Poly DVC vs SOG

[Rpo0921]

We have a short trip coming up in April and I wanted to get some opinions on renting DVC at Poly vs staying at Shades of Green. We’ve rented at the Polynesian before but never stayed at Shades of Green

 

[Best Aunt]

I haven't checked availability, but two months is really close to be trying to book on DVC points.

 

[Rpo0921]

I haven't checked availability, but two months is really close to be trying to book on DVC points.

I’ve seen a couple confirmed reservations. I don’t have points myself, thus the renting.

 

[Maxwell42]

Last summer, we did one night at SOG and then moved to Coronado Springs, which we booked for close to the same price via a Disney Cardmember deal.

SOG is a beautiful resort on its own, and you'll really enjoy it if you stay there. Our room felt a little tired but otherwise was huge and very comfortable. The major downside for us was transportation. There is no longer a walking path to the Poly, so all park transportation is via bus. But SOG uses its own buses - not Disney's - so for MK they drop you at the TTC rather than the MK bus stops. I can't remember the bus schedule, but I'm thinking they ran a little less frequently than the Disney buses, but they also seemed pretty punctual.

Also, because it's not a Disney property, guests there have to pay for parking - both overnight at SOG and at the parks if you take a car there. The parking charge on top of everything is what swung us in the direction of booking the rest of our stay at a moderate (I didn't have any DVC points available to use for that trip).

We did the one night at SOG to avoid the cancellation fee (I didn't learn all of this until after my son had booked the room, so he just shortened the reservation) and so that we could enjoy EEH at MK that night. But even coming home from that, we had to take the monorail to the TTC and then wait in a long line for the bus over to SOG - I think we got on the third bus. So despite it being a beautiful and affordable resort, the transportation issues and parking charges were kind of a dealbreaker for me.

 

[brockash]

We have a short trip coming up in April and I wanted to get some opinions on renting DVC at Poly vs staying at Shades of Green. We’ve rented at the Polynesian before but never stayed at Shades of Green

If you can afford it, Poly...no question. We've stayed at both and we stayed at SOG the year before they closed the walkway so we went to the Poly often and man it was rough knowing we weren't staying there. Shades is fine...and cheap but we left knowing we'd rather stay at all stars as opposed to Shades...it just wasn't the same. - And that was with the walkway open...now no way for us.