Shades of green

[danygirl]

My dad was a fully disabled vet and retired after 25 years
Mom is thinking of heading to shades of green in mid march. What is it like there ?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I just returned from a 5 night stay in early January. It is a wonderful resort!!! It feels just like a Disney onsite resort. Has great transportation and close proximity to the Polynesian. I say book it!!

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

My dad was a fully disabled vet and retired after 25 years
Mom is thinking of heading to shades of green in mid march. What is it like there ?

If your parents have been to anothe Armed Forces Rec Center (Hale Koa, Edelweiss, etc) it's pretty much the same style hotel. I like it but it also doesn't feel as Disney as the other resorts. It has some Disney stuff at the BX. I never took the SOG transportation, we just walked to poly and took transportation there.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

We love SOG. The rooms are bigger and have an extra fold out couch.There's no tax on the rooms, food or things in the store. The buses aren't as crowded and you can always walk to the Poly for the monorail or to T&T. You do have to pay to park and you don't get free parking at the parks, so if you want to drive, expect to have to pay. The restaurants aren't great, but room service is cheaper than counter service in the parks.

There aren't a lot of special Disney touches like in the resorts, so if you are looking for that SOG might not be for you.

 

[mommyburns]

I have done 4 trips in 4 years. 2 trips were SOG and 2 were pop century. SOG has queen beds not doubles which my parents liked. They also liked the balconies to relax and the added space in the room. The convience of the PX? In the hotel they missed when we were at Pop and they even drove over to SOG for some supplies. The only reason I chose Pop was for my two young children and they liked the decor better, more over the top disney.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Visit the Disney Resorts forum; there is a very long thread discussing SOG.

 

[smadath]

In case you haven't seen it, this is a link to the Shades Of Green website. It has pics of rooms, and lots of other info.

http://www.shadesofgreen.org/

 

[daisy1234]

My dad was a fully disabled vet and retired after 25 years
Mom is thinking of heading to shades of green in mid march. What is it like there ?

We were just there in DECember! LOVED it! The Christmas decorations were better then at the Grand Floridian! The staff in the buffet area were awesome. We got the free buffet breakfasts...you cant beat 100 a night...large rooms, free buffet (with amazing homemade made to order omelets!), we ate dinner there and saved a tremedous amout of money! Dinner is not fancy (but decent) but the kids were happy. They had themed nights and our favorite was carnaval night...cotton candy and caramel apples...were hits. They had lots of special lobby events for the holidays. The transportation is actually faster than disney transportation! We have stayed there twice and wish we could stay there everytime! My mom/Dad have the benefits (both war vets). The parks are what makes disney! Who needs more crazy disney decor in there rooms! They were so relaxing to come back to..clean and the balcony view of the gold course was so beautiful. We saved a couple thousand using the discounted tickets, the px for last minute things and meals, drinks! We ate breakfast and dinner at shades...only 1 night we did the birgarden and had an hour wait for our 6 pm ressie! Love the walk to the poly and getting on the monorail to get to Magic kingdom...going to the poly for any other park...takes way toooooo long! LOVED the shades buses!!!!! They do only run on the hour...so you have to plan. We did try to take the disney buses a few times...and it took so long that we were better off waiting the additional 30 minutes for the shades buses! The px is a nice little benefit for wine, beer, meds. Didn't love the souvenior options...but on a budget they are a great option! Hope they never take this benefit away...met so many incredible military families taking advantage and they give sooo much. Now I will say the service and food at the italian restaurant needs to up the anty ( The chicken marsala was better at the buffet then the italian restaurant). But the buffet...very good food for the price! I will say I am a foodie...would have prefered eating at some o fthe more highly rated restaurants in teh parks...but for my family of 4...the price would have been tripled at least. Lastly...it is the best bang for your buck...combined with teh salute tickets and no tax...this is the way to go for military families! USe the extra money saved on an extra house payment or ANOTHER TRIP!!!!