Saratoga Springs -2 bedroom balcony

[act1980]

Originally Posted by shelle

No these are separate rooms, the dedicated 2 beds only have one balcony. I'll see if I an find a photo but our last studio balcony was one that stuck out and then next doors balcony was the same but only about a foot away! Not very private at all.

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Thats pretty crazy isn't it! Some of the dedicated 2 beds look like you could squeeze more people on but there's just not enough seating. I never understand how some of these resorts can sleep 5 or 9 people and then only have room for 2 people on the balcony! 🤷🏼

[shelle]

Originally Posted by act1980

Thats pretty crazy isn't it! Some of the dedicated 2 beds look like you could squeeze more people on but there's just not enough seating. I never understand how some of these resorts can sleep 5 or 9 people and then only have room for 2 people on the balcony! 🤷🏼

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Indeed. I’ve never been lucky enough to stay in a grand villa but I’m pretty sure the ones at SSR still only have one balcony and 4 chairs. Absolutely crazy!

[alkel2730]

We had a two bed in SSR and it just had the one balcony. Tbh I found it better with kids as only one entrance to monitor!

[act1980]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

We had a two bed in SSR and it just had the one balcony. Tbh I found it better with kids as only one entrance to monitor!

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Not sure what to do now. I can only get a dedicated for our dates but AKL is available. I know you've stayed at both resorts so which would you recommend?

Looked at OKW as it's bigger but I don't think the pool areas are as nice for the kids.

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by act1980

Not sure what to do now. I can only get a dedicated for our dates but AKL is available. I know you've stayed at both resorts so which would you recommend?

Looked at OKW as it's bigger but I don't think the pool areas are as nice for the kids.

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Hi lovely, so out of SSR & AKL - AKL hands down as it’s so much smaller, food courts better, nice play area, pool lovely and Kidani pool is awesome for kids. It’s just got a lovely atmosphere/smell/sounds etc. I do not like OKW. I think I’m in the minority but it felt like a retirement home for me, we only stayed a night before moving. It’s dated and things like no lifts, the balcony opened with a thumb lock - not good for kids, the boat dock area was a path onto open water, no sides, it’s massive. It just wasn’t my type of place. We really liked SSR though but I’ve been to SSR twice, OKW once and AKL 5 times so says a lot! 😂 We should be in Jambo right now. 🙄

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

Hi lovely, so out of SSR & AKL - AKL hands down as it’s so much smaller, food courts better, nice play area, pool lovely and Kidani pool is awesome for kids. It’s just got a lovely atmosphere/smell/sounds etc. I do not like OKW. I think I’m in the minority but it felt like a retirement home for me, we only stayed a night before moving. It’s dated and things like no lifts, the balcony opened with a thumb lock - not good for kids, the boat dock area was a path onto open water, no sides, it’s massive. It just wasn’t my type of place. We really liked SSR though but I’ve been to SSR twice, OKW once and AKL 5 times so says a lot! 😂 We should be in Jambo right now. 🙄

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Some good points, you clearly love AKL as many do, it certainly has a big fan base. I think people need to try the resorts for themselves as Ive come to the conclusion that until you stay there you really don’t know if you’ll like it and we all like different things. AKV is my least favourite resort and I couldn’t believe it until I stayed there as I thought it would be one of my favourites, but the cut off nature with inability to walk anywhere (and resultant packed gym) meant we will never go back unless they put in walking and running paths. Give us an OKW with spacious grounds to run and walk around and the path down to SSR and DS anytime😀 I didn’t like Riviera when visiting but will say now I’ll not judge it (I did initially but realised the error of my ways as I ignored my own rule ) until I’ve stayed as many seem to love it when they stay there. We always thought we would prefer BCV over BWV, and whilst we love BCV we prefer Boardwalk, but would never have said that from looking at it or even visiting. My wife never wanted to stay Boardwalk, no interest at all, now having stayed she would go every time if it was up to her. Mrs YT didn’t think she’d like BLT (looks like an office block she said and Contemporary is like something out of 1960s Russia) but we really appreciated it’s non obvious points- decent quick serve at Contempo cafe, decent running track (surprisingly), boat over to WL, boat hire (brilliant) on site, great fitnesses classes (we did Yoga and a mini circuit training session- all free) and by the end I think she even appreciated the classic nature of the Contemporary design.
We bought DVC with enough points for a 1 bed to ‘sleep around’ and have different holidays every time- that’s the beauty of it for us and we intend to try every resort eventually, even Riviera. This means even though you go back to the same place, holidays seem very different which is what we love about it.
For me the OKW rooms are very spacious, and very nice post refurb (from the videos I only stayed pre refurb). I do think the pools are nicer at SSR, which is very, very under-appreciated on its pools. Having said that, swimming in a quiet Turtle Pond pool was very nice indeed.

[act1980]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I can't get a lock off at SSR so I'm thinking I may just go for a 1 bed at Kidani. My folks will be with us and although it will be a bit fo a squeeze they will at least have their own bathroom. They're up early so they can access the kitchen as they'll be in the lounge. This was the appeal of the SSR lock-off as they would have had their own kitchen and balcony but now we can't get that.

Thats the other thing I like at Kidani vs SSR dedicated, the balcony can be accessed from any room so we can access it from the lounge without disturbing the kids if they're asleep. If we had the dedicated 2 bed at SSR then Ava would be in the lounge on the Murphy bed and we'd be in and out using the balcony. Plus it only seats 2 people anyway (which I think is ridiculous considering a 2 bed sleeps 8-9 people!)

Other bonus is that we save some points

Well done to you for keeping up the running on holiday YT, my focus is cocktails, pools and rides

[ely3857]

Originally Posted by act1980

Not sure what to do now. I can only get a dedicated for our dates but AKL is available. I know you've stayed at both resorts so which would you recommend?

Looked at OKW as it's bigger but I don't think the pool areas are as nice for the kids.

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How old are your kids? OKW has a lovely paddling pool right next to a massive sand pit and playground. If your kids at that age then it’s a fab spot as you don’t have to move around with them as you can see all three areas from one spot.