Just back from SOG - any questions?

[mog]

We just got back from a week at SOG. We had a great time! We were in the old section - just fine with us - closer to the pool! We also ate at Mangino's one night!
I will try to answer any questions anyone has.

 

[GBsMom]

Well, this will be our first trip to WDW, and staying at the SOG.
My first question how was the resort, I have an 11,13 and wondering how big are the rooms. How expense are the meal, was the ride to the airport a big cost, and of course what did you do. We have reservation for sog in April 6 days at wdw with the star and stripes ticket. We are planning to go see the rest of Fl and Kennedy center while we are there.

 

[Erin12303]

Hi-
My parents will be staying there in Oct.
My dad has been very interested in finding out about Mangino's.
What did you eat and what kind of prices?
Did you use their transportation?
Thanks-
Glad to hear you had a nice time!

 

[Disney_1derland]

Welcome Back!

How were the busses? They seem to be the biggest concern. Did you do the walk to the Poly for the monorail?

Also, for the person that asked about Magino's.....I just saw their menu posted online today at Deb's site. Looks pretty good and a little more pricey and upscale than what I thought it would be.

 

[Harligirl]

Hi

Glad you had a nice trip! I just planned a very last minute getaway with my hubby (we leave Weds) and I was wondering if you know the ticket prices SOG offers? I can't seem to open the file on their website...I am most interested in the annual pass and length of stay....

Thanks in advance!
Lisa

 

[mog]

Originally posted by GBsMom
Well, this will be our first trip to WDW, and staying at the SOG.
My first question how was the resort, I have an 11,13 and wondering how big are the rooms. How expense are the meal, was the ride to the airport a big cost, and of course what did you do. We have reservation for sog in April 6 days at wdw with the star and stripes ticket. We are planning to go see the rest of Fl and Kennedy center while we are there.

The rooms are very large. We have 3 kids (6, 9, 12) and had plenty of room. Of course we didn't spend a lot of time in the room! There was enough storage space, etc. The bathroom has a large counter with 2 sinks and it is in a separate room than the toilet/shower room, so you can have more than one person getting ready at a time. My daughter slept on the pull out couch, so we left that pulled out the whole time and still had enough room. The meals at the Garden Gallery are not too bad. They had a buffet every night and depending what the specialty was it ranged from $12.95-$14.95 for adults and I'm not sure what the kids prices were, but they were reasonable. They had a menu you could order from if you didn't want the buffet - it had several kids' meals that looked reasonably priced, too. At Evergreen's the meals are a little cheaper, but it is definitely bar food. The pizza is pretty good and the salad's weren't bad.
We drove down, so we didn't use airport transportation, but when I checked for my sister, I think Mears was something like $17 per person for one way??

 

[mog]

Originally posted by Erin12303
Hi-
My parents will be staying there in Oct.
My dad has been very interested in finding out about Mangino's.
What did you eat and what kind of prices?
Did you use their transportation?
Thanks-
Glad to hear you had a nice time!

We really enjoyed Mangino's but be warned - it is not inexpensive! We ate there our last night with our 3 kids and it was about $100 (that included a bottle of wine and a pretty generous tip). My husband had some kind of salmon on pasta dish that he really liked. I had Chicken Parmasiana which was also pretty good - prepared in a unique way. The wine we had was recommended by our waiter and was wonderful. The waiter was wonderful, too! He was so nice to the kids and very helpful in choosing what to order. They don't have a "kids' menu", but will fix them manicotti, spaghetti, or fettucini alfredo. My daughter had the alfredo and it was wonderful - the best I've ever had. It was obviously freshly prepared. The decor is very nice and the atmosphere was, too.

We did use SOG transportation for some things, we also walked to the Poly for the monorail and drove our car to Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon. The SOG transportation was pretty reliable with just a few exceptions.

 

[mog]

Originally posted by Disney_1derland
Welcome Back!

How were the busses? They seem to be the biggest concern. Did you do the walk to the Poly for the monorail?

