SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Information & Questions

[MAGICFOR2]

Have not been on this page in forever. Life just got very busy. Missed everyone and am looking forward to our October trip.

And please send me some pixie dust. I applied for an internal communications manager position at ... drum roll ... Disney World!

Good luck and ixiedust: to you! Sounds like a cool job!

 

[gibsontrio]

Does anyone know if you can pre-purchase park passes at SOG ...even if not staying there??? I had read somewhere that there is a form or something. I can get 6 of the salute tickets here locally, but we need one more either MYW or Stars and Stripes ticket to go with our others. I want to get them soon so I can do the FP+ and enter the ticket info into MDE.

You have to be staying at shades to pre order your tickets. They hand them to you when you check in !

 

[moonlitelace]

Now you can pre-order them threw Camp Pendelton for $10 and they'll ship them FedEx to you. http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...-military-discounted-disney-tickets-by-phone/

 

[edk35]

Now you can pre-order them threw Camp Pendelton for $10 and they'll ship them FedEx to you. http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...-military-discounted-disney-tickets-by-phone/

Thanks. We are staying at SOG our arrival day so we can preorder and get them for the length we need...since we are staying at SOG that first night. I called today.

 

[edk35]

I know this has BEEN HASHED OUT A LOT..but I am looking for convincing. LOL

Okay... have stayed several times at SOG. You can see that in my signature. We love the size of the rooms, the quiet resort, closeness to Poly and the monorail. The rates are GREAT TOO. However the things we don't like ....the food places are very lacking. Now with the FP+ and magic bands..it is making me second guess the great location/rate and leaning towards staying at a regular resort.

I booked a 35% off room at POFQ for 3 nights...at the end of our trip. We are staying at OKW for 5 nights. I keep thinking the magic bands/FP+ and MDE and all will be easier if we stay at a regular resort. It will COST MORE, it will be a smaller room, but its a resort we have not stayed at, it is small, has a food court and all. I like the Disney buses better. I see that one of the SOG pools is down for a refurb too. SO HARD TO DECIDE what to do. HELP!!!!

 

[moonlitelace]

How about doing a one night stay just to get the magic bands?

I know this has BEEN HASHED OUT A LOT..but I am looking for convincing. LOL

Okay... have stayed several times at SOG. You can see that in my signature. We love the size of the rooms, the quiet resort, closeness to Poly and the monorail. The rates are GREAT TOO. However the things we don't like ....the food places are very lacking. Now with the FP+ and magic bands..it is making me second guess the great location/rate and leaning towards staying at a regular resort.

I booked a 35% off room at POFQ for 3 nights...at the end of our trip. We are staying at OKW for 5 nights. I keep thinking the magic bands/FP+ and MDE and all will be easier if we stay at a regular resort. It will COST MORE, it will be a smaller room, but its a resort we have not stayed at, it is small, has a food court and all. I like the Disney buses better. I see that one of the SOG pools is down for a refurb too. SO HARD TO DECIDE what to do. HELP!!!!

 

[edk35]

The Mill Pond aka Mickey Mouse pool has not been renovated yet - the renovations are scheduled to start at the end of July and run through December.

The Magnolia pool renovation is complete. It is open 10am to 10pm and now has life guards. So there is a pool available even with the Mill Pond pool closed for renovations.

Are there any pics of the the new Pool renovations?

 

[imhereforthedolewhip]

I would stick with SOG personally. I have priced out other resorts and it just isn't worth it to me. I would rather have that money for something else.

Another benefit to staying at SOG (for us anyway) is the shoppette. We bought water and snacks there. My son bought souvenirs. Adults bought adult beverages.

As for the food, we only eat breakfast at SOG. We get omelets or fried eggs at the omelet bar and then fruit and such from the buffet. We eat lunch and dinner in the parks.

 

[imhereforthedolewhip]

Also, I don't think the advantage of magic bands is really that big anymore. Not being able to get additional FPP throughout the day was really our biggest gripe and that has been fixed.

 

[edk35]

Also, I don't think the advantage of magic bands is really that big anymore. Not being able to get additional FPP throughout the day was really our biggest gripe and that has been fixed.

So can we get the FP+ extra ones too??

 

[buffettgirl]

a few pages back I posted a sort of personal review/comparison between a value and SOG from my trip in May.
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=51464136&postcount=1944

There were pros to staying "on site" and there were cons as well. It was just myself and my son, though. So, room size, while normally a big factor, wasn't. It was nice also being able to magic band everything - rooms, meals, gift shops. And it was nice having a decent food court. It was easy to let my teenager go down and get a snack by himself and not have to worry about sending him with money. We also paid less for our room at the value. But again, that's normally not something you can compare.

But, it also was a slower time of year and I can only imagine that the values are just wall to wall people normally, shades never is. And the buses can get really crowded, but this time of year they weren't.

 

[edk35]

a few pages back I posted a sort of personal review/comparison between a value and SOG from my trip in May.
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=51464136&postcount=1944

There were pros to staying "on site" and there were cons as well. It was just myself and my son, though. So, room size, while normally a big factor, wasn't. It was nice also being able to magic band everything - rooms, meals, gift shops. And it was nice having a decent food court. It was easy to let my teenager go down and get a snack by himself and not have to worry about sending him with money. We also paid less for our room at the value. But again, that's normally not something you can compare.

