ALOHA! The Poly FAQ: Fall 2010 Edition

[A MK Family]

Just booked our first stay at the Poly and our first January trip!!

Now I have to read all 150 posts to get some great tips.

Just a shame that I don't think we will be able to experience the pool area, oh well hoping for a warm week and low crowds!

SO excited and as this is a Christmas present it is so hard not to share it with my girls!!

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

We stayed at the Poly last year and loved it, are room was clean and everyone was friendly.

I am sad to see so many bad reviews but we love the Poly and i cant wait to go back <3

 

[sassy2000]

Just got back from our 1st Poly stay. All I can say is WOW! We had such a good time. I called in advance and made a request for a 3rd floor room. I did not request a longhouse. Just wanted to leave it up to chance. We were assigned Rapa Nui which concerned me at 1st since I di not read many reviews on it but it was great for us. I think everyone can find pros and cons with their locations. Pros: Closest you can get to TTC which was great when visiting Epcot. Very close to laundry and Neverland Club. We had a view overlooking the garden and walkway between Rapa Nui and Tahiti. Very quiet except for my kids who you could here from our room with the door shut all the way to the end of the hall. I'll apologize now to anyone who happened to be near us... We had a double sink. The bathroom was alot larger then I expected. Rooms were large and clean. Able to park directly in front of our building which was a plus. (Espescially since I did not have a room facing it)
The only cons I had were the distance to Ceremonial House and volcano pool which we used alot.
We watched the Hallowishes 3 nights and Wishes once from the beach. The music was piped in all but 1 night of Hallowishes.
Overall we loved our stay here and would love to stay here again. Even my husband, who could care less where we stay, said we should come back!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We got back from the Polynesian Resort on Saturday. What a wonderful week stay! I really have a hard time hearing all of these "bad" reviews simply because our stay was so pleasant.

We arrived around noon and our package was ready as well as our room. Being contest winners I think they already had our room keys and everything all bundled and set for us. When I inquired about my gift card they seemed to not be able to find it anywhere. They said they would call me and let me know when they track it down. They also couldn't find our Garden Grocer order right away even though I had gotten a call from GG saying they delivered our packages. When we got up into the room 5 minutes later, a Poly CM was dropping off our now found GG packages. So nice! Great staff. Later that night our gift card had been tracked down and delivered to our room and was waiting for us when we got back.

Our room was spotless. No bed bugs, barely any chipped paint/wood on anything, no foul smells. We were in Autoeroa on the 3rd floor with a lagoon view. Room 3221. Though, if you stood on the left side of the balcony you had a clear view of the castle. I really liked that longhouse with it being so close to the GCH. I didn't like how long the walk was to the TTC. It was tiring and after being at Epcot so late on some nights, the walk back to our room was horrible. I didn't find the noise from the luau to be unreasonable at all. I could hear a little music if I had the glass door open but that was it.

After our first full day we realized that our fridge wasn't keeping our Garden Grocer food cold so the next morning we asked the front desk about getting a new one and they sent one right up. That afternoon my mother in law decided she would like to inquire about a microwave. When I went to ask the front desk they were awesome and checked right away. By the time I got back up to the room they were dropping off the microwave. It was great service all around and everyone was really polite and helpful.

All around the resorts and parks were really much more busy than I had expected and from what I heard, Disney wasn't expecting it either. The volcano pool was quite busy all of the time and we seemed to have to search a bit to find a few lounge chairs on the beach mid-day. The quiet pool on the other hand was not crowded much at all and was really pleasant. I preferred swimming there simply because it was much more mellow. I do agree that the music at the volcano pool was too loud. I felt the need to talk loudly to my family when we were laying on the beach. Our last night, my husband and I got a dole whip and layed on the beach to watch Wishes. That was really magical and I suggest that everyone do that. Went to Tambu Lounge and got a lapu lapu. The bartender was so wonderful and was very chatty with my husband and I. The pineapple he grabbed wasn't hallowed out very much so he told me he used almost all rum in it. After 15 minutes of drinking it boy could I tell! It was probably the strongest drink I'd ever had. Definitely got my monies worth! 'Ohana was pretty good. I felt like the bread and noodles were cold. Even the second bowl of noodles was cold. Everyone got stuffed though and we had a great meal in general. I miss Chef TJ though!

Anyone have any questions or anything? I will post pictures soon!

