Saratoga Springs (WDW) 2 Bedroom Villa Review

We haven’t stayed at Saratoga Springs Resort for a few years. It was the first DVC resort we ever stayed at (we rented points from a member while we were purchasing our first resale contract). It was nice, but kinda reminded me of a grandma house. Floral, lots of floral, and green. The bus system was slow and crowded. But the pools were great and I loved the extra room. It was a resort that I told friends, “If you have to stay there, it’s not bad, but see if there is something else available”.

Flash forward to this last week, and I’ve completely changed my mind. I would absolutely stay here again.

The Villas

Saratoga has all newly remodeled villas. Studios (sleep 5), one bedrooms (sleep five), two bedrooms (sleep 9) and three bedroom grand villas (sleeps 12). One, two, and three bedroom villas include a full kitchen. Here is the dedicated two bedroom floor plan where we stayed.

Pro’s of Saratoga

New Villas

The new rooms are great. No more grandma floral- huge upgrade! It has the right amount of subtle Disney ( pictures, murals behind the pull down beds, mickey on a racing trophy), without being loud. Did I mention no green carpet and floral?? The new vinyl wood floors were nice, especially with pool time.

The two bedroom was perfect for our size of group this trip. Two grandparents, two parents, a 5 yr old, and a toddler (in a crib). Plenty of beds and plenty of bathrooms to have everyone get ready in the morning. Beds were comfy and an upgrade since I’ve visited. The murphy bed and trundle are a huge hit, and we can see why new renovations from DVC seem to be including them more. “Down with sofa beds! Murphy beds are the future!” It should be DVC’s motto.

When we first started staying at DVC rooms, we would get multiple studios. I’m now sold on two bedrooms. I’m a shared experience person, and having everyone in one place (but with separate spaces) and a common space to eat and talk is fantastic.

Having a kitchen at disney changes your life. The two bedroom comes with a full kitchen including:

full size fridge and freezer

microwave

dishwasher

toaster

coffee maker

plates, bowls, cups, utensils

cooking utensils

pots and pans

We’ve found that the extra money we pay for a two bedroom over two studios doesn’t compare to the cost savings of having breakfast in the room and bringing snacks and DRINKS (a diet coke is 4.50 y’all!) to the park instead of purchasing them from Disney. We had groceries delivered (see how here) to the resort the day we checked in and bell service brought them to our room.

Two bedrooms also include a washer and dryer. This is pretty handy to have with wet swimsuits,toddlers,and people of all ages. We used it since we decided after arriving to extend our trip and didn’t pack enough. It also comes with a small amount of soap, but if you are planning on more than a load of laundry, buy some pods (and dryer sheets) in your grocery order just to be sure.

Pools

The pools were great. We had a small pool just behind our building that was open 24 hours a day (just in case you need to do laps at 4 am!) It was a pretty good walk to the main pool, and for our age group it was more convenient to go splash in the closer pool at the end of the night. There are 2 main pools (with slides and splash pads) and 3 smaller quiet pools. All the pools also have hot tubs to soak after a long walking day at the parks!

Food

The main building has a quick service restaurant open right now called “Artist Pallette”. It was open from 7:30 am- 11 pm. Lot’s of choices and pretty quick. You can order with mobile order in the my Disney experience app from your room or bus and then walk over and pick it up. There is also a pool bar open at the paddock pool. Or really, you can walk over to Disney springs and you have oodles of choices for dining there!

Now for some cons…

Size

Saratoga Springs is a big resort. Spread out- really spread out. Apartment style buildings. If you get a room in the carousel area and you want to walk to Disney springs, it’s a hike and a half. The main pool was a sizeable walk for us. But I guess this also can be a positive, Saratoga villas are more likely to be available last minute (under 3 months to go) because of supply of rooms.

Transportation

Because it’s so spread out, there are 5 bus stops. If you are at one of the later stops, your bus will be full or pretty crowded. This was my biggest frustrations when we stayed here years ago. This time, the buses were infinitely better. We never waited more than 10 minutes at the resort for a bus to come. We noticed this is popular resort for those who drive to WDW or rent a car. There is parking outside each building.

Theming

This is kinda picky, but the resort from the outside, looks like apartment building in a complex. Nothing special. I’m not from upstate New York, and I’ve never visited Saratoga Springs there. I know they have horse racing there, so I understand the horse theming at the resort. But why? The connection to disney is pretty slim.

Overall I wouldn’t hesitate to book here, especially a bigger villa in the preferred area. If you’ve stayed here before the renovation, you might want to give Saratoga Springs a second chance. I did. I’m so glad I did!