Hello all,
We got back on Monday from a great stay at the Polynesian. It was my foster baby's first trip to WDW and we had a wonderful time.
We were in LVC so the only request that I had was non-smoking and a patio. When we arrived Thursday morning at 8:00am our room was ready for us. We had room 1517 and it was an excellent location for us. It was at the end of the hall so it was very quiet. Hawaii is a very convenient building to everything. Our view was simply amazing, even the baby was amazed that "her castle" was right outside the door! I could have sat there all day and night just taking in the sights and sounds. We had visits from the resident ducks and occasional bunny, which Lilly loved and tried to invite them in the room!
As I wrote earlier, this was a special trip for both my Mom and foster baby, so the rest of the family stayed home this time. Boy, did I feel guilty! I really felt bad that DH and DS15 and DD13 could not share in this wonderful resort. Next April my son will participate in Disney Music Days so it may be the Polynesian again, but only if I can manage the LVC. Can't imagine staying anywhere else!!
Did not recieve any towel animals, but it did not impact my stay there at all. I have seen some posts on the boards where people get all bent out of shape if they don't get them and refuse to tip housekeeping. It did not make any difference to me. We tipped daily. Room was spotless except for a very stained carpet.
We enjoyed the offerings from the lounge right on our patio. I agree with Donna, some people did not use their manners...saw many "lounge hogs" !! One guy actually had a bag and filled it with about 20 boxes of cereal and asked for the cartons of milk, which the gracious concierge hosts obliged.
We never went to MK for Wishes, just watched from our room. We saw about 4 weddings take place at Sunset Point.
One thing I didn't count on was cancelling so many PS's. Sit-down meals with a 2 year old can be tricky! My own youngest child is 13, so I guess I forgot. But we did eat at 'Ohana (dinner), 50's Prime Time Cafe (lunch), Le Cellier (dinner), Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast), Wolfgang Puck (dinner). All of them were good. The only bad food was at Captain Cook's. Really nasty burgers and pizza. The pizza was edible but better at AKL, where they serve the same type of pizza. I think mine had been laying around for a while, not fresh. But I still ate the whole thing!
We did ask for and received a late check-out for 1:00pm which was great since the towncar wasn't scheduled to pick us up until 4:00pm.
Some of the services we used were: towncar-Tiffany,
ECV-Walker Medical, & crib-A Baby's Best Friend.
Tiffany was on-time and drivers were great. Walker Medical had ECV waiting at the front desk, had no problems with it. ABBF did not have the crib at the resort when we checked in, although I told them that we would be arriving by 8:00am. It was in the room by the time we got back from the MK at around 2:00pm. So that was not a huge issue. I was able to set it up in about 15 minutes, so the baby could nap at her regular nap time.
Lilly got her very first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop. She was very good and sat so still. Maura did a great job and pixie dusted her hair! And gave her a first haircut certificate and mouse ears hat. Very cute.
The parks were not crowded, but nonetheless, we did not venture into them past park opening. I prefer to take advantage of the early morning openings when available. If not, I still arrive about a half hour before opening. We left the parks usually no later than noon, except for the first day when we got a late start. Then we would return later.
I can't tolerate waiting for 45 minutes for Dumbo, when I know I can do almost all of Fantasyland in that same time by arrivng early.
Saturday at MGM and MK were maybe the only exceptions. It was Star Wars weekend combined with Extra Magic Hour. I have never seen that park so busy. But oddly enough, the waits were not bad. MK on saturday night was a little crazy. I think due to Spectromagic. We did not stay to watch it.
We used both pools but Lilly perferred the volcano on as she liked to wade in by herself.
steveanddonna-Sorry we did not get a chance to meet..I was looking out for those green mickey heads!!
If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask, I would be happy answer.
Kerri