Back from Poly Concierge 11-17th

[Leslie32]

Okay with my review. I guess I had some high expectations since it was my first vacation to Disneyworld. No flames please. We arrived at the Poly and was shown where to go to the Hawaii Building. Had a map in hand and wandered around trying to find this building. Finally found it, the concierge staff was busy so we waited for 10 minutes then a young blonde man helped us. He said our room wasn't ready. I said what room is it and he said he couldn't tell me because they hadn't checked out yet. I said well I made a request for a bottom floor room because I didn't want a room on the top floors because of my toddler and he said well its on the second floor I was like they don't have balconies right and he said yes that I was right. I said is there anything you can do to switch it because I would like a balcony at least if I have to get a room not on the bottom floor. So he typed around on the computer and finally said well I got one room on the bottom floor that they just checked out and gave me the key. I am like okay that is weird he must of bumped someone who had that room and hasn't showed up yet. So we got in our room but the stuff I ordered ahead of time wasn't in there after we got in there that evening. I called and asked them and they brought it up when we were out of the room which was good because I wanted it to be a surprise for the girls.
We stayed in the first day and didn't go to the parks. We just relaxed and roamed around the grounds. The hotel itself is very pretty. We went walking on the beach and this man came up to us because my girls were by the water and he said don't go in that water not even your feet and we were like why and he said there is some microscopic organism that if it gets in your eyes or ears you will go deaf and bilnd. I was like what?? He is like yeah my friend had that happen to him. I was like okay he is like I am just trying to be nice and warn you. I don't know if this is true of not. I did see people playing in the water but not actually walking in it since there is no swimming.Has anyone heard of this??
When we got back to our room there was a knock on the door and the man gave us a chocolate bar and card. That was a very nice gesture. The room was very clean. It was cleaned very well every day. They turned our beds down everynight and left chocolates all on each bed. My 2 year old loved that. I never got one of those chocolates, LOL. I didn't ask for this service it was very nice that they did that. The view was awesome and the fireworks were great to watch from the patio. Our anniversary was the 15th and I was disappointed we didn't get anything in our room. I read on here how people got stuff or autographed pictures we got nothing, I thought well maybe the next day, nothing. So I was upset about that. We never saw the fruit display from the chef not one day. I was in the lounge off and on all day long so I don't know why I would miss it if he did it. The breakfast offerings weren't the greatest in my opinion. It was the same thing every day and no oatmeal and only 2 or 3 kinds of cereals available. I was disappointed in that as well. I had a better breakfast at the Hampton inn on our way down there.
We ate at Ohanas our first night there and I was very disappointed with them. The waiter was very slow, we had to wait for refills, he said since we were on the dining plan we couldn't get dessert that we could only get pineapple. I was not happy at all with them. They weren't my favorite restaurant that week.
All and All we had a nice stay there. It wasn't as magical as I wanted it to be. I know I went in with to high expectations. The resort itself is fantastic and beautiful and would stay there again but the CM's aren't what I hoped they would of been.

 

[PrincessRianne]

Did you let them know it was your anniversary? lol, I mean, they try. Depends on who you get working that week I think. And if you try to talk to them ahead of time.

 

[Epcotgal]

Thank you for your honest review Leslie. I'm sorry that your stay didn't meet your expectations. I know I've gotten mine up for a restaurant for example and then get disappointed so I know it's a bummer when that happens. As far as them not giving you anything for your anniversary (and this just MY opinion) I think so many read/heard about special things for birthdays and anniversaries that they can't keep up with all of it and now if you want something "extra" I think it needs to be arranged ahead of time. And no, you wouldn't want your child to go in the water at Bay Lake. I'm sure someone from FL. can tell you more than I can on the subject but there is bacteria in the lakes there that even if they got their hands in and put it to their eyes and mouth could make them sick, Am I correct Floridians?
I do have a question and it's not to flame you at all. It's just I didn't quite understand. I can see why you requested a ground floor room with a toddler. When my kids were young I was paranoid about being on an upper floor. That's why I'm curious...if you couldn't get a 1st floor why would you want an upper one WITH a balcony? I'm just thinking that that is why when they didn't have a first floor available at first they assumed you wanted no balcony on the 2nd floor?

 

[LorieDisneyLover]

Hi Leslie,

I was at the Polynesian LVC July 12th through 20th. We have stayed LVC every year since 2000 ... so this was our sixth visit. I, too, was disappointed with our stay this time.

