ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We will be staying at the Poly for the first time in October... since I've never stayed there I've been doing lots of reading up on the resort. Forgive me if this has already been asked/addressed:

I *think* I want to request Rapa Nui or Tokelau for our stay. The info I found regarding the renovations has Rapa Nui scheduled to start Aug 11, and that makes me nervous they won't be done in time for our trip (if there are any delays, that is). But with 5 people (3 of which are adults!) I'm thinking not a good idea to have just one sink, as I've read Tokelau has. Once the room renovations have been done, will there still be only one sink in Tokelau? Or will there be two? TIA!

I definitely think Rapa Nui, Tokelau, and Tahiti are your best choices. These longhouses all have slightly larger rooms which will be great given 5 people. I believe all the longhouses will now have dual sinks in the bathroom. I am very interested to see the first pictures from these longhouses after the remodel to see if they keep the 2 armchairs in the rooms or ??? (the other longhouses have one armchair)

 

[maiapapaya]

Well, aren't you fancy? Sounds good to me!

It was a lapu lapu - they come in a pineapple!

 

[Ferrentinos]

Just booked Spirit of Aloha for our trip in July. Booked the early show. Couldn't resist as we were watching footage on YouTube and DD2 said " I wanna do that!" Thoughts on the show? Food? I have read lots of mixed reviews. Thanks!

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Hi Polys!
This is our first time going to Disney as a family and we have decided to stay at Poly (So Excited!!!!). Are there any beachside standard rooms? Also, what longhouse would you recommend for two young boys (2 & 6)? TIA

The closest you will get to beachside is in Fiji. One side faces the marina and the other side mostly faces the beach inlet closest to the GF. Both sides of Fiji are garden view. I wouldn't worry too much about location, the boys(and the adults) will have fun anywhere at Poly. There really are VERY few rooms with poor views at Poly. The longhouses each have their own location personalities with great attributes. We stayed in Tokelau and loved the garden views, larger rooms, and the proximity to the TTC and bus stop. When we stayed in Aotearoa, we loved people watching(visitors going to the luau), the luau music in the evenings, and best of all.....we had a view of the castle through a wispy tree for the price of garden view

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Is the walkway from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian open with all of the construction now? We have a breakfast planned for the Grand Floridian and prefer just walking the path there.

Recent reports say that yes--the walkway is still open

 

[Elinor Dashwood]

Recent reports say that yes--the walkway is still open

Thanks!

 

[TaraPA]

Here is a construction pic from earlier this week...mattresses & garbage cans!

 

[PixieMama]

I definitely think Rapa Nui, Tokelau, and Tahiti are your best choices. These longhouses all have slightly larger rooms which will be great given 5 people. I believe all the longhouses will now have dual sinks in the bathroom. I am very interested to see the first pictures from these longhouses after the remodel to see if they keep the 2 armchairs in the rooms or ??? (the other longhouses have one armchair)

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Yes, I definitely want to request Rapa Nui, Tahiti, or Tokelau due to their slightly larger size. Glad to hear the rooms should all have two sinks. Of course, we're not going until October... so I do have some time to make my decision!

 

[disneydreamin247]

I don't know how I am going to keep this secret from my DS for the next 72 days. He thinks we are staying at POR in a Royal Guest Room! I can't wait to see his face when we pull up to the Poly!

 

[TaraPA]

I don't know how I am going to keep this secret from my DS for the next 72 days. He thinks we are staying at POR in a Royal Guest Room! I can't wait to see his face when we pull up to the Poly!

I kept our resort(s) a secret from DS15 - he wanted it to be a surprise. DS12 knew but kept the secret. I had to quickly tell the ME people & bus driver not to say the resort out loud! He had it narrowed down to 3 once they made the announcements on the ME bus. It was fun keeping it a surprise!

 

[disneydreamin247]

I kept our resort(s) a secret from DS15 - he wanted it to be a surprise. DS12 knew but kept the secret. I had to quickly tell the ME people & bus driver not to say the resort out loud! He had it narrowed down to 3 once they made the announcements on the ME bus. It was fun keeping it a surprise!

