ALOHA! The Poly FAQ: Fall 2010 Edition

[MissLiz]

Does anyone have a picture of the garden view side of Hawaii? I'm trying to decide if I want to request 3rd floor or not.

Thanks in advance!

By the way, I talked to my MIL this weekend and she and her mom are already completely packed for our trip in 3 weeks.

 

[bluejasmine]

WOW I wish we were completely packed! Ive packed all the toilitries I bought for the trip, my DH new phone case and wallet, the new tiki cups for our drinks around the room, decorations to suprise DH with, lingere and the camera, our mickey mail but no clothes, shoes yet, probably this weekend or next weekend tho! I did drag out two suitcases yesterday and put the WDW tags on them..

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Does anyone have a picture of the garden view side of Hawaii? I'm trying to decide if I want to request 3rd floor or not.

Thanks in advance!

This isn't the greatest shot, but I took this of the outside of Hawaii (garden view side) last year:

We were on the third floor and our room was where the palm tree is. We could see a bit of the quiet pool but our view was pretty obstructed. I wasn't complaining though because we'd rec'd a surprise upgrade to CL so we were thrilled to be there!!

 

[BreezysMom]

Does anyone have a picture of the garden view side of Hawaii? I'm trying to decide if I want to request 3rd floor or not.

Thanks in advance!

By the way, I talked to my MIL this weekend and she and her mom are already completely packed for our trip in 3 weeks.

Here are our 3rd floor GC CL. I felt it was a lovely location. While I would love to gaze at the castle all night, I would rather spend the extra 1,000 on other things that a LV/TPV would cost. Plus you get a great view of the castle and MK from the lounge.

Happy planning

 

[I-Bike]

Hate to ask this but has anyone had issues with room cleanliness? I made the mistake of reading some awful reviews over the weekend and now I'm a bit concerned. We're staying at the Poly in November and have no intention of moving our resort choice but if the rooms aren't up to par???

 

[MissLiz]

Thanks for the pictures!

It does look like there are quite a few trees right by that 3rd floor. Hmmm...what to do, what to do. I just really don't want to be on the 2nd floor.

 

[bluejasmine]

Hate to ask this but has anyone had issues with room cleanliness? I made the mistake of reading some awful reviews over the weekend and now I'm a bit concerned. We're staying at the Poly in November and have no intention of moving our resort choice but if the rooms aren't up to par???

Yea I wish I hadnt read them as well BUT I spoke to some one at WDW who assured me that if there is any problem the front desk or even Conceirge will do there upmost to make things right. So I feel alot better and will not worry about it! You'll have a wonderful time!

 

[Mary T in PA]

We were at the beach last week, and DD8 asked if we could walk to get a Dole Whip... then she realized we were on a Non-WDW vacation. She said she missed the Poly, and I am amazed at how much the kids loved the Poly.

I am so excited for everyone headed to the Poly soon! I love virtual vacations!!

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Hate to ask this but has anyone had issues with room cleanliness? I made the mistake of reading some awful reviews over the weekend and now I'm a bit concerned. We're staying at the Poly in November and have no intention of moving our resort choice but if the rooms aren't up to par???

I've never experienced uncleanliness, and I don't recall DH ever mentioning that it was an issue on the million trips he's made there. You always get a glitch here or there when it comes to reviews - take with a grain of salt. And as BlueJasmine pointed out, you can always bring it up with the front desk and have it taken care of.

 

[jetskigrl]

Hi all,
I am so happy to join you!!!
Our first poly trip is in 15 days and we can't wait. This thread has made me even more excited. A couple of quick questions...
Is there a height requirement on the volcano pool slide?
Do you need to bring towels to the outdoor movies?
Thanks everyone!
Holly

There is no height requirement for the pool slide. It is just that the child must go down by themselves. There is a light at the top of the slide and it turns green when the next person can go (so you might want to send an adult on the slide the first time so they can show the child how it works). But even though you cannot slide down with your child, you are allowed to wait at the bottom to catch them if they are not strong swimmers.

Sorry, I don't know about the movies (we never made it over to check them out).

Another question!

Does Captain Cooks have the ice cream novelties?


For example: Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwhich, etc.

