Trip Report It’s Post Time!

Hello Fellow Disney Fans! I’m back w/a report from my third wish, granted after rubbing the genie’s lamp at the Festival of the Arts.

I wanted to make sure the trip title was apt so I checked on-line and found:

As you may have guessed we recently returned from a stay at Saratoga Springs!

We had a beautiful room at Saratoga Springs. In the spirit of transparency here is what our room looked like after a few days.

Does it look lived in? I hope so because the best part of this entire trip was that our children, known in these reports as Chip and Dale, were able to join us!!

It has been over six months since we were all together and so, this is the message I asked for on my Celebration button.

This trip we tried vacationing in a different way. To accommodate our young adult children we added more downtime, more spacious quarters, and a little golf but kept fun rides, great food and a lot of love and laughter.

Was this strategy a winning ticket? I’ll let you be the judge of that! Riders up!

 

[littleroo]

Following!!! Can't wait to read all about it!!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Following!!! Can't wait to read all about!!

Thank you! Great gif!

 

[meggo819]

Looking forward to hearing more about Saratoga! We’re staying there for the first time in about 6 months.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Friday, August 21, 2026

DH and I had a direct flight from Buffalo, NY to Orlando which left at 9:30am.

A while ago Chip pointed out that Jet Blue names their planes so now I always look for it.

I’m told JetBlue’s Airbus 220 planes are newer models. I may have missed this before but the Exit signs weren’t what I expected. Am I really supposed to run off the plane while we’re in the air??

When we landed we received our room ready text at 1pm.

We took Mears in Terminal C. The lobby was crowded and we were told our bus would be ready in 20-30 minutes but then we were called to board within five minutes. The Disney Springs hotels were the first drop offs and then Saratoga Springs.

Mears dropped us off at Bell Services. While we waited for transport to our room (a larger golf cart which also carried our luggage), I took a few photos.

Main Office and Lobby

Entrance to Artist’s Palette (QS) and Gift Shop. One of the two featured pools, High Rock Springs Pool, is right below Artist’s Palette.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Looking forward to hearing more about Saratoga! We’re staying there for the first time in about 6 months.

Great! We liked it a lot. I’m interested in hearing how you like it after your stay.

 

[pkkurz]

Hello Fellow Disney Fans! I’m back w/a report from my third wish, granted after rubbing the genie’s lamp at the Festival of the Arts.

View attachment 942458



I wanted to make sure the trip title was apt so I checked on-line and found:

View attachment 942459

As you may have guessed we recently returned from a stay at Saratoga Springs!

View attachment 942460


View attachment 942461


We had a beautiful room at Saratoga Springs. In the spirit of transparency here is what our room looked like after a few days.

View attachment 942462


View attachment 942463


Does it look lived in? I hope so because the best part of this entire trip was that our children, known in these reports as Chip and Dale, were able to join us!!

It has been over six months since we were all together and so, this is the message I asked for on my Celebration button.

View attachment 942464


This trip we tried vacationing in a different way. To accommodate our young adult children we added more downtime, more spacious quarters, and a little golf but kept fun rides, great food and a lot of love and laughter.

Was this a strategy a winning ticket? I’ll let you be the judge of that! Riders up!

I’m from Louisville, KY. We love our Churchill Downs and take our “Call to the post” very seriously.

 

[riverside]

Looking forward to this!! Saratoga is one of my favorite resorts!! What section did you stay in?

 

[Tiki Traveler]

I’m from Louisville, KY. We love our Churchill Downs and take our “Call to the post” very seriously. View attachment 942525View attachment 942526

Love the photos! Thanks for sharing! Your photos remind me that the “Call to Post” was broadcast throughout the resort at the top of the hour during the day.

DH and I have been to the races and the racing museum at Churchill Downs on a regular race day. Chip recently attended the Kentucky Derby. I’ve been to the racing museum at Saratoga but not the races and we’ve all been to the town of Saratoga.

