Just Back from Poly LV Concierge

[lynr]

Just returned from our 7 night stay at the Poly Lagoonview Concierge 1st floor room 1502. It was just my DH and I we left the kids at home.

We had requested two things the room number and late checkout and we got both.

Trip started out very hot and ended on the cool side. Had a great time and saw all the new parades, the flower and garden show at Epcot, and ate at alot of sit down restaurants. I kept track of what we spent on food if anyone is interested.

We used Randy's mobility for a scooter for my husband, he is recovering from a long illness and surgery. They were great only $150 for 8 days and they delivered right to our room.

For rental car I used hotwire for the first time. We got a luxury car from Budget for $323 with tax. It turned out to be a new Lincoln Towncar.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Lyn

[Ricola]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Welcome Back!

[Praise2Him]

Were you happy with the view from your room? We're debating between 1st and 3rd floors.

[lynr]

Praise2him:

I used to stay on the 3rd floor but I have found the 1st floor more accessable to the beach, swing and hammochs. And it is nice not to wait for an elevator. 3rd Floor is also smoking, if you are interested.

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Glad you had a good stay at the Polynesian. How was the concierge service?

[DIXIEDAYS]

Welcome back. We are also debating between the 1st and third floor.
Did you enjoy the "walk out" feeling of the 1st floor?
Was is noisy being closer to the beach and people walking around?
How were the snacks they put out every day?

Feel free to e-mail the details.

Thanks:

[Ityldu]

Do you think LV makes that much of a difference over GV. We have 3 kids (4,8&12). We're already way over our original budget, and just found out that it will be only $30/night more for LV. My original thinking was we'll make more use of GV since we'll be at the pools much more then on the beach and we probably won't be in the room that much since naps will be minimal.

I'm so torn. DH doesn't know I've upgraded to conceirge, so in his mind it will be $130/night more, where in my mind it's only $30/night more. Was the castle really that close, or do you think we'll enjoy the view just as much from the lounge. Decisions, decisions. Thanks for your opinion.

[lynr]

First let me say that I love the Poly it is my favorite resort or my home as it feels. I have stayed in Concierge atleast once a year since 1992, when I was upgraded for free and I have been paying ever since. That being said, this year I paid rack rate less my DC discount. This is the only year I paid that much. The only reason I paid full price was I switched resorts at the last minute because my husband has been very ill and required a scooter to get around. We were supposed to stay at AKL so it would have been difficult to ge around. I can't bring myself to stay in GV concierge because I am spoiled, but if I had to I guess I would. If you have never stayed in Lagoon-view then don't spend the extra money unless you really want to. You can see everything from the beach.

In the beginning I loved the 3rd floor and wouldn't even think about the 1st floor. But a couple of years ago the kids wanted to try the 1st floor and we were hooked I would never go back to the 3rd floor again. It is so convenient going in and out the sliding door to the beach, the swing, and the hammocks.

The food this trip was out of this world. I have to say it was the best as I have ever seen it. They have sandwiches for kids, huge Strawberries, candies, sodas, milk, coffee, tea, liquor, perrier, bottle water, the desserts were fabulous. I heard people talking about the dinner foods but we didn't eat anything but the chicken lomain which was great, oh yeah the wine and cheese were fabulous.

The down side was the concierge staff, I did see some of the old staff, like Missy, Melissa, and Rosemarie in suites, I love these girls. But the new staff with the exception of Tara just don't seem that friendly or involved. When we left they didn't even ask if we enjoyed our trip. I know that sounds stupid but I miss those little things.

I have pictures but I am computer stupid when it comes to loading them. My oldest son usually does that, but he is in Seattle now so I have no help.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Ityldu]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think you're right, since we've never tried LV, we'll stick with GV conceirge, especially since it will be our first conceirge visit. I'm sure we'll be spoiled after this also, so not doing LV on this trip will give us something to look forward to on future trips. If it's possible, you've made me even more excited then I was before reading your post. I don't know how I'm going to survive 26 more days.

