Shades of Green Question

[Rosemickey68]

We haven't stayed at SOG since 1999 and looking at many posts on here the bus transportation hasn't gotten any better.
We are going 12/23 to 12/29 and taking in the consideration of the crowds expected...is it better to drive our car to the parks or walk to the polynesian and take the Disney transportation???? If I remember right it only took about 10 minutes to walk to the Poly from SOG. Of course one of our crew is worried about walking back at night from the Poly to SOG because of alligators!?! What do you guys think???

[Quasimodo]

I wouldn't worry about the alligators. I've been to WDW over 30 times and have only seen one wild alligator. It was swimming in the Rivers of America near BTRR in MK. I know there are more around, but as long as you don't go down in the canals, you will be fine.

[wdwfansince75]

Based on several stays, including one after Christmas.....

Going to MK...best to walk to Poly....from MK....monorail to TTC, bus from TTC to SoG....use resorts monorail to TTC....

to EPCOT, bus to TTC, monorail to EPCOT...from EPCOT, Monorail and SoG bus from TTC...

For Studios and AK.....drive to and from.

[Marilyn Michetti]

I don't know where SOG got their bad "rep" for bus service. They run on a schedule, and even if you're on board ten minutes ahead, the bus isn't going to move until they say it will. Just be there when they are scheduled to leave.

If you're going to AK or MGM, they leave starting at 7:30, (I think), and they've added service to DD.

As far as alligators, there was one in the pond in Jan. of 2000, and DH tried and tried to get a good pic. The guard finally told him to "stop messing with the poor thing", because they can go from sleeping to 35 mph VERY quickly. The fact is, they don't want to see us any more than we want to be bothered by them. You have a better chance of being run over by the monorail than chased by a gator. I hear they're removed if too big.:D

[Rosemickey68]

Thanks for advice!
Unfortunately we did have a bad experience with the SOG transportation. When planning an enjoyable trip I like to weigh all of my options...we may try the SOG bus to see if it has improved.Last time we used the SOG bus, most of the drivers were unfriendly, often rude, and they were not on time...One example, we waited over an hour for the bus to show up at AK and this was during the off-season in 2003. Of course I try to give people the benefit of doubt...so we may give it another try...but I will always have a back up plan.

[Marilyn Michetti]

I think things got better with the renovation. They had CM's outside with clipboards and a countdown clock to make sure the busses left ontime.

I hope SOG can make up for the bad experience you might have had. As you noted, it's a short walk to the Poly, and they have a golf cart that runs back and forth up the hill for folks that need a ride.:thumbsup:

[wdwfansince75]

I think things got better with the renovation. They had CM's outside with clipboards and a countdown clock to make sure the busses left ontime.

I hope SOG can make up for the bad experience you might have had. As you noted, it's a short walk to the Poly, and they have a golf cart that runs back and forth up the hill for folks that need a ride.:thumbsup:

Second that! We were there over July 4, and only had one problem with the buses....One family was extremely inconsiderate, and caused the bus from AK to SoG to be delayed about 30 minutes....but we were at Disney, and soon had the Magic restored.

We hate to become slaves to the clock while at Disney, so the flexibility of driving to the Studios and AK fits our style....the Bus stop at AK particularly is a negative....a bit of a walk, across the parking lot, and out in the open....since we usually go in the summer, and leave AK early, our own car makes sense to us.

The walk to/from the Poly is short and pleasant....but we also used the bus to/from the TTC, and the Monorails.....we all love the Monorail....actually consider it an attraction in itself. As close to a "Must Do" as we have. Once met with DS#2 for dinner at Kona Cafe while he was on spring break, and I was on a business trip to Orlando....We couldn't resist a ride on the monorail after dinner.

Surely a military family has experienced real problems from military travel....case in point.... after a 2 month delay because the services messed up reservations and sent tickets and passports to wrong location, DW and DS#1, then 1 yr old, departed the east coast enrout to join me in Japan...enroute, they were diverted to Wake (yeah, Wake Island) for the night....12 hour weather delay....no food, no milk, bags left on airplane....arrived at Yakota AB 18 hours behind schedule....and 36 hours after leaving east coast. A 10-15 minute wait for a bus is nothing compared to events routinely faced by military families!

