ALOHA! The Poly FAQ: Fall 2010 Edition

[mickey2minnie1]

Hi everyone!

I am excited for all of the upcoming trips this year. I have had 4 wonderful trips to the Poly in the past three years.

I still need my fix because I will not be going back for a long time. We have tuition and braces now.

The Poly is truly a vacation within a vacation at Disney World. It is amazing!

Keep us posted on your trips. It helps keep the dreams alive.

 

[carlnix30]

just wanted to subscribe again! getting ready to go in June for our daughters sweet 16..

 

[carlnix30]

Rarotonga would have rooms that face the monorail and would be closer to the volcano pool. Aotearoa also has some monorail facing rooms but is a bit farther to the volcano pool. Sorry your DD is sick.

Hello Tess! I have returned to read post and enjoy!

 

[kimmar067]

...can anyone tell me what room numbers are good ones to request if you get a Garden View room in the Samoa building?

 

[s&k'smom]

Thank you Tess, the building sounds perfect! PS dd is much better!

 

[carlnix30]

I am posting this here because I trust this mini-community-- you guys have a lot of WDW experience AND obviously we are all of similar tastes when it comes to vacations because we all pretty much love the POLY and visit it repeatedly. So, I trust your excellent taste and judgment!

We have never done DTD. This trip the parks will be closing earlier, so I am considering an evening at DTD. We are on DXDP so we'd be looking for a somewhat low key but delicious dinner using one TS. The plan would be to head over there leaving the POLY between 5:30 and 6:30 (assuming DD23mo naps as usual.) Obviously the meal needs to be kid friendly. After the meal we'd hit one or two of the fun shops-- World of Disney for sure.

Also need transportation advice.

Thanks!!!!

Look at that ticker o' mine!

My wife and kids are avid shoppers, so a trip to DTD is a required trudge..(dont understand why ) I get great pleasure from stitch sitting at the entrance to World of Disney. (he spits water on unsuspecting kids, like the camel in MK) the first time we brought the kids I had them pose for a pic in the spit zone!! (they had no idea it was coming)

the bus from the Poly is great. they run every 20 minutes or so. getting back from DTD is another story. it seems like it takes an hour for a bus to come and then an hour ride back. Could be we are tired hot and ready to hit the Poly pool. I would suggest you ride the bus from the Poly and take a cab back.

Little known fact, Planet Hollywood takes the Dining plan. It is one table service and the food is Planet Hollywood quality. The only drawback is the noise. but every restaraunt at Disney is loud!

I am jealous! you leave this week!!

 

[Tess]

Hello Tess! I have returned to read post and enjoy!

Hey Carl! Long time no see--glad to have you back on board. I wish we were going back in June. Unfortunately, we won't be headed back until September/October and staying at the Dolphin for our first time. I will miss the Polynesian this year though.

 

[carlnix30]

Hey Carl! Long time no see--glad to have you back on board. I wish we were going back in June. Unfortunately, we won't be headed back until September/October and staying at the Dolphin for our first time. I will miss the Polynesian this year though.

Now who is going to take our surplus drinks when our vacation is over! I sure hope that you continue posting here rather than the Dolphin FAQ. this thread will lose a vast plethera of knowledge! I guess the dolphin will gain and we lose! We still love you!


Has anyone stayed CL poly pre Chef Dick and post Chef Dick? if so has the food or service suffered in CL since his retirement?

 

[Tess]

Now who is going to take our surplus drinks when our vacation is over! I sure hope that you continue posting here rather than the Dolphin FAQ. this thread will lose a vast plethera of knowledge! I guess the dolphin will gain and we lose! We still love you!


Has anyone stayed CL poly pre Chef Dick and post Chef Dick? if so has the food or service suffered in CL since his retirement?

I did! We were there just after Dick retired and the new chef had just been brought on board. There were definitely issues while we were there and we tried to chalk the experience up to the learning curve for the new guy. He seems like a personable enough fellow, but the evening service seemed to suffer from a great many new lounge CMs, some of whom were not the friendliest bunch and bordered on rude.

The food was sub-par from our prior experiences, but as I said, we let it slide considering almost everyone was new AND they were still in transition mode. There are quite a few reports posted within the last several months--some not so favorable while others more encouraging. CL is not the same without Dick and some of our other Polynesian CMs who have retired or moved on. I'm not sure if or when we will actually return and Ron has even indicated that he could care less about CL any longer. Maybe our era in CL has come to an end since the kids are older. We do have fond, fond memories!

Let me know if you want any specifics. I think I posted a review and it might even be linked in the first few pages.

 

[kimmar067]

...can anyone tell me what room numbers are good ones to request if you get a Garden View room in the Samoa building?

...hello? Can anyone please resond to my question?

 

[BreezysMom]

...hello? Can anyone please resond to my question?

Try looking at this webpage and maybe you can figure out what location would work for you. I personally have never stayed in that Longhouse but Tiki Steve's webpage is a great resource http://www.tikimanpages.com/tiki/ All of Somoa is GV.

 

[minniebeth]

...can anyone tell me what room numbers are good ones to request if you get a Garden View room in the Samoa building?

I've only been in Samoa twice, both times GV that looked directly over the Volcano pool. So as far as a specific room number, not sure. BUT Samoa's rooms all either face the Volcano pool or the quiet pool, so I think there really isn't a NOT nice view in that building, and it is perfectly located to everything.
Again, you can look at Tikiman's site and it has a map of room numbers for each longhouse that really helps. Samoa is a great longhouse, the only drawback might be that since it is a high traffic building, many report the rooms showing a lot of wear and tear. I think any GV room there would be great!

