SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Information & Questions

[drummerwife]

I have a question for those who have stayed recently, as it's been a few years since we were last at SOG and at the time this was not an issue for us.

We are planning a family trip for next December and my DW and I will have a 7 month old at the time, our first. We have no idea if she will still be nursing or on formula at that time and, honestly, we have no way of knowing that until much closer to. But, on a thread in the family section of the board, I noticed someone mention that when they took their child that was around 7 months old, they had a problem with the freezer in their room at an "on site" Disney resort. Basically, the freezer didn't actually get cold enough to freeze their ice packs so they couldn't keep milk cold for their baby for more than a couple of hours, necessitating several trips back to the room. It was apparently a problem with the model of fridge because even replacement units didn't help. My question is, do the freezers at SOG get cold enough that an ice pack will actually stay frozen through and keep cold for long enough that we could realistically be out from around 8-2, assuming our baby is up for that herself, or are we going to run into the same problem? First time parents here and we are just concerned already because of all of the other logistics that we know go into traveling with a child from reading and seeing family do so, and then we see something like that and it starts our imaginations up. We know this trip will be wildly different than any before, and we're fine with that, but at the same time if we're spending half the day going back and forth to the hotel just to feed and swap ice packs we might wait a little longer to go. Thanks for any help, and if anyone has any similar experiences staying recently with a baby about that age we'd love to know how it went.

All of the parks have baby care centers with either semi-private or private nursing rooms. If your wife is still nursing there’s no reason to return to the resort just to feed your beautiful daughter.

 

[fairestoneofall]

All of the parks have baby care centers with either semi-private or private nursing rooms. If your wife is still nursing there’s no reason to return to the resort just to feed your beautiful daughter.

Yes, this. I wanted to add that I am a more private person when it comes to nursing my babies in public. And I could always find a quiet, secluded spot if the Baby Care Centers were too far away from where I was at the time. The MK center is pretty centrally located. AK, Epcot and HS can all be a little inconvenient depending on where you are in the park.

I traveled with a three-month-old and (at another time) a six-month-old.

 

[Baron Hardup]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best way to get from SOG to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex? I'm thinking Uber/Lyft, but not sure if they can get past the gate?

 

[jeff_h]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best way to get from SOG to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex? I'm thinking Uber/Lyft, but not sure if they can get past the gate?

You can go to TTC and they probably have buses from there - but if you're going there for packet pickup, I'm going there on Friday afternoon - will send you PM.

 

[fairestoneofall]

Does anyone have recommendations for the best way to get from SOG to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex? I'm thinking Uber/Lyft, but not sure if they can get past the gate?

Are you going for the race expo? SOG will have buses to/from EPSN.

Uber/Lyft would definitely be able to get there also. They have a drop-off area. And really, anyone can park and visit the complex. I've both ridden buses from SOG to ESPN and I've driven and parked there myself.

 

[Baron Hardup]

Not for the race expo, for cheer competition in February. Didn't know SOG had buses to ESPN. Is that just for special events?

 

[fairestoneofall]

Not for the race expo, for cheer competition in February. Didn't know SOG had buses to ESPN. Is that just for special events?

I would check with SOG regarding bus service in that case. I do believe they have their schedule posted online.

If not, you can definitely use Uber/Lyft and get dropped off.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Super excited, we just booked our first SOG stay for September. Just found out about veterans rates in Jan/sept. My husband said he stayed here when he was young when it was Disney inn, so he’s excited to see it. I can’t believe the rate I got- cheaper than I pay at a moderate with my AP discount. Glad I found this thread so I can read up. Can anyone say approximately how long it takes/ how far to walk to the Polynesian? (Total from SOG building to ceremonial house) I’m getting a lot of mixed info online. SOG website says a 2 minute walk- but there’s no way. When we stayed at the Polynesian it took longer than 2 minutes to walk from our building to the ceremonial house.

 

[sadiemom]

Anyone have experience with this...
We are staying at SOG in June with my husband's extended family - a total of 4 rooms. My FIL is the eligible sponsor, so his name is on on 4 rooms. I added the rooms to My Disney Experience, but his name is the primary person on all 4 rooms, and I could not change it. I was able to link the remaining occupants in each room correctly, but one person is missing from each room since FIL is taking that spot. I called Disney, they said they can't make any changes to these reservations since SOG is government owned. My concern is making FP+ reservations 60 days out for everyone in our party, since some are not shown as staying at the resort. Disney assured me that since we are all linked as Friends and Family, we won't have any problems??
Has anyone been able to do this??

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Is anyone else having problems with their reservation dropping off of MDE? I saw that was a known issue since spring of last year while reading this thread but I had hoped it had resolved. It appears it has not as my reservation has dropped off 3-4 times in the past few days. We are quite a ways from our trip but I’m worried about securing fast passes when our window opens...

 

[livbeatles]

Super excited, we just booked our first SOG stay for September. Just found out about veterans rates in Jan/sept. My husband said he stayed here when he was young when it was Disney inn, so he’s excited to see it. I can’t believe the rate I got- cheaper than I pay at a moderate with my AP discount. Glad I found this thread so I can read up. Can anyone say approximately how long it takes/ how far to walk to the Polynesian? (Total from SOG building to ceremonial house) I’m getting a lot of mixed info online. SOG website says a 2 minute walk- but there’s no way. When we stayed at the Polynesian it took longer than 2 minutes to walk from our building to the ceremonial house.

