Just got back! Any questions?

[disneyfan67]

We just walked in the door from the airport and I wanted to share a few things with everyone before I call it a night. We had 8 days of Disney and loved it! It was a excellent stay with only a few problems and the two resorts were great. The staff at AKL and the Poly took good care of me and my family.

1. We had a deluxe pool view room at AKL (Room 5454) with one queen and the bunk beds my boys were excited to see. Very nice room and a truly beautiful and impressive resort. Huge food court that was great and Boma was a interesting buffet with some great food. Didn't get to try Jiko but it was booked every night. Pool was great for my kids and was packed during the afternoon. The pool was huge and the hot tubs were big also but I thought the slide was pretty lame but you can't have it all, as my mom would say. Staff did a good job and even gave us a card for our 8th Wedding Anniversary. They got my wife's name wrong and I thought it was kind of funny but my wife didn't and I gently told the front desk of their mistake. They took care of it and the running joke was that I was married to two different women at the same time.

2.The only drawback to this resort is the transportation and I heard this from many of the guests staying there. If this resort had a monorail line it would be my first and only choice in resorts to stay at. It just took too long to get anywhere by the buses. After two days I was looking forward to moving to the Poly. Great resort but I can only give it 3 stars. Staff did a good job moving my luggage to the Poly and it was effortless.


My stay at the Poly was awesome and I loved every minute of it. I first had room 3815 in Raratonga but moved to Samoa 3603 after 2 days when more rooms became available. The view of the Volcano pool was great and I truly love staying at the Poly and the staff was just great. Ohana's was awesome and Kona was great as usual for Breakfast. The new shop is called the Tiki Boutique and will be opened May 18th and is huge! I got to take a peek inside and I talked to a engineer on the project and was impressed by it all. I was asked not to take any pictures of it and so I didn't. I will be writing a big trip report on everything and have reviews also. I'll be happy to answer any questions you can think of, so fire away!

 

[Deweysgirl]

Welcome back and thanks for the quick reviews. Glad you enjoyed your stay at AKL. A quick question or two, did you book the deluxe pool view at AKL or was it an upgrade? Also, how crowded were the parks?

Looking forward to your trip report too!

 

[disneyfan67]

Welcome back and thanks for the quick reviews. Glad you enjoyed your stay at AKL. A quick question or two, did you book the deluxe pool view at AKL or was it an upgrade? Also, how crowded were the parks?

Looking forward to your trip report too!

When I booked the room, I requested a pool view with bunk beds. When I checked in they said I was upgraded to a deluxe. It was a little bigger than a standard and had a sofa sleeper. A very nice room and the bathroom was better than the ones I had at the Poly. What a great resort to explore and stay at. Parks were great and Animal Kingdom was almost empty by noon on the 28th and the only park that was slightly crowed was MK and it was busy on the weekends. End of April is a good time to go.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Which floor were you on in the deluxe pool view? I had a pool view once and it was a perfect view...corner balcony, third floor on the end overlooking Jiko (pond was below us) and the pool out in front of us of course. I was wondering how the deluxe pool view could be any better?

We are trying the Poly on our next trip and am excited to hear about the new shop. Can you tell us more about it?

 

[232271]

In regards to Boma, was the food "strange" flavors or spicy?

might like to try this place! we are at AKL first time June 9th- 14th

 

[disneyfan67]

Which floor were you on in the deluxe pool view? I had a pool view once and it was a perfect view...corner balcony, third floor on the end overlooking Jiko (pond was below us) and the pool out in front of us of course. I was wondering how the deluxe pool view could be any better?

We are trying the Poly on our next trip and am excited to hear about the new shop. Can you tell us more about it?

I was on the 5th floor and 1 room away from being in tucked into a corner. I was overlooking the zero depth entry of the pool and could see the pool bar. I enjoyed the view and thought the room was great. It's such a shame that they don't have a monorail line to this resort because everyone who loves Disney like we do, would enjoy staying there. The resort is stunning when you first walk in and I would stay there again if they had different transportation. After staying at the Poly, I wasn't used to taking a bus to go to MK at night. It took us almost a hour to go to MK by bus. That includes the wait time for the bus to show up.

I talked to a manager last Thursday night by the fire pit outside and he told our group that Disney has looked into tying AKL into the monorail line but they estimated the cost around a BILLION DOLLARS! So I don't think the monorail will be comming to AKL anytime soon. Still it's a beautiful resort and I enjoyed staying there.

The Poly will be opening the new shop called the Tiki Boutique and it's going to be impressive!! The whole shop takes over the old conference room and the Wyland Galleries and it's huge. They have wooden Tiki statutes all over the place and the lighting fixtures are designed to flicker like they were torches. I was able to do a quick walk through and it's looks so cool! I'll bet you will love it when you go, Ladyhawke. I can't wait to go back!

 

[disneyfan67]

In regards to Boma, was the food "strange" flavors or spicy?

might like to try this place! we are at AKL first time June 9th- 14th

I think you will like it. A lot of different foods I never had tried before but they had a lot of the usual American buffet style foods like Prime Rib and Turkey, roasted chicken, etc. Some things had some spice to them but they have such a big selection I'm sure you will find something you will like. They have a lot of plain tasting foods also. My wife is a very picky eater and loved it and would like to go back. They have a great desert table also and I really liked it a lot. I really fell off my diet on this trip! LOL!!

Mara is a excellent food court and one of the biggest I've ever seen. Didn't get to try Jiko but it was always booked up solid along with Boma. I found Boma to be the most interesting place I've ever eaten in. Very Cool and I give it 4 stars!

