capegirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2003
- Messages
- 2,347
Just returned from SOG yesterday, here's the scoop.
The grounds were beautiful. A majestic waterfall cascades down in front of the resort.....a big improvement as the entrance is now quite dramatic in comparison to the old SOG. The parking garage is now up and running, but it is quite a hike from the garage to the lobby although they now have valet parking. There was a long line at check-in but it moved along quite fast, and there were no problems. There is now a little area to the left of check-in with small chairs and a TV to keep the little ones occupied while you take care of business. As compared to the old lobby, the new one is huge and awesome. There is a fireplace in the center, and the oversized furniture reminds me of wilderness lodge only on a smaller scale....rocking chairs, very comfortable sofas . Off the lobby is a very large deck that overlooks the grounds...very nice.
Our room was in the old section on the 3rd floor, and we had a lovely view of the Mill Pond Pool. The old rooms are on the right side of the resort, while the new rooms are to the left. As far as we could tell the only renovation to the old rooms was paint. The furniture, carpeting, and bathroom were all the same. The room safes are now digital, and there are refrigerators in all rooms. Houskeeping is doing a wonderful job, as our room was spotless.
We spoke with a few guests who had to leave rooms in the new section due to plumbing problems. We were a bit dissapointed with the fact that the furniture, carpeting etc...were not updated during the renovation project. We had pizza a Evergreens on the night of our arrival, and it was just okay. The next morning we tried the breakfast buffet....in our opinion it was cafeteria food, not to mention the juice was warm and the waffles were so hard they could have been used as weapons. One member of our family skipped the buffet and ordered breakfast...he waited for over a half hour for his meal. Needless to say, we did not eat at SOG for the remainder of our stay. We ate breakfast at the Poly almost every morning.
I suppose our biggest dissapointment was the bus transportation. They now have 2 bus routes, A and B. Bus A gets you to the Ticket&Transporation Center. Bus B gets you to AK,BB,TL,& MGM. You have to jump through hoops to get where you want to be. The absolute worst was getting to DTD. You must take Bus A to the T&TCenter, then wait out in the middle of the parking lot (space 26) for the DTD bus. This bus deposits people at all of the DTD hotels..Wyndham Palce, Hilton, etc.. We really hated this. After one DTD trip we decided to walk to the Poly
and grab the DTD bus from there. At AK you must hike out into the parking lot to wait for the SOG bus, not the best when you are hot & tired at the end of the day. I would have to say that in all honesty the old SOG bus service was much better. I would highly recommed that you have a car at your disposal while staying at SOG...the bus situation is way too frustrating.
I don't want to end on a sour note so I will say that SOG rooms are large, clean, a good value, staff was very helpful,and the grounds are very pretty..all in all we had an enjoyable stay.
The grounds were beautiful. A majestic waterfall cascades down in front of the resort.....a big improvement as the entrance is now quite dramatic in comparison to the old SOG. The parking garage is now up and running, but it is quite a hike from the garage to the lobby although they now have valet parking. There was a long line at check-in but it moved along quite fast, and there were no problems. There is now a little area to the left of check-in with small chairs and a TV to keep the little ones occupied while you take care of business. As compared to the old lobby, the new one is huge and awesome. There is a fireplace in the center, and the oversized furniture reminds me of wilderness lodge only on a smaller scale....rocking chairs, very comfortable sofas . Off the lobby is a very large deck that overlooks the grounds...very nice.
Our room was in the old section on the 3rd floor, and we had a lovely view of the Mill Pond Pool. The old rooms are on the right side of the resort, while the new rooms are to the left. As far as we could tell the only renovation to the old rooms was paint. The furniture, carpeting, and bathroom were all the same. The room safes are now digital, and there are refrigerators in all rooms. Houskeeping is doing a wonderful job, as our room was spotless.
We spoke with a few guests who had to leave rooms in the new section due to plumbing problems. We were a bit dissapointed with the fact that the furniture, carpeting etc...were not updated during the renovation project. We had pizza a Evergreens on the night of our arrival, and it was just okay. The next morning we tried the breakfast buffet....in our opinion it was cafeteria food, not to mention the juice was warm and the waffles were so hard they could have been used as weapons. One member of our family skipped the buffet and ordered breakfast...he waited for over a half hour for his meal. Needless to say, we did not eat at SOG for the remainder of our stay. We ate breakfast at the Poly almost every morning.
I suppose our biggest dissapointment was the bus transportation. They now have 2 bus routes, A and B. Bus A gets you to the Ticket&Transporation Center. Bus B gets you to AK,BB,TL,& MGM. You have to jump through hoops to get where you want to be. The absolute worst was getting to DTD. You must take Bus A to the T&TCenter, then wait out in the middle of the parking lot (space 26) for the DTD bus. This bus deposits people at all of the DTD hotels..Wyndham Palce, Hilton, etc.. We really hated this. After one DTD trip we decided to walk to the Poly
and grab the DTD bus from there. At AK you must hike out into the parking lot to wait for the SOG bus, not the best when you are hot & tired at the end of the day. I would have to say that in all honesty the old SOG bus service was much better. I would highly recommed that you have a car at your disposal while staying at SOG...the bus situation is way too frustrating.
I don't want to end on a sour note so I will say that SOG rooms are large, clean, a good value, staff was very helpful,and the grounds are very pretty..all in all we had an enjoyable stay.
