Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[CynBeth]

We will be there in 19 days!!! We should be in Hawaii with a LV and requested a balcony.

 

[MouseMum]

If you are really leaning towards Samoa, then definitely go for that, even though it's the most requested and you may not get it. Sometimes great things don't happen unless you take a chance! Maybe put on the fax that you send a few days before that it will be your 25th anniversary and that Samoa quiet pool side would make it even more magical. If I were filling reservations and read that, I'd give it to you for sure!

I am thinking the same. Who's not enamoured by a love story?

 

[mickeynut1]

Magic Bands for our Poly trip arrived today! 27 days until we arrive!

Starting to rethink our longhouse choice for next August. I know it's still many months away, but I like getting my ducks as much in a row as I can, as early as I can. You can call me many things, but you can't call me a procrastinator!

Last August we stayed in a studio, but this time we're doing a regular standard room. We were initially thinking that to avoid possible pool construction, we'd safely choose Fiji, marina side. But now, with the likelihood that the pool will be finished, Samoa is starting to interest me. Proximity to GCH, both pools, transportation, all making it an attractive choice. Plus, I think it'd be nice to have a room overlooking the quiet pool. Can you even get a bad view at Samoa? (I'm ONLY thinking Samoa if the pool is up and running again.)

From what I have read though, Samoa is the most popular longhouse, so making this my first choice means we're less likely to get it over another.

DH and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary during our vacation , so a nice balcony view would be even more important this time around. Not sure of what to do. Be safe or take a chance?

What would YOU do?

We loved Samoa! We found it so convenient as it's just steps from the GCH, the pool, beach, and Captain Cooks. Sometimes requests get overlooked, so if you aren't assigned a room in Samoa, you can always ask if a different room is available. It's not guaranteed your room/location can be changed, but they will do everything they can to accommodate you .

GOOD NEWS on our recent Poly trip was that the hot tub was working the entire time. Sorry to say that BAD NEWS was that there were some young kids who's parents were "no where" to be found. SO DANGEROUS imo, not to mention that children cannot regulate their body temperatures, can be extremely unhealthy, and DANGEROUS! Could not believe that we witnessed a child , with his parents right there, dunking his head underwater with all of those chemicals, YUK. Guess we were "spoiled" by Aulani's "adult only" hot tub, which was monitored very nicely by lifeguards. Wish that a lifeguard could monitor the beautiful hot tub somehow.

Glad the hot tub was working during your trip . I agree, not a good thing for kids to be going under water in the hot tub .

If you are really leaning towards Samoa, then definitely go for that, even though it's the most requested and you may not get it. Sometimes great things don't happen unless you take a chance! Maybe put on the fax that you send a few days before that it will be your 25th anniversary and that Samoa quiet pool side would make it even more magical. If I were filling reservations and read that, I'd give it to you for sure!

We will be there in 19 days!!! We should be in Hawaii with a LV and requested a balcony.

I am thinking the same. Who's not enamoured by a love story?

I agree .

 

[plainoldt]

I have to agree with the kids in the hot tub. I have kids (age 11) who will pop on from time to time but there are A LOT of young kids, and young meaning 6 and 7. There are just a lot of kids without adults in there and yeah, even swimming in the hot tub, underwater

I try not to judge because to each their own, but this is just plain dangerous.

 

[cleopenn]

GOOD NEWS on our recent Poly trip was that the hot tub was working the entire time. Sorry to say that BAD NEWS was that there were some young kids who's parents were "no where" to be found. SO DANGEROUS imo, not to mention that children cannot regulate their body temperatures, can be extremely unhealthy, and DANGEROUS! Could not believe that we witnessed a child , with his parents right there, dunking his head underwater with all of those chemicals, YUK. Guess we were "spoiled" by Aulani's "adult only" hot tub, which was monitored very nicely by lifeguards. Wish that a lifeguard could monitor the beautiful hot tub somehow.

I agree, that is not good at all, for a number of reasons.

 

[ThistleMae]

GOOD NEWS on our recent Poly trip was that the hot tub was working the entire time. Sorry to say that BAD NEWS was that there were some young kids who's parents were "no where" to be found. SO DANGEROUS imo, not to mention that children cannot regulate their body temperatures, can be extremely unhealthy, and DANGEROUS! Could not believe that we witnessed a child , with his parents right there, dunking his head underwater with all of those chemicals, YUK. Guess we were "spoiled" by Aulani's "adult only" hot tub, which was monitored very nicely by lifeguards. Wish that a lifeguard could monitor the beautiful hot tub somehow.

Glad to hear the hot tub is functioning! Yeah...I expected kids in there with no parents. I've been to many, many resorts where this is the case, even though it is posted that you have to be over a certain age to use the hot tub. I'm just glad I'll get to use it.

