Kari C in SC Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I am trying to plan a trip for my ds for when he gets back from Iraq. He originally wanted to stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter in Disney World, but they do not have military rooms available for the week he thinks he will be able to get leave. So... I booked him the Caribbean Resort with military discount. Then I told him about Shades of Green. He is not sure he wants that or not. He is a Florida kid and grew up going to the French Quarter. He is having a hard time wrapping his mind around not staying in an actual disney resort for his one week vacation with his family after being gone for a year. I can tell he is dreaming up the perfect vacation in his mind and afraid to try something different. So, anyone have any reviews of Shades of Green? He will im me tomorrow morning going over this again and I would love to have some advice for him! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I have not stayed there but my friend who is a military wife has stayed there many times. She has never had a problem staying there. She said it is clean and easy to get to the parks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 And would must prefer SOG. For one things, the rooms are HUGE. The grounds are lovely and quiet. The hotel is very nice but not very "Disneyish" which I consider to be a good thing because I can't take 24 hour a day marketing. The food at SOG is pretty awful, and when we went 2 years ago, you couldn't use the dining plan (we didn't want the dining plan anyway). You get all the other perks of being on a Disney property - extra hours and such. The location is very good - it' just right across the street from the Polynesian, so you just walk up the road and jump on the monorail - very easy. And walking through the Polynesian just made my skin crawl there were SOOOOOO many people. I know it's beautiful (I stayed there as a child) but I don't think I could manage to actually sleep there. The bad parts of SOG are (1) no dining plan (2) no cool resorty pool. There are 2 pools (think there were two?) and they are fine but nothing like at the top resorts, and the food is bad. The good parts are having the biggest rooms at Disney, a nice quite hotel, getting away from the Disney madness, and a really nice location. The transportation is also convenient - shuttles to various places and such. Oh, and the rooms are reasonably priced, and probably more so if you are still active duty. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 We stayed there when it was a Disney resort - the Golf Resort. It was considered a "deluxe" resort at that time, and while it wasn't on the monorail or as themed as anything, the room stands as the BIGGEST we ever had. Apparently they will take you to the end of the driveway in a golf cart and you can walk to the Poly & catch a bus/monorail. If you can't get military rate rooms at the other hotels, the odds of getting into the SOG are probably slim at this point. IT's not easy at all from what i hear. I'd stay there again if i could though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I am trying to plan a trip for my ds for when he gets back from Iraq. He originally wanted to stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter in Disney World, but they do not have military rooms available for the week he thinks he will be able to get leave. So... I booked him the Caribbean Resort with military discount. Then I told him about Shades of Green. He is not sure he wants that or not. He is a Florida kid and grew up going to the French Quarter. He is having a hard time wrapping his mind around not staying in an actual disney resort for his one week vacation with his family after being gone for a year. I can tell he is dreaming up the perfect vacation in his mind and afraid to try something different. So, anyone have any reviews of Shades of Green? He will im me tomorrow morning going over this again and I would love to have some advice for him! Thanks! We stayed at SOG last Sept/Oct and had a wonderful stay! Dh is on active duty this year and so we are planning another trip for the end of Sept. How could we not with the great deal they are offering this year?? We considered staying at a Disney resort and taking advantage of the 40% off for military, but decided to stay at SOG again. Dh enjoyed talking to other military, either at the pool or on the buses. The rooms are large and clean and the staff is friendly. We took the buses from SOG some days, but we also walked over to the Poly and hopped on the monorail. I have nothing but good things to say about our experience at SOG. I've heard people say the food at SOG is sub-par, but we ate in the park once (counter service) and that food was awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnG in Arizona Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Yes, we've stayed there twice (once for 12 days, once for 15 days). I had a VERY hard time not staying at a Disney resort the first time we tried SoG, but I liked it quite a bit, and we happily went back the next time. It's extremely hard to beat the value. The location is really great. I heard it once described as being a satellite of the Polynesian resort, and in many ways that's true. It's about a 10-minute walk from SoG to the Polynesian and the monorail to Magic Kingdom. SoG has very nice, large rooms. They are not themed, but are clean and pleasant. The lobby is especially pretty and relaxing; they always have a small fire going in the fireplace. ;) Tell your DH that you'll have about 450 square feet in a SoG room, and about 350 sq. feet in a Port Orleans room. ;) Also, the bathroom is much larger and features two basins. In addition, SoG rooms have queen beds, while Port Orleans features doubles. The transporation is a little spotty. A shuttle runs every 20 minutes to the Ticketing and Transportation Center, where you can take a monorail to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. A separate bus goes to Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom, but it leaves and returns just once every hour. Opinions vary on this topic, but we personally like to rent a car while staying at SoG. The resort is very clean and quite quiet. It is rare to see children completely unsupervised and out of control there. In general, the other guests are polite and considerate . . . we've never had a problem with loud people yelling outside our door at 2 am. :) I agree that the food is completely unremarkable at SoG. We really enjoy all the WDW restaurants, and try to eat all our meals outside of SoG. But that's ok . . . we stayed so reasonably at SoG that I didn't mind splurging on numerous sit-down meals at Disney parks or restaurants. Let me know if you have any other questions, and let us know what you decide. