Reviews of Saratoga Springs Resort (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by maddox4 Review Date: 04/24/2019
Rating: (9) Recommended
We absolutely love staying at this resort...due to a stroke my husband had many years ago we do pay the extra to be in a preferred building. This keeps his walking distance within reason to the quick service and the gym which we have both used and is also one of the reasons we like Saratoga. Never have had a problem with housekeeping and it is generally a very peaceful place. I am a walker and I can walk for hours if I choose and we love the proximity to Disney Springs. I cannot comment on the bus service because we rarely use it. Our only con on our most recent trip (March 2019)-- mattresses are needing replaced in the worst way.
Pros:
Proximity to Disney SpringsCons:
Mattresses are needing replaced.Reviewed by Rockster Review Date: 10/01/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
Well, I am a DVC member and have stayed at all the DVC Resorts except for Copper Creek. We live in Illinois but have made more than 30 trips to WDW since 2003 when we bought into DVC. All the resorts have their pluses and minuses. Our home resort is Saratoga Springs, so we have stayed there more than any other place. We have taken friends with us, kids with us, grandkids with us - stayed in every kind of room from a deluxe Studio to the 3-bedroom tree house villas. So, there is something for everyone. We have never had a bad experience in any SSR room nor have we had any bad experience in any of our trips to WDW over all the years we have been going down. In fact, my wife and I are going again this November to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and staying at Saratoga Springs. We always look forward to our trips - usually in the early Spring for either the Epcot Flower & Garden Show or the Epcot Festival of the Arts - and then every Fall for the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. We love SSR which is close to Disney Springs because Disney Springs has so much to offer as it has grown tremendously, adding fabulous new restaurants and shops.
Bottom Line - After 15 years of multiple yearly trips, we can hardly imagine taking a vacation anywhere else. Every trip has new experiences and they have all been very positive.
Pros:
Close to Disney Springs. Rooms are nice with nice views out the windows. Multiple interesting pools spread around the property. Decent restaurants on the property. Disney buses that take you to the parks go only between SSR and the parks. DVC members get free parking.Cons:
Largest of the DVC resorts so there is a lot of walking to get to Disney Springs unless you are staying at the Congress area which is closest to DS. There are multiple bus stops on the property - 5 to be exact. So, it takes a while to get through all the stops picking up passengers before the bus heads to your park of choice. Same for returning and dropping off passengers at all the stops.Reviewed by RodNShirle Review Date: 09/27/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
We just returned from a stay in the Springs section. Two adults and two children in a one bedroom unit. The room set up at Saratoga is similar to Boardwalk in that the bedroom was very large and spacious, but the common area not as much.
Pros:
This was a great location because it was close to the main pool, the restaurants, store, etc. and our building was close to a bus stop. Unit was clean, all staff we encountered were friendly and helpful.Cons:
We ate in our room most of the time and the way the kitchen is arranged in the one bedroom unit is awkward, and there were a minimum of cooking utensils. Had to call for a couple of things.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 09/25/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
Everytime we have gone lately, we stay at SSR. We find it quiet, peaceful and serene. We usually make a building request and it is granted. It is a very large resort with studio, one-, two-bedroom villas, as well as, a grand villa. Many pools since the resort is massive. We only stay here! Also the fact that you are just a stroll away from Disney Springs. Couldn't ask for more.
Pros:
quietness, peacefulness, serene, many choices of accommodations, good food court, close proximity to Disney SpringsCons:
If you want to stay closer to the 'bubble', this resort may not be for you.Reviewed by annat856 Review Date: 11/20/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
My party of 6 had a wonderful vacation the first week of September. Now that my kids are teens and young adults we really need the amount of space that a 2 bedroom villa offers. I must say that this was one of my favorite trips we really loved our villa and that it was steps from the paddock pool was wonderful. Check in went fast too fast the girl was new and she failed to do a crucial step to activate our bands. They had staff come to us as we waited in the hall and go fix the bands and return them to us so we wouldn't need to run back and forth to fix everything. The grill at the paddock pool had a nice selection of food and we ate there a few times. We checked the news periodically to see if we would need to leave early due to Hurricane Irma. We ended up checking out a day early friday the 8th instead of the 9th. We were refunded the extra day. Our car trip home was crazy and long!! Glad we drove though cause flights were grounded and many people were stranded. Loved Saratoga Springs!
