SHADES OF GREEN at Walt Disney World Resort Information & Questions

[ConnecticutFlea]

Whoops.....I wasn't finished when I accidentally hit the *post* button.
Other disadvantages: you can't use the magical express. If you have a car, you need to pay a daily rate at SOG. If you drive to the parks you need to pay parking.

There is no Disney Theme. There is no food court. There is a restaurant, a quick service counter, a sports bar with food, and you can get Starbucks coffee and ice cream in the lobby.

The bus to AK or HS only comes once an hour.

Now to the advantages. The rooms are oversized. Depending on your rank, the rooms can be reasonable. There is no tax on the room or the tickets. There is a discount on the tickets.

You can go to EMH.

The buses come on a schedule. You know exactly when they are leaving SOG or AK or HS. That's great if you plan accordingly. If you want to go to or from AK or HS at other times, you can hop on a Poly bus. It takes about 7 minutes to walk to the Poly from SOG. The bus leaves SOG every 20 minutes for Ticket and transportation center where you take the monorail to Epcot or MK.

It's quiet there. After a whole day of Disney, it's nice to escape to a quiet resort. When you come home late at night the bus drops you off right by the door....there is no walking along twisting paths in the dark like there is in some of the Disney resorts.

I think you can take advantages of any other specials since friends and family that travel with me can. You can call SOG and ask. You can't buy alcohol in the exchange, but you can buy anything else there, like water, soda, snacks, etc. The exchange is more reasonably priced then Disney. You can buy alcohol in the restaurant or the sports bar.

I have stayed at Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary, Port Orleans Riverside, Coronado Springs, and Caribbean Beach. I love SOG and prefer to stay there.

 

[BabyTigger99]

Just back from a stay from November 6 - 12. Had a wonderful time as always!!! Got pizza at Evergreen's quite a bit, which was decent. My son LOVED the chicken wings from there. Ate at the buffet twice for dinners. One night was good, the second night was just okay. We love the quietness and the location. And you can't beat the prices in the Exchange!

 

[CaleCakes]

Does anyone know how big the fridge in the room is? We will be stopping at the market on the way from the airport to pick up a few fruits and mostly milk for our 16 month old. Is it a small cube fridge or the next sized up kind? Will it hold a fee half gallons of milk? We have a standard room if that makes a difference.

 

[rachdd]

Does anyone know how big the fridge in the room is? We will be stopping at the market on the way from the airport to pick up a few fruits and mostly milk for our 16 month old. Is it a small cube fridge or the next sized up kind? Will it hold a fee half gallons of milk? We have a standard room if that makes a difference.

I feel like it is larger than a cube. It will definitely hold a half gallon of milk in the door.

 

[crazylady]

Does anyone know how big the fridge in the room is? We will be stopping at the market on the way from the airport to pick up a few fruits and mostly milk for our 16 month old. Is it a small cube fridge or the next sized up kind? Will it hold a fee half gallons of milk? We have a standard room if that makes a difference.

Honestly, I'd just buy the milk at the exchange. You never know how long it will take you to check in and get to your room. Even when things went smoothly, I felt like our milk spoiled.

 

[CaleCakes]

Honestly, I'd just buy the milk at the exchange. You never know how long it will take you to check in and get to your room. Even when things went smoothly, I felt like our milk spoiled.

I didn't even think about the milk spoiling, that's a good point. Do you think they have while milk in the exchange? We coukd always check in and then go back out to the store. We have the car the whole week.

 

[picatinny]

I didn't even think about the milk spoiling, that's a good point. Do you think they have while milk in the exchange? We coukd always check in and then go back out to the store. We have the car the whole week.

They have White in various sizes and also chocolate in smaller sizes.

 

[CaleCakes]

They have White in various sizes and also chocolate in smaller sizes.

Sorry that was supposed to say "whole" not "while". I'll see what they have and go to the stop if necessary. Thank you for the responses.

 

[DrewJamShells]

Hi there! We are making a trip in January and I am curious if anyone has posted a listing of the grocery items the store sells inside SOG. Specifically looking for almond milk, Honey Nut Cheerios, fruit and any gluten free items. Contemplating whether to utilize grocery service or if I can get away with just using the store. Any other gluten free visitors who have tips on restaurants? Also, is there still a microwave in the laundry room (it's been a few years since we last visited). Thanks so much!

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

SOG has gluten free bread in the express cafe. They have gluten free pasta in Manginos. You can ask for gluten free pancakes in the Garden Gallery, but I tried them once and they weren't very good. The chef will come out at the buffet and tell you what items are gluten free.

