Wow so many replies! LOL I'll start with the last question first and try to get everybody in hopefully I won't miss anyone.
The rooms are not dark at all. There is ample daylight (was in our room anyway) when the curtains are open, there were two lamps (a tall floor lamp and a lamp on the dresser)
and mounted lights with dimmers (very nice touch) on either side of each queen bed. There are also lights in the closets (with the paneling there it looks amazing!) and over the coffee maker/fridge area.
There was like a 'bar' of built in electrical outlets by the desk area so we could all charge our phones at once. The fridge was very handy to have. The blow dryer was a REAL one- not a hotel one and worked great, we used it every single day.
I found our bathing suits took forever to dry on the line and next time would plan to bring a rack or something to dry them outside on the balcony instead.
The room itself was very spacious. I'm sorry I don't have pictures, I got really sick halfway through the trip (unfortunately husband and daughter followed but I got the worst of it due to my bad health in general). Someone must've coughed on us in the parks during the first few days of our trip because I was meticulous with hand sanitizer and also chlorox wiping things in the room when we arrived.
For the bed-bug phobic among us (and you know who you are, I am too! LOL) I did the 'bed check' on arrival and we had no signs of a single bug of ANY sort in our room at all. I am VERY PICKY clean (i don't mean to shout, but I am a freak about it) and housekeeping was perfect. Spotless linens, The tub was shiny, room spotless and squeaky clean (countertops, etc.) only tiny imperfection in the room was a tear in the bathroom wallpaper which I have to remember to call them about as I was so beat when we checked out I forgot to tell them. It was there when we checked in.
I forget our exact room number but it was in the 3940's on the side facing the quiet pool.
Volcano pool did get VERY crowded during the days. We never swam at night, planned to but ended up doing EMH in the MK instead which was great. We also saw Wishes several times and Illuminations twice (my favorite)
The food court (Capn Cooks) was very well attended to- but can I just say that people are generally slobs? There are trash cans every two feet, do you have to leave your tray on the table??? Also, PLEASE do NOT sneeze into the plastic silverware bin! If you need to sneeze, turn away! Yes I saw it happen. My husband and I both agreed that we will save our take-out, pre wrapped utensils up and take them along next trip. I will also recommend to Disney that all silverware should be wrapped- they have wrapped spoons in MK why not everywhere else? Simple, cost. But it's money they should spend.
Another aside, doesn't anyone teach their kids to cover their mouths when the sneeze or cough? I saw so many teenagers and kids old enough to know better doing it this trip for as low as crowds were- my husband and I both agreed we have never seen a sicker group of people in our lives.
Almost everyone was coughing and hacking and snorky stuffy- it was unavoidable that we would end up sick as days went on. Only thing I didn't do was remember to take Airborne before going into the parks, maybe that would've helped.
We actually spent more time in the quiet pool than the Volcano pool and found it so relaxing. The water was warm and sparkling clean but very chlorinated and my husband and daughter both needed to buy goggles so if you have them, bring them cause they'll cost you 15 dollars at Boutiki. Another sticker shocker= shopping bags are now 6.95 each!!!!
I actually got one morning to myself and lay on a lounger by the pool in the shade, swam a little, and just completely and totally unwound. As far as relaxing, I can't imagine a more relaxation friendly resort than Poly. But I think it depends on your expectations too.
I know cause one lady was coming into Tokelau with her family during our trip, leis and all and she was just so unhappy. She was saying " I'm frustrated they said when I asked that it'd be no problem but here we are" apparently she didn't get the building she wanted.
We didn't specify a building request but CRO did know that we had two special-needs people in our party, maybe they noted that on our ressie and that was why they gave us Tokelau. But after touring the resort extensively I have to say that if I'd been asked to choose, I'd have chosen our exact location!
Dad did need to do one load of laundry and we timed it well- Saturday morning and half the machines were empty. But that changed in one moment later because a lady came in with huge amounts of laundry including towels from home! So we were lucky in that respect. It took awhile to run the load thru wash and dry but dad was happy to read and wait for his clothes while we went and grabbed some breakfast for us all.
