Hi everyone! I'm back from the Poly. We had an AWESOME vacation there! I have only skimmed through the last week's posts but I did notice someone mention Hayden Panatierre (sp?) and YES - I saw her! It was 4/27 Monday and she was at the pool. I told my husband and he said that of course he noticed the cute girl - ha ha. But seriously, she was at the pool in the afternoon and played volleyball with her friend. I wanted to take a picture but I wasn't sure how old she was and if that was ok to do when she was in her bathing suit. I thought I better not because I wouldn't want people taking pictures of my children. Well, I think she is 18 or 19 so I guess it didn't matter - but what an interesting celebrity siting! Ok, on to a poly review....
I used online checkin. I really liked this BUT there was no way to request a longhouse. I did call central Disney reservations and asked for a ground floor room at Tokelau (I paid for a garden view room so this was as good as I was going to get). I used Magical Express and the lines were ridiculously long. LOTS of cheerleaders there for that weekend! But we didn't care - this was a vacation! Once we got through the ME line, the Poly bus line was short. We were the 1st stop. I went right to the online checkin lane that had NO people. Regular check in had a line of about 10 people. So we checked in right away. They gave us a celebration pin for my daughter's birthday. It was actually last month but on the reservation online, they let you mark any celebrations and of course, we had to celebrate something! We got our request for Tokelau, ground floor in room 1915. This is the CORNER room at the end of the hall nearest the lake and opposite side of the pool. If we walked out the patio just a few feet, we could see the castle!!! I highly recommend this room for its location and view since the price is only garden level price.
The room - as we all know, the rooms were done over a couple years ago but you could already see a bit of wear and tear! Nothing horrible, but noticable. The worst was the bed I was in squeaked (I am a tiny person too!). Also, a handle on the dresser was off. The cold water didn't work - nothing colder than lukewarm so no super cold drinks for us. And the refrigerator - watch out! You need to crack open the cabinet door that closes over the refrigerator or else it overheats and it doesn't work. So leave it cracked open for some ventilation and it will be fine. As usual, the lighting is a bit low but it's nothing horrible. We sat outside on the patio if we were in the room or it was nighttime anyway so it was supposed to be darker. And there were a few issues with people being excessively noisy above our room but it was tolerable and only happened a couple of times. So I've talked about all the issues but it really wasn't anything that ruined my vacation, I just wanted to give you guys an update! The location of the room, and the rest of the room were just fine! Our housekeeper was really awesome and even left some neat towel animals and things (we did leave a tip for her at the beginning of the week - maybe that helped!)
The arcade card - 30 minutes - HA! It didn't last us more than 5 - I have no idea what they are talking about when they say you get a 30 minute arcade card. But we used it and it was free with our package.
Cap'n Cooks - Great! Mickey Waffles were yummy as usual and all food we got there was fine. Even the coffee. Yup, I think the coffee tastes good.
Kona Cafe - run far away from this place. It was my favorite from 2 years ago and this time, it was horrible. So so service - HORRIBLE food (macadamia nut crusted mahi-mahi - good imitation of rubber) and it even made me sick. Even the desserts were dry.
Ohana - my new favorite. Must do this for dinner!
Pool - they've done away with the cocktail waitress at the volcano pool!!!! OMG!!! That sucked. The bartenders were nice and made some super strong drinks. Fusion Lemonade - yum. It is actually easy to get your drinks and go to the 'quiet' pool. And I'd like to personally chastise people who save all those chairs and don't use them. And I hope that one woman who made me give up my chair (that I was sitting on with two kids and that didn't have a towel on it or look 'saved') got her karma back to her. Ok, nuff said about that!
Shops - Love the shops. Boutiki is fun and has lots of neat stuff. They stopped selling the 6 pack of beer though and you now have to pay the 'bar' price for a single bottle at the little store. That was a bummer.
Monorail - Best reason to stay here. TTC & Poly monorails were great. Got to sit up front too - just ask!
Hot tub - there is none. I didn't think much of it until my husband (who is a general contractor and works his body to exhaustion) asked and he was really bummed there wasn't one. oops.
Kid's playground - WHAT???? No playground??? I had no idea. Unfortunately, this is something that we wanted. Kid's had lots to do though, just be forewarned.
Airline checkin - We used this on our departure from the Poly and it is great!! You just check in with the guy outside. He takes all the luggage from you. No waiting at the airport or lugging around the suitcases. It was excellent!
Overall - We had such a wonderful time and the Poly is the best location!!
Things I would do differently next time:
1. Look into club level. I bet the cost of food & drinks (alcoholic for me & the mr.) for our family of four would make up for the increased cost - and my husband was interested in using the lounge.
2. Notify the hotel immediately of those little things I mentioned about the room. I was so happy to be on vacation, that I really didn't care. But after a few days, I wished we had cold water and the dresser drawer opened up without me skinning my fingers.
3. Arrange transportation at least to the resort. I always use ME because I paid for it, right??? Well, if we had used that transportation allears recommends, we would have had a grocery stop and I know we would have saved a ton of money on beer & snacks. We would have also not waited around so much for ME.
4. Take a taxi to/from Downtown Disney. That bus takes forever.
Sorry for the long post but hope that helps anyone planning!
The lobby smell does smell like fresh fountain water! I love that smell too!
Happy Anniversary! Also, your signature photo is precious!
