Just back from the Poly....a few thoughts...

[Bride In The Attic]

Just returned from 8 wonderful days at the Poly and wanted to post a few things before life gets crazy again

We did not do online check in as we were arriving early in the morning (8ish). We were the only ones checking in so it was a quick process. We did get our requests (3rd floor Tokelau) but our room was not ready which was fine. I did ask the CM checking us in about online check in affecting room requests. She said that they do try to place online check in people in a room that's ready right away but if there are any requests that can be met the requests override that - so take that FWIW

The Poly is our "home" resort...I've been staying there since my first visit in 1974. I found this visit to be as pleasant as any other. Room was clean and in good shape, mousekeeping was efficient (nothing spectacular but absolutely fine), Aloha's all around and the grounds are beautiful.

One thing we were a bit disappointed with this trip was the monorail situation. I LOVE the monorail but they really need to just take the whole thing offline and get it fixed once and for all. The reduced hours (not running during/after EMH) are a pain. One day the whole resort line was experiencing "technical difficulties" and the amount of time it took from station to station was painful. The lines waiting to get on at both the Grand and Poly were unbelievable (backed up all the way into the lobbies).

And...what the heck happened to the low crowds we once enjoyed the week before Thanksgiving??? We had some days that were less crowded than others but overall I was really surprised at the crowd levels during this normally slow week. The Poly was packed. By the time we left this morning the Thanksgiving crowds were coming in and the place was a zoo. It's still a great week to visit but it's definitely gotten more crowded.

We did Deluxe Dining - it worked great for us. We tend to eat at signatures for dinner so this was the way to go. I just tallied up our receipts and we came out ahead quite nicely for a week of delicious dining.

Make sure you spend some time doing the Kim Possible Adventure in Epcot - we had so much fun as a family and saw areas of the countries we'd never seen!

All in all a great trip as usual. We are exhausted and glad to be home but look forward to planning our next trip back....Poly 2014!

 

[jaceraden]

I enjoyed reading your post. I've never stayed there so I guess I really can't comment. I will check out Kim Possible though.

 

[kaligal]

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Kim Possible thing, too. I thought it would be something I'd endure for the kids but it was fairly cool.

ITA about the monorail.

Glad you had a nice time.

 

[bowbat]

Ooooo, that monorail sitchy is no bueno. We're supposed to stay at the GF for our February getaway, but the more I read posts like yours, the more I'm wondering if we should change.

And thanks for mentioning Kim Possible! We'll be in Epcot next week.

Glad you had a good trip!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Great thorough review, thanks!!! You covered all bases. But yeah, paying extra for the monorail and not getting the monorail the way you expect...not cool...that's another reason why I hesitate to pay the extra money for a "monorail resort"...

 

[padawans]

Thanks for the review. I agree poly and Deluxe dining is a great combination. Sorry to hear about the monorail situation. We don't go to the parks at night, but we do eat at Cali grill and Artist point. I'll have to add a few more dollars to my cab budget. It seems we spend more on cabs with each trip. I also agree about the crowds. Our first trip was in 2009. We have made 4 trips since then, and each time it gets more crowded. I noticed for this May they are increasing the park hours, and adding more fantasmic shows and night time parades. I guess they are expecting even bigger crowds next year. I am glad I got to experience wdw during the worst of the recession.

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

Glad to hear you had a nice time at the Poly, even though there were a few snafus.

I gotta say, DDxP is TOTALLY the way to go if you want to dine at multiple Signature locations.

 

[BreezysMom]

I'm glad you had a nice stay!

I agree that Disney needs to do something about the monorail situation as it was the really the only negative of our trip.

People need to keep writing about their disappointments with monorail issues prior to and after their trips. I just sent off my e-mail about our disappointment with the monorail especially being stuck on the monorail for one hour on the last full day of our trip.

Welcome home!

