ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012

[ninafeliz]

We just upgraded to GV CL for our upcoming trip in 3 weeks! I'm excited, but I read all of the posts on the Jan2012 thread and this one, but didn't pay particular attention to the CL info b/c I never thought we would decide to stay CL. My DH decided to get on trip advisor and read the reviews on the Poly and got nervous, and brought up switching to the CR MKV. I would love the view, but had my heart set on the Poly. I called Disney and they were able to let us ugrade to CL with the fall RO discount that we had originally booked with, even though it has expired to new bookings. It would have been an additional $700 to change to the CR MKV (I don't think at a discount, either), so we "comromised" and upgraded to CL. He thought that might be nice, and i was certanly all for it.

So now I have a few questions that I should know the answer to, but I just can't remember and a few quick searches didn't bring the posts up off hand.

Can someone point me to the post that lists all of the snacks/drinks/food served in the louge on which days? The first page of this thread just lists generalizations, I know I read a complete list here somewhere but can't seem to find it.

Does anyone know if they will accommodate special diets in the CL lounge? Part of why I never considered it (besides the $$ ) was b/c my DH and DS 2.5 both have gluten allergies, and I figured they wouldn't be able to eat much there. I wondered if they would be able to have any of the Gluten Free Beer or packaged snacks around. I will ask the IPO (I called a lot today and it was always busy, I guess I'll email), but I wondered if anyone had any experience?

Has anyone done the AK safari discussed on the first page that is open to CL guests? Is it worth it for $50?

Is there anything else I should do or change now? I requested a room wth a balcony, I'll be sad if we get the second floor But it won't be the end of the world, and maybe we could move after one night. More than that I wouldn't want to deal with moving. We don't need help with dining or tickets, we have all of that done. I spent all kinds of time deciding on which buildings to request, and now it doesn't matter!! But that's a problem I love having

 

[gaildmoody]

So now I have a few questions that I should know the answer to, but I just can't remember and a few quick searches didn't bring the posts up off hand.

Can someone point me to the post that lists all of the snacks/drinks/food served in the louge on which days? The first page of this thread just lists generalizations, I know I read a complete list here somewhere but can't seem to find it.

Does anyone know if they will accommodate special diets in the CL lounge? Part of why I never considered it (besides the $$ ) was b/c my DH and DS 2.5 both have gluten allergies, and I figured they wouldn't be able to eat much there. I wondered if they would be able to have any of the Gluten Free Beer or packaged snacks around. I will ask the IPO (I called a lot today and it was always busy, I guess I'll email), but I wondered if anyone had any experience?

Has anyone done the AK safari discussed on the first page that is open to CL guests? Is it worth it for $50?

Is there anything else I should do or change now? I requested a room wth a balcony, I'll be sad if we get the second floor But it won't be the end of the world, and maybe we could move after one night. More than that I wouldn't want to deal with moving. We don't need help with dining or tickets, we have all of that done. I spent all kinds of time deciding on which buildings to request, and now it doesn't matter!! But that's a problem I love having

Congrats on the upgrade! You will be spoiled!

I don't have the menu but its on here somewhere. As far as allergies...I know they are limited with what they have there so you may want to email them and ask. Maybe they can prepare a few things for you if they know ahead of time.

As far as the safari... I am pretty sure that is for AKL CL guests only.

And you may want to change your request to 3rd floor if you want a "full" balcony because the second floor is still considered balconies.

 

[disneylovr1]

Good 2 know that second floor considered 2 have a balcony- I will change our request.

I saw on the club level thread that the safari for all CL resorts ended a couple of yrs ago. I think there still is one for AKL CL only.

 

[disneylovr1]

Oops, I saw I am signed in on my iPhone with my other name (long story, not interesting). I am also ninafeliz.

