Just back from Poly! (LONG)

[GiGi30]

This was my first time to the World in 11 years, and my 1st time @ a Disney Resort. We LOVED the Polynesian!

A few things did go wrong.....

Magical Express lost a bag of my Mom and Dad's. It ended up at another hotel. He had no clothes. The CM's at the Poly were AWESOME. They gave him a $200 clothes allowence and opened the boutique in the Grand Ceremonial House at almost 1AM to let him get some clothes. (He got the clothes to the room and realized they had not taken the security tags off, so he had to go all the way back up to the boutique at 2AM to have them removed.) At that point, he was just laughing about it. How could he be mad when they went out of their way to accomodate him. Two days later, the bag showed up, and the manager gave him a $100 refund on his credit card for his troubles. That was just really awesome of them.

The sliding glass door was sticking and it took 3 days to get someone there to fix it. No big deal, but you had to be Hercules to get it open.

We stayed in Rapa Nui.(I got my request I called in) Perfect location to the monorail! We loved the 3 minute walk to get there to the Transportation and Ticket Center, and that was perfect at the end of a long day to not have very far to walk to get to our room. We were with a Grand Gathering, all three of our rooms connected,so we opened the doors and let the kids run around all the rooms and play. It was so fun!

The CM's were cheerful and helpful. Room service was awesome. Their burgers taste like you grilled them at home. O'hana's was our favorite meal of the week. The bananna bread pudding is to die for. Mousekeeping was just okay, but that's not a big deal to us. As long as I have towels and washcloths, I am good to go! She was extremely nice, though. The view of the fireworks from the beach is rad. We loved watching that!

My trip was fun, but stressful! I have a 5 month old and a 2 year old. The 5 month old was very fussy most of the time. I think he was just hot and mad about being in his stroller. We spent alot of time in the room the first 2-3 days to find out what worked best for the kids. Allowing them to get their nap really made some difference in the evenings. I think we will wait a couple of years to come back. My 2 year old LOVED IT!

I surfed at Typhoon Lagoon and it was amazing. I am a surfer, so it was nice to have perfect waves to ride. I will post some pics when I get my PhotoPass CD.

We will stay at the Polynesian again! The parks were crowded and it was hot! I thought the crowds may be down, but someone said that this is actually fall break for kids who go to school year round. Epcot had much smaller wait times than MK.

Boy, I sure rambled! If anyone has any questions, fire away!

 

[LanceNYC]

What dates were at WDW? I leave for a trip next week and concerned about your comment about the crowds.

 

[lookingforward]

Thanks for the report! I am getting so excited about our upcoming Poly stay this December.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Glad you had a nice time. We stayed in Rapa Nui last year and you are so right about proximity to monorail/TTC. Looking forward to seeing your pics.

 

[GiGi30]

What dates were at WDW? I leave for a trip next week and concerned about your comment about the crowds.

I was there 9/15-9/22.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

Thank you for your wonderful post.

We are taking our children to the World for the first time next month and satying at the Poly.

You were brave and a great mom for going with two wee ones. I hope you got some me time somewhere in there. It is so nice to see something through the eyes of a two year old. That is truly the icing on the cake.

Any dishes at table service you would recommend? Did you do Chef Mickey's? That will be our first.

Were you monorail facing or the other?

 

[SeptemberGirl]

We were there 9/18 to 9/21! Quick trip but we also loved the Poly. We had multiple problems with Mousekeeping - they were very nice but there were issues with making up the rooms. We did get a very fair response from the manager we spoke to our last day. Basically, it was not the level of service we would expect for the resort and room type we had. But we were happy with the manager's response to us.

We stayed in Tuvula and I highly recommend it - we were right by the marina and boat launch, which was cool, and we could see the fireworks and parade from our room! An unexpected surprise.

It was my birthday, but nothing was done to acknowledge that by the resort, and it was well-noted on the reservation - not that I expected it, but it seems that those little surprises happen more often in the Value resorts, from my reading of trip reports. To me, being in WDW and at the Poly as gift enough, so I was happy - just an observation. After this trip, I don't think that Deluxe resort necessarily translates into Deluxe service. I found amazing service from the CS people in the MK, for instance.

We have been before in September and I was surprised to see so many people, as the OP said. It seems people either took their kids out of school or they had a break, as there were lots of school age kids there, and many Southerners, which I assumed was because schools start earlier there than in the Northeast, were we lived. It was by no means crowded like July, but it wasn't like I remembered, even from last year. Nice crowds, though. That makes a difference, I think.

I would stay at the Poly again, as it's very easy to get in and out of the MK with our 3 yr old, but I'd have a bit lower expectations for our hard-earned vacation dollars!

 

[GiGi30]

Thank you for your wonderful post.

We are taking our children to the World for the first time next month and satying at the Poly.

You were brave and a great mom for going with two wee ones. I hope you got some me time somewhere in there. It is so nice to see something through the eyes of a two year old. That is truly the icing on the cake.

