Great split stay at WL and Poly

[LJP]

DH and i have just returned from our 2 week trip to Florida and spent our last week between WL and the POLY. Loved both, but think that our heart lies still with WL and AKL - both for the theming, though you really can't beat the Poly for location.
Really can't fault either resort - mousekeeping at both was just fine - our room at WL ( 2002 ) a woods view, but looking through the trees towards the lagoon - was always cleaned in the morning and we got 2 towel animals - a little bird the first day and then a rabbit the next , we were so thrilled!! The only negative about the room was that it wasn't an " open " balcony and instead had a solid wall, which kind of spoiled it a bit as you had to stand up to see any view. Other than that it was very quiet and comfortable. Resort was busy, more so in the afternoon, but we tended to sit on the beach area and walk up to the pool for a swim and apart from the resident ducks quacking past, it was great! Oh yes, roaring forks also had the best yoghurt parfait ever, yummy !!!
We were lucky enough to get our request at the Poly, with Samoa volcano pool view. We ended up on the ground floor though, right in the corner room, but moved the following day to the 3rd floor, with views overlooking the GF and wedding pavilion. Just stunning. Again the resort was busy, but we always managed to get a lounger on the beach area and we really experienced very little noise if any from the pool area, when in our room. Bell hop did a great job moving our bags and again no complaints with mosekeeping, though no towel animals this time
Our only moan was that we only received turn down 1 night out of the requested 3, but no biggy. Captain Cook's had it's busy spells but we never had to wait too long for our order - i can highlt recommend the noodle bowl BTW!
A huge thumbs up to Kona Cafe - the best meal we have had at WDW and the sweet bread with macadamia nut butter was just heavenly we scoffed the lot!!

Anyway, any questions please just ask. I do have some pics taken round the resorts and will try and post once downloaded. Not quite sure how do put them on , but will give it a go over the next couple of days. Roll on next year and our next trip

 

[LilGMom]

A huge thumbs up to Kona Cafe - the best meal we have had at WDW and the sweet bread with macadamia nut butter was just heavenly we scoffed the lot!!

That sounds absolutely delicious!!!!

Glad you had a good stay and now I'm even more excited for our upcoming trip to WL!!!! Love WL!

 

[Kanga1]

Glad to hear you had a great stay!

Someone on another thread reported that the lights from the volcano pool bothered them in Samoa at night. Was this a problem for you? Do they have those big thick curtains you can pull shut?

 

[debaone]

How difficult was the split stay? I keep going back and forth on splitting a stay between AKL and Poly. DS would really get a kick out of both, but I don't want to lose too much vacation time moving rooms. Does Disney do anything to make the transition easy?

 

[simonkodousek]

Sounds like you had a great time. I have a few questions though...

1. Did you try Whispering Canyon Cafe at all during your stay? What about Kona? What did you think of them?

2. What did you think of the Food & Wine festival? Was it really crowded, long waits and such? How were the food prices; reasonable for the portions?

3. Did you notice if the Polynesian had their outdoor speaker system working again? If so, did it sound good?

Thanks,
Simon

 

[LJP]

Kanga1 - we didn't have any problems at all with either lights or noise from the pool. The rooms have black out drapes and curtains so you can't see or hear anything once tucked up in bed! Samoa for us was a great location as it was so close to everything, including the TTC.

 

[LJP]

debaone - DH and i split our stay each time we have been and it has never been a problem. Infact it's almost like having 2 separate vacations in one as the resort themes are so different. We have also split AKL and the Poly, your DS would just love both. Watching the animals, seeing them all around you and trying the night vision is just magical - it's hard to believe you are in Florida, with that haunting African music and wonderful smells in the lobby from Boma and Jiko, not to mention the fab range of wines!!! Then off to the Poly - totally different and with the best location ever.
Moving resorts is so easy - i'll admit it may be a bit easier for us as we don't have kids and so we can pack quite quickly and lightly. All you have to do though, is phone bell hop on the morning of the move, they will come and collect your bags and have them transferred to your new resort. You are then free to go and check in and spend the day in the parks or by the pool. Give bell hop a call around mid afternoon and your bags are brought up to your room. No problems.
I'd say go for it, you will have a blast.

 

[LJP]

simonkodousek

Hi i'll try and answer some of your questions.
1 - No we didn't try Whispering Canyon, but it always looked really busy and is obviously pretty popular. The noise coming from it is fun as you walk past. We did go Kona though, we had a breakfast on our last trip where i had the infamous Tonga Toast and this time we went for dinner. We didn't have a reservation, but were told to arrive about 5.45pm and shoild be seated within 45mins, infact we had a table for 2 by 6pm. The food was awesome - we were served warm sweet bread with i think macadamia nut butter which was just heavenly and nothing like i've ever tasted before I then had the coconut almond chicken which was scrummy and DH had the turkey tenderloins in a chilli and ginger sauce We then tried the caramel creme brulee - yumm, yumm !! It was one of the tastiest meals i have ever had - you must give it a go.

2 - F&W festival was busy but not overcrowded - we have been to it before, so went for a couple of hours over 2 evenings. We managed to get into a wine seminar which was interesting and sampled a couple of tasters from the stalls. The portions are small and i did overhear one chap say they have gone from bowl size to thimble size over the years, but the queues were never that long.

3 - The speakers at the Poly did seem to be working and we watched the fireworks from the beach, during the MNSSHP and it sounded fab and looked amazing.

Hope his helps.