ALOHA! The Poly FAQ: Fall 2010 Edition

[DISNEY1975]

we will be at the pool 10/16 - 10/23, long brown hair, 6 years old, no teeth! (me, Mom, long blond hair, teeth!)

This is getting strange. I have teeth too!! If I saw your post a week ago, we would have been twins too, but I just chopped my hair, so now its about medium length. I just noticed your family icons. We also have 3 children. 2 boys and a girl!

Less than 2 weeks to go.

 

[SugarSpice]

When we stayed at the Poly, we had an 8am ressie for breakfast at Akershus...we drove over....take a look...we were literally the second car in the parking lot!

We could not have been any closer to the entrance. The drive was very short because there was no traffic at all!!! Maybe a 5 minute drive. I think we left the Poly around 7:25ish. I'm a big monorail fan, but I will say...when our day was over, it was really nice to NOT have to wait in a line to go back to the resort...we jumped in our "closely" parked car and left.

Kind of reminds me of Chevy Chase visiting Wally World. At least you didn't have a moose at the entrance telling you that the park was closed!!

 

[paras4ri]

Fantastic photo! I bet not too many people get a chance to take that picture!!

I did! We were second in line before they even opened the toll plaza and the family in the car next to us insisted on taking this picture - and we took the one of the empty parking lot. Driving is definately the way to go for an early ADR in Epcot.

 

[coopersmom]

Kind of reminds me of Chevy Chase visiting Wally World. At least you didn't have a moose at the entrance telling you that the park was closed!!

Not just you. When I saw that pic I immediately said to myself, "First ones here, Russ. First ones here!"

 

[hstrickland]

I did! We were second in line before they even opened the toll plaza and the family in the car next to us insisted on taking this picture - and we took the one of the empty parking lot. Driving is definately the way to go for an early ADR in Epcot.

And I thought my picture was great! These are terrific...that's EARLY!

 

[DISNEY1975]

That picture is great! I took me a couple of views to realize that was not some sort of barbie doll being held out the window!!

 

[DisneyDoc5]

This is getting strange. I have teeth too!! If I saw your post a week ago, we would have been twins too, but I just chopped my hair, so now its about medium length. I just noticed your family icons. We also have 3 children. 2 boys and a girl!

Less than 2 weeks to go.

glad we both have teeth!!! I would love to chop my hair, but DH is convinced that long hair = Christy Brinkley! (just kidding, sort of!)

Anyway, we have 2 boys, now 11, 8 and DD (no teeth) just turned 6. How old are your kiddos, it would be nice to have some playmates at the pool, we usually take an afternoon break most days. We are skipping the break on our AK day to stay and do everything, then back to the Poly for our evening at Ohana. I'm starting my packing piles, no official packing yet, probably next weekend. Just bought 2 bags of the Monster trail mix from Target (our favorite airplane food!)

 

[DisneyDoc5]

That picture is great! I took me a couple of views to realize that was not some sort of barbie doll being held out the window!!

LOL!!!! I thought she was holding a barbie out the window too!!!!

 

[DISNEY1975]

glad we both have teeth!!! I would love to chop my hair, but DH is convinced that long hair = Christy Brinkley! (just kidding, sort of!)

Anyway, we have 2 boys, now 11, 8 and DD (no teeth) just turned 6. How old are your kiddos, it would be nice to have some playmates at the pool, we usually take an afternoon break most days. We are skipping the break on our AK day to stay and do everything, then back to the Poly for our evening at Ohana. I'm starting my packing piles, no official packing yet, probably next weekend. Just bought 2 bags of the Monster trail mix from Target (our favorite airplane food!)

LOL..I know what you mean about the hair! My DH is a long hair fan too. He was not thrilled about the haircut, but after a day he said he was happy, it was almost like he got a new wife!!

My boys are a lot older. They are not coming with us on this trip. One is 19, in college, and the other is 16, 11th grade, and I thought it was too much time for him to be out of school. Both went on our last trip in 2008 and spent most of the time sleeping in the room. Luckily MK was open until midnight or so every night, so the ventured out after dinner and went on the coasters, went to the arcades and ate every snack available to them! (I should sign them up on these boards to do snack reviews. I think they tried everything at least twice!) So, as you can see, my DD6 was a Oops baby! But we love our little princess soooooo much!

