ALOHA! The Poly FAQ~ Spring 2010 Edition

[hstrickland]

Just curious...what building and what view is this.....TPV or LV? And by the way....GREAT pictures!!!

 

[danyella522]

awesome pictures! I'm getting SO excited!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Fabulous pics!! Thanks so much...it is great to know what a 3rd fl CL LV room would be like!

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

I guess I'm not clear--is the entire longhouse going down for one night? If not, why not stay in a longhouse with a good view and proximity while still accessing the lounge? Moving after one night from a room at the Polynesian to a room in Hawaii shouldn't be that big a deal--although it is an inconvenience.

Guess I'm having a hard time understanding why you can't get a room for one night due to "maintenance" unless the entire building has an issue.



I agree, it sure wouldn't hurt to nicely inquire why you can't be upgraded for the one night. My guess would be the suites are booked given the time of year, but you never know. . .

Hi Tess - thanks for your input. I'm not really sure about the maintenance issue either. Don't think it's the entire loghouse, but haven't been able to confirm with my TA. We are checking in next Thursday - so maybe it has something to do with one of the rooms needing repair or something, and it will take until Friday to complete the work. Just a guess on my part.
But frankly, I think it would be a major headache to move rooms after just one night! I even considered a split stay when initially planning this vacation, but thought better of it after imagining all the packing/unpacking, etc... The last thing I want to do after a long day at the parks is come back and settle a room twice...
Appreciate your answer!
Gretchen

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Just curious...what building and what view is this.....TPV or LV? And by the way....GREAT pictures!!!

I agree those are great pics!
That sure looks like a TPV to me... Those castle pics are magnificent.

 

[mom2npr]

To Gretchen,Maybe if you have to move you could pack one bag as the "first night " bag and only have to open one suitcase and not fully unpack that night. Though I understand it is a pain to move. Last summer we moved rooms at another resort, not WDW, on the second night because of an issue with the room. That was not fun because we were completely unpacked! Hope it works out for you!

 

[Luv2trav]

Just curious...what building and what view is this.....TPV or LV? And by the way....GREAT pictures!!!

This was a Lagoon View room. The only Lagoon view on the 3rd floor. The last room down the hall.

 

[BreezysMom]

I just posted this on the CL Board, but I would love to hear what my fellow Poly lovers have to say...
I almost feel guilty for even considering another resort, but this is my dilemma:


Hi all.
I have a question:
We're leaving for WDW in 8 days. We have Poly CL reserved. My TA called just a few minutes ago saying that we can't stay in the Hawaii Bldg the 1st nite because of some maintainance which will be going on. They have offered to put us in a regular room for one night (refunding the difference, of course) and thn we will supposedly get our room the second day. This seems like an awful lot of hassle to me....

Gretchen

I agree with mom2npr...pack one suitcase with a days worth of stuff and then you can unpack when you get in your permanant room the second day. Since you are staying 7 additional nights I would hate for your to totally change your plans due to one night.

On our Dec 2008 visit we ended up changing rooms after our first night and it was painless. We just called bell services to pick up and store our luggage before we left for the park and when we came back we were told just to go directly to Hawaii and they had our room keys ready and our suitcases were waiting for us in our new room.

I find this a very curious predictament. Is it multiple rooms, the whole longhouse? I know tikiman did mention once that they were going to be replacing carpeting and painting a while ago. If you ever get a real answer, let us know.

Also, did you contact the Poly IPO directly? Maybe they know what the issue is?

Good luck making your decision. I am sure to be so close to your vacation and have this wrench thrown in is frustrating

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Great minds think alike, Mom2npr! That's pretty much what I've thought I'll probably have to do.

Just spoke with my TA. And said she had already asked about the 2BR Princess Suite, but that it was already booked.

Then she said something that totally surprised me - she said the entire Hawaii Bldg will be closed for maintenance on Thursday, April 15! I was just flabbergasted, because I haven't heard anything about this from anyone else on these boards.

It doesn't make any sense to me... How in the world would they know they'll be closing an entire longhouse on Apr 15? They're going to move everyone? If it was for a leak or something, they'd have to close it now - not next week. If it's not an emergency, why not just delay bookings for that one day? And how can they be sure it will be for just one day?

