Just back from the Poly. Any Questions?

[skipwick1]

My wife and I just returned from my 50th birthday trip at the Poly.
We had a wonderful time. Resort was gorgeous, Ohana's was a lot of fun, what else could I ask for?

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them.

Aloha.

Skip

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi and welcome back...

Happy Birthday and what a way to spend it. ? Did you enjoy the parks, how were the crowds?

Hey and did you see Lizzie64 from our board.. she has 4 boys, 2 - 15 year old twins and 2 little ones? Would be neat if you spotted her and her family at the Poly.

>>^..^<<

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Ahhhh the Poly. I miss it so much. I bet you had a great time.

 

[Farms]

Skip:
My family and I are going in November (land/sea cruise). Where should we eat? and do we need to make ressies??

THANKS!!!!

 

[Nysie]

Happy Birthday!! What longhouse did you stay in? We're going in July-can't wait!!

 

[mmouse52]

Happy 50th.. Was there last year (50)... Love the Polynesian sooo much... Went for my 20th birthday in 1972 8 months after it was open. I long for the Poly days when it and the Contemporary were they only hotels. How did you like the pool? I like this new one better. Love that Kona coffee also.

 

[skipwick1]

Hi Everyone:

Thanks for the birthday greetings. I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Yes, we always enjoy the parks, and I would rate the crowds right now as light to moderate. FastPass wasn't in operation in many of the attractions because they didn't need it. No waits for TOT, RNR, 5 minutes for Buzz Lightyear, 10 minutes for Test Track, etc.

I didn't see Lizzie64's clan, however I asked my wife and she definately saw a group that met their description.

We ate at Ohana's on my birthday and enjoyed it very much. This restaurant is at the Poly. It was a lot of fun. At the end of our meal, the waiters all sang "Happy Birthday" to me accompanied by a ukelele player, while our waiter brought a cupcake with a candle. We made ressies 2 hours before we went, no problem at all.

We stayed at Tokelau and found this to be a very nice, centrally located longhouse. We had a ground floor room facing the quiet pool. Again, it was just outstanding. We had coffee on our patio each morning and our 2 pet ducks would immediately come over to visit.

The new Volcano pool was awesome, although we never actually used it.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I can't remember, is Fiji smoking or non-smoking. I have to have non-smoking. One of my sons has allergies! I was thinking Samoa, but Fiji sounds good too! It's hard to decide.

 

[skipwick1]

Fiji is non-smoking.

 

[powersurge]

Hi Skip:

Just wanted to ask about the Electric Boat Parade and any fireworks that might have happened while you were there. When? Where? etc.

Thanks a lot.

 

[skipwick1]

The EWP was a 9pm every night. My wife and I enjoyed it very much. We watched from the beach area. Parade lasted about 10 minutes. We went out and watched it twice while we were there.

The Magic Kingdom was open till 9:30pm on tuesday while we were there, so they had Fantasy in the Sky fireworks at closing. Again, we watched from the beach, very enjoyable.

That was the only weeknight scheduled that week, however, the next day, we received a message on our room phone from resort staff telling us there was going to be another fireworks display that evening at 10:30 pm especially for resort guests. So we watched again, and it was just magical.

The Poly is a great place to stay as it puts you right in the heart of all the extra activities that go on.

 

[BurleyGirl]

We'll be at the Poly GV in October. A patio room is starting to appeal to me (not even sure it's in the GV category). I suppose you give up the chance for a great view, though? What are your thoughts?

 

[skipwick1]

Hi Burleygirl:

I think it is a matter of personal preference. You are right when you say that you MAY give up a great view by getting a ground floor patio room. However, in many cases, the view really doesn't change at all. It depends if there is low growing vegetation/foliage in front of your room.

In our case, we had plants right out in front of our room, but they served to make our patio more private, which we liked. We also like the ease of access to a ground floor room, and the fact that when we sat out, we had ducks visiting often. One duck actually took food from my DW hand, so you know they are pretty tame.

Many, many GV rooms that I noticed had no obstructions at all in front of the patio rooms, but if you want to make sure you get a view, you might try a 3rd floor room. I wouldn't suggest choosing a 2nd floor room as some buildings don't have balconies on the 2nd floor.

By the way, patio rooms are classified as both GV and LV. It has nothing to do with the patio, just the view. Hope this helps.

Aloha

Skip

 

[Tikiman]

Welcome back Skip

 

[disneyfanatic60]

Welcome back Skip and Happy belated Birthday!

We were at Poly on 5/18-5/20. We had dinner at O'hana's our first night and really enjoyed it--both the atmosphere and the food. We had an awesome time. We then headed to AKL and wished we stayed at Poly. We got back yesterday afternoon.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!!!!!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Jeeper's! I didn't realize that they had balconies and patios!

Rat's. We stayed at the BC last month because of my misinformation and didn't love it.

Which rooms have them?

We're just discussing a trip in December and I really LOVE having a cup of coffee early in the morning while my girls sleep. I'm an early riser and it is so peaceful to have that little bit of space to yourself for a half hour.

 

[disneyfanatic60]

The third floor has balconies the first floor has patios. We stayed concierge and the second floor did not have balconies but I'm not sure about the other buildings.

 

[Tikiman]

Tahiti, Tokelau and Rapa Nui have balconies on the 2nd and 3rd floor and patios on the 1st.

Aloha

Steve

 

[skipwick1]

There was one real nice touch that happened to us upon check-in.

I mentioned in my original post that we were celebrating my 50th birthday. Well, my wife had told CRO about this when she made reservations. When we got to our room, the table was set with linen tablecloth, Knives, forks, linen napkins, balloons, streamers, party hats, and a nice happy birthday cake in the center.

Needless to say, I was very surprised. What a way to start the trip. My wife and I took silly pictures of ourselves with hats on and blowing the streamers.

We have been to Disney many times, but this trip has to rank as one of the best, if not the best.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by skipwick1
My wife and I just returned from my 50th birthday trip at the Poly.
We had a wonderful time. Resort was gorgeous, Ohana's was a lot of fun, what else could I ask for?

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them.

Aloha.

Skip

We were at the Poly two weeks ago and I miss it already! I'm glad you had a good time. We did too! Did the resort give you anything special for your birthday? When we checked in the CM wished the 3 of us Happy Birthday but ours were in Feb and April. I told this to the CM and she said it was a belated wish. We went to our room and room service came up. I told her we didn't order and and she said it was from the manager. It was a chocolate birthday cake, 3 balloons, party hats, blowers, candles, and a birthday card! We were so surprised as we never mention birthdays, especially when it isn't our birthday! It really was neat and started off our vacation like no other. I can't wait to go back in October but I doubt any more surprises like that awaits us!