maiapapaya
Totally DIS-tracted!
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- Jan 8, 2009
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- 2,802
Thanks for the beautiful pictures Rob! I really needed the smile tonight.
ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012
- Thread starter guitarob
- Start date
- Status
Napria
It really *is* the Happiest Place!
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2003
- Messages
- 797
You'll be there the same time we'll be CL at the Poly! Can't wait!
PS, I noticed you've got a 13 year old daughter. Our 14 year old daughter will be with us too!
catho72
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2008
- Messages
- 1,539
Yay! Awesome! My 13 year old turns 14 on July 26 so our girls are almost the same age!
I'm sure we'll see each other in the lounge!!!!!!
Napria
It really *is* the Happiest Place!
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2003
- Messages
- 797
Yay! Awesome! My 13 year old turns 14 on July 26 so our girls are almost the same age!
Our 14 year old will just have turned 15 (yikes!). But we'll definitely be in the lounge... And the pool
DisneyJanFeb2008
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2007
- Messages
- 112
Hi, Does anyone have info on if there will be construction at the Poly in 2013? It's on my short list of resorts for end of March. Thanks!
WDWKOOK
NOW WITH LESS TAG!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2009
- Messages
- 18,106
Blizzard Beach closed 12/22 due to cold weather - Blizzard Beach, one of Walt Disney World's two water parks, will be closed 12/22/12.
Spirit of Aloha dinner show cancelled 12/22 due to cold weather - The Polynesian Resort's Spirit of Aloha dinner show is cancelled on 12/22 due to cold weather.
Spirit of Aloha dinner show cancelled 12/22 due to cold weather - The Polynesian Resort's Spirit of Aloha dinner show is cancelled on 12/22 due to cold weather.
BreezysMom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2007
- Messages
- 1,725
Merry Christmas to all the Poly lovers!
I hope you have a magical Christmas and a wonderful New Year that includes the Poly!
I hope you have a magical Christmas and a wonderful New Year that includes the Poly!
maiapapaya
Totally DIS-tracted!
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- Jan 8, 2009
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- 2,802
The Fox Menagerie
Animal Kingdom does have Foxes!
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 378
And a Merry Christmas to you! The New year will be wonderful with the birth of our new Disney grand baby in January and our trip to the Poly in June!
Wishing a joyous Christmas to all our Poly friends also!
Momof2Disneyboys
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
- Messages
- 20,880
Merry Christmas everyone! 
We just got back from WDW last weekend. We did 2 nights at the GF and 5 nights at the Poly. I did a review on both of them here (with lots of pics!): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3035236
But I will copy & past my Poly review here ~
This was our second stay at the Poly. We stayed 4 nights in the Hawaii Club Level building in August 2011 and loved it! I was curious to see if we would love staying at the Poly as much, not staying club level. We were booked in a standard view room this time. I had put in a request to be on the top floor with a balcony in either Samoa or Tokelau.
We arrived to the Poly on Tuesday December 11 by golf cart from the GF. I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was around 10am or so. We had on clothes for the parks and were all prepared this time in-case the room wasn't ready again. The CM that took us over on the golf cart jumped off when we got there and grabbed a luggage cart and put all our bags on it and took care of everything!
A Poly CM came over and asked for our name and then took us inside to check in. There was no wait and I was greeted right away and we got things started. There were several CM's standing around, observing it looked like. I could tell things weren't exactly going smoothly. Soon after my CM went and got some help. System glitches. It took quite awhile to get all checked in. And they had just started the new RFID system that week I believe. They were trying to get my credit card linked to my room card, so I would just have to tap it on the RFID reader at the resorts and parks to make purchases. Yeah, that wasn't happening. And I didn't care. We had gift cards for all of our purchases anyway. I usually don't even link my cc to my room key, but was only doing so because we were expecting a drug store delivery for my son who had been sick. So eventually they gave up and apologized that I wasn't going to be able to use the RFID reader thing during my stay. No big deal!
