Just Back From The POLY

[CamColt]

Let me start the POLY review by saying up until now I have been the Poly's biggest fan. In fact after our stay there last Dec I even wrote a letter of thanks to the resort, raving about just about everything. Unfortunately this trip we experienced a few minor inconveniences which started getting to us.
We checked in Wed 7/21 early morning, about 7:15. Check in was a snap and we were given our request of a balcony in the Samoa building. We got the side facing the quiet pool and I would have preferred the volcano pool, but I didnt even request that because I didnt want to be too picky. After seeing the view I was very happy. It took a couple days then I realized our view was actually the bathrooms of the quiet pool. Only at the Poly would I be happy with a bathroom view, LOL!
Our room wasnt ready and we were off for the day anyway. When we arrived back at our rooms around 5:30 we unpacked before hitting the pool. We noticed our bathroom door had to be slammed in order to stay shut, but it was no biggie. Then my mother found her toilet was dirty, the drawers in her room were dirty with crumbs and a sticky orange syrup(medicine maybe?). Also, the lock on her balcony door was broken. She called maintenance to report the lock and she had to waste pool time waiting for him. He was very nice to her and even convinced her to go to the desk and mention about the dirty drawers and toilet(we arent usually the complaining type). When she did and returned she couldnt get in her room. She had to go back to find out her key had been deactivated. That was the beginning of the key fiasco. We should have had 5 between us, but within the next couple days and a few trips to the desk we ended up with I think 14 or 15 cards...some active, some unactvie...it was a mess. It seemed like whoever was doing this wasnt sure of what they were doing and it caused problems when we tried charging in the parks and wasted time for us.
The daily maid service was fine and the rooms were cleaned as they should be we thought. But, when we were packing to check out, I saw crumbs of different foods that we hadnt eaten scattered around the room in places I hadnt looked... goldfish crackers under the day bed, potato chip crumbs between the mattress and head board, etc.... We also had another encounter with Mousekeeping when I left a note stating that the shower light had gone out. It had been out for over and day and not fixed so I just thought Id mention it. I could have lived without it. Well when I returned to our room midday to get the kids changed to their bathing suits, the maid was in the room trying to give us a new shower curtain. She didnt speak English so she didnt understand my note. Finally I pointed out the light and she told me I had to go to guest services for that(I think). I couldnt be bothered, but it did finally get changed, which was good. But, again we wasted pool time while she fooled around with the shower curtain in our room. All in all these things alone wouldnt have been a big deal at all, but it seemed to be 1 thing after another on this trip. We also had a monorail incident where it took us 1/2 hour to get back to the Poly from the MK which was an inconvenience, but not the Poly's fault.
Our biggest complaint was on our last day there, Saturday. It was the hottest day of the week, about 94 degrees. We cut our time at MK short to get back to the pool. DS loved the waterslide. About 2:30 with the pool packed, the life guard made an announcement for everyone at the waterslide line to walk down the stairs, the pool was now closed...everyone out!. They origianlly were saying they didnt know why, they were just told to close the pool, but after a while it came out that there were too many chemicals in the water. We would have understood if there was an accident in the pool or if weather closed it, but it seems like it closed due to a CM not doing their job right.
But despite these little problems, we still had a great time. We still love the theming, the pool and beach area are great, the restuarants are incredible, and the monorail access is wonderful(when it works right).
I know this posts sounds really negative, but overall our stay there was very good and we will definitely go back again....we just might like to try another deluxe first.

 

[tnkrbell]

Hey Camcolt!!
I didnt know you were back to Disney??!! (you need to live closer!!)
Sorry you had the problems you did, I guess they can happen at any resort.
Is the poly the only Deluxe you have stayed at?? Like you said maybe try another resort next time. (a reason to get planning another trip!! )

 

[CamColt]

Yep, Tinkrbell, we had to finish off our APs. This was our anniversary and DH's birthday trip.

