ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012

[GinCar]

So excited, we leave tomorrow, which means.... I will be sleeping at the Poly for the first time ever.

We are only staying 3 short nights before our cruise, but I am hoping we will love it so much that we will want to book it again.

Thanks for all the help on this thread.

 

[Dominion]

I swear I read somewhere that the Poly has jogging strollers for CL guests, although for the life of me I can't now remember where! I was wondering if this is true and if anyone has been able to take advantage of it. Is it something I can count on being available? Can they be reserved? Anyone know if they have singles or doubles?

Thanks!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Thanks! Just went through your trip report and it makes me soooo excited for the POLY. We'll be there in August and we can't wait!!!!!

You're welcome! Thanks for reading it!

Hi everyone, We am going to be staying at BLT this coming april. We have an ADR at Cona Cafe on the day we arrive, I figured we would check out the Poly and have dinner there that night. Is there anything we should absolutely check out at the Poly before heading back to BLT for the night?

We have always passed by the Poly on the Monorail but have never been in there!

If it isn't a Sunday or Monday, try to catch the Torch Lighting Ceremony. It's usually around 5PM? right in front of the lobby. For free, you get a little show from the famous fire twirler who performs at the luau. As your concierge at BLT for the exact time. I agree that watching the fireworks from the beach at the Poly is really specially. It will give you a different perpective from the one you will have from BLT. Also walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. You will hear the Polynesian music playing in the background and the torches are very beautiful at night. The Tambu Lounge is also one of our favorite places to grab a drink.

 

[DelaneyJ]

I just logged in this morning and we are at 58 days! Woohoo
I was so excited, I started doing online check in. Don't know why this is making me nervous but I just hope I am doing the right thing
So I REALLY want a renovated room and it looks like the Samoa building is going to be renovated starting Feb 3rd and the Niue/ Rarotonga starting March 3. I wonder if either it will be done by April 7th?? If so, which should I request and should I request floor or balcony? (We have a 3 1/2 and 5 year old)
Thanks!

 

[maiapapaya]

I just logged in this morning and we are at 58 days! Woohoo
I was so excited, I started doing online check in. Don't know why this is making me nervous but I just hope I am doing the right thing
So I REALLY want a renovated room and it looks like the Samoa building is going to be renovated starting Feb 3rd and the Niue/ Rarotonga starting March 3. I wonder if either it will be done by April 7th?? If so, which should I request and should I request floor or balcony? (We have a 3 1/2 and 5 year old)
Thanks!

I think they are allotting 2 months per building for the renovations, so Niue/Rarontonga will not be done, Samoa, maybe ...

 

[DznyCrzy11]

You're welcome! Thanks for reading it!

If it isn't a Sunday or Monday, try to catch the Torch Lighting Ceremony. It's usually around 5PM? right in front of the lobby. For free, you get a little show from the famous fire twirler who performs at the luau. As your concierge at BLT for the exact time. I agree that watching the fireworks from the beach at the Poly is really specially. It will give you a different perpective from the one you will have from BLT. Also walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. You will hear the Polynesian music playing in the background and the torches are very beautiful at night. The Tambu Lounge is also one of our favorite places to grab a drink.

Ugh, the past 3 times we have stayed at Poly we ALWAYS miss the torch lighting ceremony!!!! Maybe we'll catch it this time, it sounds interesting!!!

Sent from my GalaxyS II

 

[rcraw45425]

I called the other day and requested a renovated building. The clueless person I spoke with said "oh they're all renovated right now"! I said , um, no, they're in the process of renovating, or they were when we were visiting last month. I requested a renovated room third floor. Really want Samoa again but when I requested a specific building last time we stayed there ('04) it caused us to wait until around 6pm to get into our room as they decided to shampoo the carpet first! I'm hoping that with a general request we can get in quicker this time!

 

[pixarmom]

We just returned from another wonderful WDW trip last Sunday - and we think this one was the best! We spent three nights at Poly and five at BWI CL. I will say that we were disappointed that Hawaii was closed for renovations - would have been nice to stay CL at both Poly and BWI. And while Captain Cook's is my favorite CS for variety, it was still pretty busy in the mornings for breakfast. So for our next stay, CL will be fresh and new, and we'll welcome breakfasts in the CL lounge!

But our stay was great and we were thrilled with our room. We requested Samoa, third floor, volcano pool side and that's exactly what Disney assigned to us! It's such a convenient location - amazing! Our boys (ages 6, 12 and 13) still love the volcano pool, dole whips, the tiki torches outside and the quick monorail to MK in the morning. They love the volcano pool - and staying in Samoa makes pool access ridiculously easy.

We found the construction in Hawaii was a non-issue. We spent the mornings in the parks and the afternoons at the resort, so we were around during the construction. No noise issues at all. And the construction at GF didn't bother us either.

A few things of concern: After defending Poly for years, I now agree that the refurb is necessary. Our room was very clean and in good order, but I welcome the white duvet covers and a bit of a "lift!"

Kona was outstanding for lunch as usual. Entirely underrated lunch/dinner location and we'll be sure to fit it into our plans again next time. The BBQ pork tacos are still my favorite.

Can't beat the beach. So fun for the boys to run around.

Transportation to MK was great. Not so great on the way home. My husband and I love the boat, but not so wonderful after Wishes (even during value season.) The monorail line was a mile long and it took 1.5 hours from MK to Poly by boat. There is a reason we previously avoided staying at MK for Wishes, and we now have confirmation - we'll go back to watching it from the Poly beach!

