SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Thread

[kidsrfun]

18 days!!! Yay!!!

Praying for this furlough to end soon so we don't have to be quite so cautious with money while we are there!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Sandysbuddy]

I have some questions regarding Shades of Green. We had originally planned to stay the first week of December at POR with the military discount. However, there are no military discounts available there that week. We are now considering our other options including offsite. We have three children so our options at Disney are limited.

After searching this thread, I found some info on the buses but wanted to make sure it was still current. Do the buses still run once per hour? Is this a problem? Seems nice to know when it is coming but could be inconvenient if you just miss the bus and have to wait an hour. Are the buses ever full? If there is not enough room for everyone waiting, do they send another bus?

Some posters mentioned walking to the Poly to take the monorail from there. How far of a walk is this? Is it too far to want to do this with 3 children ( ages 12, 9 and 7). There was also a few comments about the Shady Shuttle. What is this and is there a long wait to use it? Does it still only run from 0700 to 1500 like the first post states?

Also, we will have our vehicle. It looks like you do have to pay at the parks if you drive. Is this correct?

Thanks so much!

 

[jusero]

I have some questions regarding Shades of Green. We had originally planned to stay the first week of December at POR with the military discount. However, there are no military discounts available there that week. We are now considering our other options including offsite. We have three children so our options at Disney are limited.

After searching this thread, I found some info on the buses but wanted to make sure it was still current. Do the buses still run once per hour? Is this a problem? Seems nice to know when it is coming but could be inconvenient if you just miss the bus and have to wait an hour. Are the buses ever full? If there is not enough room for everyone waiting, do they send another bus?

I only ran into this issue once in all the times we have gone. I don't know if they sent a second bus because we opted to just head over to the Poly.

Some posters mentioned walking to the Poly to take the monorail from there. How far of a walk is this?

10-15 minutes, depending on your pace.

Is it too far to want to do this with 3 children ( ages 12, 9 and 7).

At their ages, not at all. Just be careful crossing the street at the bottom of the hill. Some cars run that road pretty fast.

There was also a few comments about the Shady Shuttle. What is this and is there a long wait to use it? Does it still only run from 0700 to 1500 like the first post states?

It is a golf cart that takes guests down to the bottom of the hill and back up again. It doesn't run on a specific schedule and you can catch it on the upper level where guests are dropped off/picked up. Catching it on the way back up the hill is a hit or miss situation. As far as I know, there is no way to call it from the bottom of the hill.

Also, we will have our vehicle. It looks like you do have to pay at the parks if you drive. Is this correct?

Yes, you have to pay at all parks except MK. We sometimes opt to drive when we go to AK or HS. But that is usually because we plan to go somewhere else right after the park.

Hope this helps. I know you won't be disappointed with Shades.

Thanks so much!

.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

jusero - Thanks so much for your help!

You referred to "at the bottom of the hill" and catching the shuttle to "go back up the hill". How steep is the hill? We have been to shades once to purchase tickets, but I honestly don't remember. I am guessing it is nothing like our hills here in MO but just wondering how tiring it would be at the end of a long park day.

 

[shburks]

I have some questions regarding Shades of Green. We had originally planned to stay the first week of December at POR with the military discount. However, there are no military discounts available there that week. We are now considering our other options including offsite. We have three children so our options at Disney are limited.

After searching this thread, I found some info on the buses but wanted to make sure it was still current. Do the buses still run once per hour? Is this a problem? Seems nice to know when it is coming but could be inconvenient if you just miss the bus and have to wait an hour. Are the buses ever full? If there is not enough room for everyone waiting, do they send another bus?

Some posters mentioned walking to the Poly to take the monorail from there. How far of a walk is this? Is it too far to want to do this with 3 children ( ages 12, 9 and 7). There was also a few comments about the Shady Shuttle. What is this and is there a long wait to use it? Does it still only run from 0700 to 1500 like the first post states?

Also, we will have our vehicle. It looks like you do have to pay at the parks if you drive. Is this correct?

Thanks so much!

I also wouldn't rule out POR. The discount is so newly released that right now the rooms have been put on holds or tentatively booked and usually more rooms become available.

 

[smhogar]

.

My additions in purple.

After searching this thread, I found some info on the buses but wanted to make sure it was still current. Do the buses still run once per hour? Is this a problem? Seems nice to know when it is coming but could be inconvenient if you just miss the bus and have to wait an hour. Are the buses ever full? If there is not enough room for everyone waiting, do they send another bus?

I only ran into this issue once in all the times we have gone. I don't know if they sent a second bus because we opted to just head over to the Poly.

I don't think that they send another bus. This happen when we went to DHS. They sent us on the bus to the TTC and we transferred there to the Disney DHS bus.

There was also a few comments about the Shady Shuttle. What is this and is there a long wait to use it? Does it still only run from 0700 to 1500 like the first post states?

It is a golf cart that takes guests down to the bottom of the hill and back up again. It doesn't run on a specific schedule and you can catch it on the upper level where guests are dropped off/picked up. Catching it on the way back up the hill is a hit or miss situation. As far as I know, there is no way to call it from the bottom of the hill.

We called Bell Services and they would come can pick you up.

 

[buffettgirl]

jusero - Thanks so much for your help!

You referred to "at the bottom of the hill" and catching the shuttle to "go back up the hill". How steep is the hill? We have been to shades once to purchase tickets, but I honestly don't remember. I am guessing it is nothing like our hills here in MO but just wondering how tiring it would be at the end of a long park day.