And you are right stuff like that can happen anywhere, and Im sure it does. Its just disapointing when its one thing after another, especially at our favorite place.

We stayed at the Swan last year and I stayed at the Conteporary...but that was when I was 5, LOL! It just seems anytime we are paying the money for a deluxe, I have a hard time not going to the Poly.

 

[alien]

It's funny you mentioned the room keys. We just got home yesterday (after a second week in Florida with relatives). Stayed in GV concierge and also had to get our room keys replaced (luckily only once) because they wouldn't work on the concierge door (to get in the building) or at the entrance to the parking lot at the Polynesian.
We also had a glitch at check-in that lasted almost an hour. Not sure who's fault it was but in a nutshell, we had sent extra money to the room to have as a credit. Also had to cancel a second room (due to family illness) which was paid for by check.
I was assured (a couple of times) that the money would be a credit on our room when we got there. Actually called the day before we arrived to make sure.
When we checked in, they had no record of any money being applied as a credit. We're talking about $3200 they had of ours - about $540 we sent in extra and the $2700 or so from the extra room we cancelled.
They said that they would be sending it to us in a check. I was a little upset by that as I was told the day before that it would be a credit and I had planned to use some as spending money.
Anyway, it took a few managers and until the next morning before we actually got it straightened out.
Now, since I didn't spend that much money at Disneyworld, I'm waiting for the check of the refund!!!!
Other than that, the trip was great.

 

[mr.mike]

This sure brought back memories of our (me, wife, kids and grandma) stay in Samoa in October.

We also had sticky stuff on the floor (with the tv cabinet moved in an odd angle away from the wall to cover it), a broken security latch on patio door, and a problem with housekeeping giving us a room with broken glass on the patio, a bit of blood on bathroom wall, small hole at the bottom of one wall and unprofessional CMs. Also lost time at Halloween Party in MK and missed a PS because of waiting for CMs to respond. I must have talked to every new and /or inexperienced CMs that were there.

Like you one of things would have been annoying but all together soured our view of the Poly, Luckily The rest of the world was still great!

we also came home with about 15 room keys but this was because we moved to another room because of the glass and blood with the promsie from the Housepeeking manager to get us back into Samoa. The next day we were put back into the same room. But at least it had a better cleanign by that point.

Mike

 

[tnkrbell]

We stayed at the Swan last year and I stayed at the Conteporary...but that was when I was 5, LOL! It just seems anytime we are paying the money for a deluxe, I have a hard time not going to the Poly

Well I think you need to try out the Yacht club!! (my fave)
Well I hope you enjoyed your anniversary despite. We are suppose to go for our anniversary in Sept but not sure now if it is going to happe! Well I guess Ill just see.

 

[CamColt]

Yikes! I hope this isnt a new trend at the Poly. Up until now we have always had perfection there.

Tinkrbell, after trying YSH, I think staying at the Yacht Club would be dangerous for us. We loved it! And yes, we did have a great time(look for my trip report within the next few days). Hope you get to go in September.

 

[Sammie]

Info for future travelers.

Sometimes the problem with room keys is caused by the desk not keying them correctly sometimes it's not. The key will not work if the magnetic strip has been damaged by the guest. This can be caused by many ways including heat, being bent in a wallet or back pocket, coming contact with another magnetic strip, lying them near the demagetizing pad at the stores. Basically many things can happen to make these things not work, so sometimes it's just the nature of the beast and not the staff.

Also please report any things that don't work in your room, lights, doors, etc. to maintenance not housekeeping. Only cleaning problems should be reported to housekeeping.

As to the pool situation, this could have been the result of a pool accident, little kid type, and the staff did not want to share the real reason. It really grosses out the guests when you tell them this is the reason the pool has closed. Unless of course a lifeguard told you specifically that the reason was due to chemicals.

To the OP why did why did your Mother waste pool time waiting on maintenance, I would call and let them fix it while I was out.