I have my packing piles too..on the dining room table! Ive been shopping for months and have just thrown everything there. I have to dig through and see what we really have so far and what we might be missing. Ive been getting a lot of summer clothes on clearance since summer has come and gone here in MA. I think my best find was a Miley Cyrus Union Jack shirt at Walmart for $1.00! Ill have DD wear that when we go to Rose and Crown! I also got a cute giraffe shirt and khaki shorts for next to nothing at the GAP. That will be for our AK day! I just cant wait to get there!!! This has been the longest month of my life! (And it doesnt help that as I type, DD6 is listening to her Phineas and Ferb CD!!)

 

[DisneyDoc5]

Hi Poly Fans... couple of quick questions...

Call or fax your room request (it's already on file with our reservation)?

Fax or phone number? (my thread search wasn't successful)

When do you find the best time to do this?

I'm thinking Tokelau, 2nd or 3rd floor, any negative thoughts on this location for our first Poly stay? Really want to wow DH! (without paying for CL!)

Thanks everyone, Guitarob, loving your trip report!

Beyond excited here in cool Michigan!!

 

[DisneyDoc5]

LOL..I know what you mean about the hair! My DH is a long hair fan too. He was not thrilled about the haircut, but after a day he said he was happy, it was almost like he got a new wife!!

My boys are a lot older. They are not coming with us on this trip. One is 19, in college, and the other is 16, 11th grade, and I thought it was too much time for him to be out of school. Both went on our last trip in 2008 and spent most of the time sleeping in the room. Luckily MK was open until midnight or so every night, so the ventured out after dinner and went on the coasters, went to the arcades and ate every snack available to them! (I should sign them up on these boards to do snack reviews. I think they tried everything at least twice!) So, as you can see, my DD6 was a Oops baby! But we love our little princess soooooo much!

I have my packing piles too..on the dining room table! Ive been shopping for months and have just thrown everything there. I have to dig through and see what we really have so far and what we might be missing. Ive been getting a lot of summer clothes on clearance since summer has come and gone here in MA. I think my best find was a Miley Cyrus Union Jack shirt at Walmart for $1.00! Ill have DD wear that when we go to Rose and Crown! I also got a cute giraffe shirt and khaki shorts for next to nothing at the GAP. That will be for our AK day! I just cant wait to get there!!! This has been the longest month of my life! (And it doesnt help that as I type, DD6 is listening to her Phineas and Ferb CD!!)

I'm sure those teenage days are in my future with the boys! I know the eating thing is for sure. DS 11 is so excited he is on the adult menu for the DP this vacation! I see you joined the Dis the same month and year as I did, but you have a ton more posts, way to go!

I have gotten our pins (online) so each child has about 8 to start with (only about $2 online). So I wrap those up and they open them on the plane and start trading! I have our dollar store ponchos too. Gymboree had a cute 'Hawaiian' influenced line that was on major sale at the end of summer, so I got DD some cute outifts for the Poly. I just bought new tennis shoes yesterday, my old ones were making a funny noise that normally I can't hear when I'm running/walking because of my ipod, but I figured the family wouldn't want to hear the squeak everywhere we walked! Now, to break them in before we go! My mom made DD a really cute Zebra print and hot pink Mickey icon dress for our trip, so you may spot her in that!

I love that you got your little surprise princess, what a blessing!

 

[disneymumma]

Beyond excited here in cool Michigan!!

"Cool" for sure! We actually started a fire in the fireplace this morning to cut the chill. Your Poly trip in two weeks will sure be a stark comparison! Enjoy, enjoy! ...oh, and keep warm!

 

[LaniesMom]

Just back last weekend. We didn't have or notice a single issue all week. As a matter of fact, I commented to MrsB a couple of times that it felt like the monorails were running much smoother than usual. The ride didn't feel nearly as bumpy. We hardly ever waited long for a train either.

We used the monorail all week long and we had 3 MINOR issues. ANd when I say all week long, I mean it. We went back to the resort for rest/pool in the afternoon, we moved to get to ADRs, and we sometimes went back to the park later. The issues were certainly not enough for us to consider the monorail inconvenient (it isn't), but I'm mentioning them so you always build more than 10-15 extra minutes into your transportation plan timing. I would say to build an extra 20-25 minutes and if you don't need them, then even better.

We were there at the same time and had no issues with the monorail. The only wait we had was one day (maybe Thursday evening) we were stopped between GF and MK; were told the back-up was due to the filming of a commercial at CR

We didn't have any monorail issues at all. Of course, we didn't have any early ADRs to worry about and we were just kind of relaxed the whole trip, so nothing was too pressing.