I am the absolute WORST at surprising people. When I buy someone a present I want to give it to them immediately. Seriously if I make it to the airport without telling him, it is going to be a miracle.

 

[NicoleK1974]

Just booked Spirit of Aloha for our trip in July. Booked the early show. Couldn't resist as we were watching footage on YouTube and DD2 said " I wanna do that!" Thoughts on the show? Food? I have read lots of mixed reviews. Thanks!

We went in December, even though we heard some pretty rough things about it, but my overall opinion is do it at least once!
We sprung for the most expensive seats and had front row, center tables so that was great.

Our server was fantastic.
I have an allergy to nuts, which are now in a few different items on the new menu, and she brought out identical items without the nuts, and instead of the macadamia nut chocolate mousse, she brought out a nice fruit plate with some caramel dipping sauce and about 6 freshly made, yummy chocolate chip cookies.

The food was overall about a C+....nothing great, but not bad. It came out hot and stayed warm, despite the slightly cool temps. (Would have liked a jacket by the end of the main course....the BBQ sauce is a must because there wasn't much seasoning on the meat.

The show was about a B.....kinda hokey, a little cheesy, but my daughter (4 at the time) LOVED getting up and dancing when they asked for participation.

I've heard people leave reviews that there is 30 minutes of special dances (birthday people, etc) but in our case, there were only 3, about 3-4 minutes each.

You must....YES, ABSOLUTELY MUST stay until the end!!!

The fire dancer is absolutely mind blowing, amazing.

My brother, who is rarely overly impressed with anything, and even more rarely verbal about it if he is, was hooting, hollering, pounding on the table, clapping, etc during the whole thing and at the end, he got up from the table and said "Holy $____ That guy was INCREDIBLE!" (And ladies....he's super hot too, and a great, shining, over the top (but not obnoxious) personality to boot! Lol!)
My 4 year old sat there wide eyed, her mouth wide open and did not say a word through this whole performance, and at the end said nothing but "Wow Mommy!"

So, yes! Take the chance, at least once (I know we will go again when we go back).

If you go strictly for the food, are expecting a Broadway calibre show or are squeamish about a little skin showing, then you will probably be disappointed, but go with an open mind and join in the fun when you can!

 

[Ferrentinos]

We went in December, even though we heard some pretty rough things about it, but my overall opinion is do it at least once!
We sprung for the most expensive seats and had front row, center tables so that was great.

Our server was fantastic.
I have an allergy to nuts, which are now in a few different items on the new menu, and she brought out identical items without the nuts, and instead of the macadamia nut chocolate mousse, she brought out a nice fruit plate with some caramel dipping sauce and about 6 freshly made, yummy chocolate chip cookies.

The food was overall about a C+....nothing great, but not bad. It came out hot and stayed warm, despite the slightly cool temps. (Would have liked a jacket by the end of the main course....the BBQ sauce is a must because there wasn't much seasoning on the meat.

The show was about a B.....kinda hokey, a little cheesy, but my daughter (4 at the time) LOVED getting up and dancing when they asked for participation.

I've heard people leave reviews that there is 30 minutes of special dances (birthday people, etc) but in our case, there were only 3, about 3-4 minutes each.

You must....YES, ABSOLUTELY MUST stay until the end!!!

The fire dancer is absolutely mind blowing, amazing.

My brother, who is rarely overly impressed with anything, and even more rarely verbal about it if he is, was hooting, hollering, pounding on the table, clapping, etc during the whole thing and at the end, he got up from the table and said "Holy $____ That guy was INCREDIBLE!" (And ladies....he's super hot too, and a great, shining, over the top (but not obnoxious) personality to boot! Lol!)
My 4 year old sat there wide eyed, her mouth wide open and did not say a word through this whole performance, and at the end said nothing but "Wow Mommy!"

So, yes! Take the chance, at least once (I know we will go again when we go back).

If you go strictly for the food, are expecting a Broadway calibre show or are squeamish about a little skin showing, then you will probably be disappointed, but go with an open mind and join in the fun when you can!

Thanks so much for the review! I think DD2 will love it so we sprung for the level 1 seats and are going for it! We went to a luau in Hawaii and found it a bit cheesey but it was still fun!

