Review of Polar Patio at BB -- Updated w/Pics!

[angielynn10]

I’ve seen some threads looking for some more information on the private cabanas/patios for rent at BB and TL so I wanted to share my experience. Hopefully this isn’t too long.

My family rented one of these spaces at Blizzard Beach on a short trip to the World during the last week of June.

The “Polar Patios” as they are called at Blizzard Beach are located near the front of the park to the left of the line for the chair lift. They are built like small decks overlooking the Castaway Creek lazy river attraction. Each has a short path off the main walkway that is roped off with a “reserved” sign. Each deck has 6 Adirondack style chairs and 2 footstools. There are two small tables and a large deck umbrella, as well as a large cooler with 8-10 bottles of water. The decks are tucked under several trees, but the one we had still left half our deck in sun for the day. We were able to move the umbrella as the day went on to allow sun for some in our family and shade for others. Some on the boards have asked if you can drag the flat lounge chairs into these spaces. The ones at Blizzard Beach are within site of the wave pool, but not adjacent to it so adding a lounger would not work. There is also not space on the decks to add any additional furniture.

Our attendant, Robert, met us first thing to give us some details. Our towels were in the rental locker and there was a menu on one of the tables with the counter service items that he could order for us. Each member of our group also received a plastic wristband that I guess showed the Cast Members that we were the ones who had reserved that space. Food is not included in the rental fee, but we were able to tell him the items we wanted all during the day and give him a form of payment and he took care of us. Robert was very nice and helpful. Like most families we separate during the day to go to different areas of the park and when each of us would return to the deck, he seemed to know when we were there and would check to see if we needed anything.

My family on this trip was my husband and myself, my brother, his pregnant wife and 3 year old son and my parents. I will admit that this is definitely not something that anyone in my family would have rented on our own, but my Dad with his only grandchild in tow wanted to do something special for the family. Being pregnant, my sister-in-law wasn’t going on any of the slides and she enjoyed having the chair and footstool provided in the shade to rest during the afternoon. It provided a comfortable place out of the sand for all of us to enjoy lunch together too.

All in all it was a nice treat and we felt a little more comfortable than usual leaving our belongings behind as we went to the attractions knowing they were in a more sheltered area. In the past we’ve come to the water parks and found a group of lounge chairs to claim as our spot as everyone does and certainly plan to do that again in the future even though we will always go check out these spaces to see how other families are enjoying their time.

I’ve never added pictures to a post, if someone can tell me how to post photos, I'll be glad to share a couple of the ones we took at BB. Hope this helps my fellow DISer’s!

 

[ScrapperBelle]

Thanks for the review! I was wondering about these and if the cost was justified. We usually visit the water parks for at least 3 days of a 10-12 day trip, so I was thinking that maybe just for one visit it would be nice. Thanks for sharing your opinion and giving us a description of the cabana, furniture, and service.

 

[Robo]

I’ve never added pictures to a post, if someone can tell me how to post photos, I'll be glad to share a couple of the ones we took at BB. Hope this helps my fellow DISer’s!

You'll need to have your pictures digitally loaded
into your computer, of course,
then go HERE:

http://www.photobucket.com/

(or sign up for any photo-server that you like)

Sign up (its FREE),
and follow the directions to upload your pictures to
them.

You will then see each of your pictures in a window on
that site.

Copy and Paste the numbers from the "IMG Code" window
(below each picture) into your post.
Your image(s) will appear in your DISboard post after
its posted (you can click "Preview Post" to see them
before you post).

 

[angielynn10]

Thanks to Robo for the help in adding my pictures! Here are a couple of views of the different patios at Blizzard Beach.

This was the patio on side of us:

And the one on the other side:

Each of the patios have a short path of the main sidewalk:

Here you can see the chairs and footstools, the two small tables and the cooler provided. The menu to order from is on top of one of the tables there.

Here's a closeup of the menu:

 

[michele2042]

Just wanted to say thanks for posting the pictures along with your review.
I've been reading all the posts about these spots and was curious. Although, I was under the impression, mistaken obviously, that they were "cabannas". I was picturing more of a 3 sided tented area. Like the ones in Vegas.

Although this is not something I am going to be able to convince my husband to do for me on our upcoming August trip I was going to beg. But now I feel sure if it's not worth all that money.

I am curious, were you given additional bottles of water throughout the day or was your inital water bottles all you received? I know you have to pay extra for the food and other drinks but I would hope they would refill your water supply at the prices they're charging for the spot.

 

[angielynn10]

Michele2042 - The cooler had 8-10 bottles of Dasani water in it when we arrived. We didn't go through it all because although there were 6 adults in our group the majority of us are unfortunately, soda drinkers.

We didn't ask if we would be able to get more water, but we did take all the unopened bottles with us when we left!

As for the expense, like I said it is not something DH and I would do on our own. This was a treat from my dad for the whole family. My brother and his family live in FL and the rest of us are in Virginia. We enjoyed the separate area for a couple of us to sit and relax while we caught up on each other's lives before heading off to another slide.

 

[michele2042]

Thanks! Surely they would bring more water but one never knows. It's not really important because at that price I would want more included than just water.

I understand about the expense, it's not something we have in our budget for our trip but I know it would be nice to have a set area to return to after wandering around the water park. Especially since my husband, adult son and his girlfriend will be doing a lot more riding at the water park than me. I'm more of the lazy river type gal!!

 

[OB1]

good job with the photos. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a nice 'splurge' during a trip.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Thanks for the pictures! I think the rentals at TL are the "cabana" type----there are pictures posted either here on the dis mainsite (wdwinfo.com) or on the podcast blog www.disunplugged.com I'm not sure about side coverings, but I know that there is a full overhead covering.

