Sept-Oct 2008 Polynesian Trip

[spb825]

My wife and I are planning a trip to the Polynesian next year to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary. We have some questions we need some help with:
1) We know it's cheaper in September than in October. What are any other pros of going in September than October? What are the pros of going in October?
2) From what we seen, the Garden View rooms are the cheapest. Is it worth it to spend more and get a Lagoon View or possibly Magic Kingdom View? Also what would be the best longhouse to stay in?
3) What would be a better deal, the Deluxe Dining Plan or getting a room on the Concierge Level?

We have never stayed on Disney property and both like the Polynesian. Any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated and will be used to plan our return to Disney.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[spb825]

Did I ask too many questions? After thinking and talking about it, my wife and I have decided that we do not need a Lagoon view or Magic Kingdom view room and we are thinking about going with the Deluxe Dining Plan. Which longhouse is the best one to request for a Garden View room? Does anyone have any other recommendations as far as booking our stay at the Polynesian goes? I belong to AAA so I think we are book it thru them. Please feel free to respond with any comments. I want to make this trip one of the best we have ever taking without spending an arm and a leg.

 

[LowesChevy]

I can help you a bit here.

September is a month with lower attendance rates and this is one of the main reasons for the free dining offer that some guests receive when booking their trip. Its still the value season, whereas October 1st is when the regular season rates go up. However, September is one of the rainiest months on average and it is hurricane season. I am not worried by the regular Florida rain because it usually means a few rain showers pop out in the afternoon and normally pass over quickly. We usually are resting back at the resort at this time. It was really rainy this season, but who knows what it will be like next year. October is generally the first month when the humidity and temperatures drop down to a more comfortable range. We used to go every year at this time when I was little and it was great. This past year was the first time back at this time and it was an awesome time to go. Columbus Day weekend the parks filled up a bit, especially MK and Epcot-due to the F & W festival, which is another October bonus. The Food & Wine festival brings in a ton of different activities happening at Epcot with wine tastings, cheese tastings, and booths around the World Showcase representing different country's cuisines and wines. Check out some of the threads on this website about it.
Even though it was in the upper 80s most days it was not nearly as bad as the summer-if you have been here during that time.

As for the rooms, my dad has to have a lagoon MK view room. He loves to sit out and watch the action and Wishes at night. We spend a bit of time at our room during the day for relaxing and we stay over a week so we have some spare time. If you normally just sleep in the room and not take midday breaks you would be content with a garden view room. With the MK view room, we like the Tahiti building, while farther away from the Great Ceremonial House, it is very close to the TTC, for quick trips to Epcot is a must for the F & W. The rooms are larger than many of the others and there are double sinks in the bathrooms in most rooms here. A lot of people like the Tokelau for garden views.

For us, we eat 3 table sevice meals on most days. We love to relax and eat a nice meal. We have done the concierge at the Poly, Yacht Club and the GF. In my opionion, if you plan to grab continental breakfast most mornings, come back for afternoon and evening snacks and soda, coffee and cookies, then concierge would be a good choice. However, we stop at the grocery store for beer, soda and snacks when we get there. Spending the hundred or so extra dollars a night for those treats is not worth it in my opinion. Do the math for the DDP vs. the concierge cost per night. Yes you get a special room to watch fireworks, but you can go to the beach or hang in your lagoon view room or the volcano pool. You get a dvd player in your room in the concierge floor as well, but we are to tire to watch many movies lol.

So to sum up, weather is a hit or miss and it cannot be controlled. Hey your still at WDW I can always have a great time. Decide how you will use the concierge benefits like snacks or services. Most services like dinner reservations need to be done at the 180 day anyhow. How much time you spend at your room and the resort itself. Check the price with AAA and call Disney to compare, last time we booked AAA did not save us any money, so we booked through Disney.

