ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: January 2012

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I absolutely love 3rd floor Aotearoa. I like the older side of the resort better in general, it's more quiet and relaxing over there, and I love listening to the music from the Luau. If we weren't staying CL this time, I would absolutely request Aotearoa again. We paid for Lagoon View, but we had a dead on view of the castle to the right of a palm tree.

Me too I always find it strange when people complain about hearing the luau music over there. It is so lovely and really adds to the whole island feel of the resort. When the sliding doors are closed, it is silent so it doesn't interfere with sleeping. And the people watching is quite entertaining....peering over the balcony watching everyone so excited for the show. The beach over there is so quiet too and never crowded. LOVE IT!

 

[204charity]

Me too I always find it strange when people complain about hearing the luau music over there. It is so lovely and really adds to the whole island feel of the resort. When the sliding doors are closed, it is silent so it doesn't interfere with sleeping. And the people watching is quite entertaining....peering over the balcony watching everyone so excited for the show. The beach over there is so quiet too and never crowded. LOVE IT!

Oh, that sounds heavenly. I requested Fiji or Tahiti. I wonder if we get Fiji if we'd hear the Luau too?

When we stay in Mexico, we always request a room by the open-air theatre. We love to hear the music, and the laughter. It makes us feel happy to hear others having a good time too!

 

[crostorfer]

Oh, that sounds heavenly. I requested Fiji or Tahiti. I wonder if we get Fiji if we'd hear the Luau too?

When we stay in Mexico, we always request a room by the open-air theatre. We love to hear the music, and the laughter. It makes us feel happy to hear others having a good time too!

If you are in Fiji facing towards the wedding pavillion and GF you should hear the music no problem.

I think 3rd floor Fiji would be great too.

 

[taylor3297]

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I have visited this thread. Well Dh and I have decided our next family trip will be in September of 2013 and Dh will only stay at the Poly CL.

I have a lot of catching up to do. So if anyone has a summary of what I have missed in the last few months, please share.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Anything to the roomer that the POLY will shut down all or part for referb in fall 2013? The person says it could be a complete shutdown due to renovation of the main building. Is this needed and when was the last upgrade?

 

[taylor3297]

Anything to the roomer that the POLY will shut down all or part for referb in fall 2013? The person says it could be a complete shutdown due to renovation of the main building. Is this needed and when was the last upgrade?

If this is true, then where should we stay?

 

[MikeRx]

Its funny. we all know Disney world is so much better than Disneyland! there its a land.. here its a WORLD!

there is no doubt where your loyalties lie! you are way closer to Disneyland but you prefer coming to the world! I wouldn't mind seeing Disneyland but I don't think I could stay 9 days there!

We did 8 nights at Disneyland in early December 2010 and it was great! We were at the Grand Californian and I had a meeting at the convention center (10 minute walk). I can say now that WDW is superior, but DL has it charm and should not be missed! Eight days was a long time, but I had a meeting the first 4 days so my DW, DS, DMIL went to the parks each day and I met them in the afternoon and for dinner. The character breakfast at GC was amazing! You could actually order off of the menu and not be forced to eat the buffet each time. I think we had breakfast here 4-5 times.

DL gets horribly crowded on the weekends due to annual/CA passes even in early December. The mid-week days were amazing and we were able to see everything, but by Friday we were walking on heads/crowd surfing to get to our lunch reservation at Blue Bayou. You need 2-3 days for both parks when it isn’t crowded. With the new CarsLand I bet crowds will spike over at CA for quite some time.

If you couldn’t understand my loyalties from my ticker, we will likely have 3 trips to WDW before returning to DL.

Mike DW DS (4) DMIL

First visit 1976, last visit WDW 2/2010 BC CL and DL GC 12/2010, future WDW 4/2012 POLY TPV, 7/2012 (off site meeting), 4/2013 POLY with Disney Dream cruise!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Anything to the roomer that the POLY will shut down all or part for referb in fall 2013? The person says it could be a complete shutdown due to renovation of the main building. Is this needed and when was the last upgrade?

