ChrissyBeth29
JustGoofinAround
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2010
- Messages
- 371
My mom and I just got back from an awesome visit to the World. I had a return to the magic pin code, and when we were booking, we saw that we could get a Poly Studio Villa for$350 a night when the standard rack rate at that time was $505 a night. Since we had not stayed at the Polynesian for over 20 years, AND we had never done DVC there, we figured sure! Now I LOVE the Polynesian. It's location is ideal, and it's setting is beautiful and lush! It's a win/win. I did all of my research and saw that standard Studios were housed in three buildings, Tokelau, Morea, and Pago Pago. After looking over the map and coordinating wants and needs, we decided on Tokelau and 5 days out we faxed our request to Disney, Tokelau(3rd Floor).
We arrived from Magical Express to the Great Ceremonial House at 9:45. There was no line for check in, and we had a very nice cast member check us in. She was a little slow on the check in, but still super sweet. We asked that each of us have our own credit card on our magic bands. This seemed to stump her, but she figured it out. She then assigned us our room, Pago Pago 1st floor. I politely asked if it could be switched, and I informed her that I had faxed in a request for Tokelau five days prior. She made a call and got us into Tokelau, 1st floor. I was psyched. We then went to Cap't Cooks for a quick bite before going to room 1945! We each got our meals and found our magic bands were declined. I assumed it hadn't updated yet. Before we left to go to the room, mom bought a cookie on the magic band and it worked! Score. Little did I know that it wasn't really fixed which we did not learn until trying to pay for our Crystal Palace breakfast the next morning. The resort was GORGEOUS, even better than I remembered! Our building was no more than a 3 minute walk from the Great Ceremonial House. We were exactly between the front entrance of the building and the middle entrance. The building was a two minute walk to the bus and a 5-8 minute walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center. We were a 5 minute walk to the boat launch. It was PERFECT. We were there four days after the tragedy with the poor little boy at GF, so the beaches were still not open yet. Our room was nice, but I think I expected more. I know that sounds so bratty but I did. It was nicely appointed, but lacking. Our room seemed to not have been used for awhile. There were white moths in the room the entire time we were there. They didn't bother us, but they were there. I am a fan of the dark wood in the room. There is a plush queen sized bed, not firm at all. There is a queen size pull our couch, uncomfortable for my taste, and a pull down murphy bed for a child, super cute. I did love all the tiki touches and bright oranges and teals. My biggest complaint of the room was there was no dresser/bureau of drawers. The murphy bed was where traditionally it would have been. There were only two drawers under the queen sized bed, which just seemed strange to me. Also, the sliding barn doors for the two bathrooms never really closed. I actually got stuck unable to open one when I was coming out of the shower! The other complaint was that we had safe issues the whole time. We had to call for help on three separate occasions for them to open it, and even they seemed perplexed as to why. One day we had to wait in our room for 5 hours.
My favorite part of the room was the rain fall shower. I took three showers a day in this! I loved it and am trying to figure out how to get my husband to put one in our house! I love this resort, but I don't know if I would stay DVC again. I may just stay in one of the non DVC rooms. The building was perfect and was RIGHT ACROSS from the awesome Oasis pool. It had cabanas, a bar(yes) and it's own quick service location. I was psyched. We did have ideal location to everything as well.
Food/Drink
We LOVED Trader Sams. It is cool inside, but we really loved the outside. We had a wonderful afternoon there, and if I was there with my husband I am assuming I would have had more days there. We also loved Tambu Lounge, Kona Cafe and Kona Island Coffee. Honestly the best iced caramel macchiato of my life. We did NOT care for Cap't Cooks. I found the selection basic and the food quality mediocre. I was especially disappointed in their dessert selections. I guess I am used to a moderate food court with it's own bakery, and I needed to adjust my expectations. We had two dinners and a breakfast there, and we were underwhelmed by all of them.
Shopping
Moana Mercantile was wonderful. I had a cold when there, and they had a great selection of cold medicine which was actually well priced. I also am a HUGE fan of the Boutiki. I go our of my way, even when not staying here, to come to this store. It's one of my favorite on property.
