ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: October 2013

[BabyFu18]

Hi guys, we were thinking of staying at the Poly next August (2015) and I was thinking by then the construction should be well and done, but I noticed some other talk online that states that construction might not be done by that time frame. I know it greatly depends on loads of different factors, but what is the popular opinion on when the construction will be completely done at the Poly?

I want to book early for our trip, but I'm totally torn, if the construction is still going on in August of next year I will pick somewhere else to stay (as we did this year). I'd love to go back to the Poly though I'm just not interested in staying again until construction is complete.

I guess we could always book it and change if it gets closer and it looks like it will/won't be done in time, but I worry about losing my discount if I end up having to do that.

 

[mystery222184]

Good morning! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the long weekend...unfortunately it had to come to an end eventually, but at least it's already Tuesday! Glad the reviews since our stay have been mostly positive as well. I'll definitely be checking out the progress (and grabbing some Dole Whip) when we stop by for our Ohana reservation in 2 months

 

[Cluelyss]

Hi guys, we were thinking of staying at the Poly next August (2015) and I was thinking by then the construction should be well and done, but I noticed some other talk online that states that construction might not be done by that time frame. I know it greatly depends on loads of different factors, but what is the popular opinion on when the construction will be completely done at the Poly? I want to book early for our trip, but I'm totally torn, if the construction is still going on in August of next year I will pick somewhere else to stay (as we did this year). I'd love to go back to the Poly though I'm just not interested in staying again until construction is complete. I guess we could always book it and change if it gets closer and it looks like it will/won't be done in time, but I worry about losing my discount if I end up having to do that.

Tikiman had the best, most current updates, so I would keep up with his reports. If it were me, I'd book now and change later if needed. Last I heard, everything was scheduled to be done by the end of 2015, so I'd imagine anything left by August would be minimal? The GCH and pool should be complete by then, which are the biggest "noticeable" areas of construction and inconvenience right now.

 

[BabyFu18]

Thanks for the info I'm just so undecided! I for some reason cannot get tikiman site to load on my ipad,it loads half a page (vertically) and never loads anything else so it's way to hard for me to use, though I do follow his Facebook page for updates. I'll try his site again on my computer when I have a chance.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Thanks, KOOK

You're welcome, mickeynut1. The DIS had a mostly negative review of the new location. Craig's main complaints were that the serving size wasn't large enough and the location has limited hours. The old CC location is open 24-hours/day and you could customize your DW size since it was self-serve.

 

[chabs]

So we stayed 2 nights at the Poly with the Labor Day weekend deal that one of the unnamed travel agents had on special. We paid about $212 per night for our rooms and it was well worth it for us. We had 2 rooms, 9 people and spent one day at Blizzard Beach with our "free" tickets and one night at the Halloween party. The cost of one night's room alone was covered with the free tickets that we received at BB. A couple of things to note (apologize if someone else already posted-I haven't read through this whole thread and just got back home):

Blizzard Beach-there is a special table set up for Poly guest check in right in front of the entrance. They will provide you with free towels and sample sizes of Coppertone sunscreen spray or a full size bottle of Coppertone lotion. We were able to take as many as we thought we would need. The only think that I didn't really like about this was that we had to get our towels before we entered the park, which meant we had to make room in our lockers for them. You just scan one magic band and they hand you plastic card tickets to get into the park for free. You can also bring you Poly resort mug for free refills at BB but we didn't bother buying a mug so we didn't test this out.

Construction-yes it's everywhere but we did not hear any noise. We were in Aotearoa, first floor, monorail/garden view but never heard any noise while we were in our room. There are construction walls all around the paths and down by the marina but we never heard anyone working behind them. They are on both floors surrounding almost the entire lobby where the waterfall used to be (the walls took up more space than I expected), but it didn't seem to stop the people from going to the character breakfast and we even had Kona for breakfast one morning and did not hear a thing (the little coffee kiosk is closed though). I have to say though that we were not there to spend time at the hotel, so the construction did not bother me one way or the other. There was also construction outside under the monorail bridge as the water was drained and you could see where they were working on the gardens. The only noise that we did hear was on the day we checked out-right out front where you would pull up your car to drop off your luggage there was some type of work going on.

Rooms-we really liked the décor of the new rooms and would stay there again. We had a few minor housekeeping issues (hair on the bed inside the sheets, found clothing tags inside the daybed) but it wasn't anything horrible. The rooms were nice and clean for the most part.

For the most part-we would stay there again if the price was right.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Anyone see any special discounts for the Poly in early December? I am looking at adding on 1 night and would love to get one of those good deals.

 

[partypa]

The current General Public Discount is 30% off at the Poly, must be booked by Oct 3

 

[ninafeliz]

posted this earlier to another Poly thread....