 

[nkereina]

We did not do online check in as we were arriving early in the morning (8ish). We were the only ones checking in so it was a quick process. We did get our requests (3rd floor Tokelau) but our room was not ready which was fine. I did ask the CM checking us in about online check in affecting room requests. She said that they do try to place online check in people in a room that's ready right away but if there are any requests that can be met the requests override that - so take that FWIW

Interesting. We had the opposite experience. After talking to a CM (at POR), it was determined that online check-in folks get placed into rooms that are ready or will be ready at their arrival time, and then if they have any requests, that is taken second into account if any rooms that are ready at their arrival time are available that match their requests. If no rooms are ready that meet their requests, they just put them into a room that's ready rather than making them wait. This was evidenced by the fact we did online check-in and got the exact opposite of what we had requested, and the room they assigned us was ready. They were able to grant us our requested room when I asked to be changed but that room incidentally wasn't ready for another 3 hours.

Maybe there is just no rhyme or reason when it comes to requests and online check-in!

 

[Bride In The Attic]

Interesting. We had the opposite experience. After talking to a CM (at POR), it was determined that online check-in folks get placed into rooms that are ready or will be ready at their arrival time, and then if they have any requests, that is taken second into account if any rooms that are ready at their arrival time are available that match their requests. If no rooms are ready that meet their requests, they just put them into a room that's ready rather than making them wait. This was evidenced by the fact we did online check-in and got the exact opposite of what we had requested, and the room they assigned us was ready. They were able to grant us our requested room when I asked to be changed but that room incidentally wasn't ready for another 3 hours.

Maybe there is just no rhyme or reason when it comes to requests and online check-in!

Yeah - who knows (who knows if the CM knows!). I think we'll continue to not use online check in just to be safe. I'd rather be able to chat with a CM when I get there about what's available.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for posting your review and I agree it's becoming frustrating with the Monorail. I realize it's problems can't be fixed like that, however you would think it closing early each night would help since the maintenance to it might prevent the technical difficulties it keeps having.

 

[jackemail]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Funny---we started at the Poly in 1973, just a year before you! (Loved it faithfully until we discovered BWI a few years back...now it's a "shared " love.)

 

[kkozma]

We also just returned from the Poly yesterday. Our online check in experience was fine. I went to the online check in counter and was helped immediately and when my request for Tuvalu ground floor could not be met the CM called someone and spoke to them and gave me options of where to be placed. I finally agreed on the 3rd floor room at end of Tokelau. Ended up being a perfect choice. I was so glad interaction with the CM and whoever was on the phone happened. I was able to give immediate input on where I wanted my room to be. BTW I had paid for a lagoon view.
I had no trouble with crowds all week at the parks. We did get to each park at rope drop though.
The hotel was at 100% capactity by Saturday so definetely noticed it being busy for this past weekend. Overall we had a great trip!

 

[hookedonears]

Just returned from 8 wonderful days at the Poly and wanted to post a few things before life gets crazy again

We did not do online check in as we were arriving early in the morning (8ish). We were the only ones checking in so it was a quick process. We did get our requests (3rd floor Tokelau) but our room was not ready which was fine. I did ask the CM checking us in about online check in affecting room requests. She said that they do try to place online check in people in a room that's ready right away but if there are any requests that can be met the requests override that - so take that FWIW

The Poly is our "home" resort...I've been staying there since my first visit in 1974. I found this visit to be as pleasant as any other. Room was clean and in good shape, mousekeeping was efficient (nothing spectacular but absolutely fine), Aloha's all around and the grounds are beautiful.

One thing we were a bit disappointed with this trip was the monorail situation. I LOVE the monorail but they really need to just take the whole thing offline and get it fixed once and for all. The reduced hours (not running during/after EMH) are a pain. One day the whole resort line was experiencing "technical difficulties" and the amount of time it took from station to station was painful. The lines waiting to get on at both the Grand and Poly were unbelievable (backed up all the way into the lobbies).

And...what the heck happened to the low crowds we once enjoyed the week before Thanksgiving??? We had some days that were less crowded than others but overall I was really surprised at the crowd levels during this normally slow week. The Poly was packed. By the time we left this morning the Thanksgiving crowds were coming in and the place was a zoo. It's still a great week to visit but it's definitely gotten more crowded.

We did Deluxe Dining - it worked great for us. We tend to eat at signatures for dinner so this was the way to go. I just tallied up our receipts and we came out ahead quite nicely for a week of delicious dining.

