Official SHADES OF GREEN Information

[Mrsjvb]

you know, when we went last September( during FD only I didn't know at the time), I was kinda disappointed at not being able to snag TS ressies.. and yet we never starved and a couple of the CS places were , well, darn tasty!

we ate at DTD twice and did manage to get WU at the British pub in Epcot. and breakfast at Poly more than once...

as for Evergreens..that was out nightly post park winding down. so yeah you can eat there every day and have something different each time. I suggest the wings and the key lime pie.....

 

[tinkerbell1967]

Keep in mind that the reservations for any non ID holders will be charged the maximum rate no matter what the sponsor is charged.

That is not true, we got the same rate as my father did and he is the sponser. We were not charged any higher than my father. As a previous poster mentioned a sponser is allowed to sponser 3 rooms and when we visted in the past we were all charged the same rate and I just looked at our reservation confirmations from this year and we all have been charged the same rate.

 

[Mrsjvb]

he is retired, so he pays the highest rate. so yes, you are paying the highest rate, it just happens to be equal to his.

any E1-E5 sponsoring rooms..the sponsored rooms pay the Cat 2 rate, not the Cat 1 rate( E1-E5). so while I was incorrect about everybody not with their own ID pays the highest rates, in certain situations you WILL pay more than your sponsor.

 

[tinkerbell1967]

he is retired, so he pays the highest rate. so yes, you are paying the highest rate, it just happens to be equal to his.

any E1-E5 sponsoring rooms..the sponsored rooms pay the Cat 2 rate, not the Cat 1 rate( E1-E5). so while I was incorrect about everybody not with their own ID pays the highest rates, in certain situations you WILL pay more than your sponsor.

I would like to see this because I was looking for it and can not find it. As far as I can tell it says nothing about this. My father is retired E* and we are all being charged the same amount. Am I missing something??

 

[KatRob]

he is retired, so he pays the highest rate. so yes, you are paying the highest rate, it just happens to be equal to his.

any E1-E5 sponsoring rooms..the sponsored rooms pay the Cat 2 rate, not the Cat 1 rate( E1-E5). so while I was incorrect about everybody not with their own ID pays the highest rates, in certain situations you WILL pay more than your sponsor.

Categories are based on pay grade. Retirees do not automatically pay the hightest rates. DH is retired and we do not pay Cat. 3 rates.

 

[trip]

http://www.shadesofgreen.org/booking.htm

Military sponsors should not reserve additional rooms under their name for other eligible military/DoD sponsors.

If you are a retired military member, your rate will be based on the rank achieved at the time of your retirement.

E1 through E5 sponsor and dependents will receive the rate that applies to category one; any additional sponsored rooms will receive the rate that applies to category two.

 

[tinkerbell1967]

I would like to see this because I was looking for it and can not find it. As far as I can tell it says nothing about this. My father is retired E* and we are all being charged the same amount. Am I missing something??

Sorry met to say retired E8

 

[Maddie2]

Thank you to everyone who answered my questions!!!

Man, OH, Man, I want to go to WDW!!!! I am helping these friends plan their trip, and as much as I love them, sometimes I get downright jealous ... especially when they have the SoG to look forward to! We have enjoyed staying at ASMovies & Pop, but only because it was what we could afford .... had we the option of staying at SoG, we'd jump at the chance!

I want to say to everyone that is eligible to stay at SoG .... LUCKY, LUCKY you .... but, no, it is not luck ...... however, it is FORTUNATE, and very well deserved. I am happy for you all.

So, anyone out there that is military ...want to adopt some relatives?

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[vbmom40]

We will be staying at SOG 12/17-12/24. Do we need to make reservations at the restaurants at the SOG in the morning? Also I will be traveling with my dad who will be 75 and may need to take a nap. Is it worth getting to the parks early and leaving at 1-2pm getting a late lunch, nap then head back to the parks? I am concerned about the parks being to capacity when we return in the early evening!!

 

[KatRob]

Mangino's is the only restaurant that would need reservations. Especially if you wanted to do something special for a certain Dad's birthday with the size group you have going. The Garden Grill is a buffet and Evergreens is a sports bar.

Other folks will be heading for exits about the time you are heading back out. Try to hit the parks that have extra evening hours if you are really concerned about the crowds. We always try to hit which ever park was opening early and switch parks for the late evenings. If you have the hopper option it makes it easy to change parks if one place is too crowded.

Plus, with the amount of time you will be there, your dad won't have to rush around or push himself too hard. It is a big place with a lot of walking, with his past knee problems he should plan some down time. You don't want his first Disney vacation to be full of painful memories.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Good ideas KatRob. I wish you had advised me when I took my 55 yr old SIL last month who acted like she was 75.