 

[maiapapaya]

Hi nina, we will be there at the same time as you, also staying CL!
Here is the link for the menu. The current offerings are in the column on the right.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33846190&postcount=221

Don't worry about the negative reviews. While none of the WDW resorts are perfect this will be our 4th Poly stay and we have yet to have any issues. Sometimes it's a matter of taste (the Poly's just not everyone's cup of tea), or pickiness (some people will find anything to complain about) or just bad luck (every resort probably has a couple of rooms that are not in great shape just because of the volume of turn over). And my DH always says you are more likely to find negative reviews than positive because most people who are happy, unless they are exceptionally happy, won't bother to go to a website and post, but they will if they have a complaint.

 

[The Fox Menagerie]

Thanks for the linke to the CL menu. We leverage CL as much as possible during out stay and it is good to see we have some tasty morsels to look forward to!

 

[AshleyD1983]

I hope everyone has a great time on their upcoming Poly stays. We enjoyed our 3rd stay there 2 weeks ago. We have been blessed with upgrades on the last two trips.

Question: I read last year (a year we skipped) they were requiring wristbands for the Poly pool to make sure only Poly guests were swimming there. This was not done for our 2009 or 2010 trip. I anticipated having them this trip, but once again, no wristbands required? Was the wristband only required in 2011? is it seasonal? Just curious.

When we were there in April, they did not require wristbands until the pool got extremely crowded on our last day there. From our experience it looks like they only enforce that went it starts to get overly crowded.

 

[auntfrannie]

Just posting to see our ticker

We'll be staying CL in 3 days so we'll be there at the same time. If you see a group of 4 with an older woman in a wheelchair, feel free to stop by and say hi. My sisters and I are celebrating my mother's 80th birthday! Have a great trip!

 

[Eliserose]

We just upgraded to GV CL for our upcoming trip in 3 weeks! I'm excited, but I read all of the posts on the Jan2012 thread and this one, but didn't pay particular attention to the CL info b/c I never thought we would decide to stay CL. My DH decided to get on trip advisor and read the reviews on the Poly and got nervous, and brought up switching to the CR MKV. I would love the view, but had my heart set on the Poly. I called Disney and they were able to let us ugrade to CL with the fall RO discount that we had originally booked with, even though it has expired to new bookings. It would have been an additional $700 to change to the CR MKV (I don't think at a discount, either), so we "comromised" and upgraded to CL. He thought that might be nice, and i was certanly all for it.

So now I have a few questions that I should know the answer to, but I just can't remember and a few quick searches didn't bring the posts up off hand.

Can someone point me to the post that lists all of the snacks/drinks/food served in the louge on which days? The first page of this thread just lists generalizations, I know I read a complete list here somewhere but can't seem to find it.

Does anyone know if they will accommodate special diets in the CL lounge? Part of why I never considered it (besides the $$ ) was b/c my DH and DS 2.5 both have gluten allergies, and I figured they wouldn't be able to eat much there. I wondered if they would be able to have any of the Gluten Free Beer or packaged snacks around. I will ask the IPO (I called a lot today and it was always busy, I guess I'll email), but I wondered if anyone had any experience?

Has anyone done the AK safari discussed on the first page that is open to CL guests? Is it worth it for $50?

Is there anything else I should do or change now? I requested a room wth a balcony, I'll be sad if we get the second floor But it won't be the end of the world, and maybe we could move after one night. More than that I wouldn't want to deal with moving. We don't need help with dining or tickets, we have all of that done. I spent all kinds of time deciding on which buildings to request, and now it doesn't matter!! But that's a problem I love having

I asked this question in the Disabilities board and got some very helpful answers. Here is a link to the post:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2999215

It seems like they are able to accommodate.

 

[Married2theYeti]

I hope everyone has a great time on their upcoming Poly stays. We enjoyed our 3rd stay there 2 weeks ago. We have been blessed with upgrades on the last two trips.

Question: I read last year (a year we skipped) they were requiring wristbands for the Poly pool to make sure only Poly guests were swimming there. This was not done for our 2009 or 2010 trip. I anticipated having them this trip, but once again, no wristbands required? Was the wristband only required in 2011? is it seasonal? Just curious.

