The *ALL NEW* Polynesian Resort FAQ thread - *APRIL 2009*

[simplymama]

We got back about a week ago from Poly and upgraded while we were there and then added an extra day. We have been before and it was so nice...again, although I am a bit disappointed in CL. The food was fine, nothing special...just fine. We got turndown service once the entire 6 days we were there. The staff was very pleasant and always said Aloha but we fond AK CL was much nicer...better food offerings too - more fresh fruit offered. O well...we still had a great vacation. DD had so much fun. If anyone has any questions - I would be happy to answer them.

Glad you had a good trip! Are there any food offerings for grown ups at all during lunch? I just keep hearing about goldfish and pb&j crustables?

What is the situation with turn down service? I thought that was something that was included at CL, not just something they did if requested or they felt like it?

 

[newmommie77]

Glad you had a good trip! Are there any food offerings for grown ups at all during lunch? I just keep hearing about goldfish and pb&j crustables?

What is the situation with turn down service? I thought that was something that was included at CL, not just something they did if requested or they felt like it?

The turn down service is something that is supposed to just be done, as far as I know and at at the other CL resorts we have stayed at on Disney property, turn down is standard (actually it is something my kids look at as magical). In addition, mousekeeping was not so great. They would just toss my dd's animals on the dresser...we are used to them placing them nicely on the bed and we only had one mickey mouse ears the first night we were there.

The food during the day was chips and salsa, cookies, goldfish or a chex mix sort of thing, gummi sharks. At night (5-7) there would be food offerings...that is when the pb&j would be put out. Food for adults included pineapple with carmel sauce and fruit and cheese every night and then a sampling of other foods. My favorite was make you own lettuce wrap...Yummy!!! There was also wine and beer and some sort of wine punch sort of thing.

 

[huntconn]

We got back about a week ago from Poly and upgraded while we were there and then added an extra day. We have been before and it was so nice...again, although I am a bit disappointed in CL. The food was fine, nothing special...just fine. We got turndown service once the entire 6 days we were there. The staff was very pleasant and always said Aloha but we fond AK CL was much nicer...better food offerings too - more fresh fruit offered. O well...we still had a great vacation. DD had so much fun. If anyone has any questions - I would be happy to answer them.

Turn down service should have been done every night. You guys should have complained about that. I've seen the overall quality of mousekeeping go down over the past several years. I get the impression that have a reduced mousekeeping workforce is part of the cutbacks and they are just spread too thin to spend the amount of time on each room that they need to. I would have to assume that this is at all the resorts, not just the Poly.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

The turn down service is something that is supposed to just be done, as far as I know and at at the other CL resorts we have stayed at on Disney property, turn down is standard (actually it is something my kids look at as magical).

Yes, turndown service is supposed to be done automatically on the CL level. When the mousekeeping CM came to turn down the beds, my daughter kept asking her why she did that because we never got it (or requested it) for out GV and LV stays. We both grew to love the turndown service after a long day at the parks.

In addition, mousekeeping was not so great. They would just toss my dd's animals on the dresser...we are used to them placing them nicely on the bed and we only had one mickey mouse ears the first night we were there.

Wow, that stinks. Yeah, we'd get one day where the mousekeeper just went through the motions and that was it. Thankfully this was always the exception during our stay. Usually DD's things would be arranged very nicely. One day during our CL stay, the mousekeeper arranged DD's plushes on the daybed so it looked like they were 'looking outside'.

There was also wine and beer and some sort of wine punch sort of thing.

Oh, that punch was just . My second-favorite drink from the lounge after the Grand Mariner in my latte.

 

[taylor3297]

What time do they normally do the turn down service? I have stayed in some hotels where it was 9 PM and my kids were already asleep.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

What time do they normally do the turn down service? I have stayed in some hotels where it was 9 PM and my kids were already asleep.

They came between 6pm and 7pm during our stay.

 

[Me&3]

This is funny to me regarding turn down service . I had a thread about how we didn't get any turn down service and alot of people started to turn on me. I'm going to bump it if anyone wants to take a look at it.

 

[mmmears]

In April, we stayed in Hawaii on the 3rd floor. We had wonderful mousekeeping service, including nightly turndown each evening. I would have complained if I wasn't receiving it, though, since I'd read here how some people have had less than stellar service. I was pleasantly surprised at how great it was when we were there.

 

[dmil]

In April, we stayed in Hawaii on the 3rd floor. We had wonderful mousekeeping service, including nightly turndown each evening. I would have complained if I wasn't receiving it, though, since I'd read here how some people have had less than stellar service. I was pleasantly surprised at how great it was when we were there.

This may be a silly question, but what do they exactly do for turndown service?

 

[mmmears]

This may be a silly question, but what do they exactly do for turndown service?

Mostly then "turn down" the sheets, leave a little note and chocolates on the bed, and replenish the towels if they are wet.

It's very nice, but not a huge deal. I'm not a big fan of the long thread about it. I was really happy with our main mousekeeping service as well -- everything was clean and nice and the room was always "kept" before we came back from the parks around noon or 1pm.

We also received one really cute towel animal, posed with DD's Dumbo plush. It was a nice touch, but I don't expect them and I'm happy with a clean room.

 

[dmil]

Mostly then "turn down" the sheets, leave a little note and chocolates on the bed, and replenish the towels if they are wet.

It's very nice, but not a huge deal. I'm not a big fan of the long thread about it. I was really happy with our main mousekeeping service as well -- everything was clean and nice and the room was always "kept" before we came back from the parks around noon or 1pm.

