Hi there, Mark! Welcome to planDisney.
You are counting down the sleeps until your Walt Disney World Resort vacation! You'll be visiting at
the most merry and magical time of year, and I know you're going to love all the holiday decorations, treats, and festive spirit in the air. Enjoy it all!
As a military spouse, I would like to thank your in-laws for their service to our country. It's wonderful that they're able to share their military benefits to create wonderful family memories; my husband and I have loved sprinkling a little pixie dust on our family members over the years.
Let's talk about your stay at Shades of Green. Your
military sponsor will need to show their military ID at several points during your stay - it will be required during check-in as well as when you enter the resort's grounds (if you'll have a personal vehicle) and when you board the Shades of Green buses. At check-in, those of you without military IDs should ask for a paper guest pass that you can use to board buses; it will say "Guest of" and your service member's name.
Disney Monorail Transportation runs to Magic Kingdom Park and to EPCOT. If you'd like to use the monorail, you will need to walk across the street to
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort; this is about a 15-20 minute walk depending on how many strollers or little walkers you have in your party. The path is clearly marked, but once you get across the road to the Polynesian, it's a bit winding, so I would ask for a map at the Shades of Green front desk. Once you enter the lobby of Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, you'll need to head to the second floor for the monorail station. For Magic Kingdom Park, you could also head to the Polynesian's boat dock and take water transportation (that's my favorite way to get there!).
To take the monorail from Disney's Polynesian Village Resort to EPCOT, you'll have to transfer at the Transportation and Ticket Center. You'll ride the monorail past Magic Kingdom Park, and then exit at the Transportation and Ticket Center and transfer to the EPCOT monorail. You could also walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center from Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, but this will add another 10 minutes to your walk from Shades of Green.
Shades of Green does have its own
internal buses, which might be easier for your group. Those buses are on a military-precise schedule, usually departing every 30 minutes. The bus routes drop off at two theme parks each, so there may be a bit of waiting, but that might be easier than managing the walk across to the monorail. You'll need to take the bus to Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios, so you can try it out and see what you think. A staff member at Shades of Green can help you figure out the best ways for your party to travel to each park - I have always found them to be so helpful!
Since you're traveling with five Mouseketeers, I'm happy to share that my favorite kind of pixie dust - COFFEE! - is available in the lobby at Shades of Green. They have a delicious cafe serving Starbucks drinks to get your morning off to a great start.
Thank you for bringing your question to planDisney, Mark! If you have any further questions as you count down the days, please come back and see us. Have an amazing family vacation!
Wishing you much magic,
Robyn