Has anyone stayed at shades of green? Reviews seemed mixed. Any advice about staying there?
I’ve stayed there many times. Deluxe resort at value prices. Largest regular rooms in WDW. Very pretty grounds. 10 min walk to Poly. You get EMH.
Downside is that you don’t get FPPs at 60 days, and don’t get the 180+10 for ADRs. No DME, and $5/day parking fee. No free parking at the parks. Food is some of the least expensive in WDW, but not the greatest. No MBs (although these may come).
Prior to the My Magic Plus, it was the only place I stayed. Since then, I discovered that I could stay at POP cheaper with a military discount, and traveling solo I can deal with a smaller room and fewer amenities, but get all of the Disney resort perks.
If you have specific questions feel free to ask; happy to share any info I have…
The only real knock on SoG I’ve ever heard are the eating choices. The dining options are meh, at best.
My only visits occurred before they bulldozed it and rebuilt it.
The UG is usually complimentary, calling it a deluxe at a moderate price.
I stayed at SoG when a friend and I went on a girls only trip this last December. The rooms were huge!! They would be great for families to spread out in. I thought the rooms and hallway carpets were in need of a little TLC. Of all of the resorts I have stayed at on property, it by far had the worst busing. Although part of this might have been because it was my first time traveling with someone that need to be in a scooter full time, and the bus could only take 2 scooters at a time. Before staying at SoG, my worst experience with busing while at WDW was at Pop Century.
Should I request a specific area of the resort? It looks like there are two sections according to the map posted. Also, how far is the walk from the resort to the Polynesian to arrive at Disney via monorail?
A lot of the location depends on how important using the pool is ti you. If you plan on a lot of pool time, you definately want to be in the Magnolia wing. I don’t use the pool, so I prefer to be in the Palm wing, with a view looking into the courtyard area. Another plus of the Palm wing is the parking garage; it opens directly into the new wing. If you plan on driving much, the Palm wing is much more convenient.
The walk to the Poly is about 10 min plus/minus, depending on your walking speed. They have a golf cart that will drive you to the end of the SoG property - more than halfway to the Poly.
People complain about the SoG busses. I actually like them. They do not operate as frequently, but they are on a set clock schedule, so you always know exactly when and where a bus pickup will be. Instead of getting to the bus stop and having to wait some unknown amount of time for a bus to show up, you know that a bus will be there a 9:00, so you know when you need to be at a bus stop. I’ve generally found them less crowded than most WDW resort busses.If there are more people than will fit on one bus, they will have a second one there almost immediately. And in all of my experience, they have never been late.
Anyone can make ADRs at 180 days. You don’t have to have reservations or park tickets at all. I just wanted to point that out - even though this vacay is probably long over.
You can do 180 days but not the +10
Moderate resort at value resort costs! We’ve stayed at SOG almost every visit. Once we stayed at Coronado. At SOG, You can get ADR 180 days in advance and fast passes 60 days in advance. The Poly is within walking distance. The bus service is not as good, but you can always take a Disney bus to the TTC, then catch a SOG bus. You have to buy your own magic bands and cannot charge your room with them. The rooms are a great size! My biggest beef is no Magic Express from airport. In the past we’ve used Mears limo. This year we will use Uber or lyfe. I highly recommend SOG.