Hello fellow Polynesian lovers here is my most recent review...enjoy
Polynesian Resort Review October 1-5th
It was no question where we were going to stay for a few nights before moving over to Bay Lake Tower. We have been staying at the Polynesian for over 20 years. There were a couple of trips in there dabbling at other resorts, but what can I say, we are creatures of habit. Most recently, we tried the Grand Floridian in 2008, while the ambiance is beautiful and it gives you that grand feeling, we still missed our dear little Polynesian.
Even if you were just stopping to visit the Polynesian you will notice the sign our front and the security checkpoint adorned with bamboo and the Bauhaus 93 style script on the signs. The landscaping adds small tropical plants along side larger palm trees. You will see the dark brown 2-3 story longhouses for guests and the resort bus stop near the laundry and Neverland Club. Grab a parking spot to your left and make your towards the GCH. As you walk towards the entrance of the Great Ceremonial House you will spot the koi ponds with small waterfalls trickling down the black craggy stone formations and the tall green plants and bamboo flanking either side of the double doors.
Having been to Hawaii, I can tell you that the resort really does make you feel like you have just landed somewhere in the South Seas. Some people call it tacky; I have seen tacky resorts, this it is not. Though the Great Ceremonial House may need a little updating, there is nothing like walking through those double sliding glass doors for the first time and feeling that rush of cool tropical scented air hit your face. It reminded me of getting of that plane at the Kahului Airport in Maui and smelling that heavenly scent of lush tropical greens, citrus and a light ocean breeze. Even though it is probably not the same smell, it still reminds of that other wonderful magic place, besides WDW. That my friends is the power of smell.
This year there was a new cast member position directing guests to open lines. Bravo, because many guests are arriving for the first time and are unsure of where to go when entering the lobby. Another family stood in front of us not knowing what to do, when the cast member came over and took them to an available front desk person. The Polynesian is unfortunately well known for having a slow moving front desk line, but the check-in process does take a lot of time, especially if the guests are asking a lot of questions or making changes. We took advantage of the online check-in, which became available a couple of years ago. Another bravo, our packet was all prepared, including our keys to the world, resort map, daily schedule of activities and my personalized birthday button! The cast member simply asked a few questions to confirm that we were in fact who we claimed to be and we were on our way. I advise using online check-in if you are able to, that way they have your credit card information and address on file and they just double check how you want to be notified about your room being ready.
It was around 2:00 PM and the room wasn’t quite ready, so we spent a couple hours at Downtown Disney. Shortly after 3:00 PM, a received a text from Disney Destinations notifying us that our room was ready. We were assigned a room that met our requests-Tahiti building with a ground floor room, theme park view, excellent! It was room 1033, located on the far right side of the Tahiti building nearest the Ferry launch. Perfect for us because we like the easy access of the TTC.
Some room shots, pardon our bags!
The room was cleaned very well, no paper on the carpet or dust. The sliding glass door could have used a little tlc because there were some hand prints on the window. I checked for bedbugs, around the back of the mattress, between the boxspring and in the bed furthest from the light and no sign of critters. I thought I would check just for the heck of it. The room smelled fresh and clean overall. The only few items in need of some help were the grounded electrical outlet in the bathroom and the cupboard door on the refrigerator unit was sagging. We should have called maintenance about the ground outlet, but we just dried our hair on the vanity. No big deal for us, but we did alert housekeeping to the issue.
Bathroom
The only issue we had with noise was the marathon that ran overnight on the 1st. Holy cow was it loud and bright. They had spotlights set up and loud speakers playing music and making announcements into the wee morning hours right by the TTC. Needless to say, we did not get a lot of sleep that night. Something to remember for next year!
There were a few tiki torches that were not lighting, but the walk around the resort at night is still amazing. The public areas were clean and free of wear and tear. The landscaping was well manicured and I did notice less carts buzzing around, which was nice. These guys were getting pretty crazy last year driving the Cushman carts all over the pathways and grassy areas. I actually complained about that in a survey they sent me last year, so mission accomplished.
We never did get to the pools because we were so tired at night and busy during the day. The quiet pool looked dead during the day, but the volcano pool was hopping most days by mid afternoon. The resort overall seemed pretty busy, my father and I overheard a bellman tell a guest that they had over 300 check-ins on Saturday October 2nd. Whether or not it was true or perhaps he was making excuses for why he had not delivered her groceries.
The cast members we encountered were very friendly and helpful. Mousekeeping left extra washcloths when we requested them and the room was clean before we returned from the parks everyday by 1:00 PM.
We dined at Kona Café every morning and had good service and great food. We could arrive each day by around 7:50 or 8:00 AM and still make rope drop at the MK or Epcot easily. My dad bought coffee from Captain Cook’s every morning, but we never did grab a bite to eat here, so cannot comment on the food or service. I did notice there was still a number of Polynesian Resort branded items in BouTiki for sale. The items were different from last year, so maybe the cut in resort specific merchandise will be more gradual.
View from the Tahiti beach area
Overall, a fantastic stay at the Polynesian this year. I wish it had been longer as our previous stays, but the BLT villas are very convenient. The resort was beautiful as always, it was nice not to see any refurbishment walls too, but I suppose most of those are at the Magic Kingdom right now! We are already looking forward to returning next year.
Aloha
Erika
I didn't realize it was an issue until I was finalizing a few details yesterday morning. I felt sorry for the poor lady I spoke with at WDW. How many panicked phone calls must she have fielded in recent hours?!? Anyway, she assured me that ours were still in the system somewhere, and would be back up ASAP. I had her check one, just to put my mind at ease. When she had no trouble finding it, I told her I would just wait on the others. That said, I would be seriously bummed if we lost any of our ADRs!
SURPRISE this is where we are staying! 
