ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: October 2013

[pas130]

That is the problem with having a message forum that is part of a travel agency. A forum should be a place to share all information that helps people with their travel plans. I have a sponsor of my site that is a travel agency but I don’t hesitate to tell people where they can get special rates on my site or on my Facebook page because the number one goal is to get good information to people. My facebook page has people sending me photos and live reports of what is going on at the Polynesian and many of these people are travel agents from many different Disney planners.

Not too long ago my own site was banned from being posted on here but I think they realized I am only trying to share information. Hopefully my commentary does not get me blocked.

I sure hope not. BTW I love your FB page!!!

 

[Lsdolphin]

I sure hope not. BTW I love your FB page!!!

Still it is very annoying hearing about these great discounts and not being able to access them if you can't share this info then why post and frustrate the rest of us?!

 

[Lsdolphin]

Still it is very annoying hearing about these great discounts and not being able to access them if you can't share this info then why post and frustrate the rest of us?!

Sorry wrong place to post!

 

[maramarrie]

I am a little worried about staying at Poly during this construction, so I'm interested in some feedback, please.

We are a family of 4 with two young kids, traveling mid-late July.

Originally, we booked a split stay at Contemporary and WL. One adult will be traveling with the kids alone for the first half of the stay, and the other adult is joining later. For ease of travel with the kids and stroller, we booked along the monorail. Due to a problem applying our deposit, we lost the reservation. When I called to ask a question, our reservations could not be found; so this morning I was frantically working with the cast member to try to regain our reservation. The stay at WL was not available, so the cast member urged me to take the full stay at Poly, which would also prevent the lone adult from needing to pack up and switch hotels during our stay.

At first I was happy with this plan because it allowed us to stay along the monorail for the entire trip, and we learned that we won't be without the pool for most of our trip.

Now that I'm learning more about the construction in the GCH and on the east side of the resort, I'm worrying about how this may impact our stay. The convenience factor is a big deal during the first part of our stay when there is only one adult. Is the construction at Poly going to impede "convenience" in our stay - getting to/from restaurants, monorail, pool, bus?

The Contemporary is currently still available during the first part of our stay, so I'm wondering if it will be better to book there and go through switching hotels without construction or staying at the one hotel riddled with construction.

Are the jogging trails all open? Is the walk to TTC convenient/necessary? Is there a specific longhouse we should request, in our situation? (I didn't even know I could request a location when I was speaking with the cast member, so it's all new to me).

I am not very well informed on this resort, so I am just learning more about it. Sorry for all the questions. I had to book this in haste and totally switch gears unexpectedly; so now that I'm doing more reading I'm getting worried about the construction and atmosphere. Since this is our first stay at Poly, I don't want us to wish that we hadn't done it...I don't want to be disappointed by the construction rather than enchanted by the atmosphere. I have read some updates from Tikiman's pages, but I'm not sure if that helps or hurts...I'm so overwhelmed by it. Ha - I was already stressed by planning this trip last minute, so now it's even worse with the deposit snafu.

 

[eberge51]

You will want to look back in this tread. Look for the link to the Tikiman's website and Facebook page. From what I can gather the next big issue will be near the end of July when the big pool closes. We will be flying in this Sunday.

Erik

 

[pas130]

Still it is very annoying hearing about these great discounts and not being able to access them if you can't share this info then why post and frustrate the rest of us?!

You can always PM any poster

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

A travel agency banned from the DIS who has a Labor Day deal for Poly, YC/BC, GF and WL

Can you PM me the name of the agency? I would live to get a deal like that.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

You shouldn't be paying anywhere close to full price to stay at the Poly in its current condition, but if they are giving you a 50% discount then I think it is still worth staying there. We are paying $212 inclusive of all taxes per night to stay there in August. I thought it was good deal.

Can you PM where you got that deal from.

 

[emorin]

You shouldn't be paying anywhere close to full price to stay at the Poly in its current condition, but if they are giving you a 50% discount then I think it is still worth staying there. We are paying $212 inclusive of all taxes per night to stay there in August. I thought it was good deal.

Would you PM me the details for this? I thought we were getting a good rate but this would beat it.

Thanks

 

[LoveMickeyMouse]

I appreciate everyone's comments. I ended up booking the Dolphin with a theme park view. I will miss my Poly, but at least we will see the Epcot fireworks. We will be back at the Poly next June.

 

[margaret07013]

I stayed at Poly 2nd week of May with 2 little kids (2.5 and 4.5 ). The walls at GCH went up on our last day of the trip.

Would I stay at Poly in July? yes. but only as long as the main pool is open. the pool is the deal breaker.

since I have 2 small kids and I would consider ourselves as "park people" rather than "resort people" --- the convenience of monorail and boat access to MK was much more important to me than construction walls.

Our daily schedule was very simple - RD, midday break at the hotel (swimming and short nap), back to the park for the evening time.

Did the construction zone bothered me a little bit? yes, it did. especially looking at the "pizza hut" buildings over at the lake. the GCH construction - with all honesty, we maybe spent 15 min in all in the hotel lobby waiting for our TS at Kona and Ohana. and if construction walls are deal breakers for you - avoid Downtown Disney, AK and MK Hub area and Tomorrow land too.

It did bother me when I thought about how much money I paid to stay there to be in the construction zone, but kids didn't care. they wanted to go to the park and enjoy being at Disney.

the view of the castle from the swimming pool is to die for. I mean there is no other hotel that I know of that you can have it. the view is really nice and it made up for the construction walls for us.

but I would not stay at Poly once main pool is closed and surrounding area is blocked off.

I am a little worried about staying at Poly during this construction, so I'm interested in some feedback, please.

