying at Grandstand, we were close by to a smaller pool which was not busy and nice because no chaos. We where traveling with friends and had the 2 bedroom Villa that fit the 8 of us very well. Having onsite laundry made the packing easier.
Pros:
Cleanliness, Staff and TransportationCons:
Evil Black snake I ran into..Reviewed by wattage Review Date: 04/11/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed four nights at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort (3/31 – 4/4/13). Me, My wife and daughter stayed in a deluxe studio in the Paddock area of the resort – one building over from the new pool area. We were close to the back exit of the resort which was convenient for us as we had a car. I highly recommend having a car if staying at Saratoga as the busses take a long time to get to the parks and you are forced to waste a great deal of time waiting for the busses to pick you up.
Our studio was on the second floor directly across from the front stairwell. The room was quiet and clean. The beds were very comfortable and the towels were nice and thick. We stayed using our DVC points so we received towel and trash service only on day three. We had no mechanical issues like our last stay in October 2012. The resort has new locks that only require you to touch your card-key to the lock for it to open your room. We packed thinking we had a washer and dryer in our room, but a studio does not come with that luxury. So we had to utilize the guess laundry on two occasions. The laundry areas were free to use, and had enough washer and dryers that we never had to wait to use either.
The grounds and building of the resort are beautiful and well maintained. I’ll still only stay at Saratoga Springs ONLY if I cannot get in at any other resort, but this trip it was not a bad place for our four nights.
Pros:
Grounds, staff, poolsCons:
LocationReviewed by michaeltigue Review Date: 07/20/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
Had an amazing stay at Saratoga Springs. We've stayed there many times actually. Paid $162 using www.saratooga.com, which specializes in arranging DVC rentals for Saratoga Springs. Amazing pricing.
Pros:
clean, beautiful, patios, kitchenette, golf course, water, boat ride, basketball, poolsCons:
large layout, not close to parksReviewed by Mich97 Review Date: 08/30/2013
Rating: (7) Recommended
This is our home resort and we usually love it. It nice and clean. We usually don't have problems with bus service either. We did have one problem this trip. Usually our room is ready for us when we check in - be it at 11am or 4pm. And while I realize that officially check-in time is 4pm, they actually did not release that room to us till almost 4pm (we had checked in about 12pm). Although I found the wait inconvenient we did make use of the pool. And considering the location of the room that we got, I'd say it was worth the wait.