I don't have the time to do a full trip report at this time (will try later today). But I think the fact that the resort (and most all the resorts) were at FULL capacity during this time really put a major strain on customer service. I actually felt bad for most of the staff because it was very obvious they were overworked and under a lot of stress. During every other stay the CMs were saying "aloha" every time you came within a few feet of them -- this stay myself and my future daughter in law counted a total of THREE alohas said to us during our entire 8 days stay -- and that's just the start of the lack of usual friendly hospitality we received in previous years.

lorie

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I'm sorry your first visit wasn't as magical as you thought it would be.
We stayed at the Poly for our first visit in 2000 and became immediately hooked. Mind you at tht time I didn't know about Dis , so I didn't know or expect much other than Poly have bigger rooms than other resorts.
I still have the chocolate postcard as a reminder of our fantastic trip.

We havegone 4 times since and there were times the CM weren't as friendly as before. i think it really does depend how busy they are.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Hi Leslie,

I was at the Polynesian LVC July 12th through 20th. We have stayed LVC every year since 2000 ... so this was our sixth visit. I, too, was disappointed with our stay this time.

I don't have the time to do a full trip report at this time (will try later today). But I think the fact that the resort (and most all the resorts) were at FULL capacity during this time really put a major strain on customer service. I actually felt bad for most of the staff because it was very obvious they were overworked and under a lot of stress. During every other stay the CMs were saying "aloha" every time you came within a few feet of them -- this stay myself and my future daughter in law counted a total of THREE alohas said to us during our entire 8 days stay -- and that's just the start of the lack of usual friendly hospitality we received in previous years.

lorie

alot of people have been saying the service is down cuz the resorts are at capacity
i have to say this is aame excuse
disney knew it would be crazy this year with the 50th adn they didnt do enough to hire people
they seem to be having a very hard time hiring good people as well
i think thats unfortunate but i would expect that at xmas they will run into the same problem if not prepared better
they will also lose good people cuz they will burn them out

 

[Leslie32]

Did you let them know it was your anniversary? lol, I mean, they try. Depends on who you get working that week I think. And if you try to talk to them ahead of time.

Yes they did know it was my anniversary. I let them know before we got down there.

 

[Leslie32]

Thank you for your honest review Leslie. I'm sorry that your stay didn't meet your expectations. I know I've gotten mine up for a restaurant for example and then get disappointed so I know it's a bummer when that happens. As far as them not giving you anything for your anniversary (and this just MY opinion) I think so many read/heard about special things for birthdays and anniversaries that they can't keep up with all of it and now if you want something "extra" I think it needs to be arranged ahead of time. And no, you wouldn't want your child to go in the water at Bay Lake. I'm sure someone from FL. can tell you more than I can on the subject but there is bacteria in the lakes there that even if they got their hands in and put it to their eyes and mouth could make them sick, Am I correct Floridians?
I do have a question and it's not to flame you at all. It's just I didn't quite understand. I can see why you requested a ground floor room with a toddler. When my kids were young I was paranoid about being on an upper floor. That's why I'm curious...if you couldn't get a 1st floor why would you want an upper one WITH a balcony? I'm just thinking that that is why when they didn't have a first floor available at first they assumed you wanted no balcony on the 2nd floor?

No I told them I wanted a ground floor room right from the beginning. I never wanted the 2nd or 3rd floor. I don't know why they put me at first on the 2nd floor that is why I told them no. Then they said 3rd floor and I didn't like that either, I guess he got the hint and moved me to the ground floor when at the beginning he said there wasn't any available. I am paranoid like you and I only wanted the ground floor. If I had to take a upper floor room I would want a balcony so we could at least sit on there and watch Isabella well so we could watch the fire works. I wouldn't want to not have no balcony at all.

 

[Leslie32]

alot of people have been saying the service is down cuz the resorts are at capacity
i have to say this is aame excuse
disney knew it would be crazy this year with the 50th adn they didnt do enough to hire people
they seem to be having a very hard time hiring good people as well
i think thats unfortunate but i would expect that at xmas they will run into the same problem if not prepared better
they will also lose good people cuz they will burn them out

