Trip Report Wowww - Spring Break 2018 at Saratoga Springs

We've been back almost a week, so I guess I better get this started! :D

Who: Me and my husband, R
Why: Spring break at my work
When: March 27-31
Where: Saratoga Springs Resort (1st time)

I worked on Monday, but I took Tuesday and Wednesday off, then we were out for spring break the rest of the week. I like taking advantage of these school breaks when I can, even though this is the craziest time for crowds outside of Christmas.

Monday night we dropped our pup-pup off at the dog-sitter's and felt AWFUL. We hate leaving him. They take great care of him and he has another dog there to play with, but it's still hard to leave him behind, especially when we have a night at home without him to snuggle with. I know you all think I'm a nut :hilarious:

We got up Tuesday morning and planned to leave the house by 7:30. I knew there would be some traffic on 240, but the Memphis airport is always totally dead, so I wasn't worried about getting there 2 hours early. Traffic was sluggish as expected, but we got there at about 9 for our 10:30 flight.



On our way into the airport! I felt like a major goober with my jacket AND my Donald Duck suitcase. It was Disney overload....the guy in the elevator smugly asked where we were going :hilarious: Of course he knew...

We checked our bag and I was trying the Magical Express luggage tags for the first time since I think our honeymoon. I was nervous, but thought we'd be fine if it arrived late. We both had a change of clothes in our carry-on.

As we expected, security took no time at all. We have pre-check, but even without it, Memphis is so quick (unless you get their training line!). Pre-check is helpful in Nashville though, where we'll fly out of next month! Also, obvs it's helpful at MCO.



I always get stupid expensive water at the airport. I usually get SmartWater, but I tried Evian this time...not a fan. But now I know! We didn't have a huge wait at our gate, but long enough to get annoyed with a fellow passenger and her phone conversation :rolleyes:. I must be a magnet for loud talkers, because I swear they always sit by me. Can they not see I'm trying to read?!

We had a super empty flight, so we were able to get a window and aisle with a seat between us, which I like. I was hungry and all they had was peanuts...which I don't like. I mean, they're fine, but I much prefer pretzels! I remembered I had a larabar in my bag, so I ate that.

Soon enough we were landing and since we used our Disney luggage tags, we walked straight to the Magical Express! We both had to pee and had trouble finding open bathrooms, which has happened to me before at MCO! So weird.

Our scheduled landing was 1:25, but we were already on a bus and pulling away at 1:45. Great timing so far! I was a little worried about our room being ready though...no text yet. This ALWAYS happens when I make room requests. If I don't make room requests, I almost always have my room assignment before noon. So once we got to the resort (2nd stop), I went to the desk to check on the room.

If I'd realized the quick service place was right there, we would have eaten first, but alas, I didn't explore enough. The cast member did some clicking and got us a room in the Paddock...nothing in Congress Park like I wanted, but it turned out to be fine. It was FINALLY time to eat something. Took me a bit to figure out how their cafeteria works, but we got it.

Their food place and gift shop are all one thing, so you order food, then you can pay for that and your store purchases at the same place...then you go sit down and they bring your food. It's kind of weird, honestly, but it was never busy in there so it was fine.



The inside of the dining area is pretty!



R got a spicy Italian beef sandwich. It looked AMAZING to me, but I tried it and it wasn't my fav. He liked it though.



I got the Bistro buffalo chicken panini, which looked way more awesome in the picture. It tasted good though. It perked me up, too. I didn't realize how hungry I was!

When we finished eating, we took off toward our room. We didn't get lost, but we FELT lost the whole time. There's not much signage, and finding how to get into our building was super confusing. We entered on the far end in a kind of hidden door. Thankfully our room was the first one past the staircase on the 2nd floor, so it was convenient to the first door we found :joyfull:

Sorry this has been so text heavy! Promise it won't be like that the whole time.


The room was pretty dull. I was not big on Saratoga Springs, if you can't tell :hilarious: I was sad because I was excited to stay there, but it just wasn't shaping up to be one of our favs! I guess we just know what we like now, and we don't like these big, spread out resorts. I did like the view from the balcony though!



Excuse our junk already laying around. I didn't even pay attention when booking that it's only one bed :cry: We share a king at home, so this would be different... Usually if there are two beds, we each take one :hilarious:



I did like all the storage in that entertainment center! Very convenient!




The burnt out light bulb was a nice touch :hilarious:



I changed into my shorts, and we headed out to catch our first fast pass in MK!
 
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prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
I want to try morimoto! Looks amazing! Except for your kitchen view. I’d be in tears looking st those ducks :( DONALD!!!

