ALOHA! The Poly FAQ~ Spring 2010 Edition

[YanksWinAgain]

Just got back this past Friday and stayed club level and miss it badly!! We loved it! We'll definitely be back or at least back and forth in stays from WL to Poly. Such a beautiful resort! Talking about behavior or actions in the club level lounge, one night we were in there and a 12 or 13 yr old boy was going thru the food offerings with his fingers and one of the staff saw him which I was hoping would happen and she really let him have it. She told him no one wanted to eat what he had touched and also told him a few other things about manners. They promptly took the food he had touched and dumped it. I really praise the actions they took! Some people just dont know how to act. Everything else was great! Vacation was over with way too quick! Already making plans for next year!

I think some people have the attitude of - the more I pay... the more I get to act the way I want - I have seen people going through the housekeeping cart and pulling out soaps and shampoos and shoving them in pockets and purses.

 

[916chipndale]

First we stayed in Aotearoa. It was quiet and nice but kind of far away, so we thought we would see if they could move us any closer to the pool, they said nothing was available and DH said ok, how much just to pay for a waterview and they still said nothing available but to call after 4. So we went out to HS watched Fantasmic for the first time (AWESOME!) than came back and saw that concierge was closed so we went to bed.

The next morning we had decided not to be so petty and called them to cancel our move and the CM said are you sure? you are right at the pool so DH said yes and we were moved to Samoa. We LOVED it. I could open the door and here the music, I could see my DD going down the slide (she waved everytime) we were on the third floor with a volcano view and you could see the lagoon and the GF. It was amazing! room 3602

we stayed in aotearoa in 2008 and loved it we had a view of the monorail and bushes, ect. it was very quiet and i loved watching the monorail glide by in the early morning and late at night. we also had duck visitors ever day they were so cute. i hope we get a 1st floor room again even tho we did request a patio or balcony i prefer the patio.we didnt find aotearoa to far away from anything but its okay if you did just glad you had a wonderful stay!

 

[beautifultomorrow]

Is there any advantage to walking to the transportation and ticket center to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Or is it just as fast to take the bus from Poly even though it will probably share with other resorts?

I have just heard that sometimes bus service can be very slow so I didn't know if it was any faster to go to TTC.

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Exactly how we felt after our first Poly stay - and we haven't stayed anywhere else since then!

Us too! We stayed there for the first time last year, and DH insisted we stay there for at least half of our trip this year.

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Is there any advantage to walking to the transportation and ticket center to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Or is it just as fast to take the bus from Poly even though it will probably share with other resorts?

I have just heard that sometimes bus service can be very slow so I didn't know if it was any faster to go to TTC.

We did both, and I really couldn't tell a difference. I have seen other posts, though, saying the bus service from the TTC was faster.

 

[BoomNLeon]

Subscribing....

Staying CL at the Poly in August - ONE OF THE DREAM TRIPS!

 

[katiereeve]

I'm heading to the Poly in Aug for the first time...and CL thanks to the 40% off -- I'm beyond excited!!!!! I've been going back and forth over whether to request a 3rd floor for the balcony, or a 1st for the patio...I finally decided on a 1st floor for a patio so my DDs, 8 and 5, could play in the grass...but then a friend told me that she heard there were lots of snakes??? Can any of you Poly experts let me know if this is true or not?

Thanks!
Any other opinions on this topic would be greatrly appreciated!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Is there any advantage to walking to the transportation and ticket center to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Or is it just as fast to take the bus from Poly even though it will probably share with other resorts?

I have just heard that sometimes bus service can be very slow so I didn't know if it was any faster to go to TTC.

I guess it would partially depend upon where your room is, and then it is the luck of the draw as to which bus comes first. My family is going to run an experiment, we are going to split up and see who gets to DHS first (we only have 1 park opportunity to do this, though, since we are visiting AK during the AKL part of our split stay). Just BEWARE! If you are going to AK and DHS during EMH mornings, I'm not sure if the buses run from the TTC as early as the resort bus. Check and double-check before you decide to try taking the bus from TTC on an EMH morning.

 

[beautifultomorrow]

I guess it would partially depend upon where your room is, and then it is the luck of the draw as to which bus comes first. My family is going to run an experiment, we are going to split up and see who gets to DHS first (we only have 1 park opportunity to do this, though, since we are visiting AK during the AKL part of our split stay). Just BEWARE! If you are going to AK and DHS during EMH mornings, I'm not sure if the buses run from the TTC as early as the resort bus. Check and double-check before you decide to try taking the bus from TTC on an EMH morning.