Checked in to the Poly yesterday morning

Happy to try to answer any questions if I can..

We are truly enjoying it here the staff have gone way above & beyond to ensure our comfort & enjoyment of the Resort.

This morning we are at the quiet pool before heading to EPCOT this afternoon. There is most certainly construction noise, but it is def not obnoxious. You can tell there is allot going on at the Nanea (sp?) pool & can hear muffled indoor construction noises from Tokelau.

Having said that... we came back from AK yesterday at about 4:30pm and all was quiet & peaceful - it remained that way until this morning.

We have a full view of the Grand Floridian and the lagoon/beach from our 3rd floor room on Aotearoa - we were able to watch Wishes from our balcony last evening

We are here on that "August Special" from the TA not to be mentioned here...

Lagoon View, great building steps to GCH, not lacking for anything so far... $212 a night all taxes in -- we have no complaints!

So we stayed 2 nights at the Poly with the Labor Day weekend deal that one of the unnamed travel agents had on special. We paid about $212 per night for our rooms and it was well worth it for us. We had 2 rooms, 9 people and spent one day at Blizzard Beach with our "free" tickets and one night at the Halloween party. The cost of one night's room alone was covered with the free tickets that we received at BB. A couple of things to note (apologize if someone else already posted-I haven't read through this whole thread and just got back home):

Blizzard Beach-there is a special table set up for Poly guest check in right in front of the entrance. They will provide you with free towels and sample sizes of Coppertone sunscreen spray or a full size bottle of Coppertone lotion. We were able to take as many as we thought we would need. The only think that I didn't really like about this was that we had to get our towels before we entered the park, which meant we had to make room in our lockers for them. You just scan one magic band and they hand you plastic card tickets to get into the park for free. You can also bring you Poly resort mug for free refills at BB but we didn't bother buying a mug so we didn't test this out.

Construction-yes it's everywhere but we did not hear any noise. We were in Aotearoa, first floor, monorail/garden view but never heard any noise while we were in our room. There are construction walls all around the paths and down by the marina but we never heard anyone working behind them. They are on both floors surrounding almost the entire lobby where the waterfall used to be (the walls took up more space than I expected), but it didn't seem to stop the people from going to the character breakfast and we even had Kona for breakfast one morning and did not hear a thing (the little coffee kiosk is closed though). I have to say though that we were not there to spend time at the hotel, so the construction did not bother me one way or the other. There was also construction outside under the monorail bridge as the water was drained and you could see where they were working on the gardens. The only noise that we did hear was on the day we checked out-right out front where you would pull up your car to drop off your luggage there was some type of work going on.

Rooms-we really liked the décor of the new rooms and would stay there again. We had a few minor housekeeping issues (hair on the bed inside the sheets, found clothing tags inside the daybed) but it wasn't anything horrible. The rooms were nice and clean for the most part.

For the most part-we would stay there again if the price was right.

I've been following this thread for a couple of years now, since our first stay at the Poly 2 falls ago and then the subsequent 2 more stays because we loved it so much! I got a lot of good information from this thread, I don't *think* I've even posted here before, but that's because most of the information I needed was right there! So thanks for that.

Anyway, I keep reading about this great rate, and I have to say it's much lower than I've ever seen. I think we could be persuaded to consider giving up the CL we love so much for that price . I gather from what I've read you can't post where you can explore this rate due to rules or something? Would someone be willing to send me that name of the travel agency or website or whatever by PM? I assume it's through an online travel agent but anyone can book it? Or is it something exclusive that random people can't book, like a returning customer special or something like that? I don't want to be out of line or ask for something inappropriate, but I would love to be able get that rate.

 

[aamob]

The current General Public Discount is 30% off at the Poly, must be booked by Oct 3

Are there certain dates for this and is there a special code?

 

[BlueSkies]

So we stayed 2 nights at the Poly with the Labor Day weekend deal that one of the unnamed travel agents had on special. We paid about $212 per night for our rooms and it was well worth it for us. We had 2 rooms, 9 people and spent one day at Blizzard Beach with our "free" tickets and one night at the Halloween party. The cost of one night's room alone was covered with the free tickets that we received at BB. A couple of things to note (apologize if someone else already posted-I haven't read through this whole thread and just got back home):

Blizzard Beach-there is a special table set up for Poly guest check in right in front of the entrance. They will provide you with free towels and sample sizes of Coppertone sunscreen spray or a full size bottle of Coppertone lotion. We were able to take as many as we thought we would need. The only think that I didn't really like about this was that we had to get our towels before we entered the park, which meant we had to make room in our lockers for them. You just scan one magic band and they hand you plastic card tickets to get into the park for free. You can also bring you Poly resort mug for free refills at BB but we didn't bother buying a mug so we didn't test this out.