Any dishes at table service you would recommend? Did you do Chef Mickey's? That will be our first.

Were you monorail facing or the other?

Table service at O'Hana's (sp?) for supper is actually a family style that they serve you. It came in spurts. There was no menu that we saw. The food was great!

We ate at Chef Mickey's for lunch. I was not at all impressed with the food there, but it is a must do for a character lunch. They were great! I really liked 50's Prime Time Cafe. The pot roast was yummy!

We were the last building before the path to the monorail. No view of it, but the closeness of it was just so awesome.

We will be waiting a couple of years to go back. It was very stressful with the 5 month old. My 2 year old LOVED it! You will love the Poly!

 

[GiGi30]

We were there 9/18 to 9/21! Quick trip but we also loved the Poly. We had multiple problems with Mousekeeping - they were very nice but there were issues with making up the rooms. We did get a very fair response from the manager we spoke to our last day. Basically, it was not the level of service we would expect for the resort and room type we had. But we were happy with the manager's response to us.

We stayed in Tuvula and I highly recommend it - we were right by the marina and boat launch, which was cool, and we could see the fireworks and parade from our room! An unexpected surprise.

It was my birthday, but nothing was done to acknowledge that by the resort, and it was well-noted on the reservation - not that I expected it, but it seems that those little surprises happen more often in the Value resorts, from my reading of trip reports. To me, being in WDW and at the Poly as gift enough, so I was happy - just an observation. After this trip, I don't think that Deluxe resort necessarily translates into Deluxe service. I found amazing service from the CS people in the MK, for instance.

We have been before in September and I was surprised to see so many people, as the OP said. It seems people either took their kids out of school or they had a break, as there were lots of school age kids there, and many Southerners, which I assumed was because schools start earlier there than in the Northeast, were we lived. It was by no means crowded like July, but it wasn't like I remembered, even from last year. Nice crowds, though. That makes a difference, I think.

I would stay at the Poly again, as it's very easy to get in and out of the MK with our 3 yr old, but I'd have a bit lower expectations for our hard-earned vacation dollars!

It was my b-day on 9/21 and they had a card and a cupcake for me at our breakfast at O'Hana's. That was an unexpected surprise!

I am from South Carolina and here, schools are in full force with no breaks for a month or so.

 

[SeptemberGirl]

It was my b-day on 9/21 and they had a card and a cupcake for me at our breakfast at O'Hana's. That was an unexpected surprise!

I am from South Carolina and here, schools are in full force with no breaks for a month or so.

I'm glad you had a good experience. I didn't get any "extra" magic. We got what we paid for - a resort on the monorail.

I'm not sure why you mentioned the breaks, but I wasn't digging at Southern schools or people in my post - I agreed that there were crowds, and said there were school age children, and surmised that maybe they were able to take their kids out of school because of breaks or starting earlier. Here school started on the 7th or 8th and it would be too soon to pull out school-age kids for most parents.

 

[GiGi30]

I'm glad you had a good experience. I didn't get any "extra" magic. We got what we paid for - a resort on the monorail.

I'm not sure why you mentioned the breaks, but I wasn't digging at Southern schools or people in my post - I agreed that there were crowds, and said there were school age children, and surmised that maybe they were able to take their kids out of school because of breaks or starting earlier. Here school started on the 7th or 8th and it would be too soon to pull out school-age kids for most parents.

Oh, I knew you weren't digging at us Southerners! Sorry if my post sounded like that! I just mentioned it to say that in our state, the fall breaks haven't happened yet! I am guessing it was alot of year rounders and homeschooled kids there!

 

[kaysmommie]

Thanks for posting your review! I really enjoy the detailed reviews. Glad you had a nice time, although it is hard with the really little ones sometimes. We went last September and it was perfect, no crowds but hot & humid. Disney seems to be busy always now. We have 10 more days until we check in and we are counting the minutes!

Wanted to add that we live in TN and our schools fall break is not until Octoer 6-12 and the Knoxville's fall break is the 12-17. Schools in the south are not very leniant with days off. In fact when we lived at the Jersey Shore we got lots of days off and all my friends own DVC and take their kids out of school whenever they want. We only get 5 days off per year! I'm Glad everyone enjoyed their trip.

 

[LanceNYC]

Hi Gigi,

That is helpful to know about South Carolina schools. A lot of people mentioned fall breaks but I was hoping they were not so soon. I know states can vary but hopefully there are no fall school breaks until after October 6th, when I return.

 

[kaysmommie]

Most fall breaks are on Columbus day weekend and week or after. But we check in on the 3rd, DD will be missing a few days. I know alot of people from our county will be in Disney on the 5th though. It will be more crowded after you check out.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for you're review of the Polynesian and it's great how the Cast Members helped you you're Dad with that credit for new clothes. I hope that my families 1st stay there this December goes as well as you're stay was, minus the few things that went wrong.