[Laurabearz]

Originally posted by lynr

The down side was the concierge staff, I did see some of the old staff, like Missy, Melissa, and Rosemarie in suites, I love these girls. But the new staff with the exception of Tara just don't seem that friendly or involved. When we left they didn't even ask if we enjoyed our trip. I know that sounds stupid but I miss those little things.
.

We had the same kinda of experince with the Poly Con Staff.... BUT they were such a small portion of our trip, we wont hesitate to stay there again!

We also whole heartedly agree.... the food offerings were smashing! Yum yum yum!!!

As for staying on the first floor.... I love to have my drapes open, On the garden view side your a bit more private, I couldnt imigine a LV 1st floor room.... I love to lay in my jammies and watch the castle change colors.........

[lynr]

Laurabearz:

I just looked at your pictures. Your children are beautiful. It looks like you had a great trip. Your pictures are perfect. When were you there? We were there 5/15 - 5/22.
Lyn

[Laurabearz]

Lyn, We we at the Beach Club Concierge May 9th- 13th and then Poly Con LV May13th-18th so we overlapped a couple of days.

Were you there for the surprise fireworks? That was such a real treat. I was sooo bummed the Fireworks for Friday the 17th were cancled... then we got a Phone mail message sayingthere would be fireworks wither Weds of Thursday... I forget. It was the icing on the already yummy cake!!

[lynr]

LauraBearz:

Yes we did get to see those suprise fireworks. Wasn't it nice that they called us to let us know that they were having them. No matter how many times you see them they are always something new.
Lyn

[Ityldu]

Laura - You mentioned that the GV conceirge rooms, 1st fl., are more private then the LV con. 1st fl.? Is that right? I assumed the LV would be more private, with less people walking by. Are there bushes blocking the sidewalks when sitting on the patios?

Still trying to decide if I should upgrade to LV for $30/night more, so all info. is helpful. Thanks.

[BCV23]

I find the GV side of Hawaii more private, too. For one thing, the sidewalk on the LV is much closer to the building...in GV rooms it is only close for the rooms nearest the concierge office. More importantly, there are far fewer people on the GV sidewalk not to mention the folks who are at the beach itself. The beach is very close to the LV rooms...nice if you have little ones who play in the sand a lot but not nearly as private IMHO.

[Ityldu]

BVC23 - Thanks for your input. It only made my decision even harder, but what a great decision to have. :D Since the whole conceirge thing is a surprise to my DH, I can't get his advice and I just can't make up my mind on this one.

[erikthewise]

Ityldu,

Here's a vote for GV concierge. That's what we did last year; it was already a splurge for us. You are just a few steps the concierge lounge, where the view is just as good as it would be from your room, and from the beach, which IMHO is the best view of all esp for fireworks. Also in GV there is no reason not to be on the second floor, which is very convenient to the lounge (and probably less crowded seeing as everyone is trying to decide between the 1st and 3rd floor!:) )

[Laurabearz]

Originally posted by Ityldu
Laura - You mentioned that the GV conceirge rooms, 1st fl., are more private then the LV con. 1st fl.? Is that right? I assumed the LV would be more private, with less people walking by. Are there bushes blocking the sidewalks when sitting on the patios?

Still trying to decide if I should upgrade to LV for $30/night more, so all info. is helpful. Thanks.

The LV rooms have little on nor bushes to block the view.... If you head to Tikiman's site, he has some good pictures. http://tikiman2001.homestead.com/index.html Very little landscaping on the LV side.... much more on the GV side. Plus with the added traffic on the LV side.... a lot less private. IMO a GV 1st floor would be great... but give me the 3rd floor with the balcony and I am in heaven!!

This is for privacy.... if you dont care about that... I like the idea of a 1st floor LV when our kids are older..... and your much more likely to take advantage of that lovely hammock if all you have to do is stroll out your door....

