We stayed at the Polynesian from 8/20 to 8/29 in Tuvalu. We were on the top floor in the last room (3415) with a pretty nice view back towards the marina and GCH/main pool/Trader Sam's terrace. Prior to our stay at the Poly (first time there) we were at Coronado Springs Resort for 4 nights.
Our highs and lows were as follows:
Highs:
1) CMs were almost all fantastic at the Poly (as they were at CSR, to be fair). The one exception was the barman I got on the one night I went to Trader Sam's to buy cocktails for my wife and I. He was friendly but distracted and I didn't feel "the vibe". The drinks were excellent though. A big shout out to Tyler in Bell Services, Victoria at check-in (who saw my daughter's birthday button when we were checking in and brought her a small Stitch stuffed toy as a gift) and the staff in the shops and eateries. Whenever we met a CM walking about we were greeted with a smile and "Aloha!" and actually even the contractors doing maintenance and construction would often say hello to us.
2) The resort architecture was breathtaking and I may be in a minority here but I prefer the new GCH ground floor area to the old one. The weird smell has gone and the light pours in now.
3) The main pool is lovely and we had a great time in here with our kids, both at the children's play area and in the main pool. At no time did we find it crowded. We did make a note of going just before 9am to get our preferred location near to the gate by the marina and the pool was noticeably busier in the afternoons when we were about (as Brits not used to such heat and humidity we tended to leave the pool by 1pm at the latest). I agree that the children's play area is possibly the best one amongst the Disney hotels on-site.
4) Captain Cooks had nice food and was convenient.
5) The main ground floor shop (the name escapes me for now) had a nice variety of items and souvenirs and always played the best music. It's my favourite of all the resort shops now and puts the Yacht Club, Beach Club, Contemporary and GF stores to shame, in my opinion.
6) Monorail services were excellent, with the exception of one return journey on our final day from MK to the Poly, where we must have sat at two stations of the three for 10 minutes.
7) Kona Cafe was very good and we enjoyed the food, especially the Pineapple-Mcadamia Nut pancakes!
Lows:
1) The Poly's main pool isn't as warm as the one at Coronado Springs by some distance, even though the CSR main pool appears to be bigger.
2) Lining up for food orders at Captain Cook's was pure pot luck. Some days the line moved quick, some days slow. There was too little space and too many folk hanging around waiting for their orders getting in the way unintentionally.
3) The soft drinks machines at Captain Cook's were constantly out of ice or not working. Often there was a lot of wasted ice sitting in the drip trays and I witnessed many kids going up unsupervised (not an issue in itself), pushing in front of others then taking an age to decide what they wanted before filling their cup with ice to the brim and then pouring half or more of it away.
4) The grooves in the countertops by the drinks machines in Captain Cook's must have been designed by someone out for revenge as they have been made to be something like an 1/8th of an inch too close together to allow a refillable mug to sit in between them without it leaning over.
5) 'Ohana breakfast was a disappointment from the POV of the food. Little in terms of food for non-meat eaters. Two small pieces of bread for four of us when we sat down and a small platter of fruit. The biscuits, which are way too salty for our tastes as a family and especially for our kids, went to waste. Our server was nice though. But compared to two years ago when we last ate here for breakfast, it was not as good. No welcome photo and garland. There was a Memory Maker photographer following Stitch around the tables but only Stitch, not the other three characters.
6) The lights on the path around the marina to the Tuvalu building were never turned on at night, which made it a pain when pushing a stroller and carrying a sleeping child. Also the path flooded just before you reach the Tuvalu entrance and took ages to drain away and dry out.
7) The Poly elevators. In the GCH there are only two and given people are going to/from the second floor for the monorail or dining/shopping options it seems a tiny number. Additionally we saw a lot, and I mean a lot, of fit people who didn't need to use an elevator but chose to, which added to delays for us (we had a stroller with child in it) and may others who had strollers, wheelchairs,
ECVs or walking aids. Also the GCH elevators grotty inside, and I mean grotty. In our longhouse the elevators were tiny and we could barely fit two adults and two kids (one in a stroller) inside.
8) The beige/taupe Polynesian Resort Hawaiian shirts were only in stock in a medium and the CMs had no idea when other sizes were due in. At no point during our stay did I see any other sizes for adults. Surely they're missing a trick here!!
General comments on our trip:
Things we liked:
1) The CMs were very good.
2) The weather was very good and the thunderstorms didn't bother us too much.
3) We loved all four Disney Parks.
4) The character interactions we had were fantastic, especially Anna and Elsa! Our daughter (who was five on 8/21) and Elsa played peek-a-boo with our 18 month old son using Elsa's dress to hide behind.
5) Biergarten Restaurant at Epcot (Germany) was very, very good and we met a lovely family from Seattle who were at our table.
6) Visible improvements to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs, although there is a lot more to go!
7) Some nice shopping bargains at a number of places.
8) The food at Hollywood 'n' Vine was far far better than on any previous visit. I'd happily do breakfast here again next time.
9) Our daughter getting signed birthday cards from the Big Five at Chef Mickey's and from Belle and Beast at Be Our Guest.
Things that bothered us:
1) Boys and men walking out of the restrooms and not washing their hands. Especially out of the stalls!!! I can't believe people do this. I saw this constantly, both in Disney and outside. Nationality or ethnicity didn't seem to matter. They just didn't give a -----.
2) Linecutters. One on Under The Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid who used his young daughter as an excuse to cut past everyone in a 20 minutes line (standby), saying he was trying to get out, only to get past the second CM checkpoint and skip round a whole load more people to jump onto the ride. Another in the FP+ line for TSMM at HS. The family in front of us let another family in line in front of them as "their fast passes were valid from that exact time". Annoying when you've lined up for 5-10 minutes already. Go to the back like everyone else, people!
3) Poor service at the Michael Kors outlet in Vineland Road Premium Outlets.
4) Traffic chaos at Downtown Disney on a Saturday evening. We ended up going back to the Poly via Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf and went to DD another day in the morning, which was way more relaxed.
Most amusing thing I saw (at least to my slightly warped, British sense of humour):
I had just parked the stroller outside Hollywood 'n' Vine for our breakfast and was walking back along the raised "verandah" waiting area towards the entrance to the restaurant. An elderly lady (in her 60's or 70's I'd say) came along in her
ECV, possibly at about 10mph. Too fast, anyway, for where she was riding and where she was going. As she approached the last of the strollers lined up and spied a a parking spot for her ECV she did a hard left turn to drive up towards the dwarf wall and promptly drove into the wall with a large bang as she had completely forgotten to use the brakes! Cue a lot of sniggering from me and few others who saw what happened. A CM rapidly appeared on scene and helped her off the ECV. And she was fine. He then gave a quick crash-course (LOL, pun intended) in how to use the darn ECV properly.
Given the increasing number of these things flying around the paths of WDW, perhaps some sort of licensing is needed (perhaps with some breathalyser tests too for good measure)!
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Here is a link to the LIVE report that I've been posting to.
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