Saturday, March 22, 2008

Opinions









It was great and on time. As you make your way to the bus there is an Express Cafe to pick up coffee, drinks and snacks. At the transportation center SOG has one of the first spots for drop off/pickup which is a great bonus! No extra walking from the parking lot.

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We used the Mickey shaped pool (outside of Evergreens)2 of the 3 days we were there. It was very warm and the kids loved it. They have complimentary towels too poolside.

Transportation was provided with shuttle buses to the Magic Kingdom via the Transportation Center every fifteen minutes, and direct service to the other parks on a less frequent basis. If you miss a direct bus, it is possible to catch a bus to the Transportation Center and take one of the Disney buses to the other parks. We spent most of our time at Magic Kingdom, so we usually walked over to the Polynesian Resort and used the monorail. As others have mentioned, you can also use the Shady Shuttle from the lobby to the end of the drive and walk a short distance to the monorail.

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Wow! What a great place to stay if you are military or DOD. We absolutely loved this place and plan to return next year. My husband and I stayed here with our 3 children ages 11, 3 and 1. There are 2 queen beds and a sleeper sofa. They will also provide a full size crib if needed. There are fridges in all rooms free of charge.
The room itself is huge. I have stayed at the Contemporary and the Polynesian and the rooms at Shades are bigger. With 5 of us in the room, we weren't even close to tripping over each other. The bathroom is also large. Instead of leaving the complimentary shampoos and soaps, they have dispensers in the shower.
We also had a beautiful view of the golf coarse. Even the balcony is large!
The setup of the hotel is a little confusing. It took us a couple of days to figure out how to get back and forth to the lobby.

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Shades of Green is across the street from the Polynesian. We walked over to the Polynesian and picked up the monorail. You can also ask for their shuttle(a glorified large golf cart) and it will take you to the end of the property. This reduces your walk time. Probably about a 5 minute walk from there. The total walk is probably 20 if you don't use the shuttle. They do have buses but we didn't use them.

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The best value and service was at Evergreens. We ate there three times and were never disappointed. The lobby and facilities were generally very nice, though not "Disney-ish". Those who have stayed in a Disney-owned property know what I mean: those special Disney touches everywhere; from mouse-ear pats of butter, to character appearances. The biggest selling point of this hotel is that it is on Disney property in an ideal location. You can take a short walk to the Polynesian and ride the the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We loved this feature. We also enjoyed the restaurants at the Polynesian, eating breakfast and dinner at the Kona Cafe. Fabulous!!!! The bottom line is, with Disney charging $300-400 a night for the next-door-neighbor Polynesian Resort, a rate of little over $100 a night makes the Shades of Green a bargain. Just don't expect a luxurious resort, and you'll be happy.

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