I know for sure there are the classic MM ice cream bars. I do not recall if there were the sandwich type though.

Thanks, Coopersmom,

The Poly is on the Monorail - and also has boat to MK if you would rather, and is walking distance (easy walk) to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot. I think that is the best resort for transportation.

If you are doing the "free dining" it may not be worth it to do club level $ wise, (and at the Poly, you would probably be better off using the 40% code rather than taking the "free" dining) but with the 40% off code, CL was VERY worth it for us. That being said, we have two teenagers. They eat a lot, and did enjoy being able to go down to the lounge to have breakfast or a soda/snack while we finished getting ready in the room. We usually do not drink a lot, but my dh and I really enjoyed being able to have two beers a night each. That would add up quickly in a restaurant on Disney property.

What helped me a lot was doing some number crunching in Excel, using actual costs of meals my family would most likely order (menus are posted here on the site: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm
I hadn't even considered CL, thinking it was "out of our league" but we actually ended up saving money over staying in a standard Poly room. Go figure!

I will second this one. We used the room-only code for the discount rather than the dining and Club Level worked out perfect for us. There was plenty of food for breakfast/snacks. And with the heat in summer, we just weren't as hungry so we ended up paying OOP for meals only once a day. I had even ordered some chips and cookies (single serve packs) from Garden Grocer and we ended up leaving most of them behind, because we never needed the additional snacks.

Is pool hopping a big problem at the Poly? The reason I'm asking is there is another thread about a family that switched from the YC to the Poly and there have been a few posts about pool hopping at the Poly. I'm hoping that since we are going in mid-October the volcano pool won't be *too* crowded

TIA

I have heard that it can be a problem, but it never felt like more than just summer-crowded to me while we were there. The kids still did the volcano slide over and over (and never complained about the line for it being too long). It did get busy in the afternoon, but never more than I thought would be there anyway from the hotel.

I had worried about this also since we went at the beginning of August, but I would have to say that it turned out to be a non-issue for us. I hope it goes the same for you in October.

Hate to ask this but has anyone had issues with room cleanliness? I made the mistake of reading some awful reviews over the weekend and now I'm a bit concerned. We're staying at the Poly in November and have no intention of moving our resort choice but if the rooms aren't up to par???

We stayed in the Hawaii building and had no problems at all. I thought the Mousekeepers did a great job!

 

[I-Bike]

I've never experienced uncleanliness, and I don't recall DH ever mentioning that it was an issue on the million trips he's made there. You always get a glitch here or there when it comes to reviews - take with a grain of salt. And as BlueJasmine pointed out, you can always bring it up with the front desk and have it taken care of.

Thanks and bluejasmine too. We are really looking forward to our stay so we'll just keep an eye out, but I'm sure things will be close to perfect.

 

[bluejasmine]

Quick question..does anyone know if Poly has chai tea? I am addicted to chai lattes, I make them at home a few times a week, cold in summer hot in winter..
TIA!

 

[mamabright]

Unfortunately no they do not have chai tea @ the poly. They do have them in AK and maybe some of the bakeries around but not that I could find there @ the poly. I subbed hot chocolate instead

 

[leane]

I would like to thank those that gave feedback on if the TPV room was worth the additional $35 a night.

It was my anniversary on Saturday... DH and I went to a casino for a little while and I hit a $1900 jackpot so I am keeping my TPV and splurging for the wildlife excursion

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Hate to ask this but has anyone had issues with room cleanliness? I made the mistake of reading some awful reviews over the weekend and now I'm a bit concerned. We're staying at the Poly in November and have no intention of moving our resort choice but if the rooms aren't up to par???

I had more issues with things being broken (hairdryer at the Poly, window at BC) but have never had 'gross' rooms. Anything that has been an issue at the Poly was immediately corrected with a phone call. My DH and I also like to meet our mousekeeper and let them know in person when we'd like the room cleaned and any special needs (extra towels please!) And we always tip the mousekeeper because they are doing a lot for a family of 4 that is living in one room for a week!

I recommend you do a once over check on the room before you move your stuff in and call housekeeping with any issues. And if you have special requests or if something wasn't cleaned correctly, just call and let them know. They have always been considerate of our requests and very accomodating.

