SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Information & Questions

[DMGeurts]

We have always been able to come and go as we please at SOG with a military ID. Besides your friend without a military ID, how did you feel your movement was restricted at SOG?

I was able to come and go freely - I did not mean to imply that I wasn't. I was questioned every time I came by car though - and that is the part that irritated me. I was a guest with a valid stay and a valid military ID - and questions like "What will you be doing here?" Uhhhh - going to my room? LOL Really got annoying after a while...

D~

 

[KateD496]

I was able to come and go freely - I did not mean to imply that I wasn't. I was questioned every time I came by car though - and that is the part that irritated me. I was a guest with a valid stay and a valid military ID - and questions like "What will you be doing here?" Uhhhh - going to my room? LOL Really got annoying after a while...

D~

That is totally annoying. We've never been questioned like that! They just looked at our SOG car hang tag and our ID.

 

[DMGeurts]

That is totally annoying. We've never been questioned like that! They just looked at our SOG car hang tag and our ID.

Maybe the issue qas that I didn't have my own car? I was always riding with friends... Even so, military ID with a current resort stay shouldn't need to be questioned... Maybe I was just lucky? Lol

D~

 

[Melissa_E]

Three days!!! Woohooo.

 

[DMGeurts]

Three days!!! Woohooo.

Woohoo!

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Question... Has anyone recently taken the SoG shuttle from SoG to Universal Studios? If so, can you tell me what time they pick you up at the resort/drop you at U/S? Also - what time do they pick you up from Universal to bring you back to SoG?

D~

 

[Narnian_Princess]

Question... Has anyone recently taken the SoG shuttle from SoG to Universal Studios? If so, can you tell me what time they pick you up at the resort/drop you at U/S? Also - what time do they pick you up from Universal to bring you back to SoG?

D~

Husband and I took it on 9/23. It left SoG at 8 AM (9 AM park opening) and that was fine, but the departure time from Universal was a bit of a disaster. The driver said he usually picks up at 6:30 PM, but since everything was closing at 5 for Halloween Horror Nights, he kept wavering back and forth on whether he'd pick up at 5 or 6. Once we arrived he announced that he'd definitely be there at 5, so thats what everyone planned for. We stayed longer and were just about to call an uber when the driver called and said he had just arrived... at 6. So it worked out well for us, but the folks who rushed out of the park and were waiting at the bus stop for over an hour were understandably very, very annoyed.

 

[CaleCakes]

I have anxiously been awaiting the email to order WDW tickets and it just arrived. I am a little confused about which to order. I read through the different types but I still don't get it. Sorry, i know that sounds very dumb. We are staying 4 days at SOG then 3 days at AK. We want to do a 4 day park hopper for non-consecutive days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Do we order the Salute to Armed Forces 4 day park hopper or the Magic Your Way 4 day hopper? Thank you in advance.

 

[casnider]

I have anxiously been awaiting the email to order WDW tickets and it just arrived. I am a little confused about which to order. I read through the different types but I still don't get it. Sorry, i know that sounds very dumb. We are staying 4 days at SOG then 3 days at AK. We want to do a 4 day park hopper for non-consecutive days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Do we order the Salute to Armed Forces 4 day park hopper or the Magic Your Way 4 day hopper? Thank you in advance.

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/ Check out this website and read the articles they have on the tickets. I found them very helpful when choosing which tickets were best for what we needed.

 

[CaleCakes]

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/ Check out this website and read the articles they have on the tickets. I found them very helpful when choosing which tickets were best for what we needed.

I've read the site a few times over the past weeks and I still don't get it

 

[casnider]

I've read the site a few times over the past weeks and I still don't get it

I think what I gleamed from all the info was the the Salute to Arms tickets are a one time offer and they are good for the whole year or the life of the offer. So you can get them (4 or 5 days now with or without waterparks, but I believe they are all hoppers) We are planning on SOG in February so we can skip the water park option for ours but they are good for a year.