It was fun to spot the connections to the real town and to horse racing at the resort

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Looking forward to this!! Saratoga is one of my favorite resorts!! What section did you stay in?

We stayed in The Springs. I thought it would be easier to get around in a preferred section. We were as close to everything as you could be (Room 3703) and it was still quiet.

 

[riverside]

We stayed in The Springs. I thought it would be easier to get around in a preferred section. We were as close to everything as you could be (Room 3703) and it was still quiet.

That’s a great section for sure!!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

I had to laugh as we probably had one of the shortest rides in resort history to our room. We were literally right around the corner in Room 3703 in The Springs section!

Our room was on the third floor. The elevator was at the other end of the building so we would walk past our room outside, get on the elevator and then walk back up to our room past all the other rooms. I was surprised to discover that the hallways were outside. From all the photos I thought they were inside hallways.

We usually stay in standard hotel rooms at Disney so we also realized the rooms were farther apart because they are bigger. My first impression rounding the corner and seeing our door was that it was a little isolated but we had neighbors so I got used to it.

We also realized this is a very solidly built resort. We appreciated the heavy concrete walls for the quiet and for storm safety.

We had booked a one bedroom villa. This is the view after the entranceway. (My photos are slightly out of order as the sofa bed was up when we arrived but I wanted to show the room flow.)

We planned to cook some breakfasts while still enjoying Mickey waffles of course!

The coffee pot, as well as the entire villa, was very clean and we enjoyed fresh coffee w/actual mugs every morning. Disney thinks of nearly everything and there were also takeaway hot cups if we wanted it to go.

The drawers and cupboards were well stocked. The array of glassware included wine glasses and juice cups. We could have even made lasagna!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

DH immediately enjoying the balcony!

The folding beds opened up.

Back through the kitchen to the hallway. The laundry was a game changer!

Now onto the bathroom maze. The first door to the right of the laundry was the shower. The door to the right of the shower and sink is to the toilet.

The middle door in the hallway, to the left of the shower, has the main sink and bathtub.

The door to the right of the main sink includes the safe.

The left most door is to the bedroom. Confused by all the doors? You’ll get used to it.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Wrapping up the room tour with a few details, starting w/the entranceway art.

No horsing around we were quite pleased w/the rooms.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

It was late afternoon and we could do as we pleased as our children, Chip and Dale, weren’t arriving until the next day. I left it up to DH and he chose to explore Disney Springs.

And of course if there is a water option, take it!

I forgot to mention that upon our arrival the first words two smiling Bell Service people greeted us with were, “Welcome Home”. What a wonderful way to start a vacation!

Congress Park section

We were very hungry so happy that the Earl of Sandwich was close to the boat dock. DH had the Full Montagu and I had the Italian. Both were very good.

We wandered deeper into Disney Springs. For a Friday it wasn’t that crowded yet.

Donald seemed a little angry at the pin store.

Couture Mickey

Our first sign of Halloween was at World of Disney. This photo doesn’t show the scale of the pumpkin on top but the items beneath it are door wreaths. The pumpkin topper was huge.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

What all the best dressed Disney Halloween families will be wearing. Seriously we think the hockey jersey is a great alternative to a sweatshirt.

Apparently all of the postcards have been hiding out at World of Disney but look at the price!

Has anyone eaten recently at Paddlish? And if so, how was it?

We decided to bring dessert back to the room. The line was only five minutes.

It was our first time inside Gideon’s. I hadn’t mentioned anything about it to DH so he was slightly surprised by the interior. He said he was just trying to find the cookies and case slices!

If it isn’t all ready this should be on a t-shirt!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Treats secured we weren’t ready to return to our room yet. We wandered over to The Boathouse for a drink but didn’t want to sit at the back bar in the restaurant. Where to next? Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar for an inaugural visit! We were seated outside overlooking the lake with a nice, relaxing view.

