Back from the Polynesian and AKL..BIG surprises!!!

[Wolverine]

well my 2 pesos...we were at the gf on the 4th and didnt have or see any problems...there were alot of people and we did see chairs and towels down by the lagoon below us..and a ton of people...we had a 4th floor room at bocha chica mk view so we were not affected by this..we had our own area...i think this is another 1 of those disney things like "the mug debate" ..alot of people are taking advantage of things when paying guests at that resort kinda get shafted...but also we all know and i think knew that the 4th at the poly or anywhere else was going to be crazy and some dont care about others..is this something new???....we did see alot of people at the ploy beach area that night from our room...lets not make to much about this...and tikiman i can understand that your ticked off...and you said you wont be back next year...this is your option and your choice to do so...it is easy to point fingers...sometimes we forget how spoiled we are at wdw..and sometimes things just dont go as planned..so next year do something different...i am sure your trip was great and i am looking forward to reading your post's...thanks!

 

[Tikiman]

Our trip was great and I still think the Polynesian beach is the best place to be on the 4th when in WDW but out of the last 3 years it has never been this bad. I don't mind sharing the beach with everyone I just feel they were crossing the line when they walked 20 feet off the main path to stand in front of us on our patio. I also have never seen such disrespect for a resort by non-guests. There was not a towel left for anyone at the pool after the fireworks.

Have I been spoiled by the Polynesian in the past?.....Yes.
Do I expect it every year?....No

Is my experience at the Polynesian on the 4th something new?...Yes it has never been this bad.

Do I think that everyone that trashed the beach was from another resort?....No

Will I ever return on the 4th?...maybe but next year we are going to the real south Pacific.

We will return when we have a child and it is old enough to enjoy WDW and remember it.

Aloha

Steve

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

The Grand Floridian was also busy on the 4th, people were all lined up along the shorefront. It looked horrible - then after the fireworks everyone was complaining about valet parking being $6 when they were only there for 45 minutes. Geeze, give me a break!

 

[Tikiman]

Hey Cali I ment to get a picture of the GF for you but the camera disk filled up. It had a great sunset behind it. I also have a strange GF valet story for you. We were on the monorail and could see down to the valet lot and the guys were racing the cars out of the spots and doing about 25 in reverse so they did not have to go down to the end of the isle. One guy hit the curb hard. I am glad it was not my car. I bet it happens at many of the valet lots and not just GF. We did spend some time over there and it is a great resort but still not my style. I would recommend it over the Yacht and Beach club or Contemporary any day. I do think I would like to try the Contemporary some day though.

Well back to my report.

Aloha

Steve

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Tikiman, hope that wasn't my car! LOL, I didn't notice any dents. The valets went very quickly in those cars, I did notice that (all the resort's I experienced it that I valeted at).

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

After reading both your posts(Tikiman and Cali-D), I don't think we will EVER go on the 4th(not that I wanted to !). Sounds like something that would happen to DixieAmos(aka Vernoica!, I do miss her posts!) Not sure whether to laugh or cry at your posts, so I laughed ! Hope that is ok !

 

[donnamerry]

Tikiman, that really saddens me to hear about the 4th being a little obnoxious it sounds. It also saddens me to think you and Tara won't be back there for, sounds like a lonnnng time! You just seem so part of the Poly and feels strange without your staying there and your reports to follow. Glad you did have a great time still in all.

 

[Tikiman]

donnamerry,

We are a little sad too but we need to move on to other things and kids are one of them. We will have to wait till they are old enough to go and enjoy it. I will do my best to keep the pages going and stay intouch with the staff like I do but this may be the last posts on the Polynesian from me for a while.

Well here is the report so far. I will try to break up the info into separate posts on the resort boards for the AKL stuff and Polynesian stuff but thill then here it all is.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=230951

Aloha

Steve

 

[Sammie]

as to the beach at the Polynesian on the 4th of July, I think we have seen the enemy and he is us.

When many share on large internet forums, how wonderful something is, such as the view of the fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian, you are going to attract large crowds.

Kinda like sharing your favorite fishing hole, pretty soon there are no fish.