We also received one really cute towel animal, posed with DD's Dumbo plush. It was a nice touch, but I don't expect them and I'm happy with a clean room.

Thanks for the info.

Looks nice but it doesn't look like a big deal.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

They came between 6pm and 7pm during our stay.

That was around the times they came when we stayed there and it was surprising because we assumed it to happen around 8:00 PM or 9:00 PM like it was done at the Contemporary.

 

[Pattymouse]

We were at the Poly during the "week of rain" - May 16th thru May24.
Stayed Poly LVC and had a great time, but turn down service only one time - at 5PM! Way too early. That was it! On thursday our room was not cleaned until 5:00 pm. I complained at 3:45 and they said our room was marked of as "done". They made a small apology, but that was it. We were getting ready for dinner at 4:30 when mousekeeping finally showed. I asked them to return at 5:00 as we were showering.

No towel animals, no arranging my grandkids stuffed animals, nothing special at all.

We still had a great time. We were in room 3501, first room by the lounge. Loved that room. Perfect view, lounge close for the grankids, not especially noisy considering we were near the stairs, elevators, lounge.

With what mother nature dealt us (over 20 inches of rain that week), it was still a great trip!

Pat

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

No towel animals, no arranging my grandkids stuffed animals, nothing special at all.

Things like that are not guaranteed and it's up to each housekeeper if they want to do those things.

 

[Kathy Z]

Pat, I'm glad that you had a great trip despite the record breaking rain. The heavy rain arrived the next to last day of our week at the Poly. Our trip was wonderful but I did feel sorry for the folks that had the entire week of rain. You sound like the type of person who has the right kind of attitude and can find enjoyment despite far less than ideal circumstances.

 

[BreezysMom]

Duing our trip last Dec, the evening we went to MVMCP I requested turn down service for that night. We had been back in the room that afternoon and showered and ate a late lunch/early dinner before the party and all the food containers were in the garbage and so forth.

It was so nice to come back late that night to the turned down bed and clean room and towels. DD and DH thought we had received pixie dust But then I told them I requested it.

These are the little things that have us looking forward to staying CL, but the nice thing is that you can utilize the turn down service in any room. You just have to call and request it like I did.

 

[huntconn]

Just wondering if any previous Poly guests have ever had any nice surprises left for them in their rooms as a "welcome to Disney"?

Last year we had a balloon arrangement and signed Mickey and Minnie photo card wishing us a Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary. They were waiting for us on our bed after returning from the MK on our anniversary. It really was something special to us. We're always the ones who never get towel animals, etc. so it was greatly appreciated.

 

[BreezysMom]

I am not sure how things are now with the whole "celebration" theme but when we went in 2007 we were also celebrating our 10th Anniversary and we received treats galore. My TA must of had it noted on our ADR's and so forth because we were not wearing our Anniversary pins and were surprised with all types of extras.

We received and card and a bag of treats from the Poly staff. Stayed GV that trip. We got cupcakes at Chef Mickey's and CP dinners. Champange flutes from CRT and a special dessert. And a special dessert at 1900 Park Faire.

It was so nice to be continually celebrated! It was these little things that made us fall in love with Disney and the Poly as it was our first trip as well!

However, is this day of cutbacks I fear that this may still not be the norm.

On our second trip we were not celebrating anything but being back at DW!

 

[crate1]

We recently stayed Hawaii building June2-9 room 3510. This was our first time CL. The view was SPECTACULAR, and well worth the extra money. We had turn down service every night. Our room was very clean. Sometimes mousekeeping didn't get to it til late afternoon, but since I like a fresh room everyday we would get out of their way so they could clean. Can't brag too much about the offerings for fool CL. After a few days the same stuff got monotonous (morning and mid-day). Barbecue sandwiches by far the best at 5p-7p. If you have any questions I'll try to answer. The Poly is hands down my favorite!

 

[Tess]

We were at the Poly during the "week of rain" - May 16th thru May24.
Stayed Poly LVC and had a great time, but turn down service only one time - at 5PM! Way too early. That was it! On thursday our room was not cleaned until 5:00 pm. I complained at 3:45 and they said our room was marked of as "done". They made a small apology, but that was it. We were getting ready for dinner at 4:30 when mousekeeping finally showed. I asked them to return at 5:00 as we were showering.

No towel animals, no arranging my grandkids stuffed animals, nothing special at all.

We still had a great time. We were in room 3501, first room by the lounge. Loved that room. Perfect view, lounge close for the grankids, not especially noisy considering we were near the stairs, elevators, lounge.

With what mother nature dealt us (over 20 inches of rain that week), it was still a great trip!

Pat

We were there at the same time (5/12-22) Pattymouse! We were in room 3507! While the rain stunk, our mousekeeping was absolutely wonderful. Our mousekeeper has been at the Polynesian for a long, long time and we have been lucky to have her services on quite a few visits.

Turn down for us was usually around 5:00 p.m. and it was never missed. One evening our daughter was ill and sleeping, but the turn down mousekeeper left fresh towels, etc. and didn't even wake our sleeping beauty while she did it. Our daughter failed to put the do not disturb sign out so I'm sure the turn down mousekeeper was surprised to see a sleeping guest in bed.

Isn't it amazing the differences in service even just a few doors apart? It really has to be the individual mousekeepers, but one would think the "manager" of the floor would be checking up on the work performed especially if there are complaints.

Wasn't that rain something? We've had several visits disrupted by tropical storms and even a minor hurricane. This wasn't even considered a tropical storm but it sure acted like one. I'm hoping for better weather in September. I figure if it rained cats and dogs during the "dry" season, maybe the "rainy" one won't be as bad. . .