Just back from the Poly!

[PamNC]

Got back yesterday afternoon - back at work today but can't seem to concentrate.

We had a great stay at the Poly. We faxed a room request 2 days prior and our request was met 100%. We had a garden view in Tokelau, room 3940, overlooking the quiet pool. We could see the castle by looking to the side. Amazing! The CMs at the Poly were wonderful - we had such a great stay. The volcano pool is a blast. Great slide. It wasn't that crowded in the mornings - but got crowded in the afternoon.

We tried the Ohana Character breakfast for the first time - FANTASTIC! They play the best music...I even heard the old Tiki bird song. Great view of the castle. What a way to start the morning.

Love the Lapu Lapu!

Quick Notes/Observations:

It seems that people (guests) have gotten more rude and inconsiderate. Rushing through like there's no tomorrow! Getting up before the grand finale at Fantasmic and ruining everyone else's view. Stopping right at the entrance of the attractions and talking. We really noticed it this time - quite annoying. We try to be considerate of others but I'm afraid a lot of people don't even care.

Splash Mountain - love this attraction. I felt like it had been updated - looked fresher and brighter and the sound seemed better.

COP and Timekeeper were open! Yay!

Wonders of Life - still closed. They said they lost their sponsor. I wasn't too happy because I love Cranium Command.

Great Movie Ride - needs an update. I thought I'd never say this.

Backstage Tour - don't do it. It's horrible - Residential Street is gone because they are building a new stunt attraction (sounds like it'll be a good one!) and all you do is go through a building with maybe 2 or 3 people working in the costume area...you go in a tiny circle and look at the boneyard...stuff from movies of long ago.

We spent a lot of time in World Showcase taking in the entertainment. You must see the acrobats in China. Fantastic! We also did a lot of shopping.

All in all - we had a great time. It's sooooo hard to come back isn't it? This is our second trip this year, we went in Feb. My DH wants to go back Thanksgiving week. Not sure if we will -

Feel free to ask any questions!

PamNC

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Welcome Back!

We returned from a Resort only visit to the Poly last week....I want to go back!

 

[disnemimi]

Pam......
Sounds like you had a great trip. We are going back to the Poly in Septeber. I have been debating whether to fax a room request or not. Did you specifically ask for a certain building and room number? We stayed in Fiji last year and this year thinking about Samoa or Tokelau. I have arthritis in my knee and would really love to stay somewhere centrally located. I have hear great things about Tokelau however. Thank you.

Disnemimi

 

[Tikiman]

Welcome back Pam!!!

 

[PamNC]

Hi disnemimi - we didn't ask for a specific room number but we did ask for Tokelau and a room overlooking the quiet pool. We got it!

Tokelau is great - very convenient to everything. The GCH, TTC, and the volcano pool.

The Poly is a truly magical resort - we're hooked!

HI THERE TIKIMAN! Aren't you going soon?

PamNC

 

[Tikiman]

Yes we leave next week.

I am so excited. I just found out they are doing new designes for the rooms. They have a demo room set up with the new colors furniture and BIGGER TV!!!

So you liked Tokelau??

Aloha

Steve

 

[PamNC]

Good info Tikiman! Do you know when the refurb will start? We saw a demo room for the YC before those rooms were refreshed. It was interesting to see. I think the Poly could use some new colors, however...we love the rooms the way they are. They are HUUUGE

We loved Tokelau. It's so convenient to everything, all of the rooms have a patio or balcony, it's all non-smoking, it's perfect for us.

Oh - on Saturday mornings they have hula lessons. Lots of fun!

PamNC

 

[Tikiman]

The work to Hawaii will be sometime next year but they will only close a few rooms at a time. This is what they said would change.

“Some of the changes in the regular rooms will be the canopy above the bed will be gone, the armoire will be gone, we are getting new 27" TV's, new mattresses and there will be a desk type area in the room along with the table and 2 chairs and a few other items they are still finalizing. The colors are very different. They will have the demo rooms done soon and I will see if I can get a tour of them for you when you're here. They are planning on only closing a part of the building at a time as the rehab should not be a noisy one. There is also talk of a new sliding glass door for the future. They are installing the new door in one of the rooms here at the resort now since the door needed replacing anyway. I'll try to walk over there when it is done to see what it looks like. I was told it is a 3 piece glass that only the center piece opens. It is suppose to be lighter and easier to open and close. The sliders we have now are so big and heavy and some are very hard to open.”

These changes so far are only for the concierge rooms in Hawaii but may happen to all the rooms. No one will say yet.

Aloha

Steve

 

[puffkin]

Hi PamNC, welcome home

We were in Tokelau July 5-July 10 in room 2901. We were right next to the entry way to the building near the quiet pool. If we looked out to the side, we could see the lagoon, but a pesky group of trees conveniently blocked our view of the castle. Tokelau was a WONDERFUL location. Very convenient to everything at the resort yet quiet and no parking lot views! The map of the resort really makes it look spreadout, but I was suprised at how compact the resort actually was.

We loved our stay, it is my favorite resort! The rooms are huge! I thought the rooms could use a bit of an update (I hated the daybed pillows) and I didn't care for some of the colors but the whole resort was impeccably maintained! The monorail cannot be beat, and the bus transportation wasn't bad to the other parks. I was a little shocked when I opened the armoire and saw the tiny TV. We had stayed at Pop Century for one night on 7/4 and they have 27" TV's so the 13" seemed rather small for a deluxe. All in all we had a great stay, and I am now addicted to the Poly (though on the trip we bought into DVC at SSR so our trips to the Poly will now only be for a night or two).

