Just back from Poly...

[jerseygirl18]

and let's just say, we wouldn't stay there again. Very bummed as this was our first visit and I was so looking forward to the atmosphere. The atmosphere and transporation convenience were fine. The room itself and some unsatisfactory service were not.

We got in early Thursday morning, about 9 AM...room wasn't ready but that wasn't a big deal as we weren't expecting it to be ready. I was super excited to learn that I got both my room requests...first floor of the Tokelau building. We checked our bags with valet and away to Epcot we went. I got a text about 3:30 with our room # and the rest of the afternoon at Epcot was spent wondering what room 1940 would be like after ALL the months of dreaming about it. LOL Perhaps that was my mistake...

When we finally got back and went to the Tokelau building, the first thing we noticed was that the outside automatic door was stuck open (and remained that way for the rest of our stay). Not a big deal but I had hoped it would be fixed. We opened the door to our room and there was a musty odor. Again, not a huge deal as I had read reviews and packed some Febreze. The room seemed well worn, the bedspreads showed signs of frequent washing (a good thing!). The location of the room was awesome...first floor with a patio with a direct view of the quiet pool. That was nice.

We had 3 lights out in the room and we told ourselves it was no big deal, we aren't the type to make a big stink about much. The first thing that really bothered me was the bathroom. There was paint peeling everywhere and paint chips could even be found on the floor upon check in and although I cleaned them up myself - had to because they were sticking to our feet/shoes and getting tracked into the room they kept coming off the door and Mousekeeping overlooked it. The wall and ceiling tiles had stains. And there were bugs, several different varieties...ones that appeared to be centipede like in nature. Fortunatly, no bed bugs or love bugs but yucky enough. We debated on whether we should call and complain or just leave it alone since we weren't planning on being in the room too much. We were running behind for an ADR at GF so we decided to leave it alone and we stayed there for another few nights before the final straw happened.

One more annoyance before the final straw...I had placed a Garden Grocer order that was delivered on time and the front desk was holding it until we had access to our room. Once we were in our room, we had Bell Services bring it to us and they only brought one of 5 bags...they had misplaced the rest and it took them until the next morning to find them.

The final straw was that the internet jack was broken. We returned to the room late Saturday night and needed access to do our fantasy football for the week and imagine our surprise to learn that the cable connection was actually broken off in the jack, so bad that my DH (who is an IT Support Specialist) couldn't fix it. He must have spent an hour working on it and got aggrevated and then we stepped back and looked at the big picture...all of the little things wrong with the room, while little, added up to be big aggrevation. So my DH went down to the front desk to see what could be done. He came back about 20 minutes later to say that we were being moved to Fiji (I was bummed...I loved our location, just wanted a room that was clean and had everything in working order) and that bell services was on their way to assist. It being 11:30 and having three children sleeping peacefully, I knew that if we woke them and told them we were moving tonight and they got to ride on a golf cart that they would NEVER go back to sleep. I called the front desk and nicely asked that they wait until the morning and got some resistance but once I explained the dilemma, they were agreeable but let me know that bell services can't be guaranteed in the morning. I said that was fine. So my DH and I spent the rest of the night packing up our room so that we could move prior to our 7:35 AM ADR for breakfast.

We moved early the next morning and while I preferred our Tokelau location, the Fiji building had nice views of the marina and was closer to the volcano pool which excited the kids. The room was okay, no paint in the bathroom but the room was similar to Tokelau's in that it needed TLC.

To sum it up, the two longhouses I was in at the Poly certainly need renovation! We were disappointed, considering the money spent to stay at a deluxe resort. The grounds and location/convenience of the Poly are certainly what make people come back again and again...it's what brought us there in the first place. But there are two other monorail resorts and after spending some time at the GF for meals and the movies on the beach, we decided we will spend a little extra and stay there next time. In fact, we got a bounce back offer and I'd like to try to book there.

I guess as long as you know what to expect, you will be fine at the Poly, barring any unforeseen room problems like we ran into. It being our first trip, we just weren't prepared for the sad state of the rooms.

Just our two cents, from our experience...

 

[ckmommy]

I am so sorry your stay at the poly was not as good as you had hoped. We stayed there a few years back--just after the remodel and had a great room. I do know how disappointing it can be to get a yucky room---esp. with the price Disney charges. I hope you had a great trip though--it sounds like it, if you are already planning your next stay for GF!!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Thanks for your detailed review. We're pondering Poly for our next trip. I haven't stayed there since 1989. I wonder if club level is better!

GF is amazing. You will love it.

