ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: June 2013

[Violet Parr]

OMG the Brady Bunch stuff. That's funny, because I posted on my FB page on Friday morning about my dream of staying at the Poly finally coming true and I mentioned my love of '70s Hawaiian kitsch and the Brady Bunch, Fantasy Island, etc.

ALSO, so we've been to a few Disney resorts. DS who is 3 now has a favorite place in all of WDW. CAPTAIN COOK'S. Seriously, after a morning at MK, he repeatedly whines that he wants to go back to Captain Cook's. We were tired by 1, so we went back. He was happy as a clam. When we got home, he had the Disney blues (like all of us always do when we get home) and he said, "(Sigh.) I miss Captain Cook's."

Just so funny that you work so hard to create magic and memories for your kids, and they find it where THEY want to find it!

After not being able to touch a screen to make dinner appear that night, I totally agreed with him!

VP

 

[swmal]

Is the renovation over now?

 

[karriealex]

Just found out about Tables at Wonderland last night and found I could save almost the cost of an entire ticket for Spirit of Aloha by changing my time. I am going to call IPO this morning and see if I can do it. That savings alone will just about pay for the card. All my other ADR's will get 20% off. Because we are CL we don't have a ton of ADR's because breakfast is at the resort. Most of our lunches and dinners will be on the fly at the theme park counter service or the counter service at the Poly.

 

[karriealex]

Is the renovation over now?

I believe there are two more longhouses to go but can't remember which ones.

 

[karriealex]

According to Tikiman's site these are the longhouses that still need to be completed.

Tuvalu June 16 – August 2

Tahiti July 14 – September 13

Rapa Nui August 11 – October 4

 

[karriealex]

I am rather worried about the storm that is out in the Atlantic. As it stands now it's kinda aimed right st South Florida where I live an kinda set to hit right around when we leave. We still plan on going. I am just praying we wont have a problem with picking up the rental car and getting the animals to the vet. Staying doesn't make sense as there is not much we can do here anyway. We live in an apartment so there is no shuttering or anything. It's the kind of thing that will happen if we are here or not.

 

[bluejasmine]

The coffee in the lounge is it still the Nescafe machines? Not that it bothers me, I was just curious.

If their is new coffee do they have the machines that let you choose from latte, cappuccino,espresso like the Nescafe>

 

[SRUAlmn]

Ah!! The spider was the worst part!!!



On a more serious note, ya'll are so fun and it's making me want to switch our Princess Weekend quick trip to the Poly even more!! Fingers crossed that I can convince my 'practical' husband that it's necessary

 

[robinbutterfly]

The coffee in the lounge is it still the Nescafe machines? Not that it bothers me, I was just curious.

If their is new coffee do they have the machines that let you choose from latte, cappuccino,espresso like the Nescafe>

It bothers me! No deluxe resorts should have cheap fake coffee like that!!!

 

[trishadono]

OMG the Brady Bunch stuff. That's funny, because I posted on my FB page on Friday morning about my dream of staying at the Poly finally coming true and I mentioned my love of '70s Hawaiian kitsch and the Brady Bunch, Fantasy Island, etc.

ALSO, so we've been to a few Disney resorts. DS who is 3 now has a favorite place in all of WDW. CAPTAIN COOK'S. Seriously, after a morning at MK, he repeatedly whines that he wants to go back to Captain Cook's. We were tired by 1, so we went back. He was happy as a clam. When we got home, he had the Disney blues (like all of us always do when we get home) and he said, "(Sigh.) I miss Captain Cook's."

Just so funny that you work so hard to create magic and memories for your kids, and they find it where THEY want to find it!

After not being able to touch a screen to make dinner appear that night, I totally agreed with him!

VP

So true! My kids like the darnedest things!

Dh never understands why I go it dis all the time. The no cooking, no cleaning, no helping with homework, no carpooling!!!!

still laughing over Brady stuff!

 

[karriealex]

So true! My kids like the darnedest things!

Dh never understands why I go it dis all the time. The no cooking, no cleaning, no helping with homework, no carpooling!!!!

still laughing over Brady stuff!

My DH is loving the fact that I am back on the DIS Boards. He has been amazed at how much information I have gotten and how much it has helped to make this vacation just that much more magical.

My 15 year old's favorite reason for going to the Poly is........the hammocks! LOL

 

[pixarmom]

Samoa is great! It will be interesting to see what kinds of discounts are offered in 2014, I admit the rack rates are discouraging. I checked several resorts for our spring break in March and they are all astronomical. We are actually thinking we might rent an RV and stay at Fort Wilderness that week. At least that's what my husband and kids want to do. Can you imagine me in an RV??? That might go down as the most hilarious trip report EVER!

Too funny regarding the RV! As I was scrolling down through the resort options for families of 5, I saw something listed as $100/night . . . Fort Wilderness camping! It would definitely be an adventure, so keep us posted! Or you might be like me - book low, and then end up with a CL reservation.

CL is already more likely today than it was yesterday - again, discount dependent. But if we stay with GV, I'm considering a crazy request - Tokelau instead of Samoa. We'll be at the TTC quite a bit for the monorail to Epcot, so that might be helpful for PHM weekend. Also seems quiet over there . . . unless they start DVC construction.

Just upgraded to CL so excited!!! We were grateful to be staying Poly again but DH was pining away for CL again!