 

[JulesMom]

Welcome Back! I can't wait to read the reports.

I read in other reports how crowded the 4th was at the Poly.

 

[smjj]

I think this 4th there was more of a patrotic theme and people wanted to be a part of it. That is no excuse for what was happening though. I do not think I would have been as nice as Tikiman though, especially if they were blocking my view from 2 feet off the patio I was spending a lot of money to enjoy...smjj

 

[Poly Pal]

Steve, I'm so sorry about what happened to you on the 4th. We start out with very high expectations when leaving for a Disney vacation. But when you run into rude, inconsiderate people it sort of zaps you right back to reality.

We have run into extremely rude people at Disney. Had one guy rest his camcorder (back when they were BIG) on MY shoulder so he could tape Illuminations. Had another idiot push my pregnant wife and 5 year old out of their spots on Main Street so that he could show up at the last minute and take pictures of SpectroMagic. My wife will never go to a Disney parade again.

Other than the 4th I'm glad you had a good time. did you do anything special for your anniversary? How about the birthday?
Can't wait for your report!

And you're planning little tiki's. That's great! Once they can walk and sort of feed themselves, they're ready for Disney World! We took our oldest when he was just 19 months. He was fascinated with the "electric eye" showers at the Polynesian. We also had to "feed" every garbage can we came upon. Disney should have paid him for all of the litter he picked up that trip!

Welcome back!

ALOHA!

 

[Disneydenise]

Hey Tikiman
About the returning with a child when they can remember it. I have to give you my 2 cents. When we took our children for the first time my son was 2 and my daughter was 4. We took a ton of video. They remember what is in the pictures. I remember the best vacation of my life. My husband refers to it as the vacation from H***. Don't wait for the kids to remember, they will have the film you will have the memories. When they are little they believe, Disney can't get that pixie dust anywhere. We live outside of Philly and NYC when we need time for a nice dinner we do that without the kids. Our family vacations weren't about too many nice dinners but the crazy things that Daddy does when he isn't at work. He is so funny. He has never lost his inner child and that is what gets the family thru these marvelous teen years. I am jealous of the vacation plans you have for next year. We will be getting ready to pay for 2 college tuitions.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

I agree! Go when they are young, you will see it all through their eyes and they will enjoy the experience! We took DS when he was 2 1/2, he took everything in and had a blast(who really cares if he remembered it, we remember it!). To see 3 yr old DD's eyes light up at the Princess breakfast was a moment we all still enjoy. They have been many times since, but those first visits when they were young were extra special ! People give 1 year old b'day parties, not for the memories, but for the "moment" in time.
Glad you were still able to have a good time, despite a few problems. I also wish they would ID(armbands or??) all resort guests for pool priviledges. I have overheard others at our resort pool, who are NOT staying there ! Rude!
Do you think they may have a Lilo and Stitch character meal at 'Ohana's one day? Did you hear anything about the new Royal breakfast at Epcot??

 

[MJS]

Welcome back! Sorry about the 4th! Yikes! It sounds like you and Cali both ran into some rude folks!

Don't discount taking a little one to WDW. We took our DD when she was 1 to the Poly. She loved it, especially O'hana's dinner! I hired a Disney photographer to follow her around the resort, and he got some great photos of her. What great memories!

 

[zakatak]

We are planning on being in Disneyworld next July 4 - 13th. We have reservations at AKL Concierge since the POLY Concierge wasn't available.

My question for you, since you know more about the Polynesian than anyone!, is... should we switch back over to the Poly, using the temp concierge or even a regular lagoon view room, or keep the AKL concierge?

Thanks!

Karen

 

[Tikiman]

I would switch back to the Polynesian. I liked the AKL concierge but I would not have liked being out there for more than a few days. The AKL resort was great and the staff was friendly. I also enjoyed just hanging out at the resort but I was not thrilled with the busses and nothing was close except Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach. We are just to use to the Polynesian and the monorail that it is hard to get use to the AKL transportation eventhought it is much better than some of the other resorts.

Steve

 

[erikthewise]

Welcome back, Steve!
Sounds like a bad scene at the beach.
I'm off to read your trip report!