Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort has a real bar again. The Turf Club Lounge reopened Monday with a full bar jutting from the wall, replacing the small bar window that previously sat next to the restaurant entrance, along with a nearly complete overhaul of its cocktail list and lunch menu.
The reopening caps a refurbishment that closed the lounge in early May, according to WDW News Today, which detailed the space's new look and menu. Disney structured the project as a six-month phased refurbishment running from mid-March through mid-September, according to reporting from Disney Food Blog and Resorts Gal, staggering closures so that either the lounge or the adjoining Turf Club Bar & Grill remained open to guests throughout construction. While the lounge underwent its transformation, a pop-up bar served guests inside the main restaurant space.
A New Look With Old Bones
The redesigned lounge keeps its chandeliers and framed jockey jackets, per the outlet's report, but nearly everything else has changed. Beige and brown armchairs now surround square tables, joined by blue tall chairs at round tables and blue faux-leather bar chairs with dark legs. New carpet features a bridle pattern, and the back wall now carries horseshoe-patterned tiles.
Walls have been repainted in light cream with dark brown wainscoting and beams, and the old board-game wall art and green curtains are gone, replaced by black-and-white curtains featuring horseshoes. The lounge also swapped in frames displaying Saratoga Raceway programs, ticket stubs, and postcards. The bar itself has decorative tiling on its supports, under-counter lighting, and white tile flooring with a gold chain pattern encircling it. The billiards table that once anchored part of the room has been relocated to the other side of the building near check-in.
Nearly Every Cocktail Is New
Every cocktail on the new menu is freshly introduced except for the mint julep and blood orange margarita, according to the outlet's rundown. The $19 mint julep blends Woodford Reserve Kentucky straight bourbon, fresh mint, and agave nectar, while the $18 blood orange margarita mixes Lunazul Añejo tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and blood orange sour.
New additions include a $20 New York Old Fashioned made with Hudson Bright Lights Big Bourbon, demerara, and Angostura bitters, and a $25 New York Sour combining Widow Jane bourbon, Disaronno Originale, sweet-and-sour, and a float of Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection merlot. The Saratoga Cocktail, priced at $21, brings together Michter's Single Barrel rye, Courvoisier VS cognac, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, and The Bitter Truth decanter bitters. An $18 espresso martini uses Grainger's Deluxe Organic Vanilla vodka, Tia Maria cold brew coffee liqueur, Bols white crème de cacao, and espresso, and the $19 Grandstand Martini pairs Grey Goose vodka and Dolin Dry vermouth with olive brine and blue cheese olives.
Other new pours include a $19 pineapple mule with Uncle Nearest 1884 small batch whiskey, ginger bitters, pineapple juice, ginger beer, and mint; a $19 Colt Cooler built on Tito's Handmade vodka, St-Germain, Cointreau, orange, pineapple, and lemon; a $21 Winner's Circle Margarita featuring Don Julio Reposado, Grand Marnier, lime, and agave; a $17 raspberry mojito with Bacardi raspberry rum, Mount Gay Eclipse rum, lime juice, mint, raspberry purée, and soda water; and a $17.50 piña colava mixing Bacardi raspberry rum, coconut, pineapple, and raspberry purée.
Menu Overhaul Brings New Bites
The lunch menu has been overhauled with several new items, the report notes, while some old favorites have disappeared entirely — the buffalo chicken dip and onion ring tower were both removed, and the former giant pretzel has been reworked into an $18 pretzel charcuterie board with prosciutto, salami, pimento cheese, New York white cheddar, beer cheese, grain mustard, and pickled vegetables.
New savory options include $16 crispy chicken wings with a choice of buffalo or garlic-parmesan sauce, blue cheese, and celery; an $11 French onion soup with savory sherry beef broth, melted fontina, and gruyère; a $13 order of sweet-and-spicy Brussels sprouts finished with a piquant-agave glaze and crispy Vidalia onions; and $18 lemon butter shrimp with sun-dried tomatoes, feta, capers, and toasted bread. A $12 wedge salad arrives with bacon, buttermilk-chive ranch dressing, shredded hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, and a marigold garnish sourced from the Land Pavilion at Epcot.
Sandwiches got attention too: a $25 Turf Club burger comes loaded with applewood-smoked bacon, New York white cheddar, house-made pickles, onion straws, lettuce, tomato, and seasoned waffle fries, while a $19 herbed grilled chicken sandwich adds fresh mozzarella, crispy prosciutto, tomato confit, and focaccia, also served with waffle fries. Diners can add a grilled chicken breast for $5.50. For dessert, an $11 vanilla bean cheesecake comes with strawberry sauce and graham crumb.
Restaurant Still Closed, Golf Course Also Under Construction
The main Turf Club Bar & Grill remains walled off at its entrance and closed for its own refurbishment, with reopening expected in late September, per the outlet's report. The lounge is now open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The restaurant originally opened to guests on July 2, 2006, roughly two years after Saratoga Springs Resort itself debuted, according to resort records cited by WDWMagic, adding a dedicated table-service option next to the golf clubhouse designed with dark wood paneling and equestrian memorabilia. The venue's outdoor patio overlooks the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course, which is itself closed for major renovations through October, though its Golf Shop continues operating daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to Disney Vacation Club advisories.
Part of a Bigger Resort-Wide Push
The dining refresh lands amid a broader wave of updates across Saratoga Springs and Walt Disney World's resort portfolio. The resort's 60 stand-alone Treehouse Villas — elevated octagon-shaped units perched 10 feet above the ground along the Sassagoula River — just finished a comprehensive interior renovation in August, according to Disney Tourist Blog. That follows a hard-goods overhaul of the resort's main villa buildings between 2021 and 2022 that added Murphy pull-down beds, updated kitchenettes, and device charging stations, per DVCHelp.com.
Saratoga Springs is the largest Disney Vacation Club resort by unit count, with 828 vacation home units spread across 18 villa buildings in five sections, plus the Treehouse Villas, representing more than 14 million DVC points. The resort opened May 17, 2004, as the sixth Disney Vacation Club property, designed by Graham Gund Architects on the former grounds of the Disney Institute to evoke a late 19th-century upstate New York retreat, according to D23.
The Turf Club refresh also arrives as Disney pours money into aging resort infrastructure elsewhere on property. Public district filings showed Disney committing more than $30 million toward off-park resort makeovers in 2026, including a $24.4 million room refresh at Animal Kingdom Lodge and property additions at Disney's BoardWalk. Nearby at Disney Springs, Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill is set to permanently close on September 13, ending the chef's nearly 29-year restaurant presence at Walt Disney World.
Industry observers have long considered the Turf Club one of Disney World's least-frequented resort restaurants, largely due to Saratoga Springs' spread-out layout and secluded location away from the theme parks. The redesign appears aimed at changing that, elevating the venue with modern decor while keeping the equestrian touches that have defined the resort's Victorian horse-racing theme since it opened.