Anyway, this is what I was told. Would love to know if anyone else has been advised of same. I sure hope not - would hate to think of all the inconvenience.

Will keep you posted.

Gretchen

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

I agree with mom2npr...pack one suitcase with a days worth of stuff and then you can unpack when you get in your permanant room the second day. Since you are staying 7 additional nights I would hate for your to totally change your plans due to one night.

On our Dec 2008 visit we ended up changing rooms after our first night and it was painless. We just called bell services to pick up and store our luggage before we left for the park and when we came back we were told just to go directly to Hawaii and they had our room keys ready and our suitcases were waiting for us in our new room.

I find this a very curious predictament. Is it multiple rooms, the whole longhouse? I know tikiman did mention once that they were going to be replacing carpeting and painting a while ago. If you ever get a real answer, let us know.


You're right, BreezysMom - I will get in touch with Poly IPO.
It just all seems so strange that they'd shut down an entire longhouse for a day, doesn't it?
Anyway, since it's after hours now, I'll email IPO and hope for an answer first thing in the morning, since I'll have to work tomorrow. Will keep you all up to date as fast as I can.
Thanks you all for your suggestions.
Gretchen

 

[maiapapaya]

Then she said something that totally surprised me - she said the entire Hawaii Bldg will be closed for maintenance on Thursday, April 15! I was just flabbergasted, because I haven't heard anything about this from anyone else on these boards.

It doesn't make any sense to me... How in the world would they know they'll be closing an entire longhouse on Apr 15? They're going to move everyone? If it was for a leak or something, they'd have to close it now - not next week. If it's not an emergency, why not just delay bookings for that one day? And how can they be sure it will be for just one day?

Anyway, this is what I was told. Would love to know if anyone else has been advised of same. I sure hope not - would hate to think of all the inconvenience.

Will keep you posted.

Gretchen

If it's a planned maintenance job I could see how they would know the exact date, but it's odd that they would be closing down the entire longhouse. It makes you wonder why they would need everyone out of the whole building, but just for one day. What a nightmare for the resort - having to shuffle all of those guests around. What about people already checked into Hawaii?

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

If it's a planned maintenance job I could see how they would know the exact date, but it's odd that they would be closing down the entire longhouse. It makes you wonder why they would need everyone out of the whole building, but just for one day. What a nightmare for the resort - having to shuffle all of those guests around. What about people already checked into Hawaii?

I agree - it seems strange.
Will keep you posted as soon as I find out anything definite.
Gretchen

 

[Luv2trav]

Just curious...what building and what view is this.....TPV or LV? And by the way....GREAT pictures!!!

Hawaii Building and it was LV.

 

[Luv2trav]

If it's a planned maintenance job I could see how they would know the exact date, but it's odd that they would be closing down the entire longhouse. It makes you wonder why they would need everyone out of the whole building, but just for one day. What a nightmare for the resort - having to shuffle all of those guests around. What about people already checked into Hawaii?

My guess if they are closing the whole building it probably has to do with something with the water. They might need to shutdown the water to the whole building. I can't imagine anything else shutting down a whole building.

 

[carlnix30]

I just called Disney travel, they say that there is no maintenance issues in Hawaii building on the 15th he said they were booked for the 15th no rooms are available on that date.

I hope your TA is being honest with you!

 

[BreezysMom]

I am waiting for a definative answer as to why but they are closing the entire Longhouse for planned maintenace. It happens. They had Figi closed for an extended period of time about a year ago. Whatever they are doing they plan to get done quickly to get the Longhouse back up and running since it is the only CL building.

I am glad that gretchen was contacted before hand and did not show up and told of the closure. That would put a damper on the start of her vacation for sure.

I think the Poly CL staff with truly make the transition painless

 

[poeticeclipse]

The menu that I see online of Captain Cooks doesn't show veggie burgers but does anyone know if they happen to have them? My husband is used to his veggie burgers at Pop Century's food court but in October we'll be staying at the Poly.

What are good vegetarian options at Captain Cooks?

