Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[johnsonet]

The last date reported to Tikiman's site seems to have been July 7. Also, a man who obviously works there posted:
"U have nothing to fear. We'll have it all worked out soon. Just some post rehab growing pains."

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Wait.... WHAT? That's insane! Does any one resort do this? I have NEVER heard of anything like this.

Plumbing requires maintenance. There is no avoiding this.

 

[goofynut41]

It is a pain but at least you know from your research that it's a possibility.

Looks as though the hours (when they do it) are 11am-3pm, when they've determined the majority of people are out of their rooms.
I'm going in a few weeks and really hope to be able to shower and flush when I want/need to. Good luck!

That's when I come in from the parks to rest.. when it gets hot... AND I WANT A SHOWER!!!!!!

 

[johnsonet]

That's when I come in from the parks to rest.. when it gets hot... AND I WANT A SHOWER!!!!!!

hopefully these outages won't affect your trip (or mine).

 

[SteveBlues]

Thanks to everyone who posts here. Definitely getting excited for my first Poly trip in November!

 

[Tikiman]

Why do they do this?

They are replacing the boilers around the property.

 

[Scott MC]

The last date reported to Tikiman's site seems to have been July 7. Also, a man who obviously works there posted:
"U have nothing to fear. We'll have it all worked out soon. Just some post rehab growing pains."

That's when I come in from the parks to rest.. when it gets hot... AND I WANT A SHOWER!!!!!!

They are replacing the boilers around the property.

Thank you for this. The poster who originally noted this wrote as post that read as if to say, "For no particular reason, the POLY randomly gives its guests the middle finger by turning off power and water during the hottest time of the day to save money, and has always done so." I was wondering why no one had ever brought this up before!

Plumbing requires maintenance. There is no avoiding this.

Certainly not, but I'm sure you can be understanding and compassionate towards those who are paying $400+/night being concerned that simple, basic amenities that you can get at the cheapest motel on Earth may not be available to them during (arguably) the most important time of the day to them. Any Disney guidebook you read, and every 4th post here advises the mid-afternoon return to the resort, and for 90% of people, that involves a nice, cool nap in the room, or a nice, cool rinse off shower, and being denied that, would really tick many guests (me included!) off. And while this is unavoidable, much like painting, recarpeting, etc., it's a direct inconvenience to guests, that might be better served in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, when the vast majority of guests are off to the parks.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you for this. The poster who originally noted this wrote as post that read as if to say, "For no particular reason, the POLY randomly gives its guests the middle finger by turning off power and water during the hottest time of the day to save money, and has always done so." I was wondering why no one had ever brought this up before!


Certainly not, but I'm sure you can be understanding and compassionate towards those who are paying $400+/night being concerned that simple, basic amenities that you can get at the cheapest motel on Earth may not be available to them during (arguably) the most important time of the day to them. Any Disney guidebook you read, and every 4th post here advises the mid-afternoon return to the resort, and for 90% of people, that involves a nice, cool nap in the room, or a nice, cool rinse off shower, and being denied that, would really tick many guests (me included!) off. And while this is unavoidable, much like painting, recarpeting, etc., it's a direct inconvenience to guests, that might be better served in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, when the vast majority of guests are off to the parks.

On the other hand, with MagicBands, Disney has an exact record of when people are entering rooms, and seem to have determined this time period to be the least disruptive.

 

[Scott MC]

On the other hand, with MagicBands, Disney has an exact record of when people are entering rooms, and seem to have determined this time period to be the least disruptive.

I think that it's been widely discussed here that Disney is not using the MBs as effectively as they could/should. You may be right, but I still think that perhaps many guests would be inconvenienced/upset, and that this would be a bad idea, though I fully understand the idea of routine maintenance. I hope you can at least understand this frustration, and I sincerely hope your next vacation goes magically and you aren't inconvenienced in any way!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think that it's been widely discussed here that Disney is not using the MBs as effectively as they could/should. You may be right, but I still think that perhaps many guests would be inconvenienced/upset, and that this would be a bad idea, though I fully understand the idea of routine maintenance. I hope you can at least understand this frustration, and I sincerely hope your next vacation goes magically and you aren't inconvenienced in any way!

I expect inconvenience on my vacations, because my daughter is along and she's... a handful. (I'm counting on her to eventually change the world.)

I think it's just challenging, because a lot of electrical and plumbing type work needs to be done in daylight (otherwise, you need floodlights at night, which people don't like, either), and early in the day if you cut water people will be even more upset, and late in the day you have more people back on property I'd guess.

It's a little no-win. You don't do the work, bad things happen. You do the work, people there during the work may not agree with schedule. You try to block out rooms in an entire longhouse for several days to do the work, you probably need a good 6 months+ lead time.

 

[johnsonet]

Thank you for this. The poster who originally noted this wrote as post that read as if to say, "For no particular reason, the POLY randomly gives its guests the middle finger by turning off power and water during the hottest time of the day to save money, and has always done so." I was wondering why no one had ever brought this up before!

Now THAT would be a problem

 

[johnsonet]

Thanks to everyone who posts here. Definitely getting excited for my first Poly trip in November!

You are in for a real treat!
Have you stayed at other Disney resorts?