Each has it ups and downs... We like walking around 1/2 nekad! LOL Trust me.... you want us on the 3rd floor! <snort>

[Ityldu]

Okay - I'm sold. It will be GV for this trip. Laura, you almost got me back to LV with the hammock, but I'm staying firm. Like Erikthewise, conceirge is such a major splurge already, I just have to stop the madness. ;)

Just how close are the two pools to Hawaii? Can you see them from the 1st floor rooms?

[lynr]

Ityldu:
The pools are only steps away. You are close to everything when you are in the concierge building.

[Laurabearz]

Originally posted by Ityldu

Just how close are the two pools to Hawaii? Can you see them from the 1st floor rooms?

The main pool is steps away, and so is the quiet pool.... Hawaii is the greatest Location! You will be happy no matter the view! The food is soooooo yummy! The Chef's tricks with fruit are a nightly treat! The deserts... WOW yum yum yum! Cant say enough about the food!

Have a great time! You will love it!

[jmarie]

Thanks for your descriptions!! We are going in Feb/2002, and as we decide between WL and Poly, your stories make it very helpful. It is very confusing to decide between the two resorts, but I just think that our 2 sons-7 and 9 would live being so close to the monorail. When we were at CBR, we only did the buses, but at that age, that would be very "cool" to them. I would love to do concierge, so I'd better start saving now!!

[cottontail]

Ityldu: Hi, we just came back about 3 weeks ago from gv concierge at the poly, it was our first time. We loved it. We had a patio, ground floor which I asked for, a beautiful garden in front of our patio about 8 feet wide, so I felt sitting behind this made us a little more private, the bunnies, ducks, made it special for us, the ducks would come on the patio in the morning, trying to look into our room so we would come out and feed them, they actually pecked on our window like they were knocking.

The food was fab, penne one evening, grilled chicken breast with salad another, chicken lo mein another, we made at least two meals out of the concierge food, and fruit all day, hubby couldn't get over the huge oranges out all day, bananas, apples, pears, drinks all day, and the deserts were a nice touch, we would sit on the beach with our desert on a lounge (hubby had his wine as well) and watch the castle change colors, also we sat in the lounge and enjoyed the view a few times. The breakfast was fab also.

The staff in the lounge could not do enough for us. Although I like the two others on this thread did not find the check in staff very friendly, bubbly at all. I was thinking maybe we all should send an email about that to the poly, or a letter.

We loved the gardenview, and would do that again as we love the lush foilage around us. The grounds are so lovely all over at the poly. I just love it.

I think you have made the correct decision, have a great trip. Try it and then you can do the lagoon view next time if you want to, especially if money is an issue.

Deb.

[Ityldu]

Cottontail - From one Deb to another - All I can say is WoW. Thank you for making me feel so much better about my decision. Your description has me grinning from ear to ear. All the descriptions are just the best. I haven't stayed at Polynesian since I was little, but have dreamed about it ever since. We start every Disney vacation by walking through the lobby and saying "someday, we will be staying here instead of just visiting". I can't get over the fact that our dream has come true and my boys can experience all the magic I did as a kid, and then some. I don't know if they even had conceirge back then. If it wasn't for these boards, I wouldn't even know what conceirge was. Until 2 years ago, I just thought it was a desk at the lobby to help anyone with specific questions.

This has been the absolute best thread, I can't thank you all enough.

[cottontail]

Hello Deb:

That is what it is all about making memories, we took our two adult children with us, it was our 25th anniv. celebration and people said why take the children, but I wanted the memories of all of us together just one more time.

You will love it, the pools both of them are only a few steps away, both very beautiful, we used the quiet pool alot, my son was laying on a lounge and hubby snapped a pic of one of those tall white birds, looked like a crane about a foot from him, it was looking for bugs and lizards. It is a paradise.

The view from the lounge is fab.

The food that is for sale in captain cooks is in the concierge, we saw fruit over a dollar, the turkey and swiss sandwiches were over$ 6.00 each, tiny fruit bowls were $3 and $4 in captain cooks, small cereal boxes and we could have as much as we wanted, my son was happy with the big container of oatmeal every morning.

