Shade of Green or All Star Movies w/ Dining

[lkohawaii]

Help!!! I've never been to WDW. I have a choice between staying at Shades of Green without Disney Dining package or staying at All Star Movies with the Dining. Shades of Green comes out cheaper per day andwithout dining. It's like a $600 difference over 10 nights. I have children who are 3 and 9 so location is a factor. Please give me your advice. I know Shades of Green is a much nicer hotel. Oh, and I'm planning to go at X-mas if it makes a difference and I'll rent a car. Thanks in advance everybody.

 

[MaggieDoodle]

It really all depends on what is most important to you -- the resort or the money savings.

Shades of Green is a much bigger and nicer room, especially if you will all be in the same room. Shades also offers a dining plan -- it includes breakfast and dinner which you have to eat at the hotel. We loved it because we ate a big breakfast, paid for lunch at the parks, and then ate sandwiches, pizza, etc. at the hotel at night. But it's not everybody's cup of tea.

The Disney Dining plan is much better, since it lets you eat most anywhere in the parks as well as in your hotel. And the price can't be beat.

I personally would choose Shades of Green, but with three kids the flexibility of the dining and the dollar savings it sounds like All Star Movies would be best for you.

Not much help, huh?

Maggie

 

[Poohsmommi]

Help!!! I've never been to WDW. I have a choice between staying at Shades of Green without Disney Dining package or staying at All Star Movies with the Dining. All Star Movies comes out cheaper per day and in addition I get dining. It's like a $200 difference over 10 nights. I have children who are 3 and 9 so location is a factor. Please give me your advice. I know Shades of Green is a much nicer hotel. Oh, and I'm planning to go at X-mas if it makes a difference and I'll rent a car. Thanks in advance everybody.

SOG is a heck of a lot nicer than any of the value resorts ....

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

If I had to pick between a value resort or SOG. I would always chose SOG.

 

[ncbyrne]

Obviously, if anyone had to choose a value resort or SofG - SofG would win hands down. However....factor in the dining plan savings with 3 kids, I'd have to say I would choose All Stars Music. It's still a nice resort and the kids will definitely love it!

 

[Avalanche]

SOG rooms are so much larger then the values. Also, you will have a fridge at SOG which you can use for breakfast stuff, which will save money, that could be used for other dining, such as a character meal.

Have you already book SOG, because they are currently booked the week of Xmas. (I'm on the wait list)

 

[minnie61650]

Help!!! I've never been to WDW. I have a choice between staying at Shades of Green without Disney Dining package or staying at All Star Movies with the Dining. All Star Movies comes out cheaper per day and in addition I get dining. It's like a $200 difference over 10 nights. I have children who are 3 and 9 so location is a factor. Please give me your advice. I know Shades of Green is a much nicer hotel. Oh, and I'm planning to go at X-mas if it makes a difference and I'll rent a car. Thanks in advance everybody.

I love the All Stars!

All Star Music is my favorite.It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Clypso building. It is closer to the pool,food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Here is the map of All Movies.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmovie.JPG
The Fantasia Buildings are the preferred buildings.
The All Star Movie Fantasia pool has Mickey.
It is a great place to stay .
Preschoolers love it.
It is like being in the middle of a Disney Movie Fantasyland..

The All Star resorts are all within walking distance of each other and you are welcome to use any of the pools at any of the ALL Stars.
The buses are wonderful.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

Also All Star is closer to the main road to get to parks and thats why bus rides are shorter from there than from POP.

I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!

 

[travelitis]

I've stayed at ASM and SOG, and SOG wins hands down for the quality of the resort. ASM rooms are adequate, and the resort is more Disney themed. SOG is a quiet, tropical theme devoid of Disney characters, although the lobby reminds me more of a national park lodge. However, with the dining plan and savings, I'd go to ASM. (There have been posts stating 3 kids, but the OP has 2. Four is the max # of people at value resorts.) The rooms at ASM don't compare at all to SOG, but I'd take the dining plan and savings. Grab those character meals and spend less at the same time.

 

[lkohawaii]

Thanks everybody....yes, I have 2 children not 3 so I can stay either place. I'm still CONFUSED!!!! I have a lot to think about. I guess the main thing is that we'll have to return to the hotel during the day to let my 3 year old take a nap....so with that in mind is one easier to get to than the other? I can drive to the parks that's no problem...I'll rent a car.

Oh, and for whoever wanted to know if I was going this X-mas...no I'm going next X-mas so I think I won't have a problem getting ressies at SOG. The rush is whether or not to book the All Stars now before the Dalmation building is full.

 

[lkohawaii]

I don't know what I was thinking when I originally posted. I corrected the info. Does this make a difference in where you would tell me to stay?

 

[Nini]

I don't know what I was thinking when I originally posted. I corrected the info. Does this make a difference in where you would tell me to stay?

We are going as a Grand Gathering and chose POP w/Dining Plan over a Moderate without. We just felt that the value resorts offered more themeing wise for our children ages 3.5 up to 9 years. POP has the water jets and kiddie pool that my dd3.5 is totally in LOVE with ever since she saw them on www.allearsnet.com !

I would definately have to pick ASM w/Dining over SOG! Since we are at WDW with our kids, it only makes sense to choose the resort that appeals mostly to kids. By the way, POP has the "softer" decor than the All Stars...it just seems less intense.

If you want theming and food...go with ASM! If you want to have adult theming and eat at your hotel...go with SOG.

Good luck with your decision!!!

