SOG Parking

[Bumpy Grumpy]

We have reservations at SOG for Nov. We will be renting a car while there. Can we drive and park at the various parks, MK, Epcot, etc. for free or is there a charge?

Thanks,
Arlene

 

[bdcp]

Parking at the parks is free for anyone staying at SOG. You will be given a hanging tag to park at SOG where the parking is $5/day.

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[PilotWife]

When we have stayed at SOG (our last trip was AKL-so it has been a yr) we drove everywhere (except MK) because it was just easier with 3 small children, but we never paid for parking at any of the other parks.

Jennifer

 

[bdcp]

I just returned from Shades of Green and when I asked the girl at the registration desk if we got free parking at the parks she said the only one we could park at for free was the Magic Kingdom. If that's not the case then I'm even more ticked off at SOG than I already was.

Their bus service is the worst too. One bus per hour to each park. We ended up going to the TTC each day and catching a bus from there. It was really inconvenient.

SOG bus service has been very consistent for a long time and you know exactly when a bus is due, unlike the resorts. SOG isn't big enough to run more buses per hour to AK and EPCOT. They'd be running empty ones. The TTC bus runs multiple times per hour so you didnt' have to walk.. We also walked to TTC or Poly every day and have no problem with that especially since we planned on walking all day anyway. As for parking there are multiple threads about SOG and everyone I've seen says parking is free at the parks. Why would MK be free and the others not? Makes no sense.

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

We stayed at SOG in April '07. Best thing we could've done! The parking is free at all the parks, but there is a $5 parking fee per night at SOG. We weren't told this us until we checked in. Now when we stay again, we just figure that $5 into how much our room costs.

 

[ntsammy5]

The bus transportation goes from SOG to TTC for monorail service to MK & Epcot and the bus to AK, MGM, DTD and water parks. The bus service used to be stellar, now it's not. They need to change contractors. We pretty much use the Poly and TTC -- the bus there is every 15 minutes or you can walk. Having said that, except for MK and occasionally Epcot, we almost always drive. Parking is free at all the parks, though. Never ever had a problem.

 

[suevee]

ONCE we had a problem getting into Studios, but we just showed the SoG pass on the car and we were let in. We were just there in March and as previous posters said parking at all parks including the water parks is free, just show the SoG parking pass. Parking at SoG is $5 a day.

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[Maine-iac]

We have always been able to park at any park for free using our SOG parking pass.

As far as the bus schedules go, they give you the schedule and it is not hard to follow.
The bus for TTC runs every 20 minutes from both places. At least at the TTC you have benches in the shade to use if you just miss the bus.
The buses for AK leaves SOG on the half hour and leaves AK at 10 minutes til the hour.
The bus for HS leaves SOG on the half hour and leaves HS on the hour.
All you need to do is check the bus schedule for the park you will be attending each day.

These times are from our trip last month.

 

[Bumpy Grumpy]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of your answers (to Princess Michelle, I am sorry you had the wrong advice).

We will probably take the car to all the parks not on the monorail. Our youngest DGS will be 4 so we'll still be using a stroller, not the easiest to manage on the buses.

Arlene

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[Princess Michelle]

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[ntsammy5]

If other guests that have stayed with us received complimentary parking when going to the theme parks it was as error on part of the Disney toll booth attendant.

We've parked at all the parks for free since 1995! WOW! I guess we got away with one there! The toll takers never ever questioned us.

Maybe I'd better send a check to Disney for the roughly $800 I owe them!

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

Well, that knocks SOG out of the running for us staying there again. By the time you add in hotel, night parking fee for SOG, and then parking at the parks it's way more for us than staying on property. If we were to go next year it'd be $117 for the room because we're a category 2, $5 for parking, plus $11 for parking at the parks. That's a total of $133 per night. The times that we go I can always get a room cheaper on Disney property. The resort might not be as beneficial as it once was to servicemembers and family.

They must have recently changed their policies because we never had a problem getting parking at the parks for free.

Really odd!

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[a_sailor's_wife]

All I know is what I'm being told by SOG directly. They told me no free parking when I checked in, everyone here says, yes, you get free parking so I sent an email to confirm what the truth was and this was their reply. Maybe they changed their policy recently? I have no idea but this is what they are telling their guests now and I don't think people should get their hopes up to get free parking just because other people have gotten it, then get to the parks and be told sorry, you have to fork over 11.00 now.

I've been told this twice now directly from SOG so it's obviously their policy now, whether it has been in the past, I can't say because I never stayed there until last week.

I'm just trying to be helpful and make sure people have the correct info so that they can be prepared when they get there.

You are being very helpful! I just think many of us are shocked because I stated before it may not be as beneficial as it once was to stay at SOG. It could even more than $133 that I caculated based on your pay grade.

 

[ntsammy5]

They told me no free parking when I checked in

I'm not disputing that. I'm sure it is the policy. Our last two trips were Nov and January and we were waved through every time. Evidently even the toll takers didn't know it or else they are looking the other way for the military. Just have to stop now and see what they want to do. We have AP anyways so the parking doesn't matter.

As for the price difference between WDW resorts and SOG, it isn't even close if you compare deluxe to deluxe and don't forget the difference between value and peak season at WDW - Shades rates are the same all year long.

Having said that, we have stayed at all of the WDW value and deluxe resorts and like them all. Shades is an additional option for us. We probably stay here for about 20% of our visits.

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[a_sailor's_wife]

Thank you.

I agree about staying on property vs. SOG. I was really disappointed in our stay at SOG for a lot of reasons. It's a beautiful resort, probably the most beautiful I have ever stayed at. The room was huge but I've gotten rooms that big in DTD for less money and with a bus system that runs continuously.

Almost every single hotel/resort I've ever stayed at has some sort of late night/early morning or 24 hour dining option. SOG doesn't. We got back from EMH early one morning and asked if there was somewhere we could get something to eat and were told we could go to the Hess station down the street.

There were a lot of little things that just added up and made us feel like we would rather stay on property next time. We would be in the same pay grade as you and like you said, depending on when you go you can always get something on property cheaper, even if you took the busses at SOG and didn't pay for parking, you could still get something onsite for less. It may not be as big or as beautiful as SOG but overall I think we would be happier.

Don't get me wrong. We LOVED SOG the few times we've stayed. However, there are additional conviences (especially with a small child) of staying at Disney. Any time we go stay at SOG we always rent a car because it's easier to live when we need to than waiting for a bus. With a child it could be a while before the bus arrives unlike with Disney properties you normally you have one in just a short time. Also, we've never stayed at a deluxe or even a moderate. We've never needed to as we've never been there long enough to really enjoy it. I guess it really all depends on your pay grade, the time of season you visit, and if you are going to drive to the parks or use their transportation.

I have to say though that I love SOG's service. On our honeymoon we were given special attention by a CM there. We weren't staying long and we were moving to condo off sight. The CM gave us special passes to get into EMH because she saw that it was our honeymoon and ended finding out that she was from DH's hometown and her DH was from a place about 5 minutes from my hometown. We loved our experience there! No questions about that. We'll just have to rethink things when it comes time to go again after free dining.