Thx for the report!
I didn't know you can request a microwave...good info!
I think DH and I will have to have a short date on the beach to watch the fireworks!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Just got back from our 1st Poly stay. All I can say is WOW! We had such a good time. I called in advance and made a request for a 3rd floor room. I did not request a longhouse. Just wanted to leave it up to chance. We were assigned Rapa Nui which concerned me at 1st since I di not read many reviews on it but it was great for us. I think everyone can find pros and cons with their locations. Pros: Closest you can get to TTC which was great when visiting Epcot. Very close to laundry and Neverland Club. We had a view overlooking the garden and walkway between Rapa Nui and Tahiti. Very quiet except for my kids who you could here from our room with the door shut all the way to the end of the hall. I'll apologize now to anyone who happened to be near us... We had a double sink. The bathroom was alot larger then I expected. Rooms were large and clean. Able to park directly in front of our building which was a plus. (Espescially since I did not have a room facing it)
The only cons I had were the distance to Ceremonial House and volcano pool which we used alot.
We watched the Hallowishes 3 nights and Wishes once from the beach. The music was piped in all but 1 night of Hallowishes.
Overall we loved our stay here and would love to stay here again. Even my husband, who could care less where we stay, said we should come back!

Glad your trip was !
I am soooo happy to hear 2 good trip reports in a row! I am feeling less stressed about the mousekeeping/maintenance issues that have been report lately now.

 

[kungaloosh22]

Thanks for the report, poeticeclipse! I've been wondering how your trip went.

 

[Tess]

Did you know that the official documents that broke up the Beatles were signed at the Polynesian?

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/femai...non-May-Pang-breaks-silence-relationship.html

Wow, I did not know that, but how cool--John and I share a birthday. Love the Beatles!

 

[iluvwdw4ever]

Just back from our first Poly stay and everything was wonderful except for the cleanliness of our room. The room was just downright filthy. The only cleaning that was done during our 9 day stay was the trash and the beds. She never cleaned the bathroom, never wiped anything down, never swept anything, window was sooooo dirty that you couldn't see anything, spiderwebs EVERYWHERE, we couldn't spend any time on our balcony since it was covered in spider webs and spider egg sacs (which reallllllly freaked my kids out), and I don't think that anyone EVER sweeps along the trim on the floor or in the corners..this really annoys me!!!!!! Its really not a difficult thing to do!!!
We have been going to Disney 3 times a year for 13 years and it just gets worse every trip. This was by far the worst that we have ever seen!!!!!! It takes A LOT to upset us and we were REALLY UPSET this time!!! We have never paid this much for a room and we felt that it was quite ridiculous that this is what we had to deal with. My husband has never complained before but felt that he had no choice this time. He did speak with 2 managers on our last day and they were very apologetic and said that they would check the room. My husband also spoke with the bellman when he picked up our luggage, and he said that they get tons of complaints about the cleanliness of the rooms but nothing is ever done about it.
We would love to stay at the Poly again someday but I don't see that happening until something changes. Like I said, everything else about this resort was perfect..cast members, Kona Cafe, 24 hr Captain Cooks, viewing fireworks from the beach, amazing pool, monorail, and THE MOST AMAZING VIEW EVER!!!! I will really miss it!!!!!!!!!!

 

[paras4ri]

Just back from our first Poly stay and everything was wonderful except for the cleanliness of our room. The room was just downright filthy. The only cleaning that was done during our 9 day stay was the trash and the beds. She never cleaned the bathroom, never wiped anything down, never swept anything, window was sooooo dirty that you couldn't see anything, spiderwebs EVERYWHERE, we couldn't spend any time on our balcony since it was covered in spider webs and spider egg sacs (which reallllllly freaked my kids out), and I don't think that anyone EVER sweeps along the trim on the floor or in the corners..this really annoys me!!!!!! Its really not a difficult thing to do!!!
We have been going to Disney 3 times a year for 13 years and it just gets worse every trip. This was by far the worst that we have ever seen!!!!!! It takes A LOT to upset us and we were REALLY UPSET this time!!! We have never paid this much for a room and we felt that it was quite ridiculous that this is what we had to deal with. My husband has never complained before but felt that he had no choice this time. He did speak with 2 managers on our last day and they were very apologetic and said that they would check the room. My husband also spoke with the bellman when he picked up our luggage, and he said that they get tons of complaints about the cleanliness of the rooms but nothing is ever done about it.
We would love to stay at the Poly again someday but I don't see that happening until something changes. Like I said, everything else about this resort was perfect..cast members, Kona Cafe, 24 hr Captain Cooks, viewing fireworks from the beach, amazing pool, monorail, and THE MOST AMAZING VIEW EVER!!!! I will really miss it!!!!!!!!!!

