Status of Poly renovations?

[kaceyisme]

Are any of the longhouses completely done yet? Which ones are being renovated now? I had heard that my two favorite (Tahiti and Tokelau) are next, and we are going in August, so I want to know what to expect. Thanks!

 

[Race4fun]

Me too, me too, I hope someone knows.

 

[hiwaygal]

From what I have heard, the Tonga building is done...but I don't know about the others (except I was told the Hawaii would be done between 9/12-10/12).

You can try calling the resort directly at: 407-824-2000. But I didn't get much information from them.

Good luck!

 

[BCV23]

Yep, Tonga is finished. It opened while we were there last month. Work has started at Aotearoa supposedly but even Tikiman is not posting dates as things keep changing.

I can hardly wait to read reports of the new decor.

 

[Eponine1]

Don't bother calling the Polynesian. I did and they said that they are not even doing renovations!!!

I'm hoping that Tokelau will be done by the time I go in December. The new rooms look great too!

 

[hiwaygal]

Don't bother calling the Polynesian. I did and they said that they are not even doing renovations!!!

I'm hoping that Tokelau will be done by the time I go in December. The new rooms look great too!

That's pretty much the response I got too...but one of the people I talked to DID suggest I call a week before my arrival to check on the status of "things"...

But I was hoping someone else would get more information and have much better luck than I did! Optimism is not my strong suit!

 

[Tikiman]

I know I have posted this a few times now but I am sure not everyone has read it. I use to post dates and last year a was given a list of dates and longhouses. As soon as 2005 started the schedule was all thrown off except for Tonga was done when it was supposed to be done.

The issue here is that they are having problems with contractors because of all the work that is being done in other areas (outside of WDW) from the damage the hurricanes did last year.

Because of the problem with the contractors the renovation keeps slipping dates. Rapa Nui was supposed to be done at the beginning of the year and now is pushed out to the end of the year. Hawaii was going to have work done and it is pushed out to September but again that could change. I am told Aotearoa is being done and might be close to finished but I don’t know for sure how close. It makes sense because that is where the test rooms were done. Tahiti and Tokelau need to be done not only for the rooms but I was told Tahiti would take a while because of the damage done from the hurricane.

I have found that even staff that know a lot about things are being kept in the dark about all the details and dates. If you call the front desk and ask some might not even know that anything is going on and I would bet none have any accurate info because I don’t believe they are being told so they go off rumor. If you see a date on a web page for construction I would not place bets that it is correct since they don’t seem to be giving out any information on dates. I was told many of the dates that were posted but when I was told they said to expect it to change and nothing is a firm date yet.

There are also many pages reporting that the renovation will be done next summer. Going by past room redesigns (in the late 90’s) I have yet to see it completed in less than 2 years and since there are many longhouses that are not even mentioned as being done this year I would not be surprised to see this go into winter 2006. Maybe it will get done as fast as some say but I would not bet on it.

I know this question is going to come up a lot but all I am going to do at this point is wait until I see that the building is being worked on and when it is done to report it because I can not rely on the little information that is floating around.

Sorry I don’t have a better answer.

By the way if you go there and some CM tells you a date, take it with a grain of salt because like I said they don't seem to be giving the staff accurate info and maybe it is on purpose. You might think it is a good source but the good sources right now are saying that there is no firm dates.

 

[hiwaygal]

I know you have tried to keep us all informed as best you can. We appreciate the help you can give!

I don't know what to do...I have reservations for Poly GVC for my wedding/honeymoon trip 9/19-9/23. I have not been contacted by central reservations (most likely because my reservation is through Fairy Tale Weddings and NOT through CRO).

I'm just generally confused. I don't want to just show up on 9/19 only to learn that I don't have a room and don't know where we're staying. But if there is the slightest chance that our original plans can go unchanged, I would like that too...

I just don't know if we should keep our Poly GVC reservations knowing we may not be able to stay there or if we should change our reservations (I'm now considering BWI concierge) so that we at least have a "plan"....

 

[Tikiman]

What contact were you expecting from CRO if you did not book through them? You will eventually be contacted by the IPO at the Polynesian for any preplanning or you can contact them at any time after you have booked. They will not have any more information on the rehab at this point. You will not get there and not have a room. I see one of two things happening. First may be that they move you to another building and second is that they might do the work to the rooms a floor at a time and leave the building open. I have been in the Hawaii building during rehab and never even knew it was going on until I saw a door open and could see the work going on and this was a room across from me.

The worst thing that could happen (unlikely) would be that the situation is so bad that they have to put you up in another concierge.

 

[BCV23]

Bumping for sleepless doc!

 

[disneyw/kids]

thanks for the info