Just Back...GV Poly Concierge(June8-18)

[PLibster]

We are back from a wonderful vacation at the Poly!! Here is some info on my trip, if you have any questions, I will try and answer.
Room: GV 1st floor 1009
GV Lounge: Little small, but nice. I met Chef Dick, such a nice man! The snacks were wonderful!
Dinner at Ohana's: Great food and will do it again!
Dinner at San Angel: Try to go every year, love this place!
Lunch at Le Ceiller: Nice and cool, great food and service!
Dinner at Beaches & Cream: Busy, but worth the wait!
Lapu Lapu: WOW what a drink!
Cirque du Soleil: I was amazed, this show is worth the money!
Neverland Club: DS7 and DD5 went 3 times, wanted to go more
Fantasmic!: I finally did it! I can't believe I waited this long!

Also, I met Tess from these boards!

 

[tammydel]

Hi!

Glad to here you had a good trip. I will be at the Poly Concierge 7/25-8/1. I want to know everything!
Let's see where to start.... How was you Garden View? I see you had 1st floor, I'm wondering if that would be a good choice for my 5 and 6 year old crowd. Maybe they could have the patio area to play. Is it such that there is grass after the patio where they also play?
Did the concierge staff seem to have settled into Tahiti? Did you make use of the staff for any services like PS and how did it go?

Mostly, was it wonderful?!? Because I really like imagining how wonderful it is going to be......
Thanks for any info.
By the way - Beaches N Cream is a favorite of mine (DVC @BCV Owner) What did you have? For dessert of course?

 

[PoohBWV]

What's in a Lapu Lapu?

 

[TarraLee]

TammyDel,
We will be at the poly the same time as you will be! Uncle Scar has same dates too. We have a 5 yr old (boy) and almost 6 year old (girl) with us, maybe we'll see you by the awesome pool!

Can't wait to see the beautiful Poly. We are not concierge, just GV, but will ask about the upgrade (how much, not free, I know) at check-in. Love hearing more and more about the Poly as the trip gets closer, so thanks for posting OP.

tarralee

 

[PLibster]

Tammydel... We loved having the 1st floor. Every morning we just opened the glass door and the kids would feed all the wildlife. Yes, there is grass right pass the patio. Plenty of room to run around. The staff had finally settled in by the middle of our trip. We had some nights that they ran out of food and we spoke to staff about it and they said that they had a full house and were not prepared for it. By the 4th night, everything was fine. One night we decided to go eat at San Angel's, so I went upstairs at 5pm and asked if we could get a PS for that night. Phil got us in at 6:15pm. Also, got the kids into Neverland club for us that night. Also, at night my kids like to drink milk and all I had to do was ask and the CM's would take care of us.
We loved watching the EWP and fireworks from the beach. The pools were very refreshing. The slide was fast! I had such a wonderful trip. I am already trying to plan our next Poly trip!!!
Oh, at Beaches N Cream my husband tried one of the burgers and said it was one of the best he ever had. The kids had vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. We saw the strawberry shortcake and it looked devine!

PoohBWV... I don't know what all is in that drink, but it will knock your socks off! Its cool, they serve it in a pineapple.

 

[Tikiman]

Lapu Lapu Tropical fruit juices and Myers dark rum served in a fresh pineapple topped w/ Bacardi 151

Aloha and welcome home.

Steve

 

[PLibster]

Thanks Tikiman! By the way I told Chef Dick I would tell you hello from the Poly. He says you and your wife are great people. We only got to see Chef Dick twice because he left to go on vacation. He will be back next week. Jon Garcia spoke of you,too. Jon was super nice. I told him I couldn't wait until Hawaii Concierge was up and running. We are already planning our next visit. I saw that the whole bottom floors were taken out of the rooms on the first floor. They were also taking out old AC units. Jon said that right now they are on schedule!

 

[Uncle Scar]

Man I love hearing these reports!

I'm so excited about getting there! I'm really glad to hear that the concierge is still a good experience in their temporary building.

We're counting down the days, 36 to go.

The boys want to get some Water Mice this time, so we'll probably have to do it.

WDW here we come.

 

[Tikiman]

Mahalo PLibster,

It is always good to hear from the staff at the Polynesian.

I just pictured our room in Hawaii gutted Well I guess when we return it will be better than before.

Aloha

Steve

 

[LorieDisneyLover]

tammydel,

Wow, it seems quite a few of us will be at Polynesiains conceirge at the end of July.

We arrive on the 25th, too! This is our third stay at the Poly Conceirge -- you will love the first floor. We have an almost 5 year old, 6 year old and a 7 year old. I love being able to sit out on the patio and allowing them to run around and play for a while. They truly enjoy it.

I'm sure will see each other there. My kids can't wait ... we're counting the days.

Lorie

 

[kkozma]

Add me and mine to the list-GV Poly Concierge 7/27 thru 8/3. Requested first floor non smoking. My kids will be the old ones(12 and 14) who still act like their 5 and 7(thank goodness). We can't wait and love to hear all these reports...

 

[TarraLee]

Yeah! I love reading about the Poly. Right now we are not booked for Concierge, but you are all making me think twice about it....

would it be a good deal for us? (We are me, a 14 yo, a 5 yo, a 6 yo, and the DH for a couple days over the weekend.)

What all does concierge include?

