MILITARY Family question -

[wildzootv]

Anyone researched this?


debating staying at Shades of Green (huge room great price) and getting the military discount tickets

Verses

staying at a WDW resort with the military discount and military tickets and purchasing the dining plan


- is there a discount to the dining plan? Is it worth paying more for a smaller room for the meal plan?


Thanks for helping me think through this - hubby is in afghanistan and just too busy to help research this with me. I totally appreciate feed back.

 

[Missy13d69]

I don't recall ever seeing a discount on the dining plan. I think I would do the WDW resort hotel with the military discount and discount tickets. Shades of Green didn't seem to have really great rates to me.

 

[chris31997]

Price it out

We did both. SoG when we stayed for a week and did a week on DCL. Cost was a factor. We also did other things outside of Disney that week. The last time, we did AKL and did the dining plan, quick service.

Having the dining plan was nice, but not a big deal for us. We don't do alot of the table service meals. Next time, we might not do it


I would price out the Resort you are looking at staying at and compare it with SoG. It will depend on DH's rank how that breaks down. For us now, it can be a toss up.

 

[auralia]

You can walk to ploy to hop the monorail I believe, but you don't get extra magic hours if that matters to you. I have never stayed at SOG as it was always booked when I was going before I bought DVC. In slow season you can get a value room for 70 a night on the military disocunt or there abouts. You should look up the rack rate for your time and then take the discount off of that to get an Idea of what it would be per night in a disney hotel if you don't want to call disney.

Also Universal just released a free 3 day military ticket recently if that is something you'd like to look into too. The free ticket is just for the AD member, but does shave a chunk of the price of going to universal.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Just FYI, guests of Shades of Green are eligible for Extra Magic Hours.

http://www.shadesofgreen.org/xtramagichours.htm

 

[Leajess99]

Personally, I have never found Shades of Green to be cheaper than the Value or Moderate when we have gone. I would be in Category II as I am a 100% Disabled veteran.

We don't do the dining plan as we have found it is actually more costly for us. We don't really eat that much food and especially not enough to cover the cost of the dining plan.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I've always found disney resorts with the military discount cheaper than SOG for our family, but we usually stop in SOG to get our tickets. I don't know the ages of your kids, but if they're younger the dining plan might not be a savings for you. We prefer to get the dining plan, but I have teenagers and a DH that are big eaters and it saves us money overall.

 

[Jenny-Bell]

SOG has always been booked and more expensive when we have looked. We have gone there for tickets and breakfast (the day we got tickets), but otherwise always stayed in either a Value or Moderate resort.

We have also never used the dining plan, just not worth it for our family, we have priced out all of our meals and kept receipts, it just never comes out more than any dining plan. There are no dining plan discounts for military as far as I know.

Good luck and have fun with whatever you decide!!

 

[wildzootv]

104 a night at sog. More than a value but less than the moderate I think.

 

[wildzootv]

Thank you all

 

[lovingeire]

I've always done Disney resort with the military resort and the dining plan. We like the convenience of the dining plan and the ambiance of the Disney resorts. We get our tickets on base, but you can get them at SOG too. You joust have to find what works best for your family!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

104 a night at sog. More than a value but less than the moderate I think.

The military room discounts are: 40% off Deluxe Resorts, 35% off Moderates and Fort Wilderness Cabins, and 30% off Value Resorts including the new Art of Animation Resort. So that would make it close for moderates and more than a value.

 

[Jenny-Bell]

The military room discounts are: 40% off Deluxe Resorts, 35% off Moderates and Fort Wilderness Cabins, and 30% off Value Resorts including the new Art of Animation Resort. So that would make it close for moderates and more than a value.

Exactly...it also depends on when you are going, the prices vary between seasons. Also, SOG rates depend on rank, so for $105, I would say that you are looking at category 1 and a poolside room which isn't bad at all.

For us, in January, PORS in a preferred room, weekday rate would be 187, after the 35% off it's more like 122 a night, plus tax, which comes out to 136.74/night.
We would be in Cat 2 (E6) and with a pool room at SOG that would be 133/night. So, it's not a huge difference and we really have an attachment to PORS.

I have never stayed at SOG, but it looks beautiful and calm and honestly every time we have made plans to visit, I have looked into it but they seem to book up fast. Hubby also says he wants a vacation from all things Army, so he doesn't have much interested in being surrounded by it at the resort. (Just meaning the types of conversations that people will have with you, small talk and such).

