Can anyone tell me about the ammenities at Shades of Green?

[Mickey91]

I have a friend whose husband is serving in Kuwait. He will hopefully be home soon and they are wanting to take the kids to Disney. I can help her with everything if she stays at one of the Disney owned properties. But, if they decide to stay at Shades of Green I don't know what all they get. Do they still get to utilize EMH? What about the DDP? If they don't get these things, what are the incentives for staying there versus the regular Disney resorts? Any help would be appreciated as this is their first trip to the World and I want it to be as magical as possible!

[BronxTigger]

Incentives: huge rooms, low cost. You are staying across the street from the Poly for the price of a Value. Also, there are no taxes anywhere on property...including the park tickets you can purchase there.

DDP: no
DME: no
EMH: yes
Package delivery: yes
Room charging: not in parks, yes at SOG
Combine room key and park ticket: no

[Goes4FastPass]

Tigger!

What an excellent and to the point reply!

[mudpuppysmom]

Also to note.....
$5 per day to park if you have a car with you.

There is no Disney 24/7 theming......only a Mickey statue in the lobby is about it, which can be a plus or minus.

It really is a nice place to relax after deployment and no one knows who is who there as no one wears a uniform! Everyone is there for the same reason -- family vacation!

[wdwfansince75]

Going to SoG in June....No better place for price.....Love the early walk to the Poly to catch the Monorail....can hear the train and the howl....

Grounds are beautiful, and well maintained....

On site convenience store provides lowest cost beer, wine, and other adult beverages at PX rates.....plus military themed Disney apparel...

Evergreens is one of best counter service resturants on site, and never seems to be crowded. Buffet (theme changes day to day) provides lower cost buffet breakfast and dinner....Service is very good, and facility is very clean, and uncluttered.

Transportation is not great, but has been reliable for us....Buses stop right in front of the hotel, on the loser level....Exit from the hotel is through a counter service and coffee bar......great grab and go for early risers....Bus Stops at parks are further than those for WDW resorts, but manageable.....a dedicated bus runs frequently between the resort and the Transportation and ticket center, and the Poly is a short walk away....so EPCOT and MK are a piece of cake. Plan ahead, and be patient for Studios and AK. Think about driving for those two parks.

There is a great Ice Cream parlor on site, and for the golf nuts, the Club House for two courses is on the lower level of the Hotel....

The rooms are great...larger than contemporary....two queens, sofa bed, and table and chairs, plus refrigerator in room.....Bathrooms are seperated...dual sink vanity, with lots of counter space in one room, and comode and tub in seperate room.

Several laundry rooms, and also has valet service. Housekeeping is good and through.

Now has room service...DW adn I had great breakfast, at reasonable price, on visit in May. Haven't tried for other meals, but prices and choices seemed better than most similar resorts. Definitely lower than Contemporary!

For the young military family, it is a cut above what they usually have to settle for. Comparing it to the WDW Deluxe resorts ignores the financial realities of most young military families. It is far superior in style, substance, and location to anything within the similar price range.

[BronxTigger]

Originally Posted by Goes4FastPass

Tigger!

What an excellent and to the point reply!

Thanks!

wdwfansince75 provided a nice "expanded" version for you. I agree with what was said about the transportation. One nice thing though about is is that the buses run on a strict schedule, so you can plan what time to get to the bus stop, on the lower level.

I forgot to add....I have photos from my SOG room on my homepage (click on my name).

[mudpuppysmom]

I just remembered this little tidbit from last week.......

We came "home" one night and our room was infested with ladybugs.....we were in Room 170, basically as far back from the lobby as you can get, and as I am having contractions I march to the front dest after a phone call was not answered. When I get to the front desk they are all occupied and when it was my turn (I also had forgotten a bag I had sent, so I asked for that first), I hit the guy with "we have a problem with our room"....his reply, "and what is that?"....I told him we had an infestation of ladybugs and he looked at me like I had just asked him for the honeymoon suite for free or something! He questioned me on it and my cousins wife was with me and confirmed that indeed there were dozens of ladybugs in our room all over the ceiling and walls! He called housekeeping who had no idea what to do; he called maintenance who had no idea what to do -- they suggest calling housekeeping. Well, I told him if they sprayed I could not stay in the room as I was pregnant -- he replied there was "no room at the inn". I told him firmly that he had to put me somewhere and he once again just said "there are no rooms". I said "I suggest you call Disney overflow then and I'm not paying more than what my rate here is either". He went in the back and magically a room appeared in inventory -- directly above the room we were in, which upon checking before moving our things was -----infested with ladybugs also!! The guy was just flustered at this point and when we went back down to our original room there were two men (we were not informed they were coming either) picking the ladybugs off the walls by hand and putting them in bags! Yep, that was the remedy. My DH was a little disgusted by this and said "let's go somewhere"......mind you it is 10pm and we have a toddler who is basically falling asleep.....so we didn't go far--to the POLY for a Dole Whip and a coffee. The guy at the front desk informed me that the night manager would be in touch with me within the hour (this was at 9 pm)....at 11 pm we returned to our room without ever hearing from the night manager. The next morning I marched to the front desk once again and demanded to speak to the morning manager -- who would not come out and see me. The nice man who I dealt with the night before was still there and he just looked at me and grinned.....also of note is that the previous night my cousin made a remark about how "this is Disney and customer service is number one with Disney isn't it?" I looked at her and said, "this isn't disney, it's the military"....the guy just looked at her and said "WE'RE NOT DISNEY"......no they are not, Disney would have moved us immediately to a room that was not infested.....Disney would have more than likely upgraded us to a bigger room (not guaranteed, but I'd guess this).

The next day when the morning manager finally got back to me (she had until noon and then I was going back to the hotel and she was coming out, or bail money was going to be needed!). She said they were moving us to a different room and would comp us half the cost of the room for the previous night. Well, the new room was smaller and much louder (the next two days I was awoken to "where's my passport" at 6 am and "can we go on Buzz now mom" and 6:45 am the next morning......I'm not happy and a letter is in the works, but I feel it will fall on deaf ears.

The point of this diatribe is that you should not expect the same service that one might expect at Diseny, because SOG is not a Disney owned property after all.....it is an MWR run through the military.

Sorry for the vent........and I must say that we have stayed here numerous times and never had a problem, but when we did encounter this problem it was not really taken care of how I would have liked it to be.

[Genie1953]

I have never stayed there, but my daughter and her family stayed there last may/june for 10 days and loved it. They had heard that the buses ran a bit slower than the Disney property buses but she said it didn't matter much because they usually walked over to the Poly for transportation. If I remember right I think she also said there is a buffet at SOG that is pretty good. As already reported...the rooms are large and roomy. Plenty of room for my daughter and her family.
I am sure your friend already knows about this but she can go through the military to book her vacation. My daughter saved hundreds of dollars for her family of 4. I believe there was some kind of special vacation package for the guys who were home on mid-tour leave or just back from deployment so she took advantage of it.

[Crow]

ive stayed there before once, and end of Feb will b there again. I agree w most of the above.
walk to Poly, dont use the buses unless you have to & dont mind waiting.
the buffet is a good deal
no tax is great.
the rooms are like a deluxe but better somewhat. & the cost is a lot less

[Mickey91]

Thanks guys! This will help me out a lot when sharing info with my friend.

[Von-Drake]

We never had a bad experience when we have stayed there. And we love the close proximity to the Poly for monorail transportation.