I cannot wait for him to be surprised!!! Already email ipo with check in info & my balcony request

Yay! My husband is the same - when I mentioned that I thought Poly would be a good choice for PHM weekend, his first question was, "Is that club level open yet?"

Right!?!? That's always what it's reminded me of, and part of the reason we hadn't stayed there in a while. It makes me scared we're going to find a cursed tiki idol in a cave and Greg is going to hit his head surfing or something!

That episode was a little scary at the time, wasn't it?

I'll be at WDW that weekend as well - running the 10K that weekend

I was really surprised how expensive rooms were - AoA was almost $200/night I'm not sure I understand why late February is peak rates - not spring break yet and after President's Day.....

I know! Seems the peak seasons have stretched out more in recent years. Have you decided which resort for PHM weekend yet?

 

[Miss Potts]

Just found out about Tables at Wonderland last night and found I could save almost the cost of an entire ticket for Spirit of Aloha by changing my time. I am going to call IPO this morning and see if I can do it. That savings alone will just about pay for the card. All my other ADR's will get 20% off. Because we are CL we don't have a ton of ADR's because breakfast is at the resort. Most of our lunches and dinners will be on the fly at the theme park counter service or the counter service at the Poly.

I love the TiW card! We stayed CL on our last trip at the WL but still saved a ton with the card! I love that it includes alcohol... So does my DH. Normally I give him "the look" when he orders beer when he could be drinking it for "free" at the lounge, but TiW makes it a little better.

We are going again in Sept and the savings from the card already paid for itself during our last trip in Feb, so everything else now is gravy! Love it!!

 

[pixarmom]

On a more serious note, ya'll are so fun and it's making me want to switch our Princess Weekend quick trip to the Poly even more!! Fingers crossed that I can convince my 'practical' husband that its necessary

It's very necessary! We have three boys (ages 6, 13 and 14) and Poly is our teens' favorite resort. I'm always torn between Poly and BC/BWI, so we usually do a split stay for longer trips. Of course, our teens were voting for Poly immediately, but the deciding factor was ease of monorail transportation to the start for the kids races (6-yr-old) and PHM (me.) Also, my husband and kids can more easily catch me at the TTC, Poly and finish. If we stayed off the monorail loop, it sounds like all bus transport is suspended from 5-7am, meaning they would have to wake up crazy early or only catch the finish. My husband is flying in Saturday night just for race day and flying back with us Sunday night, so convenience is key. All of this convinced my practical husband!

 

[pixarmom]

I love the TiW card! We stayed CL on our last trip at the WL but still saved a ton with the card! I love that it includes alcohol... So does my DH. Normally I give him "the look" when he orders beer when he could be drinking it for "free" at the lounge, but TiW makes it a little better.

We are going again in Sept and the savings from the card already paid for itself during our last trip in Feb, so everything else now is gravy! Love it!!

Another vote for the TIW card! Too bad the price increased from $75 to $100 for AP holders, but still very worth the cost for our family of five!

 

[karriealex]

I love the TiW card! We stayed CL on our last trip at the WL but still saved a ton with the card! I love that it includes alcohol... So does my DH. Normally I give him "the look" when he orders beer when he could be drinking it for "free" at the lounge, but TiW makes it a little better.

We are going again in Sept and the savings from the card already paid for itself during our last trip in Feb, so everything else now is gravy! Love it!!

This is what I was thinking. With just the savings on SoA it will almost pay for the card. Even though they auto add an 18% tip on all sized parties I am still saving because even if I bump the tip to 20% I am still only paying what the meal originally cost and not the cost of the meal and then the tip. There are tons of places you can use it at also like Kona and Tambu and many others all over the resorts, in the parks, and at DTD. We now have AP's and are Florida Residents so we are planning on lots of trips this year.

 

[Tikiman]

Disney is going to scale back the plans for DVC at the Polynesian. It will still start this year but be much less than the original plan. There are some things in the new plan that people will love and people will hate.

 

[karriealex]

Disney is going to scale back the plans for DVC at the Polynesian. It will still start this year but be much less than the original plan. There are some things in the new plan that people will love and people will hate.

Do you have any details? Please don't tell me it has to do with Club Level or I will cry very big tears.

 

[Tikiman]

Do you have any details? Please don't tell me it has to do with Club Level or I will cry very big tears.

I will have details I can share soon. It has nothing to do with Club Level.

 

[SRUAlmn]

It's very necessary! We have three boys (ages 6, 13 and 14) and Poly is our teens' favorite resort. I'm always torn between Poly and BC/BWI, so we usually do a split stay for longer trips. Of course, our teens were voting for Poly immediately, but the deciding factor was ease of monorail transportation to the start for the 5K (teens), kids races (6-yr-old) and PHM (me.) Also, my husband and kids can more easily catch me at the TTC, Poly and finish. If we stayed off the monorail loop, it sounds like all bus transport is suspended from 5-7am, meaning they would have to wake up crazy early or only catch the finish. My husband is flying in Saturday night just for race day and flying back with us Sunday night, so convenience is key. All of this convinced my practical husband!

Oh my! Thank you for this!! We are doing the 5K because "someone" (not me) was dragging his feet making a decision (ha!) and we didn't get registered in time! So if we took the monorail from the Poly and got off at EPCOT where does the 5K start in relation to the EPCOT entrance? I didn't know we wouldn't have to take the bus! Yeahoo! The whole "having to wake up crazy early" thing might totally convince him too!!