 

[stm61]

we just returned from 5 nights at SOG. We had a 4 day dining plan, you get 8 meals total. They don't care what meals you eat, you just can't get more then 8. Breakfast and dinner are at the buffet with the option to eat one dinner at the Italian restaurant. We passed on the option, it's a fancier sit down place that didn't appeal to the kids. If you want to eat lunch instead of breakfast or dinner, you eat at Evergreens (I think that's the name, it's out by the mickey pool), and order off the menu. We paid $356 for 2 adults and 3 kids. The food was good, breakfast could use a little more variety, but no complaints about dinner. Tips were included in the plan but they did say that was going to change soon.

The only problem we had was the bus schedule. Most of them only run every hr and we felt like we had a choice of either eating or catching a bus. If you're driving that won't be a problem.

 

[fterie4u]

We stayed at SOG last October and are going this October. We LOVED this resort! It is very close to the TTC and the Poly. The rooms are huge and the refrigerator is very handy. We bought things for breakfast and kept them in the frdge. We had a quick bite in our room in the morning before heading out to the parks. Occasionally we would have breakfast at the Carry-out Cafe. We had NO problems with the bus schedules. There is Bus A and Bus B. One bus goes picks up every 15 minutes (roughly) and the other every half hour, depending on which park you want to go to. There is not a disney theming in the resort like the Allstars, it is more of a rustic feel. The grounds are beautiful. You could stay at SOG and not do the dining plan, then you could eat in the parks wherever you would like. That is what we did. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[suevee]

I think it depends on how big of eaters your family are. Also what kind of restaurants you want to eat at. SoG has bigger rooms and much closer access to parks making it very easy to get back for naps. SoG is also a much smaller resort only having 600 rooms vrs. about 1500 or more rooms. Less competition for the pools and hottub! Also the food at the restaurants at SoG are not as expensive as the Disney restaurants. And you have a fridge to keep milk and yogurt for breakfast and snacks. You still get EE morning and evening entrance into the parks.

Now if eating out is very important to you and you want to hit as many sit downs and character meals as possible then the dining plan is for you. The dining plan would be about $90 a day for your family and one character meal will equal that with tax and tip. But the rooms are half the size of Sog (240 sq ft vrs. 450 sq ft) and the values are much further from MK and the Ticket Center which might make it difficult for mid day napsl, especially if your 9 year old wants to keep going. With the proximity of SoG it is easier to split up if necessary. However, you will get Magical Express luggage delivery to resort at the values if flying.

We prefer Sog hands down.

 

[stm61]

the bus schedule has changed. Earlier this month they had bus A going to TTC every 15 min or so. The other buses all only ran every hour. Keeping track of which one left at what time was overwhelming. One bus left every hr on the 1/2 hr, another at 20 min of, another at 10 of, and some of the drivers would change their pickup times themselves. We were stranded twice for over an hr on Sat and again on Sun. because of this. The supervisor returned to work on Mon and couldn't have been nicer when she found out what happened.

 

[Princess Mommy]

I have heard nothing but great things about SoG- I will be there this Dec & I am hoping they are all true!

 

[henrylovespooh]

I haven't stayed at SOG but have stayed at ASMo. My 2 and 3 year olds loved it. We were on the dining plan and it saved us about $400 over eight days.

Our little ones often took naps during the day and we found that most times the bus ride back was only about 15 minutes. Many times the bus helped us out by knocking the kids out for us so we didn't have to lay with them in the room to get them to sleep.

The kids loved the theming of ASMo.

Just my two cents.

 

[lkohawaii]

the bus schedule has changed. Earlier this month they had bus A going to TTC every 15 min or so. The other buses all only ran every hour. Keeping track of which one left at what time was overwhelming. One bus left every hr on the 1/2 hr, another at 20 min of, another at 10 of, and some of the drivers would change their pickup times themselves. We were stranded twice for over an hr on Sat and again on Sun. because of this. The supervisor returned to work on Mon and couldn't have been nicer when she found out what happened.

Someone tell me about the dining plan at SOG please.

 

[stm61]

the dining plan is called the Gold Leaf plan. It's 2 meals a day, either breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner, tho I guess you could do breakfast and lunch also, we just never tried that. You get a pink paper for each person on the plan, it has breakfast on one side, dinner on the other. Each time you eat a meal they mark it off on the paper. Breakfast and dinner are in the buffet, which is in the main bldg, lunch is at Evergreen's, which is out by the Mickey pool. We paid $356 for a 4 day plan (8 melas)for 2 adults and 3 kids, my almost 12 yr old was still considered a child. You do have the option of eating one dinner at the Italian restaurant but we chose not to. Tips were included in the plan but that is suppossed to be changing soon.

 

[lkohawaii]

the dining plan is called the Gold Leaf plan. It's 2 meals a day, either breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner, tho I guess you could do breakfast and lunch also, we just never tried that. You get a pink paper for each person on the plan, it has breakfast on one side, dinner on the other. Each time you eat a meal they mark it off on the paper. Breakfast and dinner are in the buffet, which is in the main bldg, lunch is at Evergreen's, which is out by the Mickey pool. We paid $356 for a 4 day plan (8 melas)for 2 adults and 3 kids, my almost 12 yr old was still considered a child. You do have the option of eating one dinner at the Italian restaurant but we chose not to. Tips were included in the plan but that is suppossed to be changing soon.

Can I get info and pricing off the SOG website? Do I have to wait until I make my ressies to do this?
Anyone know...when people say it's a 10 min. walk to the Poly is it a looong walk with kids? Or is it doable?