 

[Tikiman]

Glad you had a good trip. I loved the AKL but I agree that even with them not sharing a bus the transportation was slow and was the only big negative. Sorry you missed Jiko.

Nice room you got at the Polynesian. Yes there is a new big store going in with what they are calling Island wear and things and it is called Boutiki. Lots of exciting stuff going on at the GCH. I will be sorry to see News From Polynesia go away. It has been there as long as I can remember but they needed some place to put Wyland Galleries.

Aloha

Steve

 

[3mickeys&me]

Great report!! Thanks for sharing. We leave in 6 days and will be staying at the Poly!!!

 

[disneyfan67]

Glad you had a good trip. I loved the AKL but I agree that even with them not sharing a bus the transportation was slow and was the only big negative. Sorry you missed Jiko.

Nice room you got at the Polynesian. Yes there is a new big store going in with what they are calling Island wear and things and it is called Boutiki. Lots of exciting stuff going on at the GCH. I will be sorry to see News From Polynesia go away. It has been there as long as I can remember but they needed some place to put Wyland Galleries.

Aloha

Steve

Hi, Steve.
I was really impressed by the size of the store and how they themed it inside. I only got to take a quick peek when they were setting up the fixtures and displays for the new merchandise they will be selling. They had just finished the painting and the other touch up work they needed to do. I was asked not to take any pictures by the engineer who I talked to but he answered every question I had. I wonder if they are going to expand the food court anytime soon?

The staff at the Poly was great and my family had such a good time and so did my sister and my mom. The Poly really worked her magic and I was kind of sad to leave but I had some wonderfull memories to take with me. If I'm never able to go back to WDW again at least I got to stay at the Poly three times in 4 years and I feel lucky that I did! I'll be going to have surgery on my hip in the fall and only God knows how that will turn out, so I really made the most of my trip this time. I walked around the Poly and just enjoyed the sights and sounds and had a wonderfull time. Maybe one day I'll be back but til then I'll surf the DIS boards and visit your beautifull website when I get homesick!

Eddie (Disneyfan67)

 

[Tikiman]

Captain Cook’s is going to get much bigger and I heard rumors that they will offer more but we will see. Maybe when you return to the Polynesian it will have the “new” rooms done.

Good luck with the hip.

Aloha

Steve

 

[waynedavis703]

Thanks for the quick reviews, have a question. Planning on OCT 06. want to stay at AKL, what are the alternatives in transportation to the parks?

 

[Tikiman]

All you have from AKL are busses or a rental car.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We are leaving for a six night stay in one month. How old are your kids and did they like any of the kids events planned during the week. My son I know will love the pool, but I was curious about anything else you might have done at the resort.

 

[disneyfan67]

We are leaving for a six night stay in one month. How old are your kids and did they like any of the kids events planned during the week. My son I know will love the pool, but I was curious about anything else you might have done at the resort.

My twin boys are almost 8 years old and they loved the AKL! My one son is Autistic and had no problem while he was there. They spent a ton of time in the pool and liked exploring the grounds at AKL. It's neat to see the animals late at night and sitting at the fire pit is the best even after the story telling is done! We didn't do any of the offical events but we enjoyed ourselves just the same. They march familes around the lobby in a parade and that's pretty cool also. There is so much to see at that resort and you will spend hours just walking around seeing everything. Good luck and I hope that helped and be sure to check with the front desk for the kid events and the times they have them.

 

[disneyfan67]

I just wanted to tell everyone how great the Poly staff was. When I checked in Friday they had already reserved two rooms in Raratonga right next to each other for my family and Mom and sister. When it came time for my birthday on Monday they finally had a room open up in the Somoa building facing the Volcano pool with a balcony. I was late getting down to the front desk but they still found a room for me to transfer too.They sent me a card for my birthday and even left a message wishing me happy birthday!

They honored every request I had and did a fine job in taking care of me. I got stuck on the monorail by MK because of grad night and missed a PS ressie at Trails end. I went to Ohana's around 9pm and they managed to sneak me in even though they were booked solid! Just a wonderful stay and it made me love the Poly even more! What a wonderful resort!

 

[Fizziwig]

Hi, thanks for offering to answer questions. ) I'm staying at the Poly in July. I booked a room with a garden view. Which building(s) would you recommend and facing which direction? Thanks again.

 

[disneyfan67]

Hi, thanks for offering to answer questions. ) I'm staying at the Poly in July. I booked a room with a garden view. Which building(s) would you recommend and facing which direction? Thanks again.

Try for Samoa and see if you can get a Volcano pool view room. The Quiet pool view is nice also but the Volcano view is awesome! I had 3603 and it was great. I would love to stay in 1603 through 1609 ground floor with a patio! You can just go out your door and start swiming! Go to Tikimans web site and see what rooms you might like.

www.tikiman2001.homestead.com

 

[Fizziwig]

Wonderful! This web site has everything I was looking for. Thanks!!! It's DH's and DD's first trip to WDW. I've been but not in a long time and never on-site. This is gonna be FUN!

 

[tclowe]

Disneyfan67- thanks for the great review of your stay. We are heading to WDW on Sunday night and will arrive on Monday for 2 days at Poly and then 2 days at AKL. We have ARs (said PS on the phone to CM and was gently corrected!) for Kona Cafe and Boma. After reading your posts, we are jumping for joy that we decided to split our stay at these two resorts. We have a rental car so the slow busses from AKL won't bother us.

Hope you get well soon and can have another magical vacation soon.

Cynthia