Also, another comment about rude guests is how many people cram into the entrance of the Fastpass return line while they wait for their window to open up. I can't tell you how many times we had to push through a crowd of people to use our fastpasses. Drove me insane

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Welcome home! I know it is hard returning to the 'real world' again. It's better if you have another trip planned, which we don't!! I really enjoyed reading your report. We visited the Poly while resort hopping and fell in love with it. A definite must for our future trip. Your observation on fellow "guests" was right on--we encountered the same thing. I try to let it not bother me which is sometimes easier said than done. We saw the acrobats in China twice and I agree they are amazing. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Hi PamNC-I have a couple of questions about the Poly. We are having my birthday dinner (40th-UGH!) at 'Ohana's. After dinner we thought about going down to the beach to see Wishes. Can you hear the music, etc. down at the beach? Is it piped in on speakers or can you just see the fireworks, but not hear?

Also, Did you try 'Ohana's for dinner? I wondered how you felt about it. It seems to get mixed reviews here on the boards.

TIA!

 

[YCFAN]

Hi PamNC! We're also just back 7-3 thru 7-12. 'Ohana's is great and in fact was our favorite thing about the Polynesian. We didn't care for the Polynesian at all! I'll write a full trip report soon but it just isn't for us. We really didn't like the bathrooms or the rooms for that matter. They also put us in the very last room on first floor in Hawaii. Everytime we went in or out of our room the sliding door to the outside of the building opened. It was stuck open one time during a down pour and there was water all over the hall in front of our room. We also had the only LVC room that is blocked by foliage in front of the room. Lots to tell but I'll save that for the trip report. My son kept saying it reminded him of a Holiday Inn.

 

[Jen D]

Pam, thanks for your report. Glad you had a good trip. We are completely torn on whether to request a specific building or not-- we have garden view, we requested a patio or balcony, but we can't decide whether to specify a building or leave it to chance.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the resort-- and the Ohana breakfast. We're doing that on my daughter's birthday.

YCFan, sorry you didn't enjoy your trip. Usually I like reading critical reports but now I'm 65 days out and my family is very emotionally invested in trying the Polynesian, so I just have to plug up my ears and say LA LA, I'M NOT HEARING YOU, LA LA LA...

 

[tammy]

Welcome home Pam! I know how hard it is returning back to the real world. I try to tell myself that we know that we will back very soon. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't. LOL!!

It amazes me just how rude people in this society have become. It is very frustrating. Glad you had a great trip, here's hoping you can return during Thanksgiving!

 

[PamNC]

Deweysgirl - You'll love Ohana's. We didn't have dinner there during this trip but we did back in February and it's delicious. Be careful not to eat to much as it's all you can eat. The atmosphere is so much fun. It's warm, upbeat and "homey." You should also try the Kona Cafe. We had breakfast and lunch there. Of course we had Tonga Toast for breakfast. For lunch, I had the Kona Salad which was very unique. They have excellent desserts!

I like your plan of heading to the beach to watch Wishes (you'll love it!). I noticed they did pipe in the music but it's not everywhere...or at least it wasn't working everywhere. I noticed it playing along the walkways, but not on the beach. Strange because you would think they would pipe it on the beach because that's where everybody flocks to see it. It's a great place to watch it even without the music.

puffkin - I know exactly where your room was. I even know the trees you're referring to.

We loved our room - it was perfect. From the balcony you could see a beautiful tree with yellow flowers, the quiet pool and the castle from the side. Absolutely gorgeous!

I'm a Poly convert -can't imagine staying any place else.

PamNC

 

[cmcvean]

Hi PamNC, I'm so happy you love the Polynesian! I remember when you were worried before your first trip. I'm so glad you found the magic that some of us have found there!! I can't believe you have been there TWICE since the last time we have!! Good for you! I'm jealous!

Christine

 

[PamNC]

Hi Christine! So you remember how reluctant I was back in Feb - good memory. We were quite nervous about it because we strayed from the YC/BC the previous year and stayed at WL. We were so disappointed. But, in Feb when we called to get the AP discount at the Yacht or Beach...there were none so we took the Poly. Didn't expect it to be our new favorite but it certainly is. I think it truly has the Disney magic!

PamNC

 

[momshark]

I have a question...Were there 2 sinks in the Tokelau room? I am hoping to stay in that building when we go in April but I am not thrilled with the floor plan of the room because it shows only 1 sink in with the shower and the toilet is separate. The set up doesn't really make sense for a family. I also heard that not all of the Poly rooms are set up this way and that some have 2 sinks.
I will be faxing a request before we go and would like to know what I am talking about.

Also you gave your room number, but can you add a few more that may have the same view, if you know of any. Or maybe the room numbers along the same side of the building? Thanks!!!

 

[sandymac]

I just got back from the Poly also - July 2- July11. We were in Tahiti room 1037 - great view, but there was definitely a musty smell in the room. No doubt it came from the air conditioner b/c when it was off there was no smell. Anybody else have this problem???

 

[polyfan]

We have stayed in Tokelau, Samoa and Rarotonga( last week) they all had only 1 sink. We have never noticed a smell in any of the rooms. The bathrooms all had different configurations with 1 sink.

The only thing I didn't not care for this time was actually the greediness of the people handling luggage. We arrived there by Tiffany Towncar. The driver opened the doors took the luggage out of the car and then put it on the cart that the bellwomen was standing next to. She then proceeds to say to my husband- I am Vanessa- I will not be the one bringing your luggage to your room-saying this while practically having her hand out for doing nothing. Doesn't deserve a tip in my opinion.