She then told me that our room was not ready, but that when it was ready all of our requests will have been granted and that we would be on the top floor of the volcano side of the Samoa building! So I was very happy! I hadn't even requested the volcano pool side, because I know the quiet pool is on the other side of the building, so I figured either side would be great. But as it turned out, they were doing some work right outside the other side of the building and it was all fenced off and a big mess. So I was very happy to be on the volcano pool side!!
We headed off to the parks and around 1:00 we got the text that our room was ready – 3610. We headed back to the Poly about an hour later. I was hoping this room was actually in Samoa like the CM had told me, because the text only gave a room number, no building name. So we went through the GCF and out the back doors and over the bridge and into the Samoa building on the GCH side. Took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and started looking. We walked the whole way to the other end of the building and finally found it – very last room on the left, at the Hawaii building end of the Samoa building. The stairs were right outside our door. I was a little concerned that we would get a lot of noise being that close to the outside entrance and stairs, but we never did! I think most people used the GCH side entrance since it had the elevator and since it was closest to the GCH! In-fact, we slept so well there! It was so quiet at night, after Wishes of course! And I love where the refrigerator is in the Poly rooms. Over by the door, and not in the dresser by the beds where you can hear it run all night.
The room was very nice. Just like I remembered the room we had in Hawaii. It was not quite as nice though. It seemed a little worn. I know the Poly is going to start updating the longhouses one at a time, if they haven't started already. I think it's time, they are starting to need a freshening up. I just hope they don't change them too much! We really liked our room and the view. Everything was great. Mousekeeping was super! She always left us extra towels and plenty of supplies. All of the CM's were wonderful! We were always greeted with an Aloha by each and every one of them, which I just love! Even the gift shop CM's were awesome, they would always ask where you were from, how long you are staying there, and what your plans were for the day, etc. So nice!
Being the room at the very end of the building put us with a tree right in front of us!
But it didn't completely block our view. It was great actually. We had an even wider view being on the end since the right side of our balcony wasn't blocked off by a wall. To the left we could see the GCH. Straight ahead we could see the volcano pool – over the tree! And to the right we could see the marina, the beach, the GF, and to the far right we were looking right at the Hawaii building. Couldn't really have asked for a better location, especially considering we paid for a standard view!
As for the transportation, not the greatest this time. Too much bus sharing. I can see the GF and the Poly sharing, but there was always either the CT and/or the WL thrown in there. Ridiculous. And you knew every time the CT was on your bus it was going to take forever on the way back because they always stopped there before the Poly and the GF. And every time we pulled into the CT there was a traffic jam. It was irritating!
We never used the boats from the Poly or the GF. The monorail rain good most of the time. There was one hold up that I remember and one night the monorail was down completely.
We ate at Ohana and Kona. Both were very good. We also ate at Captain Cook's a couple of times. The kids enjoyed being able to order off of the screen there and pick their sides, they thought that was pretty neat! And of course Capt Cook's has Dole Whips, so who could ask for anything more!!
We really enjoyed being able to hang out on the beach and watch the electric water pageant and Wishes. We didn't get to do this much though because of the weather. Two out of the 5 nights we were there it was cold and rainy. And one night we were at MK. But we sure did enjoy the other 2 nights on the beach! The had movies playing each night, and we watched most of Brave on Saturday night before we had to head up to the room and get packed.
Sadly we never made it to the quiet pool. Just didn't get enough swimming weather when we were there! We did make it to the volcano pool 2 times though. One afternoon just the kids went in, it was way too chilly for DH and I. The water was warm, but the air was not!! We spent several hours last Saturday by the pool. It was sunny and about 80 degrees. Perfect! We loved every second of it! There were pool games going on for a little bit, but it wasn't overdone and loud, like we found the SAB pool to be when we stayed at the BC. The pool was never too crowded and there were always lots of chairs and loungers to be found. I suppose because of the time of year.
