Sorry to bump an old thread, but I don’t like to create new ones unless absolutely necessary 
I have some friends that are staying at Saratoga Springs in early February. Family, with 2 grade school age girls, first time in WDW.
I wanted to ask for your best tips and basic advice for those staying at SS. Any info is great, transportation, activities, etc. Thanks!
Request a room in the Paddock section (unless they booked preferred) and make lots of good Disney Springs dinner reservations!
We enjoyed walking over to Disney Springs, as well as hopping on the Friendship boats to take a ride over to POR/POFQ for non-park days/times for a relaxing change of pace.
We didn’t have much trouble with the buses. Waits seemed on par with any other resort to get to the parks.
There are of course activities geared toward the kids each day, as is the case for most of the resorts, so it might be something to look at if they have resort days planned.
SS is definitely a more relaxed vibe than, say, Pop, etc.
What’s the benefit of the Paddock section?
So a short walk to DS? Less than a mile?
What is neat to see at Port Orleans, besides the boat ride?
Well, “neat” is highly subjective! But, I think POFQ has a fun vibe where the pool is where you get off the boats. Plus, there are beignets!
POR is kind of neat to see the cotton mill.
But, it is more just about the relaxing boat ride over and seeing different resorts.
Depends on where they are. For preferred rooms, Congress Park is a VERY short walk. For standard rooms, some of The Paddock is pretty close as well. The Springs (preferred) has the nicer pool…but also there is a boat launch that will take you to DS without having to walk if you want. The Grandstand and The Carousel, however, are more of a hike.
The Paddock section has easy access to the main lobby, QS and pool via the bridge plus it has it’s own pool with a slide and a small QS and drink refill station!
The very first Paddock building is our preferred building.
If your friends have a one bedroom, in the living room they’ll have a pull down, over the couch, queen murphy bed that is my favorite sleeping surface. There is also a single Murphy bed below the tv. And there will be a washer and dryer.
I don’t know about the studios.
While the theming of upstate New York is less obvious than the SW US, or South Seas or Pacific NW, to name a few, it is one of my favorite resorts.
The 10 yo in our group had a great time joining in the main pool activities one afternoon.
We just spent 8 days in Saratoga Springs, in the Paddock area, and I did not really love it to pieces.
I found the resort huge and confusing. For instance, it was a long walk to Disney Springs, and a very long walk from the boat ramp (made even longer by a guest who told us – unbidden – we were going the wrong way, so we weren’t the only confused, lost people there). The buses took forever, cycling all over the resort.
The Carriage House was so far away that – OK, this is a story. The day we checked in as a group of six, we were gathered outside the reception area, divvying up who was going to ride with whom (two cars and a couple who had flown in who were waiting for a golf cart to take them and their luggage to the Paddock). A woman walked up to us and asked if we were just checking in. We said yes, and she handed us two refillable mugs, saying, “There’s another week on them. We have to go home for a family emergency, just want someone to enjoy them.” We thanked her profusely and did a happy dance!
But then we never ate in the Artist’s Palette food court because the Carriage House was so far away. I drove over there one time to buy fuzzy pink ears and half-and-half. That’s it. I am the person in our group who spent the most time in the Carriage House. Those lovely refillable mugs went unfilled.
(And the two people who were waiting for a golf cart that first day gave up after 35-40 minutes and walked to the Paddock… and then never turned around and went back, because dang, that was far away.)
Other than the sheer enormity of the resort, the 2-BR villa seemed small. There was a foyer just inside the door which took up a lot of room in the floor plan and contributed nothing. The living room was small; the dining table was miniscule, and the kitchen was tiny. The bathroom for the master bedroom side is divided into three, which was weird – you have to walk past the shower to get to the water closet. The bathroom on the other side was fine but – not “deluxe.”
When the occupant of the Murphy bed in the living room wanted to sleep in, … Well, they couldn’t. We were getting up at 5:30 most days for thyroid meds, showers, coffee, bagels, later coffee for the thyroid people, etc.
Annnd it was cold when we were there, so we never got near a swimming pool. Which was close! The pool was so, so close, we had to walk past it on the way to and from the bus stop. The hot tub beckoned with billowing steam in the cold night air, bubbling away until 10:00. It looked great! I have no idea if it really was.
So my advice is to have a car and drive yourself wherever you need to go.
I feel awful posting this. I feel like a wet blanket. When BIL booked the resort, my longtime friend circle all celebrated and said they love SS. (They’re all DVC owners.) I feel I sound petulant and whiny and lazy. I’m not lazy! I own a corgi! We walk all the time! I walked 6 miles on my first day in the parks, then 8.3 the second day. Third day – Animal Kingdom – was a light day, only 5.5 miles, but I went nuts in Epcot last Thursday and walked almost 12 miles. I can and will walk. I just – yeah. Didn’t want to walk around Saratoga Springs.
But! Saratoga Springs is very pretty – it reminds me of the Boardwalk, but with more color.
Dear Husband Wesley was really looking forward to staying in a DVC villa – he loves those in-room washers and dryers. At the end of our trip, when we started planning for next year, he suggested that maybe next time, we should try to get a Boardwalk villa. “So much smaller,” he said, “And so close to Epcot.”
I’m sorry. Srsly. I really wish I had nicer things to say about it. Maybe I’m too close to it to be objective. Ask me in six months!
I actually agree with almost everything you said, so that isn’t being a wet blanket, just honest.
Despite the shortcomings, we still love it. We purposely picked Congress Park to be within better walking distance of Disney Springs. We only went to Artist’s Pallet once to check it out, but even our resort days were usually us exploring other resorts and such. If we really just wanted to spend more time at SSR itself, we probably would have wanted to be closer to the carriage house.
I do think, much like OKW, SSR lends itself well to those who drive. Still, we had a car our entire stay last time, but almost never used it.
The layout of the 1 bedrooms at SSR felt fairly similar to Boardwalk. We like Boardwalk better, but were very happy at SSR.
Another aspect of SSR compared to some other resorts is it has more of an “away from it all” vibe. Other resorts feel more like you are part of the bustle. Either of those vibes have their positives and negatives, so it is really a matter of personal preference and/or just what you are in the mood for.
Springs doesn’t do a thing for me.
It’s fine that many people love it there, just like it’s fine that I love OKW and others are confused by that.
It’s nice there are so many resorts - something for everyone.
Where are the Villas located in the resort?
The whole thing is villas
Do you mean the Treehouse Villas? Because technically the whole resort is villas.
Oh yes the treehouses are off in a corner. I forget about them.
You know what could use a refurb - those things. If they did them up nice I could stay there.
Well that was a dumb question 
There are no dumb questions. Only dumb tree dudes
Ouch
I only tease the ones I love
The rest I don’t bother with.