I forgot to mention every night we had a platter of cut up veges and dip, a huge bowl of mixed cantaloup, grapes, pinapple, and melon. I did not gain a pound on this trip, cause I tried to stick with the healthy food.

The only thing my hubby said is if you are a big meat eater it is not there, so eat the meat at lunch time. It was enough for me though as I know eating too much meat is not healthy anymore.

We cannot say enough about this, also if there is something you need and they do not have out you can ask and they may have it in their kitchen, my son would ask for yogurt and they had it on most occasions.

I wrote a report of the akl and poly concierge on may 7th called "just back akl and poly concierge" on page 15 or l6 I think now of the resorts board. We had room 1532. I had requested ground floor, a view of the quiet pool not the end of the I think samoa building, check out a map on deb wills site to see what building runs into.

The turndown service was cute, but a couple of nights my poor daughter got bad migraines from the heat and had to be in bed, so we told the turndown maid that she was ill and to skip us that night and any night that we had privacy on the door, and she did she was very friendly.

Going to the united states costs us a fortune as we multiply every cost times $l.61 to bring it in canadian dollars, but it was special so I do not mind, and we have great memories forever.

Any questions feel free to p.m. me.

Deb.

[AndiCT]

We just got back from the Poly Conciege last week and loved it. We found that we actually saved money because of the concierge lounge. Most of the food we ate there, we would have paid for somewhere else.

First of all, we ate all of our breakfasts there. That alone saved us $30 to $40 a day, not to mention the time saved by having it right down the hall. We took water from the hotel to the parks, another $5 to $10 saved. We also ate most of our dinners there and with 2 kids, that saved a lot. We ate bigger lunches at the parks and then had a lighter meal at the concierge for dinner. I know this sounds like we were being cheap, but we really weren't, it just worked out this way. Then there are the desserts, WOW. There was something great every night, so even the nights we went out to dinner, we saved by having desserts at the concierge (not to mention the cordials and wine). Finally, there is also the savings on snacks for the kids. My boys loved being able to just run down the hall (or in from the pool) for something. From past experience we know how expensive that can be. I would defintely point this all out to your husband when you tell him about doing concierge.

Also, on the lagoon view verses garden view, we stayed lagoon view and loved it. We were on the third floor and were able to watch the water parade every night from our balcony right before the kids went to bed. The same with the fireworks. Plus the view of the castle in MK, turning different colors, was magnificent. We wanted a balcony or patio, so we chose the third floor to keep our kids from wandering off. We did not notice any smell of smoke in the room at all. Once the neighbor was out on his balcony smoking, but that was just once. We would definitely do it all again.

A couple of other suggestions, Ohanas is great, really great. Have dinner there, you will love it. The staff there is great. And our kids loved the Neverland Club. They could have gone there every night (but we only sent them there twice). I am sure you will have a great time.

[Ityldu]

AndiCT - great post and great tip about the desserts. I realized we'd save on B-fast and drinks, but never thought about not getting dessert after dinner. We usually stop at MK bakery or have dessert with dinner and you're right, that adds up. I've heard so many great things about the Polynesian desserts, that I wouldn't hesitate for a second to go back for dessert. BTW - I don't think you sounded cheap at all, you sound like us. Especially with a 4YO who eats very little, I hate spending money on a meal that he doesn't touch and he won't share with us. That's about $10 saved right there.

I've decided to definitely do GV. Although all the reasons you mentioned for LV are what had me second guessing, GV will suit our needs better for this trip. Like others said, we can easily watch EWP and the castle from beach/lounge. We spend most of our day by the pool, or sitting on the patio, so GV it is.

Thanks again everyone. This has been the perfect post. Tikiman's site was wonderful for objective info. and this post rounded it off nicely by making the info. more subjective.

[kaseyC]

We will be staying 7 nights at the Poly Concierge GV and after reading this thread I am very sure that the Poly Concierge is perfect for my family, DH, DD-6 and DD-1. We usually stay at the Beach Club but with our 1 yr old we wanted to be on the Monorail route. Our trip is not until August but I am really looking forward to going.

