Shades of Green?

[anniem8]

Hi! My daughter and her husband are both Active Duty Army. He is deploying to Afghanistan the day after Christmas for 6 months; she is deploying in May for 6 months. They have 3 kids: 7, 3 and 2. They've decided to go to WDW for about a week in the first part of December in order to celebrate the holiday without quite as much stress thinking about the upcoming deployments. They have just decided they are definitely doing this and of course the first question is 'Where to stay?' They are thinking of looking into Shades of Green. What are your thoughts?

[Drince88]

I've heard decent things about it - though I don't know how quickly it fills up. I don't believe DME is an option, so it would require alternate transportation from the airport (if they're flying).

One thing that I think is really cool is that the room rate is dependent on your military rank, so the more junior you are, the less expensive the room is!

It has separate transportation to the parks, which is maybe not quite as convinient as Disney's transportation - but I hear some rooms are near enough the Poly to use the transportation there.

Thanks to them for their service -- Are you going to have the kids with you while they're both deployed? If so (and even not) Thanks to YOU for your support of them!

[anniem8]

Thank you so much for the response! I'm having a hard time finding info on it online. I'm sure the Post has info available for my daughter. I'd personally love to see them in one of the family suites at A.of A.! Those look gorgeous! But, as with everyone, money is an issue. And, yes! I will have my grands during the 'overlap' of their deployments. This isn't the first time they've had to deal with this but it's always hard. Thank you for recognizing that!

[Drince88]

Shades of green has its own website. Shadesofgreen.org

[Disneyfundaddy4]

Shades of Green is a wonderful place to stay. I am active duty and my family has stayed there three times. It is a little challengeing using the buses to the resort but you can take a bus to the TTT and then use the WDW buses. It is also only about a five minute walk to the Poly where you can catch the monorail. The walk is shorter if the bell hops are not busy as they have a golf cart that can take you to the end of the entrance road then you cross the street and you are at the Poly. It is also nice as they have a small convience store (PX) with snacks and drinks right in the Shades. They also have a Tickets and tours counter where you can buy park tickets to WDW and the other amusement parks in the area. the rooms are very big and having five in a room would not be cramped. They have two queen beds and the sofa turns in to a single. They have tow or three restraunts which when comparing to the cost of meals on Disney property really is well priced. I will ask my wife to post more as she is the planner for our trips I am the driver.

[yellowrosedtxn]

We stayed at Shades of Green in 2010. It was a nice hotel and the walk to the Poly is a short walk away. In the morning, the kids will really enjoy the pond and the chance to see alligators (though I don't know if they will be out in December) but they will probably want to grab the Shade busses in the evenings. There are bus schedules available during their stay, so you know about when the busses will run for each park. The Shades of Green grounds are really pretty to see. Lots of picture taking opportunities. No matter what, their family will have a lot of fun. And as others have said, please thank them for their service (from one vet to another). And thank you for your support.

[DisneyFunFamily4]

Looks like my DH already posted but I will add to it. We have stayed at SoG three time, two of those times were at Christmas time. The value for what you pay is excellent and the location is great. We have in the past driven to WDW so airport transportation is not an issue. but Drince is right you cant use magical express to and from the airport so you have to arrange your own transportation. I think they charge $5 a day for parking if you do have a vehical. We have stayed at quite a few of the Deluxe resrots and one moderate, we have loved them all. We are always extremely happy it SoG. the location is great, the walk to the Poly is very easy and the "shady shuttle" has always been available when we wanted to take it to the end of the driveway. the rooms are huge, they have a coffee maker and fridge. if you need a microwave you have to go to the laundry room. we have always stayed in the "new" section which is closer to the parking garage. The beds are comfy and it's nice to get a ground floor room so the kids can run around in the grass. They transportation isn't to hard to figure out. We did get confused one night trying to get back from the MK we tried to take a bus to SoG but quickly figured out we had to take a the monorail or boat to TTC and then the bus to SoG. it was 2am and the girls didn't want to walk back from the poly. Oh and you have access to EMH when staying at SoG too!

Have they checked the military rates for the disney resorts? it sounds like they are going early enough in dec that they should be available. We've done a split stay before and Disney will move your bags to SoG for you. On thing nice about SoG is no tax. And like my DH said the PX is nice to have for inexpensive snacks, drinks etc. They do have a nice Christmas tree at SoG at Christmas time. Oh and they have a coffee cart that serves Starbucks coffee. Have I mentioned Location? LOL! I highly recommend SoG. We sponsored our friends (HannahBelle here on MP) last Christmas and they were pleasantly surprised. Her DH mentioned that he was a little leery about staying at a military resort but they really enjoyed it. Our very first trip to WDW we stayed two nights at Wilderness lodge and then moved to SoG (wilderness lodge is probably my fav WDW resort) but we were not disappointed with the move. you can google Shades of Green reviews on Trip Advisor too.

[scoobydooby]

I was amazed at how close SoG was to the Poly when we visited the Poly on our last trip. Looks like you could easily walk to the Poly from there to use their transport to me.

[TinaMouse]

I thought the same thing, Scoob!