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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eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
Great pictures and great report.
Saratoga Springs is my least favorite dvc resort but ironically it's my oldest son's favorite. go figure!! I think it's one of those things, folks either love it or think it's "meh".

Did you do rope drop? for spring break it seems surprisingly unmobbed (is that a word?)
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great pictures and great report.
Saratoga Springs is my least favorite dvc resort but ironically it's my oldest son's favorite. go figure!! I think it's one of those things, folks either love it or think it's "meh".

Did you do rope drop? for spring break it seems surprisingly unmobbed (is that a word?)
Thank you!! Yeah I have heard from a few others who love it, so I guess it's divisive! I'm glad Disney has variety in their resorts so we can all find something we like :)

We actually didn't rope drop! I just tend not to take pictures unless I've got some space, so the times when we just had our heads down plowing through the crowd will only live in my memories... :hilarious: It was pretty crazy though, we didn't ride anything but the PeopleMover without a FP because the lines for every single attraction were longer than we care to wait.
 

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
We're going to be in AK the same day you are with an Everest FP starting at 11:00. So excited to be leaving in a couple of weeks!! I will be sure to keep an eye out for you. :cat:
 

monykalyn

Well-Known Member
Great report! Love love love the shirt and ears! I don't need to buy anymore ears as my DD has several pair (and likely will pick up more this summer when she goes back to work)
We had pre-check so we skipped the looooooooong line at MCO. It was extra long that day...yikes. I've said it before, I'll say it again: BEST $85 I'VE EVER SPENT.
OMG YES! Especially since mine was" free" (reward for being a platinum member lol)

The pull of an AP is strong
I have been posting warnings on the DCP parents facebook group whenever a newbie parent contemplates an AP-I made at least 3 extra trips just due to AP-started out with just drop off for August '17 (1st DCP) and Thanksgiving, then a "girls trip" with my MiL and SiL for DCP kids bday in October, then talked DH into June 2018 "to get our moneys worth", which turned into extra days (just DH and I) at New years (her program ended Jan 4th), then a March "I miss Disney" 4 day Bday trip, then May (drop off 2nd program), and now pickup in august...
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Count me in as another one that doesn't love school bread. But I do love all of the Orange Bird pics. I'm not big on magic shots, but I could make an exception for OB. Great TR and pics...and hey, at least you have trips on the horizon :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
They didn't have DayQuil, unfortunately! I should probably just bring some next time, because I feel like one of us always gets sick.

and...this is why I have 4 suitcases and you have 1 :joyfull::joyfull: I bring ALL the medicines!

One more! :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: @Doc Disney this is the one where I thought I looked super old :cry:

OMG not at all!

Yeah with her doing the whole family trip this time, I know she'll be busy :confused:. I get to see her at the dessert party if we both still end up doing it!

We are for sure doing it...I bought a dress with stars on it...its happening :joyfull:
 

dothebrdwalk

Well-Known Member
On our departure day, we didn't have to leave the resort until almost 2, so we planned on hitting up Epcot again.

We got packed up pretty quickly and walked our suitcase over to the main building. Since I didn't want to leave my Dooney loose with bell services, I put it in the checked bag and left that instead of going ahead and doing the airline checkin there....does that even make sense?

It was just easier for us to have access to the checked bag when we left the park.

Anyway, after we did that, we hopped on a bus to Epcot that we thankfully didn't have to wait on.



For some reason at all the parks but MK, R had set off the metal detector. We thought it was his belt so he took it off, but the security person at Epcot this morning told us it was the Apple watch. Mine doesn't set it off, but she said the closer it is to the detector, the more chance it'll trigger it, and he's wider than me :hilarious:

We had a FP for Test Track, but we had some time to wait, and no big desire to do other stuff. I wanted some coffee and the Starbucks was MOBBED, so I went to that Joffrey's cart across from Test Track (near old UoE). I just got a coffee with no flavor, but then felt bad because R said he would have shared if I'd gotten something good :cautious: He doesn't like plain coffee...





We watched the monorail for a while. We also took a few minutes to walk around Mouse Gear, and I noticed they had the Haunted Mansion gargoyle wine stopper. I had meant to get it before at MK, but thankfully it was here, so I picked it up! It was stupid expensive, but I know we'll use it, so...

I always find a million things I want in that store! I was good though and just got the one thing.



Also took a picture of this fence thingy that had hidden Mickeys in it. R and I kept joking about how a lot of the Mickeys are not really hidden, so we started debating if things were hidden Mickeys or blatant Mickeys.



Soon our FP was open for Test Track, so we hopped in line. It was a pretty long wait for a FP, but oh well, we weren't doing any other rides that day. R let me make the car.



Our test results weren't working and our picture never showed up, but our score was pretty good! We were only 12 points off from the top score that day so far.

