Day 15: Monday, May 10: MK (Our last full day)
Weather: Beautiful, again.
We grabbed the Monorail to MK around 8:30. After getting some pictures with some characters, we grabbed breakfast at MainStreet Bakery. Great selection. Definitely try the french toast pastry and the cinnamon rolls. Surprisingly good coffee too. Grade: "B+". We took our breakfast to the Castles forecourt to watch Cinderellas Surprise Celebration while we ate. My kids loved this show. We got a great spot up front, even though we only got there about two minutes before the show started. The first show of the day definitely seems like the way to go. After the show, we headed over to the Toontown Fair.
When we got to Toontown, the rope still had not dropped. When it did, 95% of the people went straight to Mickeys and Minnies house. DS and I were there for one purpose: Goofys Barnstormer. This was my sons first roller coaster, so it holds a dear place in his heart. We were among the first in line and got on the second train/plane. Goofy and Max were in the first. After our first ride, there was about 20 people on line. By the time we walked around the queue, it was empty again, so we walked right on for our second ride. By the time our second ride ended, the initial crowd that had followed Goofy and Max into the queue had dissipated, and there was no one there. The CMs allowed us to ride again without getting out of our plane. We did that five more rides, for a grand total of seven rides. After that, DS and I met DW and DD. They had gone to Fantasyland to get FPs for Peter Pan. Before leaving Toontown, we hit Minnies and Mickeys houses. Since we had already encountered every character at the Judges Tent, we didnt bother.
Next, it was on to Frontierland. We went on Peter Pan while passing through Fantasyland. The standby time was surprisingly long, but we used our FPs. Once in Frontierland, we saw the Country Bears and shot some guns at the Frontier Shootin Arcade. I have always wondered why Disney has made no effort to distinguish the Fronteirland Shootin Arcade from every one in the world. After that, we grabbed two FPs BTMR and two for Splash. The FP return time for Splash was already up to 2:45 to 3:45, even though it was only 11:45. That that was likely because the attraction was being painted and would be down til 12:00. That was fine, however, since we planned to spend the rest of the day in Frontierland and Liberty Square.
We shot over to Liberty Tree Tavern for our 12:00 P.S. We were seated immediately. Lunch was excellent. I got the Pilgrim Special, which is a Thanksgiving feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and vegetables. It was great. My wife said her burger was the best she had all trip. Grade for lunch: A. After lunch, DS and I used our two FPs for BTMR. We were no where near our Splash FP, so we just grabbed two new FPs for BTMR (remember, that's all we need because it's just the two of us that go on these rides), and we got a return time around the same time as our Splash FPs. We had about an hour and a half before we could go on Splash and before the parade. So we hopped on a raft and went over to Tom Sawyer Island. My kids really had fun here; they loved the caves and in the forts. Before leaving we grabbed ice cream and floats at Aunt Mollys, which has a much more limited menu. Grade: "C" (for the restricted menu). When we got back to the mainland, we grabbed a good spot to see the parade. Our spot was right by the rope by the Trading Post - great photos. We love this parade. After the parade, DS and I used our Splash FPs. Splash was up and running, though all of the water effects were turned off to allow the paint to dry. I got some cool picks of logs going over the briar patch drop with no water in the chute at all. After Splash, it was one more time on BTMR. Then we hopped the WDW Railroad at the Frontierland station and took it to the entrance of the park.
We hooked up with my brother and SIL for dinner at Ohana. It was great again. This time I stayed away from the Lapu Lapu and dessert to avoid that Im gonna blow feel. Then we hit the concierge lounge and watched the fireworks from our balcony.
Let me review the Poly, though I will admit up front that I am a little biased. But I will try to be objective:
Location: The location is one of the best at WDW. In my opinion, it is the best if you have kids in the five to ten year old range. If you do, you will be spending a fair amount of time between MK and Epcot. The Poly is the only resort with direct access to both. You truly feel like you are in the heart of WDW when you are at the Poly. From the beach, and sometimes your room, you can see the Castle, Space Mountain, the Contemporary and the GF. Turn your back to the beach, however, and you forget that you are in Florida and instead feel like you are on a Polynesian island. Grade: "A"
Transportation: The Poly also offers you the best transportation options. You have three different ways to get to MK. (1) monorail; (2) walk to the TTC and take the Ferry; (3) boat launch from the Poly's marina. The monorail and the launch are very efficient. You can also walk to the TTC, which is one of WDW's main hubs. Getting to MGM is by bus only, as is DAK and DTD. But, we have always found the buses to be pretty good. Grade: "A".