There's lots of rumors going around, but at this point they're just that - rumors

 

[sandym718]

I'm "following" the rumors as well, since we plan to return in March 2014!

 

[carlnix30]

Anything to the roomer that the POLY will shut down all or part for referb in fall 2013? The person says it could be a complete shutdown due to renovation of the main building. Is this needed and when was the last upgrade?

We did a podcast on the monorail resorts and our discussion went to that rumor.. There is lots of speculation to the rehab that MUST be done. It's just a matter of how they plan on going about it.
http://disdads.com/archives/2345

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Carl, thanks, I will check out the link. The person said that unlike the other resorts that POLY's main building needs extensive rehab and they may have to close for a short while and that if so there would be expansion also. As in an indoor water park and new day care. Rumors are really flying. LOL

I know NATHING

 

[carlnix30]

Carl, thanks, I will check out the link. The person said that unlike the other resorts that POLY's main building needs extensive rehab and they may have to close for a short while and that if so there would be expansion also. As in an indoor water park and new day care. Rumors are really flying. LOL

I know NATHING

Hmmm... Lots of speculation. but one thing is for sure, there will be an extensive rehab of the GCH. I heard rumors of DVC in the future. But heck next week we are going to hear that there will be a wild lizard riding ranch installed next to Tokelau!

 

[disneyfan67]

There's lots of rumors going around, but at this point they're just that - rumors

There's always rumors, but don't count out the main building (GCH) and a maybe the few longhouses right near it, be torn down to make way for a DVC tower. Disney could kill two birds with one stone by doing this. They build a new tower or (GCH), but make it several stories high and add DVC rooms that way. It would take care of the existing problems with the GCH and add more space and much more revenue to a very popular resort. Then after that's built, they could move on to the other longhouses. DVC is a huge cash cow for Disney and I should know, I bought into it and I'm very happy.

It's no coincidence that the Contemporary had the BLT expansion built and now the Grand Floridan is adding a wing too. People said years ago that was wild rumors too and look how that turned out? It only makes sense that Disney cashes in with the Polynesian DVC which would sell out quickly. I would buy into it and make it my home resort, instead of AKL, which I own now.

I love the Polynesian and the vintage WDW history behind it, but it is 41 years old and showing it's age in some ways. Disney charges a premium to stay there and can't expand due to land limitations. Imagine what they could do if they had a 10 story tower (GCH) with modern DVC studio and suites to play with? It's guaranteed to make money and that's why you can bet it's going to happen. The sources I rely on tell me look for the fall of 2013 for a big announcement and they haven't told me wrong yet.

 

[taylor3297]

There's always rumors, but don't count out the main building (GCH) and a maybe the few longhouses right near it, be torn down to make way for a DVC tower. Disney could kill two birds with one stone by doing this. They build a new tower or (GCH), but make it several stories high and add DVC rooms that way. It would take care of the existing problems with the GCH and add more space and much more revenue to a very popular resort. Then after that's built, they could move on to the other longhouses. DVC is a huge cash cow for Disney and I should know, I bought into it and I'm very happy.

It's no confidence that the Contemporary had the BLT expansion built and now the Grand Floridan is adding a wing too. People said years ago that was wild rumors too and look how that turned out? It only makes sense that Disney cashes in with the Polynesian DVC which would sell out quickly. I would buy into it and make it my home resort, instead of AKL, which I own now.

I love the Polynesian and the vintage WDW history behind it, but it is 41 years old and showing it's age in some ways. Disney charges a premium to stay there and can't expand due to land limitations. Imagine what they could do if they had a 10 story tower (GCH) with modern DVC studio and suites to play with? It's guaranteed to make money and that's why you can bet it's going to happen. The sources I rely on tell me look for the fall of 2013 for a big announcement and they haven't told me wrong yet.

