Have fun and come back and share all the details!
Great pics! I think we were there at same time. I remember that storm and was so glad I was dry watching it from our balcony in Samoa. It was interesting watching it come in from MK.I finally got all of my resort pictures and thoughts up onto my web site. It starts here on my "WDW 2015" page. I hope you enjoy!
http://brownfamilyvacations.com/html/WDW2015.htm
I don't know about the transportation wait....but someone on another thread wrote it was the most crowded event he's ever been too. He said the lines for candy were insane and he will never book another party. But other people said, it depends on where you are and what you are doing regarding lines...so just an FYI.
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However i did gt some terrible bug bites out there which I never got anywhere else on the property.
THANKS for posting your detailed review
. I had a good laugh this morning when I read your comments about being "stressed" and everyone trying to make a perfect vacation
. Think we all can relate. That is exactly the reason why I vowed to do a lot of resort time this vaca and enjoy the beauty of the Poly!
Can't wait!
THANKS for posting such a detailed review! Love scallops and salmon also and hopefully we will have a GREAT meal at Kona too!Hi there! I have lurked on this page for awhile in planning my trip and just got back from 5 days at the Polynesian and thought I would share my experience since I enjoyed reading others' trip reports and advice!
My 4 year old son and I went with my parents and stayed in 1 room (standard gardne view). We were originally assigned to second floor Rarotonga but I had requested balcony or patio on the online check in. I asked for a switch before even going to the original room and we were assigned to Fiji 3310 instead, except we had to wait for it to be ready for about an hour. I was very glad we waited. This room faced the Luau Cove with a partial water view and beach view and we enjoyed using the balcony.
Room: You could definitely hear noise from Luau Cove- it wasn't enough to wake my son up but it was enough to be a little annoying. The beds were super comfy and overall it was spacious. The fold out bed was perfect for my son- it was way better than sharing the other double bed with him. The building had one tiny elevator but we never waited for it and it wasn't a problem. It was also a very short walk to everywhere, except the TTC. My biggest complaint is the A/C. There was no way to keep on the background fan even when I changed the fan setting. Even the bathroom fan shuts off if there is not movement. There is an overhead fan which has 3 settings- HURRICANE, barely on, and off. I wish there was some way to have a background fan on for noise.
Construction: Being in the Fiji building I hardly noticed the construction. However if you were in Rarotonga, Samoa, Hawaii, or Niue, or Tokelau on the construction side it would have been awful. Tons of equipment, and noisy, and from what I saw it is nowhere near being done. If you had a child who was trying to nap during the day, or if you were trying to sleep in, I think the construction would make it impossible. That being said, it did not affect MY trip any so I can't complain.
Food: I ate at Kona Cafe the first night. I had the scallops and they were great. My son had the kids Mickey check grilled fish meal and the fish of the day was salmon. It was wonderful. The wait for the food after ordering was fairly long. We also had a breakfast at Ohana with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. The food was quick, hot, and all pretty good. The orange passion fruit guava juice was my favorite and the characters were great. We ate at Captain Cooks twice and grabbed a pizza there once from the pool. The first time at Captain Cooks for dinner was quick and we had 2 Caesar salads, my son had snacks of oatmeal and applesauce and milk for his meal (hey whatever makes him happy), and I grabbed sushi from Kona Island. The second time was for breakfast and it was a zoo. We waited almost 20 minutes for food but at least it was good. The Tonga toast was great and the breakfast platter was enough to feed 2 adults at least. I thought the dinner/lunch menu had better selections that I expected for a QS resuarant at Disney.
The time I grabbed a pizza from the pool I wished I had gotten the pulled pork nachos instead- I was waiting for my pizza and kept seeing others getting the nachos and they looked amazing. My dad and I also sat at Trader Sam's terrace for a drink once. They have live music and the atmosphere is lovely. We both had margaritas which were pretty boozy. I wanted to order the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum just because I ilke puns but I resisted.
Pool: We loved the pool. I love how there was a beautiful view of the lake and Grand Floridian from the area. After reading here about hair in the pool and crowds I was scared but I had nno problem with either. The pool was clean and refreshing. The splash pad kids area was perfect for kids. I tried out the slide in the big pool and it was definitely fun. We spent a whole afternoon here and the activites were also cute for kids. We got there at about 12:30 and had no problem finding shady chairs.
Other: I sat on the beach for 2 different nights to watch the fireworks and it was super crowded. I am guessing a fair amount of people not staying there might eat at Ohana or the Luau and then hang out. There also wasn't any music piped in there (disappointing) or in the pool but supposedly the lobby area and Trader Sam's terrace have the music.