 

[sjs314]

I don't know how I am going to keep this secret from my DS for the next 72 days. He thinks we are staying at POR in a Royal Guest Room! I can't wait to see his face when we pull up to the Poly!

I am the absolute WORST at surprising people. When I buy someone a present I want to give it to them immediately. Seriously if I make it to the airport without telling him, it is going to be a miracle.

Dani I would never be able to keep where we were staying a secret, I would have told him when I switched.

 

[trishadono]

Here is a construction pic from earlier this week...mattresses & garbage cans!

I have my first PolyCL stay 4/5. Do you have a clue what the GV view will be? Mostly construction is what I fear.
Think I will be hanging out the the lounge

 

[rcraw45425]

Thanks so much for the review! I think DD2 will love it so we sprung for the level 1 seats and are going for it! We went to a luau in Hawaii and found it a bit cheesey but it was still fun!

My husband and I did it in October, category 3 seats with the DDP and enjoyed the show. The food then was pretty good, we had rotisserie chicken and fall off the bone tender ribs. Our seats were eh, I had a pole blocking my view so when I booked this upcoming trip I booked category one since it'll be older daughters graduation and 18th birthday. I hope that the food either returns to the prior menu or they still offer the salad in place of the potato salad, I have one teen that is very picky about things like that, no potato salad, no coleslaw, etc.

 

[mickeynut1]

We are going last week October...first time at poly...my six year old requested this resort as the tiki torches fascinate him. Ha!

I am wondering about long houses to request...

Our priority is:

1. Room condition (have any been remodeled recently)
2. Proximity to counter Service
3. Proximity to main pool

We will be walking to monorail or buses every day, swimming two afternoons, and napping in the room with toddler! Hence my priorities!

We love Samoa . We thought it was very convenient to everything as it was just steps from the GCH, volcano pool, the beach, and Captain Cooks.

Booked our November stay at be Poly yesterday now the planning can commence! We are so excited, first time staying at the Poly!

228 Days to go!

You will love the Poly......it's an awesome resort .

Just booked Spirit of Aloha for our trip in July. Booked the early show. Couldn't resist as we were watching footage on YouTube and DD2 said " I wanna do that!" Thoughts on the show? Food? I have read lots of mixed reviews. Thanks!

It's been awhile since we did SoA (Sept 2007), but we loved it. We thought the food was great and the show was cute. I read alot of not-so-good reviews about it before we went, but decided to give it a try and we really liked it. It's not something we would do every year, but it is nice to experience it at least once, IMO .

Thanks so much for the review! I think DD2 will love it so we sprung for the level 1 seats and are going for it! We went to a luau in Hawaii and found it a bit cheesey but it was still fun!

We paid OOP for category 1 seating instead of using 2 DDP credits and I'm so glad we did. I think it was well worth the extra money as we had great seats right up front by the stage .

 

[sjs314]

Debating about booking The SOA Dinner Show for our trip. We went way back in 1990 and had Catagory 1 seating so if we do go again will book the same as those seats were awesome. I have to look at the current menu, back then I believe it was much more authentic luau foods.

 

[HappyMomma]

Well, we told the kids yesterday about the trip. We wanted to keep it a secret until the day were were supposed to leave, but, we were terrified we'd accidentally spill the beans as we are planning. We got a huge box, wrapped it in red and white polka paper, put paper shred in the bottom with a Mickey, Minnie and a Donald stuffed toy, Disney beach towels for each kid, and a calendar marked with stickers on our trip days for the little one. We topped it off with Disney themed balloons and a letter from Mickey. When they opened the box the balloons popped out and jaws dropped. LOL! It was great fun!

 

[disneydreamin247]

Well, we told the kids yesterday about the trip. We wanted to keep it a secret until the day were were supposed to leave, but, we were terrified we'd accidentally spill the beans as we are planning. We got a huge box, wrapped it in red and white polka paper, put paper shred in the bottom with a Mickey, Minnie and a Donald stuffed toy, Disney beach towels for each kid, and a calendar marked with stickers on our trip days for the little one. We topped it off with Disney themed balloons and a letter from Mickey. When they opened the box the balloons popped out and jaws dropped. LOL! It was great fun!

That is awesome!!!