SplitStay:PolyConcierage&TowerClub

[goofyandmore]

After calling Disney continuously, I finally was able to get the polynesian concierage-garden view for the first three nights of my stay. The remaining nights weren't available there but I booked the tower club for the other three.

What does everyone think? Does anyone know if the resorts will help us in the move from one hotel to the other?

Also, I heard from a reliable source that the concierage lounges don't have water bottles anymore, which I liked to take and bring to the park with me. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

On our first night, 3/31, it is my son and husband's birthday. Any ideas what to do? We will probably get there late though, like around 10pm (late flight). Then on 4/3, it is my birthday. We have never been there on our actual birthdays.

I am releaved this decision is basically over. I might keep trying to get the poly for the entire time though. I also had the GF sugarloaf available. Oh decisions!!

ps. Almost forgot the most important part: this trip is a surprise for the kids. My 14 year old whose birthday is the day we are going, will really love it. Any ideas how to tell him. Maybe I should wait until that day and take him out of school or the night before?

Thanks, Carolyn

 

[dandave]

Ohhhh! I assume you're talking about the CR tower. I've always wanted to stay in the tower there... One day I will!

I've also heard that the concierges no longer have the individual bottled waters.

As for the BD surprises, you may want to contact the WDW Florist to order something:
http://www.disneyflorist.com/index.html?website_id=485745524856546565&source=header
I've never used them, but everything looks lovely.

I can rarely contain myself long enough to keep the WDW vacations a secret, but I bet you're DS would love to be picked up a bit early from school with the big announcement.

Have a great vacation!

 

[goofyandmore]

Thanks, I think I can keep this secret. Thanks, Carolyn

 

[Janet2k]

Goofyandmore, I agree with Dandave -- pull your child out of school and then spring the big news on him. I still remember when my Dad did things like that when I was younger (trips to amusement parks, Canada, East Coast, etc.). I loved surprises as a kid.

I think your choice of the Poly & the CR Tower Club is an excellent one. I haven't stayed at the Poly yet, but I really enjoyed my CR Tower Club stay (click here for photos of my CR Tower Room and click here for photos of the Tower Club lounge). The CM's in the Tower Club were really wonderful to work with. I would not hesitate to stay there again.

We never have a vehicle while in WDW, so we either transfer our luggage with us via taxi cabs or we ask the resort to transfer it for us. On our last vacation, I had the PO-RS transfer our luggage to the GF, and then had the GF transfer our luggage over to the BC (we stayed in three resorts on our last trip).

By the way, happy (early) birthday to your family.

 

[bryantslovedisney]

We just stayed in Poly Lagoon View concierge in Dec and
had a blast! Yes you are right, the concierge lounge doesn't
offer bottled water anymore...Boo Hoo! The CM said that Poly
was the last to do it and they didn't want to be different than
anyone else...whatever...I think it's because they know you'll
buy the water at the parks for $2.50 a bottle! Anyway, I feel
like it was still very worth it to stay concierge!
We had a rental car,( we split our stay between Poly and
AKL concierge),but we wanted to use the advantage of the
monorail for our checkout day at the Poly. So we packed our stuff
up, called luggage and they came and got it all, and we left our
car in the Poly parking lot until later. Then we came back on the monorail after the day in the parks and picked up our car and
headed to AKL, where our luggage was patiently waiting for
us! Very Easy! Definitely the way to go!
Have Fun, I love surprises!!!

Jill

 

[goofyandmore]

Yes, I agree I have to surprise him. But since he is in high school, I am going to have to speak to the teachers to make sure he can make up any tests he may be missing. In order to get the polynesian concierage, I had to go a day earlier, so he will be missing 2 days of school. But we will be going on his birthday now, instead of the next day, so I think it was meant to be.

I am still not sure about what view to ask for at the tower club. I know we will probably always be in the park when the fireworks go off and maybe will miss the electrical water parade. My birthday boy seems to like the bay view better but he has never been at the tower to tell. If the castle was really close to us, that would be perfect, like in that disney commercial when the bell hop or hotel employee opens the balcony door and you see a big castle. But I am thinking that it will be a distant look and then you have during the day, alot of parking lot to see.

thanks

 

[cortegro]

We are also splitting a stay between Poly concierge and BC concierge in March. I am "hoping" that our luggage can get transferred to BC while we are at the parks. (then check in after dinner)
A couple of questions though...
What tickets should we get? We have narrowed down to 6 days in parks with one expected visit to Blizzard Beach and at least 1(or 2 for my 12, 10, 8yr olds) trip to DisneyQuest. I assumed UPH originally, or 6 day PHPlus?

Also, what is the expected tip for the luggage transfer?

Thanks for the help.

-Cortegro

 

[CRCrazy]

We switched from AKL Concierge to the Poly Concierge in November, and it went very smoothly.

We called Bell Services when we were ready to leave AKL - they were at our room in less than 5 minutes - loaded up and done - also, they gave us a goodbye gift of water bottles for everyone in our party.

We then drove over to the Poly and checked in at the Hawaii building - one of our rooms was ready, so we put our daypacks in there (with bathing suits, meds, etc.) and left to go to lunch at the castle in MK. We got back to the Poly at about 3, and there was a message that our luggage was there - called Bell Services, and again, 5 minutes later, we had our suitcases.

We tipped anyone who handled our luggage about $1/bag. We tended to round up, as we were very lucky with our CM's. They were all wonderful.

 

[cortegro]

Thanks CRCrazy.

I am still deciding whether to drive over to BC and tour MGM/Epcot on the transfer day or leave the car at Poly untill we are done, then drive over.

What type of tix package did you use?

If I am correct that the room key is our pass for the parks(with the UPH) then wouldn't we be without access untill we checked in at BC? and would we be paying for the same day twice(check out day at Poly and check in day at BC)?

-cortegro

 

[FonFon]

The "official" reasoning behind not offering bottles of water any more in concierge, according to the WL Concierge staff and manager, was that they were trying to make the concierge area more of a sit down, slow down thing, as opposed to being a grab and go type of thing. (That doesn't really explain why they have cans of soda available, but I'm just passing on what they told me.)

There is still water available, it's just in glass bottles. DH and brought our own water bottles and just refilled them in the morning before leaving for the parks.

I'm sure you'll have a great time! Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[CRCrazy]

Hi Cortegro,

We were using our AP's for their last go round! We've saved a bundle on room rates using the AP discount, and 4 of us got 3 trips out of them, while my youngest got 2 trips - total of of 15 days.

You are right that if you get UPH's at both resorts, that you will be paying twice for the day of your switch. That is definitely a downside of a split stay with the package deals. You would still have access to all the parks, since the UPH is good for the entire day of both check-in, and check-out.

I would probably get a UPH for whichever resort you would be at when you wanted to go to Disneyquest, and get 4 Day PHP's for the time at the other resort. If your UPH is for the second resort - definitely go check in early in the AM, so you don't use up a Parkhopper day.

Your other option would just be to buy the 6 day PHP's and pay for admission to Disney Quest - if you buy the tickets in advance, you can get some good savings - check Mousesavers , they've got some great ideas for ticket buying.

They send the luggage over by 1 pm usually - the concierges are great at making sure that your switch is quick and easy!

Have a great trip - and post what you decide to do - I'm very interested, as next time we go - don't know when - we won't have AP's!