So, overall it was another wonderful stay at the Poly and it remains our absolute favorite resort and we will definitely stay there again!!
We just got back from WDW last weekend. We did 2 nights at the GF and 5 nights at the Poly. I did a review on both of them here (with lots of pics!): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3035236
But I will copy & past my Poly review here ~
This was our second stay at the Poly. We stayed 4 nights in the Hawaii Club Level building in August 2011 and loved it! I was curious to see if we would love staying at the Poly as much, not staying club level. We were booked in a standard view room this time. I had put in a request to be on the top floor with a balcony in either Samoa or Tokelau.
We arrived to the Poly on Tuesday December 11 by golf cart from the GF. I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was around 10am or so. We had on clothes for the parks and were all prepared this time in-case the room wasn't ready again. The CM that took us over on the golf cart jumped off when we got there and grabbed a luggage cart and put all our bags on it and took care of everything!
A Poly CM came over and asked for our name and then took us inside to check in. There was no wait and I was greeted right away and we got things started. There were several CM's standing around, observing it looked like. I could tell things weren't exactly going smoothly. Soon after my CM went and got some help. System glitches. It took quite awhile to get all checked in. And they had just started the new RFID system that week I believe. They were trying to get my credit card linked to my room card, so I would just have to tap it on the RFID reader at the resorts and parks to make purchases. Yeah, that wasn't happening. And I didn't care. We had gift cards for all of our purchases anyway. I usually don't even link my cc to my room key, but was only doing so because we were expecting a drug store delivery for my son who had been sick. So eventually they gave up and apologized that I wasn't going to be able to use the RFID reader thing during my stay. No big deal!
She then told me that our room was not ready, but that when it was ready all of our requests will have been granted and that we would be on the top floor of the volcano side of the Samoa building! So I was very happy! I hadn't even requested the volcano pool side, because I know the quiet pool is on the other side of the building, so I figured either side would be great. But as it turned out, they were doing some work right outside the other side of the building and it was all fenced off and a big mess. So I was very happy to be on the volcano pool side!!
We headed off to the parks and around 1:00 we got the text that our room was ready – 3610. We headed back to the Poly about an hour later. I was hoping this room was actually in Samoa like the CM had told me, because the text only gave a room number, no building name. So we went through the GCF and out the back doors and over the bridge and into the Samoa building on the GCH side. Took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and started looking. We walked the whole way to the other end of the building and finally found it – very last room on the left, at the Hawaii building end of the Samoa building. The stairs were right outside our door. I was a little concerned that we would get a lot of noise being that close to the outside entrance and stairs, but we never did! I think most people used the GCH side entrance since it had the elevator and since it was closest to the GCH! In-fact, we slept so well there! It was so quiet at night, after Wishes of course! And I love where the refrigerator is in the Poly rooms. Over by the door, and not in the dresser by the beds where you can hear it run all night.
The room was very nice. Just like I remembered the room we had in Hawaii. It was not quite as nice though. It seemed a little worn. I know the Poly is going to start updating the longhouses one at a time, if they haven't started already. I think it's time, they are starting to need a freshening up. I just hope they don't change them too much! We really liked our room and the view. Everything was great. Mousekeeping was super! She always left us extra towels and plenty of supplies. All of the CM's were wonderful! We were always greeted with an Aloha by each and every one of them, which I just love! Even the gift shop CM's were awesome, they would always ask where you were from, how long you are staying there, and what your plans were for the day, etc. So nice!
Being the room at the very end of the building put us with a tree right in front of us!
But it didn't completely block our view. It was great actually. We had an even wider view being on the end since the right side of our balcony wasn't blocked off by a wall. To the left we could see the GCH. Straight ahead we could see the volcano pool – over the tree! And to the right we could see the marina, the beach, the GF, and to the far right we were looking right at the Hawaii building. Couldn't really have asked for a better location, especially considering we paid for a standard view! As for the transportation, not the greatest this time. Too much bus sharing. I can see the GF and the Poly sharing, but there was always either the CT and/or the WL thrown in there. Ridiculous. And you knew every time the CT was on your bus it was going to take forever on the way back because they always stopped there before the Poly and the GF. And every time we pulled into the CT there was a traffic jam. It was irritating!