Lobby: The GCH is beautiful. It transports you to Polynesia as soon as you walk in. It is home to a nice assortment of restaurants, stores and shops. But it is laid out so nicely that you would never know that when you walk through. Oh yeah, the monorail runs to the second floor. Nuff said. Grade: "A"
Check in: OK, this isn't fair since we were checked in privately by the concierge. You definitely pay for the extra treatment, but IMO it is worth it. I actually look forward to the checking in process. Grade: "A+"
Grounds: The resort consists of about a dozen longhouses and the grounds are expansive. As I said before, you can practically walk around all night and never be on the same path more than once. The landscaping, which has been maturing for 30 years, makes the whole package work. Something always seems to be in bloom, producing incredible smells as you stroll the paths. Throw in the torch lit paths, the wooden architecture, the subtle music coming from everywhere and the breeze from the lake, and you won't want to return to your longhouse. When you do, however, you will not be disappointed. Most of the longhouses have been rehabbed and look great. Grade: "A+"
Room: The Hawaii longhouse was rehabbed last year and looks great. The rooms look and feel new. The room was spotless. There was no smell of smoke or mold, which some people have reported, though I have never noticed in my three other stays at the Poly. The rooms are a good size too. The colors, fabrics and furniture fit well with the theme and are definitely lighter in color and tone than they used to be. The bathroom was a decent size, though there was only one sink in an exterior vanity area. The TV was on the small side. The beds were so-so comfortable. There is plenty of closet and drawer space. The balcony is big and the view is the best, period. Grade: "A+" (The view pushes it over the edge; if I had a garden view, I would probably give the room an "A-").
Housekeeping/Staff: Outstanding. Our Mousekeeper did a great job and always worked around our schedule. Turndown service was done every night without request. She also tidied up the room when turning down the beds and would set up my kids' stuffed animals again. All of the staff was very friendly, as always. Better than the AKL, but not as good as the RPR. The one exception would be the staff at the marina and the lifeguards at the pool. Some were great, some bordered on rude. Grade: "B". (The marina and lifeguards hurt the grade here. If I was willing to ignore them, and I'm not, the grade would be an "A" because everyone else was very friendly and helpful. Lifeguards, I know you have a high stress job, but it takes just a second to smile.)
Room Service: N/A. We didn't use room service this trip.
Concierge: The concierge is there all day (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). They are just plain good people. They want to help you and they want you to use them. Whether its setting up dining reservations or just answering some questions, they are great. But the real reason we stay at the concierge is for the Hawaii longhouse. It has some of the best views and the lounge. The lounge looks great and the food offerings, which are there practically all day, were excellent as usual. There is a price for this luxury. Is it worth it? It is for me. Grade: "A".
Pool: The quiet pool was just rehabbed and looks great. Though I have to admit, I could not tell what they did. I know what they didn't do: they didn't add any hot tubs. Poly, you need some hot tubs. My kids loved the Volcano pool. Great theme, great slide and a great waterfalls. It has a nice size zero-entry section too. It seems a little crowded sometimes, which tells me it could have been a little bigger. I also like the way it practically connects to the beach, offering great views of the lake. The pool area was always clean and there was plenty of seating. Grade: "A-" (Get some hot tubs and it's a solid "A".)
Fitness Center: The Poly spounges off of the GF for a fitness center. It is located in between the two resorts, but it is clearly on the GF's property. It's a bit of a walk. The GF's fitness center is just OK. It is a little small, the equipment is a bit dated and they need more of it. Lots of TVs by the cardio, though. I didn't use the spa portion. I am much to macho for that (unless I am screaming like a seven year old girl on TOT
). Grade: "B".
Dining quality/options: The resort has two of WDW's best restaurants, IMHO. Ohana was outstanding as always. And though we didn't hit it on this trip, Kona Kafe never disappoints. Captain Cook's conversion was a real bummer; I loved it when it was an ice cream parlor. The Poly could use one more restaurant. It would be nice if they had something in a stand alone structure down by the TTC. You can walk to the GF's restaurants from the Poly, which is nice. And, of course, dinning options abound if you hop on the monoral. The monorail makes the restaurants in the Contemporary and the MK real options. We made it to the Liberty Tree Tavern in about 25 minutes from our room. Grade: "A" for quality/"A+" for options (factoring in the monorail).
Intangibles: This is a no-brainer. You are in the heart of WDW, without feeling like you are. What I mean is, you can get to the MK in five minutes and you can see the Castle and the other monorail resorts from the beach. But, the Poly feels secluded - like your own little paradise. If the Poly didn't get the highest possible grade here, what resort would? Grade: "A+"
Overall: It's hard for us to plan a trip that doesn't include some time at the Poly. I think that says it all. Grade: "A"
Weather: Beautiful, again.