With all due respect I just have to ask -why you waited until the end of a 9 day stay before saying something? IMO the spider webs would be unacceptable the minute I walked into the room and if it weren't being adequately cleaned I'd speak up until it was - and every day if necessary.

 

[BreezysMom]

Good Morning Everyone!

Welcome back to everyone! I hope everyone got their full of Disney Magic Be careful for the post Disney blues

This is just a shameless post to see my tickesr~ but I really did want to say hi to everyone

On a side note, I am glad to see so many wonderful reviews and sad about the not so wonderful. But I do agree...please do not wait until the last day to complain or come back here and complain. Disney is in the hospitality business. They want you to be happy. One suggestion I have learned is that you have to speak one on one to an individual at the resort, because the call center in just that... a call center. This way your issues can be seen and adddressed right away!

Some resorts just are not for everyone. People have different perceptions of cleaniness and so forth. I just hope everyone had a wonderful time all in all
Happy Tuesday

 

[jkstewart1800]

I have learned that mousekeeping DOESN'T clean the balconey as part of their routine. Now, it is the first place I check and if it needs attention I call right away! Once I just snagged a broom off a cart and swept the wood chips off myself and then returned the broom.


If you find something you don't like, don't wait. Go to the front desk immediately and tell them what is wrong, and what you need to have done. Get the name of the CM you spoke to and note the time that you spoke with them and what time they said it would be fixed by. I know people don't like having to do this kind of stuff on vacation... but sometimes you just have to!

The advice about going to the front desk vs. calling from your room is the most important piece.... when you call from your room you get a call center... not the actual resort.

 

[Soopafly]

Hey everyone

We got back from our 14 night stay at the Poly last Thursday and loved loved loved it! The room was huge, clean and generally awesome, we had 3rd floor in Tokelau room 3939 and will definetly trying to get it again. We had a nice quiet pool view, could see the monorail pulling into the GCH and being the first door in the hallway was excellent. We loved it so much that we are going to be changing our AKL booking next year to the Poly.

Only complaints I had were the fridge cupboard doors - Im glad I listened to this thread because if I hadnt, then all our drinks etc would have been warm! Only when the doors were open would our drinks be chilled.

Second complaint is that I really feel like there should be more than 1 quiet pool. We didnt use it very much because it did get a little crowded during our stay but I feel that a deluxe resort like this should really have more than their current offerings. I understand it was one of the first built but I live in hope i guess haha.

Captain Cooks was ok at best, the menu really needs more items added to it because after a while we were sick of the same stuff in there.

Other than that it was all fantastic and we cant wait to get back there

 

[1971DBday]

Received our Magical Express documents in the mail yesterday!!! Kids are still embarassed at how excited I get receiving these!!!

 

[poeticeclipse]

I forgot to mention something else in my recap from our trip.

For the first 4 days of our trip there was a dead pigeon in the "courtyard" right by our longhouse. If you went into the longhouse and looked to the left where there are rocks and shrubs, a pigeon was lying there dead. It was very obvious to all of us even though it sorted of blended in with the rocks. I wish we would have said something sooner but at the same time it was interesting to see how long it took before someone came and took care of it. I don't think it was until our 5th day or so that it was gone.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

We got back from the Polynesian Resort on Saturday. What a wonderful week stay! I really have a hard time hearing all of these "bad" reviews simply because our stay was so pleasant.

We arrived around noon and our package was ready as well as our room. Being contest winners I think they already had our room keys and everything all bundled and set for us. When I inquired about my gift card they seemed to not be able to find it anywhere. They said they would call me and let me know when they track it down. They also couldn't find our Garden Grocer order right away even though I had gotten a call from GG saying they delivered our packages. When we got up into the room 5 minutes later, a Poly CM was dropping off our now found GG packages. So nice! Great staff. Later that night our gift card had been tracked down and delivered to our room and was waiting for us when we got back.

Our room was spotless. No bed bugs, barely any chipped paint/wood on anything, no foul smells. We were in Autoeroa on the 3rd floor with a lagoon view. Room 3221. Though, if you stood on the left side of the balcony you had a clear view of the castle. I really liked that longhouse with it being so close to the GCH. I didn't like how long the walk was to the TTC. It was tiring and after being at Epcot so late on some nights, the walk back to our room was horrible. I didn't find the noise from the luau to be unreasonable at all. I could hear a little music if I had the glass door open but that was it.

