ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: January 2012

[kimberwee]

...from what I can only assume was PDD... Post-Disney Depression. I keep trying to rationalize a trip back to what IS TRULY the most magical place on earth.

Favorite Moments: DD getting a private photoshoot with Fairy Godmother before park opening...watching DD's Favorited Movie Tangled on her actual Birthday, on the Beach at the Poly after roasting marshmallows and then seeing the boat parade and wishes from the beach!

Best Park Experience: Evening Magic Hours at MK - we got to ride EVERYTHING we wanted with NO wait!! DD's favorite ride - Goofy's Barnstormer

Biggest Suprise: we didn't need to rent a stroller for DD at all! She was such a trooper!

Favorite Dinner: Kona - LOVED OUR SERVER MEL!! She was the best!

Worst Dinner: OHANA - Mothers Day - wasn't even crowded and we left before dessert...don't get me started.

We were at the Poly from 5/10-5/15 and everything was PERFECT! Room request was met. DD must have heard "Happy Birthday Princess" 800 times. DH complimented me repeatedly on how much he loved that vacation and how it was the ONLY way to do Disney and TOTALLY different from his horrific trip in the middle of July as a 16 year old... All of my relentless planning paid off.

Now, after weeks of moping around the house and working on my photopass account, I am ready to join the boards again. I planned two years out before...now I am probably 2 years out again.

Trying to convince DH that we need to take a ride on the Dream next year with a post cruise stay at Poly...keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[jennyjinx3]

...from what I can only assume was PDD... Post-Disney Depression. I keep trying to rationalize a trip back to what IS TRULY the most magical place on earth.

Favorite Moments: DD getting a private photoshoot with Fairy Godmother before park opening...watching DD's Favorited Movie Tangled on her actual Birthday, on the Beach at the Poly after roasting marshmallows and then seeing the boat parade and wishes from the beach!

Best Park Experience: Evening Magic Hours at MK - we got to ride EVERYTHING we wanted with NO wait!! DD's favorite ride - Goofy's Barnstormer

Biggest Suprise: we didn't need to rent a stroller for DD at all! She was such a trooper!

Favorite Dinner: Kona - LOVED OUR SERVER MEL!! She was the best!

Worst Dinner: OHANA - Mothers Day - wasn't even crowded and we left before dessert...don't get me started.

We were at the Poly from 5/10-5/15 and everything was PERFECT! Room request was met. DD must have heard "Happy Birthday Princess" 800 times. DH complimented me repeatedly on how much he loved that vacation and how it was the ONLY way to do Disney and TOTALLY different from his horrific trip in the middle of July as a 16 year old... All of my relentless planning paid off.

Now, after weeks of moping around the house and working on my photopass account, I am ready to join the boards again. I planned two years out before...now I am probably 2 years out again.

Trying to convince DH that we need to take a ride on the Dream next year with a post cruise stay at Poly...keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the report! It sounds like it was a wonderful birthday trip for your DD! Sorry to hear 'Ohana wasn't a great experience, but that is good to hear about Kona!

 

[kimberwee]

Hello! My family and I will be arriving for our first visit at the Poly 7 weeks from today!

For anyone who has been to the Poly recently, what was your ME route from the airport to the Poly? I know it changes (at least I think it does), but I was just curious about around what stop the Poly is.

Thank you!

We were the first stop when we went in May.

 

[kimberwee]

Thanks for the report! It sounds like it was a wonderful birthday trip for your DD! Sorry to hear 'Ohana wasn't a great experience, but that is good to hear about Kona!

I started a conversation with Mel at Kona because I noticed that her nametag said she was from Hawaii (I lived there for High School and College). I asked her about the lunch from Kona and if the macaroni salad was like the macaroni salad back in Hawaii. She didn't know and we moved on in conversation. Wouldn't you know, when she brough the check, she also brought me a little container of macaroni salad to take back to the room!!

 

[MomDad&2boys]

Officially joining this thread, I just booked 3 Nights in a Club Level Garden View Room before 6 Nights at AKV Kidani for the end of August.

It looks like I have a lot of reading to do, about 177 pages worth! I'm hoping that somewhere in here has suggestions of room requests for the best Gardenview Club Level Room. If not, does anyone have a suggestion? Also, any information on staying club level would be great.

 

[ajh88]

We are in full on Poly withdrawal. We had a wonderful (too short) 6 night stay in TPV Tuvalu (3407). Our room was great but we still prefer 3410. We had more noise from the luau when we were on our balcony, even though it was only 3 rooms closer to that end of the building (no increase in noise inside the room though!). And it felt "backwards" because the layout was flipped from 3410 - even though it was exactly the same arrangement. I guess for the next trip, either layout will feel "normal"!

My ongoing complaint is that our "fridge" does not cool things down. We can't figure out what we need to do to make it work. If you put something in that is already cold, it will keep it cool to cold. But if you put something in that is room temp, it takes FOREVER for it to cool down. Are we doing something wrong here?

We love the Poly so much - I was worried that maybe we just had an awesome experience last time and that we would be disappointed on this trip. Thankfully I was completely wrong. As my DH says, the Poly feels like "home" to us. We can truly relax and just enjoy our stay. We even got a nice little surprise at check in when bell services loaded us up on a golf cart to drive us to our room. Wasn't expecting it and our bellhop (Mapuhi) was great! A fun little start to our stay!

