ALOHA! The Poly FAQ~ Spring 2010 Edition

[kaffinito]

Well, my mom was so wrong, we loved the Poly!!! Our first night we had to book our own room and were put on the third floor in Tuvalu facing Fiji. We got there late, so as we walked tot he room we were able to see Wishes from the marina area. The room was beautiful but my DH thought it smelled a little funny. I thought I remembered that might have been the old smoking building so maybe that was why. But, having gone our last 5 or so trips to moderate and value, we LOVED the size of the room!

The next morning we were able to move into our friend's parent's room - the were bottom floor, connecting rooms in Raratonga. This was perfect for us!! We were facing the quiet pool and had a big bush right in front of our rooms. It gave the kids a nice place to spread out and we got to see birds, ducks & bunnies come right up to our porch every night.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip with our best friends. There is only one problem, we are going to have the hardest time going back to moderate! DH is the one who always says who cares about the hotel, we're only sleeping there, but now he is in love with the monorail. We have a weekend booked in December at POR, I know I'll be calling in the next few months to upgrade to Poly!!

Glad you had such a nice stay at the Poly!

 

[maiapapaya]

really off topic question, but were you are the Crop on the Cape in Hyannis MA this past weekend by any chance?

Nope. Not even close ... we're in Canada and I was right here at home at my DD's b'day party! (though a little weekend getaway would have been nice!) I'm curious though why you would ask?!

 

[vinotinto]

Has anyone ordered room service for lunch at Poly? How was the food? Do they cook it at Kona?

Also, is there a way to order lunch by the pool?

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I would agree that being able to watch the fireworks without worrying about keeping the kids up is a definite selling point! We had a TPV room in October (and have booked TPV again for Nov/Dec).

I guess what it comes down to is whether you want to spend the extra money/how much you would value the view. For us, it was great to be back in the room, with the kids in their pyjamas and ready for bed for the EWP & fireworks. Some nights they weren't even interested in staying up for the fireworks, but DH found it very relaxing to sit out on the balcony, which he did every night, and just watch the show.

BTW, we still had connecting rooms with TPV. It's only a request regardless of which category you go with, but it is possible to get connecting either way.

We loved our GV room last time we were at the Poly, but I'm very excited to be in a TPV room, especially with three kiddos. They'll love it!! I've decided to request a first floor room. I trust my two with a balcony, but my friend will have a newly two year old. Plus, I really like the idea of opening our patio door to the beach. We'll request a balcony for the rest of our party (all adults in their room).

Hope the PP gets the connecting rooms, too!!

 

[JLa]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I'll be starting my hard sell for the tpv this evening.

I really am just excited about being able to spend the whole week together & witnessing the magic with my kids, so I know that any room will be absolutely fantastic. But having the option of putting the kids to bed & still be able to be a part of all has it's definite benefits. I also realize that the floor & connecting room requests are just that ~ requests. It's all good!

Thanks again, you all are such a wealth of information!

 

[Dawgdad]

I also realize that the floor & connecting room requests are just that ~ requests. It's all good!

It depends on how many kids you have. We have 5, so they do guarantee connecting rooms - the ONLY perk at Disney for large families. hehe

 

[sandym718]

It depends on how many kids you have. We have 5, so they do guarantee connecting rooms - the ONLY perk at Disney for large families. hehe

This has been a subject of much debate here on the boards, and do NOT want to start that here (not of any issue to me anyways, since it's always just the 4 of us!). But according to many people here that seem to be reliable sources - Disney never guarantees connecting rooms. More likely to get them, yes, if you have too many kids for 1 room, but since technically the 2 adults can split up to supervise the kids, not guaranteed. I've even read posts where there was ONE adult with too many kids (for one room I mean)and they did NOT get connecting rooms. That stinks in my opinion, but if that's Disney's policy, I guess booking a suite would be the alternative to guarantee safety (with just 1 adult). Wonder if maybe Disney does that to Push the suites?? Esp. before the somewhat more affordable Value Family Suites??

