ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: June 2013

[sjs314]

Thanks for the new thread guitarob!!! Great job!

When I was there May 25 - 29, there was only one standard cabana. The one on the left - when looking at the cabanas from the pool (Mauna Kea) - is completely gone and there is just the empty concrete spot.

I reserved a standard cabana for a half day but when I went to check in, the standard cabana was occupied. It turns out they had reserved it 'before' me and so they got it. I think it was more that they reserved it for the entire day rather than a half. But before I could weep and be upset, they told me I was upgraded to the premium cabana for no additional charge. I was really worried about not getting the cabana but reservations assured me that if they had to cancel, they would call me.

This is excellent info, thanks for posting. I checked Tikiman's site and in early May he posted the other cabana would/should be back in use "in a month or 2," so I'm hoping it's almost ready. I emailed IPO and will hear back tomorrow if the other cabana is ready or not.

Congrats on your upgrade!

Anxiously watching and waiting to hear the second "regular" cabana has returned as I have one reserved during our trip and can not wait. Bob is not a pool person but was very interested in the Cabana when I showed him the pictures of it

 

[TJA]

I just heard back from Poly IPO this morning regarding my question on if the second cabana is back in use:

As of right now, the cabana is still out of operation. We have checked with the marina and they do not have an estimated time of when it should be back.

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

I'm just wondering....when will they finish the renovations of the rooms? Does anyone know?

 

[RIbutler]

Hi-

Thanks for these great threads! It is helping me prepare for my first Poly visit in September.

My only other trip to WDW was two years ago at AKL Jambo, so I'm excited to use the monorail to get to MK and Epcot (as opposed to using busses to get everywhere). Never used the monorail or TTC before.

So my questions are as follows:
When going to DHS, AK, and DTD, is it smarter to walk over to the TTC to catch a bus or should I use the busses from the Poly?

Do the busses from the Poly share with another resort when going to those locations? (When we stayed at AKL, we sometimes had to wait for a second bus because the Kidani people had already filled it up. I' m wondering if we will face the same issue if a bus visits another resort before coming to the Poly)

If I were to go to the TTC, am I instead dealing with a larger crowd trying to get on the busses (compared to the resorts)? Or do they have more busses running back and forth there?

We are staying in the Hawaii longhouse, so I think according to Tikiman's site, it might be an extra two minutes to walk to TTC versus the Poly bus site, so that doesn't seem like much difference for me.

Anything that I missing in the difference in using the resort bus stop versus the TTC bus stop?

We will be 3 adults and a 5.5 yr old, a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, and a stroller (if that influences our choices...which I can't imagine that being the case).

Thanks again for all your help!

Dave

 

[sjs314]

I just heard back from Poly IPO this morning regarding my question on if the second cabana is back in use:

As of right now, the cabana is still out of operation. We have checked with the marina and they do not have an estimated time of when it should be back.

Thank You for sharing

 

[Circusgirl]

I was just reading the FAQ.. Poly still makes you pay for WiFi?

There is no longer a charge for WiFi at the resort.

 

[guitarob]

I was just reading the FAQ.. Poly still makes you pay for WiFi?

There is no longer a charge for WiFi at the resort.

Sorry, my fault, that used to be the case and I never changed it when they stopped charging. It is fixed now.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

34 days until the Poly I can't wait!!!!!

 

[flamark]

Hi-

Thanks for these great threads! It is helping me prepare for my first Poly visit in September.

My only other trip to WDW was two years ago at AKL Jambo, so I'm excited to use the monorail to get to MK and Epcot (as opposed to using busses to get everywhere). Never used the monorail or TTC before.

So my questions are as follows:
When going to DHS, AK, and DTD, is it smarter to walk over to the TTC to catch a bus or should I use the busses from the Poly?

Do the busses from the Poly share with another resort when going to those locations? (When we stayed at AKL, we sometimes had to wait for a second bus because the Kidani people had already filled it up. I' m wondering if we will face the same issue if a bus visits another resort before coming to the Poly)

If I were to go to the TTC, am I instead dealing with a larger crowd trying to get on the busses (compared to the resorts)? Or do they have more busses running back and forth there?