Just got back Tues night. No monorail issues at all. We hardly ever had to wait for one, always got a seat & the monorail staff was super nice to my dd and gave out lots of trading cards!

We are here now at the Poly and have had no issues to speak of.

Thank you all for your feedback. I can handle some minor issues, no sweat. The other thread was a little out of control w/the monorail bashing & got me worried that I would be spending the majority of my time stuck on the monorail.
The only early ADR we have is for Chef Mickeys at 9:40 so I will be sure to plan accordingly.

 

[maiapapaya]

Thank you all for your feedback. I can handle some minor issues, no sweat. The other thread was a little out of control w/the monorail bashing & got me worried that I would be spending the majority of my time stuck on the monorail.
The only early ADR we have is for Chef Mickeys at 9:40 so I will be sure to plan accordingly.

I had a chuckle with the sub-thread that started saying the monorail is so ghetto!

 

[DebbyLof428]

Got my Magical Express packet today
37 days to go!!

 

[maiapapaya]

Tikiman just put a teaser up on his FB page that the next "News" article on his website will be about 'Ohana closing! Has anyone else heard anything about this? I would assume it's just for a refurb, but still ... I'm anxious to read what he has to say (he didn't mention when the article would be up).

ETA: Steve added a comment that it isn't forever (read refurb), but he won't spill any other details. I'm hoping they give folks lots of notice. We have two ressies there in December!

 

[EmCredible]

Tikiman just put a teaser up on his FB page that the next "News" article on his website will be about 'Ohana closing! Has anyone else heard anything about this? I would assume it's just for a refurb, but still ... I'm anxious to read what he has to say (he didn't mention when the article would be up).

ETA: Steve added a comment that it isn't forever (read refurb), but he won't spill any other details. I'm hoping they give folks lots of notice. We have two ressies there in December!

No! I have ADRs for February! Haven't had a chance to try them before so I hope they will be open during my stay!

 

[DisneyDoc5]

"Cool" for sure! We actually started a fire in the fireplace this morning to cut the chill. Your Poly trip in two weeks will sure be a stark comparison! Enjoy, enjoy! ...oh, and keep warm!

thanks Disneymumma! I know you said your trip was great on a previous post, did you do a trip report? I would love to hear more about it!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Aloha Poly folks!
I just moved my ressie from WL in Dec to Poly in...get ready...3 weeks! YAY!
We are saving WL for a Dec trip, but had to change the dates due to work, so decided to switch to Poly. It will be our first stay and we are sooooo looking forward to the monorail! We are toting along a double stroller...uggh!
I requested a full balcony and 2 cribs. That was it. I decided to let the pixie dust choose our building for us.
I remember reading about a quiet pool refurb...has that started yet?

 

[BreezysMom]

Hi Poly Fans... couple of quick questions...

Call or fax your room request (it's already on file with our reservation)? I would just call. The one time my TA faxed a request, I got nothing I wanted, i.e., third floor, building, near GHC. I am not sure they are even paid attention to.

Fax or phone number? (my thread search wasn't successful) If it is on file when you made the ressie, I think you are good.

When do you find the best time to do this?

I'm thinking Tokelau, 2nd or 3rd floor, any negative thoughts on this location for our first Poly stay? Really want to wow DH! (without paying for CL!)

Since it is your first stay, I would pick the most important request, i.e., balcony or patio or close to GHC. What is most important to you. Really, there are no bad locations at the Poly. My standard GV in Figi view was fabulous while my GV in Club Level was nice, but no where as nice as the Figi view. I am all for letting the Tiki Gods do their pixie dust on a first Poly visit

Thanks everyone, Guitarob, loving your trip report!

Beyond excited here in cool Michigan!!

Tikiman just put a teaser up on his FB page that the next "News" article on his website will be about 'Ohana closing! Has anyone else heard anything about this? I would assume it's just for a refurb, but still ... I'm anxious to read what he has to say (he didn't mention when the article would be up).

ETA: Steve added a comment that it isn't forever (read refurb), but he won't spill any other details. I'm hoping they give folks lots of notice. We have two ressies there in December!

I believe they are closing OHana from 1/17 to 1/20/11 for a quick sprucing up. No worries. They plan to open for dinner on the 20th from what I have heard.