And as I’ve told you before, you are just too cute! I love all your disney attire! The jacket is something I totally want to steal from you! ;)

So crazy how Disney is painting designs on the purple wall, it blows my mind what things becoming trendy on social media! Love the unintentional shot you got!

Your pictures are clearer than my memories and I can’t wait to see more :)
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I started skipping a hair washing on the weekends... but I drag that day.. showers are my coffee (I don't like real coffee) so it's a struggle. Everything you ordered looked so tasty... I can't wait to try all the things!
To be clear, I still shower and everything, just keep my hair dry...:hilarious: But I also drink coffee, so I don't need the blast of water to wake me up as much. I could see that being necessary without caffeine!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I want to try morimoto! Looks amazing! Except for your kitchen view. I’d be in tears looking st those ducks :( DONALD!!!

And as I’ve told you before, you are just too cute! I love all your disney attire! The jacket is something I totally want to steal from you! ;)
It was delicious! You could probably request to be away from it, or if you sat where R sat, your back would be to it. It was definitely a little much for me too :grumpy:

I think that jacket is still on F21's website....so ;) And thank you! I like putting together Disney outfits. I was way less creative this trip...I only wore ears twice :eek: Anyway, glad you're here! I'll hopefully post some more later today.
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
To be clear, I still shower and everything, just keep my hair dry...:hilarious: But I also drink coffee, so I don't need the blast of water to wake me up as much. I could see that being necessary without caffeine!

Not to be creepy, but then do you wear a shower cap in the shower.. or do you just get your hair wet anyway, without washing it? I'm only curious, because I've been thinking that this is a good thing to start doing!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Ohh the Memphis airport. We always get there early and i'm always super bored because there is never anything going on! I like to people watch and it's always empty. I'm going in July and my flight is stupid early, so I need to plan what to do!!

Did you rent points for SSR? I'm tempted to do that next year, but obviously nervous if something goes wrong and they have to cancel!

I'm the same with meeting people. I'm shy and never know what to say so I come off as a super awkward person :confused:

Wow. Those crowds :oops: I always look at wait times on the app and I couldn't believe how high everything was!

Also, yes girl! I wash my hair every few days also. I hate to blow dry/straighten/style blah blah blah so I usually just put it up wet (bad habit) and it's a hot mess if I let it air dry. I'm trying to get better!

Can't wait to read more!!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Not to be creepy, but then do you wear a shower cap in the shower.. or do you just get your hair wet anyway, without washing it? I'm only curious, because I've been thinking that this is a good thing to start doing!
Nope, I just put it up in a bun and don't put my head in the water. It gets a little wet around my face, but that's never been a big deal.

Ohh the Memphis airport. We always get there early and i'm always super bored because there is never anything going on! I like to people watch and it's always empty. I'm going in July and my flight is stupid early, so I need to plan what to do!!

Did you rent points for SSR? I'm tempted to do that next year, but obviously nervous if something goes wrong and they have to cancel!

The Memphis airport is sooooo dull! They were adding a Lenny's in the Southwest wing (C terminal?) though, so that's nice. I was convinced they were about to shut that terminal down because there's never anyone there. It's been one gate in use every time we've been lately!

We didn't rent points, we just booked through Disney and I used an AP discount, so it was actually cheaper than renting would have been. We've rented points a few times, but it's gotten more expensive, especially if you do the "points protection" which means you don't lose all your money if you cancel. It's just not as good of a deal for us anymore. I'd do it if I could just rent from the owner and not go through a rental agency, but I'd want to know the person. We rented some for our Oct trip, but that'll probably be the last time.

Thanks for reading!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Continuing in World Showcase...




I was already kind of full, and had at least one more thing on my list of "must-try"s so we skipped Japan for now.

We did peruse the store a bit, and I thought about trying the violet sake I've heard about, but there was a line (only like 5 people, but I was fine to pass on it).



Hey namesake! I got in line at The Smokehouse, which seemed different. They had the line coming from the side close to the pavilion instead of where you naturally walk up.

  • Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and Smoked Pork Belly Slider with Garlic Sausage, Chorizo, Cheddar Fondue and House-made Pickle – $7.25


This was yummy! It was hard to eat though, so I probably won't get it again. I kind of prefer the slider with the slaw on it, so I might get that next trip.

R also got the beer flight, and we both liked the Maple Bacon Stout more than we remembered.



Obsessed with these banners!



As you can see, it was a pretty day! I absolutely loved the weather while we were there. I guess it's a consolation prize for dealing with the higher crowds :joyfull: Although World Showcase wasn't bad most of the time. It was crowded between Mexico-China, but the rest was fine.