Honestly, I'm kind of confused with Jusero's reference to a hill too. There's a ramp up at the entrance to the lobby and below that is the bus area, but it's a man made driveway, so I wouldn't call it a hill, but beyond otherwise the rest of the walk is one long flat sidewalk along the driveway to the main road. Now, yes, it can be a long walk at the end of the night for tired kids, but sometimes it's just better than waiting for a bus. If you happen to be at MK the 'resort' monorail is usually mostly empty and you can quickly get on that to poly and walk home quicker than sometimes you could get a TTC monorail.

also, if you look at post one in this thread there is the bus schedule. The only real issues on buses are AK and DHS and Downtown Disney- those come once per hour. But you always have the option to take an internal Disney bus to TCC from one of those parks or take an internal Disney bus to Poly. But, I have never seen the AK or DHS buses full. They generally sent giant coach buses. The bus to TTC for MK and Epcot runs every 20 minutes. So if one is full, the next will be right behind it.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

Thanks so much for all of the responses and help! My biggest concern with SOG was transportation and it looks like there are several options. Makes me feel much better. It looks like a beautiful resort!

 

[WDW 3]

Thanks so much for all of the responses and help! My biggest concern with SOG was transportation and it looks like there are several options. Makes me feel much better. It looks like a beautiful resort!

Yes! We always catch the bus to the TTC and take a bus to AK or HS from there if the Shades bus doesn't work. TTC bus leaves every 20 minutes and the buses to AK & HS leave pretty frequently from there. The bus stops are close to the Shades bus stop. HS is right in front and AK is just a couple behind. Obviously the same goes for returning to Shades.

 

[stitchrulz]

Honestly, I'm kind of confused with Jusero's reference to a hill too. There's a ramp up at the entrance to the lobby and below that is the bus area, but it's a man made driveway, so I wouldn't call it a hill, but beyond otherwise the rest of the walk is one long flat sidewalk along the driveway to the main road. Now, yes, it can be a long walk at the end of the night for tired kids, but sometimes it's just better than waiting for a bus.

There is a bit of an incline on the walk back. It's very gradual, and the walkway kind of makes a wide curve around at a point, so you really don't much notice it as you're going. When standing at the road crossing coming back from the Poly, Shades is up and to your left (it's not on the same plane where you're standing), so you do make a bit of an elevation change. I think that's what Jusero is referencing.

 

[buffettgirl]

There is a bit of an incline on the walk back. It's very gradual, and the walkway kind of makes a wide curve around at a point, so you really don't much notice it as you're going. When standing at the road crossing coming back from the Poly, Shades is up and to your left (it's not on the same plane where you're standing), so you do make a bit of an elevation change. I think that's what Jusero is referencing.

Ok. I've seriously never noticed it, but it just could be my perception. No worries.

anyway, I'm not sure if anyone has ever posted a map of the driveway, but here it is. http://goo.gl/maps/V3769 It's .3 of a mile. Hope that helps.

 

[Dragontears]

Military Disney Tips page has great information on the walk to the Poly...
map, directions, photos, the works....

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Shades-of-Green/Polynesian-walk.html

We have walked several times, even after my knee surgery and the "hill" is so gradual it was not a problem.

Have a Great trip.

 

[jusero]

jusero - Thanks so much for your help!

You referred to "at the bottom of the hill" and catching the shuttle to "go back up the hill". How steep is the hill? We have been to shades once to purchase tickets, but I honestly don't remember. I am guessing it is nothing like our hills here in MO but just wondering how tiring it would be at the end of a long park day.

Sorry for all the confusion. Just a figure of speech, really. It is uphill/downhill, but not a "climb" of any kind. I actually like the quiet and relaxing walk at the end of a hot, busy day in the parks. I even sometimes stop and sit on the benches along the way just to listen to the critters (my fave froggies among them). But watch out for the automatic sprinkler system.

 

[Sandysbuddy]

Military Disney Tips page has great information on the walk to the Poly...
map, directions, photos, the works....

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Shades-of-Green/Polynesian-walk.html

We have walked several times, even after my knee surgery and the "hill" is so gradual it was not a problem.

Have a Great trip.

Thanks so much for the link! The detailed information is great!

 

[Cbarr]

For anyone who has been there during the current pool construction, I have a few questions...

How noisy is the construction, can you hear it in the rooms? How crowded is the one remaining pool? We like to have a day or 2 to just lay by the pool, so I'm wondering if we should stay elsewhere...

 

[sharnonc]

Just received our ticket order form I'm wondering if after filling it out, has anyone emailed it back to SOG or does everyone just fax it back? Thanks.

 

[buffettgirl]

Just received our ticket order form I'm wondering if after filling it out, has anyone emailed it back to SOG or does everyone just fax it back? Thanks.

I'm sure I used email.

 

[MAGGIED]

For anyone who has been there during the current pool construction, I have a few questions...

How noisy is the construction, can you hear it in the rooms? How crowded is the one remaining pool? We like to have a day or 2 to just lay by the pool, so I'm wondering if we should stay elsewhere...

We had a room overlooking the pool construction in April.... they didn't work on the weekend... and during the week it was business hours... it was a little noisy but not to bad... and if you go to the Mickey pool you can't hear it at all so you should be fine. We only heard it when we had the door open...

 

[crostorfer]

I apologize if this has been asked recently, when is the pool construction on the Magnolia Pool supposed to be completed? I said I would give SoG another chance *if* they upgraded their pool, as the last time it was a deal breaker, and I'm trying to throw together a mid-October trip.

 

[jusero]

Can't believe I almost forgot about the ticket preorder form! What kind of a Disney geek am I?
How many weeks out does it get emailed?