ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012

[pixie921]

We are longtime Poly fans and have stayed there more times than any other resort over the years. Ds went to the Neverland Club every trip from age 5 'til 12 (he's 20 now). We also owned DVC for several years (have since sold).

The plans for the changes to the Poly make me nothing but sad. The thought of the loss of the Neverland Club and potentially the beautiful water feature in the lobby depress me. I hate that Disney is shoving DVC into every nook and cranny that they can. Some things are better left alone IMHO, though of course, I know lots of people don't agree.

 

[Al and Kate's Mom]

Holy Cow! I just upgraded our sisters' October trip to the Poly - I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mariamouse]

Just listened! Every one on this board needs to go listen to ASAP! Sounds like DVC is starting at the end of the year. They're going to remove the luau building, build a t-shaped 5 story DVC building on that side of the beach, build the bungalows over the lagoon by the TTC, turn Tahiti into DVC, remove the laundry/ adventurer's club to add a new pool with a lazy river like Aluani, remove the parking lot in that area to expand, potentially build a parking garage, and potentially remove the water feature in the lobby. The potential date for all of this will be 2017. Which seems far away but WOW these are huge changes. I'm worried about our family staying at the Poly during the construction and will it even be the same resort after almost everything is changed? Frankly I don't understand the need for so many DVC's, I guess it's a money maker. But I'm amazed at how many people commit to that large of an expense. I guess if I was DVC I would be excited but I'm not. Although there have been things that Disney has changed that I have been skeptical about but I usually end up always loving it. All of these changes are going to need some major pixie dust.

Based on this preliminary information, how worried should we be about staying at the Poly this January? Would construction likely be visible by that point or will they likely still just be surveying/not making noise?

Wanted to stay at the Poly this time around since it will have been almost ten years, but maybe we should go back to the GF...

 

[Cindie-rella]

Bussing is going to be a huge issue with all these DVC being added. It's already an issue sharing between the three monorail resorts, once DVC at GF opens there's going to be even more people trying to squeeze on an already packed bus, and now add in Poly DVC guests and it's a huge mess. They're going to need to step up monorail service as well. I don't know if they really thought this through. They're trying to cut transportation services, but people paying top dollar at the three premium resorts are going to expect top notch for their money.

Why is Disney doing this???!!! Really? The Poly and the other monorail resorts should be left alone IMO. I think there are going to be a lot of very disappointed people after all is said and done. Like I said in my previous post, build a "NEW" DVC resort.Adding to the others will be a mistake. People love the POLY as it is. They already did GF and CR...now just build a whole new DVC with its own monorail perhaps !

 

[klwdisney]

We will be spending 1 very special night at the Poly the weekend of May 25th. It is my treat to myself to celebrate a very big birthday. We will not have park days while we are there and our flight home isn't until after 8 pm so we plan on spending 2 FULL days utilizing this resort for all it's wonderful things since it's costing over $500 for 4 of us to squeeze into 1 Standard room haha

My question is, can I fax in a room request before our arrival? If so, how do I go about doing this? And what should I request? I haven't stayed at the Poly since a family vacation in 1985 or 1986. We booked a Standard Room and there will be 4 of us staying in it... 3 adults and 1 child. I know I'd like a refurbished room and a balcony. Do certain buildings have rooms that are bigger than others?

Thanks in advance for your advice/guidance!

 

[jenjersnap]

Bussing is going to be a huge issue with all these DVC being added. It's already an issue sharing between the three monorail resorts, once DVC at GF opens there's going to be even more people trying to squeeze on an already packed bus, and now add in Poly DVC guests and it's a huge mess. They're going to need to step up monorail service as well. I don't know if they really thought this through. They're trying to cut transportation services, but people paying top dollar at the three premium resorts are going to expect top notch for their money.

This is my primary concern. As I said in the Poly bungalows thread, I hope they use some of the profits from GFV to upgrade their transportation infrastructure, especially the monorail. This many additional people seems like a premium-priced potential nightmare to me.

 

[polyfor4]

Based on this preliminary information, how worried should we be about staying at the Poly this January? Would construction likely be visible by that point or will they likely still just be surveying/not making noise?

Wanted to stay at the Poly this time around since it will have been almost ten years, but maybe we should go back to the GF...

Tikiman said that Disney has on paper the end of this year and I know that they have already cleared some land in that area. But he also mentioned how Disney is always delayed starting a project so I think January would still be unaffected but I guess time will tell.

 

[mickeynut1]

WooHoo!!! I just paid off our 1st ever Disney vacation. 50 more days and we will be chillin at the Poly. I hope it is as magical as I remembered it when I was a little girl

Congrats on being paid in full . Have a great trip.

My family and i will be there may 28 to june 3. This will be our 6th trip to the poly ... Congrats on your trip and enjoy!

Have a great trip going back to the Poly .

Holy Cow! I just upgraded our sisters' October trip to the Poly - I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be spending 1 very special night at the Poly the weekend of May 25th. It is my treat to myself to celebrate a very big birthday. We will not have park days while we are there and our flight home isn't until after 8 pm so we plan on spending 2 FULL days utilizing this resort for all it's wonderful things since it's costing over $500 for 4 of us to squeeze into 1 Standard room haha

My question is, can I fax in a room request before our arrival? If so, how do I go about doing this? And what should I request? I haven't stayed at the Poly since a family vacation in 1985 or 1986. We booked a Standard Room and there will be 4 of us staying in it... 3 adults and 1 child. I know I'd like a refurbished room and a balcony. Do certain buildings have rooms that are bigger than others?