When we were walking into Norway some guys in front of me decided to do something different and stopped to go back out of the pavilion. Since I was walking behind him, he almost ran into me...because why would you look where you're going? :cautious: And he SIGHED at me. SIGHED...like I was in his way. When he finally stumbled his oversized butt around me, I turned around and hollered after him "Why are you sighing at me when you're the one who stopped in the middle of the walkway?!" :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: I have no restraint. I don't know why it made me so mad.



Some of the orchids by Mexico.

We hopped in the pyramid and I kind of wanted to ride 3 Caballeros, but there wasn't a wait at La Cava, so we went there, even though I was super full. R thought we were getting something to go, but I had already requested a table...oops. He felt bad just ordering margs, so we got chips and salsa and I got even more full! Oh well...it's vacation.

When we left, the line for 3 Cabs was backed up almost to the exit of the shopping area, so we headed back out.



Sweet little butterflies :inlove:

R's favorite thing ever is the spicy hotdog, and my favorite thing ever is the violet lemonade, so we had one more stop to make!

Pineapple Promenade!
  • Spicy Hot Dog with Pineapple Chutney and Plantain Chips – $7.50
  • Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade (Non-alcoholic) – $4.25



Just as tasty as we remembered!

On our way out, we saw a sign that reminded us of something VERY important that we needed to get.



Love these! I have the regular one on the car, and the special ones on my fridge. Can't wait to get Minnie in May!

We stopped for photos at the bubblegum wall, but I won't spam you with a bunch. Here's the one I posted on Instagram already.



Glad R humors me :joyfull:

Here is a series of photos that illustrate what happens when I try to get a picture of us together...





Can't take him anywhere.



Quick snap of the topiaries on the way out.

We were on a bus back to SS by about 2:10, way earlier than we planned! I think our bus wait was about 10 minutes this time. Not too bad, but it felt long.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So obviously we had a LOT of time in the room to kill. Thankfully housekeeping had already been by, so I had more coffee that I could make. They left me two packs too! I made coffee then sat on the balcony a bit. We also both took a nap and watched a little tv. Soon it was time to head out for dinner, which would be at Disney Springs again.

I booked Splitsville, but didn't realize it was just the dining and not bowling. We could have bowled after, but we also had plans to see Black Panther, and if dinner was short, we could catch the 6:45 instead of the 9:45. There was nothing in between!

We were seated upstairs and even though we were not even hungry yet after all the Flower & Garden food, we ordered loaded fries :joyfull:



Yum!! These were delicious. We also got a couple of sushi rolls.

Spicy Tuna

Fresh tuna, spicy mayo, cucumber and scallions drizzled with sriracha hot chili sauce



Fantasy Roll

A sushi dream come true! Fresh salmon, cucumber and avocado are rolled in soy paper and topped with steamed shrimp and ahi tuna. Drizzled with spicy kimchee ponzu sauce



Both were good, but definitely not anything better than our favorite place in the town where we live. We have yet to find a sushi place that we like better, and the funny thing is that it's not even the most popular sushi place here! Most people like the crazy involved rolls that you can't even eat in one bite. The Splitsville sushi was closer to what we like though, thankfully. We really enjoyed it!



We got done with dinner fast, so we had time to get to the earlier movie. I was a little worried about them not letting me in with my camera, but thankfully no one said anything.

I was so annoyed that this AMC doesn't take Movie Pass (except a couple of days ago, I think that changed...and now they do), so R paid, and we actually got a good AP discount.

We sat down a little before 6:40 I think. Then we sat...and sat....and sat... I think around 7 one of the other people in the theatre finally went and found someone to tell them the movie wasn't playing. It finally ended up starting around 30 minutes late.



Waiting...

It was worth the wait though! I really enjoyed it. R liked it but didn't feel like it was a good super-hero movie. That's what I liked most about it! I am not crazy about super-hero movies, so I liked that it was different.

After the movie, we decided to check out the Coca-Cola store and bar.



R tried one of those new flavored diet cokes. It was was very faintly flavored...but tasty. I would have liked more flavor, but he's since tried the cherry one and said it was VERY flavored.



Cherry Coke Ripper
Malibu Rum, Evan Williams Cherry Whiskey and Cherry Coke®

Meh. This was fine, but not something I'd get again. I don't remember what else R got...



The view was so nice!

I had been wanting poutine since that Daily Poutine place opened, and we figured we should go ahead and try it. I just got the regular one, and we liked it! I've heard mixed reviews of this place, but ours was good. Literally could not have put one more thing in my belly!