 

[Luv2trav]

Here is my quick recap of my stay at the Poly. Rooms pics are on previous page.

We have only stayed 1 other time at the Polynesian back in 2004. I fell in love with the resort from that stay. We stayed in Samoa facing the Volcano pool. My boys were 2.5 and 6 months old. Ever since that stay I have always wanted to go back and have visited the resort on each stay after. We are now DVC members so getting back to the Poly has been long overdue.

Now to this stay. We decided since it was our 10 year anniversary this year we would splurge and do a split stay. We got a fantastic rate from **************** for LVCL. We booked this stay back in October before they changed room categories. Once I found out about the change I went back and forth about changing to GV. I am so glad we we didn't switch. We originally planned 5 nights and cut it back to 4 nights. This was our first stay in club level.

Check In-Painless... We drove over from BWV (Rented a car for 1/2 our stay) and they had a golf cart waiting for us. We checked in around 8 am. Our room wasn't ready but I did ask her if I received my request. She did tell me we had 3rd floor. Knowing there was only 1 LVCL 3rd floor room I was happy to either receive that room or I got upgraded to TPVLV.. I was so relieved. Only downside was they were out of leis when we checked in so we never received them. I didn't let that bother me because stuff happens. I got 3rd floor...Way more important that leis. Our room ended up being ready around 2pm. Which I found out later this was great because we overheard many people upset that their rooms were still not ready around 5 pm. Oh plus they gave my boys bucket and shovels.. Nice touch.

Room-In perfect condition. Beds were awesome and so comfortable. Our view was fantastic as you can see from previous pictures. Everything was very clean. I love how big these rooms are! The housekeepers were great. They made some really great towel animals from my children. Rooms was always cleaned between 9-11 which was perfect for us. Turn down was a nice touch.

Lounge-Since this was our first club level stay we don't have much to compare it too. I love having the extra space to hang out. I loved the refreshments. I do not think it's something I MUST have. I didn't need help with dining reservations because I make all my own. So other than snacks and the extra space I don't think it's something I need on each trip. It was nice to have. The only time I really felt it was nice to have was when we checked out and our magical express wasn't going to pick us up until 1pm. It was nice to have somewhere to go for a couple hours. Offerings were good and tasty. Sushi was EXCELLENT.

Pool-Was PACKED..They ran out of chairs by 1pm. We always managed to find something because we are out of the parks by 11-12 each day. MK opened at 7am and we were there very close to that. Pool activities were awesome. My kids loved it. I didn't mind how busy the pool was. I love people watching and it made for a fun atmosphere.

Ohana-Awesome as usual.... Great service. I just wish they would slow down with the delivery of food. Just a little. I don't like long dinners but I also like a few minutes between courses.

Transportation-DS6 LOVES LOVES LOVES the monorail so he was in heaven. We did walk to the TTC a few times. I never realized how much quicker it was to walk there vs taking the monorail to the TTC...

I think this covers it all. For future reservations I think we decided that it's more important to have TPV over CL service. Unless we can afford TPVCL then any future stays will more than likely be TPV. Although the GV rooms are an excellent deal as well. We walked around most of the buildings to check out the views and there were only a few that I would really not like... Overall the Poly is our favorite. I just wish we could stay here every trip. DH and I even spoke about selling our DVC because we found our prefect location.

I would be happy to answer any questions..

 

[Kteacher]

Just contacted Poly IPO for my 180 day ADRs, and heard back very quickly from them

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Here's the response I rec'd from IPO this morning:

Aloha!



Unfortunately there was been work planned on the building that requires everyone including staff to leave the building for 24 hours. We understand your concerns, but can assure you that the work will only take one day.


Unfortunately the ridge beam on the top of the building must be replaced and it is too dangerous to have anyone inside during this process.


If there is anything else that we can assist you with please let us know and we apologize for the inconvenience.





Mahalo,


Walt Disney World Itinerary Planning Office

Phone: (407) 824-2466

Fax: (407) 824-3162

Polynesian.Itinerary.Planning@disneyworld.com

At least now we know....
I'm sure everything will be fine.
Gretchen