Pros:
beautiful resort, helpful staffCons:
far from the parksReviewed by bjtrax Review Date: 03/21/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed at SSR for from March 9-14, following a 4 night DCL cruise. The resort is big, beautiful, and the pool areas were very nice. All staff we encountered were friendly & helpful. We requested the Congress Park area to be close to Disney Springs. Our building was as far from the DS walkway as we could be in that area, so it was not a big advantage. Next time, I would try to get the Grandstand area as it seemed closer to everything and was the first bus stop. It was a very nice resort & we would gladly stay at SSR again!
Pros:
nice pool areas, beautiful, Disney SpringsCons:
transportationReviewed by TCF Review Date: 12/13/2016
Rating: (9) Recommended
My wife and I recently stayed here, 12/2 to12/10. As DVC members, this is our home resort and the first time staying here. We have stayed at Bay Lake Towers, The Boardwalk and Beach Club, all which were very nice.
This resort is nice and quiet. We had no problems with the bus transportation.
On our 3rd day there, upon returning to our room, I noticed I had lost my Magic Band. I went to the Registration Desk at 11:30 pm and explained the problem to Wendy, the night receptionist. She asked what color did I want and replaced it for me. Thank you Wendy!!
My wife and I both agree that we would stay there again.
Pros:
QuietCons:
NoneReviewed by mochridh Review Date: 09/24/2016
Rating: (9) Recommended
Stayed here Sept 15-22 in a 2 bedroom. Very nice all around.
Yes, it's spread out but that was an advantage in that the resort guests are also spread out and not concentrated around one pool. Very relaxed visit, no complaints at all.
There is no overt Disney/Mickey theme here, you can almost forget you're at Disney. Almost.
No complaints for transportation either - except for the departure Magical Express. Pick up at 8am for a 12:15 flight, a bit much.
I would definitely stay here again, staff were beyond polite, friendly, helpful.
Pros:
theme, distance to parksCons:
noneReviewed by Elaine Hammond Review Date: 03/19/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
We stayed at Saratoga from March 7-14. Our arrival was delayed 2 days by the snow storm in NJ. Saratoga was very helpful in moving our reservation forward 2 days.
The room (a one bedroom #5714) was in great condition and had a lovely view from the balcony.
We were able to take the bridge over the lake to the food court and that was very nice.
All in all a great experience and I would definitely stay here again.
Another plus was outlets outside the door to plug in our scooters. This was a big help.
Pros:
Beautiful grounds and elevatorsCons:
More selections needed at food courtReviewed by mommom Review Date: 08/30/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
had 2 villas - each was a 2bedroom - traveling with 14 - 6 teenagers - 1 year old - 87 yr old - 6 Adults - the resort was clean and very quiet. I did the cooking in the 1 villa. housekeeping brought me all the pots I needed.
the teenagers complain about the 2nd bathroom being too dark but loved the all the space on the vanity.
the kids used both the main and quiet pool near our villa. they thought the main pool was too loud and noisy.
our villa was near Downtown Disney which was nice. we used the walkway and didn't have to worry about parking the cars.
the frig doesn't have an ice maker - had to walk to get ice or use the ice tray in the freezer which took awhile to make
Housekeeping did stop by on our check out day to ask what time we would be leaving - trying to feed everyone and pack everything up, I felt like they were trying to get us out of the villa. They stopped by both villas. I did the early check-in and on that I stated I would be out by 10:30 AM. I didn't need someone knocking on my door at 7:30 to find out what time I thought I would be gone. A better way is to give housekeeping a call when you are leaving the room. We were out by 9:30am .
Old Key West is still my home but Saratoga Springs was nice to visit.