We will be in the Hawaii building. Another thing I should mention is that we are going in late July (sounds like close to the time you'll be there!) is the bus sharing between resorts less during a busy time like this? For example I have stayed at the All-Stars before and sometimes they shared and sometimes the busses would go directly to and from the park from one section, depending on the time of day and how busy it was. Do they do something similar at the monorail resorts or do they ALWAYS share? Are the buses ever jam-packed?

 

[iloveeeyore]

We will be in the Hawaii building. Another thing I should mention is that we are going in late July (sounds like close to the time you'll be there!) is the bus sharing between resorts less during a busy time like this? For example I have stayed at the All-Stars before and sometimes they shared and sometimes the busses would go directly to and from the park from one section, depending on the time of day and how busy it was. Do they do something similar at the monorail resorts or do they ALWAYS share? Are the buses ever jam-packed?

The only thing I can say for sure about the resort buses is that they are completely unpredictable! Disney definitely attempts to make adjustments based on needs. We have both shared and not shared with other monorail resorts. Even sharing is not bad, since the monorail resorts are all so close to eachother. We have never seen the buses overly crowded, but we have never been to WDW in late July before! The only bus transportation that we have found consistently horrendous, regardless of resort, is any resort bus to DTD. We will avoid those from now on, if possible!

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

I'm heading to the Poly in Aug for the first time...and CL thanks to the 40% off -- I'm beyond excited!!!!! I've been going back and forth over whether to request a 3rd floor for the balcony, or a 1st for the patio...I finally decided on a 1st floor for a patio so my DDs, 8 and 5, could play in the grass...but then a friend told me that she heard there were lots of snakes??? Can any of you Poly experts let me know if this is true or not?

Thanks!
Any other opinions on this topic would be greatrly appreciated!

Well, I would not say LOTS of snakes but 2 yrs ago we did see a small black HARMLESS snake in the grass (heehee). Not very attractive but harmless. It IS Florida & Disney keeps creepy-crawlies away as much as possible but must use tons of pesticides (maybe not harmful to human beans???) to do it?? Finally, it will be busy then & room locations are NEVER guaranteed. So either way, I'm sure you will all enjoy the Poly!

 

[Tess]

Is there any advantage to walking to the transportation and ticket center to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Or is it just as fast to take the bus from Poly even though it will probably share with other resorts?

I have just heard that sometimes bus service can be very slow so I didn't know if it was any faster to go to TTC.

We took the AK bus from TTC this year and found it quite a bit faster than the Polynesian Resort bus. In the past we have taken the DHS bus from TTC while the kids took the bus from the resort and we all arrived pretty close in time to one another.

The only thing I can say for sure about the resort buses is that they are completely unpredictable! Disney definitely attempts to make adjustments based on needs. We have both shared and not shared with other monorail resorts. Even sharing is not bad, since the monorail resorts are all so close to eachother. We have never seen the buses overly crowded, but we have never been to WDW in late July before! The only bus transportation that we have found consistently horrendous, regardless of resort, is any resort bus to DTD. We will avoid those from now on, if possible!

Totally agree, DTD buses are few and far between, always crowded and take forever to get there and back.

As to the poster who asked about snakes, I abhor snakes and I am usually good for having at least one cross my path while I am in Florida--doesn't matter which resort and this year was no exception. I had one slither across my path while walking between Hawaii and Samoa during a rain storm. Thankfully, they are the harmless garden or tree variety snake. That said, I wouldn't want to test what type they are (harmless or not) because I am definitely not an expert on snakes.

 

[Cinderella909]

Thanks to these DISboards, we were able to upgrade to the Poly for our visit in just 10 days! Since we will be celebrating a birthday, I wanted to put a sign on the outside of the door. Are the doors at the Poly made of wood or do they use magnets?

Thanks!

 

[916chipndale]

I'm heading to the Poly in Aug for the first time...and CL thanks to the 40% off -- I'm beyond excited!!!!! I've been going back and forth over whether to request a 3rd floor for the balcony, or a 1st for the patio...I finally decided on a 1st floor for a patio so my DDs, 8 and 5, could play in the grass...but then a friend told me that she heard there were lots of snakes??? Can any of you Poly experts let me know if this is true or not?