 

[Tikiman]

Thank you for this. The poster who originally noted this wrote as post that read as if to say, "For no particular reason, the POLY randomly gives its guests the middle finger by turning off power and water during the hottest time of the day to save money, and has always done so." I was wondering why no one had ever brought this up before!

That is just a response from someone who does not understand what goes on behind the scenes at the resort. I am lucky enough to see things like schedules and plans for things. I just can't always share all that information. I do think they maybe could have blocked out the rooms for the buildings that had the water shut off because the boiler replacement has been known about since January 2015 but then maybe the occupancy is too high to take that many rooms out or circulation for a few days. Maybe they considered a few hours of no water or no hot water after notifying guests was better than trying to block out rooms. They have all the details to decide this but I have never heard of them doing things like that to inconvenience a guest just to save money.

As far as the power outages, that was because of a transformer failure that was not expected and they needed to do repairs that were not planned.

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

I don't take mid-afternoon showers, but I feel for those who do. I would never expect to not have hot water!

The maintenance does have to be done, and it probably is the "slowest" time in terms of guests looking for the water to be running. I will still agree that it sucks.

 

[tarak]

I'm sorry, but shutting off the electricity and/or water to occupied hotel rooms, short of an emergency, is asinine.

 

[MrsBB]

Boats will be running and your best option as the boat will put you close to the restaurant. If you bus or drive there, you'll need to use FW's internal bus system once there.

Thank you so much for your reply. Its good to know boat is the way to go.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm sorry, but shutting off the electricity and/or water to occupied hotel rooms, short of an emergency, is asinine.

They had a transformer fail. They didn't turn off the power by choice in that instance, and to provide stable power in the future does require some work that must be done with the live juice off.

You can't run areas of the resort off generators long term.

 

[MrsBB]

We stayed in May and I hope this helps with our experience:

1) The DVC studio was wonderful. Nice furnishings and the bathrooms were great for a young family of 5. The location of Tokelau was amazing. Easy access to everything.

2) I can't help with this one as we did not travel to FW during our stay.

3) We used our last day for Disney Springs with a 6:30 flight out of Orlando. Plenty of time, right? Well, the bus service was something that left a little to be desired. We ended up taking a cab to DS due to the bus being delayed and was not going to arrive via the posted sign for over 45 minutes. So the cab to DS was simple and quick. On the return trip, waited about 45 minutes for a bus to Poly from DS. At this point we were cutting it pretty close to our Magical Express time but we thought we were ok. But then, the bus decided to stop at Typhoon Lagoon. Waited at the bus area for about 5 minutes (nobody on or off) then off to the Poly. Unfortunately, our Magical Express pulled away as we were getting our luggage from the bell station. Took a cab to the airport and off we went.

If I would have one recommendation for improving the Poly experience, it would have been the buses to DS, AK and Disney Studios. However, we were there during the low season (May) so i believe the buses were scaled back accordingly.

Have a great trip.

Hi there!

Thank you for such a detailed response, you've really reassured me! Especially regarding DVC rooms, I've done a Touring Plans request and a DVC request for Tokelau so fingers crossed. However, I appreciate it is the most requested so trying to not pin my hopes on it. The double bathrooms sound like a good option, even for just myself and DH - means I can get ready without the usual grumblings I'm taking too long, which did feature at the BC

This is so good to know about Disney Springs, may be better off to catch an Uber - we love DS and whilst I'm not too bothered by the wait, my DH would have ants in his pants at a 45 minute wait! I didn't think the bus would be that scaled back in May. We visit in September which I figured would be a regular time of year, but your experience helps with planning for sure. 45 mins bus waiting on vacay is not relaxing at all.

 

[MrsBB]

We stayed in a standard room last August, I didn't find it tired. I think they were refurbed 2 yrs ago? The DVC more recent.

We had a morning (not early) ADR at Trails End and took the monorail to MK, then boat to FW. After breakfast we explored the nearby resort shop, horse barns (they were getting Cinderellas carriage ready) and pony pens.
Then we walked along the trail (now closed) to WL. The paved path may still be open. Not sure. But you can take the boat from FW to WL.
Once we finished walking around WL we took the boat to CR for more exploration, then hopped on the monorail back to Poly.

The bus to Disney Springs seems to be universally bad no matter what resort your at. Don't do it your leaving day!!!
We usually have a 3:30 or 4:00 DME pick up, so we tend to not go far and just go to MK when we're staying in the MK area.

The MK resorts do share bus service to the parks- DHS & AK. When we were at GF, we shared with either WL or CR, depending on route.

Thank you!!

Great to know about the rooms. Having seen the DVC decor I think it looks really good and its nice to know they will live up to this. I think you do get some wear and tear at all resorts given the amount of traffic they see.

We plan on doing something similar - I would love to see the horse barns and then explore on to WL - I hadn't realised about the path being closed so that's good to know. I want to explore as we plan on staying there for Christmas 2017. I can't wait to see FW and WL. I'm guessing I will have to get a monorail schedule on check in so that I can see if monorail closures will effect us?

I had planned DS for leaving day but given the advice here I think I'm having a revision and visit to MK might be better unless we use an Uber. I think its good to know what to expect as at least it guides expectation.

 

[MrsBB]

The paved path is still open.

Awesome, I like a good walk.