If they build a 10 story DVC tower or any tower for that matter, I will no longer stay at the Poly. I love the layout they have now. I understand it is an older resort and the buildings need to be redone. Also, by having even more rooms means more folks trying to get on the monorail. The monorail itself is old and not always running like it should.

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

If they build a 10 story DVC tower or any tower for that matter, I will no longer stay at the Poly. I love the layout they have now. I understand it is an older resort and the buildings need to be redone. Also, by having even more rooms means more folks trying to get on the monorail. The monorail itself is old and not always running like it should.

I understand how you feel about this. I felt the same way about the Grand Floridian DVC initially. The truth is, Disney knows they will make top dollar with these new DVCs on the monorail. If you don't stay there, many more will. Even though I am DVC now, I will always remember tha 3 monorail resorts when they were "vintage Disney". However, I will continue to stay at all 3... DVC or not. Nothing stays the same, as much as we might like. Sign of the times! At least we have our memories.

 

[taylor3297]

I understand how you feel about this. I felt the same way about the Grand Floridian DVC initially. The truth is, Disney knows they will make top dollar with these new DVCs on the monorail. If you don't stay there, many more will. Even though I am DVC now, I will always remember tha 3 monorail resorts when they were "vintage Disney". However, I will continue to stay at all 3... DVC or not. Nothing stays the same, as much as we might like. Sign of the times! At least we have our memories.

If they continue to put more and more room whether it be DVC or regular rooms on the monorail line, then the whole monorail is going to need to be redone. It breaks down a lot as is and didn't they cut the monorail hours in order to keep up with the maintenance?

 

[disneyfan67]

I understand how you feel about this. I felt the same way about the Grand Floridian DVC initially. The truth is, Disney knows they will make top dollar with these new DVCs on the monorail. If you don't stay there, many more will. Even though I am DVC now, I will always remember tha 3 monorail resorts when they were "vintage Disney". However, I will continue to stay at all 3... DVC or not. Nothing stays the same, as much as we might like. Sign of the times! At least we have our memories.

Good post, especially the last part. I know change is comming to the Poly and it's why I made the choice to stay there on my July visit. As you pointed out, nothing stays the same as we might like, so I wanted to see the Poly one last time. I probably won't get back to WDW for at least two more years and I'm sure changes will be happening after this year. Why not enjoy it while it lasts?

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Disneyfan67 - Very odd - I live west of you and I picked up my info on a bench in Fox Valley mall. Two men were talking and from what I gathered one was a sub contractor of some sort and was asked to bid on his specialty on a rebuild project at WDW which would start in the fall of 2013 and was to be completed in 13 months. He said the main building was to be raised to allow for further developement. The other guy asked where and the contractor guy said some Hawaii project. 2+2 in my book makes the POLY. You have to understand that many contractors up here go south for winter work or this guy could have been visiting. This took place last Dec.

How would they keep it open if this is true? Where would the check-in be? Where would you eat? No GCH? Would you check in at GF for POLY?

I know I am jumping ahead of myself here but when you here what I did then you wonder. Rumor?

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I am very conflicted over the rumors of the rebuild. I am so in love with the Poly as-is but I can see where a refurb is necessary. I always find it odd on the second floor of GCH how I can feel the floor vibrating..... Anyhoo, *IF* there must be a refurb, my hope is that it will look similar to Aulani. Those pics are gorgeous. I think it makes sense for them to add DVC to bring in more cash for maintenance and upkeep as well.

My scenario would be DVC premium rooms(TPV) on upper floors of GCH. Tangeroa Terrace(sp?) would be demolished(with current housings moving into GCH) and rebuilt as DVC rooms and Roratonga would also be DVC. Nuie would be demolished and a new pool "waterpark" similar to Aulani would stretch and meander from current volcano pool to current quiet pool.

 

[disneydreamin247]

I really hope they don't ruin my beloved Poly. I'd definitely have to find a new home resort.