I would love to know how you get the upgrade. Do they just offer it to you or do you always ask? We have stayed onsite many times and have NEVER been upgraded. Are we just unlucky?

 

[guitarob]

I would love to know how you get the upgrade. Do they just offer it to you or do you always ask? We have stayed onsite many times and have NEVER been upgraded. Are we just unlucky?

Upgrades are very much luck of the draw. Some get them, some don't. It probably hurts your chances of receiving one if you're asking for it.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

I hope everyone has a great time on their upcoming Poly stays. We enjoyed our 3rd stay there 2 weeks ago. We have been blessed with upgrades on the last two trips.

Gotta love that pixie dust! We were fortunate enough to get upgraded from garden to theme park view on our first anniversary. What sort of upgrades have you received?

 

[jenniferma]

Hi Everyone-- we just booked our first Poly visit for January and I was hoping to get some advice on requesting a garden view room location.

Our last trip we stayed at GF and we didn't do a room/building request. We ended up with the worst view at the whole resort.. so I don't want to repeat that!

We have three girls and hope to be close to the Ceremonial Hall.. but also close to TTC and parking because we'll have a rental car. Due to our last GF view of the industrial side of the pool house-- view is important to us too.

Does anyone have any recommendations??

thanks so much for your help! I am so excited about this trip!
jen

 

[Eliserose]

We just got back and stayed in Tokelau 3rd floor. Here is a pic from our balcony. Location was perfect. We were close to GCH and a a quick walk to the TTC for a direct monorail to Epcot. We were on the beach end of the building, which I loved.

 

[jenniferma]

We just got back and stayed in Tokelau 3rd floor. Here is a pic from our balcony. Location was perfect. We were close to GCH and a a quick walk to the TTC for a direct monorail to Epcot. We were on the beach end of the building, which I loved.

that sounds dreamy and perfect! I was thinking tokelau sounded right

Do you recommend the third floor? Are there certain floors that have balconies?

thanks!
jen

 

[xipotec]

Can someone look at my ticker and see if its moving......
It feels like its stuck..........

 

[Eliserose]

Yes. Loved the third floor, I think the views are nicer. And like I said the beach end of the building was nice. A few steps from our door was a door to go out of the building. We could actually stand there and see Wishes, very cool. Not sure if the second floor has balconies. Our room was on the side facing Tahiti and the TTC.

 

[maiapapaya]

Another good option is Samoa. While it is not one of the closer longhouses to the TTC, the Poly isn't really that big and the walk to the TTC from anywhere on the property isn't that bad. Samoa is right by the GCH, so close to the restaurants (nice to have a quick run to CC's for a drink refill!), shops, arcade & monorail platform, as well as your car. Your view will either be of the quiet pool or the volcano pool. Super convenient for swimming, although I don't know how much of that will happen for you in January!

Here's a picture of the volcano pool side view that someone posted in an older thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34261952&postcount=837

Really, though I have heard there are very few rooms at the Poly with a terrible view.

 

[Circusgirl]

that sounds dreamy and perfect! I was thinking tokelau sounded right

Do you recommend the third floor? Are there certain floors that have balconies?

thanks!
jen

For Tokelau, second and third floors have balconies. The first floor rooms have patios.

 

[jenniferma]

Another good option is Samoa. While it is not one of the closer longhouses to the TTC, the Poly isn't really that big and the walk to the TTC from anywhere on the property isn't that bad. Samoa is right by the GCH, so close to the restaurants (nice to have a quick run to CC's for a drink refill!), shops, arcade & monorail platform, as well as your car. Your view will either be of the quiet pool or the volcano pool. Super convenient for swimming, although I don't know how much of that will happen for you in January!

Here's a picture of the volcano pool side view that someone posted in an older thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34261952&postcount=837

Really, though I have heard there are very few rooms at the Poly with a terrible view.

wow-- is that a standard room view??? It is AMAZING!!! thank you so much for your help!!! we are so excited for this trip....!!!