ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: June 2013

[sjs314]

Wow. I wasn't happy about going to Universal for two days but DH just did something awesome. He told me to book both nights at Universal at club level at the Portofino Bay. We couldn't get the Royal Pacific at club level but I will keep checking. I still would rather just be at Disney but at least this change does make me feel better.

I am Dying to stay at PBR, it's beautiful

 

[sjs314]

Here is a panorama shot from our balcony:

BigTex71

Thanks for the picture Lovely!

Sheila, I think this is the same room we had in December! Loved it!!




Great picture, enjoy your trip!

Shelly I vaguely remember your pictures and think your right.

 

[katie43901]

Thinking about switching from YC to Poly...Do all standard view bathrooms share a sink and vanity area with the toilet and shower? TIA

 

[karriealex]

Thinking about switching from YC to Poly...Do all standard view bathrooms share a sink and vanity area with the toilet and shower? TIA

From the picture I saw of the club level Hawaii building the sinks are in with the tub and toilet. Not sure if any of the other longhouses are different as I have only ever stayed club level. I went to check because I haven't been there since the refurb.

 

[mickeynut1]

Thanks. So is transfers like magical express meaning I don't have to be in the room for the bags to arrive? If that is the case then that is awesome and I'll just take my extra clothes and park stuff with me.

You can either go to bell services to get your luggage or you can call them from your room and they will deliver it to you, but they will not automatically deliver it when it arrives at the resort.

So my question is what time does bell services leave for the night? We aren't going to get back to the resort until 11pm at the earliest and can't go back early. I guess I can always ask luggage in the morning and if they say I have to be present just take the cab.

That is a good question. I've never needed my luggage late at night, so I'm not sure how that works. Hopefully someone will be able to answer that question .

Can anyone tell me if all the longhouses have been refurbished yet? We are going in 22 days and will need a wheelchair accessible room with roll in shower. As we are celebrating my 50th birthday and I have wanted to stay at the poly ever since I first visited over 30 years ago, I just wanted it to be as perfect as possible. I really don't want to be put in an old style room. Any idea which longhouse to request/avoid?

I know the completion date is October, but I'm not sure which ones still need to be done. I remember seeing a schedule posted somewhere, but I can't remember if it was on this thread or somewhere else. If I can find it, I'll post it .

Here is a panorama shot from our balcony:

Great pic.....hope you're having a great time .

mickeynut1 How did you get two tickers side by side? I have been trying to do that all afternoon with no luck.

You had to ask me a hard question, didn't you . I'm not very computer savvy so I always have to play around with tickers to make them fit when I have more than one....LOL. I usually paste it in my signature where I think it will work and then go from there, redoing it as many times I need to before it works .

Ok its one day and then we leave just wanted to thank all of you for the great info. I am sure we will love it as much as all of you.

Have a great trip......you will love the Poly .

Thinking about switching from YC to Poly...Do all standard view bathrooms share a sink and vanity area with the toilet and shower? TIA

Yes, all bathrooms have the sink/vanity area in with the toilet and shower.

 

[mirage0306]

Thinking about switching from YC to Poly...Do all standard view bathrooms share a sink and vanity area with the toilet and shower? TIA

Yup, we were in Hawaii and everything was in the bathroom. Hopefully someone who is in another refurbed longhouse can report back on the bathroom situation there!

 

[karriealex]

I bought the neatest GIS green nail polish today so if anyone who is there during the time we are, Aug 4-11, sees me don't hesitate to step up and say hi. Also if anybody wants to get together during that time let me know and we can figure out where and when.

 

[Day-Day]

How close are the resorts to Universal? Are you able to walk back to them or do you have to take a bus? We are staying at Portofino Bay.

I'm guessing from a poor memory...Royal Pacific is 8-10 minute walk to IOA maybe 15 minutes or so to Studios; Hard Rock about 6-9 minutes to Studios maybe 15 to IOA. Portofino is farther away but I've never been to it.

The 3 hotels have boats and shuttles; we've ridden the boats that get to the middle of the City Walk but they don't save a lot of time. I haven't been on the shuttles. Boats or shuttle may be a better option for Portofino??

 

[karriealex]

I'm guessing from a poor memory...Royal Pacific is 8-10 minute walk to IOA maybe 15 minutes or so to Studios; Hard Rock about 6-9 minutes to Studios maybe 15 to IOA. Portofino is farther away but I've never been to it.

The 3 hotels have boats and shuttles; we've ridden the boats that get to the middle of the City Walk but they don't save a lot of time. I haven't been on the shuttles. Boats or shuttle may be a better option for Portofino??

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the info.

 

[BigTex71]

Yup, we were in Hawaii and everything was in the bathroom. Hopefully someone who is in another refurbed longhouse can report back on the bathroom situation there!