We'd do the rental if my parents were doing to a water park with us. Mom doesn't do well in sun since chemo last year. Plus half of us are redheads and would appreciate a break in some serious shade

 

[gonzo76]

I was seriously thinking about doing this. Now, I don't think so. I thought there would be a cabana. Not an umbrella. What a ripe. Very disappointed. Thank you for posting the pictures. You saved me over 200 bucks.

ETA...I posted before I saw they have cabanas at TL. Now.. I might have changed my mind.

 

[auroraarielella]

Great post with lots of good information.
I have a few questions--
Is the locker that you refer to with the towels in it at your polar patio, or is it with all the other lockers?
Does the attendant fill the mugs for you?
Would this be a good location to entertain a child who is too young to go off too far on their own for long periods of time, but not young enough to nap/sit with the parents too long?
Thanks...
Still comparing the two -TL and BB.

 

[angielynn10]

Great post with lots of good information.
I have a few questions--
Is the locker that you refer to with the towels in it at your polar patio, or is it with all the other lockers?
Does the attendant fill the mugs for you?
Would this be a good location to entertain a child who is too young to go off too far on their own for long periods of time, but not young enough to nap/sit with the parents too long?
Thanks...
Still comparing the two -TL and BB.

To answer your questions:

The locker is with the other lockers, but the patio was just over the river from the main locker area so it wasn't that far away.

The attendant probably would have filled the mugs for us, but we usually were doing it on our own. When we would come back to the patio we just grabbed our mugs and went to the drink station which was close by. But our attendant was so nice I'm sure it would not have been a problem to ask him to fill 'em up.

The decks at TL don't really have any play area that would keep a child amused. My 3 year old nephew liked looking over the deck at the Castaway Creek and watching the people go by, but even that only amused him for so long. My parents did rent one of these cabanas at TL later this summer and the ones there were in the sand and my nephew loved that one cause he could sit there and play in the sand. So if you're wanting to keep a child amused and they enjoy digging in the sand then TL may be a better choice.

Hope you enjoy your day at either one...we really did!!

 

[awaldo]

I se there's beer on the menu. I wonder if he would bring that to you as well? Also, I counted 7 in your party, right? The details I saw was a 6 person "limit". I'm guessing 7 wasn't a problem then? We'd have our family: me, dw, and 2 dd's, and my BIL, SIL, and nephew, so 7 as well. Just wondered if they were strict on the 6 person thing.

 

[angielynn10]

I se there's beer on the menu. I wonder if he would bring that to you as well? Also, I counted 7 in your party, right? The details I saw was a 6 person "limit". I'm guessing 7 wasn't a problem then? We'd have our family: me, dw, and 2 dd's, and my BIL, SIL, and nephew, so 7 as well. Just wondered if they were strict on the 6 person thing.

The attendant said he'd be able to bring anything on the menu so I'm sure beer would be a part of that. Our party was not drinking so I don't know from experience.

We did have 7 total (6 adults, 1 toddler) and there wasn't any problem. As a matter of fact we were quite amused at the group in the patio next to us as they were easily a family of 10-12. We were given 6 plastic bracelets (similar to what they have handed out for Extra Magic Hours) for our group to wear and the attendant basically is there for the 6 in the party. He wouldn't be able to take orders for more than that. I would think you'd be fine with your group.

Have fun!!

 

[badblackpug]

How much do they cost? ~shudder~ I'm afraid to ask!

 

[angielynn10]

There is info on the DIS pages for TL & BB about how to book them, but they are $250 for the day (does not include park admission for each guest). Certainly not cheap, but a good splurge if you want a special treat for the family.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/blizzard/blizzard.htm

 

[jayandstacey]

I gotta say -

that while I love the concept and believe Disney can make a good deal of money on it - this isn't the way to do it. Disney is WAY behind the market on this one, charging top dollar while giving just about the least I've seen.

And while yes, it is a nice treat - ultimately people judge the whole experience in the context of the rest of the world. And when they go someplace else and get SO much more for usually SO much less - well, that's generally not the Disney success model.

For instance, at Dutch Wonderland in PA, we rented a cabana for about $75 for the day. It was a bit smaller area, but had a mini fridge and a good sized "hut" with a ceiling fan:
http://www.dutchwonderland.com/rides/cabana_rentals.php
The fridge was essentially a minibar, you were charged for what you took. But it was ICE cold and the fan was nice too.


Hershey is a little closer to Disney,
http://www.hersheypa.com/plan_a_trip/hershey_resorts_advantage/hersheypark_cabana_rentals.php
http://www.hersheypa.com/plan_a_trip/images/sideCabanas.jpg
with Disney-esque prices but a fridge and decent privacy.

Kalahari resorts blows em all away,
http://www.kalahariresorts.com/oh/waterparks/cabanas/
with a TV and a safe; a really nice area and of course a fridge.

I expect to come away from Disney saying "Wow, that was expensive" but also I suppose that I expect some "Wow" factor in exchange. I understand Disney has a captive audience with these things, but running some electricity and making the little areas special couldn't be THAT hard or expensive.

Disney would do well to provide:
- a fridge,
- some sort of cooling relief other than an umbrella
- the promise of a character visit (assuming characters come in the waterparks?)
- Some sort of very private / very shaded area (for napping youngins)

If they just did that much it would be a "plus" experience vs the rest of the world.

Just something to think about Disney.

 

[jayandstacey]

And don't get me wrong - I love these cabana things.

 

[Bear1971]

I'm curious too........seems like a nice idea but I do like the tented style very much.

 

[Delboy]

Thanks for the review