Fabulous stay at Polynesian. . .

Tess

DIS Veteran - 1997
Joined
Aug 19, 1999
Messages
5,607
What a spectacular vacation we had and I must admit I'm not happy to be home. No really, I'd rather be back in Florida on vacation. I met only one fellow DISer on this trip, JC&Ali'sMom.

The Polynesian was in great shape. Everything was neat, tidy, and colorful. Trees are blooming and many of the flowering beds have been trimmed way down.

We were housed in room 1512 and it had a lovely view of Cindy's house. Our mousekeeping was wonderful and we had no complaints whatsoever in that area. For those concerned about the duck doo on the patio--yeah, it could be a nuisance, but was cleaned off daily and we didn't find it a problem. We watched the duck parade every morning--single file line parading in front of Hawaii's patios and toward Tokelau.

The lounge food was excellent as always although the menu is being tweaked just a bit as most of you know. There were a couple of evenings that the desserts were practically nonexistent (only 4 pieces of a chocolate concoction) by 9:15 p.m. and another evening when there were only a couple of beers remaining. I don't mean a couple in the trough, I mean only two beers left in the kitchen. The lounge staff were wonderful as always and it was really great to see them all again. For anyone who knows Ku'ulei, she has moved up front. She was there part-time last year, but is now up front on a regular basis. You may get lucky and see her delivering packages or otherwise wandering around Hawaii. If not, and you want to say hi, catch her in the GCH.

The front desk staff could not have been more hospitable and professional. They were always readily accessible, friendly, and warmly greeting the guests. Special thanks to David for his assistance. ;)

Hawaii was very busy when we were there and another guest indicated she had spoken to many folks who were upgraded to concierge. Lucky them! The resort in general was very busy.

The pools were exceedingly crowded. We like to swim after lunch and have done this each and every trip. This has never been a problem for us during our June visits and we've always been able to secure seats. July must be much busier than June because we had a terrible time getting chairs at the quiet pool. You could forget the volcano pool. One day we opted to sleep in and have a pool morning. It seemed the pool was constantly being closed due to lightning around 2-4 p.m. and so crowded it was not pleasant. We hoped to enjoy a little time in the sun without the interruption from closures and a more peaceful experience. My husband and I got up at 6:30 a.m. headed up to the lounge for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and to the pool by 7:30 a.m. By 10-11 a.m. it was packed. We were very surprised how early the pools filled and had not experienced this on any of our many prior visits. I have no idea if this is a July phenomenon or one that we will be seeing again next June. :eek:

I do have one tiny complaint with our stay. While strolling the grounds at the Polynesian, the resort loop was barely audible. There were a few spots where it could be heard clearly (e.g. in front of Hawaii, at the beach end of the volcano pool, and the marina), but the sound was nearly nonexistent at the quiet pool, the volcano pool, or around the walkways of the resort. For us, the loop is the ambiance to the pool time and the resort itself. Without it, the pool time was a bit lacking and the ambiance while strolling around the resort was diminished. I did ask about the sound quality and was told the music now starts later in the morning and ends in the evening because guests complained it was too loud and they couldn't sleep. I know you can't please everyone, but bring back the sound at the pools and adjust the volume so it can be heard! I know, not much of a complaint--more of a minor annoyance.

We used Captain Cook's a couple of times and did not find the new process a problem and it was fairly busy. It seemed a shorter wait for us this year than in years past.

I've uploaded my pictures and they can be found at: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2089473445 if anyone is interested.

For those heading out soon--I wish I could go back, but then again--someone has to start saving for next year! :woohoo: :banana:
 
Tess,

The link to your photos did not work when I tried it a moment ago.

I have read many complaints about the ventilation in the bathrooms. Did the fans work to get rid of the steam from showers?
 
Tess,

The link to your photos did not work when I tried it a moment ago.

I have read many complaints about the ventilation in the bathrooms. Did the fans work to get rid of the steam from showers?

I wonder if someone else was viewing--it works now????