Here in Samoa we have refurb rooms and they have the two sinks and toilet in with the shower/tub. I love all the counter space! We ended up not needing our over the door organizer after all.

 

[BringingUpDisney]

We're here! We're here! Got out request - Tokelau 1st floor. Room was ready at 1:30 when we checked in. And we have a working fridge! Yay!!!

Yay! Have a magical trip!

 

[leannak]

A couple of Poly Travel questions...

I have heard people mention a ferry and a boat launch... are these different?? I'm assuming you can take the ferry to MK? Is the boat launch for sport boat rentals??

Also, we have an 8am CRT reservation - should we take monorail that day? Any pointers on when to head out? I've just read it "unexpectedly" breaks down quite often and is not a sure method of transportation. I've never heard of this before, but that 8am ressie make me nervous for some reason.

We also have an 8am Akershus reservation for later in our stay... what time would you recommend hitting the monorail for that one? Or should we bus???

 

[BringingUpDisney]

Here is a panorama shot from our balcony:

Gorgeous!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Here in Samoa we have refurb rooms and they have the two sinks and toilet in with the shower/tub. I love all the counter space! We ended up not needing our over the door organizer after all.

Hey there! How are you liking Samoa? We love the counter space too, plenty of room for all our stuff. I can't believe we only have 2 full park days left though. This week is going by too fast!!!

 

[maxsmom]

I bought the neatest GIS green nail polish today so if anyone who is there during the time we are, Aug 4-11, sees me don't hesitate to step up and say hi. Also if anybody wants to get together during that time let me know and we can figure out where and when.

We'll be there the same dates. I will keep my eye out for your nails! I haven't decided what color I'm going with yet.

 

[samacita]

The new Room Only discounts are out!! I was really hoping to upgrade to CL but Poly discounts are very limited for our November dates.

I could switch to WL and save over $1000... But my heart is set on Poly. I've never actually seen either one in person, so what do I know?! I realize I'm asking Poly people, but please weigh in - what do you think about WL?

 

[mom2of2]

A couple of Poly Travel questions...

I have heard people mention a ferry and a boat launch... are these different?? I'm assuming you can take the ferry to MK? Is the boat launch for sport boat rentals??

Also, we have an 8am CRT reservation - should we take monorail that day? Any pointers on when to head out? I've just read it "unexpectedly" breaks down quite often and is not a sure method of transportation. I've never heard of this before, but that 8am ressie make me nervous for some reason.

We also have an 8am Akershus reservation for later in our stay... what time would you recommend hitting the monorail for that one? Or should we bus???

The ferry goes from TTC to MK. the resort launch goes from MK to GF to Poly to MK.
To get to MK, take the resort launch, it's a straight trip to MK. the monorail would stop at the GF before MK. Plan to be at the resort launch about 7:25 ish.
To get to EPCOT, walk to TTC and get on EPCOT monorail. For an 8 am ADR I'd be there about 7:15
Hth

 

[karriealex]

The new Room Only discounts are out!! I was really hoping to upgrade to CL but Poly discounts are very limited for our November dates.

I could switch to WL and save over $1000... But my heart is set on Poly. I've never actually seen either one in person, so what do I know?! I realize I'm asking Poly people, but please weigh in - what do you think about WL?

If you can afford the 1000 without killing yourself I would go for the Poly. The Poly CL is the best in all the resorts. If you can't afford it I have heard good things about WL too. Where the Poly has the monorail the WL has a boat but I am not sure exactly what park it goes to. At the Poly you are closer to the parks, WL you are a bit farther away. I have been to the WL to eat and it is a very pretty resort. It is very rustic and woodsy.

You need to figure what is best for your budget because if you are stressing about money you won't enjoy the Poly as much as you could.

 

[sjs314]

The new Room Only discounts are out!! I was really hoping to upgrade to CL but Poly discounts are very limited for our November dates.

I could switch to WL and save over $1000... But my heart is set on Poly. I've never actually seen either one in person, so what do I know?! I realize I'm asking Poly people, but please weigh in - what do you think about WL?

No Poly Std for my dates either, WL CL was available but we booked BWI CL so no Poly this trip but I'm ok with that since our main thing is F&W this Trip.

We stayed at WL 2x and it was our favorite before we tried BWI.

 

[karriealex]

Well I talked to dh about the new codes and a trip to Disney in December. Because of my kids school schedule we would have to do several nights at rack rate. I would love more than anything to stay at the Poly in December but I have to be realistic. We are spending a ton of money on this August vacation and I can't realistically spend another 3 to 4 thousand dollars on another one in December. I think we have pretty much decided on staying at POFQ garden view. The price is right for us and it is one of the more compact prettier moderates and it has queen beds. We have stayed at CBR before but they still have double beds and we feel we would be more comfortable in queen beds. I will still visit my beloved Poly though. We have to eat at Ohana. It is a tradition on every vacation.