Saratoga Springs Impressions

[TIGER RADIATION]

I still get a nervous twitch when I think of BWV halls

The A/C feels good inside. Especially after getting out of the clown pool. Hallways are nowhere near as long as the walks in SSR.

 

[Slakk]

The A/C feels good inside. Especially after getting out of the clown pool. Hallways are nowhere near as long as the walks in SSR.

Guess you did not have my room which included screaming drunks right at our window and a neverending hallway. But thats what makes DVC great - you have your Hallway to He** and I have SSR

 

[tjkraz]

Ouch ... those BCV ones sure are a buzzkill.. but again the road thing is present EVERYWHERE at SSR .. its inescapable pretty much everywhere at the resort.

Well, if we're talking about room / balcony views, then it's not inescapable. Only a small percentage of rooms have a view that includes any roadways or parking lots. Most have very pleasant views which include Downtown Disney, the many interior ponds, the LBV golf course or a simple lawn.

As others have pointed out, SSR (and OKW, Caribbean Beach, etc.) are designed in a condo-style layout with many individual buildings. The land on which SSR sits has been in use by Disney for about three decades now. As Sammie stated, before it was SSR it was the Disney Institute and before that it was the Disney Village.

If you want to read about the history of the resort, look here:

http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id121.htm

(BTW, if you look closely at the picture on that page you will see structures that still stand today. The turquoise building toward the upper right is the performance center which (I believe) is just east of the main pool. The red octagonal building to the left of that is the Carriage House. And right at the center of the photo, about 1" down from the top you can see the peak of the watertower-like structure that sits just outside the pool.)

The general layout of the resort has been in place for many years. When transitioning the property from the Disney Institute to SSR, the built all new guest buildings, but the infrastructure largely remains intact.

I guess my only point here is that there isn't a single "right" way to build a Disney resort. It sounds like you just learned that you don't like the condo-style developments. Lesson learned. But as you can see in this post, there are many of us who embrace that sort of layout. Different strokes...

When Walt Disney envisioned Disney World the idea was to insulate the overall resort experience from the real world.

Ummm, actually Walt had almost no input into Walt Disney World. He died 5 years before the resort opened and long before construction even began. Walt's original intention for the property was to use it to construct HIS Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. If Walt had stayed with us for a few more years, the Florida land would probably be home to a futuristic city similar to the model currently on display in the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. THAT was Walt's vision for his "Florida project."

Unfortunately, upon his death, Walt had left behind precious little to help flesh-out his ideas for the Florida community. So the Disney execs basically built a carbon copy of Disneyland, surrounded it with a few resort hotels, and the rest is history.

While much of WDW is based upon a philosophy that Walt left behind, very little of it bears his personal touch.

You can walk just steps away at one of those Epcot resort areas or VWL that you illustrate and feel transported to a Disney fantasy.. I cant name one single place at Saratoga where we felt transported anywhere special... it just felt like a place to park and sleep.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that point. I find SSR to be very appealing. It has a small-town feel to it, roads and all. And the balcony view of Downtown Disney is, in my opinion, the second best view available at all of the resorts (second only to the BW view.)

I cant argue with people who feel otherwise .. we all have different sensibilities. I would be SHOCKED however if Disney ever built another resort like SSR.

Actually SSR is at least the second of its type. Old Key West, the flagship DVC resort, has many of the same features that you apparently dislike.

Additionally, about 1/3 of the rooms at the new AKL DVC building will have parking lot views (See map: http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc/languagespecific/eng/resorts/animalKingdomVillas/DAKVMap.pdf) and it's a 1/2 mile walk--outdoors--to get from the new building to the existing Jambo House facility if one wanted to dine at Boma or Jiko, use the pool, etc.

 

[BroganMc]

Although I see everyone's point about the condo vs. hotel types .. if you really like to condo type accomodations, why not just stay offsite and save a ton of money? If you dont feel like your at Disney, why PAY to be on Disney property?

To say that SSR is like an offsite resort shows an ignorance of what offsite resorts are like. True the views are mostly given toward the balconies of the units, but there's no attention to detail or pedestrian-only paths as we get with Disney. And offsite resorts don't worry about guests being able to split up during the day and meet up later.

I find myself looking forward to Sunday's SSR check-in because I can stroll out my door and be at Disney. Or I can hop on a bus and wind up anywhere while my dad's at the pool then catch up to him later. Here at Marriott we get more space and the free internet, but neither of us can start our day until both are ready for the car. Last year when we bought Disney we argued mightily about that two weeks leading up to our preview. And that's just two of us. Imagine the nightmare scenario of a large 18 person family. (I've lost many a hair fretting over that situation.)