Make sure you spend some time doing the Kim Possible Adventure in Epcot - we had so much fun as a family and saw areas of the countries we'd never seen!

All in all a great trip as usual. We are exhausted and glad to be home but look forward to planning our next trip back....Poly 2014!

It sounds like you had a really nice trip. The Poly is also our home away from home. We've tried others, but none seem to be able to compare. We also eat primarily at signature restaurants; though have never used the deluxe dining plan. I've always been concerned that our savings will be diminished because, we don't alway order appetizers and desert. If we do, we typically will split one or two appetizers and deserts between the 3 of us. Even if the food was paid for by the plan, more than likely we wouldn't order it, because we normally don't each that much food. I’m curious to know, however if using the Deluxe Dining Plan had the cruise ship affect. Did you find yourself ordering food that you wouldn’t normally ordered, because it had already been paid for by the plan?

 

[padawans]

It sounds like you had a really nice trip. The Poly is also our home away from home. We've tried others, but none seem to be able to compare. We also eat primarily at signature restaurants; though have never used the deluxe dining plan. I've always been concerned because, we typically will split appetizers and deserts between the 3 of us, and the plan allows us to each order an appetizer and desert, we wouldn't, so I'm concerned that our savings will be diminished. I’m curious to know if using the Deluxe Dining Plan has the cruise ship affect. Did you find yourself ordering food that you wouldn’t have normally ordered?

Not op, but I'll answer.
For us yes it does have the cruise ship affect. That's what we love about it. The only time we eat out is on vacation so we like to splurge a little. My kids are youngish so they would order there own dessert. My dh and I would normally not order dessert or split one. The apps in my opinion are the best part of the meal so I enjoy getting one for each of us. I don't know I run everyday plus all the walking I have never had a problem eating at WDW or thought the Dxdp was too much food. I also have never gained weight on it. I usually lose weight. If I ate like that at home without all the walking and running I am sure I would.

 

[DisneyChristmas]

We arrived on November 13 and thought that the crowds were due to people who'd been at WDW for the Veterans' Day weekend. Wrong!

On Monday the 14th, the crowds got bigger...and then bigger. MK was as busy as a holiday during the 9:00-noon period on the days that we were there.

When we took the Monorail to EPCOT, we knew what to expect when we saw that even the outmost parking area being used.

We took our own car to DHS and were sent to a far-out section of "Music" parking lot that we didn't even know existed. (sort of an exaggeration - but not much)

Perhaps the Thanksgiving holiday started 10 days early.

 

[Bride In The Attic]

It sounds like you had a really nice trip. The Poly is also our home away from home. We've tried others, but none seem to be able to compare. We also eat primarily at signature restaurants; though have never used the deluxe dining plan. I've always been concerned that our savings will be demished because, we don't alway order appetizers and desert. If we do, we typically will split one or two appetizers and deserts between the 3 of us. Even if the food was paid for by the plan, more than likely we wouldn't order it, because we normally don't each that much food. I’m curious to know, however if using the Deluxe Dining Plan had the cruise ship affect. Did you find yourself ordering food that you wouldn’t have normally ordered, because it had already been paid for by the plan?

Yes - it did have the cruise ship affect for us but that's okay. I loved trying the different cheese plates offered at the signatures for appetizers...I'm the only one in my family that enjoys gourmet cheese so it's just not something I would buy here at home. This was a nice way to try them. We all tried things during the week we probably wouldn't have ordered if having to "pay" for it OOP.

 

[KerriL]

We arrived on November 13 and thought that the crowds were due to people who'd been at WDW for the Veterans' Day weekend. Wrong!

On Monday the 14th, the crowds got bigger...and then bigger. MK was as busy as a holiday during the 9:00-noon period on the days that we were there.

When we took the Monorail to EPCOT, we knew what to expect when we saw that even the outmost parking area being used.

We took our own car to DHS and were sent to a far-out section of "Music" parking lot that we didn't even know existed. (sort of an exaggeration - but not much)

Perhaps the Thanksgiving holiday started 10 days early.

I've read on the boards that last week's crowds were a combination of Jersey Week, end of Food and Wine Festival and the Veteran's Day holiday.