I cant believe this... Poly refurbishment

[DisneyJColeMom]

The Disney disappointment train keeps rolling on through when it comes to our first family Disney trip with our little boy. I need encouragement & advice! I had Wilderness Lodge booked, i was very excited about the choice, I booked it for September of this year, back in January b4 Covid was a thing. Come to find out, hey Wilderness is one of the resorts NOT reopening! I cancelled our trip for September bc of all the Covid Crazy, and moved it to April 2021. I took a shot, and asked for a price protected move to Poly bc it was the one resort I really wanted to stay at but felt I couldnt afford. Was so HAPPY & EXCITED that they gave me what I felt was an upgrade. A deluxe studio at the Poly Villas!! I had a standard room at WL. Thrilled and SET. NOW I AM READING POLY RESORT is closed til next summer!!!??? What???!!! Now Disney website updated that Ceremonial house is being refurbished and NO monorail?? What do you guys think?? What do I do?? What would you do?? Will there be no restaurants either? Bad enough no Ohana! What Deluxe resorts do you guys feel are pretty much up & running with the most amenities? I wanted the monorail & ferry & water views!!

 

[kanerf]

The Villas are open. The hotel is closed.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

The Villas are open. The hotel is closed.

I know. Are you familiar with the Villas? Ive never been there. Would you want to stay at the Villas with no monorail or Grand Ceremonial House? Is that where you check in for the resort and the villas? Or do Villas have their own check-in? Im concerned if they close more dining options as well. This is not an inexpensive trip for our family. We are splurging and thats not a common thing for us.

 

[JessicaW1234]

The Disney disappointment train keeps rolling on through when it comes to our first family Disney trip with our little boy. I need encouragement & advice! I had Wilderness Lodge booked, i was very excited about the choice, I booked it for September of this year, back in January b4 Covid was a thing. Come to find out, hey Wilderness is one of the resorts NOT reopening! I cancelled our trip for September bc of all the Covid Crazy, and moved it to April 2021. I took a shot, and asked for a price protected move to Poly bc it was the one resort I really wanted to stay at but felt I couldnt afford. Was so HAPPY & EXCITED that they gave me what I felt was an upgrade. A deluxe studio at the Poly Villas!! I had a standard room at WL.

Were you allowed to move your September trip to April 2021 at the Poly price protected?

 

[DonaldEsquire]

I'm in pretty much the same boat. Had contemporary booked for this month, didn't feel comfortable flying with the kids yet so pushed to April 21, but changed resorts to Poly. Now Poly's closed. They tried to put me in Riviera and upcharge me.

 

[JessicaW1234]

I'm in pretty much the same boat. Had contemporary booked for this month, didn't feel comfortable flying with the kids yet so pushed to April 21, but changed resorts to Poly. Now Poly's closed. They tried to put me in Riviera and upcharge me.

Were you allowed to change to 2021 for the same package price?

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Were you allowed to change to 2021 for the same package price?

No Im sorry, I just realized this was confusing. I had September booked at WL & eventually cancelled it. When Covid started to get bad, I made a 2nd reservation for WL “just in case” for April 2021. I made that reservation before the announcement that WL would be closed for 2021 as well. So that April reservation that was switched to Poly was price protected. For price protection, your dates have to stay the same & your resort closed.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

I'm in pretty much the same boat. Had contemporary booked for this month, didn't feel comfortable flying with the kids yet so pushed to April 21, but changed resorts to Poly. Now Poly's closed. They tried to put me in Riviera and upcharge me.

Im surprised about the upcharge? Were you booked for the actual resort, or the Poly Villas?

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

I was under the impression, if you are not changing dates, and your resort is closed, you can have a price protected switch. The room has to be comparable. I think i got a little lucky with the upgrade, the Poly room was more money than the WL room. But I figured you dont get what you dont ask for so I tried & it worked. I went from WL nature view room to Poly standard view deluxe studio.

 

[Doofenshmirtz513]

Would you want to stay at the Villas with no monorail or Grand Ceremonial House?

First thing, I think we don't know much about the impacts on the Great Ceremonial House. It may be focused on the monorail area, or some minor work on the inside rather than some grand scale closure.

The monorail closure is probably the bigger deal, especially if you are going to the parks. We were there last month not going to parks and only rode the monorail once. You can also walk over to the TTC and get the monorail from there, and it's the DVC buildings at the Poly that are closer toward the TTC.

We are going back next month, and, frankly, I'm happy that the resort portion isn't reopening. It means the pools will be less crowded, Captain Cooks will be less crowded, etc. The lack of people last month was at times a little eerie (the GCH was so quiet), but mostly it was great. Kona Cafe booked up immediately for our time there, so it will probably stay open unless it is being worked on in some way. Captain Cooks will definitely stay open as long as there are some guests.

I do think you have a tough decision to make, and it may be best for your family to change resorts. But I wouldn't write it off entirely just yet.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

First thing, I think we don't know much about the impacts on the Great Ceremonial House. It may be focused on the monorail area, or some minor work on the inside rather than some grand scale closure.

