Shades of Green

[mattman2k]

We are starting to plan our May 2003 trip and are going to bring our older son with us (along with DS,10 and DD, 8). He is an active Marine (does that make him DM?) and I have been told about the Shades of Green deal. Couple questions I'm hoping someone can answer:

Am I able to make the reservations on my credit card and just have him provide his military ID at check in or does he have to make the reservation?

Will they still offer the switch to the Contempory since the SOG will be under renovations even though the reservation has not been made?

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

 

[Alice28]

My husband is the one in the military, but I have made all the phone calls. You will need his branch of service and his SSN. You are automatically put in Contemporary although I have read about overflow rates offered at other hotels if the CR is booked. Call now if you want any chance at the CR-SoG fills really fast! Also, you can book up to 3 rooms at his rate, if they are available. Good luck!

 

[Blondie]

Check the Shades of Green website for detailed information.

Chances are, they are probably booked for May 2003. If so, make sure you ask for an "overflow rate" at one of the other Disney resorts, including the Swan and Dolphin.

 

[DancingBear]

You can also ask to be put on the waitlist at Shades of Green; however, you can't get an overflow reservation AND stay on the waitlist. Call soon!

 

[Blondie]

Dancingbear, I've made four reservations through SOG, and I was always told that I could not be on the wait list, and have a reservation at the same time.

I don't like to be on a wait list....I like to know where I'm staying and have the reservation confirmation to prove it.

Through Shades of Green we've been able to book an overflow reservation at:

November 1998 Dixie Landings (now called Port Orleans Riverside)
August 1999 Coronado Springs
January 2000 Polynesian
April 2001 Swan

We did get lucky once and actually got a room at Shades of Green for our April 1998 trip. Nice large rooms and a very quiet resort.

I'm anxious to see what the new rooms will look like!

 

[DancingBear]

Originally posted by Blondie
Dancingbear, I've made four reservations through SOG, and I was always told that I could not be on the wait list, and have a reservation at the same time.

Isn't that what I said?

 

[CSX2]

I wonder if the new rooms will be as large as the existing ones? These were easily the largest hotel rooms, excepting suites, that I have ever seen. Will be interesting if the new rooms are smaller to see if there will be two classes of rooms with different rates.

 

[psimon]

Has anyone seen any kind of floor plan for the new hotel? How about any info about room specs, etc?

Paul

 

[Don & June]

We (myself and wife) have just completed all this. My wife called Shades of Green and made all the reservations for May 2003. Shades of Green is currently closed for remodeling, so we got a room at the Contemporary at about $100.00 dollars a night.

My wife took care of all the calls and we put the deposit on credit card.

As another note - We used Shades of Green 2 years ago for our vacation and had no problems .. you can also get your park tickets through shades of green.

Don

 

[mattman2k]

Thanks for your replies everyone! Just got off the phone with SOG reservations and thanks to my son the Marine we have a room at the Contemporary booked for 5 nights in May @ $84.74/night! Squeezing 3 adults and 2 kids into the room but considering we were at ASMovies last year with 2 adults and 2 kids this will still be a nicer stay as the rooms at the Contemporary are almost twice the size of ASMovies!

Now onto the Universal reservations!

 

[suevee]

The rooms at the Contemp are large. You will have 2 queen size beds and a sofa that can be made up into a trundle bed. It was very comfortable for us.

 

[CutlerP]

I just booked a 12/03 trip to WDW!! Will be staying at NGW thru SoG since *new* SoG will not be open yet...Just as well for me!! Because re-negotiations with Disney are complete, I was able to get a normal reservation and was not placed on any waiting list. (This is for 12/6 thru 12/13)

Anyway, I had a conversation with the Ressie agent which will answer some questions posted on this thread....

Rooms in the Old SoG were 450 Square feet. The new rooms will be the same size (so I'm told). Existing rooms are being renovated along with the new construction. Contemporary (NGW)rooms are 430 square feet. Not bad! You used to be able to request bayside rooms at CR but not anymore. You can choose a 1st floor room with patio if you want for an extra $10/nite.

I made this ressie myself (DH is the sponsor). All you need to supply SoG is the sponsor's SSN, pay grade and branch to make the reservation. The sponsor then has to be present at check in. We've got a rate of $92 (I think...or is it $93?) per nite (this is the E-7 rate...) plus an additional 11% state occupancy tax. Total per nite is 102.58. There is still NO TAX on admission tickets or SoG merchandise. They transferred over the small gift shop to CR (the little one which sells tickets and stuff, not the BX which was near the entrance).

Anyway, that's what I found out!! I'm so excited!!!!!

 

[psimon]

Originally posted by CutlerP
I just booked a 12/03 trip to WDW!! Will be staying at NGW thru SoG since *new* SoG will not be open yet...Just as well for me!! Because re-negotiations with Disney are complete, I was able to get a normal reservation and was not placed on any waiting list. (This is for 12/6 thru 12/13)

Thanks for the info on the new SoG. Just what I was looking for.

I thought the new SoG was supposed to be open in the summer of 03. Guess they won't make that. What is the new expected openning date?

 

[CutlerP]

Can you believe I didn't even ask what the current expected opening date is?? Duh! The agent did say that things were coming right along....the last I heard (in another post), the opening was supposed to be around the 18th or so, very soon after our trip. I don't know if that's still the line they're giving.

Hope this helps!

 

[FirstNo]

Originally posted by psimon
Thanks for the info on the new SoG. Just what I was looking for.

I thought the new SoG was supposed to be open in the summer of 03. Guess they won't make that. What is the new expected openning date?

Around mid Dec of 03. They started construction 4 months late (closed Mar 31 construction started after the first week of Aug). I would assume their new agreement w/Disney for the Contemp would take them until the end of the year to give them some play room in case the hotel isn't ready. Otherwise, they may be putting people into a hotel that isn't done because there isn't any place else to put them. They should have a better feel by the summer time.