But, it also was a slower time of year and I can only imagine that the values are just wall to wall people normally, shades never is. And the buses can get really crowded, but this time of year they weren't.

Thanks I did read your post. Yeah comparing Mods or even Values to SOG is like comparing apples to oranges. It is so hard to HAVE the Disney perks at the regular resorts and NOT have them at SOG but then there are great things about SOG we love. With that being said....as of RIGHT NOW.. we have POFQ booked and SOG. I have a feeling we will cave and just stay SOG.

 

[WDW 3]

Thanks I did read your post. Yeah comparing Mods or even Values to SOG is like comparing apples to oranges. It is so hard to HAVE the Disney perks at the regular resorts and NOT have them at SOG but then there are great things about SOG we love. With that being said....as of RIGHT NOW.. we have POFQ booked and SOG. I have a feeling we will cave and just stay SOG.

We stayed at POFQ and liked it. Prefer Shades. FQ has a food court which is super crowded in the morning. We generally eat lunch and dinner at the parks so the food choices won't sway me. Ordered a pizza one evening and ate in the food court. The best part was the cast member. Retired couple. She cooked and he worked the dining room. Never met her but he was so enjoyable. One bus stop but most of the time we went to all 4 at Riverside to pick up before leaving. Getting back was often in reverse and we were last dropped off. Sometimes it was just FQ. No apparent method? We stayed over Veterans Day so the crowds weren't like during busier times. We might stay there again if I can get a king room and it's during a quiet time. FQ is the only moderate resort I'll consider because of the size. I like the relative smallness vs other Disney resorts. Love Shades for the room size. The quiet aka Disney chaos. Bus schedule. Lastly the indoor halls. DH saw a snake on a trip to the food court for coffee. My two cents.

 

[stitchrulz]

Lastly the indoor halls. DH saw a snake on a trip to the food court for coffee.

My DH would consider that a perk.

 

[edk35]

my dh would consider that a perk.

lol

 

[edk35]

We stayed at POFQ and liked it. Prefer Shades. FQ has a food court which is super crowded in the morning. We generally eat lunch and dinner at the parks so the food choices won't sway me. Ordered a pizza one evening and ate in the food court. The best part was the cast member. Retired couple. She cooked and he worked the dining room. Never met her but he was so enjoyable. One bus stop but most of the time we went to all 4 at Riverside to pick up before leaving. Getting back was often in reverse and we were last dropped off. Sometimes it was just FQ. No apparent method? We stayed over Veterans Day so the crowds weren't like during busier times. We might stay there again if I can get a king room and it's during a quiet time. FQ is the only moderate resort I'll consider because of the size. I like the relative smallness vs other Disney resorts. Love Shades for the room size. The quiet aka Disney chaos. Bus schedule. Lastly the indoor halls. DH saw a snake on a trip to the food court for coffee. My two cents.

I am going to cancel FQ and just stay SOG. Every time we stay there we are so happy. It always feel like home. Once we went by to get tickets or something and as soon as we were inside we were all talking about how we miss it and have to go back soon.

 

[OldPyrate]

I am going to cancel FQ and just stay SOG. Every time we stay there we are so happy. It always feel like home. Once we went by to get tickets or something and as soon as we were inside we were all talking about how we miss it and have to go back soon.

We are staying at SOG for the first time in August! Just curious, if you are a DVC owner, why would you stay at SOG? Do you visit the parks more often than your DVC points allow? If so, that is an awesome "problem" to have!

 

[edk35]

We are staying at SOG for the first time in August! Just curious, if you are a DVC owner, why would you stay at SOG? Do you visit the parks more often than your DVC points allow? If so, that is an awesome "problem" to have!

YEP!! LOL Always borrowing from my next year's points. Last year we went twice...in March and Aug. SOG is a great resort to tack on days to a DVC trip. Look at my signature.... this will be trip 26 for us.

 

[edk35]

I posted this on the main board but no one answered. Has anyone used the Salute tickets so that you get 8 park days for one person?? If so how does that work with FP+ when you have two numbers to enter per person on the MDE page. We were thinking of getting 6 and using 2 per person and then buying an 8 day MYW discounted ticket for our daughter.

 

[buffettgirl]

Thanks I did read your post. Yeah comparing Mods or even Values to SOG is like comparing apples to oranges. It is so hard to HAVE the Disney perks at the regular resorts and NOT have them at SOG but then there are great things about SOG we love. With that being said....as of RIGHT NOW.. we have POFQ booked and SOG. I have a feeling we will cave and just stay SOG.

It really is hard to compare. Really. It's very different. But it's why I thought it was interesting to break it down compare each aspect, rather than the whole. It's easier to say "SOG wins for room size" and "xxx wins for food" vs SOG is better than XXX, or XXX is better than SOG. They just can't be compared.
I still don't know what the ultimate winner would be. I think for me personally, going forward, it might depend on why we're travelling, who is travelling, and what deals we're getting. I can't say for certain anymore that hands down I'd always pick SOG.