shades of green questions

[Skyw]

I am never stayed at Shades of Green because I was always able to get a great deal on the overflow rates. But since they have made it sooooo big now, It is hard to get those rates. Plus I would spend slightly more then the All Star resorts due to my rank. Here are the questions......How was the transportation? Was it as easy as staying at a Disney hotel? Did you miss some of the Mickey stuff stay there? And was it easy to get a quick bite to eat?

Thanks

 

[BabyFu18]

I can give you my opinion on my questions, here it goes.

Transportation was fine for us, the buses do run on a pretty tight schedule so when they give you a bus schedule when you check-in keep it! We never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a bus (we only waited that long because I had to go back to the room for something and made it back just in time to see the bus pulling away). At the parks we were always seemed to catch a bus back to the hotel with seats still available. On vacation I'm pretty laid back, not one of those people that must be at the parks at a certain time, etc. So for me, the bus service was just peachy. Sometimes I'd use the buses at Poly (which were always more crowded) but that is easy to do if you don't mind walking to the Poly since it really isn't that far.

Personally I never missed any disney aspects at SOG but I know others have complained about it not being as themed at disney resorts (which is true). If it was themed as anything (it's themed green, right? it's themed military..) kinda reminds me of WL if any disney resorts (though of course it's nothing like WL, just the best disney comparison I can give it). I guess it depends on how important a pure theme is to you, to me the value is so good I don't care that it's not totally disney.

Food is a different story at SOG, not my favorite, I'd rather go somewhere else to eat but even that isn't a big deal. Go over to the Poly and hop the monorail and you can eat at any of the restaurants over there, and DTD is just a bus ride away. At SOG the little snack stop by the buses is good for something quick (bagels, cakes, cookies, cereal, etc.), there's also a little ice cream shoppe that is nice for a snack. They also have Mangino's (SP?) which was nice but costly, Evergreen's is the sports bar which was typical burgers/pizza type food, Garden Gallery is the buffet and it wasn't anything special for dinner (breakfast was fine, though I'm not a huge breakfast fan). Even some small things are available at the PX, if you want to eat a little something in your room. For us it was easier to do a little grocery shopping before the trip and bring whatever snacks we wanted with us, and then go to other disney restaurants for a sit down dinner.

 

[princesslondon]

I agree with BabyFu18. SOG is very nice. We've stayed at SOG twice with my parents so that they can spend time with our DD, but when we go without them we stay in a Deluxe hotel. As far as the rooms go, the SOG rooms are very large. I personally like the bus system better then Disney's bus system but only b/c SOG runs on exact time, rather then every XX minutes. So you know exactly when you need to head to the bus stop. Of course staying in monorail resorts, you can't beat the monorail to the MK but other than that SOG is great. Not only do the busses run on exact times you don't have to stop at 2-3 other hotels to get to your stop. Hope this helps

 

[cocowum]

I am never stayed at Shades of Green because I was always able to get a great deal on the overflow rates. But since they have made it sooooo big now, It is hard to get those rates. Plus I would spend slightly more then the All Star resorts due to my rank. Here are the questions......How was the transportation?

I don't know we rented a car.

Was it as easy as staying at a Disney hotel?

No. You can't charge things at the park to your room and you can't ship things you've purchased in the parks back to your room. (this was the case several years ago, not sure if they've change that.)

Did you miss some of the Mickey stuff stay there?

YES!!! even though everyone talks about how close you are to MK, I felt like I was staying offsite. I like to be fully immersed in Disney! I like hearing CM's say have a magical day, I like looking for hidden mickeys in the carpet, bedspread, wallpaper etc. One thing I really hated was in the bathroom there was a supply list (like when you're issued your ta-50) accounting for the number of towels, washcloths, cups etc. in the room.

And was it easy to get a quick bite to eat?

We had no problem being seated at both Manginos and Garden gallery. We ate at Evergreens one night. The only place the food was even remotely edible was Evergreens.


We are only a party of 3 so room size is not that important to us. I would rather stay at POP than SOG, but that's just my opinion.

 

[BabyFu18]

No. You can't charge things at the park to your room and you can't ship things you've purchased in the parks back to your room.

Just to let you know, you can now do both of these things while staying at SOG. We were able to make purchases in the parks and at DTD and have them shipped back to the hotel without problem. Though we never used it, we were also told you can charge to your room without problem also from inside of outside of the hotel.

 

[PilotWife]

Transportation - cannnot comment on - we walked to the Poly and used the monorail a lot and drove to other places.

Hotel theming - did not miss so much
BUT I will tell you that the rooms are very nice AND much
bigger than All Stars and are even bigger than the regular rooms at the deluxe resorts.

Food - we did not care much for the food at SOG...kinda like the officer's club food. BUT the pizza at Evergreen's was pretty good.
We went to the Poly and other monorail resorts for food.

Hope this helps....we would definately stay at SOG over the All Stars or POP, just for the size of the rooms alone and the proximity to MK. (but we are a family of 5 - 3 small children)

Jennifer

 

[hildarumpole]

We loved SOG and didn't miss the Disney theming. There's a big Mickey statue in the lobby and a Mickey head pool. After a day in the parks, that was plenty for us. The buses are fine, as long as you observe the schedule. The best thing is they only service SOG. Poly buses get very overcrowded and it took longer to get places, because they also stopped at the Grand Floridian. We took the monorail from MK to Poly and walked to SOG a few times, which was nice. The rooms can't be beat. They are huge. My family of 5 was very comfortable. We also appreciated the peaceful atmosphere, compared to other Disney resorts. We ate at Evergreens a couple times. Decent sandwiches, nothing special. The kids liked playing the arcade games. Mangino's was fabulous. Yes, it's a little pricey, but compared to Italian restaurants in the parks and other resorts, it was a reasonable.

 

[Skyw]

Can a 4 year old make the walk to the Monorail easily? Is it a long walk? I think we may be at MK the most, so maybe we will stay at SOG.

Thanks everyone for the imputs. I laughed when I read that they had a ta-50 bathroom check list. Only the Military!!!!

 

[micmacmissy]

If you qualify to stay at SOG, please ask if you qualify for the Operation Enduring Freedom package. (For families that have a deployed soldier). HUGE savings on the already ridiculously cheap room rate.

We're going in January 2008--last time we went to Disney we stayed in a 2 bedroom suite at GF--this time we're staying at SOG because it is so cheap--7 nights PLUS breakfasts and dinner each day for less than what we paid for 2 nights at the GF.

I don't think we'll be disappointed, because the rates are so cheap. We'll see!

 

[redstargazer]

Can a 4 year old make the walk to the Monorail easily? Is it a long walk? I think we may be at MK the most, so maybe we will stay at SOG.

We will be staying at SOG this NOV, and it will be the 3rd time. I love it there!

Sometimes they will take you to the end of the drive way in the golf cart so you wont have to walk too far. Its really not too far anyway.

I like the breakfast buffet they have at SOG. Its has a wide variaty and you cant beat that price with any other buffet in WDW.

 

[hildarumpole]

Can a 4 year old make the walk to the Monorail easily? Is it a long walk? I think we may be at MK the most, so maybe we will stay at SOG.

My 5 yr. old didn't have any problems. He usually ran ahead of us. If you don't feel up to the walk, you can ask at the Bell Station for the Shady Shuttle to take you to the edge of the property. Then you just have to walk across the street and through the Poly. The Poly property has signs directing you to SOG. It's a nice walk and only took about 15 min. The kids liked looking for wildlife along the way. At the end of a day at the parks, you may not feel up to walking from the Poly to SOG. The SOG bus from the TTC runs every 20 min., so it's never a bad wait.