 

[ThistleMae]

I have requested Samoa, noise and all. I just love overlooking a pool! I like to people watch and I have a fan to drown out nighttime noise, if needed. I have done online check-in but will call three days before to give my request via telephone. I've been told this is the best thing to do. Fingers Crossed!

 

[MouseMum]

I have requested Samoa, noise and all. I just love overlooking a pool! I like to people watch and I have a fan to drown out nighttime noise, if needed. I have done online check-in but will call three days before to give my request via telephone. I've been told this is the best thing to do. Fingers Crossed!

If it's like the recommendations for optimal time to fax the room assigner, I'd try 4 days

 

[TpaineMA]

Long time Disney goer first time staying at the Poly. Scheduled to arrive 3/18 and I am hearing the quiet pool will not likely be done by then. We have a friends and family discount so we are standard room. What longhouse do you recommend we request? And do you think the construction will be awful by then? We are planning on a lot of resort time. Thanks!

 

[Tinkerbell2B]

I'm so excited! I will be staying at the Poly for the first time in May!! I will have deluxe studio villa with a lake view! I've wanted to stay there since I was a little girl a long time ago!! A wonderful DVC member is making it happen for me! I know it's going to be amazing and worth the wait!

 

[wilkeliza]

3 days until we head to WDW and our Poly stay!'

 

[MrsHull]

Our magic bands arrived today for our Nov 28- Dec 5 stay! I could not be more excited!

 

[KSR0330]

Visiting Poly for the first time in Aug 2016! My initial plan was to take a late flight on our last day and spend time at MK. I read a post saying that going to MK on the last day made leaving the "magic" more difficult, and now they go to DS on the last day. This actually makes sense to me, since last trip we went to Epcot on the final day, and it's was so hard leaving!
The reason I picked MK is because it's an easy commute from the Poly (which will stress my DH out less when having to catch a flight). How is the commute to/from DS from the Poly? Is it pretty consistent or should we allow for a lot of extra time?

 

[MouseMum]

Long time Disney goer first time staying at the Poly. Scheduled to arrive 3/18 and I am hearing the quiet pool will not likely be done by then. We have a friends and family discount so we are standard room. What longhouse do you recommend we request? And do you think the construction will be awful by then? We are planning on a lot of resort time. Thanks!

We stayed in a studio in Moorea with a F&F discount. Loved the location!

 

[rcraw45425]

I'm baaaaaaaaaccckkkk! Couldn't stay away Both girls are in college and their Spring Break is March 12-20. Older one has plans for a cruise with friends but the younger one asked if she and I could make another quick trip. I had booked Beach Club as nothing was showing at the Polynesian except Lagoon view Club level, even discounted it's more than I care to spend ($750 a night) . My awesome TA found me a standard room that's actually couple of $$ less than my Beach Club one so I'm happy. Much better transportation options during crazy times and also better dining options (can we say 'Ohana from room service?)

 

[Jon84]

6 Months today and we'll be Checking in at the Poly for the first time

Very excited!

Anyone know what the Online Check In options are?

We are Standard, but really want a room with a Balcony.

TIA!

 

[mickeynut1]

I have requested Samoa, noise and all. I just love overlooking a pool! I like to people watch and I have a fan to drown out nighttime noise, if needed. I have done online check-in but will call three days before to give my request via telephone. I've been told this is the best thing to do. Fingers Crossed!

Good luck, I hope your request is met .

Long time Disney goer first time staying at the Poly. Scheduled to arrive 3/18 and I am hearing the quiet pool will not likely be done by then. We have a friends and family discount so we are standard room. What longhouse do you recommend we request? And do you think the construction will be awful by then? We are planning on a lot of resort time. Thanks!

I have seen a lot of recommendations for Fiji as the location seems quiet and from pics others have posted, the room views look nice and peaceful .

I'm so excited! I will be staying at the Poly for the first time in May!! I will have deluxe studio villa with a lake view! I've wanted to stay there since I was a little girl a long time ago!! A wonderful DVC member is making it happen for me! I know it's going to be amazing and worth the wait!

Congrats on your first upcoming Poly stay! The Poly is amazing, you're going to love it .

3 days until we head to WDW and our Poly stay!'

Our magic bands arrived today for our Nov 28- Dec 5 stay! I could not be more excited!

You will be checking into the Poly before you know it!

Visiting Poly for the first time in Aug 2016! My initial plan was to take a late flight on our last day and spend time at MK. I read a post saying that going to MK on the last day made leaving the "magic" more difficult, and now they go to DS on the last day. This actually makes sense to me, since last trip we went to Epcot on the final day, and it's was so hard leaving!
The reason I picked MK is because it's an easy commute from the Poly (which will stress my DH out less when having to catch a flight). How is the commute to/from DS from the Poly? Is it pretty consistent or should we allow for a lot of extra time?