 

[CamColt]

Sammie, We had just gotten in our rooms when she saw the lock was broken. She reported it because she didnt want it to look like she broke it. At first she was going to come down to the pool with us, but she decided she should stay to show him what she was talking about. It was weird, the lock latch was sort of pulled out a little and although it moved up and down, it didnt lock the door.

And you are right, there are many reasons for key cards not working. However, when my mothers didnt work for opening her door(when it did minutes earlier) and she had to get a new one, DH's then wouldnt work for charging (we were at the pool bar), because when hers was reissued they deactivated ours. Like I said, in the end we had a ton of cards, due the CM issuing them activating them and deactivating them. We had some activated that we didnt even have, which got us a bit nervous(where were they, In the trash? In someones hand?). We didnt destroy 15 cards on our own. Especially after having 5 at ASSP for 3 days and nothing happened to them.

At the pool, that was my first thought too because Ive heard of it happening, but in the end DH was told it was because of the chemicals.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

I do think this is an unlucky trend at the Poly that hopefully, will not continue much longer. I am sorry all that happened to you. I've stayed at Grand Floridian, AKL, the Yacht Club and never had any housekeeping issues. At the Boardwalk and the Swan there were odd smells in the rooms, but I was told the odor at the Boardwalk was due to being over the Flying Fish restaurant, and at the Swan it was because of a smoker (in a non-smoking room) who'd been in there before us--both things which are out of mousekeeping's control, and all of our deluxe rooms have always been perfectly clean and kept up. I am disappointed to hear about this stuff at the Poly... I want to try a stay at the Poly but housekeeping, maintenence and mold issues I keep reading about keeps me putting it off.

 

[Disney Freak Numero Uno]

Let me start by saying that I returned today and am tired so I hope that this doesn't sound too negative. Our trip to the Poly begain on 7/25. My son, his girlfriend and myself had reserved a garden view concierge room. Total cost for 5 nights was 1700. After approaching the valet desk at the front where three employees were standing, I told them that we were checking into concierge. One of them called, got the room number, handed me a map with the Hawaii building circled and pointed us in the right direction. In all of our past visits, we were driven over. Now maybe this started us off on the wrong foot. Anyway, when I got to our room on the 3rd floor, it reeked of smoke. I had asked DU to request a non-smoking room as I always do. Also, the bathroom door did not close.
After taking out my can of Lysol to clean the tv remote, I noticed that the remote had some kind of foreign material all over it. It was so disgusting, I would not touch it.
I walked down the the concierge desk and mentioned all of the above problems with the room. I was told that they could switch us to a different room the next day. In the meantime, they would send maintenance to fix the bathroom door and bring us a new remote. This was done promptly. Since I really did not want to pack up the next day, I decided that I could live with the smoking room.
Lastly, because of rain, we knew that we would be late in getting to the Fantasmic dinner package. I approached a young CM at the concierge desk and asked if she could call ahead and let them know that we were coming. Now, any concierge in a good hotel would do this for you. Since she was talking on the phone (a personal call- I know because I stood there for at least 20 minutes waiting for the rain to stop), she told me that she did not need to call - the restaurant would hold the reservation. I saw her deal with several other guests in the same manner - she just wouldn't end her conversation with her friend to help the guests.
Now I know that many of you will say that none of these problems are major ones. However, when you are paying over $350 per night for a room, these issues are unacceptable. I don't believe that we will stay at the Poly again and I don't think that I will be willing to pay so much for a concierge room.

 

[lucysdad]

Wow!! I would hate to have to deal with these annoyances on my trip! I hope the POLY gets their act back together before we get there next summer. I remember being disappointed by the POLY when we were there on the 25th anniversary of WDW. The room was dirty, trouble with billing, etc., and it really ruined our stay. We didn't go back to WDW for four years. But, then we had a wonderful stay and have been back every summer since. My husband says there are other places to go, but I disagree. If these reports keep coming out so negative, I might have to change my mind.
Lucy's Mom

 

[Mouseteacher]

Hi,CamColt - I'm sorry about your Poly experiences. I have never stayed at the Poly. I was and basically still am a CR fan and have stayed there numerous times. I always had a wonderful experience there - particularly when staying in the Tower.

