Polynesian Resort - lacking the typical Disney "magic"

[moreisgood]

I just returned from a couple of nights a the Poly in a Lake View studio. I had an issue with the room view category (another thread). But, we had very bad/sad service at the front desk.

The week before, we had been at SSR for a week. Everything I had set up on MDE went as it should. Text when the rooms was ready, all Magic Bands opened the doors and could charge.

We move out of The World for a week, and return to finish our vacation at the Polynesian. I never received a text that the room was ready. So, we went over at 5 pm, and yes, our room had been ready. So, we began what should have been a very simple check-in at the front desk. After one hour and 15 minutes, I walked AWAY. They said that they couldn't get our Magic Bands to work correctly. The same bands we had been using for 2 weeks, including at SSR. I went to our room, and only one of our MBs would open the door. As the night progressed, we found out that none of them could be used for charging. We ended up missing our ADR at Artist Point, because we had no time to dress for dinner.

At 9 pm, a message showed up on our studio room phone, saying that all the Magic Band issues were resolved, and they would all now open the door to our room. We tested them, and still, only mine would open the door.

The next day, my friend called me to ask how we all liked our gifts. She had left them with the concierge at BLT, to be delivered to our room, so they would be there as a surprise for our arrival. I walked back to the concierge (no small feat from the far end of Moorea). I told the story, and the Poly concierge seemed perplexed, and then just walked away. Someone else showed up, and I repeated my story, with the same result. And this point, I was getting pretty frustrated. A third concierge appeared, and this time, he went to look in the back room. He emerged with a blue WDW bag, with all our info on a note, taped to the bag. He thrust it into my hands, and muttered "I don't know why this was never delivered, but here it is." Certainly not the "magic" my friend had been promised by the BLT concierge. Had she not followed up, we would have left the next day, and we would have not received the gift items.

I was so excited to go the Poly, and the room was lovely, but if this is their typical customer service, there are plenty of other DVC resorts to visit

 

[disneynutz]

IMO this isn't just a Poly issue, it's a Disney issue. We have had MB issues that are often fixed when the front desk CM finally calls their tech support people.

The CM issue can be found at all resorts and it's just the luck of the draw. The more you vacation at Disney the greater the probability that you will have some type of issue that Disney could have avoided. As I write this I am looking at a large chocolate bar with a picture of BWI/BWV printed on it, It was a screw up gift from the boardwalk management. I also see a mickey shaped cutting board, part of a mickey gift basket that we received as another screw up gift and our "family of the day" certificate as a screw up gift from the management at SSR.

For awhile we included free screw up meals and/or room credits in our vacation budget because we were getting a freebie for our troubles once out of every third check in.

Bill

 

[DenLo]

What a mess. I agree the concierge folks could have been nicer and more cooperative. As to the MBs, I really think the training has been poor, it doesn't make sense that only some CMs have problems. Disney and DVC need to take action, you should not have to stand there for an 1 ½. They should have given you a KTTW cards in lieu of the bands, while they continued to work on linking them to the resort. A little Disney Magic would have been nice as well.

 

[cvjw]

Had the same problems with our magic bands at the Poly. Only one magic band worked to open one of our two studios. They never could get all of our magic bands to work - they finally gave us cards to open our doors. We also had trouble with three of our four showers.

I had to go to the front desk so many times during that stay that they knew me by name. Did not give us that Disney feeling. We decided as a family that we would not be staying at the Poly anymore, much less buying any Poly points.

 

[snitchseeker]

Had the same problems with our magic bands at the Poly. Only one magic band worked to open one of our two studios. They never could get all of our magic bands to work - they finally gave us cards to open our doors. We also had trouble with three of our four showers.

I had to go to the front desk so many times during that stay that they knew me by name. Did not give us that Disney feeling. We decided as a family that we would not be staying at the Poly anymore, much less buying any Poly points.

What happened with the showers!?

 

[gdrj]

Definitely email DVC guest services. Personally I escalate it to a supervisor or mgr right away if I'm having poor service by a CM or other issues. If I'm not happy with that person I move up the ladder (Disney or not Disney).

 

[disneynutz]

What happened with the showers!?

PVB has had some drainage and back up issues.

Bill

 

[cvjw]

What happened with the showers!?

We had connecting studios, so four showers total - two of the "master" showers and two of the normal "tub/shower" combos. One shower for each of us

One of the master showers would not drain, period. My 19 year old son took his first shower in ankle deep water that did not drain because the plug was blocked by leftovers from the previous guest's shower. Yuck. Trip to the front desk to have that fixed.

Next day found out that the other master shower was a slow drainer. Another trip to the front desk to have that fixed.

Then the third "regular" shower was scalding hot for every shower. The hot/cold regulator was broken, so that it was all the way hot for every shower. Also had to have that one fixed.

 

[rwcmath]

Our Poly studio shower stall had very slow drainage.

However, we had great service at Poly. They were able to get me a chair to help me use the " throne." They got it from another resort. Everywhere we walked, Poly CM 's were all smiles and "Aloha!"

 

[southerngirl528]

The only time I would ever walk all the way to the FD for a maintenance issue was after I had called Engineering to inform them. If no service, I'd call again. If I still got no service, I would call the FD from my room and ask for the Ops Mgr. It would take a truckload of calling and escalating before I would walk to FD. I would be one ticked off person if I ever had to go in person for a maintenance issue.

When we stayed at the Poly, I immediately called Engineering to come override the thermostat so my room would stay cool and not shut off while we slept (no motion in the room while sleeping). They came to the room very, very quickly. It took just that one call.

 

[gdrj]

I like the look and design of the shower, but the drain is of an unusual design that looks like it may be an ongoing issue. With that said I placed a call to have someone fix the drain and it was quickly fixed.

 

[dizfan]

I like the look and design of the shower, but the drain is of an unusual design that looks like it may be an ongoing issue. With that said I placed a call to have someone fix the drain and it was quickly fixed.

A plumber stayed in the new studios and claimed the type of drains used in the shower area often have have problems. Apparently, many plumbers install them incorrectly which results in them draining slowly.