Our Shades of Green Stay

[Mrsjvb]

just got back this afternoon.. was at SoG from the 16th to the 23rd.

The Good: room was nice and large. faced one of the golf courses putting greens. denizens on our deck included Turkeys, frogs, bunnies, and of course, many ducks. Room was always clean, except for the one day we didn't do the parks but instead did other stuff and came back before 4 pm. (we told the HK she could skip us, as long as we got coffee replaced)

The Bad: the SoG Bus system sucks, in a word. only runs once an hour per park. The breakfast buffet was overpriced for what you got. Never hit the dinner buffet or the Italian restaurant, so cannot comment. The Hot tub temp was WELL into scalding for most of the stay. the last night it was finally down to acceptable levels.

The Ugly: during Monday's AK early opening, NO bus driver showed. after 45 minutes of getting nothing but excuses and NO resolution whatsoever, we (and about 30 others) ended up walking to TTC or the Poly and talking a bus from there. lost the entire extra hour at the park. From then on decided to depend on the monorail or the Poly bus system to get anywhere.

The fantabulous: the Evergreen's Sports bar(extra shout out/Kudos to Erick, who works the 11-11 shift Thursday, Friday and Saturday). While there is a limited menu, the atmosphere is what kept us coming back each night for a few drinks and some pleasant company.. guests and staff alike. I heartily recommend the teriyaki wings.

would we stay there again? yes, we would, so long as we accept the fact the the bus system is not the best or most efficient way to get to anywhere in the resort. But the price can't be beat, although next time, I may seriously consider the Poly itself or the Grand Floridian.

 

[hildarumpole]

Thanks for your report. Erick was our waiter one day at Evergreen's. I agree, he's very good. The bus service is fine, until something goes wrong. I complained about poor service (late buses, surly drivers) and got the impression that SOG has very little control over the bus service since it's contracted out. The best they could do was pass along my concerns to the company. Whether they did or not, it doesn't sound like it did much good.

 

[hddanis]

The buses were our only issue as well. I think the only one we ever did take was the one from the TTC back to the resort. Most of the time we walked over to the TTC or Poly. We did have a rental car so we drove to MGM and AK. I never even considered using the Poly's Buses though...hhmmm. I'll have to remember that the next time we stay there.

 

[jphilhower]

I agree the bus system is the worst thing about SOG. When we went to MGM the bus never arrived to take us back after the park closed and this was in May. We went over and took the Poly bus. So we usde the Poly bus as a back up whenever we took SOG's bus. We even took the the Poly boat from MK to the Poly.That was cool!!
Operation Return to Mickey April 30th to may 11th 2008( SOG stay)

 

[stm61]

we had similar problems a few yrs ago when we stayed at SOG, I think it was Sept 2005. Complained to the front desk, they sent us to the mgr's office. He said the busing was contracted out and to speak with the on-site supervisor. Unfortunately, she didn't work weekends and that was when we were having the problems. The mgr called her (her name was Betty) at home, I said that wasn't necessary, but he insisted she would want to know. She called back and we played phone tag, but she kept trying until she finally reached us. She told us the drivers were taking advantage of her being off, leaving early from parks, not showing up at all, basically making their own schedules, and she was going to deal with them on Mon and wanted to meet with us then. I didn't ask for any compensation, just wanted the buses to be where they were scheduled to be, when they were suppossed to be. She kept asking what she could do, I finally said we were moving to POR for our last 2 days and could use a ride. She provided a van that moved us and the luggage at no cost. I was so impressed with Betty that I emailed SOG and basically told them that if we ever came back to SOG it would be because of Betty. I never got a reply from SOG, I hope they at least complimented Betty for her hard work and great attitude.

 

[micmacmissy]

Mrsjvb....hey neighbor--we are also in Columbia MD!

We are staying at SOG for the first time in January. I was wondering about the bus system and I'm bummed to hear it didn't go well. (We were spoiled last trip at the GF and being on the monorail.)

So my question is--how easy is it to walk to the Poly from SOG? We have a 4 and 7 year old who will be walking, too. Is it a long or tiring walk?

 

[Maine-iac]

I am one who likes the buses being on a schedule. I know that when I get to the bus stop a bus will either be there already or within a few minutes. It just takes some planning. Yes sometimes we don't plan right and have to hurry to the bus stop. But most of the time we give ourselves enough time so we don't have to rush.
Although I think that they could use 2 buses each for MGM and AK making the stops every 30 min.

 

[lovegrumpy]

The bus system is one reason why we woun't stay at SOG. That and we can stay cheaper at POP and not have to worry about the buses.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Missy: I have severe arthritis and ended up in a wheelchair at the parks after Monday's pathetic attempt at maneuvering AK on my own. I had no issues whatsoever walking to the Poly or even TTC on my own any day. maybe ten minutes to the monorail or bus stop and 15 if we went right to TTC. I also had a spa appointment at GF and that was also only a 7 minute walk from the Poly( DH timed it) although the spa itself is located directly across from the wedding pavilion and not on the main section of GF.

the DTD bus stop is separate from the resort buses location, and while we were there they had closed the Marketplace stop for refurbishment, so only the PI stop was operational. so if when we were ready to leave, it depended on where we ended up. the DTD SoG bus did pretty much run on time, early and late..had no issues whatsoever getting a ride back after Cirq at 11 pm.

they Did run pretty accurately close on time, when they ran, maybe a minute or two off schedule, but it was useless to drive over to the waterparks at 0830 when the parks don't even open until ten and close at 5, so there was no need to swing by at 7 pm, you know?

We are a deluxe kinda couple, the values are most emphatically NOT our cup of tea.. no kids to entertain and I like the convenience of TS venues. I just did a mock up of a trip same time frame next year, between Poly, GF and SoG. there was a $2000 difference. Grand total I think we are looking at having spent $2500 for plane, transportation to and from the airport, room, tickets and food this trip. Going with the cheapest room category and a DDP, we were seeing numbers in the $4000 range for Poly and GF not counting airfare. If we are going to spend that kind of money, I will take a cruise instead. to save $2000, I will go in with the expectation of having to utilize alternative transportation to the parks. I can easily get the multi day wheelchair rental at $8/day if I am not in one full time this time next year.

the rooms are perfectly suitable to our needs, the pool and hot tub(when working) were fine and it was nice to be able to walk on over to the bar late at night and have a drink.

 

[raven69david]

The 3 times i've stayed there, i've never had an issue with the bus. They were always on time and there were short wait times for other buses. I only go during Value season (2nd week of December) so i don't know if that has anything to do with the buses being efficient.

The bar was always great and the staff was always courteous. We enjoyed a little R&R after park hours at Evergreens which was a great way to round off the day.