Category — q. Reviews

SUMMARY: SHADES OF GREEN RESORT

My family has made a number of trips to Shades of Green.

We visited most recently last month, in a trip sponsored as always by my father (retired career Navy) that included my test niecelets—that’s them in the photo.

Based on these visits, Shades of Green is a wonderful choice for eligible returning visitors to Walt Disney World.

However, for first time family visitors, it is not the best choice. 

It does not participate in key programs that Disney owned and operated resorts offer, especially the Disney Dining Plan and Disney’s Magical Express.  (It does participate in Extra Magic Hours.)

Shades of Green has little kid appeal, and despite a great location across the street from Disney’s Polynesian Resort, so-so convenience.

Families who need to take advantage of Shades of Green’s great value—it is indeed one heck of a bargain—will have their best first family visit to Walt Disney World by staying in it as part of a “split stay.”

That is, they should split their visit into some time at Shades of Green, and some at a more highly recommended Walt Disney World resort.

See this page for more on the best way to fit a stay at Shades of Green into a first family visit to Walt Disney World

Another great option—though much harder to pull off—is to get overflow rates from Shades of Green for a recommended Walt Disney World resort.  See this page on MilitaryDisneyTips.com for more on overflow rates.

POSITIVES OF SHADES OF GREEN

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OVERVIEW: THE SUM OF ALL THRILLS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

My niecelets and I recently tried out the The Sum of All Thrills at Innoventions East at Epcot. 

All of us loved it–one roller coaster avoider susceptible to motion sickness (Dinosaur is too much for her), one roller coaster fan, and one super coaster fan. 

We recommend it for all those tall enough to meet its height requirements (48 inches to ride at all; 54 inches to go upside down), except for those with moderate or worse motion sickness, or claustrophobia.  It’s a blast!

It’s a little hard to describe, but basically you piece together, fine-tune, test, and then ride a simulation of your own roller coaster, bobsled ride, or jet plane ride.

MORE DETAILS ON THE SUM OF ALL THRILLS

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OVERVIEW: KIDANI VILLAGE AT DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM VILLAS FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas (a Disney Vacation Club resort) is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.

For typical first-time visitors, I don’t recommend the Disney Vacation Club resorts. That said, these “DVC” resorts can be a great choice for first time visitors with large families, needing extra sleeping spaces, or looking for a more comfortable place to stay.

Among the Disney Vacation Club resorts, Kidani Village ranks second or third, depending on room type.

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY’S OLD KEY WEST RESORT FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

Disney’s Old Key West Resort is a wonderful place for returning visitors to Walt Disney World to stay.  However, for first-time visitors, it ranks near the bottom of the Disney Vacation Club resorts.

(For a report on a recent visit, see this.)

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORTS

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OVERVIEW

The crew at TouringPlans.com–recommended on this site multiple times both for their book and their website–has released a way cool mobile app, Lines, for estimated this-second waiting times for all the rides and attractions at Walt Disney World.

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OVERVIEW: DISNEY WORLD MODERATE RESORTS

You can have a wonderful visit at any Walt Disney World resort. However, this site recommends that first time visitors to Walt Disney World avoid the moderate resorts, while noting that these resorts are wonderful for visits after the first. (See this for why.)

That said, the moderates do represent almost 30% of the room capacity of Walt Disney World, and will be sought by some you regardless of this site’s advice, or because this site’s recommended resorts are sold out. (For what the moderates provide, and how they compare to the other Disney World resort classes, click here)

Because of this, I’ve stayed in each of the moderate resorts over the last six months, and am providing as a result a series of up-to-date reviews. which this article summarizes. These stays have also resulted in minor modifications to the recommendations for large families—especially in the material that begins on this page.
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