The fan is motion sensitive and did not stay on long enough for the steam to be removed. I'm not a fan of the motion sensitive stuff. Thank goodness the AC doesn't operate that way anymore--at least it didn't in our room. We left the door ajar and that handled the steam fine. Of course, we tend to invade each other's space and the fan was activated most of the time.
 
Aww, such sweet pics, Tess! Makes me hope I'll have similar photos with my kiddos in 15 years. Looks like a great time was had by all-- thanks for sharing! :goodvibes
 

Tess, welcome back! So glad to hear another great report of all things Polynesian. And that your vacation was fabulous! I'm hoping mine will be the same very soon (although of a much shorter duration, unfortunately).
Enjoyed looking at all your pictures! Your family is quite photogenic and you all look like you were having a great time, lots of smiles.
I would like to upgrade to club level, but nothing is available AP rate for my dates. Were you feeling that the food and drink selections are more limited than previously? What exactly was offered during food presentations? Did they ever run out? Overall were you satisfied?
 
Thanks for that great review of the Polynesian. My family and I are staying there this December for the 1st time, so it's great to read when others have a fantastic stay there.
 
As a Poly newbie I wanted to thank you for the great photos. Looks like you guys had a great time!:woohoo:
 
Thank you for sharing your vacation pictures!

Glad to hear you had such a fabulous time....and glad to see your teenagers enjoying WDW as much as my little ones!! :goodvibes Your raising them right!!


:)
 
Tess,
Just wanted to drop you a note letting you know how much I have genuinely enjoyed your contributions to this board. It's been a pleasure watching your children grow up (in photos) at the Polynesian/Disney. I always look forward to your annual update to the "Polynesian Pout". Your family seems to genuinely enjoy your time spent with each other on your vacations and really embodies the spirit of 'Ohana. Don't mean to get too corny here but just to let you know I think it's a pretty damn cool sight to see! Aloha!
 
Welcome back, Tess! :sunny:

I'm glad you had a great vacation and that the Polynesian resort was such a large part of it. :)

Thanks so much for sharing your pictures, your family looks like a lot of fun! :) And I LOVE to see your new Polynesian Pout picture every year! :3dglasses
 
I will be a Poly 1st timer in October. I am so glad to hear that you had a wonderful trip. :yay:

I too was looking forward to the Hawaiian sounds 24/7.
 
It is great that you had such a wonderful, special time with your beautiful family at the Poly. It is a beautiful and magical resort. And you look so very happy together. Thank you so much for sharing you very entertaining pictures with all of us here.

:wave2:
 
Love the pictures. You have a beautiful family and now I'm even more excited about our October stay at the Poly.

Question...where is the mickey ear statue where you take your annual photo? I'd love to take a pic of my 3 kids there. Thanks so much.

Trish:thumbsup2
 
Were you feeling that the food and drink selections are more limited than previously? What exactly was offered during food presentations? Did they ever run out? Overall were you satisfied?

The food offerings were nearly the same as the menus previously listed in, I believe, this thread and other places around the internet, i.e., sushi, beef and chicken skewers, potstickers, chili/nachos/cheese sauce, Asian wraps, Asian slaw, Asian noodle bowl fixings, pulled pork sandwiches, Asian type salad, seafood chowder, etc. The menu changed effective 7/20/07, but was merely tweaked by moving items to make the menu more in line with the theme for the evening. The quantity of items offered appeared to be the same as last June. The cordial, beer and wine offerings were the same as well.

We were satisfied with the offerings and the quality was terrific. There were only two occasions when the supply did not meet demand and that was at the dessert service. The staff seemed a bit surprised at how quickly the desserts were consumed on those two evenings. Still, we were able to have a taste of at least one of the offerings. On all other occasions the food was in good supply when we visited the lounge. The dessert offering seemed to be more diverse and plentiful than last year.

I believe most people would be more than happy with the offerings in the lounge. I hope your vacation is as wonderful as ours regardless of whether you take the club level plunge or not!
 