We are a family of 4 with two young kids, traveling mid-late July.

The Contemporary is currently still available during the first part of our stay, so I'm wondering if it will be better to book there and go through switching hotels without construction or staying at the one hotel riddled with construction.

 

[Aurora0427]

I am a little worried about staying at Poly during this construction, so I'm interested in some feedback, please.

We are a family of 4 with two young kids, traveling mid-late July.

Originally, we booked a split stay at Contemporary and WL. One adult will be traveling with the kids alone for the first half of the stay, and the other adult is joining later. For ease of travel with the kids and stroller, we booked along the monorail. Due to a problem applying our deposit, we lost the reservation. When I called to ask a question, our reservations could not be found; so this morning I was frantically working with the cast member to try to regain our reservation. The stay at WL was not available, so the cast member urged me to take the full stay at Poly, which would also prevent the lone adult from needing to pack up and switch hotels during our stay.

At first I was happy with this plan because it allowed us to stay along the monorail for the entire trip, and we learned that we won't be without the pool for most of our trip.

Now that I'm learning more about the construction in the GCH and on the east side of the resort, I'm worrying about how this may impact our stay. The convenience factor is a big deal during the first part of our stay when there is only one adult. Is the construction at Poly going to impede "convenience" in our stay - getting to/from restaurants, monorail, pool, bus?

The Contemporary is currently still available during the first part of our stay, so I'm wondering if it will be better to book there and go through switching hotels without construction or staying at the one hotel riddled with construction.

Are the jogging trails all open? Is the walk to TTC convenient/necessary? Is there a specific longhouse we should request, in our situation? (I didn't even know I could request a location when I was speaking with the cast member, so it's all new to me).

I am not very well informed on this resort, so I am just learning more about it. Sorry for all the questions. I had to book this in haste and totally switch gears unexpectedly; so now that I'm doing more reading I'm getting worried about the construction and atmosphere. Since this is our first stay at Poly, I don't want us to wish that we hadn't done it...I don't want to be disappointed by the construction rather than enchanted by the atmosphere. I have read some updates from Tikiman's pages, but I'm not sure if that helps or hurts...I'm so overwhelmed by it. Ha - I was already stressed by planning this trip last minute, so now it's even worse with the deposit snafu.

My opinion is to switch to the CR or GF. I love the Poly, but I think since this is your first stay, the Poly will not be as magical due to all of the construction. I've seen tons of photos of the construction, and it just doesn't look like the same Poly right now. I don't think you'll be inconvenienced at all, as long as the pool is still open, but it just isn't the same resort right now. Also, I have heard the quick service food area is very limited right now. We stayed at the Poly in May 2013 right before the construction began, and we moved over to the Grand Floridian for our December trip. I can't wait to see The Polynesian next year when everything is finished. This is, of course, just my opinion.

 

[MillauFr]

I am staying at the Poly in August because it is less than $200 per night. After the construction is done they will probably jack the rates up to $500+ per night. I can not afford $500 per night.

 

[minniesbiggiestfan]

Can you PM where you got that deal from.

Me too please.

 

[faithtrustpixie]

Hi Everyone!

Whoo-hoo! I finally persuaded my DH to stay at the Poly. I haven't stayed there since I was a child -- many, many years ago! We're traveling with our DD8 for our quick "Mom survived cancer and we're going to Disney World!" trip in November. (I'm almost done with breast cancer treatment - yay!)

I have a few questions and I'm hoping some of you great folks can weigh in with some answers.

-We're hoping to view fireworks/water pageant from the Poly beach. What's your best guess on our being able to do that in mid Nov. despite construction?

-Any idea if we'll still be able to walk to the TTC?

-Might there still be activities for kids at the pool even though the feature pool will be closed?

None of these are "deal breakers" or "vacation ruiners" -- we are thrilled and lucky to be vacationing together -- just managing expectations.

Thanks everyone!

 

[tim123]

Hi Everyone!

Whoo-hoo! I finally persuaded my DH to stay at the Poly. I haven't stayed there since I was a child -- many, many years ago! We're traveling with our DD8 for our quick "Mom survived cancer and we're going to Disney World!" trip in November. (I'm almost done with breast cancer treatment - yay!)

I have a few questions and I'm hoping some of you great folks can weigh in with some answers.

-We're hoping to view fireworks/water pageant from the Poly beach. What's your best guess on our being able to do that in mid Nov. despite construction?

-Any idea if we'll still be able to walk to the TTC?

-Might there still be activities for kids at the pool even though the feature pool will be closed?

None of these are "deal breakers" or "vacation ruiners" -- we are thrilled and lucky to be vacationing together -- just managing expectations.

Thanks everyone!

Main pool and adjacent beach area will be CLOSED…Luau area cove beach and the beach between the hut construction and the fence area by the main pool you will be able to watch fireworks.
Yes you can walk to TTC on the new path.
Everyone will be using the other pool and I'm sure they will have activities and the new Kids club is open. Also you can use Blizzard Beach for free during your stay.
Stay healthy!

 

[OnceUponATime15]

All good points, but worth noting....

The Blizzard Beach passes are single day passes per person - no matter length of stay. They include transportation to BB, a dedicated entry at BB for Poly guests & towel.

 

[Aristocath]

I'm very excited to be going to the Poly in THREE days! Hope to see some of you there and I'll give a report when I get back.

 

[mickeynut1]

I'm very excited to be going to the Poly in THREE days! Hope to see some of you there and I'll give a report when I get back.

Have a great trip .

 

[Lsdolphin]

You can always PM any poster

Actually didn't realize I could do that. Thank you!
Could you please PM name of agency to me?