The monorail closure is probably the bigger deal, especially if you are going to the parks. We were there last month not going to parks and only rode the monorail once. You can also walk over to the TTC and get the monorail from there, and it's the DVC buildings at the Poly that are closer toward the TTC.

We are going back next month, and, frankly, I'm happy that the resort portion isn't reopening. It means the pools will be less crowded, Captain Cooks will be less crowded, etc. The lack of people last month was at times a little eerie (the GCH was so quiet), but mostly it was great. Kona Cafe booked up immediately for our time there, so it will probably stay open unless it is being worked on in some way. Captain Cooks will definitely stay open as long as there are some guests.

I do think you have a tough decision to make, and it may be best for your family to change resorts. But I wouldn't write it off entirely just yet.

Thanks so much for this bc this is exactly the information I was looking for. I dont know Disney, Ive been through the years growing up, but never planned a trip for myself. This would be our first big trip and staying at a Disney resort. So if you stay in a DVC villa at Poly, where do you check in? Do you mean to say you think parts of the GCH might be open? I didnt want to miss out on whatever their main lobby is.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

And you’re saying there is somewhere else close by to get the monorail? Whats the TTC? Theres 2 monorail stops at Poly?

 

[skeeter31]

And you’re saying there is somewhere else close by to get the monorail? Whats the TTC? Theres 2 monorail stops at Poly?

TTC is the transportation and ticket center. It’s next door to Poly and there is a walking path that connects them. The building that houses the DVC villas at poly are closest to that walking path. So when we stay there, we actually walk to TTC more often to get either the monorail or the ferry to MK then hiking to the GCH to wait for the monorail or tiny boat.

Check in for the villas is in the GCH, but Disney wants you to do online check in and skip going to the desk completely, for all resorts. But if Disney is going to close most of the GCH, they will have a remote location set up for a front desk, either in the open portion of the building, in a temp building, or in the lobby of the poly DVC building.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I would ask to be moved to either the GF or CR. Personally I would push for GF. I go to Disney once every 2-3ish years so I like to have the full experience, which includes the hotel. I won’t stay at a partially closed hotel so the Poly villas would be a no for me. Not having the monorail stop at Poly would be huge for me. The monorail will still be running at the other deluxes on the loop but it won’t be stopping at the Poly.

Good luck OP!!!

 

[jlnten17]

If you can get a switch to GF I would do that. If not I would stay booked at Poly and just keep an eye on these forums for updates. As long as the pools and quick serve stay open i still think you will have a great stay and it is almost as easy to catch the monorail at TTC as GCH when staying on the DVC side of the resort.

 

[Marthasor]

I agree with the PP's who suggest consider switching to GF. If even part of the GCH is closed and you have to walk to TTC to catch the monorail, IMHO, you aren't getting the full Poly experience. The GF main lobby is already open so, once they open the resort side later this month, IMHO, GF will resemble more of its "normal" self. I've stayed in a few WDW resorts during refurbs and, if that had been my first or one and only trip, I would not have been happy.

 

[Disney and the Dude]

Hey Mom, don't fear! You can and WILL still have a wonderful vacation. Let me lay some stuff out for you as I am pretty familiar with Poly DVC.

A deluxe studio at the Poly Villas!! I had a standard room at WL.

Yes! Deluxe studios are great and we stayed in one in March! They are very close to the TTC (as stated before). This means you still can ride the Monorail to MK. The EPCOT line is still currently down, so any of the Monorail Resorts will not have that capability. On the map below:

Moorea and Tokelau are the 2 DVC Villa houses. As you can see on the far right, there the walking path to TTC. It's not very far at all.

Will there be no restaurants either? Bad enough no Ohana!

Capt Cooks, Kona Cafe, Tambu Lounge, and Pineapple Lanai are all open currently. All great eats, all restaurants you can enjoy! If you reallllly loved Ohana, you can see about ordering the Twilight Fest in your room! It's all the food you could get from Ohana. I'm not sure if this is running currently, but it would be a great alternative if you loved the food there. More info about that here:
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2019...ight-feast-is-the-best-60-youll-spend-in-bed/

I wanted the monorail & ferry & water views!!

I would call and see if you have a lake view or standard view DVC Villa. I requested a Lake View for our next trip (which is located in Moorea) and you would still get you Ferry & Water Views that way! We got standard view for our trip this last March and it was in Tokelau. I loved the location and we faced the Oasis pool!

You can also walk over to the TTC and get the monorail from there, and it's the DVC buildings at the Poly that are closer toward the TTC.

As they said, it's very easy to get around this resort!

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I will agree partially - I would ask to be moved, but to the Contemporary or Bay Lake Tower. Depending on the age of your son, you will probably be spending a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom, and you can walk to MK from the Contemporary. One less situation to need transportation, which still has a squick factor for me.

The downside of the Contemporary/BLT is that it is just that - contemporary - and the rooms are the least Disney themed.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Moorea and Tokelau are the 2 DVC Villa houses. As you can see on the far right, there the walking path to TTC. It's not very far at all.

Also Pago Pago, just FYI.

 

[Disney and the Dude]

Also Pago Pago, just FYI.

Thank you! I knew I was missing something!