Also, for the person that asked about Magino's.....I just saw their menu posted online today at Deb's site. Looks pretty good and a little more pricey and upscale than what I thought it would be.

The bus system was not too bad. It is definitely better than when we stayed there a couple times before. Now they have a definite schedule they give out that tells you which bus, times, which spot it drops off/picks up at, etc. Now of course, there were times when one was running late, or they got off schedule, but we made out okay using them. We did go to the Poly quite a bit for the monorail. They now have the "shady shuttle" which is a large golf cart that basically just drives back and forth from the hotel to the end of the street where you cross over to the Poly. We had good luck catching a ride with him most times. He just shuttles people back and forth to catch the monorail at the Poly. It shortens the walk quite a bit!
We had friends with us who said the bus system took 1 1/2 hours to get them to Typhoon Lagoon, so we just drove when we wanted to go there. They also have a special SOG bus that runs straight from Pleasure Island to SOG from 9:30pm - 3am. That was VERY nice the night we went out without the kids!

Mangino's was very nice. It was definitely upscale. They require "appropriate dress" which as far as we could tell nice shorts or khakis with a polo shirt would be okay for men and capri pants or a nice shorts/skirt set for women. My husband and boys all wore collared shirts and my daughter and I wore capri pants. It was a bit pricey, but our waiter and the manager were very attentive and the food was good. It was a nice dining experience.

 

[mog]

Originally posted by Harligirl
Hi

Glad you had a nice trip! I just planned a very last minute getaway with my hubby (we leave Weds) and I was wondering if you know the ticket prices SOG offers? I can't seem to open the file on their website...I am most interested in the annual pass and length of stay....

Thanks in advance!
Lisa

The file is an excel file. I don't think they have any annual pass prices on there, but they do have all the Stars and Stripes length of stay prices. I'd be happy to look it up for you if you let me know how long you want them for! We had 7 day ones and they were $310 for adults.

 

[GBsMom]

Sounds like a great time, I can't wait, so how much was car rental and parking at the places. Exactly, how much was the car rental and did you rent from the airport. We trying to decide to take a taxes or rent a car from the airport. How does it cost to park at the park.

 

[Harligirl]

Hi again!

We will be there Weds, Thurs, and Friday- what exactly is the difference with Stars and Stripes and length of stay (or is it the same?) We wont be doing anything other than the parks (no water parks)

Thank you so much! My computer got very grumpy trying to open the excel file! Or maybe its just me!!

Lisa

 

[GBsMom]

I called SOG and from what I understand-the only way to use stars and stripes tickets, must match the number of stays. I talked to the lady, and since we wanted to other stuff then wdw.
Our first two days, we are going to see fl and kennedy space center,and Universal studios, and then come back and buy a 6 day star and stripe pass. Really all we was reverse our vacation plan to stay at the hotel. Besides I will be flying from Alaska to Fl with a husband and two kids a partial day of rest by the pool and look around fl won't be so bad for the first day. Catch up with the time change and not waste a day being tired at WDW.

I can't wait, driving my kids crazy

 

[Cameo]

As I recall from the last time (3 years ago) we bought Stars and Stripes passes, you have to purchase the pass for the same number of nights you are staying at WDW. Stars and Stripes is SOGs length of stay passes. I was just told (by someone on these boards) about a week ago that regular APs at SOG are $371. I was also directed to http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/ticketchart.htm for a list of all tickets prices, including SOGs.

 

[Harligirl]

Thanks for the ticket info! After doing the math, I think it would be worth my while to buy annual tickets. I think that may end up being a bad thing though Ha!

 

[mog]

We drove down so I can't help with car rental prices or taxi prices at all, but with your SOG parking pass you are supposed to be able to park at the parks for free.