A few photos:

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We just got back from the Poly this last Saturday, while checking out, I overheard a guest checking in asking about paying to upgrade. The cm told him it was unlikely because they were quite full as 2 longhouses were closed due to renovations but she would call and check. So to answer your ?, sounds like they are closing them during renovations.

No, They are closing the whole longhouse til it is all done. I asked the CM and that is what I was told.

Tinkerbellie16 I believe they are closing down the longhouses for the renovations because it also includes plumbing and electrical work.

Thanks all! I'm going to have to figure out a back up longhouse. I'll cross my fingers they are finished with Tokelau by the time of our visit.

 

[MichelinMan]

In July crowds, do you think we would have enough time to watch the 9pm MSEP in the MK, and then get back to the Poly in time to watch Wishes from the beach? Just trying to figure out how to beat the post-Wishes crowds out of MK.

I suppose we could get the boat from MK back to the Poly, so if we didnt get back in time we would still see Wishes from the boat.

 

[DelaneyJ]

Just completed the online check in. I started yesterday and couldn't finish it until this morning. I requested Samoa Building with a Patio. I REALLY hope it is going to be renovated before April 7th
If not, maybe I will pay for an upgrade to the Hawaii Building
Not sure how much that would cost. TOO MUCH
My main goal is to stay in a renovated room but it looks like those chances are slim to none. When I get to the hotel, and I don't get my room request, what building is in the best shape?
Thanks for your help!

 

[Megsie1000]

A few things of concern: After defending Poly for years, I now agree that the refurb is necessary. Our room was very clean and in good order, but I welcome the white duvet covers and a bit of a "lift!"

Transportation to MK was great. Not so great on the way home. My husband and I love the boat, but not so wonderful after Wishes (even during value season.) The monorail line was a mile long and it took 1.5 hours from MK to Poly by boat. There is a reason we previously avoided staying at MK for Wishes, and we now have confirmation - we'll go back to watching it from the Poly beach!

We found the same thing with Wishes and it really shouldn't be that way. We even tried hanging out for a while after Wishes and we still had problems getting back. The 2nd time we got smart and took the ferry back to the TTC and walked. That was *much* faster. Still not what you want to do at the end of the day when you're dog tired.

We didn't see you but we were right below you! Well, 2 floors below you. I agree - wonderful location.

Did you have problems with the exhaust fan in the bathroom shutting off during your shower? Ours shut off because it was triggered to turn on over in the toilet area. Steamed up really quickly. HOpe they fix that in the refurb.

Glad you guys had a good time and I 100% agree on Kona! So yummy.

 

[princessap]

we head to the poly in less than a month...yahoo! This s our first time onsite and I am so excited!

I wanted to request Samoa but it is under renovations so we requested toleaku with a balcony..... Is this a good request? Should I add a view request?

Thanks to everyone on here for helping!!!

 

[prune1977]

we head to the poly in less than a month...yahoo! This s our first time onsite and I am so excited!

I wanted to request Samoa but it is under renovations so we requested toleaku with a balcony..... Is this a good request? Should I add a view request?

Thanks to everyone on here for helping!!!

Great request, that's the exact longhouse we were in and great balcony with a great view.

 

[mklovesdisney]

Does anyone know when the Poly starts putting up their Christmas Decorations/Tree? We are headed there the week before Thanksgiving and hope to see some.

Thanks!

 

[chamonix]

I swear I read somewhere that the Poly has jogging strollers for CL guests, although for the life of me I can't now remember where! I was wondering if this is true and if anyone has been able to take advantage of it. Is it something I can count on being available? Can they be reserved? Anyone know if they have singles or doubles?

Thanks!

I don't think they have them anymore. It's been a few years since I noticed them. If i recall correctly they were singles. When/if they have them, they are not reservable. They only had one or two and there are over 100 CL rooms, so it's certainly not something you could count on. To be sure though, you can email IPO and ask them if they still have them available.

 

[princessap]

Great request, that's the exact longhouse we were in and great balcony with a great view.

Thanks! Did you request a view or just toleaku and balcony?

Was it convenient to everything, we will have 3 young kids with us. Thanks so much!

 

[prune1977]

Thanks! Did you request a view or just toleaku and balcony?

Was it convenient to everything, we will have 3 young kids with us. Thanks so much!

We actually just request a balcony and got put in toleaku; outside on our balcony we could see quiet pool, space mountain, the lake, gf and a little bit of the castle. it was awesome location, We have 3 little ones too and we could walk to TTC pretty easy. Only location that i could think of that would be better for kids is maybe the Tahiti building but not sure what views you'd have there.

 

[Jo-Anne]

We are here right now and had to change rooms due to the construction on Hawaii. We were in Tokelu 2910 and our patio faced the Hawaii end entrance. All day long there were trucks backing up making those beeping sounds and then a lift moving things up to third floor and then hauling garbage back down. It wouldnt have been so bad if the truks werent beeping all day long. We like to spend afternoons at the resort relaxing, but this was not to be. We had split our stay and splurged for the first time at a deluxe for only 3 days. I had done my research and really wanted this location so its really unfortunate. I understand that construction has to go on, but I question them selling those rooms so obviously affected by the close noise.

 

[djse7en]

I am thinking of moving my ressie to the poly should the Hawaii be done by my date going 05/06/13