ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: June 2013

[bluejasmine]

So excited we have a cabana rented Sept 10th! Is there one that faces the MK area?

That table with umbrella and sofas outside of the cabana does that belong to the cabana? Seems like perfect place to eat lunch!!

 

[bluejasmine]

It was about 9:30 and they closed at 10:00. He was very quite when he went in there. My son is a very meek kid. They just said to him "this is all we have left" and walked him back out of the lounge. There were still people in there. By the time they escorted him out we had rounded the corner and were on our way in. We were met at the door. The plate was sort of shoved at us. My dh took the 3 cookies, said Thank you, and the guy stepped back into the doorway and just stood there. It was sort of made known to us we were not welcome to come in. It was the most awkward feeling. It threw me so much I couldn't even really say anything until we were half way back to our room when I asked dh if we were just kind of barred from the lounge. He agreed we were. We had the same clothes on as everyone else and we are really a pretty quiet family. We keep to ourselves and are not rowdy or loud or anything like that. Really all we wanted to do was to get coffee and water for later that evening. My kids felt so awkward that the last morning we were there they both asked dh and I to get them another half glass of milk because they were afraid that something would be said to them.

Im glad you sent some feedback b/c thats ridiculous.. My concern is.. if they pull that kinda crap when we are there.. My DH will go OFF on them.. 30 min left to be in lounge regardless of whether there was food left and being shoved out of there is unacceptable.. I ALMOST hope they try that with my DH.. We pay mega money for that lounge.. Do you remember the name of that man? If you do pls PM it to me, Id like to keep an eye out for him..

Its sad in 2010 CL was the most magical experience! There was a young man named Michael that was just a sweetheart! I would ask for chocolate milk or whatever and he would go back and get a few at a time. He would get me big bottles of water for our room (for meds) and he knew how much I LOVED the sangria so one day we came in the lounge around 4 to get soda to go out to the pool, he asked how our day was we were telling him about it and that we were now headed to the pool until snack time and he told us hang on just a sec and he came back with DH fave Kona beer with a plastic glass and a glass of the sangria!!

I was so sad to see he wasnt there in 2011, I hope he got a promotion..

 

[mickeynut1]

You poly people are all so wonderful! Really - I am even more excited about our Poly stay just because the people on this thread are all so sweet and helpful!!! Thank you for letting me know we don't have to camp out all day to see Wishes from the beach!

And thank you for your advice on what to do when we first arrive and with the Grandparents and little girls around the resort!! This is going to be the vacation of a lifetime for my in-laws and I am BEYOND EXCITED (and feeling a little self-inflicted pressure) to make sure they are impressed with Disney World and have an amazing time! (As a side note, my little girls think we are staying an hour away and taking a bus to Disney World... they might not know what hit them.) (In-laws have NO idea about anything regarding Disney World and also no idea where we are staying.)

I think my inlaws would enjoy the live music at Mizner's lounge over at the Grand Floridian... but they're crazy about being with the kids and would be sad to drop them off at kid-care. Are children allowed at the lounge? We could go mid-afternoon or after dinner. I'm not sure if there is music mid-afternoon and I'm not sure children are welcome later in the evening.

And Tinkerbellie - I think we might have to try two Lapu Lapu drinks and one Island Sunset and one Backscratcher for the four of us upon arrival. The Lapu Lapu pineapples will make for memorable photos!!

I saw recently someone on these boards said the planning was as much fun as the trip. SO TRUE! I just told DH that I'm getting a whole 5 months of fun and the rest of them are only going to get a week!

You are going to have a great trip......the Poly is such an amazing resort . How exciting that your girls have no idea you are staying onsite, let alone at the Poly.....what an awesome surprise .

I am so not a happy camper right now. I just looked at my bank account. The two charges for the Portofino Bay hotel are still pending as is the cost of the dinner still pending but the tip cleared for the waiter but NOT for the 17.00 we authorized but for 69.30!! They are SO getting a call from me today. I am furious!! They had better make this right or I will turn them into my bank for making fraudulent charges. I just called Portofino Bay and no one seems to know what this charge is. They have the restaurant manager and the parking manager calling me. The front desk manager says it is not them. I am cranked big time about this.

I hope everything gets straightened out quickly .

So excited we have a cabana rented Sept 10th!

Sounds fun.....enjoy the cabana .

