tjm6515
Registered: May 2009
Location: Jax, FL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Sat March 2, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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price, large room
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Cons:
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lack of themeing, check in staff rude, rooms TOO quiet
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Stayed 3 nights for PHM weekend. Looks as if SOG is staying tidier than last visits, actually see people cleaning/picking up common areas. The AAFES store has also moved to a smaller location, very cramped and not much amenities as before!
The only negative aspects was we tried to go to bed early for a 5 A.M. wake up, the rooms are so quiet and the halls like echo chambers that when rude guests come into the hotel late at night, they woke us up! Also, the front desk staff seemed rude at check in, no friendly smile, and brief, felt like I was a bother to them.
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momof3inMadisonAL
Registered: December 2009
Location: Niceville, FL
Posts: 67
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Review Date: Tue January 22, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Huge rooms
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Cons:
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Food, parking
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Third stay. Booked 4 days out for Long Lost Friends. We usually get 2 rooms in values but only suites available with military or FL discount so SoG was $60 per night cheaper this holiday weekend. Usually Disney rates are cheaper than SoG for our pay grade. We were going to MK for a day so this was preferable to staying off property.
In March we had a large room with a big bathroom - double vanity. This time we had a much smaller bathroom. One sink and not a separate room for toilet. Only towels for 4 but our maid was observant and noticed we had 5. We didn't have plastic cups though. Only two coffee cups and two drink cups. It was such a short trip we didn't bring our own Solo cups for kids to drink out of. I do like that they have Starbucks coffee here but food was so bad in 2008 when we stayed, that I don't want to try again.
Ticket office closed too early and opened too late for us to take advantage of it. (our local ITT office was out of the ticket type that we needed).
Stay in March was furthest from parking, but not quite as far this time. I much prefer to be near garage since we usually drive to parks if not walking to Polynesian to catch monorail. .
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jude1114
Registered: November 2006
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Sun September 16, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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large room, proximity to MK, shuttle service
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Cons:
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FOOD!
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This is our second stay at SOG. Our first was with our three kids in '06 and this time just my husband and me. Check in was seemless, had our room ready at 2pm when we arrived. We were put on the parking garage side, which seems more 'dated' then the other side. Not sure why that is. Room was/is clean and housekeeping has been great this past week. Employees are friendly. I do think the resort overall needs a bit of a face lift, new furniture in lobby area would be nice. The plastic stuff really needs to go. As does the large rug, it really has seen better days and is the same one they had 6 years ago. But, that's petty stuff. We don't mind the long walks, heck, if you don't want to walk then why are you at WDW to begin with? lol The bus' are great, never a problem there. We did use Poly transportation quite often though. Overall the resort is great for larger families who cannot afford the Disney resorts. But, for us, we have decided we will stay at the Poly or Contemporary on future stays. The reasons for this are, #1, food choices. We ordered room service, ate the buffet breakfast and ate at Mangino's. All were absolutely horrible. Beyond horrible. From cold food, over cooked food and just bad quality food. We tried the pizza at Mangino's and it wasn't even as good as a frozen pizza, you can read my review of that as well on TA. Very poor quality ingredients. This morning I ordered scrambled eggs with my room service and i got a VERY over cooked omlete looking thing. Very disappointed in the food here. It really is important to us to have quality food available to us in our resorts on those occasions we dont feel like going out. We did have breakfast over at the Poly one morning (counter service) and it was fantastic. As were the surroundings. Very lush with music playing softly. No music here at SOG. At the end of the day, this resort is great for older retiree's (many, many more retirees over 60, outweighing those of us in our 40's and younger), families who are on a tighter budget, and you really can't beat the location and size of rooms. Oh, one last comment, the beds are very firm, so if you are not a firm bed person you may want to bring a topper.
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Mandi115
Registered: August 2012
Location: CT
Posts: 7
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Review Date: Sun August 5, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Value, location, room size
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Cons:
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Lack of theming, housekeeping could be better
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We are so fortunate to have this amenity in our beloved WDW. The rooms are enormous (enough for all those souvenirs), and yes, the toiletries are very basic; however, the AAFES store is right there. I don't even bother packing liquids because they are dirt cheap at SOG and a million times more convenient than bringing them through the airport.
The food at all of the restaurants has been consistently good, but not enough to pull me away from the popular park restaurants.
I have found the bus service to be quite easy, if only not as frequent as I had hoped. It is a lovely stroll to the Poly, especially at night, to make use of their more frequent transportation options and restaurants.
I do wish that SOG would offer a shuttle service, free or not, to the airport. We have used Sunstate Limo several times and have found it to be very reliable. It's $120 plus tip round trip.