Now if you go with the Military discounted Magic your Way tickets, they are cheaper than buying from Disney but they expire 14 days after you first use them. So you can take park breaks during your stay and not have to worry about running out of time. Unless you are staying a month. LOL. With these you can choose what you want from Base ticket to water parks to hoppers, just whatever.

The Shades of Green Star and Stripes passes (which I have used before) are only valid one day longer than the allotted days. So if you bought them for 7 days they will expire on the 8th day. You would need to hit the parks and not have much flexibility to stay in and sleep or play at the pool. But everything is included in this price. You get it all!

So take us for example (because I am still thinking on this) We are checking in at Coronado on the 10th to the 12th. I am in the WGU commencement ceremony during that time so I won't have much time for parks so I am not getting any tickets. We then check into the SOG until the 18th. I am going to need 6 days at least of tickets because the 18th will be a drive home day. The Salute to Arms is only 5 days. I could buy a one day ticket but with Disney it is always "The more you days you stay the cheaper" so I can't decide if I just want to do the Magic my way with military discount or Shades of green stars and stripes. Either way because I am staying at SOG I can't make fast pass selections until 30 days out.

Hope this helps a little more and gets you thinking as to 1) what are your families needs? 2) how many days do you want to visit the parks? 3) and the budget

 

[crazylady]

I have anxiously been awaiting the email to order WDW tickets and it just arrived. I am a little confused about which to order. I read through the different types but I still don't get it. Sorry, i know that sounds very dumb. We are staying 4 days at SOG then 3 days at AK. We want to do a 4 day park hopper for non-consecutive days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Do we order the Salute to Armed Forces 4 day park hopper or the Magic Your Way 4 day hopper? Thank you in advance.

I would say Salute to Armed Forces but the ticket office at Shades is very helpful. If you email them they should be able to answer your question.

 

[CaleCakes]

I think what I gleamed from all the info was the the Salute to Arms tickets are a one time offer and they are good for the whole year or the life of the offer. So you can get them (4 or 5 days now with or without waterparks, but I believe they are all hoppers) We are planning on SOG in February so we can skip the water park option for ours but they are good for a year.

Now if you go with the Military discounted Magic your Way tickets, they are cheaper than buying from Disney but they expire 14 days after you first use them. So you can take park breaks during your stay and not have to worry about running out of time. Unless you are staying a month. LOL. With these you can choose what you want from Base ticket to water parks to hoppers, just whatever.

The Shades of Green Star and Stripes passes (which I have used before) are only valid one day longer than the allotted days. So if you bought them for 7 days they will expire on the 8th day. You would need to hit the parks and not have much flexibility to stay in and sleep or play at the pool. But everything is included in this price. You get it all!

So take us for example (because I am still thinking on this) We are checking in at Coronado on the 10th to the 12th. I am in the WGU commencement ceremony during that time so I won't have much time for parks so I am not getting any tickets. We then check into the SOG until the 18th. I am going to need 6 days at least of tickets because the 18th will be a drive home day. The Salute to Arms is only 5 days. I could buy a one day ticket but with Disney it is always "The more you days you stay the cheaper" so I can't decide if I just want to do the Magic my way with military discount or Shades of green stars and stripes. Either way because I am staying at SOG I can't make fast pass selections until 30 days out.

Hope this helps a little more and gets you thinking as to 1) what are your families needs? 2) how many days do you want to visit the parks? 3) and the budget

Thank you so much for taking the time to spell this out for me. I'm sending you a virtual handshake, I truly appreciate it. I figured out that the Salute works best for us. I will fax my papers in the morning so I can get some Fastpass booked if there is anything left!

 

[casnider]

Thank you so much for taking the time to spell this out for me. I'm sending you a virtual handshake, I truly appreciate it. I figured out that the Salute works best for us. I will fax my papers in the morning so I can get some Fastpass booked if there is anything left!

You are most welcome, it took me studying this mess for weeks to understand what was what so when you reached out I felt your pain. Now if you could tell ME what to do I would be most appreciative.

