DP @ Shades of Green

[hammie59]

Does anyone know if you can do the dining plan when staying there? Can you still get packages like with regular disney hotels? I've read that guests are given same privledges as WDW resort guests, so was wondering if it pertains to every aspect. (I'm asking for a friend who has never been to the world).

 

[amaycatbaker]

This as you know is the military property. They only do room reservations with a breakfast meal plan. They will sell the disney tickets to you at the ticket desk.

Now for the transportation, this is complimentary from shades of green. It is not owned by Disney. The transportation varies. It drops you off at the TTA for epcot and magic kingdom. They drop you off at animal kingdom in the middle of the parking lot. I don't know about MGM.

My family walked from the Poly a lot. And took the transportation from the TTA a lot, the busses from the TTA are not the best and are crowded.

The Shades of Green Transportation in the morning was standing room only.

I love the size of the room for the price. But you are not booking through Disney and you do get different service. I love walking so the walking was not much of a problem for me, accept at night when I was tired and four months pregnant each time I stayed there.

You do get the extra magic hours like other resorts on property and that is about it.
I hope this helps.

 

[Chkysbak]

No DDP isn't offered at Shades of Green. Thats the only reason I didn't stay there this time, but next time I probably will. First WDW trip with family so I "splurged" a little bit this time. The star and stripes tickets are a great deal though, especially since almost everything there is tax free. I will be taking advantage of the AAFES though

 

[hammie59]

Then can I assume magical express is out of the question as well? If so, does SoG have any pickup/dropoff service from the airport?

 

[amaycatbaker]

Sorry no magical express but the resort has something, I would call them. Magical Express is a disney owned company not Aafees.

 

[amaycatbaker]

No DDP isn't offered at Shades of Green. Thats the only reason I didn't stay there this time, but next time I probably will. First WDW trip with family so I "splurged" a little bit this time. The star and stripes tickets are a great deal though, especially since almost everything there is tax free. I will be taking advantage of the AAFES though

How? I would like to use the AAFEES, but I am staying on property this trip. Transportation decided this since I am bringing my babies, one for the first time. Every time we stayed there you needed to show id and have a reservation.

 

[Mrsjvb]

No, ME is not available and NO, SoG does NOT provide transport.

we used a towncar company. he met us at Baggage claim, went immediately to the car( a few steps from the BC exit) had the option to do a 30 minute grocery stop(we didn;t use) and we made it to the front fairly timely, and made arrangements to be picked up for our return flight. I think it was like $80 RT.

the only 'Dining Plan' that SoG offers is part of the special package for OIF/OEF people (with orders) who are on R&R or have returned from the litterbox within the last year. daily Breakfast Buffet and the nightly dinner buffets only( not Mangino's or Evergreen's)
the breakfast buffet is plain, but filling and cheap. good deal for basic brekkie items. the dinner buffets almost universally get mediocre to bad reviews.

the amenities we share with other resort guests are use of the EMH, Disney Transportation and the convenience of staying onsite. we cannot charge items in the parks to our rooms although I am given to understand that we can have items shipped to the front desk from the parks.

 

[babydovesx2]

I did a lot of research regarding SOG vs. other resorts. It is a money savings to there there. However, you don't get all of the privileges that you get if you are staying at one of the Disney resorts.

You are not eligable for the Disney Dining Plan. SOG has its own dining plan for their restaurants. But if you are in the part who want to take the time to go all the way back to SOG to eat. Plus I have heard that the restaurants at SOG are not the best. Also since it is not a Disney resort it does not offer any character meals. Which for me is very important since I have 2 small kids.

Second, you are not eligible for the 180 days + 10 Advance Dining Reservations. Anyone staying in a Disney resort can make dining reservations beginning 180 days from your date of arrival plus you can make reservations for up to 10 days into your stay. All others have to book 180 days from date reservation is needed. This means calling every morning 180 days in advance for each day of your stay. For me this would be a hassle and less of a guarantee that I would get the restaurants I want since we will be there during a busy time (Thanksgiving Week).

Third, I have heard that the transportation is hit and miss. The drop off locations are not always the best. The do not get the same drop off locations that the other resorts do. I read that one of the drop off locations was beside a dumpster. The buses are old and the drivers are not friendly. The buses only run once an hour to and from AK and HS.

On the plus side it is a nice resort. It has been placed in the deluxe category but with value prices. The rooms are some of the largest on the Disney Property and the park tickets are at a good discount. Anyone with a military id can buy the park tickets at SOG. You don't have to stay there to get the discount. You just have to show your id when you purchase the tickets.

But for me I chose to splurge and we are staying at Poly. It is on the monorail which will mean very easy access to MK and Epcot. Since we have small kids MK will be where we will be spending a lot of time. And it has all of the Disney magic that SOG does not have.

Also my DH just returned from 2 back to back Iraq tours. Which means for the past 2 years he has either been in Iraq or training to go to Iraq. Since this will be our first trip as a family to DW I want it to be extra special. The way I look at things is that who knows when you will ever get to return again because life is short and could end for anyone at anytime. So go for broke and have the time of your life. Make memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[Mrsjvb]

to clarify the SoG bus service for the parks are CONTRACTORS they are NOT MWR/AAFES. there is no sponsored transportation of any type from the airport to SoG.

the transport is limited in scope: once per hour on the half hour. one goes over to TTC( which you can walk to in about 15 minutes anyway, or in ten get to the Poly for the Monorail) which is where you pick up all the other buses using the Disney system. I actually think this one runs more often, though. Other buses go directly to AK, the waterparks, DTD and DHS.

you can also ask at Bell services to be driven in the golf cart up to the street crossing to Poly, which takes about five minutes off the transit time.

 

[amaycatbaker]

I didn't really know about the airport transportation, we drove. I thought the resort did, I thought I read it on the website, www.shadesofgreen.org

 

[amaycatbaker]

to clarify the SoG bus service for the parks are CONTRACTORS they are NOT MWR/AAFES. there is no sponsored transportation of any type from the airport to SoG.

the transport is limited in scope: once per hour on the half hour. one goes over to TTC( which you can walk to in about 15 minutes anyway, or in ten get to the Poly for the Monorail) which is where you pick up all the other buses using the Disney system. I actually think this one runs more often, though. Other buses go directly to AK, the waterparks, DTD and DHS.

you can also ask at Bell services to be driven in the golf cart up to the street crossing to Poly, which takes about five minutes off the transit time.

Where was the bell service when walking from poly to shades of green?

Because that was the walking I was talking about. We walked to get back to the resort every night because it was faster than waiting for the Shades of Green bus. We never walked from Shades of Green to the Poly,we used the bus to the tta for the parks.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Poly does not offer reciprocal golf cart transportation, although we were thanked more than once by employees for his Service when they saw us walking along the designated path to SoG.

 

[Sleepy]

My family walked from the Poly a lot. And took the transportation from the TTA a lot, the busses from the TTA are not the best and are crowded.

The Shades of Green Transportation in the morning was standing room only.

In all fairness, it doesn't matter if it is a SOG or WDW bus. If you are traveling at peak hours, the buses are going to be crowded and standing room only. Have you ever tried to ride on an All Star bus ?