No towel animals, but then we've only gotten them on 2 past trips out of more than 40 family WDW trips in my lifetime. Yes, we did tip the maid daily- my daughter wrote out special little envelopes herself. So I don't think it's tip related. They always honored our requests for extra towels and we got so many bath products!
Speaking of which, the bath products are wonderful! We have about as varied hair types as you can- dad's is fine, husbands is course/curly and thick, daughter's is straight/thick and mine is heavy and color treated (shh don't tell anyone LOL) and we all loved the shampoo and conditioner. The shower gel is great too but goes fast for some reason with 4 people using it. the new towels were rolled out while we were there and WOW what a difference. When we got the new towels it really did feel like a luxury resort even more.
We didn't try room service but saw a lot of people who seemed to repeatedly (trays outside their doors) so I bet it's good.
Captain Cooks gets very crazy at mealtimes and right before the counter service closes, be advised!!! Be aware too that the only snacks they have at the pool bar are chips so if you want food for the pool you have to shlep down to Cooks. Poolside virgin strawberry daquari was delightful!
At Cooks we ate: Mickey Waffels and breakfast platters (all yummy) stir fry noodles (i loved it) and cheesburgers (my family enjoyed them a lot unlike the burgers in the parks).
We also ate at Kona (breakfast and dinner- will review soon but was wonderful!!!) and Ohana (review is in my dining reviews on the dining board) and would definitely do Kona again. My daughter got a chicken bone in her soup and nearly swallowed it though so be careful if you're eating the yummy chicken soup! It's real chicken in there and homemade so you have to check for those bones.
Lets see what else, what else. . .the music by the pool repeats about every 20 minutes if you don't believe me, I still have it in my head LOL. The resort looks fabulous and does have some minor work going on in the way of landscaping and some painting- I was glad that the days we were at the quiet pool they were not sanding the roofs of the overhangs like they were our last 2 days, the workers were wearing masks and I was thinking, what about the people in the pool? Seemed to me the dust shouldn't be breathed in and they should've closed the pool off while doing that.
The paint going on the same overhangs the next day was pungent and smelled like nail polish on steroids. But we could only smell it when we were walking right past the pool.
People seemed to be REALLY great about sticking to the smoking areas at Poly- as an asthmatic, I thank and salute you!!!
The front desk staff was swift and helpful- everyone we passed gave us an Aloha, I was even given exclusive Dreams pins by two separate Poly CM's (one to keep, one to give away) and was honored to do so! Servers at Kona were great (loved Nina at the podium, she also worked the coffee bar, Debbie was a great server, and I think the last morning our server was Maria, that last morning is a haze but they were all great). Workers at Cooks' had my heart though- they were SO friendly, so hard working and always smiling. They all fussed over my daughter in her Hannah Montana get up. Jamie and Steve were the BEST! My hat is off to them they work their tails off.
The guests at this resort also were very cheerful, most were extremely helpful- (when I struggled with my crutch and a tray of food at some points such as when my husband was back at the room with our sick child, people were quick to open and hold doors and elevators for me. So kind!)
The elevators at this resort are TINY. If you have an
ECV I would definitely recommend asking for a first floor room. I don't see how most of the ECV's we saw around WDW could even fit in the elevator in Tokelau, my wheelchair (standard size, not large) had to be angled to fit in and bumped the walls. Was very tricky for my husband to manuever.
Those are the things that jump out at me, any other questions keep asking I'll do my best to answer!
We have already booked our stay for next year- with the bounce-back offer they left in our room. I'm hoping I can pull everything together for a repeat at Poly next year!!!
The difference in transportation time at this resort is UNREAL. It's so fast to get anywhere. My husband MUCH preferred taking ONE monorail to Epcot after walking to the TTC instead of doing the up the ramp/down the ramp thing changing trains.
Most convenient resort we've EVER stayed at to get around. Only transportation bummer was the 45 minute bus ride back from Downtown Disney. Was quick to get there, but getting back to the resort took f-o-r-e-v-e-r by bus.
Laren
I can't wait until my parents and I check-in on 12/15 and I am sure we are going to have a great time.
Is it really dark in there?
But the fountains and plant life are gorgeous and very relaxing to be around.
We love the Polynesian resort 