The prices at SOG vary based on your rank; however, they do NOT vary seasonally like WDW resorts and there is no tax. We were lucky enough to get a 1/2 price special....can you imagine staying right across the street from MK for $47 a night?
Overall, I highly recommend SOG for our Armed Forces and their families. Yes, there are some things that could use some freshening up, or other amenities that could be offered, but paying for these things piecemeal is still a tremendous savings over a WDW package.
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tjm6515
Registered: May 2009
Location: Jax, FL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Tue July 24, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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price, location
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Cons:
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24 hour pool, warm & llimy P\pool water, decor
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Decided to give SOG a try again as they were a few bucks cheaper than the WDW moderate resorts. We stayed one night for a weekend getaway. At check in they originally they assigned us a poolside room. I asked how late the pool was open and was told 24 HOURS with quiet time from 10 PM to 6 AM. Thankfully I requested to be put into a non-poolside room... we went to swim at midnight hollering kids AND adults, splashing, etc... So glad we did not get a poolside room! But we never swam, stuck my foot in and the water was about 80 degrees and slimy!
Anyway we stayed in 'the old wing’ which has been renovated in the past year. Rooms were fresh looking but the same bland interior as the rooms in the new wing. Beds were stiff, but so tired I didn't notice of until I woke up that morning. We tried sleeping in late. We tried to sleep in but by 8AM a motorcade of gas powered golf carts and maintenance vehicles had us awake.
On the positive, the last time we stayed in the 'new wing' which was starting to look run down. From what we saw while walking through the resort, it looked like the carpet had been replaced, and did not have the dirty smell as before, so maybe SOG is slowly changing its act. However it peeves me that when they replace light bulbs, they use different wattages and colors of bulbs, maybe just my military 'attention to detail' coming out, but looks awful!
All in all, it is a cheap place to stay close to the action and does have some perks (EMH, access to Polynesian resort amenities). So for a one night weekend getaway on the cheap SOG fits the bill!
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ears2you
Registered: December 2006
Posts: 51
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Review Date: Wed June 20, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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BIG rooms
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Cons:
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"New" section showing wear-broken items
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Broken iron took 30 minutes to replace. Broken mirror (wall mount) and bathroom was dark. I don't mind the cost cutting measures like soap and shampoo dispensers but please use proper wattage bulbs to provide light in the bathroom. Spend some of that parking garage money on bulbs. Bus service very prompt and never left us stranded even when we closed down the parks on extra magic hours. For goodness sake, people with strollers please FOLD them to board the bus. I don't get it--I have 2 kids and never used a stroller for 12+ trips to Disney since they were infants. Hotel reasonably clean, staff polite. Past experience keeps me out of the restaurants. Loved the free internet cafe. Overall a good stay. We stay here about once for every 3 times we travel to Disney-BIG rooms and a good price-no frills.
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Crow
Registered: June 2006
Posts: 22
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Review Date: Tue June 12, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Good value, room is as big as Disney deluxe for a price of mod or value. Parking is $5 a day in garage though. walk to Poly from which you can catch monorail. The rooms were fine, turning on the shower was confusing at first. Room service pizza wasn't too great. Balcony overlooked golf course.
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jwood812
Registered: June 2012
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Fri June 8, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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price,location, and service
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Cons:
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charged for parking
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This was our first stay at Shades of Green and first family trip to WDW;I could not have been more pleased! This trip was celebrating our son's 4th Birthday and after six months of planning, we had to cancel all our original plans due to job loss. I called SOG reservations and, even though the website showed no availability, the reservationist found us a room and booked us a Sunrise package.
The resort was beautiful, check-in was fast, friendly, and very helpful. Our room was on the first floor at the very end of the hall and was great. It was larger then expected and he had plenty of room to spread out as we accumulated LOTS of souveniers. It was not noisey which was perfect since most nights I carried a passed out sleepy head back to the room.
We had a delicious breakfast buffet every morning and walked right out to the buses. We never waited very long for a bus and they were right on schedule.
The BX was also a great perk for night time snacks and to pick up our autograph book before we entered the parks.
The ticket office was also very helpful and efficient. On the day of our check out, we stopped by and were able to purchase tickets to Kennedy Space Center before we left.
We loved SOG and it made it possible for us to take our vacation at a fraction of the original cost. I must admit, it was nice to stay so close to MK and still have a break from EVERYTHING Disney. We will definitely stay here again for future trips.
The only thing I did not like/understand was why we were charged $5/day for parking and would still have to pay $14 to park at the parks if we chose to drive. I think being charged one or the other is bad enough.
