Just back from the Polynesian

[zulaya]

We just returned yesterday from a week at the Polynesian. We were assigned to Rapa Nui, rooms 3123 and 3124, which were connecting.

One thing to let you all know is that your room preferences mean little if you aren't a cruise line guest. I check in on Dec 4 - Weds. I had faxed in my preferences - connecting rooms, Tokelau, first floor. I understand that if that isn't available, I get what I get.

Anyway, when they told me Rapa Nui, I politely asked, were there any rooms in Tokelau? The front desk person checked and said, well, yes, but there are cruise line guests arrriving tomorrow who want those rooms so we have those rooms already blocked out for them.

This made me feel like I was a second class citizen, becasue I wasn't a cruiser, I couldn't receive my request. I guess I would have hoped that you accomodate guests AS THEY ARRIVE. Needless to say, I felt terrible, like my party wasn't good enough because I wasn't paying for a cruise. It's not that Rapa Nui wasn't good enough - it was just fine, a little farther away that I had hoped, but we dealt with it and had no problems.

We got to our rooms, and no sign of the infamous smell or any freshener trying to disguise it. The rooms were very large and we had a nice view out our balcony, but we hardly ever used it.

Just some odd observations. Both rooms had completely different thermostats. My in-laws room had a thermostat that could be set to heat or a/c and mine only had low, medium, high and off. And the TVs had completely different remotes and my TV got about 5 more channels than my in-laws. Not a complaint, just thought it was weird that the rooms had such different equipment.

Got to see the fireworks and EWP. Saw most of the fireworks from our balcony, although, I am sure we missed some too.

Ate at 'Ohana, Kona and Cap. Cook's throughout the stay.

Let me know if you have questions.

 

[JulesMom]

I can't believe they told you they were saving those rooms for someone else!

We have wanted to stay at the Poly for a long time! Hopefully, we will get to stay a few days in June.

Did you go swimming?

 

[Lisa3]

We also just returned from our first stay at the Poly. I did get two out of three of my requests (1st floor, Tokelau) but also asked to be closer to the beach end of the building. Was put at the last room at the opposite end. Two out of three isn't bad and it had a very nice garden view.

I was however a little disappointed when I tried to extend out trip one more night and was told that they were completely booked and that even if something did open up I would have to pay rack rates. I explained that we were nervous driving up through the Carolinas after the ice storm and thought they would at least make an effort to find us other accomodations at another resort but no offer of help was forthcoming - just "Sorry, we're booked".

The kids were looking forward to what would be done by housekeeping with their animals like our last trip to Dixie Landings but again even with a generous tip every day no towel animals or surprises (in fact one day they were left in a heap on one of the chairs). I know this is not a given but the kids were a little disappointed.

While the Poly is beautiful and I would stay there again, I also felt like since I had booked a garden view, AP rate room that I wasn't one of the "special" guests who pay more for their rooms.

I did expect a little more from a "deluxe".

 

[zulaya]

We swam all but one day. Friday, it was rainy and windy. The wind coming off the lagoon comes right over the Volcano pool. And while we are from MN and any weather is better than what we have, that wind was brisk and I didn't want my kids getting a cold.

The pool is heated to 84 degrees, according to the lifeguards. Wasn't crowded when we swam but we tended to swim in the afternoon. My kids are 6 and 7 and loved the slide once they tried it. My DD is 6 and wasn't sure - she's a cautious one - but she was loving it! You could hear her coming down the slide...she yelled, "Yahooooo! Yahooo!" Every time she was coming down the slide.

About the pool, if you are looking for a little back massage, head over the where the stream enters the pool. There is a ledge to sit on and you can sit yourself in front of the jets and it's perfect for a back massage.

We did enjoy the Polynesian Resort very much. My in-laws were very impressed. They loved the whole look and feel of the place. One nice thing about being in Rapa Nui, was that we had our own parking lot outside the front entrance of the longhouse. Didn't have to trek far at all to the van.

And the gate guards, whenever we can back in, always said "Welcome Home." We all loved that.

 

[Misti]

Welcome home and thanks for posting. Sorry to hear about the encounter you had with the front desk. Hope it didn't spoil your impression of the Polynesian.

 

[Soccer Princess]

Sorry to hear about that..we just got back from the Polynesian as well. We did recieve our faxed request, however it was for Fiji, not Tokelau. We loved it!

