I Am Back from a Pop/Poly Split Stay...

[scanne]

Pop, did NOT care for at all.

We only stayed at Pop for one night - 12 hours to be exact - and I was SO glad to get out of there.

The rooms are TINY! The food court was mobbed, even at 11 o'clock at night.

It was noisy! Even in our crappy location in the 1950's section facing the parking lot, it was noisy. Running kids, slamming doors...definitely NOT my family's style.

But hey, if you like it, then GREAT! I wish I loved a resort that wasn't $300+ a night! LOL!


On to the Polynesian.

LOVED IT! (Of course). We were in Rapa Nui (and I initially was disappointed with this location), but I ended up LOVING it! We were a 2 minute walk to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot. The rooms are HUGE and the bathrooms have double sinks. The remodel is fantastic. We stayed at the Polynesian in 2001 and 2005 and I love what they have done with the rooms. Simply beautiful, elegant, classy with a hint of Disney. The new soaps and lotions are very clean smelling and spa-like. The cast members were great - always a cheery "aloha!" and "mahalo." We ate at Kona Cafe and Captain Cook's. Got the Tonga Toast at Captain Cook's - yummy.

We never waited more than 5 minutes for a monorail at the GCH station. DH took the boat back from MK one night after EMH's.

Overall, I was very pleased with my stay at the Polynesian and will definitely stay there again.

My DS has requested the Contemporary next, though. Hmmmmmmmmmm, DH has no desire to stay there...I have a lot of convincing to do!!!

Oh, I will be posting pictures this week and will be doing a full dining report with pictures, too!

 

[SeaSpray]

Welcome back, scanne! I'm so glad that you had a great stay at the Polynesian. I'm still counting down the days. Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Glad you had a nice Poly stay!

Thanks for the report,

Lives4Disney

PS....CR is my son's absolute favorite resort and place to be. He has loved it for 15 yrs! For some reason boys seem to love that place. Terry, just noticed your countdown....have a great time!!!

 

[daisyduck123]

Glad you had a great time at the Poly!!

We always loved Pop!..until we stayed at CBR! Then we joined DVC & no more Values for us!! We'll be at the Dolphin & BCV next week!!

 

[alldiz]

Glad you enjoyed your stay at the poly....

I stayed at POP 2 nights in Jan......much better in slow season....
I would imagine the summer heat.....and all those
bodies at pop.....would get old quick....
Kerri

 

[Poly Pal]

Glad you had a great stay at the Polynesian.

Your family sounds like mine. We stayed one night at the All Stars and moved to the Polynesian the next day. After the pandemonium that is the lobby (lots of unruly kids), slow check-in, and a long walk to a small "motel" type room my wife asked, "Tell me why we are staying here?" I replied that we were saving $200+ for the night. Her comeback, "NEVER AGAIN! I rather not go to Disney if I have to stay there."

I would have felt like you about Rapa Nui. Happy that it worked well for you. We have requested Samoa or Fiji for our trip in 13 days

 

[antmaril]

I hate to hear these reviews of Pop. We usually stay at the Boardwalk Inn. However, I booked two rooms at Pop at the end of August to take advantage of Free Dining. Because I need two rooms, I went with Pop. After thinking about it and reading some negative reviews, I tried diligently to upgrade to a moderate, but have been unsuccessful. There just aren't any mods available with Free Dining for my dates. I even tried the new code, which would give me a room discount, and I would pay for DDP - again NOTHING!

The bottom line is that all these negative reviews of Pop are starting to make me dread the darn trip. I have admitted that I am a hotel snob. The most important part of the trip for me is the resort - the parks are second. I will probably spend three-four hours a day at the parks. It's too hot and humid.

I'm stuck now. Boy, I hope I don't hate it, but it sounds like it's not going to be me. I'm pretty sure of that.

 

[pooksma]

As a Polynewbie, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your stay.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

What is it about boys and CR? Everytime we go to Chef Mickey's ds begs to stay at CR! I know we'll have to cave in sometime but right not we're much more Poly, GF, YC family. DH doesn't like the feel of CR but ds is bound and determined to stay there!

Glad you had a great stay at the Poly!

 

[jakenjess]

So glad you enjoyed the Poly! It is a beautiful resort. I feel the same way about Pop, it's just too noisy! We sometimes stay there on weekend nights to save on DVC points, but after our last trip DH and I decided we would try to stick with moderates on weekends.

 

[ADP]

Thanks for the report Scanne...

