Disney World March 2023 Shades of Green
During our trip to Disney World in March 2023, we stayed at Shades of Green. Most people do not even know this resort exists. There is a list of criteria that you must meet to qualify to stay here. The two largest qualifiers is if you are military/former military (some special rules apply to the later) or a Department of Defense Civilian. We found out about the resort a few years ago, and we wanted to give it a try. It is actually located on two golf courses, so that was how we convinced Brad’s dad to come to Disney with us. It also gave us a great opportunity to try out the resort too!
So let’s talk location first. The location was amazing. It is located directly across the street from The Polynesian. And during our trip, we were able to utilize the walking path that connected Shades to the Poly. This allowed us easy access to the monorail for trips to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. However, the walking path is now closed. So now you have to use the bus if you do not drive or ride-share. This was such a highlight of our trip, so we are bummed about this news. I do hope one day in the future, the walkway reopens though.
Now the rooms. The rooms are not covered in any kind of Disney theme. If that’s what you like, you will be disappointed. But the space is much larger than most all rooms on Disney property. To get a larger room you either have to get a suite or a multi-bedroom villa. I did request a room with a bathroom that had double sinks. So I was happy to see that. The toiled and shower are in a separate room from the sinks too. The closet space was decent, and we actually had a connecting door to Brad’s parents’ room. The living space was quite large. We had two queen beds, a couch, a table with two chairs, and dresser with a TV. A favorite with the room was the ceiling fan too! And let’s not forget the balcony. We didn’t spend much time here unfortunately, but the views were really pretty!
The resort is fairly big, and we did explore most of it. There are two buildings, but they are connected with a walkway. You honestly might not even realize they are technically separate buildings either. The main building contained the large lobby with lots of seating, a coffee shop/ice cream shop, shopping, ticket office, and other food options. The buses can be found outside of this building too (one floor down from the lobby).
We ate here a few times, but I plan to do a more in depth post about the restaurant we ate at the most. However, we did get takeout from the Garden Gallery. I got the fried rice (it was AMAZING!), and Brad got the wings. We both really enjoyed the food here at Shades.
They have always had this patriotic Mickey Mouse, so Melody had to get a picture in front of it. They did have other Disney things throughout, but not much.
There is plenty for kids to do at Shades. They had an awesome playground that Melody visited a few times, and they have a great pool setup. They have the zero entry pool, then they have the “Mickey” pool. They also had a kids water area too that Melody enjoyed. Next to one of the restaurants, you can also find the arcade. We only spent one night here.
In general the grounds are so green and well kept. It really was beautiful and most don’t even know of its existence. You’ll notice a picture of us riding the “shady shuttle”. You could either walk to take it to the end of the resort before walking to the Poly. The other three pictures I took on my walk to Magic Kingdom one morning.
If you qualify to stay here, I highly recommend it. The rates can’t be beat, and you get almost the exact same perks that you get if staying on property. Shades is even considered a “deluxe” resort when it comes to the perks too! I honestly could see us going to Shades and not even doing a single theme park too! The rates are so good, and the resort is so serene!