Also, we went to the Magic Kingdom Wednesday and Thursday (Spet 16 and 17) and the crowd level predictors predicted a 2-3/10 and the actual crowd level ended up being a 5-6! Many people we met were saying they come every year at this time and it is never as crowded. I also heard the Halloween parties were insanely mobbed. The crowds ended up not causing any major issues for us but it was disappointing to have longer lines than anticipated. But overall we had a blast, especially my son for his first ever Disney trip!
Let me know if you have any questions and I hope this review is helpful.
Glad you had a great time:Can't WAIT!Yummy!
I enjoyed reading your review, but had to comment on your stroller comments. We stay at a monorail resort specifically so we CAN take the double stroller on the monorail and don't HAVE to fold it up. I know we are far from the only people who do this. To us it is one of the biggest perks that make paying the monorail resort prices worth it. We try to not be too obnoxious with it and arrange it so it takes as little room as possible with their monstrosity that it can beI also just got back from 5 days at the Poly and wanted to provide my report. I had requested a balcony, and specifically requested Fiji (based on the input from members of this forum). Wound up getting a third floor Lava pool view in Samoa. Loved the view, so didn't try to change rooms. Watched the Halloween fireworks from the (very crowded) beach on Tuesday night. Music wasn't piped in, even though everything I had read said it was. I didn't really care, but there were several people who seemed really upset about it. I was more annoyed that the "roasted marshmallows" on the beach were just that -- marshmallows. I think I assumed there would be s'mores. Nope -- just marshmallows. They were yummy, and I loved smelling them every night, but I should have just gone out and bought some graham crackers and chocolate.
Started disliking our room when we went to bed the first night around 10pm. The pool doesn't close until 11pm. Pretty loud noise from the pool until it closed. And then I could hear the boats blowing their horns for at least another hour. Like the poster above said, there's no way to keep the fan running in your room for noise, so I downloaded a "fan noise" app on my iPad and set the timer to run until the pool closed. That helped a lot. Then, when I was woken up at 6am by the crying baby in the room next door, I fired it up again. Rinse and repeat...every.single.day we were there. Not sure what the walls are made out of, but I'm guessing paper. Could hear every person who walked down the hall, conversations in the room next door, conversations at the pool, etc. I never asked to switch rooms because my daughter loved seeing the pool from our balcony, and I figured the sound insulation issue would be the same regardless of building.
Had breakfast at Kona when we arrived, and it was good. I had Tonga Toast, after hearing about it on this board (and the waitress really talked it up). I thought it was ok, but I wouldn't order it again. Had dinner at Capt Cook's twice when we found ourselves at the pool around dinner time. I thought it was pretty good. Not crowded at all for dinner and not confusing. Never ate at Ohana. Had b'fast reservations, but canceled them because we wanted to sleep in. Overall, found the food throughout the parks to be disappointing. Worst meal we had was lunch at BOG. Didn't even finish it (Croque Monsieur and a kids' turkey sandwich). Best meal was lunch at the QSR in France (Epcot).
Overall, my daughter had a great time and I found myself mildly disappointed in the whole trip. I feel like the older parks are showing their age and parts just look out of date (Future World in Epcot). I cannot believe how many screaming parents and arguing couples I encountered. Same theme over and over -- mom/wife rolling eyes and snarking at dad/husband who wasn't doing something right. It's like everyone is so stressed trying to make it the "perfect vacation". Absurd numbers of strollers taking up room everywhere -- particularly on monorails where people would roll their double-wides on and take up a whole car. There really should be a rule about having to fold up strollers before boarding any transportation.
Not sure what the smell is in the lobby that people keep referencing. When we walked in after getting off the DME bus, the lobby smelled like a sewer, and my first thought was, "Those DISers are craaazy!". Then I found out it was actually a sewer smell from the construction. It went away after that day, but I never really noticed any other distinct smell.
Regarding location... the location CAN NOT be beat. We could walk to the TTC in 5 minutes or hop on the monorail to the MK or TTC or ferry to MK. Loved all the transportation options. I also liked the long houses. I thought I wouldn't like them -- that they would feel like a bunch of motels all bunched together. But it actually made it seem much smaller and cozier somehow. Less "hotel-like".
That's it for now. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
Aloha,
Stacey
(and we don't even have the biggest kind), and stand with it if the car is full so others can sit. But unless they institut a rule about folding strollers on the monorail we're going to leave it up, and it is a pain for us also. We sometimes have to wait an extra one to fit, but have been lucky enough that I don't ever recall another guest acting snarky or irritated with us and the stroller. We don't jam it in an over full car either, unless it will obviously fit. I do remember before we had 2 kids being a little less tolerant of the double strollers, but now I've walked in their shoes and I understand completely and joined the club! My DH won't stay at a non monorail resort without a car anymore, to avoid the busses with the stroller as much as possible. 