 

[jerseygirl18]

We were at Captain Cooks the night check out getting a late night Dole Whip and a mug refill and we noticed the rice krispy mickeys and I thought they'd make great souvenirs so I grabbed 4 from the overflowing basket. I told her what I was doing and when she gave me my receipt and saw I had over a dozen snacks left, she encouraged me to come back just prior to leaving to wipe out my balance and to take souvenirs home. I thanked her and made a mental note to stop back.

When I returned the next day, however, and tried to get 8 of the treats to use all of my credits, a manager who was standing next to my cashier and snapped, literally snapped, "you CANNOT use all your credits at once" and then yelled at the cashier who started to process my order. I was taken aback by her attitude and I apologized and said that I was told that I could last night. She very rudely stated that no one can use more than one snack credit at once (which I knew was untrue at that point). So I put 3 back and asked to just take the 5 and she shook her head no and again said (with an attitude) that I could only buy one. I asked her why that was and her response again was that I could only use one at a time. I took out the rest of my families KTTK cards and said that I was taking one for each member of my party, that they were in the lobby waiting for our ME bus to return us to the airport. At that point I got angry and decided that since I hadn't had this problem from anyone else, anywhere else during our stay I was going to push the issue. I stepped aside and let the line behind me move ahead and asked her again why I couldn't use the balance of my snacks. Her reason changed from the one snack at a time to the fact she can't let me take so much of the stock, it needs to be saved for other customers. I looked at the basket of 30+ treats and stated that me taking 5 or taking 8 isn't going to exhaust her supply. Before she could reply, I also added that the treats are there so that we could buy them...I PAID for my deluxe dining plan and whether I have cash in my hand or I'm using dining credits, I should be treated the same way. I asked if she was really going to turn me away from buying EIGHT treats. She told me she was!! She told me I could go the GF's quick service stop (I forgot the name she told me) and buy my remaining 3 if it meant that much to me! I told her I was fifteen minutes away from my ME pick up time and I didn't have time. She told me that she couldn't help and she walked away. I was SHOCKED. The cashier overhearing all of this apologized to me and told me to send in another member of my party to buy the remaining three so that's what I did. I ran to the lobby and sent my DH who went in and got them. We just made our ME pick up and it sent me to the airport FUMING. Unfortunately, I didn't catch her name or I may have called and complained. She was a younger girl with long black hair...anyone that may recall her name, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Anyone else ever have an issue like this regarding snack credits?

 

[leane]

Sorry you didnt enjoy your stay.
I hope you spoke with a CM to let them know about the internet jack and the light bulbs. They won't know to fix it unless someone tells them it is broken.

As for the paint, I would have called to have the floor vacuumed. I am sure they would have done that for you.

 

[vicki_c]

That Captain Cook's thing is ridiculous - and I would be figuring out a way to report that to Poly management. There is no way a manager should be arguing with a guest like that and to that extent -- especially when you were right.

 

[coopersmom]

While it's certainly not what I want to hear with a (much considered, and repeatedly reconsidered) Polynesian stay upcoming in December, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience here. The things you say bothered you would have definitely bothered me too.

 

[SleepyKeith]

My wife and I are also just back from a 8 day stay at the Poly and we were very disappointed with this Disney "deluxe" Resort. The first room we were given was in the Fiji building looking toward the GF on the ground floor. The room looked very worn and if you really looked around wasen't very clean. Anyway that night because of the long day traveling we tried to go to bed early only to be kept awake by the loud music coming from the Luau. The next morning my wife went to take a shower only to find the drain clogged up. She called the desk and told them of the problem and assumed that it would be fixed that day. That night when we were going to bed at around 10:30PM, we get a knock on the door and its the Disney plumber coming then to fix our shower drain. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" The next morning we told the desk we wanted another room in a quite area and they said they couldn't help us until the next day because they were booked. When we moved to our new room in the Tokelou (sp) building it was in about the same condition as the previous room but at least it was quite at night. Needless to say,my wife and I will never stay at the Poly again. For the price they charge at the Poly we could have stayed at a true 4 star resort for half the price and a working shower.

 

[jerseygirl18]

My wife and I are also just back from a 8 day stay at the Poly and we were very disappointed with this Disney "deluxe" Resort. The first room we were given was in the Fiji building looking toward the GF on the ground floor. The room looked very worn and if you really looked around wasen't very clean. Anyway that night because of the long day traveling we tried to go to bed early only to be kept awake by the loud music coming from the Luau. The next morning my wife went to take a shower only to find the drain clogged up. She called the desk and told them of the problem and assumed that it would be fixed that day. That night when we were going to bed at around 10:30PM, we get a knock on the door and its the Disney plumber coming then to fix our shower drain. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" The next morning we told the desk we wanted another room in a quite area and they said they couldn't help us until the next day because they were booked. When we moved to our new room in the Tokelou (sp) building it was in about the same condition as the previous room but at least it was quite at night. Needless to say,my wife and I will never stay at the Poly again. For the price they charge at the Poly we could have stayed at a true 4 star resort for half the price and a working shower.

