Back From The Polynesian -- Any Questions?

[simonkodousek]

Hello,

We flew back from Orlando last night concluding a great stay at the Polynesian. We stayed in the Tahiti building, room 1028. The MK view was great. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:
~ Large Rooms
~ Great Theme
~ Excellent Dining
~ Amazing Pool
~ Nice MK View
~ Monorail Access

Cons:
~ Sinks Inside Bathrooms
~ Long Walk to Tahiti Building
~ Loud Lawn Sprinklers
~ Torches Shined into Rooms
~ Slow Buses
~ Extremely Slow Check-In

Overall, the worst problem we encountered in our trip, was that the sinks were inside the bathrooms. We had my MIL with us, and she literally spent 45 minutes every morning locked inside the bathroom doing her hair. Because of this, we missed all of our breakfast reservations.

To be honest, I wouldn't stay at the Polynesian again. As much as we liked the resort, we found that we spent 4 of our 7 days at Epcot, so an Epcot resort would be the way to go. I did get to look around the BC and this is where we'll be spending our next trip.

Any questions?

~Simon

PS: Sorry if my writing is off, we were on a plane until 12:00 last night.

 

[cara loves the poly]

my mother built her lake house with the sinks outside of the bathroom in the guest bedroom. it was a great idea!!!!! how was housekeeping? there have been many complaints on this board about that. thanks! welcome back!

 

[noseybuddy]

I stayed at the Poly last summer and will be staying there again this August. It would be great if the vanity was outside the bathroom, but I dealt with it fine. I just did my hair at the large mirror near the desk. Was able to set up the curling iron and blow dryer with no problem.

 

[simonkodousek]

my mother built her lake house with the sinks outside of the bathroom in the guest bedroom. it was a great idea!!!!! how was housekeeping? there have been many complaints on this board about that. thanks! welcome back!

Housekeeping was very good for our trip. However, one day they didn't come at all, which was a surprise.

 

[simonkodousek]

I stayed at the Poly last summer and will be staying there again this August. It would be great if the vanity was outside the bathroom, but I dealt with it fine. I just did my hair at the large mirror near the desk. Was able to set up the curling iron and blow dryer with no problem.

I actually did ask MIL to do this, but she refused. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the bathrooms have awful ventilation. Every time someone took a shower, the room would steam up so much, it was terrible.

 

[Poly Pal]

Hmmm...45 minutes of monopolizing the bathroom for hair??? I think I would switch mother-in-laws before I switched resorts...LOL!

Did you call the front desk to report your room had not been serviced by housekeeping? Did you figure out why they skipped your room?

 

[kutchyone]

Don't the bathrooms have fans to ventilate the steam out?

 

[simonkodousek]

Hmmm...45 minutes of monopolizing the bathroom for hair??? I think I would switch mother-in-laws before I switched resorts...LOL!

Did you call the front desk to report your room had not been serviced by housekeeping? Did you figure out why they skipped your room?

Yeah, 45 minutes was a bit insane. Because of this, we missed all of our breakfast ADR's...

No, I did not call the front desk because we came back from the Epcot (EMH) at 11:30 PM.

 

[simonkodousek]

Don't the bathrooms have fans to ventilate the steam out?

Yes, there was one in the ceiling, but it never turned on for some reason.

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

How were the buses - I see it listed as one of your cons. We're going to the Poly in October and I am considering renting a car. I'd appreciate any info. Sorry you missed all your breakfast ADRs - but kudos to you for sharing a room w/your MIL. I don't think I could do it .

 

[Maxwell]

If housekeeping didn;t come at all one day I would say that the housekeeping was not up to par for a trip. I would expect housekeeping every single day period.

 

[BCV23]

Yes, there was one in the ceiling, but it never turned on for some reason.

It should have come on. When the rooms were redone a couple of years ago, the fans were added. They were a big improvement as we used to have the fog problem too....no more. The new fan is motion activated.

If things like that don't work, I always call it in. I think that is the kind of thing that mousekeepers won't notice and report.

I agree with Poly Pal. I think you had a MIL problem not a Polynesian problem. I actually prefer the all in one bathroom because it is more sanitary. But it does take more consideration on everyone's part.

It's funny that the Tiki torches bothered you. Having their flickering light dance through the sheers at night is one of my very favorite things about WDW much less the Polynesian.

We often do a Polynesian/BCV split and I think you'll find that some areas of WS are more convenient from BC but FW is faster to get to from the Polynesian. Some countries are a wash. But BC is a great resort too. Have fun planning. Just have MIL get her own room next trip and meet you at the parks.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

When I stayed at the Poly in December, the buses didn't seem slow to me at all. This may have changed due to the level of occupancy in July but I don't think so. The buses seemed to come right after I'd gotten my coffee at the Kona Island and walked to the bus stop. I'm going back to the Poly next month and the bulk of our time is spent at the MK and EPCOT so we won't use the buses except 1 time to visit MGM.

Now the slow check-in I DID experience in December. Frankly I attribute this more to the ancient computers they have at the front desk instead of the CMs. Being a software engineer, once I saw those computers I groaned.

 

[BCV23]

You know I have seen so many reports of slow buses this month at so many resorts.

 

[huntconn]

Simon,
Honest and fair review of your stay. You must be an absolute saint because I think I would "kill" my MIL if she caused us to miss even 1 breakfast due to her doing her hair! Sinks(s) being in the bathroom is a common criticism of the Poly and I think a valid one. It does not bother me but I can see how some people do not like it. But the fact that your MIL refused to do her hair anywhere else in the room is just plain crazy. Sorry, I'm not trying to start a family feud I would definitely agree with you that staying in an Epcot resort would work out better if that is the park you spend the most time in. That monorail ride can be a long one although being in Tahiti made it a short walk to the TTC for you. Tahiti has great MK views but I really disliked the long walk to the GCH, marina, and pool.