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

Don't worry too much about fast passes. I cancelled my trip scheduled for 10/8 because of Matthew. I cancelled all my fast passes the night of 10/7. I rebooked the trip and flew out 10/10. I had to make all new fast pass selections and I changed my plans a few times during the week and altered my fast passes for different parks the day before or the morning of. The only thing I couldn't book was 7DMT, but the lines weren't bad and one morning I was the 4th person in line at rope drop. I was able to book FEA. My D-I-L got FPs for FEA on two different days for all 4 in her family.

 

[Melissa_E]

We just got back from a FANTASTIC trip. I just wanted to give a quick good, bad, and ugly about Shades of Green. We arrive 10/11 and left 10/18.

The GOOD:
The rooms are amazing. We previously stayed at Pop Century, you had to step over the toilet in order to get into the bathroom and close the door. Not so at Shades. The room is huge and we had a balcony (all rooms either have a balcony or patio). Two queen beds and a convertible sofa. There is also a small table with two chairs. The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever slept on. We didn't hear any noise from the rooms on either side, BUT we could hear noise from the hallway if the guests weren't quiet.

The BAD:
We had the breakfast package included in our room. It was meh at best. Every morning there was fresh fruit, bread products, scrambled eggs, omelets to order and pancakes to order. But nothing was particularly good. Gratuity is not included with the breakfast package.

The UGLY:
Transportation. Do not expect Disney level bus service. We had a PPO breakfast at Animal Kingdom, but buses didn't run to that park until a half hour before park opening. So we had to use the bus to TTC and transfer to an Animal Kingdom bus. If you miss your bus, you need to figure out another way to get where you want to go or wait another hour. If you have an ECV and you aren't first or second in line, you have to wait another hour for the next bus. If you can walk to the Poly easily (we had my mom with us and that was a struggle), then transportation isn't as much of a worry.

We rented a car which was VERY helpful when it came to resort dining reservations and going to Universal. I paid $150ish for the car rental, it would have cost us $70 for the two days of Universal transportation through Shades of Green (3 adults, 1 child). Considering the cost of airport transportation, the car rental worked out as a marginally cheaper option.

 

[Schilltastic4]

I'm wondering if taking Poly Buses back and forth to the parks would be easier than waiting around for SoG buses if they are sparse. Do you know what #'s the return buses are for SoG vs Poly? Are they close enough for us to utilize whichever comes first or will we need to make a decision one way or the other?

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

To get to MK or Epcot, you need to take a bus to the ticket and transportation center and get on the monorail. That bus comes every 20 minutes.

There is a bus that goes to AK every hour. It leaves SOG on the half hour and AK at 10 to the hour.

The bus to HS also leaves SOG hourly on the half hour and leaves HS on the hour.

The bus to Disney Springs leaves SOG on the half hour and leaves DS at 10 to the hour.

Personally I love the transportation. I know exactly when the bus is leaving and plan accordingly. I have used Disney transportation and although the bus is supposed to come at least every 20 minutes, that isn't always the case. I have waited 35 minutes for a bus. Then it goes to two other resorts instead of directly to the destination. My adult son prefers Disney transportation. He doesn't want to worry about the bus schedule.

If you miss the bus you can always take a bus to the Poly and walk back or any bus to ticket and transportation and catch the SOG bus from there. You can walk from TIcket and Transportation to SOG in about 15 minutes.

You can walk to the Poly and get on the monorail or use the resort monorail to get to the Poly or to Ticket and Transportation.

You have to make a decision when leaving the parks because the SOG buses aren't parked near the resort buses.

 

[WDW 3]

I agree. I would add that we'll catch any bus to a monorail resort to get back to the TTC not just the Poly bus. Honestly on our last couple trips we never used the Shades bus from AK, to yes, from no. We leave whenever we want. The bus stop at HS is great so we did usually take the Shades bus from there.

 

[BabyTigger99]

Recommendations for car service to and from the airport? Also, we get in on Sunday the 6th at 10:15 a.m. I am figuring at least 11:30 before we get to Shades. Chances of our room being ready??