Loving the free internet...not really loving the expanded tv offerings. I sort of liked not having access to a bunch of different tv stations while I was on vacation. Granted, no one made us watch, and we didn't watch much. I just found that the shows I like watching at home (crime dramas) don't feel "right" at Disney.

Hard to believe we are only a couple of weeks away from double digit dancing again! Taking my parents for their first stay at the Poly. They went in 2005 and 2007, but both times we stayed at All Star Sports. I think they will be blown away by the Poly, even though they are joining us for 3 nights. Thinking of renting a cabana...so much planning left to do!

For now, here are a couple of pictures DH took from our balcony (looking to the right), catching the sunrise over the Contemporary one morning.

 

[iloveeeyore]

That view is My intelligent, beloved DH keeps insisting that the GV views are as nice as TPVs. Hmmm...they're beautiful, but...

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ajh88]

That view is My intelligent, beloved DH keeps insisting that the GV views are as nice as TPVs. Hmmm...they're beautiful, but...

Thanks for sharing!

Our problem is that we started off in TPV, with every intention of not staying there every trip...but I'm not sure I can give up the view now that I know what it's like!

 

[princssdisnygina]

My ongoing complaint is that our "fridge" does not cool things down. We can't figure out what we need to do to make it work. If you put something in that is already cold, it will keep it cool to cold. But if you put something in that is room temp, it takes FOREVER for it to cool down. Are we doing something wrong here?

LOVED your pics!

So... about the fridge... this is so simple but we didn't think of it either until we complained and they told us what to do.
Next time... crack the cabinet door that holds the fridge. The fridge is basically locked in so it can't breathe so it gets too hot. After a day or two trust me... your drinks will be frozen! I thought they were crazy when they told me but it has worked for us the last 3 trips!

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Officially joining this thread, I just booked 3 Nights in a Club Level Garden View Room before 6 Nights at AKV Kidani for the end of August.

It looks like I have a lot of reading to do, about 177 pages worth! I'm hoping that somewhere in here has suggestions of room requests for the best Gardenview Club Level Room. If not, does anyone have a suggestion? Also, any information on staying club level would be great.

How old are your boys? We have stayed in Hawaii on a 1st floor patio room and in a 1st floor patio in Samoa which overlooks the same area facing the quiet pool. Our kids (who were 15yo and 12 yo boys, 9yo girl last visit; 12, 9and 6 the first time) loved seeing the ducks and rabbits. They could also go out onto the grass to play and stay out of the way while Mom and Dad were getting ready. We are staying Poly CL this August and the kids asked if we could get a patio room again!

 

[MomDad&2boys]

How old are your boys? We have stayed in Hawaii on a 1st floor patio room and in a 1st floor patio in Samoa which overlooks the same area facing the quiet pool. Our kids (who were 15yo and 12 yo boys, 9yo girl last visit; 12, 9and 6 the first time) loved seeing the ducks and rabbits. They could also go out onto the grass to play and stay out of the way while Mom and Dad were getting ready. We are staying Poly CL this August and the kids asked if we could get a patio room again!

That's a brilliant idea about the patio rooms. We are actually MomDad&3boys now, the last one conceived at WDW. Our boys will be 8, 7 and 6 for the trip which will be our 12th trip I think.

 

[guitarob]

Our problem is that we started off in TPV, with every intention of not staying there every trip...but I'm not sure I can give up the view now that I know what it's like!

We have the same problem

 

[jennyjinx3]

LOVED your pics!

So... about the fridge... this is so simple but we didn't think of it either until we complained and they told us what to do.
Next time... crack the cabinet door that holds the fridge. The fridge is basically locked in so it can't breathe so it gets too hot. After a day or two trust me... your drinks will be frozen! I thought they were crazy when they told me but it has worked for us the last 3 trips!

Thank you for this tip!! We had a problem with our fridge last trip too...our beers were warm!!!

 

[disneydreamin247]

I hate that mousekeeping always closes the cabinet door when I make it a point to leave it open!

 

[maiapapaya]

We have the same problem

ditto! it was supposed to be a treat on our first trip, but now there is no going back. Of course we made it worse by staying CL TPV last year - another treat, this time for our 10th anniversary. Guess where we're booked for our upcoming trip?

 

[ajh88]

LOVED your pics!

So... about the fridge... this is so simple but we didn't think of it either until we complained and they told us what to do.
Next time... crack the cabinet door that holds the fridge. The fridge is basically locked in so it can't breathe so it gets too hot. After a day or two trust me... your drinks will be frozen! I thought they were crazy when they told me but it has worked for us the last 3 trips!

Thanks for the tip - can't wait to try it in October!!

 

[mindystar]

Since I enjoyed so much viewing everyone's pics here to tide me over to our Poly time, I figured I better reciprocate
So here are a few of my pics of the beautiful Poly:

 

[mindystar]

Some more. . .

 

[mindystar]

and a couple more for now

 

[princssdisnygina]

I have issues! LOL... I just changed my reservation from the art of animation to the Poly. Since I am a Disney agent I wanted to try the AoA but I can't get away from the Poly! What can I say? I will be heading that way in 2 weeks!