Reposting my review from the Poly Thread and adding some additional commentary at the end.
We got home last night after a very pleasant stay at the Poly. We had booked with the magical deal, and had a GV CL room. We requested a third floor room, and we got 3534, so we were happy that we had a balcony! The room itself was in great condition, no major wear and tear noted, except maybe the outlets - so loose! The clock having the two USB ports gave us guaranteed phone charges, so that was a lifesaver. The view from 3534 isn't spectacular, as it's the nearest GV room to the 3rd floor lounge. That said, it's not a bad view. We could see both pools, but there is a large tree. The upside of a tree is that our room felt entirely private! The convenience of being so close to the lounge was much appreciated. It was very easy to run to grab coffee or a snack and head back up to the room. Housekeeping did a good job cleaning our room before we came back for afternoon break, and getting turndown done after we left again for the evening. The turndown service was not as thorough as we had at other resorts. They don't do anything other than turn down the bed and refill towels. At the CR and BC, they'd turn the lights down, turn the TV to soothing music, and do a quick tidying of the room.
The Poly grounds are beautiful, and the staff that I interacted with were friendly and helpful. The Oasis and Volcano pool redesigns were very well done - everything looks beautiful. My kids loved swimming and spent quite a lot of time at the pool. I swam pretty much every day, though I wasn't as pleased with the pools. Some observations: the pool water is much too warm, and shade is very hard to come by. People are very rude about taking up spots the moment the pool opens and then disappearing for hours. We decided to spend the first half of the day enjoying the resort. We went down to the Oasis pool around 8:00 am, and families had already grabbed all of the cabanas. Usually with one person sitting in it, with all of the chairs and sofas covered with personal items. The same people would stake out the cabanas for the entire week, all day long. We managed to get a chair sitting in one when another family saw us and invited my daughter and I over. Back to our pool saga - the kids swam in the Oasis pool until 9, then we moved over to the main pool when it opened. We were able to get a couple of loungers under an umbrella. My husband and I settled in with some books while the kids played and swam. We'd also hop in to the pool for 5-10 minutes to cool off, then back to the loungers to relax. We were there from 9 until about lunch time. Other people came in around the same time we did. They took the umbrellas around us. Piled stuff on all the chairs around the umbrellas and then proceeded to leave. Only one family was back by noon. I felt so bad for the families with very small kids looking for shade, while unoccupied spots were "reserved." The Poly really needs to do something about it; either figure out a way to provide more shady areas, or police the area to see whether loungers are actually being used.
The club lounge was nice in that there is ample seating and the view is spectacular. The staff was very friendly with us. The food choices were meh. Snacks in the afternoon were identical every day. Fruit skewers, veggies in cups, dip, chips, goldfish, and spicy snack mix, and later on in the afternoon, cookies. The Poly snacks are not as good as what you get at the Contemporary, Beach Club or GF. Breakfast was the same every day. Croissants, bagels, mini muffins, oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and toppings. The evening appetizers were pretty much a bust for us. I'm the only one who eats seafood in the family, and there was quite a bit of it at the Poly. Nothing really stood out to me as being terribly good. I ate a lot of the veggies and fruit. I did appreciate the size of the lounge and the fact that we could always find a seat at all services. We loved the other families in the lounge! My kids hit it off with some of the others in the lounge, and they had a blast. It was great meeting
@GADisneyDad14 and his family! My daughter loved his kids!
While I liked the resort, I don't think the CL experience matches up to what we had at other resorts. The BC is probably the very best, followed by CR. The Poly beats the GF - even with lackluster food. The lounge view is fantastic, and the staff there was wonderful to us. We didn't have a great experience with the GF staff - they were just not friendly or welcoming.
Next year I think we go back to the BC - we really, really missed a good pool this visit!
My biggest aggrevation was all of the backtracking. Hopefully this time booking regular we will be closer to the exits. One thing I did like was the huge television in the CL rooms though!
. Also I'm with you about the balconies. Spoiled by the monorail resorts on that front...I enjoy my morning and evening times sitting/relaxing outside!
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