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) We've stayed there each time we've gone (3 times in 6 years) I wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else. Clean, large rooms, friendly staff, our rates were about 1/3 of other deluxe resorts, good food (we did have a dining plan), nice pools, etc...... Highly recommended from us :) Edited May 12, 2009 by clementine add info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I wanted to make sure that you are aware of this special: Shades of Green is an Armed Forces Recreation Center hotel run by the Army's Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command based in Alexandria, Va. The command's mission is to provide soldiers and their families with the same quality of life they are sworn to protect. Rates are set on a sliding scale, based on rank, and with no shareholders to answer to or profits to be made, the rates are kept remarkably low. At the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, from Jan. 4 to Dec. 23, each active or retired member of the U.S. military may obtain one free five-day "Disney's Armed Forces Salute" ticket with "Park Hopper" and water park options. The ticket is valid for five days of admission into the four Walt Disney World theme parks, plus a total of five visits to a choice of a Disney water park, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park or certain other attractions. During this offer period, active or retired U.S. military personnel also may make a one-time purchase up to five "Disney's Armed Forces Salute Companion" tickets – good for five days -- for $99 each, plus tax, for family members or friends. Although this ticket for family members and friends does not include either the Park Hopper or Water Park Fun & More options, it can be upgraded to add either such option, or both, for an additional $25, plus tax, per option. All tickets and options are nontransferable and must be used by Dec. 23. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 bumping for you this morning :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I would call about the specials they are running at WDW (I heard 40% off premium resorts). We used the afvc.com and booked a great condo for super cheap. If you don't use it for Disney -keep it in mind for a cheap family trip later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 You all are great! I am waiting for him to come online this morning (this evening for him) and I will pass on all this information. I think it will make him think more about SOG. I am also going to check on the condo because there will be 6 to 8 of us going. I am so excited! I miss him so much and I can't wait to see him. Being at Disney will just be icing on the cake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 One more thing. If you do decide to stay at SOG, ask them about their dining special. I don't recall if you are planning on using the wdw dining plan, but SOG has a meal special as well. It includes breakfast, dinner & room and for E-7 it is $180ish/night. We used a similar plan last time we were there. Ate a good breakfast, went to the parks, came home for a nap, ate dinner & went back to the parks. It really worked out well for us. We didn't eat lunch, we snacked. We took fruit, nuts, etc. into the parks and snacked if we needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 One more question about the buses - my mom will be renting one of those motorized scooters - How is the bus service using those? I have read the bus service is not that great. A lot of reviews I read talked about using car to drive to parks. I have a car and the cart wouldn't fit in that, so we would need to use the buses. Just wondering if that would not work very well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Disney busses are great with them - but plan on extra time since they can't fill the bus with them. You might have to wait for another bus if there is someone already on there from a prior stop. Hopefully someone can pipe up with info on the SoG. ETA: my dad is in a scooter full time in the parks now, and it's really not been an issue. More of the people not having their kids respect the fact that he can't stop on a dime in it and letting them cut in front of him.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnG in Arizona Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 You all are great! I am waiting for him to come online this morning (this evening for him) and I will pass on all this information. I think it will make him think more about SOG. I am also going to check on the condo because there will be 6 to 8 of us going. I am so excited! I miss him so much and I can't wait to see him. Being at Disney will just be icing on the cake! When our family started growing to the point that we no longer wanted to stay in one room, that's when we switched to SoG. For each of our stays, we got two adjoining rooms. The difference per night between 2 SoG rooms and 2 Disney deluxe rooms is truly staggering, and finally pushed me to try SoG. I'm happy we did. As for the buses, I am almost sure that the SoG buses can accomodate a scooter. I suggest you call the SoG front desk and talk to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynnG in Arizona Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 ps - the first time we went to SoG was after my DH returned from Afghanistan. It was such a fantastic trip, and a wonderful way to relax and reconnect as a family! Blessings to you and your family - I know how hard these deployments can be. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 And I'll add that we stayed at the French Quarter in January and both our rooms and the grounds were dirty (especially for what I've come to expect of Disney standards)! Our room was also very small. The food court was very good, but you're not necessarily going to be at the hotel all that much when at Disney - and there are plenty of other places to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We had only wonderful experiences with the SOG buses when we were there in Sept/Oct of last year. IIRC there were scooters/wheelchairs on the buses as well. A pp recommended calling the front desk and I'd agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie in tx Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 You all are great! I am waiting for him to come online this morning (this evening for him) and I will pass on all this information. I think it will make him think more about SOG. I am also going to check on the condo because there will be 6 to 8 of us going. I am so excited! I miss him so much and I can't wait to see him. Being at Disney will just be icing on the cake! When we went a couple of years ago, we used the Armed Forced Vacation Club to get a condo. It was $300 a week and there were no issues or problems with calls from people trying to market the condo. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if we weren't doing the dining plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLM Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We stayed at Shades of Green 2 weeks ago. The room was fantastic - lots of room for all of us and our stuff : ) I will say that the food was awful. We ate in the main restaurant once. The second time we went to pick up a pizza (which was pretty good) there was a group of people expressing their dissatisfaction rather loudly. We would stay again, though. Overall, it was a great experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsha Lynn Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 We stayed at SoG 4 years ago. We went down with my dad, who is retired military. We loved our trip and if ever given the option we would stay there again. For meals, we got breakfast sandwiches at the area right before the bus depot. Very well priced and were pretty good. We then took snacks for the park and ate dinner at one of the restaurants. We were only there for 4 days but had no issues whatsoever. We ate at the buffet, which was not horrible and we ate once at the other restaurant - not impressed with that one. Never ate at the Italian one. I think we made our dinner reservations through SoG - not sure because my dad had made them before we arrived. We combined this with a conference that my mom had to attend. Other friends of hers who attended the conference shared the cost for there trip and our crew was definitely staying much cheaper than any of the other people. I do hope you have a great time with your family and husband. We were there during an off peak time and we never had an issue with the buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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