Thanks!
Any other opinions on this topic would be greatrly appreciated!

we stayed ground floor in 2008 and loved it. we had no snakes but lots of ducks which youll probably have too. the ducks are everywhere and dont fear humans like other ducks they will go right up to you. about the snakes we never seen one at the poly or anywhere. and besides if we did i probably wouldnt care cuz i love snakes but since you have two kids i can see why your worried.if you see a snake dont bother it easy as that. hope i helped and enjoy your vacation.

 

[donnajz]

If I request a balcony, I want to make sure I don't get one of those "fake" balconies that you can't actually use that are on the second floor. How would you word it -- a full balcony, a real balcony?

 

[916chipndale]

If I request a balcony, I want to make sure I don't get one of those "fake" balconies that you can't actually use that are on the second floor. How would you word it -- a full balcony, a real balcony?

we requested either a balcony or patio and we got a patio. so i would just request it how you want if you want a balcony say and i would like tp put a request in for a balcony. also if im correct the first number in your room number is your floor i.e 1406 would be first floor 2406 seond floor and 3604 third floor so if you dont get tokelau rapa niu or tahiti and ur number starts with 2 you dont have a balcony.so you could ask one more time at the front.

 

[bluejasmine]

So I just paid off our trip, WOHOO! I took off the king bed request since Poly doesnt really have any and added a balcony request, kept the request to be close to GCH. I wanted so much to request Samoa or Figi LH but am afraid doing so could jeopardise something better. Ive done that to myself twice now once at SSR on our honeymoon to boot, when my DH complained that we were so close to a bus stop that the sound of the buses woke him the CM said that we requested a room near bus stop.. Oops that was me..I didnt realize we would be THAT close...DH wasnt happy with me..LOL! Im really really thankful to be able to stay at the Poly but Im afraid Ill be stuck facing TTC or a parking lot or something... Im such a spaz..

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

I'm so excited! We are returning to the Polynesian in just 63 days. This is a last minute trip that we booked because we have a Southwest LUV voucher burning a hole in our pocket AND the AP rates that were released for Aug/Sept are amazing!

We will be staying CL for the 2nd time and it will be our 4th stay at the Poly.

I've been lucky enough to stay at the Poly about 10X since my first visit in 1972. FELL IN LOVE with the place!!! When DS was born in '86, I immediately began planning his wedding on the beach! (I am currently looking for a young lady for him who has the same dream! ) Some stays have been PERFECT! Others, not so much. But there has NEVER been a time when I fell out of love with the Poly itself. Now, as DVC members, we don't stay there anymore. But when WDW finally gets smart & opens the POLY DVC, I'll be first in line!!

Having said that, I find the descriptions of uncivilized behavior at the CL lounge to be UNACCEPTABLE. We only stayed concierge once YEARS ago & it was grand! But, dang, if I'm stayin' & payin', I deserve better than what MANY have been describing in their TRs. I strongly believe the Poly management should enforce a standard of behavior (& SHOES at least, for Pete's sake!). After all, it IS a dining room. The laissez-faire attitude toward the pools, beaches & CL may gain some business for now, but in the long run, a DELUXE resort must continually earn the name.

Still, I envy all of you who will be POLY-side soon & wish you a beautiful visit! Aloha!!!!!

OMG too funny! My DMom keeps saying that I need to find a guy as obsessed with Disney (and the Poly) as I am ['85 baby here ]

I must admit, I too am shocked at some of the behavior described. DMom & I walked into the lounge in swimsuits, t-shirts, sarongs and flip flops and even then we just quickly grabbed a drink and a snack and returned to our room because we didn't want others to feel we weren't being respectful of the lounge.

But wet swimsuits and bare feet? And people pawing all the food? Yikes! At least in the most recent reports I've read the staff have been very firm about the food touching etc.

 

[jenjen212]

Which is the "Best" building to request to be in? I would like to be close to the main building (the ceremonial house?). Not sure what that would be.

Advice?

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Which is the "Best" building to request to be in? I would like to be close to the main building (the ceremonial house?). Not sure what that would be.

Advice?

My personal favorite (other than the Hawaii longhouse which is Club Level only) is the Fiji longhouse. The side that faces the marina is considered "garden view" it is literally 3 minutes from Captain Cook's.