It's hard to tell how the buses will be, so I would allow for a little extra time .

I'm baaaaaaaaaccckkkk! Couldn't stay away Both girls are in college and their Spring Break is March 12-20. Older one has plans for a cruise with friends but the younger one asked if she and I could make another quick trip. I had booked Beach Club as nothing was showing at the Polynesian except Lagoon view Club level, even discounted it's more than I care to spend ($750 a night) . My awesome TA found me a standard room that's actually couple of $$ less than my Beach Club one so I'm happy. Much better transportation options during crazy times and also better dining options (can we say 'Ohana from room service?)

Congrats on booking another Poly trip .

6 Months today and we'll be Checking in at the Poly for the first time

Very excited!

Anyone know what the Online Check In options are?

We are Standard, but really want a room with a Balcony.

TIA!

You will be arriving at the Poly before you know it! We've never done OCI so I can't say for sure what the options are, but I think it gives a list of the longhouses to choose from, as well as maybe high/low floor, balcony, etc. Hopefully others who have done OCI will be able to give more specifics .

 

[Cluelyss]

Visiting Poly for the first time in Aug 2016! My initial plan was to take a late flight on our last day and spend time at MK. I read a post saying that going to MK on the last day made leaving the "magic" more difficult, and now they go to DS on the last day. This actually makes sense to me, since last trip we went to Epcot on the final day, and it's was so hard leaving!
The reason I picked MK is because it's an easy commute from the Poly (which will stress my DH out less when having to catch a flight). How is the commute to/from DS from the Poly? Is it pretty consistent or should we allow for a lot of extra time?

We did AK once on our check out day, and were so stressed about the bus issue (staying at Poly) that we always do MK now. Personally, I like ending my trip on that magical note, saying goodbye to the castle one last time

 

[PAdislover]