A bad day at Disney is better than a good day at....(fill in the blank)....

[mudpuppysmom]

I've tried the SOG busses and I can't do it......DS and I were there last December and tried to use the bus. We waited and waited on the bus one day, finally DS said we should drive, so we did and beat the bus to the park and we were going in when the bus pulled up, so while it was not a large margin, we did get there before the bus (to AK). Another day we waited and waited for the bus to come (with a LOT of other people) and once again DS said we should drive, so we did that day too.

As mentioned, the bus runs on a schedule and they do not deviate -- case in point: one night we were at MVMCP and DS was just done, so at the TTC we opted for the bus instead of walking back from the Poly (we had walked over and caught the monorail going to MK). The bus was PACKED and I mean PACKED and the bus driver did not leave until it was time to leave even though the bus was obviously not able to take on any additional passengers! That one stumped me; why would you wait when you know it's midnight and the bus is packed with people and no more can fit!

We always drive to MGM, AK and most of the time Epcot. From time to time we drive to MK too, but it is easier to walk over to the Poly and two stops later you are at MK.

The resort is beautiful and you can't beat the price of the rooms......not using the bus to me is one of the only drawbacks I can think of, the other being no airport transportation.

You are going to have a good time no matter what -- it's DISNEY!!

[Tigger's Mom]

My bus experience on my trips has been fine. That said, my DS (5 yrs old) doesn't always want to wait, so we've done the walk to the Poly or even the TTC. I try to time our arrival at the bus stop with the schedule. This is easier to do from the room than the park however. Enjoy your vacation!!

[jrpersinger]

We had a few bad experiences with trans on our last trip in June. One night the bus at MGM never came! By time it did arrive, there were so many people waiting that not everyone could fit. They said they were "held up" at the resort. No other explination and they were very rude with that one. We had several experiences where the bus didn't leave from the resorts on time also. The drivers seemed really snappy. Only one that was nice was a older man. We were very disappointed. We had even considered switching resorts because of this. But in the long run, we decided based on price and the size of the rooms it was silly to do it. Esp considering our previous trips we had no issues with trans. Even when we were there during New Years 04'-05'.

For our trip next June, we are requesting rooms near the parking garage. Even tho they said they can't promise we will get them. And we will be driving our own POV to the parks or walking to the Poly!

Also, about the gators. In June, the only gator we seen was around the back walkway going from the new section to Evergreens and he wasn't in the water. We kept looking for the one in the pond beside the gate, but never seen it. I wonder if he wasn't relocated?

[vamaggie]

While we have never stayed at SOG I too am not a fan of buses. Still, if you are at SOG could you not walk to Poly and get a bus to AK/MGM? And in reverse, take a Poly bus from AK/MGM and then walk about to SOG? If the SOG buses do not run as frequently could you not use the Poly (or CR for that matter) buses and then walk back to SOG?

[jrpersinger]

While we have never stayed at SOG I too am not a fan of buses. Still, if you are at SOG could you not walk to Poly and get a bus to AK/MGM? And in reverse, take a Poly bus from AK/MGM and then walk about to SOG? If the SOG buses do not run as frequently could you not use the Poly (or CR for that matter) buses and then walk back to SOG?

That is what we actually ended up doing the most. Using the Poly trans. SOGs trans the week we were there was really a nightmare! We tried for our first 3 days, but we finally just decided it was becoming a waste of time.

But as I said before, I can't say thats the norm being we have had good experience with it before.

[wdwfansince75]

Also note that the park to park buses between MK and AK or Studios now run from/to TTC. Don't know how crowded they are, but believe they run about every 20 minutes.

[Von-Drake]

It's interesting, everytime we have stayed at SOG, we have used the bus to go to Studios and Animal Kingdom, but for some reason always tend to come back via the monorail to Poly. We have never planned it that way, just the way it turns out. Never even thought about it till now. :mickey: