Hi Everyone, remember me?! I know it has been waaay too long since I've blogged, I've had so much going on lately that I need to get back into the swing of things! First off, I want to say that I am very happy with myself because my goal in the beginning of the year was to post at least 100 blogs this year and this one is lucky #99. Woot! What should 2011's goal be? 250? Sounds like a nice 'round number. Anyway, thank you to all who read my blog and my followers on blogspot and facebook, you're awesome!After all the talk talk talk this past year, we finally went to Walt Disney World and to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and we had a BLAST (as usual). I have lots to talk about and review from the short 2 night trip we were there. First of, I guess it would have to be where we stayed. I was very excited about staying at The Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort because not only had I never stayed in one, I had never seen them either.
Let me start with they're beautiful. You're in the woods, nature all around you, you go to your villa and climb a set of stairs to get to the front door. But no one is under you. These are 'treehouse' villas, so they are literally lifted 10 feet off the ground and look like they are sitting in the trees. They each have they're own bbq area and porch with a table and chairs so you can eat outside as well. Then you open the front door.
Nice. You walk into the living room and everything around you is brand new. Flat screen TV in the living room, dining room table and chairs that seats 6 comfortably, high-bar with barstools, and a brand new fully stocked kitchen with marble countertops, dishwasher, fridge, stove, oven, and sink. Remember, this is a Disney Vacation Club resort so it came fully stocked as well with pots and pans, dish soap, etc. You just have to bring the food! There are three bedrooms, the master with its own private bathroom (jacuzzi tub and shower), a second bedroom with a queen, and a third with bunk beds. The second two bedrooms share a 2nd bathroom. There are flat screen LCD TVs in each bedroom and there's also a stacked washer/dryer and the couch in the living room pulls out to a queen. Also the armchair in the living room folds out to a twin!
Obviously there wasn't any lack of space. There was plenty of space for the four adults and 4 children we had in our party. The Treehouse Villas also have their own pool, and have full use of the main pool at Saratoga Springs as well. As much as I thought this resort was beautiful, I can honestly say I don't think we will stay there again. And this is for one main reason: it was just too out of the way from everything. We had our vehicle with us, and thank goodness for that. We had our tickets for the Halloween party the first night we were there, and if we didn't have vehicles, we probably would've been late for our dining reservations.
We made reservations at 1900 Park Fare for dinner (my review of this restaurant tomorrow) at 5:15 so to have plenty of time to eat, change the kids into their Halloween costumes, and hop on the monorail for the party. Check in at the Treehouse Villas is at 4 pm as opposed to the usual 3 pm at most resorts. We got to the resort to check in at about 12 pm that day thinking that if we're lucky we may be able to get into our villa a little early to get settled. Not only did we not get in early, we never got in before 4 o'clock at all. And if you have been to Walt Disney World before, you know you need to leave yourself ample travel time to get to your dining reservations on time. So we ended up changing the kids and packing the bags that we needed for the night at the pool area. I guess that could've planned better on our part. Man, you think you have everything planned!
So we drove to our dining reservation. Now, if we didn't have our vehicle, and had to wait for Disney transportation I think we may have been in trouble. The only way to get anywhere from the Treehouse Villas is by bus. But they don't have their own bus system, they are on Saratoga Springs', so you have to take a bus from the villa to the resort and then switch buses to get wherever you're going. Add in wait time for the buses and walk time to wherever you're going and a safe window of time to leave to get anywhere is about 60-90 minutes depending on how crowded it is. If you are going to Walt Disney World to really do the parks, I didn't find this convenient at all. If you're going to be there (and hey, most people who stay there ARE Disney Vacation Club and don't necessarily go to WDW to go to the parks the whole time) to relax and go out to eat and maybe go to a park once then I would highly recommend them. They're definitely out of the way and you feel like you have you're own apartment in the sky.
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