We are staying in the Hawaii longhouse, so I think according to Tikiman's site, it might be an extra two minutes to walk to TTC versus the Poly bus site, so that doesn't seem like much difference for me.

Anything that I missing in the difference in using the resort bus stop versus the TTC bus stop?

We will be 3 adults and a 5.5 yr old, a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, and a stroller (if that influences our choices...which I can't imagine that being the case).

Thanks again for all your help!

Dave

I would recommend the resort bus for most of your trips. The TTC bus loop is on the far side of the TTC from POLY and is a bit of a hike.

 

[Mr. Pig]

Hi-

Thanks for these great threads! It is helping me prepare for my first Poly visit in September.

My only other trip to WDW was two years ago at AKL Jambo, so I'm excited to use the monorail to get to MK and Epcot (as opposed to using busses to get everywhere). Never used the monorail or TTC before.

So my questions are as follows:
When going to DHS, AK, and DTD, is it smarter to walk over to the TTC to catch a bus or should I use the busses from the Poly?

Do the busses from the Poly share with another resort when going to those locations? (When we stayed at AKL, we sometimes had to wait for a second bus because the Kidani people had already filled it up. I' m wondering if we will face the same issue if a bus visits another resort before coming to the Poly)

If I were to go to the TTC, am I instead dealing with a larger crowd trying to get on the busses (compared to the resorts)? Or do they have more busses running back and forth there?

We are staying in the Hawaii longhouse, so I think according to Tikiman's site, it might be an extra two minutes to walk to TTC versus the Poly bus site, so that doesn't seem like much difference for me.

Anything that I missing in the difference in using the resort bus stop versus the TTC bus stop?

We will be 3 adults and a 5.5 yr old, a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, and a stroller (if that influences our choices...which I can't imagine that being the case).

Thanks again for all your help!

Dave

IMHO the walk to TTC would not be a big help for a bus. The busses run more often to the resort itself since there are more people there so you may have a longer wait at TTC. Then there is the walk to the TTC which isn't too long but 2 minutes seems a little light especially with young ones. The bus stop at TTC is on the opposite side of TTC from Poly.

The busses do share with other resorts. I can't remember if it is just Grand Floridian or also with CR. It can happen that a bus will be full but they seem to do a good job of traffic control (most times) and may a bus may skip a resort if later resort lines are getting long. It's true that the monorail resorts are great for MK and Epcot but are below average for travel to the other two parks.

September should not be too bad crowd wise.

 

[fadingjamie]

Sorry, my fault, that used to be the case and I never changed it when they stopped charging. It is fixed now.

Phew! Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Hi-

Thanks for these great threads! It is helping me prepare for my first Poly visit in September.

My only other trip to WDW was two years ago at AKL Jambo, so I'm excited to use the monorail to get to MK and Epcot (as opposed to using busses to get everywhere). Never used the monorail or TTC before.

So my questions are as follows:
When going to DHS, AK, and DTD, is it smarter to walk over to the TTC to catch a bus or should I use the busses from the Poly?

Do the busses from the Poly share with another resort when going to those locations? (When we stayed at AKL, we sometimes had to wait for a second bus because the Kidani people had already filled it up. I' m wondering if we will face the same issue if a bus visits another resort before coming to the Poly)

If I were to go to the TTC, am I instead dealing with a larger crowd trying to get on the busses (compared to the resorts)? Or do they have more busses running back and forth there?

We are staying in the Hawaii longhouse, so I think according to Tikiman's site, it might be an extra two minutes to walk to TTC versus the Poly bus site, so that doesn't seem like much difference for me.

Anything that I missing in the difference in using the resort bus stop versus the TTC bus stop?

We will be 3 adults and a 5.5 yr old, a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, and a stroller (if that influences our choices...which I can't imagine that being the case).