After our first full day we realized that our fridge wasn't keeping our Garden Grocer food cold so the next morning we asked the front desk about getting a new one and they sent one right up. That afternoon my mother in law decided she would like to inquire about a microwave. When I went to ask the front desk they were awesome and checked right away. By the time I got back up to the room they were dropping off the microwave. It was great service all around and everyone was really polite and helpful.

All around the resorts and parks were really much more busy than I had expected and from what I heard, Disney wasn't expecting it either. The volcano pool was quite busy all of the time and we seemed to have to search a bit to find a few lounge chairs on the beach mid-day. The quiet pool on the other hand was not crowded much at all and was really pleasant. I preferred swimming there simply because it was much more mellow. I do agree that the music at the volcano pool was too loud. I felt the need to talk loudly to my family when we were laying on the beach. Our last night, my husband and I got a dole whip and layed on the beach to watch Wishes. That was really magical and I suggest that everyone do that.

Went to Tambu Lounge and got a lapu lapu. The bartender was so wonderful and was very chatty with my husband and I. The pineapple he grabbed wasn't hallowed out very much so he told me he used almost all rum in it. After 15 minutes of drinking it boy could I tell! It was probably the strongest drink I'd ever had. Definitely got my monies worth! 'Ohana was pretty good. I felt like the bread and noodles were cold. Even the second bowl of noodles was cold. Everyone got stuffed though and we had a great meal in general. I miss Chef TJ though!

Anyone have any questions or anything? I will post pictures soon!

I promise this is a legitimate question and not an attempt at being snarky - it seems from your signature you had a free room. DO you think you would feel the same way you do is you had to pay $395 per night for the room? Thanks in advance.

 

[iluvwdw4ever]

With all due respect I just have to ask -why you waited until the end of a 9 day stay before saying something? IMO the spider webs would be unacceptable the minute I walked into the room and if it weren't being adequately cleaned I'd speak up until it was - and every day if necessary.

We did request that the balcony be cleaned and it never was. I guess we should have said something to management but we really hate to complain and the longer my husband had to think about it, the more he felt like he should say something. And you shouldn't HAVE to ask for your room to be cleaned properly when you are paying a small fortune to stay in a very expensive deluxe resort.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Just back from our first Poly stay and everything was wonderful except for the cleanliness of our room. The room was just downright filthy. The only cleaning that was done during our 9 day stay was the trash and the beds. She never cleaned the bathroom, never wiped anything down, never swept anything, window was sooooo dirty that you couldn't see anything, spiderwebs EVERYWHERE, we couldn't spend any time on our balcony since it was covered in spider webs and spider egg sacs (which reallllllly freaked my kids out), and I don't think that anyone EVER sweeps along the trim on the floor or in the corners..this really annoys me!!!!!! Its really not a difficult thing to do!!!
We have been going to Disney 3 times a year for 13 years and it just gets worse every trip. This was by far the worst that we have ever seen!!!!!! It takes A LOT to upset us and we were REALLY UPSET this time!!! We have never paid this much for a room and we felt that it was quite ridiculous that this is what we had to deal with. My husband has never complained before but felt that he had no choice this time. He did speak with 2 managers on our last day and they were very apologetic and said that they would check the room. My husband also spoke with the bellman when he picked up our luggage, and he said that they get tons of complaints about the cleanliness of the rooms but nothing is ever done about it.
We would love to stay at the Poly again someday but I don't see that happening until something changes. Like I said, everything else about this resort was perfect..cast members, Kona Cafe, 24 hr Captain Cooks, viewing fireworks from the beach, amazing pool, monorail, and THE MOST AMAZING VIEW EVER!!!! I will really miss it!!!!!!!!!!

ugggh! that sucks!

 

[poeticeclipse]

I promise this is a legitimate question and not an attempt at being snarky - it seems from your signature you had a free room. DO you think you would feel the same way you do is you had to pay $395 per night for the room? Thanks in advance.

Well given that my stay was wonderful with only minor problems, I would still feel the same way! I would still see the same small issues but not really let it affect my judgement because honestly, problems can happen anywhere. Not just at Disney. They can happen at four star hotels in NYC!

The real question is would I pay $395 a night for a room! I don't think I would pay that for ANY room in WDW. I am a big penny pincher so really it's not the best question to ask me. If I had a good discount I would however stay at the Polynesian Resort in a heartbeat.

 

[BelleRocks]

Leaving for Poly tomorrow! So excited!

 

[princssdisnygina]

Leaving for Poly tomorrow! So excited!

Have a great time!