I ordered one of the Halloween specials, a Midnight Relic, mostly for the edible glitter effect. (I appreciate all the colors for girls in the 1970s but don’t remember too many sparkles. I’m making up for it now. ) DH had a Michelob Ultra Lager.

Once the storm clouds filled the sky we left hoping to beat the rain back to our room. We didn’t make it and ducked into the Uniqlo store to stay dry. It’s a huge store so we took our time browsing. After about 30 minutes we resumed our walk stopping at stores that interested us.

At the Art of Disney there was a sign saying this was their third most popular print. I love the humility that Walt Disney displayed and his appreciation of service people.

The boat launch was still closed so we walked back to Saratoga Springs. We discovered the walkway is partly through a mini-tropical forest which is open until dusk. Pretty neat.

DH later said he could make the walk to Disney Springs in seven minutes. I would say it took longer but it was quicker than I thought and nicely scenic.

Our grocery delivery, the Chip & Dale Express, wasn’t arriving until the next day so we picked up water and iced tea at the Artist’s Palette.

Once back in our room it was dessert time! We split a slice of Cookies and Cream cake. (The cake slices were $12 each. There were four varieties but one had sold out. ) We also had a bite of our cookies, the Peanut Butter Cold Brew Cookie and the Banana Bread Chocolate Chip (pictured below).

It was a great way to start our vacation!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Saturday, August 22, 2026

We slept in and caught the tail end of breakfast at Artist’s Palette. We both ordered the Bounty Platter. Of course, the Mickey waffles were delicious but surprisingly, the hash brown casserole had a lot of garlic.

Chip and Dale were to arrive early afternoon. DH and I were content to wait at the resort for their arrival. We did stop at the lobby to pick up Congratulations buttons and learn about the free transportation to and from the golf courses.

DH in the lobby.

A little golf backstory, all the Disney World golf courses are operated by Arnold Palmer Golf Mgmt. You go to a separate web site to sign up for tee times. When I booked this trip I thought how nice it would be to walk right on to Saratoga’s Lake Buena Vista Golf course from our room but later Disney announced that the Saratoga Golf Course would be closed for renovations starting in May. Based on the other amenities we decided to stay with Saratoga hoping the course would be ready.

When it got to the 60 and 30 day marks we realized we had to choose other golf courses. The Disney web site says golfing guests receive complimentary transportation to and from their golf courses. The Saratoga lobby CMs informed us that when you are ready to golf you pick up a transportation voucher from the lobby and take it to Bell Services who will assign you transportation. Taxis and transportation vans are often lined up each morning but to make sure you factor in extra time. Okay, we checked this off our To Do list.

As I admitted in my February trip report we got lost on the Saratoga campus trying to get to Disney Springs from Animal Kingdom. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/disney-almost-on-ice-completed.987612/

Since the previous night we had also taken a very circuitous route from Artist’s Palette to our room we decided we needed to get our bearings and grabbed a lobby map and set out to explore the resort.

This building was closed during our stay but has anyone attended events there?

I’m on the bridge to the Paddock section. We checked out the Paddock pool which is the other feature pool. The water slide is slightly longer but the pool itself is smaller.

Finally Chip and Dale texted they were pulling in! It was wonderful to be all together!! Even though they didn’t have their own bedroom(s) they thought the villa was terrific!

I emailed them a list of supplies for the trip and so this was the easiest grocery delivery ever! They brought up all the groceries that required refrigeration and some of the beverages. During this time we introduced Gideon’s cookies and they were devoured in the blink of an eye!

The kids were hungry so we sat w/them at Artist’s Palette and then toured the main Saratoga buildings. We were leaving the Pro shop (they informed us the golf course would be ready in November) when the rain started.

It was the heaviest rain of the trip. The rain was bouncing off the lake.

