First DVC stay, first successful waitlist! Tell me about the Poly!

[Pluto80]

I’m so excited! We purposefully split our home resort stay at OKW so we could waitlist for the Poly, and it came through. This is our first ever DVC stay, so our first experience with a waitlist, and we’re so pleased we got it. When we did the tour, we thought the Poly room looked really lovely.

So, what do I need to know? Never stayed there before, so any tips would be welcome

 

[Frederic Civish]

Most rooms in Polynesian are wonderful. Some of them are a bit closer to the main Lodge, or to the Transportation Center, or have a better view in the standard view category.

You might consider asking for a room on the Upper Floor, since it will often give you a bit nicer View.

If you have a standard View room and if you want to be closer to the pool, the main building, and the main part of the resort then ask for a room in Tokelau.

If you want to be closer to the transportation center you might ask for a room in Moorea. Pago Pago is also close to the transportation center, however some of the standard view rooms in Pago Pago just look out over the parking lot.

If you have a lake view room then you will probably be in Moorea on the north side of the building.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

Haven’t stayed in a Poly DVC room but have stayed standard. The DVC buildings are a little further from the GCH but like PP said you should look at a map and see what location would work best for you, as in do you want to be closer to the GCH so you can walk out quickly and get a coffee or whatever? We were in Rarotonga standard which was right next to the GCH and I found it super convenient—pool and beach were very close as well. I also have young kids so it made things a little easier from that perspective.
Poly is aaaamazing and you will love it. Have so much fun

 

[5 Disney Fans]

If I've requested connecting studios at the Polynesian, would I also be able to request a specific building and/or upper floor? I'm thinking I shouldn't take chances. When I do the on-line check in in MDE, the drop down list for room request is not giving me any options but I've heard there is a way to submit a request through fax or using Touring Plans.

 

[Quellman]

Poly is a lovely resort to spend time at. Last May we stayed there. You can order the twilight feast from room service. It is essentially O'hana without needing a reservation 180 days out.

 

[CarolynFH]

If I've requested connecting studios at the Polynesian, would I also be able to request a specific building and/or upper floor? I'm thinking I shouldn't take chances. When I do the on-line check in in MDE, the drop down list for room request is not giving me any options but I've heard there is a way to submit a request through fax or using Touring Plans.

Don’t put anything in the room request area of online checkin - it will negate any other request you make. Go to the DVC Member website and either Chat or send an email (click Contact Us) and list your requests in priority order, making clear that connecting studios is the most important.

 

[Frederic Civish]

If I've requested connecting studios at the Polynesian, would I also be able to request a specific building and/or upper floor? I'm thinking I shouldn't take chances. When I do the on-line check in in MDE, the drop down list for room request is not giving me any options but I've heard there is a way to submit a request through fax or using Touring Plans.

I often put multiple requests on reservations. But I tell the the reservations people the order that I want them filled. For instance, I will say, "First and most important is that I am near the rooms of the other members of our party, if possible." Of course, I tell them the names and reservation numbers for the other members of the party, and they will link them together. I have even had an upgraded room reserved, and the other people in our party had a Standard room, and I told them I would be quite willing to move to another Standard room near to them, and give up my better room. They were quite able to do this. I suppose someone who had a Standard room probably got a free upgrade.

Next, you can tell them other preferences: What building do you want to be in? What floor? Near an elevator? On the east side of the building or the west? Near a bus stop? Near the lobby? You can ask for anything you want. Just make sure you specify what things are most important, and should be done first, and then what things are least important, but would be nice, if available. If your list is long, you will not get it all, but you can get a surprising amount, if you ask for it clearly.

My understanding is that if you have checked in by 4 or 5 days in advance, then on about 3 or 4 days before your arrival a Disney cast member goes through the requests for that day and tries to match them up. Whatever they can't match up the front desk people will try to match up on the actual Arrival Day. That might or might not work but they try harder for the things that you emphasize more.

 

[Firepath]

Poly is a lovely resort to spend time at. Last May we stayed there. You can order the twilight feast from room service. It is essentially O'hana without needing a reservation 180 days out.

I definitely second this. We were also there last May. We were told when we called to order that they had raised the price and cut down on the quantity, but the CM who brought it to our room said he added some extra. We ordered 1 adult meal and we (2 adults) had enough left over for 2 more smaller meals. Having the refrigerator and microwave made it so easy to store and reheat. Just make sure you buy or bring containers to store your leftovers, if any. There is also a nice BBQ pavilion near the DVC buildings.

 

[Pluto80]

I should have said, we’re in a standard room. I do tend to prefer an upper floor. Location isn’t especially important but I do like a nice view if possible as I like to sit out on the balcony. What would you suggest would be our best option?

 

[jaygalterio]

Twilight Feast, yes.

Negative, at least for our room, the TTC ferry. The horn sound starts early in the morning and it is LOUD. Particularly if you are in the building closest to the TTC.

 

[jerseygal]

Congrats on your waitlist! We love split stays too, get to experience 2 resorts in one vaca!
Have been to Poly three times, all three times, top floor request, Tokeleau and received our request each visit. I call MS to put in requests and personally never do on line check in, tried it once and requests that I made with MS were not there. Tokeleau is convenient to everything, so convenient for walking to Transportation Center. Love the Dole Whip there, my favorite. We enjoy walking in the mornings, so there is a walking path between Poly and Grand Floridian, so nice! We sometimes do it later morning and have a quick serve lunch at Gasparillos at Grand Floridian. Don't know if they still do, but a few years ago, had a fabulous salad with chicken(they make it for you fresh in front of you) and you choose the vegetables to add to the salad. SO GOOD for a quick serve. Both the GF and Poly are really nice..you will enjoy it!

 

[SSRFred]

I should have said, we’re in a standard room. I do tend to prefer an upper floor. Location isn’t especially important but I do like a nice view if possible as I like to sit out on the balcony. What would you suggest would be our best option?

Just a word of warning as other posters have stated, not all DVC buildings at Poly are created equal. The resort is beautiful and the rooms are really nice, but if you get stuck with a parking lot view at Pago Pago, like we just did for our July 4 trip, the cons outweigh the pros. This was our 3rd standard room stay at Poly. We always request Tokelau, high floor, and received it for our last 2 stays. Tokelau is wonderful. This time we got Pago Pago. On the positive side, this was the 2nd half of a split stay and our room was ready before 8 am, which meant we had no gap in time and could put our bags and food in the room without needing bell services to hold everything for the day.

The downside of the parking lot side of Pago Pago is that it was really noisy every morning, with cars honking, the beep beep beeping of delivery trucks backing up, people yelling (especially early morning on 7/4 for some reason), landscaping vehicles, etc. Sadly the rooms at Poly do not have adequate soundproofing. Unfortunately this part of our stay was not very restful, especially since the 1st half of our split stay was a peaceful stay at GFV.