Hi all,
Just returned home 2 days ago from 8 nights at the Poly. I had never been there before this stay. We are a fam of 4, me, DH, DS9 and DD5 and were booked in a standard garden view from on the "magical deal" . This is my take on things:
Room/Longhouse: We did online check in and our 2 requests were Samoa and ground floor. I also had TP fax in a room request and requested room 1606 which is smack in the middle of the ground floor rooms in Samoa. I made a message on my fax requests saying we would be happy with any ground floor room on property facing away from east pool construction but our first preference was Samoa. We landed at 11am and I didn't get any room text but when we got to the GCH at 12:45, our room was ready and we got 1602, just 4 doors down from the exact room I requested so I was very happy! We loved being so close to everything. You are just steps away from the GCH, the pool and the boat dock. It's loud mid day but we really only slept from 10 or 11pm-8am or 9am every day and it was perfectly quiet enough at those times. Our room was a bit worn looking but overall fine and what I expected. I had to turn the fridge up b/c it wasn't very cold. When I pulled it out, yikes, like 5 years of dust was back there, but I just shoved it back in and tried to pretend I didn't see that. Our tub also didn't train well. Every time I took a shower I was standing in 6 inches of water. I should have called right away about it b/c when I finally did call after like 4 nights of our trip, they came and fixed it right away. Also, my kids can not sleep together, both are too restless, so I am super glad that my DD loved the little couch bed. Housekeeping came and put a bed rail on it for us and that was her special little spot for the whole week.
Transportation: We always used the boat to go back and forth to MK. it was so peaceful and they seemed to operate 2 at a time so you never had to wait long. the route for those of you who don't know is: GF, Poly, MK. so on the way to MK it's direct from poly to MK and on the way back it stops at GF then poly. We used the monorail to get to GF for dinner and to do a monorail shopping crawl once. We walked to the TTC twice to get to EP monorail and that was a quick and peaceful walk. We used uber twice. It picks up in front of the GCH, once to go to AK and the other TL. The driver who took us to TL was terrible, didn't speak much English, didn't know where to pick us up, so that was weird. We used buses to come home from AK, and TL. Busses were pretty prompt and never very full for us. Poly is the first drop off and pick up and then it goes to GF. We used the bus to get to and from HS. they have video monitors at the bus stop with the times that the bus is coming. Again, we only used this to get to HS but I found it helpful to know when the bus was coming. Transportation overall was great!
Pool: pool gates were always locked. my band worked about 75% of the time to open them. I don't know why it didn't work sometimes. it was kind of glitchy. But there was always someone going in or out that let me in......which shows were the limit of the locked gates lies. even though the gates are locked, no one monitors them. You can open the gate with your band and let in who ever you want. the pool was never really crowded so it didn't matter to us. I did see obvious visitors who were reading the signs and discussing how the pool is for resort guests only so maybe the sign keeps some people out. My kids LOVED the splash area. Like others have said, they only enforce the 48" rule to the very small baby slide on the structure so my DS9 could play on it as much as he wanted. The big pool was never super crowded either and my kids must have went down the big slide 50 times that week. We always found a chair. there are chairs by the splash pad with shade and we almost always got one of those. we got a true table once over the course of the week. The hot tub was working. my husband and I had it completely to ourselves for about 5 glorious minutes one day and then it remained kid free for about another 10 min. the hot tub was almost always overcrowded to the point of not wanting to go in or it had tons of kids in it. my kids like to warm up their feet too but I think overall they should make it adults only. I personally see no reason for little kids to be in a hot tub but whatevs, no biggie and didn't impact my trip at all.
Dining: Order the Ohana feast as room service! just do it! we originally had plans to go to 1900 PF for our arrival night dinner but I canceled and figured it would be more relaxing to stay in the room. so glad I did! My DH and I split the service for 1 ($40). This worked for us b/c I was happy to eat the salad, bread, noodles, veggies chicken wings and some of the regular chicken. He ate most of the meat. They gave us like 4 shrimp, 2 steak pieces, and about 5 pieces of chicken. so if you have 2 big meat eaters, it probably wouldn't be enough to share 1 meal. it also came with white sticky rice and POG juice. overall, delicious! my kids wanted mac n chz which isn't on the room service menu but I asked and they could make it for room service. took about an hour to get our food.
We also did breakfast and dinner at Ohana. Breakfast was an 8:35am res and we were seated within 5 min. food came out quick, server was a little rushed, characters took awhile to come over but once they started coming, they all came one after the other. In total we were in and out in about 60 min from the time we checked in. Dinner was amazing. 6:30 res and seated within 15min. service and food excellent. I asked the waitress about other food for my kids and she brought out mac n chz, chicken tenders and fries. chef came out to discuss DD's peanut allergy and we just kept the peanut sauce off the table. we had a table overlooking the pool for both meals. overall excellent.
We had captain cooks twice for lunch and once for breakfast. it was always busy and chaotic. I just wouldn't plan on eating there much b/c of this atmosphere.The food was good though. I had the pulled pork nachos, aloha pork sandwich, both excellent and DH had the reuben once (ok) and the bacon cheeseburger once (good). The kids egg white scramble is a great choice for an adult breakfast. It's basically a ham, egg white and cheese omelette, comes with fruit and a little cup of plain yogurt.
Bars: we spent so much money on drinks! they are all so yummy! we spent a lot of time at the pool bar. The pago pago painkiller was my favorite. We visited Tambu once so I could get my LapuLapu which was delish. We went in Trader Sams once but there was nowhere to sit so we left. It's cute and very small. We sat out on the trader sam's terrace once. they had a singer out there which was nice and we could see the electrical water pageant from our table. I had the shrunken zombie head and my DH had the nautilus (no, we didn't keep the glass on that one). both were just ok. mine was super sour. probably wouldn't order either again.
Recreation: we rented 2 searaycers one day. this was so fun! we had them out for about 40 min and it was $68 total. super fun! my DH, a friend and DS also did a 4 hr fishing trip one morning which was amazing. they caught like 40 fish in 4 hours. We did the campfire one night which the kids liked too.
Kids club/Lilo's playhouse: my kids went once for about 4 hours in the evening. There were 7 total kids in the club that night. They LOVED it! wanted to go back but at $30per hour for 2 kids, it wasn't going to happen. The staff was great. They had a lot of toys and activities to keep them busy.

 

[PAdislover]

And since my last post wasn't long enough I have a few more things!
construction: we looked at the east pool construction every day b/c we saw it when coming in and out of Samoa. It was loud during the day but it didn't bother us in the room. they are doing something to the other side of samoa too so that whole side facing construction was closed. I was so worried about construction but it didn't bother us at all. if you want complete peace it might not be the spot for you but it didn't bother us at all
crowds: the poly isn't just a hotel but a tourist attraction in and of itself. there are always people there to eat, look around, watch fireworks, etc. just a very busy place overall.
parking: we didn't have a car but our friends who came to see us 3x used the parking lot. one night when they left after dinner, they noted the lot was very full and people were hovering for spots. my friend came back 9 hours later for the fishing trip at 6:30am and the lot was a ghost town. obviously all guests weren't gone at 6:30am so that shows that a lot of the parking lot is used by non resort guests.
CM's: most were very friendly and we got constant Aloha's. When we got off DME we were greeted with lei's and escorted to check in which was great.

Overall, we loved the resort and highly recommend it! Let me know if you have any questions I could answer!