 

[gjw007]

I still get a nervous twitch when I think of BWV halls

I think of the loooooooooooooooooong walk from the parking lot to the loooooooooooooong hallways at Boardwalk.

 

[TIGER RADIATION]

I think of the loooooooooooooooooong walk from the parking lot to the loooooooooooooong hallways at Boardwalk.

That is why I fly to Disney and do not drive. The bus takes me to BWV. Right to the front door. And the longest hallway is nothing compared to SSR.

 

[TIGER RADIATION]

Guess you did not have my room which included screaming drunks right at our window and a neverending hallway. But thats what makes DVC great - you have your Hallway to He** and I have SSR

The longest air conditioned hallway is nothing compared to the walks at SSR.

 

[Snookies]

I don't know how many DVC stays you've had, but views like that are not particularly uncommon. All of the resorts have them--some at a much greater percentage than SSR. For example:

Below is the view from one of our stays at BWV. BWV has a service road that runs past most of the Preferred Garden / Pool view rooms and is used throughout the day. In the background you get the Swan and its parking facilities...

Or this BWV view about 30-40' removed from the valet parking lot...

BWV also has a large segment of rooms lining the resort's front driveway, albeit with lower point costs.

Over a BCV, you've got about 30% of the entire resort sitting about 30' away from Epcot Resorts Blvd. That road is the sole public access for all 5 Epcot area resorts. In other words, it is a lot more traveled than the SSR interior roads. Here is a photo borrowed from THIS post...

At Old Key West you've got rooms with balconies that face either Bonnet Creek Parkway or Buena Vista Drive. I don't have photos handy but we have stayed in rooms that face both of these roads.

VWL has the infamous dumpster view and even a few rooms with no balconies.

tjkraz, I agree. There are good and bad views at all WDW (and DL) resorts and hotels. The same is true for all hotels for that matter. I should take my digital camera for pics of the typical fire escape view I get in Chicago.

I wonder if view preoccupation is an internet phenomenon in that one guest gets their "perfect" view, reports it on the net, and then others planning their trip then that same "perfect" view so that their trip can be "perfect." I'm not a social psychologist (but I did stay at a Holdiay Inn Select last night) but I suspect guests have always had a desire for that "perfect" trip, but the net has made it possible to share quickly, leading to extremely high expectations that it may not be possible to meet, e.g., faxing room requests for a specific room assignment or an itemized list of many, many room requests.

With respect the access road at BCV, I'm going to steal one of Sammie's lines: "if that access road was any closer, you'd have tire tracks in your room."

 

[loribell]

You know, I can't look at the Swolfin without hearing the theme song to Miami Vice in my head.

Great, now I won't be able to either!

 

[Pootle]

I wonder if view preoccupation is an internet phenomenon in that one guest gets their "perfect" view, reports it on the net, and then others planning their trip then that same "perfect" view so that their trip can be "perfect." I'm not a social psychologist (but I did stay at a Holdiay Inn Select last night) ......

 

[loribell]

The A/C feels good inside. Especially after getting out of the clown pool. Hallways are nowhere near as long as the walks in SSR.

That is why I fly to Disney and do not drive. The bus takes me to BWV. Right to the front door. And the longest hallway is nothing compared to SSR.

The longest air conditioned hallway is nothing compared to the walks at SSR.

I think we probably all get your point. Fortunately you can book at your home resort 11 months out and we don't have to worry about running in to you sweltering at our resort. Oh and you won't be running in to me at BWV's. It is the last place I want to stay.

Actually the walks at SSR are not bad. They are in fact very enjoyable. Unbelievable that I actually enjoy walking at WDW! Who would have thought there would be walking involved!

As others have pointed out, SSR (and OKW, Caribbean Beach, etc.) are designed in a condo-style layout with many individual buildings. The land on which SSR sits has been in use by Disney for about three decades now. As Sammie stated, before it was SSR it was the Disney Institute and before that it was the Disney Village.

In fact the resort the OP mentioned, CSR, is one of those designs as well! IF you want to talk about long walks try getting a room in Casitas 5, right smack dab in the middle! By the way, I LOVE CSR!

 

[Snookies]

In fact the resort the OP mentioned, CSR, is one of those designs as well! IF you want to talk about long walks try getting a room in Casitas 5, right smack dab in the middle! By the way, I LOVE CSR!