How much price difference is there bt GV and GVC? This is my first on-site trip, my first Poly trip, and the kids' first ever trip- I know so little about the Disney resorts, but this board is so wonderful.

Tikiman- love your site! sent the address to the 14yo, and he loves it too! we just can't wait....36 more days!

TIA,
tarralee

 

[Disney Dude]

Where do you get a Lapu Lapu?
Any bar in the resort?
I want one now! They sound great!

 

[Mike_in_FL]

We will be at AKL concierge Aug 1-3, and the Poly concierge Aug 3-6. I must admit I was pretty disappointed to find out that the Hawaii building was going to be out of commission this summer. We stay every year to celebrate our wedding anniversary and we love that lounge and the whole atmosphere! I am not looking forward to breaking the news to our kids (7, 4 and 20 mos). I therefore appreciate hearing from those who have been to Tahiti and have positive reports.

Aloha!
Mike

 

[Uncle Scar]

TarraLee,

I believe the Concierge is about $90 more per night.

Some of the benefits are:
- Access to Concierge staff to assist with your stay, make for Priority Seatings and be a dedicated Guest Services for you.
- Some shows have special seating areas for Concierge guests, like the Luau. Also sometimes Concierge can get PS or reservations, to "booked" dinners/shows.
- Nightly turn down services, with a light bathroom cleaning in the evenings. Great for when you take an afternoon shower before dinner.
- Food is provided in the lounge. Continental Breakfast, snacks during the day and hot "finger foods" at night. Bottled water, wine, beer, soft drinks, etc...

The food and drinks make it valuable to us. We eat breakfast and lunch there, then spend our money on dinner. Also, grabbing bottled water before hitting the parks is a great convenience and money saver.

You'll need to decide if it's worth it for you, cost vs. use.

We use the Concierge to it's full extent, so to us it's worth every penny.

 

[goofyandmore]

Steve, I booked the Polynesian concierage a year ago because of your reports and now, I can't think of anyplace else I would rather go. But I am thinking of waiting until the Hawaii building is ready. Does anyone know what the anticipated date of completion is?

Also, Steve, did you end of going to I think it was Tahiti? How did it compare with the Polynesian?

Aloha, Carolyn

 

[PLibster]

Disney Dude... We got our Lapu Lapu at the pool bar, but they also serve them at the Tambu Lounge and I believe they were serving them at Ohana's. The Pina Colada's were great also, by the way!!

Uncle Scar... I agree with the turn down service. We often took afternoon naps and showers. It was nice coming "home" to the made up beds and clean bathrooms. The kids loved getting all the mints too. They even had the daybed ready for my DD5 every night, which was nice.
Also, some of the finger foods we had were sushi, chicken and steak on a stick, pork BBQ, spring rolls, chili, and nachos. Some of the desserts were upside-down pineapple cake, strawberry cake, tarts, mousse, rasberry tarts,and cheesecake. We also had chocolate chip, oatmeal-raisin and sugar cookies. There was fruit and veggies with dip. Always plenty of water, coke, diet coke, and sprite. Also, tea, guava-orange juice and lemonade. The food alone was worth concierge to us.

Tikiman... Yes, the 1st floor looks pretty bad right now, but just think how better it will be the end of October! The bus stop is coming along too. They already have the cover up and are getting ready to pour the concrete floor.

 

[tammydel]

O.K.,
I am loving this thread!

It is really neat to hear that there are so many out there going at the same time! And with children the same age!!!! I am going with a friend and together we have my DS - 6, my DD - 5, my friend's DS - 6 and her DD - 1. Two mom's, 4 kids, 1 room, 1 week = pure Disney mayhem!!! We'll love every minute.

This is why I think having that 1st floor room with outside play access w/o going through the hotel hall might be great!

It would be fun to get the Dis Kids to play in the pool or such, maybe they can play at Neverland Club while the parents have a.... what was it called? Lapu Lapu? I loved Tikiman's site and info before, but I gotta tell you, Tikiman, I have a new respect for you coming up with the ingredients so quick. You seemed quite familiar with this drink.....

PLibster- Thank you so much for sharing your info! Also, did you use the TTC for monarail? Is there any noise from that area in Tahiti?
Everyone else - please keep posting, not many people can stand to hear me talk about my upcoming vacation anymore!

 

[TarraLee]

Uncle Scar, thanks so much for the info on concierge. I called to see about adding it to our Poly reservation, and it isn't available for our dates But the most wonderful woman I talked with, Ernestine, I think her name was, said to keep checking because it might be available soon. So, I will keep checking. I would love to add it. It was available from July 26-Aug 2, but I already bought plane tickets. Or, lagoon view concierge was available, but I didn't even ask how much that was going to be.

What does concierge offer for lunch? I'm still crossing my fingers for GVC, but will be oh-so-happy just to be at Disney, and thrilled to be at the Poly in any room!

tammydel- hope we will see you and your bunch at the pool! We have kids (well, mine are borrowed ones, but we're traveling with kids) close to the same ages. And, yes, lets keep this thread going......how many more days?????

Aloha to all!

 

[4dizfans]

I'm so jealous of all of you who will be at the Poly so soon! Our family doesn't get to make the trip until September. We can't wait. I'm looking forward to reading your trip reports when you return. Have a magical time!

Tarralee--call every morning and try to get the concierge room. We tried to book a room for my mother-in-law and were told that no more rooms were available under the FTP. My husband called every morning and finally got her a room! Yahoo!