We grabbed the Monorail to MK around 8:30. After getting some pictures with some characters, we grabbed breakfast at MainStreet Bakery. Great selection. Definitely try the french toast pastry and the cinnamon rolls. Surprisingly good coffee too. Grade: "B+". We took our breakfast to the Castles forecourt to watch Cinderellas Surprise Celebration while we ate. My kids loved this show. We got a great spot up front, even though we only got there about two minutes before the show started. The first show of the day definitely seems like the way to go. After the show, we headed over to the Toontown Fair.
When we got to Toontown, the rope still had not dropped. When it did, 95% of the people went straight to Mickeys and Minnies house. DS and I were there for one purpose: Goofys Barnstormer. This was my sons first roller coaster, so it holds a dear place in his heart. We were among the first in line and got on the second train/plane. Goofy and Max were in the first. After our first ride, there was about 20 people on line. By the time we walked around the queue, it was empty again, so we walked right on for our second ride. By the time our second ride ended, the initial crowd that had followed Goofy and Max into the queue had dissipated, and there was no one there. The CMs allowed us to ride again without getting out of our plane. We did that five more rides, for a grand total of seven rides. After that, DS and I met DW and DD. They had gone to Fantasyland to get FPs for Peter Pan. Before leaving Toontown, we hit Minnies and Mickeys houses. Since we had already encountered every character at the Judges Tent, we didnt bother.
Next, it was on to Frontierland. We went on Peter Pan while passing through Fantasyland. The standby time was surprisingly long, but we used our FPs. Once in Frontierland, we saw the Country Bears and shot some guns at the Frontier Shootin Arcade. I have always wondered why Disney has made no effort to distinguish the Fronteirland Shootin Arcade from every one in the world. After that, we grabbed two FPs BTMR and two for Splash. The FP return time for Splash was already up to 2:45 to 3:45, even though it was only 11:45. That that was likely because the attraction was being painted and would be down til 12:00. That was fine, however, since we planned to spend the rest of the day in Frontierland and Liberty Square.
We shot over to Liberty Tree Tavern for our 12:00 P.S. We were seated immediately. Lunch was excellent. I got the Pilgrim Special, which is a Thanksgiving feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and vegetables. It was great. My wife said her burger was the best she had all trip. Grade for lunch: A. After lunch, DS and I used our two FPs for BTMR. We were no where near our Splash FP, so we just grabbed two new FPs for BTMR (remember, that's all we need because it's just the two of us that go on these rides), and we got a return time around the same time as our Splash FPs. We had about an hour and a half before we could go on Splash and before the parade. So we hopped on a raft and went over to Tom Sawyer Island. My kids really had fun here; they loved the caves and in the forts. Before leaving we grabbed ice cream and floats at Aunt Mollys, which has a much more limited menu. Grade: "C" (for the restricted menu). When we got back to the mainland, we grabbed a good spot to see the parade. Our spot was right by the rope by the Trading Post - great photos. We love this parade. After the parade, DS and I used our Splash FPs. Splash was up and running, though all of the water effects were turned off to allow the paint to dry. I got some cool picks of logs going over the briar patch drop with no water in the chute at all. After Splash, it was one more time on BTMR. Then we hopped the WDW Railroad at the Frontierland station and took it to the entrance of the park.
We hooked up with my brother and SIL for dinner at Ohana. It was great again. This time I stayed away from the Lapu Lapu and dessert to avoid that Im gonna blow feel. Then we hit the concierge lounge and watched the fireworks from our balcony.
Let me review the Poly, though I will admit up front that I am a little biased. But I will try to be objective:
Location: The location is one of the best at WDW. In my opinion, it is the best if you have kids in the five to ten year old range. If you do, you will be spending a fair amount of time between MK and Epcot. The Poly is the only resort with direct access to both. You truly feel like you are in the heart of WDW when you are at the Poly. From the beach, and sometimes your room, you can see the Castle, Space Mountain, the Contemporary and the GF. Turn your back to the beach, however, and you forget that you are in Florida and instead feel like you are on a Polynesian island. Grade: "A"
Transportation: The Poly also offers you the best transportation options. You have three different ways to get to MK. (1) monorail; (2) walk to the TTC and take the Ferry; (3) boat launch from the Poly's marina. The monorail and the launch are very efficient. You can also walk to the TTC, which is one of WDW's main hubs. Getting to MGM is by bus only, as is DAK and DTD. But, we have always found the buses to be pretty good. Grade: "A".