Hey, What about POR? Try staying in Building #36 sometime!

 

[loribell]

Hey, What about POR? Try staying in Building #36 sometime!

I have started to stay at POR several times but somehow never do. Before we bought in to DVC I planned to stay at all of the resorts. Now I am just happy with my homes and don't know if I will ever stay elsewhere.

Actually I believe the only resorts that are not designed like a condo type neighborhood are the Contemporary, although they do also have separate buildings, the Grand Floridian, which I also believe has separate buildings, the Wilderness Lodge, with the villas separate, the Yacht Club, the Beach Club, with the villas separate, the Boardwalk, with the villas separate, and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but the villas will be separate here as well. Isn't this right? So the only complex that has all of the buildings as one is the Yacht Club?

 

[Snookies]

I have started to stay at POR several times but somehow never do. Before we bought in to DVC I planned to stay at all of the resorts. Now I am just happy with my homes and don't know if I will ever stay elsewhere.

Actually I believe the only resorts that are not designed like a condo type neighborhood are the Contemporary, although they do also have separate buildings, the Grand Floridian, which I also believe has separate buildings, the Wilderness Lodge, with the villas separate, the Yacht Club, the Beach Club, with the villas separate, the Boardwalk, with the villas separate, and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but the villas will be separate here as well. Isn't this right? So the only complex that has all of the buildings as one is the Yacht Club?

loribell, you are right. Also, if you don't count the DVC components, the Beach Club, Boardwalk, and Wilderness Lodge are obviously single structure hotels. Your description of the Grand Floridian is also accurate. We've stayed at the Grand Floridian and liked it very much with respect to decor, facilities, and convenience. However, self-parking is incredibly inconvenient which is a major drawback to someone like me that will not travel to Orlando without a rental car.

With respect to your 1st paragraph, we stayed at POR (then Dixie Landings) many times pre-DVC membership. DW even likes POR more than the Grand Floridian. However, like you, I don't know if we'll ever stay anywhere other than DVC in at least a 1-bdr!

 

[Slakk]

The longest air conditioned hallway is nothing compared to the walks at SSR.

How do you handle the parks? They do not have A/C?

 

[momba#9]

Weird observation.......

Shenandoah Mickey has two polls on this thread, one asking for your favorite DVC Resort and the other asking your least favorite DVC resort. Guess what...... SSR leads in BOTH of those polls. I realize these polls are far from scientific but I will say it appears that SSR evokes some strong feelings on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I'm not sure that a resort so polarizing is good for DVC as a whole given the relative size of SSR.


Mike

 

[tjkraz]

I'm not sure that a resort so polarizing is good for DVC as a whole given the relative size of SSR.

Seems like an irrelevant discussion point, though, since there's nothing that can be done about it.

 

[DVCPAT]

Unfortunately, upon his death, Walt had left behind precious little to help flesh-out his ideas for the Florida community. So the Disney execs basically built a carbon copy of Disneyland, surrounded it with a few resort hotels, and the rest is history.

If I remember correctly, Walt was never pleased with the finished product in Disneyland. He didn’t like how the park perimeter was developed and didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes in Florida. WDW is not a carbon copy DL.

Actually SSR is at least the second of its type. Old Key West, the flagship DVC resort, has many of the same features that you apparently dislike.

While OKW and SSR are fine resorts, I wouldn’t categorize OKW as the Flagship resort. OKW and SSR have the lowest rack rates of all DVC resorts. I would reserve the Flagship title for the resort that has the best location, most amenities and brings in the highest room rates. If the architects do a nice job with CRV, it could very well be considered the DVC Flagship resort.

 

[loribell]

While OKW and SSR are fine resorts, I wouldn’t categorize OKW as the Flagship resort. OKW and SSR have the lowest rack rates of all DVC resorts. I would reserve the Flagship title for the resort that has the best location, most amenities and brings in the highest room rates. If the architects do a nice job with CRV, it could very well be considered the DVC Flagship resort.

OKW is the Flagship Resort of DVC. It was where DVC started out and all that DVC was for many years. OKW will always be the first DVC resort built, therefor the Flagship Resort.

 

[castleri]

I wouldn’t categorize OKW as the Flagship resort. I would reserve the Flagship title for the resort that has the best location, most amenities and brings in the highest room rates. If the architects do a nice job with CRV, it could very well be considered the DVC Flagship resort.

Many of us believe that OKW does have the best location, and most amenities and really appreciate the lower points needed to stay there.