The *ALL NEW* Polynesian Resort FAQ thread - *APRIL 2009*

[Sphyrna]

Aloha from the Poly!! I checked into the Poly this afternoon. I have a 3rd floor room in Tokelau all the way at the end on the lagoon side. The view from the balcony is great! Directly in front of the balcony isn't so great as there's a big tree there. But when I looked to the left my jaw dropped as I saw Space Mountain and the castle!!

I haven't done much exploring around yet. Just unpacked and headed for dinner. Unfortunately that didn't go too well. My friend I'm with didn't want to bother with ADRs, even though I kept warning him. We tried Ohana and it was a 2 hr wait. Next we tried Kona Cafe. He said 25-35 min so we got a pager and walked around. After 45 min I checked to see how much longer and he said another 10-15 min. My friend was too hungry and his blood sugar was getting low so we said forget it and went to Captain Cook's. That didn't work out too well either. I was surprised I was able to navigate the touchscreen system with no problems, even customizing my order for the grilled cheese. However, I added bacon to it but when I got it there was no bacon on it. After dinner we hopped the monorail to MK for a couple hours. We caught the ferry back to the Poly. Hopefully tomorrow I can do a bit more exploring. Even with just the little I've experienced so far I'm loving it (with the exception of the wait for Kona Cafe). It's just so peaceful here!!

 

[chris44]

You must be just a few doors down the hall from us! We were at the Poly 7 years ago & are loving it even more this time.
Someone asked about apple juice at refill station - none.
We like the chicken noodle bowl thing & pork sandwich. Grilled cheese was good but too greasy for us.
Really enjoyed s'mores & movie at GF - twice!
Weather has been great - a little hot but no complaints after what folks went thru last week!
'Ohana was fabulous - haven't had time for Kona & we leave soon.
This has been a wonderful vacation & I want to stay at Poly every year!!

 

[cmca23]

I haven't been on the boards in a while and have been reading and catching up tonight. And I must say, I really miss my Disney vacation at the Poly! Our family had such a great time. I would love to go every year, but......my husband says we can go back in a decade! That is a very long time. I am thinking no longer than 3 years, max!

 

[Kathy Z]

I haven't done much exploring around yet. Just unpacked and headed for dinner. Unfortunately that didn't go too well. My friend I'm with didn't want to bother with ADRs, even though I kept warning him. We tried Ohana and it was a 2 hr wait. Next we tried Kona Cafe. He said 25-35 min so we got a pager and walked around. After 45 min I checked to see how much longer and he said another 10-15 min.

Your room location sounds fabulous! I hope that your friend will agree to some ADR's that you might score for your remaining days. We had ADR's for our visit a few weeks ago including two for Kona. In all but one case we showed up ahead of time and were seated prior to our ADR time. Even the one with a wait was less than 15 minutes. When you're a walk up the best they can do is give you an estimated wait time. They have no way of knowing how long people will linger. We never felt rushed to finish and we had a 7 year-old who takes close to an hour to eat at the QS places!

Have a great vacation!

 

[maiapapaya]

Thanks Maxie & Kathy for your info on travel times. It will help with the dreaming, er, planning!

Does anyone have an answer to the early EMH question, ie. can you access park trasportation from the TTC for early EMH? (I was wondering since they are only for resort guests and the UG mentioned that normally the monorail starts running earlier for resort guests than day guests boarding at TTC)

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I'll be arriving at the Poly in a few days. Can someone give some ideas of which club level (Hawaii Longhouse) lagoon view rooms to stay away from. I saw on Tikiman's site he mentions some rooms have partial views. Any info would be appreicated.

 

[Tess]

Thanks Maxie & Kathy for your info on travel times. It will help with the dreaming, er, planning!

Does anyone have an answer to the early EMH question, ie. can you access park trasportation from the TTC for early EMH? (I was wondering since they are only for resort guests and the UG mentioned that normally the monorail starts running earlier for resort guests than day guests boarding at TTC)

Which park are you trying to access via TTC for EMH? If it is MK, your best bet is to board the resort monorail since the express won't run until opening and the resort monorail will be stopping at Polynesian anyway..