We I kinda went off on a rant, but I hope all of this info helps you out! Have fun planning. A split end of September-beginning October will save you some cash and see some of the F & W at Epcot depending on its schedule next year.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My wife and I are planning a trip to the Polynesian next year to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary. We have some questions we need some help with:
1) We know it's cheaper in September than in October. What are any other pros of going in September than October? What are the pros of going in October?
2) From what we seen, the Garden View rooms are the cheapest. Is it worth it to spend more and get a Lagoon View or possibly Magic Kingdom View? Also what would be the best longhouse to stay in?
3) What would be a better deal, the Deluxe Dining Plan or getting a room on the Concierge Level?

We have never stayed on Disney property and both like the Polynesian. Any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated and will be used to plan our return to Disney.

Thanks,
Steve

1) I would go during F&W...

2) I am a "view" snob...the MK view at Tahiti is my fav

3) Between the two..I would choose the DxDP. I would have dinner in a Signature restaurant every night

 

[frdeb1999]

If your going to go non concierge then I have to agree that Tahiti is a wonderful location. We always go concierge because we absolutely love the service and the views. But if your not going to be spending much of any time at the resort itself then I don't know if it would be worth the money. We do the DDP always as our kids eat nonstop and it would cost us even more not to be on it! IMO you honestly won't get a bad location at the Poly no matter where you are. The rooms are very nice as are the amenitites. Have a wonderful time planning!

 

[rookie2]

We reserved a standard room and requested Tokelau building. When we arrived we were upgraded to water view. It was a perfect location, close to the quiet pool, TTC and near the lagoon. All of the rooms in this longhouse have balconies. There is a great web site for the Polynesian( sorry it won't let me post the name),He goes into great detail about the resort and all of its amenities.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

My wife and I are planning a trip to the Polynesian next year to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary. We have some questions we need some help with:
1) We know it's cheaper in September than in October. What are any other pros of going in September than October? What are the pros of going in October?

Pro's of going in September: The crowds are considerably less.
Pro's of going in October: Slightly cooler weather. Crowds still pretty low during the week--lots of locals on the weekends.

2) From what we seen, the Garden View rooms are the cheapest. Is it worth it to spend more and get a Lagoon View or possibly Magic Kingdom View? Also what would be the best longhouse to stay in?

'Worth' is really relative. I've stayed in a lagoon view room and it's quite romantic with the water view. A MK view is nice but my preference is to stick with the lagoon view. If cost is a factor and/or the water view isn't that important, a garden view in the Fiji or Tokelau longhouse would fit the bill nicely. Aotearoa longhouse for good garden views. It is further away but there is a loveley secluded beach there with hammocks and you can see the Grand Floridian resort from there as well.

3) What would be a better deal, the Deluxe Dining Plan or getting a room on the Concierge Level?

I love the perks of Concierge but I really don't like the price. Personally I'd go for the Deluxe Dining plan instead of Concierge level but that's just me. You can always use two (2) dining credits for some romantic room service meals.

Hope this helps! The Polynesian has been my favorite Disney resort for years!

There is a website that for whatever site-political reason can't be named that has a wealth of information about the Poly. Do a Google search on 'tikiman' and Steve Siefert's website should show up. Definitely put this in your 'Favorites' folder.

 

[LukenDC]

September is a great time to visit WDW as it is not very crowded and the resorts offer value season rates. On the downside, it can be very hot and humid and rain in the late afternoons and evenings. I will be making my third Septemeber visit to the Poly next year, so obviously I am quite pleased with the September timeframe.

You can get a AAA discount for a room only reservation at the Poly without booking directly through AAA. You can obtain that discount when making the reservation or have a travel agent apply the discount. AAA will generally save 15% off the rack rate of the room. You should keep an eye out for additional discounts that might be better than your AAA discount. For the past two years my travel agent secured my room with a AAA discount and then applied an even better discount once Disney released a new code. Please note that there is no guarantee that Disney will release discount codes, so AAA is well worth it.

Like prior posters, I highly recommend that you visit the Tikiman site and review it carefully. It is incredibly detailed and offers lots of great tips to maximize your stay at the Polynesian. You will be better able to make informed decisions regarding longhouse requests after reviewing that site.