[Tikiman]

Welcome back Lyn.

Steve

[neilybealy]

Laurabearz ----------> excellent pics, thankyou for sharing them!!

Neil

:D

[Andy123]

The garden view rooms are nice, but the Lagoon View rooms in the concierge building are wonderful! There is nothing like waking up in the morning, opening your drapes and seeing the castle!!! It makes for a wonderful experience... I would spend the extra $30 and get the lagoon view... while not as private, you also get to sit on your porch and watch the water pagent and the fireworks! The lounge is a nice place to watch them, but it doesn't beat walking out to your porch and seeing them right there!!! I think the Polynesian is one of the few resorts where the view really added a lot to our vacations...

[Ityldu]

I couldn't help it, you guys have me so excited with all the fantastic descriptions. I can't even decide on what to have for dinner, yet alone make this decision. I thought I finally had it all settled, then it just popped out w/o warning. We weren't even talking Disney and I said "BTW, I actually do have GV conceirge booked." He wouldn't believe me for a while, but when he finally did, his first words were - "Get Lagoon View".


Back to the drawing board - you people are no help!!!;) :rolleyes: :D :D :D

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Lagoon view is great --- I really loved seeing the castle dead center in the middle of my balcony!!!

[erikthewise]

To tell the truth, $30/night is an unusually small difference. I don't recall in the last year seeing even close to that small a difference between GV and LV, concierge or not. If it's for real, it makes sense to go for the LV.

[CaliforniaDreaming]

When I stayed at the Polynesian Concierge in 2000, we paid an additional $90 per night for Lagoon View. And, I felt it was worth it. :)

Go for the lagoon view! It truly is wonderful!

[BambiTamby]

We must've just missed ya'll!

No doubt, the Poly concierge simply ROCKS!

And the LV cannot be beat!

After this stay, it'll be hard to stay at any other WDW concierge again!

Already trying to figure when we can return to the Poly concierge
ASAP!!!!:eek: ;)

[lynr]

Here is my pictures I hope this works. Be kind this is my first time making these albums.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291783977

Thanks,
Lyn

[cottontail]

Great post, you do not have to feel cheap eating in the lounge for supper. If noone showed up to eat chef Leonards/Dick's food they would wonder what is wrong.

We found it served us well, as who wants to go home l0 pounds heavier, in the heat we found that we ate alot lighter than we would eat here. The deserts are like another meal in itself.

We would grab our dessert and sit out on lounges on the beach or in the lounge and watch the water parade, hubby just loved sitting on the lounges on the beach it was so peaceful and wonderful. My son found all the same things we had unlimited access to at captain cooks. It was really nice. We liked not having to leave the poly to eat as well, and just go upstairs.

It was kinda like when I was a kid and mom had dinner ready. Lets go and see what mom cooked today, lol,

Hubby and son are over 6 ft. and big eaters, both had enough to eat at the meals. Like I said before, if your a big meat eater like steaks, chops its not there.
But there was a chinese stirfry with chicken, grilled chicken breasts another day, penne, taco's another day, usually a cheese/cracker platter, vege platter/dip, fruit bowl, we loved it all. With four people you sure do get your money's worth.

Everyone who is going down have fun,


Deb.

[Tess]

The food at evening service is sufficient to be a meal and much more than appetizers. How many of us go to a restaurant and order grilled chicken/pasta for an appetizer?

We will be using the evening service as our light dinner meal, too but for a few evenings. Our big meals will be eaten at noonish (and hopefully walked off thereafter). We have always taken full advantage of the breakfast and desserts. With the parks closing so early, it's not too difficult to get back for cordials/desserts.

By eating in the lounge in the evening, we're hoping to make our park time work better for us as well. We will head out early (as usual), have lunch, stay in the parks a bit longer in the afternoon, and return for a swim, clean-up, and dinner at the lounge. Then back to a park for whatever and returning at closing for dessert and maybe a late swim.

I'll have to let you know how the new plan works for us.