 

[zulaya]

We did still like the Polynesian very much. It just soured me that first day, especially since I was trying to give my in-laws the best I could, since I had no idea if they would ever return. The grounds were lovely, the beach fun, according to my DD who dug a little there, and the pool fantastic.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Welcome home. Sorry to hear about your front desk experience --- that's horrible that they told you they were holding those rooms for cruise line guests. I think I probably would have insisted in being put in one of those rooms just for the pure fact that they told you that, instead of just saying that Tokelau was full. Of course, that's just me.

 

[smjj]

We got back the 7th. We stayed 3 nights at POR and like it quite a bit then transferred to the Poly from the 3rd to the 7th. I sent my request in for a garden view non-smoking and boy were we surprised when we got there. I had mentioned it was our 30th wedding anniversary in my request. We were escored to Tokelau were we got room 3913(next to last room from the end towards the lake). It looked out over Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian and you could see the castle. There was a palm tree partically blocking our 3 floor view but it was great double sinks and all. They even had a rose and a nice note congradulating us on our anniversary. It was a great trip. This has always been my wife's favorite. I liked POR very much, but it just does not compare to the Poly, now my favorite also...smjj

 

[srsmom]

Sorry to hear about those rude casts, to think non-cruisers need less of the best! Would like some info on comparing AKL to Poly, we have ressies for both. I stayed at AKL and loved it but have nothing to compare it to, it was my first visit. We have ressies for 2 nights at AKL and 3 nights at the Poly, and are unsure about this. Can anyone compare the Somoa to the Tokelau 1st floor(including pool locations, monorail) because it may be a little tough with 3 small children to lug around! I hear one of the longhouses 1st floor is located steps away from one of the pools and also have larger newer rooms with double sinks?? Please help!

 

[Daisymeo]

srsmom,
Samoa is very close to the volcano pool but is a smoking building. Tokelau is very close to the quiet pool and is nonsmoking. Other buildings that are very close to the pools are Hawaii (concierge), Nuie, and Rarotonga. Really the Polynesian is not that spread out and all the buildings are within a few minutes walk to the pools or the GCH and monorail. I have stayed in both Tokelau and Aeotorea and really liked them both but have to say I liked being on the Tokelau side a little better because it was closer to the Epcot monorail. Next year I would like to try Fiji just for something different. Enjoy your visit! I have visited AKL but never stayed there. I think that with 3 small children you will really like the Poly. I like all the options it has for transportation. It is very easy to get anywhere from the Poly.

 

[Tikiman]

It sounds like you still enjoyed the Polynesian but am I the only one who does not think the front desk person was not rude? It may be perception here. When you told me the story (and I have seen this happen) I figured that the guests from the cruise had their request in before you and they were nice enough to not let someone else come in and take it. I know it is usually the opposite for people coming off the cruise. They usually get what is left. I don’t think the CM was implying that they were better than you because they were on a cruise but just that they happen to be coming from the cruise. They do their best to fill requests and it sounds to me they were trying to keep someone from taking their room. I would be happy if someone was looking out for my requests. Sorry if I start a big discussion about this. I guess I just see it different. I am glad you still had a good time. I don’t see anything that would have upset me.

Aloha

Steve

 

[mrsapalm]

I have to agree with Tikiman... aren't the cruise rooms very specific in terms of pairing the land rooms with their sea rooms? It's sort of a package thing - you get x kind of cabin on the boat that corresponds with x kind of room in x resort.
So, since yours was only a request and not a guaranteed assignment, I don't think it was wrong of them to not grant you your request. I really hope that you don't look down on that kind of procedure - there may be some rules/package deals/something that you might not know about that would hinder your request being granted.
But I hope that your stay really was nice - we are leaving tomorrow to stay at the Polynesian for 7 nights and are really looking forward to it.
-MrsAPalm

 

[Misti]

Originally posted by mrsapalm
I have to agree with Tikiman... aren't the cruise rooms very specific in terms of pairing the land rooms with their sea rooms? It's sort of a package thing - you get x kind of cabin on the boat that corresponds with x kind of room in x resort.
-MrsAPalm

For land/sea vacations, you aren't guaranteed a specific room category. In fact, you are usually reserved the lowest Deluxe category and then anything else would be a request. For example, Cat's 4 through 7 give you a choice of Disney's Beach Club, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge or Swan/Dolphin. You are booked into a Standard View/ Garden View at these resorts. Other room types/views would be by request. Since most of Tokelau is considered Garden View, the category was the same. The only thing that I could think of is that Disney maybe groups all of the cruise line guests together and assigns them in the same area (hence the "block")? I know that on the day of the cruise, they have to gather all the luggage so keeping guests in the same area would be most efficient. For our April cruise, practically every room around us had luggage pick-up for cruise line on check-out day. And, we were in Tokelau come to think of it.