 

[WDWFreakOfOklahoma.]

The hotel itself is great! Loved the rooms but the food is just not that good (didnt try mangino's), for that reason we would have forgone SOG in favor of a DDP eligable hotel, now that they have changed that...unless its free dining SOG is the way to go! Need to work on that buffet though

I loved the buffet! except some nights when they had seafood night then i would eat in the kids corner part haha.

 

[mom2jcc]

I wish we could do the dining plan sometimes, but I would much rather SOG rooms. It would be hard to lose the nice spacious rooms and the nice relaxing feeling of heading back to the room in such a peaceful setting.

 

[honey11dog]

We just got back from our 3rd stay at SOG and we had a great time. I love the rooms and the ticket prices and the fact that we get extra magic hours. What I am still not impressed with is the transportation. It is good from SOG to the TTC. But to Studios or AK it is a pain. It only comes once in hour and if you miss it you are out of luck. And they don't think about large amounts of people leaving at park closing. The bus came at closing to Studios and couldn't fit everyone in. It still sat there waiting for the time it was supposed to leave. It should have just left and returned ASAP to pick up the ones left behind. But it didn't return until another hour. The Disney buses prepare for crowd levels and closing times and adjust their schedules to get people back to their hotels. From now on, we will drive to Studios, AK and the waterparks.

 

[Storm632]

We just returned from a great stay at SoG. We found the rooms good size. We ended up in the farthest corner from the lobby, but it was quiet. The food at Evergreens was really good. We used their bus transportation most days. I agree that it is difficult to get back from the AK, and HS with the bus coming only once an hour. We found that we could hop a Disney bus to the TTC more frequently, then catch the SoG bus from there. That worked well for us. We also found the busses overcrowded on the EMH days to Magic Kingdom. I hope that they would increase their service on those mornings. Even with these issues, we found the bus timely and overall a good experience. The patrons were great to give up a seat for the disabled or for those carrying sleeping children. We would definitely stay again.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Hi everybody--

It now looks like we'll be working in a short visit to WDW as part of our August vacation! We're excited about staying at SOG, and it looks like they have availability for our dates.

I've gone back about 15 pages and can't find the answer to this: where are the best rooms, and can you make a room request when you book (understanding that a request is just that, a request)? I would think that being close to the main pool on the ground floor would be a good spot, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this--thanks!

 

[KatRob]

Is this your first time at SOG? If so, welcome, if not, welcome back. A lot of us are repeaters.

If you are interested in the pool, poolside rooms would be great for you. If you will be driving places you may want to be closer to the parking garage (new section).

I can honestly say I have never gotten my requests no matter how far out I book. I have requested not to be any further out than room #16 on any floor and would end up in room #20. I have asked for 4th or 5th floor and been given 1st floor (at the end of the hall).

I don't want to reserve a handicap room because I'm not and I would hate to take a room that someone really needs. Several years ago I was hit by a bus (no joke) and my back gives me a lot of trouble as well as a knee that should be replaced. Even with all the pain I just know that I would feel terrible taking one of those room when someone in a wheelchair might need it (known a lot of folks in chairs in my life).

Boy, did I ever get away from your question.

All of the rooms are great, very roomy and comfortable. Call reservations and give them your requests. While they will list them on your confirmation, it is sometimes up to luck--unless you book the poolside rooms. If you are paying extra for poolside, you should get it.

 

[Minnie Lor]

And they don't think about large amounts of people leaving at park closing. The bus came at closing to Studios and couldn't fit everyone in. It still sat there waiting for the time it was supposed to leave. It should have just left and returned ASAP to pick up the ones left behind. But it didn't return until another hour. The Disney buses prepare for crowd levels and closing times and adjust their schedules to get people back to their hotels. From now on, we will drive to Studios, AK and the waterparks.

That's something to note. We'll probably drive to AK and DHS because I have an AP which includes free parking. Next time though, I won't have the AP and don't want to pay to park. Will have to consider taking bus to Poly and walking the 15 min. back. That hill sure looks steep at the end of the day though.

 

[BabyFu18]

As far as room requests go, every year I've made a request I've gotten it. I usually do general request (close to either pool, lobby level, connecting rooms, etc.)

 

[KatRob]

We got on a bus one morning that filled up really quickly and tons of people waiting to get on it. The supervisor got on the bus and said even though it was not time for the bus to leave he was sending it on (probably to TTC) and would return for everyone else. Those waiting didn't have a problem with that. Later on that day I heard one man complaining about the bus being late that morning and I had no problem straightening him out on what happened.

If I see a huge amount of people waiting, I just walk on over to the Poly. At least that way I feel like I am making progress instead of standing around.