Saratoga Springs Resort.

It seems odd that I would start my Disney resort tour of Christmas lights with Saratoga Springs. In fact, it's not much of a Christmasy resort. I seem to spend a lot of time there mostly because my bff works there and also it's easy access from Downtown Disney for walkers.

Saratoga Springs is a "Home Away from Home" resort or a "timeshare." It used be the Disney Institute that had a small town feeling with a movie theater and community hall and a campus feeling. You could take classes in cooking, flower arranging, art and photography. I did take a photography class there once in 1999. Saratoga used to show Miramax, Touchstone, Disney and Pixar movies there for free for cast members. I saw several movies there in 1998. But, sadly, they don't do that anymore.

Saratoga Springs has, you guessed it, a horse racing theme. Expedia explains it like this "From its colorful Victorian architecture to its historic horse-racing details, this lakeside community a mile from Epcot® captures the heyday of upstate New York country retreats of the 1800s." Yeah, sure. I know nothing of upstate New York country retreats of 1800s, so I'll have to take their word for it.

Their Christmas decorations unsurprisingly have little horses in branches next to ornate glass decorations and large ribbons. There's something more traditional and warm about their trees than the ones at Downtown Disney and the Contemporary (in a blog coming soon)

I used to have a manager who would pick a resort and go walking at night. I used to walk this resort with her. Then, later, Sarah and I would walk this resort a lot to train for the Camino de Santiago. There is one area in which we would always meet -- Congress Park swimming pool. The resort has four (or five if you count the Three House Villas) pools. Two of them are "feature pool" meaning they have a bar and a children's play area. The others are "quiet pools." The swimming pool at Congress Park has a beautiful view of Downtown Disney and little observation deck with wooden rocking chairs to sit and watch the view. It's an easy walk from there to The Marketplace.

Oh, they do have one of the best Spa's on property, but I'm too broke to step foot in there. Someday, I'd like to try a massage. Oh, and there's a golf course that surrounds the property. To me, it's a hidden gem. Saratoga does get the Disney hype that the Contemporary or The Boardwalk seem to get, but it's a quiet, beautiful oasis.