SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Thread

[BabyFu18]

I'm back from our 12 days SOG! We got in Tuesday evening and are finally unpacked and getting back to normal. We had a great vacation and now it's time to plan for next year! I'm seriously thinking about trying to convince the family to try the Hale Koa (military resort in Hawaii) for a change of pace, but if they don't go for it I think we will do a Disney Cruise/Disney World combo trip. Anyone have any info about the military resort in Hawaii or Disney cruises they'd like to share? I'll totally be checking out other threads for the cruises to, but I thought some people here might have been to the Hale Koa before since it's for the military.

Anyways, before I get to deep into planning our next trip, anyone have anything they'd like to know about SOG and/or Disney since we just got back feel free to ask and I'll try to answer.

 

[LoKay]

We have stayed at the Hale Koa twice and love it! It's right on the beach with a great bar. The restaurants have decent food (we found the Sunday brunch buffet way over priced for the food quality.) It's within walking distance of lots of great restaurants in Waikiki. Anytime we go to Oahu that's where we stay.

 

[JKMastalski]

Hiya! What kind of coffee maker was in the room? Is it the traditional kind or is it the kind that takes the coffee "pods" like some of the other resorts? My DH is big coffee drinker and I always like to pack extra coffee but not sure what I need to bring!

 

[BabyFu18]

The coffee maker in our room was the little 4 cup pot that used the little round disc/pod things, they only ever gave us one package of coffee per day, so if you are a big coffee drinker you'll have to bring your own pods or make it down to the coffee cart to get your fix!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Welcome back! Glad you had a great trip.

We stopped in Oahu for a week when PCSing from Osan to DC. We spent the first 3-4 days at the Hale Koa, and then the rest of the week at Bellows AFS on the other side of the island. We found it to be the best of both worlds...the Hale Koa was lovely and it was great to be in the heart of the action. But then it was also great to move to Bellows, which has little duplexes on the beach--totally laid back and relaxing. http://bellowsafs.com/Default.asp Just depends on what kind of trip you are looking for. Of course, a Disney Cruise/WDW trip would be fabulous as well!

 

[robin19871]

Welcome back Babyfu. We sailed the Disney Dream 2 years ago and had a blast. We did a 3 day Dream and 5 days at Shades.. I am hooked on DCL now and would sail no other cruise line because of how great it was. My only detractor is the cost.. We take a WDW vacation every Easter and sadly, the prices are crazy high that week.. If you are able to travel the same time of year as you just did on vacation you would get some amazing deals.. The Military discount is so good..(I wish we could use them but school prevents us.)

 

[bellemeeko1]

Finally after months of planning and anticipation we will be at Shades DAY AFTER TOWORROW!! Ok, just excited. A little. lol

I have read many post on here about having a car vs not having one. For us, it's never been an issue since we are only a 6 hour drive away and always have our car. But, we never use it the whole time we are there. Never had the need to. I suppose we must take it for granted that it is there if we need it. Not sure how I would feel otherwise. Though on vacation we don't want to have to navigate anywhere on our own. lol As for the $5 fee to park at Shades, to me, that is chump change and not something I find out of line whatsoever.

$5 is chump change and a good deal but if Im renting a car to have it sit most of the time, because Im not going to pay the $ to park at the parks when I can use Disney and SOG transportation, it adds up fast. Paying for a rental at $160/week plus paying to have it sit, in this case another $40(to leave in parking garage).....talking $200 of wasted money. Now if I was able to get a rental at the cost of car service, so far not able to, then I would consider it.

We live over 20hrs away, and due to my dh's health, we no longer drive. I just was trying to see if I could find a rental company worth dealing with incase we wanted to go off property, which we rarely do, but my dh said it's not worth it to him so, we are going with our usual. sun..........state company.

 

[Bobo49]

Hi All:

I'm headed to SoG Monday. Got a great deal on the room - so I am guessing it will be a parking lot view. Not a big deal but I wouldn't mind a nice view while the little one is napping.

Does SoG do upgrades? I don't want a pool view but maybe gazebo or greenery view.

Usually, I like the higher floors but I am not concerned as much with security here - any view benefit to the upper floor balconies vs the 1st floor patio?

Thanks - Bobo

 

[Bobo49]

Anyone use the ******** town car listed on SoG site? Any extra fees?

I'm thinking either them or Happy Limo.

Thanks again

 

[Bobo49]

Apparently s u n s t a t e is a bad word

 

[WDW 3]

Apparently s u n s t a t e is a bad word

Hehehe watch the language

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Hi All:

I'm headed to SoG Monday. Got a great deal on the room - so I am guessing it will be a parking lot view. Not a big deal but I wouldn't mind a nice view while the little one is napping.

SOG has a parking garage, so you aren't getting a parking lot view. All the rooms have a view of vegetation. I'm not sure what you could consider an upgrade at SOG. Did you check out their website? It might give you a better idea of what to expect.

 

[Bobo49]

Thanks:

Yeah, I checked it out. I just remember the garage is supposed to be a good spot for fireworks.

