Fantastic Florida & Disney
Our home for the next two weeks was at the Disney Deluxe resort Saratoga Springs which is themed on the New York racecourse of the same name. A vast, sprawling 26 acre resort with various blocks of apartment type accommodation. If you have walking difficulties you’ll need to be as close to the Carriage House as possible which is the main reception/restaurant area. The resort grounds were beautifully kept, bedrooms immaculate – ours was a 1st floor (lift access) 1 bedroom apartment with queen size bed, Jacuzzi bath, shower room and two toilets. Our son slept in the lounge area on a bed settee. There was also a verandah overlooking the gardens, kitchenette with microwave, fridge and oven. We pre-ordered some basics to be there on arrival (bread, milk, cereal, wine!) with 'Garden Grocer' who deliver to a number of properties in the Florida area. Excellent service. The main pool area has a water slide and a jacuzzi and most of the entertainment was centred around here including movies in the evening. There is a quieter pool a little further away.
Shuttle buses run frequently (about every 20 minutes) with several stops at this resort to each park and are complimentary if you stay within Disney. The resort is opposite Downtown Disney for great restaurants and shopping – you can easily walk from the hotel around the lake or take a shuttle bus or a water taxi. Our holiday package also included the Disney Dining Plan which is a great idea. On your room card they load your points which automatically get taken off as you go and you have breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks and drinks (soft) in over 200 different eateries wherever you see the sign. This really helped as we found ourselves dining in restaurants we wouldn't normally have been able to afford with no additional cost! I would advise you to pre-book your ADR (Advance Dining Reservation) with Disney online before you travel as most restaurants were full and places like T-Rex or Planet Hollywood were already sold out on the night. Also we bought our park tickets in advance as it’s cheaper and as we are roller coaster crazy we hit all the parks during our stay!
Take advantage of the brilliant Fastpass system within the parks and also the Disney Photopass photographers which you can sign up for before you travel. Also we purchased in advance Discovery Cove tickets to swim with the dolphins – this was an amazing day which included breakfast and lunch and if you can buy off peak tickets, well worth the cost as this includes a visit to SeaWorld too. We also visited Kennedy Space Centre and were lucky enough to see Atlantis which had just been moved to the centre. My husband even managed to skydive whilst we were there – all in all a fabulous family holiday! Please give me a call if you need any further information on this area or the places to visit.