Overall
All the common areas are clean and beautiful here. We loved all of the transportation options here, and we used ALL of them! We even got a taxi twice, and we had no problem with that. I love the signage, the new lobby, and everything else that this has to offer. I was meh with the room, but I would definitely stay here in one of the other rooms. We were here to see the fences go up on the beach, and I honestly think it looks great. If you didn't know it hadn't always been there, you wouldn't have given it a second glance. We loved watching the fireworks and the electrical water pagaent from the beach, it is something so special about this resort.
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View attachment 181001 
We arrived from Magical Express to the Great Ceremonial House at 9:45. There was no line for check in, and we had a very nice cast member check us in. She was a little slow on the check in, but still super sweet. We asked that each of us have our own credit card on our magic bands. This seemed to stump her, but she figured it out. She then assigned us our room, Pago Pago 1st floor. I politely asked if it could be switched, and I informed her that I had faxed in a request for Tokelau five days prior. She made a call and got us into Tokelau, 1st floor. I was psyched. We then went to Cap't Cooks for a quick bite before going to room 1945! We each got our meals and found our magic bands were declined. I assumed it hadn't updated yet. Before we left to go to the room, mom bought a cookie on the magic band and it worked! Score. Little did I know that it wasn't really fixed which we did not learn until trying to pay for our Crystal Palace breakfast the next morning. The resort was GORGEOUS, even better than I remembered! Our building was no more than a 3 minute walk from the Great Ceremonial House. We were exactly between the front entrance of the building and the middle entrance. The building was a two minute walk to the bus and a 5-8 minute walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center. We were a 5 minute walk to the boat launch. It was PERFECT. We were there four days after the tragedy with the poor little boy at GF, so the beaches were still not open yet. Our room was nice, but I think I expected more. I know that sounds so bratty but I did. It was nicely appointed, but lacking. Our room seemed to not have been used for awhile. There were white moths in the room the entire time we were there. They didn't bother us, but they were there. I am a fan of the dark wood in the room. There is a plush queen sized bed, not firm at all. There is a queen size pull our couch, uncomfortable for my taste, and a pull down murphy bed for a child, super cute. I did love all the tiki touches and bright oranges and teals. My biggest complaint of the room was there was no dresser/bureau of drawers. The murphy bed was where traditionally it would have been. There were only two drawers under the queen sized bed, which just seemed strange to me. Also, the sliding barn doors for the two bathrooms never really closed. I actually got stuck unable to open one when I was coming out of the shower! The other complaint was that we had safe issues the whole time. We had to call for help on three separate occasions for them to open it, and even they seemed perplexed as to why. One day we had to wait in our room for 5 hours.
My favorite part of the room was the rain fall shower. I took three showers a day in this! I loved it and am trying to figure out how to get my husband to put one in our house! I love this resort, but I don't know if I would stay DVC again. I may just stay in one of the non DVC rooms. The building was perfect and was RIGHT ACROSS from the awesome Oasis pool. It had cabanas, a bar(yes) and it's own quick service location. I was psyched. We did have ideal location to everything as well.
Food/Drink
We LOVED Trader Sams. It is cool inside, but we really loved the outside. We had a wonderful afternoon there, and if I was there with my husband I am assuming I would have had more days there. We also loved Tambu Lounge, Kona Cafe and Kona Island Coffee. Honestly the best iced caramel macchiato of my life. We did NOT care for Cap't Cooks. I found the selection basic and the food quality mediocre. I was especially disappointed in their dessert selections. I guess I am used to a moderate food court with it's own bakery, and I needed to adjust my expectations. We had two dinners and a breakfast there, and we were underwhelmed by all of them.
Shopping
Moana Mercantile was wonderful. I had a cold when there, and they had a great selection of cold medicine which was actually well priced. I also am a HUGE fan of the Boutiki. I go our of my way, even when not staying here, to come to this store. It's one of my favorite on property.
Overall
All the common areas are clean and beautiful here. We loved all of the transportation options here, and we used ALL of them! We even got a taxi twice, and we had no problem with that. I love the signage, the new lobby, and everything else that this has to offer. I was meh with the room, but I would definitely stay here in one of the other rooms. We were here to see the fences go up on the beach, and I honestly think it looks great. If you didn't know it hadn't always been there, you wouldn't have given it a second glance. We loved watching the fireworks and the electrical water pagaent from the beach, it is something so special about this resort.
View attachment 180999 View attachment 181001 
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