If it is EPCOT, yes, you can access the monorail early for EMH. You will need a resort room key to get through to the monorail. Just by-pass the crowd and get to the CM manning the gate.

If you are talking about AK or DHS buses, I'm really not sure they would run early for EMH because it would be difficult to police which are resort and/or day guests. The buses will be running early for the EMH park at the resort and probably more accessible as well.

I hope that kinda' sorta' answers your question. If not, let us know.

 

[maiapapaya]

Tess, that's exactly the info I was looking for. We've never stayed at Poly before and everyone says it's better to go via the TTC when heading out to the parks. I just didn't want waste our time trying to board at TTC for EMH if you can't.
Thanks!

 

[Tess]

Tess, that's exactly the info I was looking for. We've never stayed at Poly before and everyone says it's better to go via the TTC when heading out to the parks. I just didn't want waste our time trying to board at TTC for EMH if you can't.
Thanks!

My husband and I took the bus to DHS from TTC during our recent stay. We had to visit the Lost & Found office and since we were already there, we opted to go the TTC route. Our kids took the bus from the resort.

The kids arrived in timely fashion and I really had no complaints this year with the buses from the Polynesian. We waited a bit for our bus at TTC and then sat on it for a few minutes once it arrived. All-in-all, I didn't find it any longer or shorter than going from the resort. The one benefit is the direct drive to the parks (AK or DHS) without stopping at another resort.

I will also note that we do like to grab a TTC bus from DHS or AK to the Polynesian rather than a resort bus. It seems a much more expedient way to get back.

 

[TheIncredibles]

We will be there the 13th-20th! Less than 2 weeks now!

Hope to see you in passing. We tend to be "Disney Commando's" (up early for breakfast, small break somewhere, and back at MK 'till close). Its not as stressful as when the kids were young though. During those times we were easy to spot - close to the wine & spirits!

 

[summersalt]

Welcome back, summersalt. Glad you loved the Poly. Might I ask if room 1307 was on the marina side? If yes, please tell me if you noted a smell of gas from the boats?

Anyone else ever stay on the marina side of Fiji...notice a gas smell? Thinking of requesting this location for our next trip but we spend a lot of time on our balcony or patio and are a little concerned about this.

Thanks!

Hi! We were on the back side of the marina and we never smelled gas. They use 4 stroke motors on the boats so there's no noise or exhaust fumes.

 

[Picabo]

Someone asked about apple juice at refill station - none.
.
Really enjoyed s'mores & movie at GF - twice!

This has been a wonderful vacation & I want to stay at Poly every year!!

Thanks for confirming about the Apple Juice. Too bad. But not surprising.

And going to the GF for the s'mores and movie is on my list of things we want to do! (Weather permitting - in early Dec!) What time was the movie and do they do anything fun prior to the movie starting - is there a sing a long? How crowded was it?

Glad you enjoying your trip = I'm sure it's a sad feeling ot know it's almost over!

 

[mmmears]

I'll be arriving at the Poly in a few days. Can someone give some ideas of which club level (Hawaii Longhouse) lagoon view rooms to stay away from. I saw on Tikiman's site he mentions some rooms have partial views. Any info would be appreicated.

We had the room second to the end (away from the lounge) and we had a PERFECT view of the lagoon and the castle! I would think that the rooms next to us and below us had great views, too. Hope this helps.

And going to the GF for the s'mores and movie is on my list of things we want to do! (Weather permitting - in early Dec!) What time was the movie and do they do anything fun prior to the movie starting - is there a sing a long? How crowded was it?

We walked past it on our way back "home" to the Poly from the GF in April. There were maybe 7 or 8 people there (and this was during the busy Spring Break weeks). DD & I thought that it looked like fun, be wanted to get back to the Poly and relax and get ready to watch the EWP and Wishes. I believe that the movie times change with the seasons.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Aloha from the Poly!! I checked into the Poly this afternoon. I have a 3rd floor room in Tokelau all the way at the end on the lagoon side. The view from the balcony is great! Directly in front of the balcony isn't so great as there's a big tree there. But when I looked to the left my jaw dropped as I saw Space Mountain and the castle!!