Like I said, not a big deal but I am wondering that if the hotel is not full, whether they put you in a "better" room - location-wise.

Pool side rooms go for more money. But I cannot tell if the gazebo (looks like a pretty nice view) is pool side.

 

[robin19871]

Thanks:

Yeah, I checked it out. I just remember the garage is supposed to be a good spot for fireworks.

Like I said, not a big deal but I am wondering that if the hotel is not full, whether they put you in a "better" room - location-wise.

Pool side rooms go for more money. But I cannot tell if the gazebo (looks like a pretty nice view) is pool side.

The Gazebo is a great view.. We would see the Hawks fly around trying to get the fish from the pond... I am not sure that there is a bad view except for the back of the old section by the tennis courts...(Plus, We could see the Fireworks on the 5th floor overlooking the garden from our patio..)

 

[jmm6792]

We will be heading to SOG in 12 days!! We got the awesome rate of $57 a night! Can't beat that!! My almost 5 yr old is beyond excited! I will be needing internet access because I am in school right now and need to keep up with my classes as well as my ebay business. Does anyone know if there is free wifi? I read on another site that they recently added free wifi. Is this true? Any help would be great!

 

[buffettgirl]

We will be heading to SOG in 12 days!! We got the awesome rate of $57 a night! Can't beat that!! My almost 5 yr old is beyond excited! I will be needing internet access because I am in school right now and need to keep up with my classes as well as my ebay business. Does anyone know if there is free wifi? I read on another site that they recently added free wifi. Is this true? Any help would be great!

it is free.

I had trouble with it on my cell phone, but not my tablet. Not sure why.

You do have to (like most free wifi) open a web browser, accept the free agreement and then you're good to go. My phone kept losing that...

 

[jusero]

Thanks:

Yeah, I checked it out. I just remember the garage is supposed to be a good spot for fireworks.

Like I said, not a big deal but I am wondering that if the hotel is not full, whether they put you in a "better" room - location-wise.

Pool side rooms go for more money. But I cannot tell if the gazebo (looks like a pretty nice view) is pool side.

We had a gazebo view on our last visit:

And here was the view a couple years ago, which is a golf course view:

The golf course was quieter (except the gobbling turkey early in the morning), but I enjoyed the gazebo view better. It too was very quiet, but you could hear people from time-to-time. But I liked watching the excited little ones as the walked, skipped and ran by.

 

[Nomad70]

Hi All:

I'm headed to SoG Monday. Got a great deal on the room - so I am guessing it will be a parking lot view. Not a big deal but I wouldn't mind a nice view while the little one is napping.

Does SoG do upgrades? I don't want a pool view but maybe gazebo or greenery view.

Usually, I like the higher floors but I am not concerned as much with security here - any view benefit to the upper floor balconies vs the 1st floor patio?

Thanks - Bobo

We checked in yesterday afternoon. We haven't stayed here in many years so we really were not sure what area to ask for. So we let it fall as it may. We did get the Endless summer rate, so I can't complain, but you know, we always have something that could have been better. lol The room we got is on the third floor and the 'view' is of a maintenance road for the golf course. I don't know how to say were our room is, but it is down the hall by the Mickey statue. lol But, no biggy. The room is nice and I feel we paid a fair price. Have we stayed in nicer place for the price, sure, but we are at Disney and you can't beat the location, I love being so close to Tickets and Transportation and The Poly. With this said, I am thinking I would ask for a bottom floor next time on the otherside (which is where we have always stayed before).

 

[bellemeeko1]

We checked in yesterday afternoon. We haven't stayed here in many years so we really were not sure what area to ask for. So we let it fall as it may. We did get the Endless summer rate, so I can't complain, but you know, we always have something that could have been better. lol The room we got is on the third floor and the 'view' is of a maintenance road for the golf course. I don't know how to say were our room is, but it is down the hall by the Mickey statue. lol But, no biggy. The room is nice and I feel we paid a fair price. Have we stayed in nicer place for the price, sure, but we are at Disney and you can't beat the location, I love being so close to Tickets and Transportation and The Poly. With this said, I am thinking I would ask for a bottom floor next time on the otherside (which is where we have always stayed before).

You can asked to be switched to another room. We did that once and we ended up with such a great room that we stay in it every time we go back. In fact when I book they always say do you still want the same room?! LOVE it!

 

[stm61]

We will be heading to SOG in 12 days!! We got the awesome rate of $57 a night! Can't beat that!! My almost 5 yr old is beyond excited! I will be needing internet access because I am in school right now and need to keep up with my classes as well as my ebay business. Does anyone know if there is free wifi? I read on another site that they recently added free wifi. Is this true? Any help would be great!

We just got back last night, checked in last Sunday. I had trouble connecting Sun. and part of Mon. I was getting the message that too many people were connected, try again later, with a number to call for help. I just figured the signal was overloaded and didn't call. After that, no problems at all connecting. We were in room #3153, in the new section, overlooking the golf course. We liked it because it had a balcony that could only be seen by someone on the golf course. A bit of a walk to the front desk, stores, and pools, but nice and quiet.