Construction-yes it's everywhere but we did not hear any noise. We were in Aotearoa, first floor, monorail/garden view but never heard any noise while we were in our room. There are construction walls all around the paths and down by the marina but we never heard anyone working behind them. They are on both floors surrounding almost the entire lobby where the waterfall used to be (the walls took up more space than I expected), but it didn't seem to stop the people from going to the character breakfast and we even had Kona for breakfast one morning and did not hear a thing (the little coffee kiosk is closed though). I have to say though that we were not there to spend time at the hotel, so the construction did not bother me one way or the other. There was also construction outside under the monorail bridge as the water was drained and you could see where they were working on the gardens. The only noise that we did hear was on the day we checked out-right out front where you would pull up your car to drop off your luggage there was some type of work going on.

Rooms-we really liked the décor of the new rooms and would stay there again. We had a few minor housekeeping issues (hair on the bed inside the sheets, found clothing tags inside the daybed) but it wasn't anything horrible. The rooms were nice and clean for the most part.

For the most part-we would stay there again if the price was right.

Thanks for the review! ... and the construction update... G;ad that you had a good stay at such a good rate too...

 

[Cluelyss]

Are there certain dates for this and is there a special code?

This is being offered by Disney - check the special offers page on their website for dates and availability, as there are a limited number of rooms for this promotion.

 

[1wahoo]

I've been following this thread for a couple of years now, since our first stay at the Poly 2 falls ago and then the subsequent 2 more stays because we loved it so much! I got a lot of good information from this thread, I don't *think* I've even posted here before, but that's because most of the information I needed was right there! So thanks for that. Anyway, I keep reading about this great rate, and I have to say it's much lower than I've ever seen. I think we could be persuaded to consider giving up the CL we love so much for that price . I gather from what I've read you can't post where you can explore this rate due to rules or something? Would someone be willing to send me that name of the travel agency or website or whatever by PM? I assume it's through an online travel agent but anyone can book it? Or is it something exclusive that random people can't book, like a returning customer special or something like that? I don't want to be out of line or ask for something inappropriate, but I would love to be able get that rate.

I've been wondering the same thing. Would also love some info if anyone is willing to share?

 

[trishadono]

I am looking at 11/18-21 for me and my Mom in cl(Hawaii). She wants to see christmas decorations. By then I should be good with gingerbread house at Gf and Osborne lights at HS but does anyone know if the tree is up in the lounge in Hawaii then???

 

[MillauFr]

​

I've been wondering the same thing. Would also love some info if anyone is willing to share?

Google "Labor Day Agency Exclusive" The rate was $189 + tax = $212.

 

[DisneyChristmas]

I am looking at 11/18-21 for me and my Mom in cl(Hawaii). She wants to see christmas decorations. By then I should be good with gingerbread house at Gf and Osborne lights at HS but does anyone know if the tree is up in the lounge in Hawaii then???

Based on our past experiences at CL-Hawaii the week before Thanksgiving week - NO - tree lounge tree will not be up yet. Again, that's just how it was in past years.

If you've never attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, you could consider going. It's fun for adults as well as kids. There's one on Thursday, November 20. It's a ticketed event with a separate price.

 

[BlueSkies]

I am looking at 11/18-21 for me and my Mom in cl(Hawaii). She wants to see christmas decorations. By then I should be good with gingerbread house at Gf and Osborne lights at HS but does anyone know if the tree is up in the lounge in Hawaii then???

Looks like our trips will over lap Trish..and we may get to say HI to you and your mom in the lounge!

Based on our past experiences at CL-Hawaii the week before Thanksgiving week - NO - tree lounge tree will not be up yet. Again, that's just how it was in past years.

If you've never attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, you could consider going. It's fun for adults as well as kids. There's one on Thursday, November 20. It's a ticketed event with a separate price.

Thanks for that info..so prolly no tree..but the MK will be decorated in all of its Christmas finery to help us get into holiday mode........as for MVMCP...its always a fun event!

 

[1wahoo]

Google "Labor Day Agency Exclusive" The rate was $189 + tax = $212.

Thank you!

 

[Goofy442]

Just wondering if anyone could tell me how the coffee is in the Hawaii building? My DH loves his coffee strong, so I was debating whether to bring my travel size Keurig with us. We are flying so not sure how that will work?

 

[thisismyusername]

Just wondering if anyone could tell me how the coffee is in the Hawaii building? My DH loves his coffee strong, so I was debating whether to bring my travel size Keurig with us. We are flying so not sure how that will work?

It's the typical Joffrey's and Nescafé machine coffee. Nothing very good. I'd bring your machine if it matters to him.