 

[Tess]

...hello? Can anyone please resond to my question?

Try looking at this webpage and maybe you can figure out what location would work for you. I personally have never stayed in that Longhouse but Tiki Steve's webpage is a great resource http://www.tikimanpages.com/tiki/ All of Somoa is GV.

All rooms in Samoa are GV with lovely views. I would avoid any of the rooms closest to the exits especially first floor north end. There is a lot of vegetation off those rooms (especially the quiet pool side) that might obstruct your view. Other than that, the views are quite good for a GV.

Samoa is very popular and it could be a tough get. Good luck!

 

[kimmar067]

I've only been in Samoa twice, both times GV that looked directly over the Volcano pool. So as far as a specific room number, not sure. BUT Samoa's rooms all either face the Volcano pool or the quiet pool, so I think there really isn't a NOT nice view in that building, and it is perfectly located to everything.
Again, you can look at Tikiman's site and it has a map of room numbers for each longhouse that really helps. Samoa is a great longhouse, the only drawback might be that since it is a high traffic building, many report the rooms showing a lot of wear and tear. I think any GV room there would be great!

All rooms in Samoa are GV with lovely views. I would avoid any of the rooms closest to the exits especially first floor north end. There is a lot of vegetation off those rooms (especially the quiet pool side) that might obstruct your view. Other than that, the views are quite good for a GV.

Samoa is very popular and it could be a tough get. Good luck!

...thanks for the tips....

 

[maiapapaya]

We will be staying CL for the first time our next trip. The advertised hrs for breakfast in the lounge start at 7:00. I know we will have a few days when we will want to be heading out around 7:00 for morning EMH. Will we be able to grab anything from the lounge before 7:00 on those days?

Also, has anyone ever ordered a custom cake & had it delivered to the lounge? I know you can have them delivered to certain restaurants and to your room, but I was hoping we could have it in a quiet corner in the lounge. I want to order a cake for DH's birthday & our 10th anniversary. He's chosen 'Ohana for his birthday dinner, which I think would be too hectic to have the cake there (besides I already love their dessert & don't want to miss out!) and I don't really want to deal with the mess of the cake in the room (with the kids etc). Since cakes can be delivered to restaurants I just wondered if they could be delivered to the lounge since it has a kitchen/meal service of sorts. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[carlnix30]

We will be staying CL for the first time our next trip. The advertised hrs for breakfast in the lounge start at 7:00. I know we will have a few days when we will want to be heading out around 7:00 for morning EMH. Will we be able to grab anything from the lounge before 7:00 on those days?

Also, has anyone ever ordered a custom cake & had it delivered to the lounge? I know you can have them delivered to certain restaurants and to your room, but I was hoping we could have it in a quiet corner in the lounge. I want to order a cake for DH's birthday & our 10th anniversary. He's chosen 'Ohana for his birthday dinner, which I think would be too hectic to have the cake there (besides I already love their dessert & don't want to miss out!) and I don't really want to deal with the mess of the cake in the room (with the kids etc). Since cakes can be delivered to restaurants I just wondered if they could be delivered to the lounge since it has a kitchen/meal service of sorts. Anyone have any experience with this?

Breakfast in the lounge starts at 7, however they sometimes get the fruit out before then. they are there setting it up around 6 and coffee is available 24hrs a day. if you are lucky there are things available but dont count on it.

you can have your cake delivered to the club level desk but they do not have access to the fridge. the staff for the lounge is not always there but the desk personell are, until I believe 11p.

Depending on how many people in your party, the third floor lounge area is quiet. if you have lots of people I would suggest not scheduling your cake party during the normal operating time for food and do it in the second floor lounge.

 

[Bibbidi]

Anyone have any more specific details on the rehab that's going to happen to the quiet pool? Is this just a regular maintenance, or are they doing something new over there?

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Hi everyone - just back from a great stay at Poly! I didn't end up putting in a room request before we left (other than to request adjoining rooms with the other party we were traveling with). The other group got there in the morning and requested an upper floor away from the quiet pool (because I heard there was a rehab going on and I didn't want to be near construction). We were assigned second floor of Raratonga, quiet pool side . There didn't appear to be any work being done to the quiet pool though so it was no problem at all. We ended up loving this location - there were some quite chilly days during our stay and it was nice to be just a few steps from the GCH. Mousekeeping was great and our room was always made up fairly early in the day, which I like (hate coming back for an afternoon break and finding the room hasn't been serviced). We ate at Kona, 'Ohana breakfast and a couple of meals at Captain Cook's -- all good! The luau was cancelled a couple of times during our stay and the performers were in the lobby outside of 'Ohana doing parts of the show so that was neat to see.

 

[pixarmom]

I've only been in Samoa twice, both times GV that looked directly over the Volcano pool. So as far as a specific room number, not sure. BUT Samoa's rooms all either face the Volcano pool or the quiet pool, so I think there really isn't a NOT nice view in that building, and it is perfectly located to everything.

We stayed in Samoa a week ago with a wonderful view of the volcano pool and the lagoon (more details in my post, just one page back.) We were in room 3607. I thought our room was great - clean, spacious and in very good shape. Here are a few photos of the room and the view from the balcony:

 

[BreezysMom]

Very nice! Thanks for the pics Pixarmom