 

[karriealex]

Well I found out what the charge was and threw a fit. It was the parking fee!! Not only did they not tell us how to exit correctly through the correct gate causing us to get charged a higher daily rate but they charged us for 3 days and not 2. I spoke to the manager and told him in no uncertain terms that this was going to get corrected and that this was caused again by bad service by the resort. He agreed and agreed to credit back the whole amount and not keep out the actual amount for parking. The 69.30 had already posted to my account and wasn't one of the ones that was pending. All those pending charges posted to my account this morning also. Amazing how they can charge your card really fast but credits seem to take awhile. Hmmmm. Oh and apparently my review of the resort has been read because when I called the front desk manager and let her in on what went on she said "Oh yes. We know about this and it is being taken up with the Concierge currently". Apparently through talking with her several areas are being talked to about what went on. I still may write to corporate as I don't want anyone else treated the way we were and least of all anyone on this board.

The man that stood in the doorway of the lounge was the older white haired man who works there. You can't miss him. He even looks like and comes off like one of those country club snobs. I hope they don't pull the same thing with you. We had a bad experience. I want you to have a good one.

Congrats on renting the cabana. I don't believe any of the three give you a totally unobstructed view of the pool. One is set back by the bar and the other two are closer up to the GCH end of the pool on the left surrounded by greenery. I almost didn't see the third one because of where they put it. It is next to the second but kind of behind a lot of greenery. None of them have an MK view as the openings seem to face the pool.

 

[yolie912]

Well I found out what the charge was and threw a fit. It was the parking fee!! Not only did they not tell us how to exit correctly through the correct gate causing us to get charged a higher daily rate but they charged us for 3 days and not 2. I spoke to the manager and told him in no uncertain terms that this was going to get corrected and that this was caused again by bad service by the resort. He agreed and agreed to credit back the whole amount and not keep out the actual amount for parking. The 69.30 had already posted to my account and wasn't one of the ones that was pending. All those pending charges posted to my account this morning also. Amazing how they can charge your card really fast but credits seem to take awhile. Hmmmm. Oh and apparently my review of the resort has been read because when I called the front desk manager and let her in on what went on she said "Oh yes. We know about this and it is being taken up with the Concierge currently". Apparently through talking with her several areas are being talked to about what went on. I still may write to corporate as I don't want anyone else treated the way we were and least of all anyone on this board.

The man that stood in the doorway of the lounge was the older white haired man who works there. You can't miss him. He even looks like and comes off like one of those country club snobs. I hope they don't pull the same thing with you. We had a bad experience. I want you to have a good one.

Congrats on renting the cabana. I don't believe any of the three give you a totally unobstructed view of the pool. One is set back by the bar and the other two are closer up to the GCH end of the pool on the left surrounded by greenery. I almost didn't see the third one because of where they put it. It is next to the second but kind of behind a lot of greenery. None of them have an MK view as the openings seem to face the pool.

Wow Karriealex! Your stories have me scared. I hope when I get there next month things will change. I am pretty sure after what happened with you things will change in the lounge. Here's to good vibes.

 

[Chavaleh]

I'm in the single digits till my anniversary trip! We've had a relatively cool summer here in Atlanta but I'm prepared for it to be face meltingly hot at WDW. Since we're kid free on this trip it'll be a lot easier to take things slow and spend a lot of time at the pool. We've got a cabana reserved for one full day and my Kindle is loaded and ready for action.

karriealex, were the CL issues you mentioned at Portofino or the Poly? I got kind of confused.

 

[karriealex]

Wow Karriealex! Your stories have me scared. I hope when I get there next month things will change. I am pretty sure after what happened with you things will change in the lounge. Here's to good vibes.

Yolie912 this did happen at Portofino Bay at Universal and not at the Poly. I just wanted to make sure you knew that if you were afraid this is what would happen to you at the Poly. The Poly part of our trip was AWESOME. With just a little hiccup with check in and room placement at the beginning which was quickly taken care of, nothing went wrong at the Poly and our stay couldn't have been better. The lounge was awesome, accommodating, accessible at all times, and friendly. All the CM's throughout the resort were very nice at all times. Bell services even valet parked our car for us at no charged because I have a disability. The Poly was just awesome.

 

[karriealex]

I'm in the single digits till my anniversary trip! We've had a relatively cool summer here in Atlanta but I'm prepared for it to be face meltingly hot at WDW. Since we're kid free on this trip it'll be a lot easier to take things slow and spend a lot of time at the pool. We've got a cabana reserved for one full day and my Kindle is loaded and ready for action.

karriealex, were the CL issues you mentioned at Portofino or the Poly? I got kind of confused.

CL issues were at Portofino Bay not the Poly. The Poly was superb.

 

[yolie912]

Karriealex- Oh ok ...you had me scared. So you stayed club level at Portofino as well?

 

[Chavaleh]

CL issues were at Portofino Bay not the Poly. The Poly was superb.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Sorry your vacation was marred.

 

[Dominion]

CL issues were at Portofino Bay not the Poly. The Poly was superb.