Again, not trying to start a debate, and I do NOT know the truth. Just wanted to point out that many reliable sources have said this and IF it is true, wouldn't want anyone getting disappointed or even being in a real pickle b/c of it!

 

[LexisAuntieLala]

Nope. Not even close ... we're in Canada and I was right here at home at my DD's b'day party! (though a little weekend getaway would have been nice!) I'm curious though why you would ask?!

I saw you were from Canada but I was in a shop on Cape Cod and someone in the front of the store announced that Maia Papaya was in the store and I thought....that name sounds familiar and then I remembered why.. a fellow Poly lover!! I was debating going up and saying hello, glad I didnt! She would have thought I was crazy!!

 

[mamabright]

We got back Saturday. Great weather. No more rain after the monsoons on Sunday except at night. We are officially addicted to the Poly. We went to several other resors for dinner and such and my DH and DS both want to go back to the Poly. No complaints about anything disney world related. Now DH managed to knock DS glasses into the lake at Wilderness Lodge while waiting on the boat after dinner one night but that was their crazy fault not Disney's. Overall a good trip. Probablt will be several years before we get to go back due to $ and DH gets tired of going all the time he wants to rest DS and I want to ride rides or see parades/fireworks so he was pretty grumpy by the end of the week.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I'll be starting my hard sell for the tpv this evening.

I really am just excited about being able to spend the whole week together & witnessing the magic with my kids, so I know that any room will be absolutely fantastic. But having the option of putting the kids to bed & still be able to be a part of all has it's definite benefits. I also realize that the floor & connecting room requests are just that ~ requests. It's all good!

Thanks again, you all are such a wealth of information!

Of course it's all good...you'll be in paradise!!!

This has been a subject of much debate here on the boards, and do NOT want to start that here (not of any issue to me anyways, since it's always just the 4 of us!). But according to many people here that seem to be reliable sources - Disney never guarantees connecting rooms. More likely to get them, yes, if you have too many kids for 1 room, but since technically the 2 adults can split up to supervise the kids, not guaranteed. I've even read posts where there was ONE adult with too many kids (for one room I mean)and they did NOT get connecting rooms. That stinks in my opinion, but if that's Disney's policy, I guess booking a suite would be the alternative to guarantee safety (with just 1 adult). Wonder if maybe Disney does that to Push the suites?? Esp. before the somewhat more affordable Value Family Suites??

Again, not trying to start a debate, and I do NOT know the truth. Just wanted to point out that many reliable sources have said this and IF it is true, wouldn't want anyone getting disappointed or even being in a real pickle b/c of it!

Some of the suites don't sleep much more than the regular rooms, maybe six, a few sleep eight. And there aren't that many of them compared to regular rooms. We stayed in a two bedroom villa at SSR and a Treehouse last fall, and that was great for our large group (we fluxuated between six and eight people). No suites were available during our trip that would sleep all of us. Villas, though, they had to spare.

 

[sandym718]

Of course it's all good...you'll be in paradise!!!



Some of the suites don't sleep much more than the regular rooms, maybe six, a few sleep eight. And there aren't that many of them compared to regular rooms. We stayed in a two bedroom villa at SSR and a Treehouse last fall, and that was great for our large group (we fluxuated between six and eight people). No suites were available during our trip that would sleep all of us. Villas, though, they had to spare.

Guess that's what I meant - suites/Villas, etc. Do they refrain from guaranteeing connecting rooms in the hopes it will "swing" someone towards these options.

 

[maiapapaya]

I saw you were from Canada but I was in a shop on Cape Cod and someone in the front of the store announced that Maia Papaya was in the store and I thought....that name sounds familiar and then I remembered why.. a fellow Poly lover!! I was debating going up and saying hello, glad I didnt! She would have thought I was crazy!!

An imposter!! That's funny - especially because I am sooo not the kind of person that would walk into a store and announce my presence! And I would definitely not call myself Maia Papaya if I did ... DD7 is Maia, not me. I started using the screen name shortly after she was born & I've never changed it.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Guess that's what I meant - suites/Villas, etc. Do they refrain from guaranteeing connecting rooms in the hopes it will "swing" someone towards these options.