Look at prices and amenities and you will find what works for your family.

 

[Ariel on Land]

Depends. When DH was an O3, sometimes it was a better value to stay at SOG, now that he's an O4, not so sure. Also depends on what kind of eaters you are and whether or not the dining plan is a good value for you. I've never seen the dining plan discounted, (or at least not to military, I think once I heard there was a CM discount.) So right now for us, with DD still under 3 and w/ DH's rank, staying on property and using the DDP is a better option. We'll re-evaluate once she's older!

ETA-- but the rooms really are massive, as is the bathroom!!

 

[PrincessMommy05]

I've never stayed at SoG before, but I've been there and it's beautiful! That being said when I priced it out it was much cheaper for us to use the military discount on the room (FN suite at AoA) then it would be for a comparable suite at SoG. We could have gotten a room at SoG for cheaper, but then a standard room at a value might have been cheaper I didn't price that out.

We chose to buy the dining plan as well which we haven't done before, but from my understanding it's not an option at SoG. If your DH is into golf it may be worth looking into because they do have a really nice course there. They do have a small AFEES store there that would be good if you forgot anything (tax free, and from what I remember the prices were much lower than normal Disney prices) and of course you can get your tickets there if you don't get them before you go.

I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[KristiKat]

We stayed at SOG in Feb and the rooms are nice and big. Our rate was $123 a night. We were there President's Day week so it was during a peak season so it was cheaper to stay at SOG. During a value season sometimes the Disney resort military discount will be cheaper, sometimes not. It depends on which resort you want to stay at and SOG rates depend on rank. We went with another family which was a family of 5 and it was cheaper for them at SOG, so keep in mind the size of family can be a factor also. I saw in one post that someone said there is no Extra Magic Hours if you stay there. Just in case no one has corrected that you do get EMH at SOG. You can verify that by going to there website. It's on the home page. Another thing you may want to keep in mind is that if you are big into Disney theme at a resort you may not like SOG. It was very nice and clean but lacks the Disney feel. Also IMHO the customer service was lacking. Our next trip we are staying at POR but if need be in years to come we would do SOG again if we had to. It's great being able to walk to the Poly and eat or catch the monorail. Another thing you may want to know is SOG lacks food choices. They don't have a food court like Disney resorts and the dining choices they do have are not good. I and many others from the SOG thread would advise you not to eat there. The service is slow, sometimes bad, and the food is not worth the price. The AAFES store is great at SOG. No taxes of course and some good prices on souvenirs.

 

[nw2this]

Has anyone ever skipped SOG and the Military discounted Disney resort rooms and tix in favor of one of the free dining plans?

I don't think I'm going to do it but I'm tempted.

 

[lovingeire]

Has anyone ever skipped SOG and the Military discounted Disney resort rooms and tix in favor of one of the free dining plans?

I don't think I'm going to do it but I'm tempted.

I actually priced the free dining for Dec out against the military discount. There was no significant savings in one over the other. We were originally planning on staying at a Deluxe resort though and changed to Art of Animation. Also for the free dining we couldn't keep our dates or would have had to have two reservations. It might be worth a check for a value resort though or of they don't renew the military offer and you want to book after Sept 28, 2013. I had heard free dining was a better deal but I really think it depends on the situation.

 

[arthuruscg]

We have never gone with the free DDP over the Military discounts because I don't like planing my meals out 6months in advance. The military life style is HIGHLY time regulated, i enjoy taking my watch off on vacation. (I have to remember to put sunscreen on my wrist.)
When are you going and how big is your party?

 

[PrincessMommy05]

Has anyone ever skipped SOG and the Military discounted Disney resort rooms and tix in favor of one of the free dining plans?

I don't think I'm going to do it but I'm tempted.

Honestly it wasn't worth it for us, and if you were using the military 4 day tickets I don't think it would be worth it at all. We had our package booked with the free dining (Finding Nemo Family Suite at AoA) before they announced the new 2012-2013 Salute program, but when that came out we switched to no tickets (we bought the Salute ones), military discount on the room, and paying out of pocket for the dining plan and are coming out $600+ ahead.

I may be wrong, but I don't believe you can get the DDP staying at SoG. Honestly had I know about the services travel agents offer (without a fee!) I would have booked through one of them and allowed them to do the legwork for me, but all it took was a very helpful castmember on the phone and about an hour to figure out all the different pricing structures and we are all set.