Tess,
Just wanted to drop you a note letting you know how much I have genuinely enjoyed your contributions to this board. It's been a pleasure watching your children grow up (in photos) at the Polynesian/Disney. I always look forward to your annual update to the "Polynesian Pout". Your family seems to genuinely enjoy your time spent with each other on your vacations and really embodies the spirit of 'Ohana. Don't mean to get too corny here but just to let you know I think it's a pretty damn cool sight to see! Aloha!

I don't find your comments "corny" in the least. We know we are blessed to have a family that still likes to play together despite the ages of our children. You're never too old to feel like a kid again! We have been amazed at how our kids want to continue to vacation together and they truly do look forward to returning each year as much as we do. I agree with you, it is way cool to have your kids enjoy your company when so many their ages are too cynical to "get" the whole Disney spirit!

To everyone else who posted appreciative responses, you are more than welcome--we love to spread the 'ohana feeling and our love of the resort and Disney! We wish you magical moments on your next visit!
 
Love the pictures. You have a beautiful family and now I'm even more excited about our October stay at the Poly.

Question...where is the mickey ear statue where you take your annual photo? I'd love to take a pic of my 3 kids there. Thanks so much.

Trish:thumbsup2

Trish,

That Mickey statue is located behind the Contemporary. We began the picture tradition when our kids were very small. We happened upon it while visiting the buffet restaurant that was in the Contemporary prior to Chef Mickey's. It is really cool and at night it has lighting and also makes for a nice shot. A nontraditional photo is nice along with the usual castle shots.
 
Tess,
Great pictures. I love reading trip reports where the folks have a great time, so many of them are full of complaints. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. Did you guys stay a day at the YC, I thought I saw a pix where you guys were leaving? I've never stayed at the Poly. My family and I are trying to stay at every resort at the world and the poly is up next. LOL
 
Tess,
Great pictures. I love reading trip reports where the folks have a great time, so many of them are full of complaints. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. Did you guys stay a day at the YC, I thought I saw a pix where you guys were leaving? I've never stayed at the Poly. My family and I are trying to stay at every resort at the world and the poly is up next. LOL

We spent our first evening at YC and I was avoiding discussing it. Our stay there was the one glitch, from a WDW perspective--we had glitches of our own making :)--that we encountered. We had major issues with our room keys and were unable to drop and run as we had planned. The front desk was not very efficient and it took well over an hour to obtain operable keys for our room. It was not an engineering issue, i.e., broken lock; rather an inability of the front desk staff to properly encode the keys for the room. All they had to do was make it work in the door--there were no passes on it or anything else. It was quite frustrating since the hike to the front was a long and winding road. We were further frustrated when the second set of keys were still inoperable. The front desk blamed engineering and engineering was blaming the front desk--you get the picture--and we were caught in the middle.

We had requested, and I realize it was only a request, a room with a daybed and we were unable to be accommodated in that regard. That wasn't a major issue for us, but the inability to head out to the parks was a problem. We were excited to be back at WDW and were chomping at the bit to get moving. The room itself was fine, a very long haul to the front though. We had a pool (quiet) view and it would have been adequate but for the key snafu.

Once the key issue was resolved we were able to spend an hour or so at EPCOT and the kids had a half an hour or so in Stormalong Bay.

One thing of note, however, was you are no longer able to get carry-out from ESPN. This foiled another plan as we wanted to get take out to enjoy poolside while the kids swam. After trekking over to ESPN we were told they were no longer allowed to do "carry-out" because it backed up the kitchen for the guests already seated and waiting. I certainly understand this, especially at busy sports seasons, but this was a really quiet evening. Since we couldn't do the carry out thing, we had to go back to YC, round up the kids, and physically present ourselves at ESPN for dinner--which as you might guess was very late. ESPN did say that we "might" be able to request their food through room service at the YC. That didn't make much sense to me because wouldn't that still be considered carry-out? Being rather cynical, we figured it was another way for Disney to assure use of the room service and related gratuities.

Anyway, suffice it to say we were very happy to head to the Polynesian. :woohoo:
 
Loved the pictures!!! Makes me more excited for our trip in Sept. I'll have to find that Mickey Statue at the Contemporary. Thanks again!
 


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