Lobby: The GCH is beautiful. It transports you to Polynesia as soon as you walk in. It is home to a nice assortment of restaurants, stores and shops. But it is laid out so nicely that you would never know that when you walk through. Oh yeah, the monorail runs to the second floor. Nuff said. Grade: "A"
Check in: OK, this isn't fair since we were checked in privately by the concierge. You definitely pay for the extra treatment, but IMO it is worth it. I actually look forward to the checking in process. Grade: "A+"
Grounds: The resort consists of about a dozen longhouses and the grounds are expansive. As I said before, you can practically walk around all night and never be on the same path more than once. The landscaping, which has been maturing for 30 years, makes the whole package work. Something always seems to be in bloom, producing incredible smells as you stroll the paths. Throw in the torch lit paths, the wooden architecture, the subtle music coming from everywhere and the breeze from the lake, and you won't want to return to your longhouse. When you do, however, you will not be disappointed. Most of the longhouses have been rehabbed and look great. Grade: "A+"
Room: The Hawaii longhouse was rehabbed last year and looks great. The rooms look and feel new. The room was spotless. There was no smell of smoke or mold, which some people have reported, though I have never noticed in my three other stays at the Poly. The rooms are a good size too. The colors, fabrics and furniture fit well with the theme and are definitely lighter in color and tone than they used to be. The bathroom was a decent size, though there was only one sink in an exterior vanity area. The TV was on the small side. The beds were so-so comfortable. There is plenty of closet and drawer space. The balcony is big and the view is the best, period. Grade: "A+" (The view pushes it over the edge; if I had a garden view, I would probably give the room an "A-").
Housekeeping/Staff: Outstanding. Our Mousekeeper did a great job and always worked around our schedule. Turndown service was done every night without request. She also tidied up the room when turning down the beds and would set up my kids' stuffed animals again. All of the staff was very friendly, as always. Better than the AKL, but not as good as the RPR. The one exception would be the staff at the marina and the lifeguards at the pool. Some were great, some bordered on rude. Grade: "B". (The marina and lifeguards hurt the grade here. If I was willing to ignore them, and I'm not, the grade would be an "A" because everyone else was very friendly and helpful. Lifeguards, I know you have a high stress job, but it takes just a second to smile.)
Room Service: N/A. We didn't use room service this trip.
Concierge: The concierge is there all day (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). They are just plain good people. They want to help you and they want you to use them. Whether its setting up dining reservations or just answering some questions, they are great. But the real reason we stay at the concierge is for the Hawaii longhouse. It has some of the best views and the lounge. The lounge looks great and the food offerings, which are there practically all day, were excellent as usual. There is a price for this luxury. Is it worth it? It is for me. Grade: "A".
Pool: The quiet pool was just rehabbed and looks great. Though I have to admit, I could not tell what they did. I know what they didn't do: they didn't add any hot tubs. Poly, you need some hot tubs. My kids loved the Volcano pool. Great theme, great slide and a great waterfalls. It has a nice size zero-entry section too. It seems a little crowded sometimes, which tells me it could have been a little bigger. I also like the way it practically connects to the beach, offering great views of the lake. The pool area was always clean and there was plenty of seating. Grade: "A-" (Get some hot tubs and it's a solid "A".)
Fitness Center: The Poly spounges off of the GF for a fitness center. It is located in between the two resorts, but it is clearly on the GF's property. It's a bit of a walk. The GF's fitness center is just OK. It is a little small, the equipment is a bit dated and they need more of it. Lots of TVs by the cardio, though. I didn't use the spa portion. I am much to macho for that (unless I am screaming like a seven year old girl on TOT
). Grade: "B". Dining quality/options: The resort has two of WDW's best restaurants, IMHO. Ohana was outstanding as always. And though we didn't hit it on this trip, Kona Kafe never disappoints. Captain Cook's conversion was a real bummer; I loved it when it was an ice cream parlor. The Poly could use one more restaurant. It would be nice if they had something in a stand alone structure down by the TTC. You can walk to the GF's restaurants from the Poly, which is nice. And, of course, dinning options abound if you hop on the monoral. The monorail makes the restaurants in the Contemporary and the MK real options. We made it to the Liberty Tree Tavern in about 25 minutes from our room. Grade: "A" for quality/"A+" for options (factoring in the monorail).
Intangibles: This is a no-brainer. You are in the heart of WDW, without feeling like you are. What I mean is, you can get to the MK in five minutes and you can see the Castle and the other monorail resorts from the beach. But, the Poly feels secluded - like your own little paradise. If the Poly didn't get the highest possible grade here, what resort would? Grade: "A+"
Overall: It's hard for us to plan a trip that doesn't include some time at the Poly. I think that says it all. Grade: "A"