No matter. We unpacked the groceries and the kids settled in. Now our vacation was truly ready to begin!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

The rain necessitated a change in transportation. We planned to take a boat down the Sassagoula River to dinner at Boatwrights. However, the boats weren’t running.

Fortunately the Uber generation stepped in and we ubered to Riverside. The kids had not been to Riverside since a quick tour on our first trip in 2018 so we gave them an update.

Lobby

DH and I stayed in Magnolia Bend our first post Covid trip in November 2022. In my very first trip report I mentioned my regret at not photographing the small ponds found among the Alligator Bayou section. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/50-firsts-for-the-50th-anniversary-completed.979990/

The rain had stopped so we set out to find those small ponds. Unfortunately we discovered that the ponds had been filled in with landscaping. Lesson learned - take the photo!

We headed back to Boatwrights and were seated in a cozy back room with a fireplace. I tried to judiciously take photographs without bothering the other patrons.

Yes, I ordered the Jambalaya even though I could have paid less for it at counter service. DH ordered the Taste of the Bayou Platter and the kids had the Panko Crispy Chicken and the Roasted Prime Rib.

This was our first time eating at Boatwrights and I had read about the cornbread saga. It was back and very good. The kids enjoyed their meals but DH’s platter looked somewhat shrunken and overcooked. It was all you care to enjoy but he declined the offer. Even my jambalya was less than I expected.

The dinner entertainment was a toddler who refused to eat and lay on the ground in the narrow walkway forcing the wait staff carrying heavy platters to turn around or gingerly walk over him (other patrons too). I understand when your child won’t eat but at least move him for the child’s own safety and everyone else’s convenience.

Post dinner we took an enjoyable walk to the French Quarter. I find the green space in the Sassagoula corridor very relaxing.

We rounded the evening out with our first jazz session at Scat Cat’s Club. (According to YeeHaw Bob’s web site he was off that weekend.) We got there about 45 minutes early to get seats. I ordered a Paloma and DH ordered a Bahama Mama. One of the kids ordered a beer and the other had a mixed drink they didn’t care for. (I didn’t have a notebook so I’m writing this from memory and photos.)

The small club was about half adults and half families. Kudos to all the parents! They brought things to occupy their children! It was sweet to see families playing cards (we were too), guessing games and coloring. Several had I-Pads and activity books once the music started.

The music turned out to be a drummer, an organist and a vocalist. The vocalist explained there is a collective with rotating musicians. She started out w/a Disney song and then sang five other songs including Steve Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely and Bill Wither’s Lovely Day. Her voice was like velvet. The music was very enjoyable.

My only complaint was that it went way too fast. We ordered beignets towards the end of the set. We enjoyed the tasty beignets and waited for the band to return and then waited and waited. Finally we got tired of sitting and left.

The line for the boat to Disney Springs was almost to the sidewalk. A boat delivered guests to Riverside and stopped to tell us another boat would be coming shortly. The people in front of us grumbled that the last four boats had that same message. Since DH and the kids had an early tee time we ubered back to our room.

We would definitely go back to Scat Cat’s again although unless it is an exceptionally busy time of year I wouldn’t get there so early. A message to the Disney Execs - Bring back more live music!!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Sunday, August 23, 2026

We thought the golfers should warmup with Disney’s nine hole walking course, Oak Trail, so they had 9am tee times this day. Notice I said, “they”. I have my own clubs but haven’t been on a course since our kids were born. I will eventually get back to golf but I had the best of both worlds. I could do exactly what I wanted in the parks and still be with my family.

DH was happy as a clam as he made breakfast sandwiches for all of us to start our day as he used to do on the weekends when our children lived at home. The golfers set off while I got ready for the parks. I asked them to take some pictures and sigh, this is what I got.

They each received a complimentary bucket of balls at the driving range to start.

Disney’s Polynesian DVC resort is in the background.

For me it was Show Time! I was headed to Hollywood Studios!

Hooray for Hollywood!

Hence the earlier clam reference.