I guess it would be less than 2 minutes when you're standing at the edge of Shades' property and walk across the street to the edge of the Polynesion property!

I just played with an online map, and it was pretty much exactly half a mile from the front entrance of SOG (where bell services are) to the side entrance to the Grand Ceremonial House, using the walking paths So just factor in your own walking speed from there. It takes my brother and I definitely less than 15 minutes to make the trip, but with my dad (who's an amputee) it takes a bit longer.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I guess it would be less than 2 minutes when you're standing at the edge of Shades' property and walk across the street to the edge of the Polynesion property!

I just played with an online map, and it was pretty much exactly half a mile from the front entrance of SOG (where bell services are) to the side entrance to the Grand Ceremonial House, using the walking paths So just factor in your own walking speed from there. It takes my brother and I definitely less than 15 minutes to make the trip, but with my dad (who's an amputee) it takes a bit longer.

Thanks!!! My husband, being a veteran, walks a pretty good speed. Which I’m sure is the case for everyone there. But I thought.... even him and my 70 yo dad, that is also a veteran and can outwalk me (I’m a runner), there’s no way that’s 2 minutes

 

[jeff_h]

Is anyone else having problems with their reservation dropping off of MDE? I saw that was a known issue since spring of last year while reading this thread but I had hoped it had resolved. It appears it has not as my reservation has dropped off 3-4 times in the past few days. We are quite a ways from our trip but I’m worried about securing fast passes when our window opens...

Yes, the same has been happening to me and so we have FP reservations for early March and I've been on MDE every day to see if the room and FP reservations are still there and have had to add the room reservation back on almost daily.

 

[jaz0308]

Is anyone else having problems with their reservation dropping off of MDE? I saw that was a known issue since spring of last year while reading this thread but I had hoped it had resolved. It appears it has not as my reservation has dropped off 3-4 times in the past few days. We are quite a ways from our trip but I’m worried about securing fast passes when our window opens...

Yes! I have a 2 dayvSOG stay before my poly stay and shades keeps dropping off. I called Disney and was told it’s a known problem and they put a note in my account about the problem so that if I lose any reservations they will reset them. I hope everyone who has this problem calls t help make it a priority for them to fix!

 

[masim]

I just had spinal surgery and am having many complications with nerve damage in my foot. I know that if I have to I can rent a scooter, but I really hope that won’t be necessary. We are not coming until August, but I have been told this could take up to 24 months to resolve. Would you recommend a room closer to the bus stop, or the path to the poly? We plan to go to all 4 parks plus the water parks. Would like to be in a refurbished room. Any specific room numbers?
Also, the shuttle to universal seems like a good deal, but is 6:30 pm the last return? I appreciate any information you can give me.

 

[Saltywardog]

I just had spinal surgery and am having many complications with nerve damage in my foot. I know that if I have to I can rent a scooter, but I really hope that won’t be necessary. We are not coming until August, but I have been told this could take up to 24 months to resolve. Would you recommend a room closer to the bus stop, or the path to the poly? We plan to go to all 4 parks plus the water parks. Would like to be in a refurbished room. Any specific room numbers?
Also, the shuttle to universal seems like a good deal, but is 6:30 pm the last return? I appreciate any information you can give me.

The Magnolia side has the new rooms, you can look at room numbers on the website but they will not guarantee any request. It was 40.00 a day last time i rented a scooter at shades.

 

[lala5176]

The Magnolia side has the new rooms, you can look at room numbers on the website but they will not guarantee any request. It was 40.00 a day last time i rented a scooter at shades.

Magnolia side for refurbished rooms. They are still working. Hallways can be a very long walk so I would ask for one close to an elevator. I would stay close to the buses. Poly is a long way in my opinion for being in a motorized scooter. Bus would be more convenient straight to the park.

 

[masim]

Thanks for the responses, appreciate it.

 

[Chelsey333]

Super excited, we just booked our first SOG stay for September. Just found out about veterans rates in Jan/sept. My husband said he stayed here when he was young when it was Disney inn, so he’s excited to see it. I can’t believe the rate I got- cheaper than I pay at a moderate with my AP discount. Glad I found this thread so I can read up. Can anyone say approximately how long it takes/ how far to walk to the Polynesian? (Total from SOG building to ceremonial house) I’m getting a lot of mixed info online. SOG website says a 2 minute walk- but there’s no way. When we stayed at the Polynesian it took longer than 2 minutes to walk from our building to the ceremonial house.

It took us about 10 minutes. Once at the Polenesian you still need to follow a curvy pathway, get into hotel, get thru busy lobby, up escalator, then walk thru top floor to doors of monorail. If you have stroller you need to take a busy elevator up. It’s not a super quick process and tiring to do often. We did do it often though

 

[wehrengrizz]

Is anyone else having problems with their reservation dropping off of MDE? I saw that was a known issue since spring of last year while reading this thread but I had hoped it had resolved. It appears it has not as my reservation has dropped off 3-4 times in the past few days. We are quite a ways from our trip but I’m worried about securing fast passes when our window opens...

I stayed at SOG in Sept and had my resort reservations drop almost every day. FP+ however was not an issue, but I DID make sure it was connected before booking FP+ ...which meant being up just a teeny bit earlier. Now I'll be back in a week (veteran, gotta make use of the Sept/Jan capability!) and my res has dropped every single day. I'm not making FP+ this time since we're just staying one night before a cruise and utilizing proximity to Trader Sam's at the Poly. But dang I had hoped it would be fixed by this point. Not surprised, just...I had hoped.