That was it for us, we walked on back to our room. I don't think we were up too late...maybe 10? I have no more notes after F&G from earlier. I didn't even keep it up for two days :facepalm:

Up next: AK!
 

monykalyn

Well-Known Member
This is so unnecessary for a trip report, but whatever. I started washing my hair either every other day or every third day. This has CHANGED MY LIFE. I get ready so much faster when I don't have to wash my hair. The girl that colored my hair talked me into it, and I love her for it.
Long hair here too, and because I need to straighten mine-I wash every other or 3rd day too. But I do use a shower cap so it doesn't frizz too much (more TMI :hilarious:) My DD's have long hair too, so we have tried lots of dry shampoos as well.
Fried Cauliflower with Capers, Garlic Parsley and Chili Ranch Sauce
Canard Confit Aux Gnocchi à la Parisienne: Braised Duck Confit with Parisian Gnocchi
OMG these were soooo good! I don't like cauliflower at all and I loved this. The slushy was ok, prefer the usual orange one though.
Did you rent points for SSR? I'm tempted to do that next year, but obviously nervous if something goes wrong and they have to cancel!
When we stayed last fall we rented points from DVC rental store. No issues at all with the transaction. This was before we had our AP's and before point price went up (by $2-3 per point now.) The balconies are very nice at Saratoga - really enjoyed mornings there!

We will be there in May too, just for a day or 2 though-driving down with my oldest for checkin for her Summer Alumni program. DH has not been to F&G so will be dragging him around to my favorites. When my oldest and I went for quick trip in March-we hit every booth but one, and we spent more on food than what I paid for our room!:greedy: So worth it though!
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Have any favs?! I have tried several, but haven't found one I just love yet.
I can't believe I'm posting this but this is without a doubt the best shampoo I've ever used:

https://www.pureology.com/collection/nano-works-gold-aging-hair/

I happen to workout with a sales rep and got turned on to it. A little goes a loooong way.

giphy.gif
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
@sheriffwoody Enjoying your trip report. Excellent photos again, like in your other TRs. We really enjoy SSR for several reasons, the first being the close proximity to Disney Springs. The walk over and back is pleasant. We like the lovely, manicured grounds and walkways, and enjoy visiting all five of the pools as we spend a lot of time at the resort.
We also like to bicycle from SSR over along the canal to the tree houses and on over to OKW too. Lots of good riding there. Thanks for another excellent trip report.
Oh, I have always hesitated trying bowling alley sushi, but it looks great. We like Kimonos...good stuff there.
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
I'm a total nut when it comes to leaving my dog behind during vacations. I always get a pet sitter for him so he gets to keep his same routine in his home but I'm a crying mess as soon as I get into the car. Bawling and saying that I should've cancelled the trip and Disney isn't worth it. My husband always tells me that I've lost my danged mind LOL. And I love the Haunted Mansion Leota Dooney! I was going to buy the tote when it was on sale on the app but by the time I noticed it, they were all sold out! Made me so mad lol. I think it's one of Dooney's prettier ones.

And I had the same issue with a dining reservation being lost - mine was at Beaches and Cream. I had to show them the confirmation number. She acted like I was lying about having one. I tried not to get insulted because I'm sure people try that all the time but still...it was annoying. Almost as annoying as the man who gave me a dirty look in the TSMM line when I passed him and his daughter while they were having problems getting 3D glasses at the first box of glasses. I guess he thought I was going to hold up the entire line while I waited patiently for him to get them untangled while there were 2 more boxes of glasses just waiting for someone to stop there.
 

newhorizons1

Well-Known Member
Enjoying your report! You are giving me some great ideas for things to try at F&G in a few weeks.

So I used to wash my hair every three days. It cut back on so much time! I'm every other day now, but it still saves a lot of time in the week.

I have never stayed at SSR, but I went for dinner once. Took a bus from one of the parks and walked and walked and walked trying to find where we were supposed to go. The signage is AWFUL! It already has a bad taste in my mouth, but you are right that balcony view is wonderful!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I can't believe I'm posting this but this is without a doubt the best shampoo I've ever used:

https://www.pureology.com/collection/nano-works-gold-aging-hair/

I happen to workout with a sales rep and got turned on to it. A little goes a loooong way.

giphy.gif
HAHAHAHA totally judging you. Kidding, only kidding. I have regular shampoo that I like (Moroccan Oil, REPRESENT), I just need to find a dry shampoo (the spray stuff that basically just masks your dirtiness) that I like. I think MO makes one, but I already give them a lot of money :hilarious:
 

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