We'll DH just took the kids out for a ride so I'm going to try & fill everyone in on our trip. I know everyone is very devoted to their favorite resort so no flames please.
We arrived on 8/13 around 10ish via ME. Very smooth & well organized. I told the bellman when arriving at the Polynesian that we were staying concierge. He told me to check-in at the front desk. I knew better from reading the boards but did what I was told. Check-in was a breeze & received leis. We didn't ask for the golf cart & decided to walk over to Hawaii. After introducing ourselves & mentioning we had checked in at GCH we were told the keys are no good & would not work to get into the Hawaii bldg. No problem & they were replaced immediately & the kids were given sandpails. The room wasn't ready as I expected so they held our carryon bags & we headed to Kona for lunch & then onto Epcot. When we returned our room was ready #3513. Perfect, perfect, perfect!!!
Views all around & not a single tree blocking. Room was spotless & a duck towel in the bathroom. This was the first of 4 animals in our room everyday. I'll try to add pictures later.I don't have any complaints or problems with our stay. Frances999 just posted a great report & I agree on everything she said. Monday afternoon my DS8 lost a tooth & I had to go pick up our HDD tickets. I mentioned to Meredith about the lost tooth & if anything could be done I had left the tooth under the pillow. When we returned that night, Mickey had visited & left balloons, a signed photo & disney dollars. Mom got a present too. The famous chocolate postcard!!! My DS was so happy & told me he had mentioned to Mickey that his tooth was really loose. Mickey's his favorite so this was perfect. Tuesday was the switch over to YC. I called the bellman around 8:30 that morning & they arrived within 5 minutes to pickup our suitcases.
So after Kona for breakfast we headed to TL till 1:30. The plan was to go to DTD from there but the drivers insisted there wasn't a bus to take us
. We were tired anyway so we decided to hop a bus to YC & checkin.
Before I go on. This was our first stay onsite & I had researched the resorts for over a year (everyday on the boards too) to find the perfect place to stay for our family. I changed my reservations to many times to count. After being so torn between a Monorail & Epcot resort, we had decided to split the stay & experience both.
Now keep in mind at Polynesian everyone from the mousekeepers to the concierge staff & groundskeepers would always great you with an Aloha. The kids got such a kick out of saying it back + as I said the Polynesian was perfect.
We arrived at the YC & headed toward the lobby. You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. Right away I'm trying to hush my kids. We went up to the front desk. There are no fewer than 4 castmembers behind it. No one looked up & no one asked if we needed help so I walked up & told them we were checking in. They looked up our name & gave us our room cards (no conversation at all). I asked what our view was & was curtly told "garden view". At this point I'm still optimistic. I had read here the YC is quiet & more refined than BC.
So as we try to find our room we pass several mousekeepers in the hallway. Not a one says hello. We found our room & while it was clean when we opened the balcony doors we were directly over the roof. I know, I paid for a standard view so this could happen. I was just so disappointed after viewing the castle the past 4 days. So then my DH sends my DS12 to get some ice & it was taking awhile for him to come back so I went to look for him. After looking all over the forth floor & passing a castmember 2x he asked me if everything is allright. I say "no, I think my son is lost" his response was "oh" & walked away. So now I'm getting frantic & literally running the hallways I finally find him. He said someone told him he had to go to the 2nd floor for ice. (I saw the machine on the 4th he was just confused). We made our way back to the room & I start crying quietly. It's hard to describe to all of you but I'm a normally very happy & positive person. It's not in my nature to get so upset. My chest actually hurt. My DH asked if I want to try & go back to the Polynesian but the planner that I am told him its not possible (AR's & parks) so we decide to try to switch to BC. I called YC front desk & explained what I wanted to do. They said they would call over to BC & did not offer another room.
Sorry this is so long but all of this went on for hours.
Anyway we waited by the phone in our room & after 30 minutes decide just to go down to the front desk. A compassionate cast member named Kevin helped us & I truly feel he understood how I felt. He arranged for a room at BC & even upgraded us to a water view since the standard views were sold out.
Ok now the clouds are clearing & the day is getting brighter.
We walk over to BC & are greeted by Teena (another great castmember). There are children watching TV & laughing. At the entrance a castmember is handing our balloons. What a difference a 5 minute walk makes. She cuts our keys & walks with us to our room on the 4th fl. Only one problem, we all walk in & 2 people are napping in their beds
Teena calls down & we're assigned a room on the 2nd floor. We walk in great room full balcony & perfect view of the boardwalk then my DD asked what is wrong with the closet door (it's broken & kindof sideways). We'll Teena inspects & states it can not be fixed easily so she once again calls down & we are assigned room #3 on the 4th floor. Great room #4561 great view. Downside it has a standing balcony (longers than those on the 3rd fl though) my DH & I don't care at this point as it's now 5:00 & they did upgrade us to water view. So Teena tells us not to leave the room as the computers are down & we won't have keys. Ok but our AR at CMC is for 5:30. Ok keys arrive at 5:20 & luggage at 5:25. I forgot to mention the luggage was not at YC when we left at 3:00 so they called Polynesian & had them deliver it to BC instead.
When we returned from dinner there was an autographed picture of Mickey & friends with balloons & they best part new keys with concierge access to the 5th floor! This was very generous of BC. I know they didn't need to do this & it went beyond what I would have ever expected them to do. It was my decision to switch so I was very grateful for the pixie dust.
The rest of the stay is uneventful & 1 day mousekeeping didn't clean the room.We didn't make use of the lounge too much as it was really far from our room & was closed a few times when we stopped by. The Polynesian never closes during the day.
Last day
I asked & received a 1:00 checkout. We called Bell services around 8:00 & go down to the lobby to get our boarding passes. Very organized again. Then we head over to Spoodles & have the best breakfast & service of the week & decide to head over to MK to see the castle one more time. I still had our boarding passes & didn't want to bring them to the park so I went back upstairs & put them in our carryon bag. I also closed up both bags & put them near the door along with a disney shopping bag full of characters waiting to go to their new home.
When we come back around 12ish we decide to use our last 4 Q&C at BC so we go up to the room to get our bags & look at the room one last time since the bus was coming at 1:30. We arrive & a mousekeeper is in our room & the bags are missing. She tells us she thought we forgot them & had them picked up. I called the front desk who tell me to call bell services. They say to go to lunch & they will find them. We'll we have a bus to catch & who can relax or for that matter eat until they are found. I tell my DH to take the kids to the arcade & I go down to the front desk. I explained everything again. They checked lost & found, bell storage & with the head of mousekeeping & they bags can not be found. To say I was upset was an understatement. Who wants to spend there last moments at Disney like this! At 1:25 a man comes our from behind the desk carrying my bags. He apologizes & agrees with me that he clearly states on the computer a 1:00 checkout & that the mousekeeper is not suppossed to remove our bags without us being there.
So no lunch we get on the bus & it's Nathan's & McD's at the airport (yuck)
Ok end of story. As always would love some feedback. Thanks.
Glad to hear you felt LVC was so worth it! ( We started out GVC but decided to go crazy and book LVC!)Thanks!
Welcome back. When you get a chance, you'll have to fill us in on what went wrong at the YC and BC. We did the YC last December and it was okay. I missed seeing the castle though and SAB made me a bit nervous. It was difficult to keep track of my 8 year old and a pain to keep walking her back and forth the slide entrance. 
Having been through something similar a long time ago, I understand completely how you felt at that moment. 
Of course, I can't float the LVC bill every time we go, either. So, the only way to do the Poly is LVC.