WOW! It sounds like maybe we flip-flopped rooms!

In all seriousness, we also had slow moving drainage in our room in Fiji. When taking a shower, you were standing in several inches of water. I forgot about that! And we were disappointed at the NOTICABLE difference in room sizes when we switched from Tokelau to Fiji. With 3 kids in the room...you notice!

We agree, we won't do the Poly again until they spend some money renovating it.

 

[minniebeth]

Op, I'm sorry about the issues you had during your Poly stay~ Tokelau is one of the heavily used longhouses, and while it's location is ideal, it does tend to show it's wear, I agree.

I would definately complain about how th manager at Captain Cooks treated you with your snack credits, you are most definatley entitled to use them up and buy 20 rcts if you so desire. I personally have used up snack credits with multiple of the same items and have seen many others do it as well. I don't understand why that should be an issue.

The GF is a wonderful resort, I hope you enjoy your next stay there~

 

[jerseygirl18]

That Captain Cook's thing is ridiculous - and I would be figuring out a way to report that to Poly management. There is no way a manager should be arguing with a guest like that and to that extent -- especially when you were right.

I thought so too! They were having some register issues so I think she was a little stressed/overwhelmed. Doesn't matter, it's not like I was trying to get over on her. I was (and still am) pretty surprised. Again, if I could only remember her name, I'd call in a heartbeat.

 

[minniebeth]

Again, if I could only remember her name, I'd call in a heartbeat.

I don't even think you would need her name, if you just reported the date and time you were there, I would think that would be sufficient~

 

[LukenDC]

I had a similar experience last month when I stayed in the Tokelau longhouse (third floor). There were lots of problems with the room and the worst of it was the peeling and chipped paint on the bathroom door. I complained about the paint to a maintenance man, but nothing was done during my stay. I photographed the door and sent the pictures to my travel agent and she in turn forwarded them to Disney.

I have stayed at the Poly several times and love the resort. I hate to see it falling into disrepair and there is no excuse for ignoring visible maintenance problems like chipped and peeling paint on an interior door. I'll be taking a year or two "off" from the Poly until I am satisfied that they have improved the quality of the rooms.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

LOL now I get why you advised me like you did with my question! Definitely taking this into consideration. I've never had probs like this at Pop! For that kind of money, you'd expect a well-kept room.

And I hope you get the manager's name for Capt Cook's. They're YOUR credits to do as you please!

 

[minniebeth]

We love the Polynesian and have stayed there quite a few times~ I agree that some of the longhouses are showing wear and are in need of aestethic maintainance. My suggestion if you really love everything else about the Poly enough to stay there is to NOT request one of the more popular buildings, such as Tokelau. Most of the buildings are in a well placed location. Our last stay was in Aotearoa and ended up loving it. The condition of the room was very good. More popular longhouses=more traffic=more wear and tear.

 

[kinggoofy]

The POLY was once our FAVORITE resort. We just enjoyed the ambience / atmosphere, the grounds, the pool, the relaxing music throughout the walkways.

BUT...we stayed at YC one time in 2009 and have never looked back.

Dont get me wrong, every trip we always make it a point to stop at the POLY to say hello to Auntie and one of the bell services employees who is originally from Chicago.

We always make a dining reservation for Ohana's, then later during our trip we just stop by there to have a drink in the lounge.

The best thing about all of that is.....we not only get to see the people we want to, eat at the resturant we want to and have a drink in the lounge....we get to go back to the YC.

I really think the POLY needs to get some updating. DW told me last trip....she has no desire to stay there anymore until it gets a facelift.

Another selling point for us with the YC is the fact you must be a resort guest to use SAB. At POLY...the pool situation is bad. Way too many pool hoppers.

 

[MHSweb79]

This sounds like the room we stayed in at Tokelau last September. Same view, same internet problem. And by the way, we reported the lack of internet access EVERY DAY of our stay. A tech came by once and replaced the cable, but it still never worked and they never came back. (We dragged that laptop 1200 miles just to give it a nice vacation, I guess. ) My DH was greatly annoyed.