I do agree with you. Sometimes when I went through the Concierge front desk going to my room or the lounge they CM's would be sitting at their desks talking with each other, no phones were ringing or anything so they weren't busy all the time and they wouldn't even Aloha me then. I did get some Alohas and they were overall nice. The concierge Lounge people were all nice to me. The mousekeepers didn't say aloha when we would pass them in the hall except for the man the women didn't. We had one incident when we first got there and the man was getting our bags from the car he was rude to my girls. He told them to scoot over in the golf cart and they didn't hear him and he said loudly I said scoot over. I bit my tongue and didn't say anything. He was nice when my husband gave him the 10.00 tip. The man who came and go our bags when we left was very nice from the beginning. So there were some and then there weren't. I did have a nice time. The parks were very crowded and the people in the parks were more rude then the CM'S at the hotel. They were all pushing people out of the way. I got yelled at a few times because I was taking a picture of the tree of life and this guy was pushing a lady in a wheel chair and she was pushing a stroller on top of that and he was yelling move it move out of the way. Well my back was to him and I didn't know he was talking to me so I finally turned around and he is like I said move it I don't have brakes on this thing. I was like excuse me I didn't know you were talking to me and why are you pushing a wheelchair and a stroller and yes they do have breaks. That was just plain stupidity on that guys part. So I guess having all the people rude in the parks I just wanted to come back to nice people at the hotel you know. When that didn't happen as much as I wanted it to I was bummed a little.

 

[SeaSpray]

Hi Leslie, welcome back!

We checked out on the 10th, the day before you arrived. I believe the Polynesian was at capacity during our stay too, since it was the week of 4th of July. We had a much different experience than you did; I'm really sorry your trip didn't meet your expectations. Before our trip I was afraid that my expectations were too high, but once we got to Disney World, I think all of my expectations and thoughts of everything from the DIS boards went out the window, and I enjoyed each resort (We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge concierge too) on it's own merit.

We were also fortunate I guess because we didn't see any rude people at all, in the parks or the resorts. In fact, it seemed like people were much friendlier and helpful to other people than I would've expected. I'm sorry you encountered such rude people, like the guy yelling at you! That would've bothered me too.

P.S. I wrote a little review, including pictures, of the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian, the links are below in my signature, if you want to take a look. Do you remember the name of the blonde guy in concierge??

 

[paladin]

Sorry your trip wasn't everything you wanted it to be. I do think though that it is important to remember that room requests are just that - "requests".

 

[floridafam]

The guy who said don't go in the water was probably talking about amoebas.

They can get in your ears, nasal passages, etc. and may cause you to become very ill. They have a real problem with them in the Florida lakes, especially in the hot summer.

 

[chamonix]

I just wanted to say that every time we have been at the Poly it has been my birthday, or my dd's birthday, or our anniversary, etc. We have never received anything extra like a card or whatever EXCEPT the times I arranged/ordered and paid for something to be done for those special occasions. Then, those times we did receive a little something extra, like a note from a character, picture or card, etc. I think when you take the time (and $) to arrange something, they know the date is extra special to you.

Unfortunately, they can't do things for everyone's special dates, and we surely cannot expect them to. I, too, was disappointed the first time when nothing was done for us since I had heard on these boards about special things that had been done for others....so the next time I just had concierge arrange things for us, giving them a credit card number, telling them exactly what I wanted, etc. Having high expectations is natural when you read this board, but try to give them a break when nothing happens, it's more the "fault" of our high expectations, not Disney's fault for being unable to do things for everyone's special dates. (Especially with all the people who are there celebrating events months after the actual date, lol, but that's another thread.....LOL!)

Also, I agree room/floor requests are just requests, and they can't always honor them. It does seem odd when they completely ignore them when clearly there was a room available for you. I don't consider it a huge deal though, I do know when you spend so much time and money planning a WDW vacation, you just want everything to be perfect.

Oh, and howdy neighbor, I'm in Carbondale! How was that drive? We've never driven but always say we will someday. What route did you take, when did you leave, how long did it take?

 

[tlev]

I think that this is one of the down sides of boards like this. People hear all the stories of free things and upgrades and begin to expect them. There are only a certain number of ground floor LVC rooms, if too many people have requested them, what happens? Someone will not get their request and be unhappy and post a bad review. I'm sure that the person who was originally going to get the room you got is right now upset complaining about how Disney did not meet their request. Maybe Disney should just do away with accepting requests all-together. Or create more room types with different prices for each, that way everyone would have a better chance at getting what they want.

 

[Leslie32]

I just wanted to say that every time we have been at the Poly it has been my birthday, or my dd's birthday, or our anniversary, etc. We have never received anything extra like a card or whatever EXCEPT the times I arranged/ordered and paid for something to be done for those special occasions. Then, those times we did receive a little something extra, like a note from a character, picture or card, etc. I think when you take the time (and $) to arrange something, they know the date is extra special to you.

