I was so sad to leave... SOG was really a great resort. Our family and our friends checked in on Sat. Oct 25. We were in rooms 235 and 236, they were connecting rooms (though we didn't request them) with a pool view (we requested the magnolia view, and got the millpond - which in the end worked out better for us)... The walk at the end of the day was long (really, really long), but we did eat at Evergreens for 4 or 5 meals, so that was very convenient, and a super easy walk to the pool for the kids.
Evergreens, we found to be very comical, since they give you your food in baskets, your drinks in clear plastic cups, and your silverware is wrapped in a cloth napkin - quite the contridiction. The food was good, we did try the pizza, and our family determined that it wasn't very good - we cannot stand canned mushrooms on our pizza - but we love fresh - Evergreens serves canned. Food was very reasonable, we would each order a sandwich (4 of us), split a foot-o-rings and family fries and we'd each get a soda beverage, and our meals came to about $35 including tip... which is a huge savings in Disney.
Our room was great, the houskeeping staff was very good about cleaning, however, I don't think that our sheets were changed the entire stay - but our beds were made every day. The only reason I noticed that our sheets weren't changed, was one of our first days there I noticed some black fuzz balls on our sheets (possibly from my sweatshirt), and they were there every day when we pulled back the sheets. I had no reason to complain, as I only change my sheets once a week at home anyways. I understand that they are trying to save $. Housekeeping was also very good about cleaning around our stuff, and giving out extra towels, pillows and blankets.
Our view off of our balcony was really nice, we could see the pools and the scenery. DH and I would sit on the balcony every morning and drink our coffee (1 grande mocha and one large cappuccino from the starbucks stand was $6 day - and very good - we opted for that over the coffee we brought). We really weren't bothered by any noise from the pool, the glass patio doors are huge and heavy, they do block most of the noise. We did hear our neighbors in our connecting room - but we sponsored them, so had they not been our friends, we all probably would have been more respectful of eachothers need for quiet. We loved how the bathroom sinks were seperate from the tub/toilet... that really was the best feature of the room! I would shower every morning and while I was getting my hair/makeup done, dh could shower and we'd all be ready at the same time - it was a huge time saver to have the bathroom seperated.
The shades busses were awesome, unless we were going to MK, we used the shades busses. They were very prompt, the drivers were very courteous, the busses were newer than Disney's, and all the other guests were always very nice to talk to. Where on the Disney transportation, everyone seemed to stay to themselves, SoG was just very friendly all around... most likely because we all have something in common. We did walk to the Poly quite a bit, and we used the Shady Shuttle whenever possible (a huge convenience, that I don't think everyone knows about, and we always tipped the drivers, I don't think it was necessary, but they sure seemed thankful). The walk back to our room from the Poly was a little long. We did discover that you *could* call the SoG after the monorail dropped you at the Poly, and request that the Shady Shuttle meet you at the end of the path, we never did do that, but it is an option if you just can't walk another step.
We took a towncar from the airport. We used Tiffany Towncar, Mourro (sp?) was our driver that picked us up from the airport - and he was an absolute delight... funny, courteous, respectful... he had a lot of stories about the area, and he also told us were to stand that the baggage claim to get our bags the fastest... we were out of the airport in 20 minutes. We were slightly disappointed that he wasn't our driver back to the airport, we will be sure to request him on our next trip.
We did buy our park tickets at Shades. Unlike Disney, you can only make changes to your tickets with in 7 days of PURCHASE, not use. So, if you need to add extra days or a park hopper, it has to be done in those 7 days. We did not know that, and we were glad we asked. Also, your receipt is your proof of purchase, and you need the #'s off of your tickets to replace them if lost, so be sure to ask which #'s when you buy... otherwise they won't be able to replace. Oh, and because of Disney's bioscanning, you have to make sure that the same person uses the same ticket every time, or Disney will lock out your tickets... we wrote our first names on the back of each ticket, so as not to confuse them.
We never did see any alligators the entire time we were there - our dds desperately wanted to see one, so we were always on the lookout, but never did see one. There were signs posted everywhere though.
Hands down, SoG was a great resort... setting the financial benefits aside, it was a great resort, and worth so much more than what we paid. we would never stay anywhere else on Disney property... we loved the SoG! I am so sad that we are home, our week at WDW went way too quickly, we opened and closed the parks every single day, and yes we were tired, but not as bad as I thougt we'd be.
We did a few things in the parks that I really didn't think we'd get into. DH was the penny squishing type, he had so much fun hunting down the machines and putting the squished coins in his folders (we did lose his entire coin collection from AK at AK on our first day, and he was so sad - so next time, he has an entire park to collect). Dh also did a little bit of pin trading, he decided to collect Star Wars and Pirate pins, no lanyards, he put his on a hat that he bought down there - and let me tell you, that hat weighs a TON! LOL The girls and I did a lot of pin trading... A LOT - it was so much fun. We also did lots of autographs... we'd stand in line for characters while DH would go squish pennies. We rode all the rides that we wanted to, and took advantage of the fast pass, although it wasn't completely necessary, it did save a little time.
Sorry that this post got so long... I do have some photos of our room and the resort, but I don't have them uploaded yet. If you are even slightly on the fence about SOG, try it, you will never stay at another Disney resort, you just cannot beat the value and convenience of it.
D~
& homeschooling 
so I haven't been able to post. I see I have a lot of reading to catch up on.
I know somewhere on this thread was SOG bus schedule. Can someone please tell me what page it was on? Thanks!
I didn't think the onion rings were anything to write home about but the pizza was 
We stayed on the path and I hung on to DH pretty tight.
Maybe they retell it alot so people will take them seriously about the gators 
If they get to park for free, we all should. How do they monitor this obvious abuse?