I have stayed in garden view rooms in Tokelau and Hawaii (concierge longhouse). Both were very nice and I love the garden views at the Polynesian. Tokelau is across from the quiet pool and the rooms facing the pool have a sidelong, slightly obstructed view of the lagoon and even the Castle!

Have fun. The Polynesian is amazing and I am really looking forward to returning next September.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We stayed at the Poly for 4 nights last month and it was nice. Love being on the monorail. The resort was super busy on Sunday but Mon-Wed it was not bad at all. The weather was gorgeous! We had booked a garden view but were placed in the Fiji building over the marina with a very pretty water view.

 

[Minnie*23]

1.Sept.-dining plan Oct.-cooler weather;Halloween party
2.Yes it is worth it to get a view of the castle. If you get a view of the castle you will also most likely see Space Mountain. Stay in Tahiti. You will here that the walk is awful, but it's nothing. It's closest to the TTC.
3.I would have to say the dining plan. If you do that though prepare to be stuffed!!!

My family stayed at the Poly in Sept. and did the dining plan. We were stuffed, but loved it.

 

[LukenDC]

We had booked a garden view but were placed in the Fiji building over the marina with a very pretty water view.

Fiji's marina view is classified and priced as a garden view. I've always found that odd.

 

[spb825]

After weeks of talking, thinking, and reading about it here, my wife and I have booked a trip October 10 thru October 18, 2008 staying at the Polynesian in a garden view room and also am doing the Deluxe Dining Plan. Cannot wait. I put in a request to have my room in either the Tahiti or Tokelau longhouse. What has been other people's experiences when putting in a request for a particular longhouse? Have they been granted or denied? Also, how far in advance should we make our reservations for the dinner show at the Polynesian? Is it no more than 180 days in advance?
Thank you everyone who posted on this thread. I really enjoyed reading all the posts and look forward to reading any future posts.

 

[spiceycat]

with Polyn you generally get the building you want.

make sure that they know it is your anniversary. Call back if necessary and have her note it on your reservation.

then when you get there mention it again.

sometimes (but only sometimes) people with anniversaries or honeymoons will get an upgrade. - but again this only works sometimes.

forgot the biggest reason (for me anyway) to go in October - is the food and wine festavial at Epcot. but then I won't necessary stay in a MK resort. this is also the last week in Sept.

plus MNNSHP - but that is also the end of Sept.

 

[jenjersnap]

Just some observations, I know the OP has booked already:

It was our anniversary during our last trip. Please make your own magic and do not expect the Poly to come through with it. If it does, that is wonderful. We got a Mickey and Minnie card which was much appreciated, but we ordered our own cake and gift baskets for each other.

September may not be busy in the parks but because of the FDP the resorts are booked at absolute capacity. We had some service issues at the Poly this past September - enough that the Guest Services manager came to our room to have a chat and he said that, during many times of the year, he'd be able to offer an upgrade to us for our trouble but he had nothing to offer us on a late Saturday afternoon in September ... in fact, he got back in touch later to give us the option of moving to a LV but we love Tokelau anyway and didn't want to be homeless for a day while we switch so we stayed put. All of this rambling is just to say: occupancy in September is very high!

OP, you'll love the Poly. We booked BC next September thinking it was the best location for the deluxe dining plan but I am mourning that decision a bit. Poly is my special place (yes, even with a few problems)!

 

[cara loves the poly]

We reserved a standard room and requested Tokelau building. When we arrived we were upgraded to water view. It was a perfect location, close to the quiet pool, TTC and near the lagoon. All of the rooms in this longhouse have balconies. There is a great web site for the Polynesian( sorry it won't let me post the name),He goes into great detail about the resort and all of its amenities.

There is no such thing as a water view. A lot of times people think they were upgraded at the Poly because EVERY view is gorgeous! (garden, lagoon, magic kingdom) (lagoon views face the MK but may have a palm tree on the beach)