The exchange has only a small area for groceries. I have never looked for almond milk or cheerios.

And Disney is absolutely wonderful about gluten free anything. The GF red velvet cupcakes in Sprinkles in Disney Springs are really good. They make GF beignets at PORFQ. You can get gluten free fried chicken at 50's Prime time but you have to stop in and request it an hour before your reservation because it takes so long to prepare.

 

[firstwdw]

Hi there! We are making a trip in January and I am curious if anyone has posted a listing of the grocery items the store sells inside SOG. Specifically looking for almond milk, Honey Nut Cheerios, fruit and any gluten free items. Contemplating whether to utilize grocery service or if I can get away with just using the store. Any other gluten free visitors who have tips on restaurants? Also, is there still a microwave in the laundry room (it's been a few years since we last visited). Thanks so much!

I can't help as we have yet to stay at SOG but we are a gluten free family and will be staying there in April. If you remember, could you PLEASE update your gluten free experience at SOG when you get back? I did call and speak to their head chef(I think that's who they put me in contact with) and he assured me they can do many dishes gluten free but didn't give any specifics. HAVE FUN!

Oh also, we have done Disney before gluten free, just not SOG. The Disney restaurants are FABULOUS!!! We have been very pleased and always found something, even the picky gluten free kid!

 

[DrewJamShells]

Thanks for the responses! @ConnecticutFlea - you rock! I will report back after visiting. I'm excited that the Express Cafe has GF bread - we frequented the cafe on our last visit. Thanks again!

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

Thanks for the responses! @ConnecticutFlea - you rock! I will report back after visiting. I'm excited that the Express Cafe has GF bread - we frequented the cafe on our last visit. Thanks again!

You're welcome! I was diagnosed with Celiac in 1994. I spend at least one week a year at SOG. I was there in April, May, and October this year. BTW the express cafe is under new ownership.

The following web sites are great for information on gluten free options at Disney:
glutenfreedairyfreewdw.com and Gluten Free in Orlando. Alexis who writes Gluten Free in Orlando has moved and is no longer in Florida, but there is a lot of good info still on her site.

 

[rteetz]

Shades of Green is going to be renovated supposedly starting in the first quarter of 2017. The project will cost $40+ million and will include renovation of the magnolia building interior, re-roofing, and new exterior painting of the entire resort. The project will happen in 3 phases and take 19 months overall.

 

[jaz0308]

Shades of Green is going to be renovated supposedly starting in the first quarter of 2017. The project will cost $40+ million and will include renovation of the magnolia building interior, re-roofing, and new exterior painting of the entire resort. The project will happen in 3 phases and take 19 months overall.

Oh wow! Thank you for sharing the info!

 

[Tiffer]

Does anyone know how big the fridge in the room is? We will be stopping at the market on the way from the airport to pick up a few fruits and mostly milk for our 16 month old. Is it a small cube fridge or the next sized up kind? Will it hold a fee half gallons of milk? We have a standard room if that makes a difference.

I can't buy a bottle of wine at the resort?

 

[Ladyfish77]

I can't buy a bottle of wine at the resort?

Yes the shoppette at SoG sells beer, wine and spirits!

 

[firstwdw]

Shades of Green is going to be renovated supposedly starting in the first quarter of 2017. The project will cost $40+ million and will include renovation of the magnolia building interior, re-roofing, and new exterior painting of the entire resort. The project will happen in 3 phases and take 19 months overall.

WOW! I really hope this doesn't affect our mid-April 2017 stay. This has me a bit nervous but we don't have any other options and were excited to stay here. Really hope the pools are not closed for this etc.
Will be awesome when complete though!

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

They are always renovating something at SOG.
They have been renovating the Palm building for the last few years. They take a group of rooms out of service at a time. If you don't happen to walk by those rooms you wouldn't notice the renovations. I wasn't there when they changed the carpet and wallpaper in the hall, so I don't know what impact that had.
I was there when they were redoing the floor on the lower level. The park buses picked up on the upper level during that time and the express cafe was closed.
The pools were renovated a few years back. I don't think this will impact the pools.

 

[VAfamily1998]

WOW! I really hope this doesn't affect our mid-April 2017 stay. This has me a bit nervous but we don't have any other options and were excited to stay here. Really hope the pools are not closed for this etc.
Will be awesome when complete though!

Yes--we are also staying there in mid April, only doing one park day and were counting on a relaxing "pool day."