In terms of who had the request "first" so to speak--I'm not sure how that works. I know zulaya had this trip planned for about a year now though.

Cat's 8 though 12 are paired with the Moderate resorts.

 

[Tikiman]

I was not thinking that the cruise made any difference. It sounded to me like the CM was just describing the guests as cruise guests and that it had nothing to do with honoring the request over someone else. We don’t even know if the CM knew the people and was helping them get their room. All I am saying is that I never expect a request to be honored and it not always is but I don’t have a problem with that at all. I am sure they have their reasons for who the give requests to and try their best to give them to everyone they can. To tell you the truth I have never even sent in a request other than when they know we are going they try to give us the room we have had for the last few years. The other times I have gone I just get what I get. I think maybe the request thing is getting to the point where people (not talking about zulaya specifically) think they can just reserve a building or room. Disney tries to do special things and grant request but unfortunately it has backfired and people are upset when they don’t get everything they want.

I know someone will get upset at these comments and I am sorry but I just hear way too many complaints that the Polynesian sucked because they did not give them towel animals or something dumb like that. None of this is directed at zulaya and I am sorry for venting on your posting.

My only point to zulaya may be that cruise guests don’t get treated better than regular guests at the Polynesian because they paid for a cruise.

The bottom line is that it sounds like you had a great trip and I don't think everyone has to apologize for the Polynesian.

Steve

 

[zulaya]

I researched how you send in a request both here on the DIS and on wdwig.com

All parties pretty much agreed on when to send in your request, which was 4 days prior to your check-in day, which for me was November 30 - again, one day earlier than the cruise line people would be told to send their requests. I also went the extra mile and called the Polynesian directly to see when the room assignor would prefer I fax my requests prior to my check-in day. They confirmed November 30 would be the best day. I faxed my request on that day at around 8:30am CST, which is 9:30 at the Polynesian. So I suppose it is possible that someone from the cruise line faxed in requests before me. However, I find it difficult to believe that so many cruise line members faxed in that early as Tokelau is the largest longhouse.

I am just going by what the front desk cast member said. She said that she couldn't accomodate me in Tokelau because they were holding those rooms for people on the cruise. I can understand wanting to keep cruise line people together for luggage purposes, but I still came out of that situation feeling that my party's requests were not considered because we weren't with the cruise line. A more diplomatic way to have handled that situation was just to have informed me that Tokelau was already full and to leave it at that. I didn't need to know that they were being held for the cruisers; I would not have felt the way I did - I most likely would have been a little disappointed but have accepted it easier and moved on. As I said, it made me feel like an inferior guest.

 

[mrsapalm]

Thanks to Misti for clearing up what I was trying to say - I really didn't want to give the wrong info so I appreciate you helping me out!
This isn't meant as a direct attack, but it hearkens back to the Great Towel Animal Debate of a couple of months ago.... there are things that are nice perks when they happen, but they aren't ever guarantees. I just pretend like I don't know about them and *if* they happen to occur, then yay for me. But if they don't, then I won't ever give it a second thought or blame someone or be disappointed.
So, I won't continue to beat a dead horse here...
thank you for posting your comments zulaya and I hope your next trip is a fun, wonderful vacation.
-MrsAPalm

 

[tnkrbell]

I understand Zulaya's point, but I also agree with Tikiman, These other guests may have made their request before hers,(Maybe by an hour who knows)
It sounds like Zulaya still had a great time and Im happy to hear it (Im going to my first trip to the poly in a couple weeks )
I put in my requests in my ressies and then followed up yesterday in an e-mail. Im getting pretty excited after reading all the info here!!

 

[CuteKatCar]

Sorry to hear you didn't get your request. Whenever we go, I fax my request. Sometimes we get it, and sometimes we don't. One year we switched hotels and I walked my request over to the Contemporary, but it wasn't honored. Oh, well. I chalk it up to the luck of the draw. That was a few years ago, when requests weren't even discussed as much as they are now.

I have been on these boards since 1998 and every best kept secret is out. There's no such thing anymore. I can't imagine how many room requests WDW must get now. On our next trip, I'll fax my request, but I certainly don't have my hopes up at all. If you go expecting NOT to get your request, then you'll be pleasantly surprised when you do.

I'm looking forward to our first stay at the Poly and I can just tell (from Tikiman's wonderful website) that we will just *love* it!! I can't wait. 5 months to go.

One year during our vacation in Lake George, NY (great place, by the way), it rained almost every day. I was extremely disappointed. My husband (forever the optimist) said "A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work". Which is sooooo true!!! Happy Holidays.

Anna

 

[dmfuru]

A request is a request. Nothing more.