Mousekeeping at the Poly was sad. Our coffee was never replaced and they never cleaned the ice bucket. The beds were made and the towels replaced, but that was it. We didn't have any peeling paint that I can remember, though. Captain Cooks was so tiny! We only went there once. Monorail service was great but the longest wait for a bus we EVER experienced in all our trips was trying to get to the Studios from the Poly. One woman was actually on her cell phone screaming at someone (I'm sure she thought it was the front desk) about the delay. Seriously, it was at least an hour and there was a big crowd waiting before we actually got there.

Compare that to our 4 days at the POFQ (we did a split stay): For half the price, we got top-notch Mousekeeping with towel animals and other nice touches (she knew it was our anniversary and decorated the room a couple of times - really nice). The food court is enormous and when I asked for no biscuit on my breakfast platter (we northerners don't eat a lot of biscuits) they gave me an extra Mickey waffle. My DH was so jealous! Bus service was excellent the whole time and as always, we loved the boat to DD.

Bottom line is: at Disney Deluxe refers to LOCATION, not quality of amenities or service. We're going back to POFQ in December.

 

[jerseygirl18]

LOL now I get why you advised me like you did with my question! Definitely taking this into consideration. I've never had probs like this at Pop! For that kind of money, you'd expect a well-kept room.

And I hope you get the manager's name for Capt Cook's. They're YOUR credits to do as you please!

I did my best to stay neutral! LOL I don't want my bad experience to sway you because you may not have that experience - although it seems to be a theme here. I only wish I knew that sooner!!!

Maybe take the others advice if you decide to stay at the Poly and request a less used longhouse, off the beaten path.

At the end of the trip, I just don't want you to have the same regret I did. It IS a lot of money. Now that you know my experience and considering your situation, my advice is to wait for the Poly to update and stay somewhere more affordable. Maybe go to 'Ohana for dinner to walk around the grounds and take in the ambience? Good luck!

 

[jerseygirl18]

This sounds like the room we stayed in at Tokelau last September. Same view, same internet problem. And by the way, we reported the lack of internet access EVERY DAY of our stay. A tech came by once and replaced the cable, but it still never worked and they never came back. (We dragged that laptop 1200 miles just to give it a nice vacation, I guess. ) My DH was greatly annoyed.

Mousekeeping at the Poly was sad. Our coffee was never replaced and they never cleaned the ice bucket. The beds were made and the towels replaced, but that was it. We didn't have any peeling paint that I can remember, though. Captain Cooks was so tiny! We only went there once. Monorail service was great but the longest wait for a bus we EVER experienced in all our trips was trying to get to the Studios from the Poly. One woman was actually on her cell phone screaming at someone (I'm sure she thought it was the front desk) about the delay. Seriously, it was at least an hour and there was a big crowd waiting before we actually got there.

Compare that to our 4 days at the POFQ (we did a split stay): For half the price, we got top-notch Mousekeeping with towel animals and other nice touches (she knew it was our anniversary and decorated the room a couple of times - really nice). The food court is enormous and when I asked for no biscuit on my breakfast platter (we northerners don't eat a lot of biscuits) they gave me an extra Mickey waffle. My DH was so jealous! Bus service was excellent the whole time and as always, we loved the boat to DD.

Bottom line is: at Disney Deluxe refers to LOCATION, not quality of amenities or service. We're going back to POFQ in December.

Wow, I cannot agree more!! Deluxe certainly means location (or transportation options). And our mousekeeping experience was sub par at best. AND I left beautiful mousekeeping envelopes everyday ($10 a day), thinking it would help with towel animals. No luck. Just a mickey the first day. I completely forgot about the frustration with the length of time we waited for buses for our trips to DD (this was an awful experience at Bibbiddi Bobbidi - stay tuned for that review!), AK and HS! We waited forever and the buses always pulled up full meaning the 5 of us were hanging on for dear life. LOL

I don't mean to be negative, we had a complete BLAST. So much so that my DH and I are returning in Aug. 2011 without the kids (while they are visiting grandma for a week). In fact, I just called to find out more about the bounce back offer in our room. The CM told me we had to call WHILE we were there (although offer says call by 12/20) but quoted me for free dining. I got a quote for GF (waayyy too much for just 4 nights), WL (don't know enough about it but it was the CM's favorite deluxe LOL and got a price for a POFQ (only about $300 less than WL) so I need to research and decide. I'm getting side tracked! LOL My point is, we had a great time in spite of the issues with Poly and the Bibbidi Bobbidi and we can't wait to go back. It is what you make it, afterall.

The Poly really needs some updating, that's for sure!

 

[SleepyKeith]

The sad thing is all the rooms at the Poly underwent a major renovation about 3 years ago. We stayed there right after the rennovations and the rooms were in perfect shape. They just aren't being maintained the way they should be, very sad. From now on we will be staying at the BC/YC.