For the past 3 years I have been converted to a S/D fanatic. We were at the Dolphin at the same time you were at the Poly. Our room was fantastic...Epcot view (Spaceship Earth was dead center in our view from our balcony) and we watched Illuminations each night we were in the room. The rooms were very clean as well as the bathroom. The heavenly beds are "heavenly". I am glad the Dolphin is renovating the hallways since they are in desperate need of refurb. We plan on returning next summer to stay a fourth time at S/D - our home away from home.

 

[steveanddonna]

As you can tell from my signature, we too are Poly fans. Part of its appeal is the way we have always been taken care of, but during the last few stays we have encountered some of the same annoyances other posters are mentioning. There have been housekeeping issues and check-in screw-ups, concierge CMs who were less than helpful, and one trip where turndown kept locking us out of our room by letting the security latch slam back on their way out. It's never been anything major, but they were things that shouldn't be happening anywhere, let alone at a Disney property. During the same trips we have also experienced wonderful service from many CMs like Kathy, Chef Dick, Ivette, Melissa, Marilyn... As there has been a recent management change at the Poly and they are trying to make improvements, I hope you will all write letters outlining both the things you liked and the areas that need change. IMO, Disney is one of the more responsive companies and has always answered my letters and e-mails, both critical and complimentary.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I'm really sorry about some of your experiences with the Poly. Even though most of them were minor, there were enough of them to have a less than magical trip! There seems to be more reports recently about these types of occurances at the Poly. We've been looking at trying to squeeze in a few days in September. Our first choice was the Poly but I'm really having second thoughts, especially when it comes to the amount of $$$. Maybe we should opt for the CR. Our last trip to CBR was the best ever, without ANY complaints. It's going to be hard to top that one!!

 

[Wendi]

**Note: Personal Opinion **

We have stayed at several resorts and have had "Little" oops, or
minor problems and that's fine. We have found that if you call in
the light bulbs out, broken lamp, broken remote, bad fixture you tend to be frowned on... like you are picky. We found this to be more so at the Poly sadly. When we where at the Yacht Club Concierge chatting with one of the young ladies, we got on that topic about upkeep on rooms since some guest can be very rough on the rooms. She told me that they try, but they do miss things and they try to get them fixed asap when a guest reports a problem. I can vouch for this because the Yacht and GF have been the VERY BEST at being VERY NICE when fixing problems.
However, my sour experience with the Poly was we had just checked in. We had 2 rooms lagoon view 3rd floor. We walked down to our room with our 1 1/2 year old asleep in my arms, we
got in our room and my husband pulled the sheets back so that I could put her down for a nap and we found a 1-2 foot round brown stain in the middle of the bed. He pulled down the sheets from the other bed which was fine and I layed her down. We called housekeeping and someone came very quickly (she was a few doors down still cleaning). She entered the room asking what the problem was and I showed her ~ this is where it gets nasty. She said, and I quote "What did you spill on it?" Mind you we didn't have any food of any kind with us, no luggage yet or anything. I told her "Nothing", she then replied louder "Well you had to have had something to make this stain". I got mad. I said, "Mame, we just walked into the room FEEL IT it is DRY how could we have made the stain? Please let me know! We have only been here about 5 minutes". Well, my husband went down to the desk and told them about her TELLING us that we made the mess and they sent a manager. He was nice, looked at it - felt that it was dry and even verified the "TIME" we opened the door to the present time. He took the mousekeeper out in the hall and we overheard him tell her ~ It doesn't matter WHO made the mess (and I don't believe these people did) but YOU don't accuse anyone of making a mess. Messes do happen ~ YOU just need to clean it a make the guest happy. He came in appologized and said that the bed would be remade in a minute and enjoy our stay. He left and she was out at her cart getting the linens, she then returned to the room and looked at us with a sour look on her face and said "Well, THANK YOU for getting me in trouble" and mumbled something in a foreign language under her breath. I just think that for $400 dollars a night, they shouldn't have an attitude despite what they want to assume. We where VERY POLITE with everyone, but that was just the beginning of our stay and it soured our opinion about the Poly. Things happen for Different reasons, and even though some people will be quick to say the the "Person Posting" created the problem, IT'S NOT always. Face it, the cm's do deal with TONS of GUESTS every day.
Some are not nice, they may be having a bad day. BUT! if someone is being nice and happens to have a problem you don't accuse them of creating the problem. What if an accident did happen and I did make the mess ~ would I have to go clean the rest of her rooms for her to make up for my accident! Get real. If they don't like dealing with the people or get tired of it ~ get transfered to another resort or another job.

