Poly CL Review
Hi everyone!
I'm back from a fantastic stay at the Polynesian. This was our 3rd stay in the Hawaii longhouse and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
CHECK-IN
We were greeted at the entrance to the Great Ceremonial House by Paula. She walked us back to the Hawaii longhouse to check in. She even radioed ahead to see if our room was ready. It was not, but we weren't expecting it would be as we arrived at 11 a.m.
Once we arrived at Hawaii we were assisted by Laurence. He informed us that we had been upgraded from Garden View to Theme Park View!
He told us our room was on the 3rd floor, close to the lounge entrance, but said it wasn't ready.
Laurence even assisted us by printing our
MNSSHP tickets at the Hawaii check-in desk.
LOUNGE
The lounge was always clean and often quiet! Our arrival day we headed up at about 11:30 and found the lounge completely empty! We literally had it to ourselves for a good half hour.
The staff were always helpful and kept the offerings well stocked.
We ate breakfast at the lounge every morning and I never saw bare feet or PJs/Robes. There was the odd wild/crazy child, but not enough for me to take notice. The breakfast items were plentiful and there was apple juice, chocolate milk and yogurt available upon request.
The afternoon snacks were a bit more standard than I recall from 2010. No more gummy sharks, just gummy bears. Yogurt covered raisins and pretzels alternated day to day. Goldfish, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin cookies were available daily. The salty snacks alternated between popcorn to spicy wasabi trail mix (yum!)
The evening offerings were nice, but not as amazing as I recalled. I think we tried the evening items on 4 or 5 occassions.
- Pulled Pork with Pineapple, served on Pineapple Coconut Bread
- Vegetable Spring Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce
- Asian Slaw
- Bacon Wrapped Ginger Chicken
- Brie in Puff Pastry
- Pork Pot Stickers
- Sticky Wings
- BBQ Beef Satays
- Tomato & Green Bean Salad
- Spicy Gaspacho
Every night there was a selection of cheeses (Jalapeno Jack, Havarit, Garlic Boursin, Tillamook Cheddar, Smoked Gouda etc.) and crackers. There was also hummus and pitas and crudities.
For the kids, there was uncrustables, and on a few nights mini corndogs!
We never had an issue getting food in the evening service. We showed up at varying times (5, 5:30, 6, 6:30) and we saw the chef and staff frequently replenishing items.
The desserts and cordials were a bit disappointing this trip. The quality of the items was great, but this was the service where I noticed a lack of replenishing.
The selection included
- Mickey Whoopie Pies (vanilla and chocolate)
- Chocolate Mousse
- Strawberry Mousse
- Banana Cake
- Apple Tarts
- Coconut Macaroons
- Brownies
- Oreo Cheesecake
- Cookies
One note for anyone who liked the glass bottles of Evian: they are gone. But they have been replaced by natura water. The CM's will still give you glass bottles to take back to your room. They just ask they you return them when you are done. Natura is an inhouse water purification system. The water tasted great! Also, the water served in the lounge is held in the same style container as the juices etc. You could easily refill your water bottle before heading to the parks.
Overall, we were very pleased with the lounge this trip.
ROOM
We stayed in room 3504 and adored it! We have previously stayed in 3501 and 3507. We think 3506 has the slight edge (given that the beds are oriented in such a way that you can see the castle while laying in bed), but 3504 was fantastic.
The room seemed in very good condition. I didn't see much wear and tear at all. I was thrilled that they moved the shower heads up! They were way too low originally lol.
The only real issue I had was with hot water. On Oct 2nd I went to shower around 8:30 p.m. (to get ready for my best friends wedding the next day...had a 4 a.m. wake up call lol) and the water was cold. I might as well have showered under the waterfall at the volcano pool! The even more irritating aspect is that when we called we were told there was no issue. However, I have read from another DISer who was staying in Tonga on Oct 2nd that there were hot water issues there as well.
If anyone has any questions let me know. I'll post pictures asap.
Booked April 2012!!
In other news, we have booked our April 2012 WDW vacation!
We are staying at....*drumroll*
Animal Kingdom Lodge CL and Beach Club CL!!
We will stay 5 nights at each
April 20th - 25th at AKL and April 25th - 30th at BC.
We have never stayed at AKL and I've heard such great things about it's CL that I am really excited to try it out!
Can anyone give me a better idea of where on the 4th floor the CL rooms are? I've heard near the lobby and that they are all savannah view. Which savannah do they face? What room number ranges are they (on the AKL resort map etc.)
Does anyone have pictures of the views from the standard CL rooms?
We have stayed BC CL before, but it looks as though the Stone Harbor Club has been redone since our last visit. Again, I've heard great things so I'm really excited!
Despicable Me)!
but l just couldn't help myself I just love the movie and soooooo love Edith! 
We are heading out today for our cruise so KerryCm stay tuned on FB. I also just booked our January trip so when I get back it is time to count down. I was able to spend Monday in the MK. The wait time for all the big rides was 10 minutes
The weather has been sunny and very hot. The 3 of us did go to Food and Wine on Tues and had a blast.
If free laptop will go for fantasy football
and talking to you guys
. Also I just ordered Grand Mickey Welcome
I sure hope its pretty.