Thanks in advance for your advice/guidance!

Have a great time celebrating your birthday at the Poly .

As far as faxing in requests, I don't know if this is true for the Poly, but some resorts don't accept faxes anymore and just throw them away when they come in. I would call and have the request(s) added to your reservation. We stayed in Samoa and loved the location as it's just steps from the GCH, the volcano pool, the beach, and Captain Cooks .

 

[kpitarresi]

Can anyone please tell me how long it would take to get from the Poly to AK and how long it would take to get to get from the Poly to HS if traveling by our own car? I'm reading reviews about how horrible Disney bus transportation is and since we have never been I'm thinking of holding on to our rental throughout our trip. Any advice on this??? TIA

 

[Cindie-rella]

Can anyone please tell me how long it would take to get from the Poly to AK and how long it would take to get to get from the Poly to HS if traveling by our own car? I'm reading reviews about how horrible Disney bus transportation is and since we have never been I'm thinking of holding on to our rental throughout our trip. Any advice on this??? TIA

If I remember correctly, when we stayed at AKL and took the bus from AKL to MK it took about 25 min w/o any stops, so I would say maybe 15-20 min by car? I don't know about HS but if I had to guess I would say about 10 min. Someone else here will know for sure I'm sure.
I don't think WDW buses are that bad, I just don't always have patience waiting at the parks for one back to our resort after a long day. I have already decided on our AKL day and HS days we will be using the cab services. At least to the parks. I'd rather not have to drive at all while at WDW. We always set aside cab fare for certain parks and certain ADR's. Works for us and is still cheaper than a car rental. At least at the POLY we have monorail to the 2 parks we visit most and a boat ride to HDDR.

 

[gjl]

Can anyone please tell me how long it would take to get from the Poly to AK and how long it would take to get to get from the Poly to HS if traveling by our own car? I'm reading reviews about how horrible Disney bus transportation is and since we have never been I'm thinking of holding on to our rental throughout our trip. Any advice on this??? TIA

I think it's just human nature to review or comment something when you have a bad experience- not a good one! I've never had issues with the transportation. I like not having to drive and deal with parking! Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

 

[mariamouse]

Tikiman said that Disney has on paper the end of this year and I know that they have already cleared some land in that area. But he also mentioned how Disney is always delayed starting a project so I think January would still be unaffected but I guess time will tell.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just have to play the waiting game! Not a game that I am particularly good at...

 

[HappyMomma]

I'm so glad we decided to try Poly this year and not wait until the future. But now I'm worried that I'm going to love it, and then it will change

I do hope that all the DVC construction goes smoothly...............if and when it's gets started.

I feel just like you do.

 

[flinkerfrosch]

We are coming to the Poly in Oct. Does anyone know if the pool will be under a rehab or will we be in the clear?

 

[klwdisney]

Have a great time celebrating your birthday at the Poly .

As far as faxing in requests, I don't know if this is true for the Poly, but some resorts don't accept faxes anymore and just throw them away when they come in. I would call and have the request(s) added to your reservation. We stayed in Samoa and loved the location as it's just steps from the GCH, the volcano pool, the beach, and Captain Cooks .[/QUOTE]

Is Samoa one of the recently updated buildings??

 

[sandym718]

Can anyone please tell me how long it would take to get from the Poly to AK and how long it would take to get to get from the Poly to HS if traveling by our own car? I'm reading reviews about how horrible Disney bus transportation is and since we have never been I'm thinking of holding on to our rental throughout our trip. Any advice on this??? TIA

We drive everywhere the monorail can't take us. I really can't remember any place taking longer than 10 or so minutes. Maybe a few minutes longer to AK but not much. I guess I'm always so happy and excited and enjoying the sights that the drives go by so quickly!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Can anyone please tell me how long it would take to get from the Poly to AK and how long it would take to get to get from the Poly to HS if traveling by our own car? I'm reading reviews about how horrible Disney bus transportation is and since we have never been I'm thinking of holding on to our rental throughout our trip. Any advice on this??? TIA

We usually drive to all parks since we usually stay offsite (first time at poly for us!) driving is so easy and parking is so simple. I would much rather drive than wait for a bus any day. It is also much quicker to get from place to place. The only consideration I would say is that parking is expensive - $16 a day on our last trip. You can park hop with your parking ticket but it does add to the cost of your trip.

 

[buzzmom12]

We usually drive to all parks since we usually stay offsite (first time at poly for us!) driving is so easy and parking is so simple. I would much rather drive than wait for a bus any day. It is also much quicker to get from place to place. The only consideration I would say is that parking is expensive - $16 a day on our last trip. You can park hop with your parking ticket but it does add to the cost of your trip.

If you are staying on site parking is free. We drive if we have a car and I dont think anything is more then 15 minutes away. The busses arent bad though getting to those parks. We will drive if I had a car but prob wouldnt rent one to go to those two parks.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

If you are staying on site parking is free. We drive if we have a car and I dont think anything is more then 15 minutes away. The busses arent bad though getting to those parks. We will drive if I had a car but prob wouldnt rent one to go to those two parks.

I didnt know that! Thats good as we have a car for one of our days and were not going to drive to avoid the cost of parking. Thanks.

 

[hebbynan]

5 months from today we will be checking in at the POLY!!!

Thanks for all the recent info about driving to the parks. Since we are driving to WDW we're planning on driving to Typhoon Lagoon now the day we check in. We have the Spirit of Aloha luau scheduled that night, so we want to be back in plenty of time to shower and change.

Reading this thread really keeps me excited for this trip! Thank you ALL so much!!