We stayed there in February. We liked the resort itself but had a little bit of trouble with the house we stayed in. Overall it turned out great though. Here is the link to the threads I posted. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1732978
I think one of them mentions that there is an Applebees in the shopping plaza down the road with the Publix supermarket. There is also a Chinese food place in that plaza that we liked, and a pizza place.
The Solana Resort sign is not very prominent, and we went past it a few times. It is the first left after the Palm Key community.
It is a Super Wal Mart with food. We always planned 30 minutes to get to the parks, but it didn't take that long. It was 20 minutes. We used the Shertbeth Road shortcut. I think it is at mile marker 4 or 5 off of 192. If you look at this map, you will see it on the main gate west map. http://www.kissimmee-us192.com/map/ushwy192mapindex.htm
Just take the left onto Sherbeth Road and follow the other cars to Osceola Parkway then follow the sign to the park you want to go to.