Beats me. I know one villa could be less than two rooms (depending on resort or view). Of course, I always think of things in terms of deluxe resorts because we don't stay anywhere else, but I guess it would be cheaper to get two value rooms than, say, a cabin or villa. Who knows? I think it has more to do with availability. With so many people having different requests and travel dates, it would be unlikely that two different parties in connecting rooms would vacate on the same day. I imagine, too, that Disney would rather sell one room than keep it open so it can be the connecting room. Does that make sense? It does in my head, I promise!!

 

[JoBird]

I'm coming out of a year long lurkdom on this thread (I've followed you guys all around ) to ask a couple of questions to the experts.

I'll be at there for the first time in 40 days but I'm not counting it down or anything yet....

First off thanks to all the Poly lovers for filling my days with pics and reports so that I had no choice but to book this resort of our dreams when it came time for a trip with my DH with no kids.

Now- on to the questions--

We are staying our first night at POFQ since we are getting in very late. What time would you suggest getting to the Poly to check in? We booked a GV and don't have anything necessarily planned for that day so we are open to anything.

Also- we just found out that some friends of ours who live in FL are going to try to come for the weekend to see us. I've had an ADR at 'Ohana since my 180 days out for the two of us. What is the possibility of us being able to add two people to our reservation and do you think I'd have more luck asking the hostess on the day of the ADR? I know that it is a popular restaurant, so if we have to change, I need to do it asap.

Last one--- for now...
If we are going to the WL for dinner- how long should I give myself to get there? Is an hour too long? I thought we'd take the boat to MK then boat to WL.


Thanks!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

We've stayed at the Poly for many years, but someone asked me a question yesterday which I could not answer!

Can the EWP and/or Wishes be seen of any of the lagoon view rooms? It would be lagoon view, not TPV.

Thanks so much!

 

[scarlett24]

JoBird, I do think you should call soon about O'Hana, but just wanted to let you know that I called just last week to change our O'Hana adr from a Tuesday to a Thursday and surprisingly, I had no problem doing this. Our adr is around 5:30, so it's not an off time either, and it is also in May, so you may get lucky.

 

[kaffinito]

Has anyone ordered room service for lunch at Poly? How was the food? Do they cook it at Kona?

Also, is there a way to order lunch by the pool?

We didn't have room service for lunch - just breakfast but it was very good and quite nicely presented.

Most folks get lunch to go from CC's and take it to one of the tables by the the pool. I don't know for sure if you could order it room service style.

We got back Saturday. Great weather. No more rain after the monsoons on Sunday except at night. We are officially addicted to the Poly. We went to several other resors for dinner and such and my DH and DS both want to go back to the Poly. No complaints about anything disney world related. Now DH managed to knock DS glasses into the lake at Wilderness Lodge while waiting on the boat after dinner one night but that was their crazy fault not Disney's. Overall a good trip. Probablt will be several years before we get to go back due to $ and DH gets tired of going all the time he wants to rest DS and I want to ride rides or see parades/fireworks so he was pretty grumpy by the end of the week.

Glad you had a good trip!

We've stayed at the Poly for many years, but someone asked me a question yesterday which I could not answer!

Can the EWP and/or Wishes be seen of any of the lagoon view rooms? It would be lagoon view, not TPV.

Thanks so much!

I'll be there next Sunday night so I can let you know then. I know DS17 will insist that we watch EWP so I'll have a chance to snoop around at least once.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I'll be there next Sunday night so I can let you know then. I know DS17 will insist that we watch EWP so I'll have a chance to snoop around at least once.

Why thank you, Karen! You are so thoughtful!!!

My gosh...the Sunday after Easter? SO SOON!!!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Totally but "Hi!"

Just saw this!!!

 

[Aristocath]

Good morning, Poly friends! Just getting us back to page one and checking my ticker.