As for the Stars and Stripes length of stay passes, they do say that it has to be tied to your length of stay, but if you go in 2 or 3 days after you get there and want to buy them for the rest of your stay, they will let you. They won't make you buy them for the 2 - 3 days that have already passed by. I don't know if they would let you do that in reverse - buy them at the beginning for just half your stay. On the other hand, we had guests staying with us and their daughter was with them for only part of the week - they let her just buy a 4 day stars and stripes pass even though she was in the room with them that was booked for 7 days, so maybe they aren't as strict as they sound about it.

Wow - if the AP price is only $371 that is totally worth it!! We paid $310 for 7 day length of stay passes. Does the AP let you into all the water parks, etc. or just the 4 major parks?

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by Harligirl
Hi

Glad you had a nice trip! I just planned a very last minute getaway with my hubby (we leave Weds) and I was wondering if you know the ticket prices SOG offers? I can't seem to open the file on their website...I am most interested in the annual pass and length of stay....

Thanks in advance!
Lisa

Here are all the prices. This is the ticket matrix from Deb Wills' site. She always has the SOG prices on there And, it's not in EXCEL like the SOG page is.

Ticket Prices

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by Harligirl
Hi again!

We will be there Weds, Thurs, and Friday- what exactly is the difference with Stars and Stripes and length of stay (or is it the same?) We wont be doing anything other than the parks (no water parks)

Lisa

Lisa

Stars and Stripes = length of stay pass = Disney's Ultimate Park Hopper Pass

Katie

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by mog
We drove down so I can't help with car rental prices or taxi prices at all, but with your SOG parking pass you are supposed to be able to park at the parks for free.

As for the Stars and Stripes length of stay passes, they do say that it has to be tied to your length of stay, but if you go in 2 or 3 days after you get there and want to buy them for the rest of your stay, they will let you. They won't make you buy them for the 2 - 3 days that have already passed by. I don't know if they would let you do that in reverse - buy them at the beginning for just half your stay. On the other hand, we had guests staying with us and their daughter was with them for only part of the week - they let her just buy a 4 day stars and stripes pass even though she was in the room with them that was booked for 7 days, so maybe they aren't as strict as they sound about it.

Wow - if the AP price is only $371 that is totally worth it!! We paid $310 for 7 day length of stay passes. Does the AP let you into all the water parks, etc. or just the 4 major parks?

You are right. Free to park at the parks. And yes, they let you buy S&S tix for less days if you buy them at the end of your stay. I've done it many times. As for the beginning...I don't know...never tried it. I DO know that they didn't ask how long I was staying when I purchased, though....and didn't have a computer to check. The ONLY thing they required was military ID.


AP only gets you into the 4 parks. To get into everything else, you'll need a Premium Annual Pass. Current rate for PAP at SOG is $486/adult, $409/child (vs. gate prices of $531.44/adult and $451.56/child). Better prices for FL residents if you qualify

 

[mog]

Originally posted by kadaten
:: I DO know that they didn't ask how long I was staying when I purchased, though....and didn't have a computer to check. The ONLY thing they required was military ID.


AP only gets you into the 4 parks. To get into everything else, you'll need a Premium Annual Pass. Current rate for PAP at SOG is $486/adult, $409/child (vs. gate prices of $531.44/adult and $451.56/child). Better prices for FL residents if you qualify

When we were there last week, they did have computers at the ticket office counter and asked for our last name, looked it up in the computer and told us we would "need" the 7 day pass (or however long we were booked according to the computer). Maybe the computers are a new addition?



Okay good - I feel better now! If I could have gotten an AP for all the parks for just a few dollars more than my 7 day pass, I would have been kicking myself!! At least I feel better knowing it would have been quite a bit more to get the PAP! That is good to know, though, if we ever plan to go more than once a year!

 

[nrsldy]

When we were there 2 yrs ago, we were thingking about going to US. We were told to buy our US ticket for the first day of our stay or the last day before we left if we were going to buy the length of stay passes. They have to be used consecutively. I am not sure if that has changed or not. We were given the option of how many days we needed them.
For us this time I think I will buy the AP's.