Up next: More food, then home!

Your pics are amazing! What type of camera?! Are you using a filter?
 

newhorizons1

Well-Known Member
Ciderboys has a peach cider that I love! It is so good! Also, the McKenzie’s black cherry is amazing! It reminds me of the Clearly Canadian drinks. I’m not a beer drinker, but I am looking forward to getting some ciders next week.

That poor kid and the bottle story! Ugh, just miss the bus, dude. Don’t humiliate your kid!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
and...this is why I have 4 suitcases and you have 1 :joyfull::joyfull: I bring ALL the medicines!



OMG not at all!



We are for sure doing it...I bought a dress with stars on it...its happening :joyfull:
Yeah probably! I am always like "eh, if I need it, I'll just buy it down there." I hate lugging around a bunch of stuff, probably because I am constantly lugging around camera equipment with my job and it gets tiresome. YAY about the dessert party. I think at this point we'll still do it too. I'm looking forward to it. I have a SW dress that I supposed I should bring and wear. Or I might wear my BB8 shirt. I better start thinking about outfits!

Your pics are amazing! What type of camera?! Are you using a filter?
Thank you! I had my Sony Alpha 9 with me this trip. It's the one I shoot weddings with, but it's so compact with the little 28mm lens I brought that it isn't too much to carry around. I am probably getting a Sony Alpha 7iii soon that I will take instead because taking my primary camera on vacation does freak me out a bit.

No filter, I just edit in Lightroom. I do use an app called Color Story for my Instagram posts just to try to make all the photos have a similar style.

Ciderboys has a peach cider that I love! It is so good! Also, the McKenzie’s black cherry is amazing! It reminds me of the Clearly Canadian drinks. I’m not a beer drinker, but I am looking forward to getting some ciders next week.

That poor kid and the bottle story! Ugh, just miss the bus, dude. Don’t humiliate your kid!
Mmmmm I can't wait for more cider!

I know, I felt so bad for him! I think he was young enough that he probably didn't feel humiliated thankfully.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
I brought a mini pharmacy with me this trip since the flu in FL was still high and I didn't want to take any chances. My husband totally made fun of me - until he got a cold and needed the medicines I brought :joyfull:

Everyone will always make fun of you until they need something...
When I was in the Dominican last year with my friends they gasped at my 50 pound suitcase --- until it was like Oh I wish I brought "etc" and I had it :joyfull:
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
I’m the same way. I bring all kinds of medicine on trips with me. Also at work, too. It’s like a mini OTC pharmacy in my bag. :joyfull:

Not a bad idea, actually. First of all, there have been times that I needed 2 aspirin on a trip, and never thought to bring any with me. At hotel prices, it's about 80% more in price, than you'd buy in a regular CVS, etc.! So I learned to bring a few aspirin when I travel. Also, if there is a more specific medication you need, then you'd be stuck with ordering from a pharmacy down there, and dealing with either going and getting it yourself (wasting vacation time), or waiting for it to be delivered to your hotel.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Not a bad idea, actually. First of all, there have been times that I needed 2 aspirin on a trip, and never thought to bring any with me. At hotel prices, it's about 80% more in price, than you'd buy in a regular CVS, etc.! So I learned to bring a few aspirin when I travel. Also, if there is a more specific medication you need, then you'd be stuck with ordering from a pharmacy down there, and dealing with either going and getting it yourself (wasting vacation time), or waiting for it to be delivered to your hotel.

I always bring: ibuprofen, excederin, DayQuil and NyQuil (pills), Benadryl, Zyrtec (my allergies are always bad down there), immodium, and tums (I mean...I also bring a 10000 more medicines but these are the basics anyone should need :joyfull: )
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I always bring: ibuprofen, excederin, DayQuil and NyQuil (pills), Benadryl, Zyrtec (my allergies are always bad down there), immodium, and tums (I mean...I also bring a 10000 more medicines but these are the basics anyone should need :joyfull: )
Traveling is a natural Immodium for me :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: TMI, I know. I always finally "go" on the third day...I call them Jesus poops :joyfull:

I do bring Advil and Ibuproferen or Tylenol! I just throw everything in the same bottle though (probably not safe, but I've always done it).
 

krisri18

Well-Known Member
I
I always bring: ibuprofen, excederin, DayQuil and NyQuil (pills), Benadryl, Zyrtec (my allergies are always bad down there), immodium, and tums (I mean...I also bring a 10000 more medicines but these are the basics anyone should need :joyfull: )
I bring everything but the kitchen sink too! I've got multiple allergy meds, inhalers, plus all the "just in case" meds. I've handed out cough drops to strangers at paraded, Band-Aids to the lady in line for ice cream who was complaining of a blister, you name it. I get teased for packing it all but when you're halfway through WS and need a Pepto, suddenly you're the hero!
 

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