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jacwin1
Registered: April 2012
Location: St. Pete, Fl
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Mon April 16, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Staff / Grounds
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Cons:
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None
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My husband and I hosted our daughters wedding at this resort. It was a destination wedding, so our exposure to the resort as a whole was limited. The staff could not have been any more helpful, or professional. The wedding was outdoors,at the gazebo. The landscaped grounds were beautiful. We compared other Disney locations and none could beat the value offered here.
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Jacklyn33
Registered: March 2012
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Tue March 27, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Location, Price, Amenities
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Cons:
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Noise, Decor
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We stayed here for a second time in early March, and were overall pleased with our experience. The price is great, the rooms are spacious, and the proximity to the Polynesian and monorail is fantastic. However, we probably should have requested a room away from the center of the hotel, as the noise (mostly outside our room, but some from the upper floor) became extremely bothersome toward the end of our trip. I understand that children are excited to go to the parks, but unfortunately the sounds of their running and screaming traveled, and it could get quite loud any time I happened to be in the room between 6 am to 11 pm. (We didn't have this issue the last time we stayed here, but our room was at the end of the hallway that time.) Not really a huge inconvenience since it was mostly when we were awake anyway, but if noise really bothers you, plan accordingly.
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ReaderReviews
Registered: November 2006
Posts: 102
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Review Date: Sat March 24, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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LARGEST rooms on property, fits 5 comfortably
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Cons:
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parking too far away, pay for parking at hotel & parks
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Review posted by momof3inMadisonAL:
We actually live in FL and this was our third trip in 6 months. We chose SOG after staying here 3 years ago because it fits 5, and was (read: should have been) cheaper than 2 rooms at a Value Resort. The room was LARGE, and we all had plenty of room. Plus we had a refrigerator which WAS a consideration before since the Value Resorts did not have them. However, the trek to our car must have been 1/2 mile, plus it was $5 a day to park in their lot. We always drive to the parks because we have 2 strollers and it is too difficult to ride the buses. We were irritated that we had to pay $14 for parking at Disney. We recalled that we didn't have to do this 3 years ago when we stayed at SOG. So between the $14 for Disney parking and $5 for SOG parking, we could have stayed at All Stars in 2 rooms for cheaper. And it would have been more convenient. Plus, I was irritated to find out that SOG had run a special $99 a night - but I got stuck paying $131 per night because I booked ahead of time. We will be staying at the Value Resorts when we go back in September.
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Nodak Mouse Lover
Registered: November 2010
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Thu December 29, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Staff, Room size, Bus Service
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Cons:
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Evergreens
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We just returned from another great stay. I will politely disagree about the bus service being poor. They run on a schedule. Full or empty they run on a schedule and we have been fortunate to never have issues. If the schedules don't suit us at the moment we use alternate transporation. A walk to the Poly is really nice. TTC buses run ever 20 minutes. From there you can catch buses to HS and AK pretty frequently and back again. You can plan accordingly since they are on a schedule unlike Disney buses. We've stayed at PO and the Contemporary and think that the guests are more polite at SoG too.
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deadtiger142
Registered: December 2011
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Fri December 23, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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size of rooms, price
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Cons:
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bus service
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Check in was efficient and fast, rooms nice and large. Bus service poor, long waits before the bus arrives and when they do they cram as many people as possible as they can in them.
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xtandt
Registered: December 2008
Location: FL
Posts: 22
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Review Date: Sun December 4, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Beautiful grounds
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Cons:
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uncomfortable beds, bus
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The pros are the employees are very friendly. the grounds are beautiful. We spent one evening just walking the grounds.
Now for the cons, we found the beds very uncomfortable. We would wake up several times a night, and in the morning we were sore. Also the bus system was very slow. One evening at Hollywood studios we waited for 40 mins for a bus, then he waited for 20 mins to see if more folks were coming. There were about 15 people on the bus. I could see this to be very stressful if I had small children and waiting this long for the bus.
For these reasons, even through we liked the SOG, we will spend a little more and stay else where.
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tiggersmom1
Registered: August 2011
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Wed August 10, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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price, convenience, clean
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Cons:
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broken restroom at Evergreen's
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My family and I stayed here for a week in July. We had 3 rooms total. Our rooms were not connected, but adjoining, which was fine. All the rooms were clean and 2 were ready when we arrived at the hotel at noon and the last one just an hour later. The buses ran on schedule, which may not always be convenient, but at least it's predictable. If we missed the time, we either walked to the Polynesian or took the Shady Shuttle. If we were coming back, we took the bus to a monorail resort or the TTC, whichever came first. Those options worked for us. We ate at Mangino's one night and that was really good too. We saw lots of turkeys, ducks, some huge grasshoppers and even spotted an alligator! Our only disappointment was the bathroom by Evergreen's (near the Mickey pool) being closed the last 3 days of the trip.
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