I'm glad you clarified this...just an fyi, if someone hasn't read the entire history of your trip reports they might think you were talking about the Poly when you were talking about Portofino Bay!!! I've been following along and got confused a few times! Hope everything gets worked out for you. At least your back at the Poly again in December!

 

[karriealex]

Karriealex- Oh ok ...you had me scared. So you stayed club level at Portofino as well?

Yes we did and it is not something we would do again. Club level at Portofino Bay is nothing like it is at the Poly. They nickle and dime you for one thing. At the Poly you have a fridge. At Portofino Bay you have a mini bar that if you even open it you are charged. At the Poly you have free WiFi. At Portofino you are charged anywhere from 9.99 to 14.99 a day depending on the amount of devices. The club lounge at the Poly is open all day and all night so even when they are not serving you can go get coffee or soda. At Portofino it closes. We are very spoiled by Disney I will admit that but the Universal properties would do well to take notes on how Disney does things and treats people.

 

[karriealex]

I tried to mention which resort I was talking about in each post so that there wouldn't be confusion but I guess I wasn't clear enough. Sorry about that. I may go back and add titles so people will definitely see which resort I am referring to as I don't want anyone to think any bad of the Poly.

Okay went back and put titles in bold to help people keep people from getting confused.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Three weeks from today and we'll be back at the Poly!!! Can't wait!!!

So this time I was thinking of trying a drink I've never tried, I always tend to get the same thing. I've had their Lapu Lapu and absolutely love the Pina Colava's. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good drink at the Poly?

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Three weeks from today and we'll be back at the Poly!!! Can't wait!!!

So this time I was thinking of trying a drink I've never tried, I always tend to get the same thing. I've had their Lapu Lapu and absolutely love the Pina Colava's. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good drink at the Poly?

Sent from my Galaxy SII

Backscratcher Yummo! But save some drinks for me. We won't be to far behind you. We are also staying CL(our first time at the Poly and first time trying CL).
Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[karriealex]

Three weeks from today and we'll be back at the Poly!!! Can't wait!!!

So this time I was thinking of trying a drink I've never tried, I always tend to get the same thing. I've had their Lapu Lapu and absolutely love the Pina Colava's. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good drink at the Poly?

Sent from my Galaxy SII

I am sooooo excited for you!!

I had a blue Hawaiian at the Tambu Lounge and it was very very good. It was made with blue Curasao. I would love to know if they could make a watermelon margarita. I have heard they are delicious.

I attempted to get one at Margaritaville at City Walk but when dh went up to get me one, three bartenders looked at him and walked away so he got ticked and walked out. Heard from one of the other little kiosk bartenders that this is not uncommon for that place.

 

[karriealex]

Backscratcher Yummo! But save some drinks for me. We won't be to far behind you. We are also staying CL(our first time at the Poly and first time trying CL).
Hope you have a magical trip!

You are going to LOVE it.

Oh and I have to agree the backscratcher is a good drink too. I have had one of those also. Hee hee and you have a handy dandy souvenir when you are done with the drink!

 

[yolie912]

Has anyone going in September gotten the magic bands at the Poly?

 

[karriealex]

Has anyone going in September gotten the magic bands at the Poly?

As far as I was told before I left for our trip earlier this month was that the next couple of months would be testing at the Contemporary. They were unsure as to when the Poly was going to get them but didn't figure it to be until after September. I sure hope the CM was wrong and that you get them for your trip. They just seem so cool. I am dying to try one out. LOL I want a purple one.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Backscratcher Yummo! But save some drinks for me. We won't be to far behind you. We are also staying CL(our first time at the Poly and first time trying CL).
Hope you have a magical trip!

They might be all gone before you get there.

Don't worry, I rarely drink but since this might be our last Poly stay for a few years, I decided I would try a drink there that I've never tried, instead of getting the same thing each time.

What's in the Backscratcher?

I am sooooo excited for you!!

I had a blue Hawaiian at the Tambu Lounge and it was very very good. It was made with blue Curasao. I would love to know if they could make a watermelon margarita. I have heard they are delicious.

I attempted to get one at Margaritaville at City Walk but when dh went up to get me one, three bartenders looked at him and walked away so he got ticked and walked out. Heard from one of the other little kiosk bartenders that this is not uncommon for that place.

What does that one taste like? Is there anything else in it? I want to say that's one I almost got last time but decided to go with what I'm use to....Pina Colava, lol. I'm feeling more "adventurous" this time, haha.

Has anyone going in September gotten the magic bands at the Poly?

Nope, nothing yet. We arrive Sept 5. I checked online last night but it does not look like they have been assigned to us. From what I've read in other threads, people were notified 2 wks prior to their arrival that they were selected. I'm kind of hoping we get to try it out but I've also heard there are still some kinks to work out.

Sent from my Galaxy SII