We'll be there in 8 days.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Glad to see your report.
31 sleeps until the Poly!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I hate to hear these reviews of Pop.

I've stayed in a relatively huge range of properties during my trips to Disney (from an off-site budget hotel where a hole in the tub was ‘fixed’ with what looked like a huge band-aid [but was really legitimate repair compound] to a slightly better motel where the window sheers kept getting caught in the striker and I kept having to go to the front desk to get someone to open my room for me [until the last day, when housekeeping couldn’t get in either and someone apparently – judging from the dents and paint chips on the door where the safety lock was] to Pop Century to Shades of Green to the Beach Club to the Peabody…). Now, granted, Pop doesn’t compare to the Peabody, but it’s STILL a great hotel – and miles above some of the other places I’ve stayed.

disclaimer: this post is in NO way an attack on Guests who've stayed at Pop and don't like it - it's merely to reassure antmaril that she might really enjoy the property!

 

[mom-mom2three]

Glad you had a great trip Rapa Nui is a wonderful location I agree with you about the Pop I stayed there 8 days last May, never again but I love the Poly

 

[antmaril]

disclaimer: this post is in NO way an attack on Guests who've stayed at Pop and don't like it - it's merely to reassure antmaril that she might really enjoy the property!

Thank you for trying to reassure me. We are only staying four nights, so how bad can it be? (I keep telling myself this.) It's our second trip this year. When I was trying to upgrade and couldn't find any availability at a moderate, the very nice CM in Guest Services said "Well, if you hate it, you never have to stay there again." True. I'll know for the future.

 

[DeborahB]

Glad you enjoyed your stay at the Poly! We'll be there soon.
Quick question. How was your a/c? Did you need to use the bypass option?

 

[disgirl]

Thanks so much for your post. Sorry you did not like the POP. We have never stayed there. We have never stayed at a value and the moderate we always stayed at was CBR which we really liked. I am glad your stay at the Poly was a good one, though. We are staying there for just 3 nights in August, but I am really looking forward to it.

Again, thanks for posting. I, too, am looking forward to your pictures. Thanks.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Scanne - Welcome Back! Glad you had a wonderful trip, we really like the Poly too.

It is so funny about CR - my DS15 has requested to stay there on our next trip as well, we had dinner at Concourse Steak House and that is when he started really thinking!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I hate to hear these reviews of Pop. We usually stay at the Boardwalk Inn. However, I booked two rooms at Pop at the end of August to take advantage of Free Dining. Because I need two rooms, I went with Pop. After thinking about it and reading some negative reviews, I tried diligently to upgrade to a moderate, but have been unsuccessful. There just aren't any mods available with Free Dining for my dates. I even tried the new code, which would give me a room discount, and I would pay for DDP - again NOTHING!

The bottom line is that all these negative reviews of Pop are starting to make me dread the darn trip. I have admitted that I am a hotel snob. The most important part of the trip for me is the resort - the parks are second. I will probably spend three-four hours a day at the parks. It's too hot and humid.

I'm stuck now. Boy, I hope I don't hate it, but it sounds like it's not going to be me. I'm pretty sure of that.

I think for the most part, Pop gets very positive reviews. We have stayed there twice, once for 10 nights believe it or not and loved our stays. Do we prefer staying at our DVC, yes, but then that's comparing Burger King to a nice restaurant. You do indeed get what you pay for. For what one pays to stay at Pop, I think you get quite a bit. If you go into it comparing stays at Deluxes then you could be in trouble. Concentrate on the fact that it appears that this was the way you were able to go to WDW with needing two rooms. So if you arrive and don't like it, visualize yourself at home doing some mundane thing and realize that if you weren't at Pop, that's where you would be! And as the cm said, you never have to stay there again, but believe me there are plenty of people who have stayed at deluxes who actually love the values. A few believe it or not prefer them!

To the OP, so glad you loved the Poly, I am really want to stay there a few nights next June, we'll see. Glad you had a great trip!

 

[TJ's Mom]

I hate to hear these reviews of Pop.

We stayed there for the first time during Spring Break. I was set to hate it but we actually will be going back. My kids, who are 9 and 6, loved it. I think the kids ages make a big decision. Would it be my personal choice - no, but it is a family vacation and they loved it! We did not have a noisy area and we were off the pool. I want to say it was the 60s area. We could set off our balcony and see the "construction" of the buildings that did not make it.

The food court was a little busy. That was my biggest complaint. I was worried about the bus system from a Value but had no problems. I found it was better than some of the other hotels we stayed at.