Thanks again for all your help!

Dave

You all will love the Poly!!! Your best bet is to just catch the buses at the Poly. There is no DTD bus at the TTC, you can only catch park buses there. The Poly shares a bus with CR and GF.

When in September are you all going? The past 3 yrs we've been going during the 1st week and we find the crowds to be relatively low.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[jw50]

We are staying from 9/2 thru 9/9. What is the chance we will get a renovated room?

If they keep to the current schedule you will be guaranteed to get a renovated room. They should be finishing up Tahiti and Rapa Nui while you are there so I would not request either of them at this time.

 

[USCAnna]

We just changed our POR reservation to the Poly. We have always wanted to stay here and I am super excited. My husband and children don't know. I am going to surprise them when we get to disney. We are staying from 9/2 thru 9/9. What is the chance we will get a renovated room? Should we make a request for a certain building? We are staying in a standard room. Thanks for any help.

We are booked from 8/3 to 8/10. Question: who do you contact to make room requests? I have never stayed at the Poly before. We only have a standard room booked at this point. I have two small kids...should I place a request or leave it to chance? Which building should we request? I want easy transportation to MK, Epcot, and our dining at the GF. A nice view wouldn't hurt either.

 

[RIbutler]

Thanks for all the replies! Sounds like the resort bus stop is the way to go.

You all will love the Poly!!! Your best bet is to just catch the buses at the Poly. There is no DTD bus at the TTC, you can only catch park buses there. The Poly shares a bus with CR and GF.

When in September are you all going? The past 3 yrs we've been going during the 1st week and we find the crowds to be relatively low.

We're going Sept 17-24. This was around the same time we went two years ago. Yes, it was HOT, but the low crowds more than made up for it. When I see pictures of crowds during other parts of the year (summer, x-mas, New Years, etc.), I wonder how I would ever handle it. I love the wait times during September. With smart use of Fastpass, I don't think we waited much more than 20 min for any ride.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

We just changed our POR reservation to the Poly. We have always wanted to stay here and I am super excited. My husband and children don't know. I am going to surprise them when we get to disney. We are staying from 9/2 thru 9/9. What is the chance we will get a renovated room? Should we make a request for a certain building? We are staying in a standard room. Thanks for any help.

You guys will love it!!!! We will be there 9/5-9/9!!

We have only stayed in the Fiji longhouse which we love. Compared to Samoa, it's on the opposite side of the Volcano pool. We love the location of it but you might prefer Samoa.

We are booked from 8/3 to 8/10. Question: who do you contact to make room requests? I have never stayed at the Poly before. We only have a standard room booked at this point. I have two small kids...should I place a request or leave it to chance? Which building should we request? I want easy transportation to MK, Epcot, and our dining at the GF. A nice view wouldn't hurt either.

Just call the resort reservations line and you can give them your request. I would put in a request for a certain longhouse. You can check out Tikimans website and see a map of the resort. You really can't go wrong with a lot of the longhouses. We like Fiji as it's right next to the GCH and you can request marina view, which is really nice, or I've also heard the other side has views as well. It's also close to the boat launch which we use quite a bit, it's especially great to use once MK closes and everyone is trying to leave at once.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[PixieMama]

Anxiously watching and waiting to hear the second "regular" cabana has returned as I have one reserved during our trip and can not wait. Bob is not a pool person but was very interested in the Cabana when I showed him the pictures of it

Same here! Though our trip isn't until October so it should be back by then, I would think.

 

[tjay]

Does anyone have a physical address for the Poly to have water delivered? Also, when we stayed at the Beach Club it was considered a convention resort and they wanted to charge us for delivering the shipped water. Has anyone ordered water and from where is it the easiest/cheapest. Thanks..

 

[The Fox Menagerie]

We will be arriving at the Poly for our first stay in 48 hours, getting so excited!

 

[jacksmom]

I was able to book a regular cabana for fri Aug 2nd 3-7 pm just a few days ago!