We never used the boats from the Poly or the GF. The monorail rain good most of the time. There was one hold up that I remember and one night the monorail was down completely. We ate at Ohana and Kona. Both were very good. We also ate at Captain Cook's a couple of times. The kids enjoyed being able to order off of the screen there and pick their sides, they thought that was pretty neat! And of course Capt Cook's has Dole Whips, so who could ask for anything more!!
We really enjoyed being able to hang out on the beach and watch the electric water pageant and Wishes. We didn't get to do this much though because of the weather. Two out of the 5 nights we were there it was cold and rainy. And one night we were at MK. But we sure did enjoy the other 2 nights on the beach! The had movies playing each night, and we watched most of Brave on Saturday night before we had to head up to the room and get packed.
Sadly we never made it to the quiet pool. Just didn't get enough swimming weather when we were there! We did make it to the volcano pool 2 times though. One afternoon just the kids went in, it was way too chilly for DH and I. The water was warm, but the air was not!! We spent several hours last Saturday by the pool. It was sunny and about 80 degrees. Perfect! We loved every second of it! There were pool games going on for a little bit, but it wasn't overdone and loud, like we found the SAB pool to be when we stayed at the BC. The pool was never too crowded and there were always lots of chairs and loungers to be found. I suppose because of the time of year.
So, overall it was another wonderful stay at the Poly and it remains our absolute favorite resort and we will definitely stay there again!!
guitarob
Polynesian Obsessed
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2006
- Messages
- 1,125
Thanks Momof2Disneyboys for the review!
We were there right around the same time (Dec 11 - 15), and I have to admit, the Hawaii Building is in need of some serious rehab as well. It's time.
We enjoyed every second of our stay, and the Poly is still beautiful, but you can really see some of the wear and tear in the hallways and rooms. The elevator really needs some TLC as well. It's gotta be a miserable undertaking to keep those buildings in good shape with the amount of traffic they see. I can't wait to see what the rehab has in store for us.
We were there right around the same time (Dec 11 - 15), and I have to admit, the Hawaii Building is in need of some serious rehab as well. It's time.
We enjoyed every second of our stay, and the Poly is still beautiful, but you can really see some of the wear and tear in the hallways and rooms. The elevator really needs some TLC as well. It's gotta be a miserable undertaking to keep those buildings in good shape with the amount of traffic they see. I can't wait to see what the rehab has in store for us.
Momof2Disneyboys
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
- Messages
- 20,880
You're welcome!
Wow we probably passed right by each other!
We had a fabulous time and enjoyed the Poly VERY much. 
But yes, the rooms are in need of a little TLC. I just hope they don't change them too much!! Can't wait to see! Merry Christmas everyone!
mickey1510
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2012
- Messages
- 28
Who is on renovation watch which is supposed to start next month?
GinChicago
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2012
- Messages
- 62
Does anyone know how long the holiday decorations will be up?
pixarmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,932
We'll be there beginning on January 26, but I'm hoping for some reports before then! I'm considering requesting Tokelau instead of Samoa this time, due to construction. The last time we stayed in Samoa was 2011, and GF DVC construction had not yet begun. I'm thinking our beautiful Samoa volcano side view may not be so beautiful anymore with the construction. Any thoughts from recent Poly guests?
jandkmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2009
- Messages
- 457
We just booked a sort of last-minute trip to Poly for the end of next month!!! I'm so excited. We will be celebrating both of my kids' birthdays there. We tried to get CL but nothing was available with the 35% room discount. It's okay...I love the Poly no matter where we are! I requested Tokelau though 
I haven't been keeping up with the latest news...what and where are the renovations?
I haven't been keeping up with the latest news...what and where are the renovations?
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