Just our .02 cents. We only found the treatment for repairs bad at the Poly.. I really like the resort and wanted to love it like so many of you guys do, but we had more problems than that on that stay so it will be a while before we try the Poly again.

Sorry Tikiman! We all do realize it can happen to anyone at any resort. By NO MEANS did it ruin our stay, it just soured our opinion of the resort.

Wendi

 

[tnkrbell]

Tinkrbell, after trying YSH, I think staying at the Yacht Club would be dangerous for us. We loved it! And yes, we did have a great time(look for my trip report within the next few days). Hope you get to go in September.

Yes it is unfortunately we only want to be there~!! Even when we stayed at the beach club we wanted to be at the Yacht.
Did you love Yachtsman???? Im so glad you got to go!!!
We will celebrate our anniversary there also!!!
you know I always think of the poster coyte do you remeber him?? They said Mariah Carey goes there any time she is in town it is her fave resteraunt!! And you knwo she can go anywhere.
Well happy planning!! you must start planning a new trip, you have your passes till sept dont you????

 

[genmasjoy]

We are booked at the Poly for one night, our anniversary, Aug. 28. I had wanted to go to CR but my DH loves the Poly, so I said ok. Hearing this makes me wonder.....we last stayed at the Poly on Easter weekend in 2002 and had a great time, so hopefully we will this time too. We like the convenience of being on the monorail, enjoy the lagoon view, and like walking out to the dock at night to see the MK fireworks.

 

[steveanddonna]

We like the convenience of being on the monorail, enjoy the lagoon view, and like walking out to the dock at night to see the MK fireworks

All those things are still the same, so don't second guess yourself. You will have a wonderful time. There's always a chance of having problems at any resort, and perhaps the Poly has had more than its share lately, but it will just aggravate and stress you if you worry about it. If you anticipate problems you'll start noticing every little bug and annoyance, so anticipate a magical time instead.

 

[CamColt]

Ditto SteveandDonna! We have stayed at the Poly quite a few times and never had anything like this happen before. And like I said these little things in themselves were nothing major(I didnt even care about the lightbulb, I just thought I was doing them a favor pointing it out since the maid didnt notice it the previous days while washing the tub). If 1 thing had happened I probably wouldnt have hardly noticed. Like the bathroom door was nothing at all when we first got there. But after the course of a few days, wasting time here, wasting time there, this little thing, that little thing, it did start to add up.

Wendi, that incident is inexcusable! Yikes! But, at least the manager handled it well. And I have to say even in mentioning these things at the Poly, we never felt we were being looked at as pickey. Everyone was very accomodating and friendly. They actually made it hard to get annoyed.

Tnkrbell, it was an absolutely amazing meal(did you read my diing reviews?). WOW...is all I can say. What every happened to cotye? Hes an old time Diser not around anymore.