 

[disneymumma]

Quick question..does anyone know if Poly has chai tea? I am addicted to chai lattes, I make them at home a few times a week, cold in summer hot in winter..
TIA!

I am not a huge fan of mixes, but in my desperation to avoid paying the Biggby or Starbucks price, I tried a chai tea latte mix from Oregon Chai that I found at Meijer. There are 8 packets and I want to say it was $5-$6. Pretty reasonable if you wanted to try it. I found it to be r-e-a-l-l-y close and I am a huge fan of the drink, too. My DD loves them. Actually, I think I'll go try one cold...

 

[witchesbrew]

I have heard that it can be a problem, but it never felt like more than just summer-crowded to me while we were there. The kids still did the volcano slide over and over (and never complained about the line for it being too long). It did get busy in the afternoon, but never more than I thought would be there anyway from the hotel.

I had worried about this also since we went at the beginning of August, but I would have to say that it turned out to be a non-issue for us. I hope it goes the same for you in October.

Thanks for the info about the pool! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question
My DD is soooo excited to finally be staying at the Poly! And I am too

 

[jetskigrl]

I would like to thank those that gave feedback on if the TPV room was worth the additional $35 a night.

It was my anniversary on Saturday... DH and I went to a casino for a little while and I hit a $1900 jackpot so I am keeping my TPV and splurging for the wildlife excursion

WOO HOO! Congratulations on the big win! I usually don't chime in about the views because I know it can be a big difference in price. But I absolutely loved our TPV from the Hawaii building. Standing on the balcony in the early morning was so peaceful (we enjoyed Tonga Toast while sitting out there..twice, LOL). And watching the fireworks...just amazing (without any worry about finding a seat in the lounge or on the beach)! But my favorite part was just stepping outside before I went to bed and saying goodnight to the castle (silly, but I loved it).

I think you will really enjoy the Wildlife Discovery Tour also. We only had our family of 4 plus another couple on our Tour and it was wonderful to see the animals up close. We were able to walk from one side of the van to the other to see better and take pictures.

Thanks for the info about the pool! I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question
My DD is soooo excited to finally be staying at the Poly! And I am too

You are very welcome! You are going to love the Poly! We just loved everything about it

 

[Teeks]

I am not a huge fan of mixes, but in my desperation to avoid paying the Biggby or Starbucks price, I tried a chai tea latte mix from Oregon Chai that I found at Meijer. There are 8 packets and I want to say it was $5-$6. Pretty reasonable if you wanted to try it. I found it to be r-e-a-l-l-y close and I am a huge fan of the drink, too. My DD loves them. Actually, I think I'll go try one cold...

Another chai tea lover here I've also tried Oregon Chai (very yummy) and it satisfies my chai craving when I can't do Starbucks (which is highway robbery, but so worth it!). I'm not sure which stores carry it, but you can get Tazo Chai tea latte concentrate, which is the same kind Starbucks makes. You just mix equal parts concentrate with whatever base you choose to use (whole, 2%, skim, whatever).

They have some yummy Chai tea slushies at AK (a place in Asia, Tea Company something-or-other...sorry, can't recall the name lol)

 

[bluejasmine]

I am not a huge fan of mixes, but in my desperation to avoid paying the Biggby or Starbucks price, I tried a chai tea latte mix from Oregon Chai that I found at Meijer. There are 8 packets and I want to say it was $5-$6. Pretty reasonable if you wanted to try it. I found it to be r-e-a-l-l-y close and I am a huge fan of the drink, too. My DD loves them. Actually, I think I'll go try one cold...

I buy with the Tazo or Oregon concentrate and mix it with vanilla soy milk..The concentrate lasts me a few weeks normally. I guess I will just splurge a few times get some in the parks a few times a week instead of bringing all that with me..

Yall send some pixie dust for my DH he came home last night with severe shoulder and back pain, its from an old injury that flairs up but he is in alot of pain, they have executives coming down to the plant so he cant take off but I told him this afternoon he really needs to go to the dr. Normally he just needs a muscle relaxer and after a few days he is back to normal but I hate seeing him working in such pain, and so close to our trip!

The curse of the trip around the corner..Hit again!