Polynesian - pros and cons

[photomama]

O.K so we are ready to book and my husband wants the Poly.
We will be traveling our 7 yr old daughter. This is our first trip as a family. I would appreciate any advice on best place to stay at the poly.

Also, pros and cons...

TIA

 

[minnie56]

O.K so we are ready to book and my husband wants the Poly.
We will be traveling our 7 yr old daughter. This is our first trip as a family. I would appreciate any advice on best place to stay at the poly.

Also, pros and cons...

TIA

Stayed there last Summer...was very well located of course..cannot recall our bldg. It was sooo tired though. We had a Marina view..Love the Monorail..and the Bar in the lobby. Kona Cafe is great too...

 

[drag n' fly]

There really is no cons to the poly except it has kind of a cheesy brady bunch feel to it. All the pros have been mentioned for sure!

 

[Saratoga Souris]

I love the POLY

great location
great pool
The only place in the World to get good coffee
great theming (like being in Hawaii)
Tonga Toast
great location

OH... did I mention great location

 

[mkmommy]

We stayed there in March and my dd7 loved the pool.

 

[MECH8T7]

We stayed there on our first family trip, as part of the front end of a Poly/AKL split stay. Our kids were 7 and 5 at the time.

It was a great choice for us. I still remember checking in and exiting the Grand Ceremonial House to go to our assigned building and being able to see Cinderella's Castle across the lake as we walked to the building.

Why did we like it?

Mainly, because it has great transportation options -- Of course, it is on the resort monorail line but you can also easily walk to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot. You can also take a shuttle boat to or from the MK.

It has a great themed pool.

It has one of the best babysitting facilities, the Neverland Club.

You can watch Wishes and the Electric Water Parade from the beach.

With the ages of our kids, we knew we would be spending a lot of time at the MK but wanted it to be convenient to return to our room in the middle of the day and head back to MK later. So, we made sure to pick on of the monorail resorts.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I love the Poly and I have to say that I really missed it during our last trip. We stayed at POFQ and while it was nice it just wasn't the same. The Poly is great because of its location - it's a quick monorail or boat ride away from MK and just a quick walk to the Epcot monorail. I also like the larger size of the rooms at the Poly. And this is a minor one but I love that Captain Cook's has a Dole Whip machine there The only con I can think of is the price - but you I think you get what you pay for and I know that I like the convenience of having easy access to both monorail lines.

HTH

 

[stashf]

I love the Poly! It is still my favorite resort and I will miss it this year but we are going to give WL a try as it's been on my list every year and yet to try. The location is the BEST. You can monorail to MK and walk to the Epcot monorail as well. The rooms have been refurbed and are nice. The pool and even the beach is nice and kids love it. Tonga toast!!! And so far I also find Captain cook's for counter one of the best - they have really good stuff there. I love the Poly, it's very relaxing and easy to get around too. Samoa is a great building to request, very close to both pools and the GCN.

Stacey

 

[wdwmike59]

The only con would be the price but if you are already considering it, price is obviously not an issue. Go ahead and stay there, you will love it. With a 7 yr old, you will probably be spending a lot of time at Magic Kingdom and you will appreciate the monorail even more.

 

[Micheme]

love love love the poly.... its our HOME resort as we like to call it. We just came back from the beach club and missed our poly so much

Pros
great location - like everyone's said the location cannot be beat, close to ttc close to other great resorts and MK!!!

the monorail - this will be your godsend. I missed that monorail so much it hurt this trip. Esp with little ones they get tired and you can only take so much bussing. Our dd fell asleep like clockwork all the time and getting her on and off thoses buses sucked !!!

Amazing restaurants - Kona cafe is to die for (breakkie, lunch and dinner), Ohana is hmmmmm an experience that everyone has to do once i guess but food is up to interpretation, even their counter service is pretty good
And you are so close to some of the best restaurants in disney (citrico's, narcosse's, california grill, victoria and alberts etc) a monorail ride away

the atmosphere - i love the atmosphere at the poly, you can really immerse yourself in the resort and feel like you are not in the middle of disney

Pool and beach - ok i love the pool at the poly (and i just had 7 days of storm along bay) why it is a huge zero entry and lots of space to just chill out. the beach is right there which is great to play in the sand and just relax.

i could go on and on but i think you and your dd will have a wonderful time and really love the poly

sniff ... i want to go back

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Last December my family and I stayed at the Polynesian and we had a great time.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

We always stay at POLY and hoenstly I wouldn't want to stay anywhere else. I think all the pros have been mentioned. Its a beautiful and super comfortable resort. You will definately enjoy it!

 

[drcandon]

We have stayed at the Poly quite a bit and like the resort quite a bit. The quality problems in the past with the resort seems to seems to have been rectified. All the lodges have been update and freshened now so they are in top shape.

IMHO it is the only decently priced lodge to stay at when you do not have your own car...the monorail is at your "front door" - that takes care of two parks...the TTC is within easy walking distance and that basically takes care of everything else... grab a direct bus and away you go. The GF - however nice is way overpriced and the Contemporary - even though on the monorail - you cannot walk to the TTC - however you can walk to MK. Also one of the premium shows is at the Poly - so that is a walk to event as well. Then of course the little transpo boats run so often that unless it is really cold or rainy they are quicker to take then the monorail.

Captain cooks is convenient and never too busy and none of the lodges are really that far away that you can't truck the stuff back to your room anyway.

Now as far as what level to stay at ..we have stayed at all levels except for CL..You have to try lagoon or Disney view at least once..then once you have, stay garden level and save some money...

Now as for lodges, there are lots of threads in this site with opinions on the best lodge..I guess it all depends on whether you are able to walk a bit - how close you want to be to the volcano pool and the noise etc...download a map and check out the areas..

My only suggestionis to stay away from the Rape Nui - Garden view - parking lot side..if you get stuck with that at check in refuse and ask for anything else..the parking lot is noisy- especially on the mornings they pick up the garbage at 5 - 6am and the monorail at times sounds like it is coming through your room ( it passses by the upper floor windows).

The best garden view we have had was Tokelau - garden view - first floor - facing towards Tahiti/Rapa Nui...the room doors open on a large grassy area and a mini planting area - very nice and quiet...

 

[fivebyfive]

Someone said "Polynesian" and "con" in the same sentence?

Where did the pig fly to and when did hell freeze over?

 

[pkitty]

I am with Fivebyfive on this one.......no downside....you'll have a great time so relax and soak it all in....it's beautiful there

 

[aGoofyMom]

We did a split stay last fall - mostly at the Poly ending with a few nights at the Beach Club. Poly wins as my favourite hands down. Since then I have had a couple of nights at CBR (Dsis' birthday trip) and back to the Poly (too stressed out to be sitting with AP's still valid trip) and I can manage the CBR if I can't afford the Poly so I must just be an "island-but-not-picky-on-which-ocean" kind of girl.

I am pretty sure DD6 would say the Poly is her favourite too. Course the only other resorts she has to compare to is Beach Club & All Star Music.

I like to stay in Tahiti - very close to TTC, and with a beach right there...feels like home - sigh.