I haven't done much exploring around yet. Just unpacked and headed for dinner. Unfortunately that didn't go too well. My friend I'm with didn't want to bother with ADRs, even though I kept warning him. We tried Ohana and it was a 2 hr wait. Next we tried Kona Cafe. He said 25-35 min so we got a pager and walked around. After 45 min I checked to see how much longer and he said another 10-15 min. My friend was too hungry and his blood sugar was getting low so we said forget it and went to Captain Cook's. That didn't work out too well either. I was surprised I was able to navigate the touchscreen system with no problems, even customizing my order for the grilled cheese. However, I added bacon to it but when I got it there was no bacon on it. After dinner we hopped the monorail to MK for a couple hours. We caught the ferry back to the Poly. Hopefully tomorrow I can do a bit more exploring. Even with just the little I've experienced so far I'm loving it (with the exception of the wait for Kona Cafe). It's just so peaceful here!!

Thanks for the live trip report.

 

[Sphyrna]

Well I think tonight will be the last dinner with my friend and I, the rest of the week we'll be doing seperate stuff. Once again we have no ADRs for tonight. I suggested trying to get something but he was going to see if his CM friend wanted to join us for dinner. But that didn't happen so once again we have no ADRs. Going to try to get something at Epcot.

The room location is great. I did put a request in to have maintenance check the tub. It's very slow to drain. By the time I finished my shower the water was up above my ankles. It doesn't bother me too much but figured I'd let them know so it can be resolved. I can only imagine what it would be like for a family all showering one after another. The last person would end up having to take a bath!

Went to MK today. Then came back to the resort and walked around a bit. Wound up at the pool bar and enjoyed a Pina Colava. OMG was that good!! Came back to the room and mousekeeping was still in there. That was a little annoying since it was about 4:00. But she left us an elephant towel animal so that was worth the delay getting back into the room! Definitely enjoying my Poly stay. Even just walking around the resort is a peaceful experience.

 

[Sphyrna]

You must be just a few doors down the hall from us! We were at the Poly 7 years ago & are loving it even more this time.
Someone asked about apple juice at refill station - none.
We like the chicken noodle bowl thing & pork sandwich. Grilled cheese was good but too greasy for us.
Really enjoyed s'mores & movie at GF - twice!
Weather has been great - a little hot but no complaints after what folks went thru last week!
'Ohana was fabulous - haven't had time for Kona & we leave soon.
This has been a wonderful vacation & I want to stay at Poly every year!!

I love being at the end of the hall. Not as much traffic going by the door. Plus it's so easy to leave the resort. I just head down the stairs right next to my room. If you see me be sure to say Hi. I've been saying Aloha to basically anyone I pass. I hope you get to try Kona before you leave. I have to figure out what morning I'm going to try the Tonga Toast!! I'm thinking tomorrow.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I did put a request in to have maintenance check the tub. It's very slow to drain. By the time I finished my shower the water was up above my ankles. It doesn't bother me too much but figured I'd let them know so it can be resolved. I can only imagine what it would be like for a family all showering one after another. The last person would end up having to take a bath!

That has also happened in the tub during my most recent stay at the Contemporary, however I never called maintenance because it wasn't a big deal and the water did eventually go down the drain.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Not sure which is the lagoon side, but we had a room 2 doors down and did not have the tree, so we had a great view of the lagoon, CR, top of WL and enjoyed our time watching the ferries and monorail glide by. Perfect room!!

Thanks for the live review - lots of fun when someone is right there enjoying the magic!!

 

[BoomNLeon]

We are staying at the Poly for the first time in September. We cannot wait! We have visited too many times and it was just time to stay there. Thanks for putting together this great post! It has helped us with some details.

Only 3 months....

 

[teacher5]

How many of you Poly guests go to the TTC to get on buses for AK or DS? I didn't even realize this was an option!