Unfortunately, they can't do things for everyone's special dates, and we surely cannot expect them to. I, too, was disappointed the first time when nothing was done for us since I had heard on these boards about special things that had been done for others....so the next time I just had concierge arrange things for us, giving them a credit card number, telling them exactly what I wanted, etc. Having high expectations is natural when you read this board, but try to give them a break when nothing happens, it's more the "fault" of our high expectations, not Disney's fault for being unable to do things for everyone's special dates. (Especially with all the people who are there celebrating events months after the actual date, lol, but that's another thread.....LOL!)

Also, I agree room/floor requests are just requests, and they can't always honor them. It does seem odd when they completely ignore them when clearly there was a room available for you. I don't consider it a huge deal though, I do know when you spend so much time and money planning a WDW vacation, you just want everything to be perfect.

Oh, and howdy neighbor, I'm in Carbondale! How was that drive? We've never driven but always say we will someday. What route did you take, when did you leave, how long did it take?

Hi there neighbor, thank you for the reply. I did want it to be perfect for my girls and I did go with to high expectations. It wasn't bummed terribly. I mean I would stay there again. The drive was not bad at all. We stopped in Valdosta GA and then the next morning it only took 3 hours to get to Orlando. The first day we drove 11 hours but hit Hurricane Dennis and let me tell ya that was HORRIBLE. Sheets of rain so we had to drive slow and could not see had to stop some. We would of been there sooner then 11 hours. We went through Nashville on 24 then got on I 75 in Chattanooga and went straight down Georgia and Florida. Then got on the Florida Turnpike I think it was called. It wasn't a bad drive at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Leslie32]

The guy who said don't go in the water was probably talking about amoebas.

They can get in your ears, nasal passages, etc. and may cause you to become very ill. They have a real problem with them in the Florida lakes, especially in the hot summer.

You know the guy said his friend became blind and deaf from them which I find it hard to believe. Have you heard anything like that?

 

[Leslie32]

Hi Leslie, welcome back!

We checked out on the 10th, the day before you arrived. I believe the Polynesian was at capacity during our stay too, since it was the week of 4th of July. We had a much different experience than you did; I'm really sorry your trip didn't meet your expectations. Before our trip I was afraid that my expectations were too high, but once we got to Disney World, I think all of my expectations and thoughts of everything from the DIS boards went out the window, and I enjoyed each resort (We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge concierge too) on it's own merit.

We were also fortunate I guess because we didn't see any rude people at all, in the parks or the resorts. In fact, it seemed like people were much friendlier and helpful to other people than I would've expected. I'm sorry you encountered such rude people, like the guy yelling at you! That would've bothered me too.

P.S. I wrote a little review, including pictures, of the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian, the links are below in my signature, if you want to take a look. Do you remember the name of the blonde guy in concierge??

I didn't see the fruit display once but I was not at the lounge at dinner time once so maybe it was that night. Who knows. I really wanted to see it. I never saw Chef Dick there at all just a woman. I think the guys name was Brian but I am not for sure. I know I talked to Jeffrey alot before we left but I know it wasn't him. This man had really blonde hair and kinda wavy. He didn't seem to enthused to talk to anyone. I had one girl get mad because she couldn't get through when the light parade was going on and we were squished like sardines trying to watch it. I personally was trying to get back to the resort but we got stuck in the crowd. We didn't time that one right anyway she came charging through the crowd and my daughter was standing beside the stroller and the baby was in the stroller and she knocked my one daughter down into the stroller. I was soooooooooooo MAD but I didn't want to start a fist fight or anything so I just told her she needs to watch what she does because how would she feel if we did that to her or one of her kids. She didn't even look at me and kept charging through. So yeah the people weren't to nice at the parks. Some were and some werent.

 

[SeaSpray]

I didn't see the fruit display once but I was not at the lounge at dinner time once so maybe it was that night. Who knows. I really wanted to see it. I never saw Chef Dick there at all just a woman. I think the guys name was Brian but I am not for sure. I know I talked to Jeffrey alot before we left but I know it wasn't him. This man had really blonde hair and kinda wavy. He didn't seem to enthused to talk to anyone. I had one girl get mad because she couldn't get through when the light parade was going on and we were squished like sardines trying to watch it. I personally was trying to get back to the resort but we got stuck in the crowd. We didn't time that one right anyway she came charging through the crowd and my daughter was standing beside the stroller and the baby was in the stroller and she knocked my one daughter down into the stroller. I was soooooooooooo MAD but I didn't want to start a fist fight or anything so I just told her she needs to watch what she does because how would she feel if we did that to her or one of her kids. She didn't even look at me and kept charging through. So yeah the people weren't to nice at the parks. Some were and some werent.

It's a shame when people act like that. At least you were the bigger person by just letting it go, but still, I would be very angry if someone just knocked my child over like that.