Tinkaroo, that's a shame that you had that experience at the Polynesian. I suspect it could happen at any WDW hotel though but that doesn't matter....the memory lingers.
Got to love those monorail restaurants, right?!
Both you and Kelly mention no fans in the bathrooms at the Polynesian. The bathrooms do have fan that are motion activated. I wonder if you both had rooms where they weren't operating properly. I actually like the single bathroom as it seems more sanitary for a hotel room that often has little kids staying if you get my drift. But a split bath is nice for makeup, etc..
Oh, we still do like the Poly! I think it has a lot of great things to offer - when just comparing the resorts, GF wins out for me, and the room layout has a lot to do with it.
When my May trip originally included my DH (now it's my Mom), we were booked at the Poly!
We did have an unfortunate "other guest" experience (our neighbors - awful noise!), but that could definitely happen at any resort. I just wish management had done a bit more about it. Not to raise a debate, but they were international visitors, and I got the impression that they claimed to have a hard time understanding/communicating with hotel staff.
Tinkaroo, can you tell us more about your private dinner or is it on the old thread? It sounds like a great idea. We did a private tea when they still did that and it is now a special memory for our family.
I haven't posted in great detail about it - I keep meaning to do a trip report, but it just hasn't happened yet!
In a nutshell, I had wanted to do something as a special surprise for DH on our trip in December, and had heard about the private dining options around the resort. I wanted to schedule this for us for dinner one night, and had hoped to be able to do it outside somewhere (pending weather) so we could enjoy the fireworks.
It was a bit difficult to get in touch with the woman in PD I needed to speak with regarding setting this up - I never could figure out her schedule, but it seems she works a very limited # of p/t hours, yet she's responsible for so much.
I found once I was able to get an e-mail address for her, I had better luck reaching her that way (by phone w/o leaving a VM was darn near impossible). Long story short, we settled on the date, and I elected a time that coincided with Holiday Wishes (could have also done it to coincide with the earlier regular Wishes if I had wanted). I elected for the 3rd floor private balcony off the RPC lounge; I was told that area, the Grand One, and your guestroom are the only areas that PD will now set up an "intimate" dinner (i.e., includes your own butler, you customize the menu, etc.). I had been under the impression in the past that it might also include other areas around the GF grounds in the past, but maybe that got too complicated.
We all know that private tea is no longer available.
I can't remember what I was told initially the cost started at, but I know our meal ended up being $85/person, plus tax, 18% gratuity, and a $75 butler fee (alcohol was also at an extra charge). I
think the final bill was a little over $300 - I tipped more than the 18% because our butler was WONDERFUL, and we did have some drinks as well.
Here was the final menu we settled on; I did run some ideas of things we liked/didn't like by the GF CM, and then she got with the chef to create the menu, and we refined from there.
- Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa
- Poached Pear Salad with Ruby Endive, Frisee and Mache. Hazelnut-White balsamic Vinaigrette and crumbled Stilton
- Petite Filet Mignon with Potato-chive croquette, Seasonal Vegetables and Red Wine Sauce accompanied by Butter-poached Lobster Tail for your husband and yours will be accompanied by Skewered Shrimp
(please let me know how you would like your meat prepared)
This includes a soda, water or ice tea, for each guest. Alcoholic beverages are additional.
During our "Wishes" fireworks we will serve a special dessert.
Fortunately, my husband doesn't ask many questions, so I didn't have to be purposely vague with him too much. Once we got to the GF (we were on the Wonder prior), he was asking what all we were going to be doing, and I just told him we were doing something special that one night, and he needed to wear "nice" clothes (not V&A nice, but I wanted to take pictures, and would have preferred we be dressed up). I didn't really have a big "reveal" planned, but told him that afternoon what we were doing. He was really excited, as apparently I had mentioned this idea once, and he actually remembered thinking it would be nice!
We had a cocktail in the RPC lounge before we went downstairs to meet out butler, Joe, at the grand piano.
I had been worried that day, because the weather was NOT nice - very misty, humid, etc. (if you were in FL for the 1st day they were to have taped the Xmas Day parade last year, you'd know what I'm talking about). I had asked some of the concierge CM's to get in touch with PD for me that day to see what our options were if we couldn't be outside on the balcony. I was told they'd move us to the 5th floor in the RPC lounge, in front of the bank of windows that afforded a similar view to the 3rd floor balcony below. Of course, I was disappointed in the weather, but was glad there was an alternative planned. I even saw the set-up earlier that afternoon up on the 5th floor.
Imagine my surprise, when our butler led us to the 3rd floor balcony! Seems in the couple of hours since we'd been outside earlier, the weather had turned. It was cooler, not nearly as humid, and no futher chance of rain. Joe took it upon himself to move everything outside for us, although he was quick to say that he could put us back inside if we preferred. No, this was great!
He got us all set-up with drinks and everything, and perfectly presented each course. He never "hovered", but always seemed to be on hand the moment we needed him (and he wasn't just inside at the window, so I don't know how he did it). He did set a little "prep" station off to the side with refills on sodas, Evian water, ice, etc. - he also took all of these beverages (plus my leftover food and our leftover dessert) to our room for us and placed in our refrigerator once our meal was over! We enjoyed visiting with Joe, too - talked to him about how long he'd worked at the GF (quite a while), where he was from originally, etc. I also have a pic with him - it was initially while DH was trying to find the right camera settings to best capture our pictures outside, but I'm glad we have it now.
It was a perfect meal, and as promised, our wonderful chocolate-y dessert came just in time for Holiday Wishes. Even though we could have stayed in our seats, we did go to the railing to see Wishes to its fullest, and then were amazed when to our right toward the end of Holiday Wishes, we began to see IllumiNations. It was a real treat!
All in all, it was a perfect, wonderful night, and one we won't soon forget. I'd pay to do it again in a heartbeat. Although the planning was a bit of a pain (there were some tense moments there at the end where I wasn't hearing back from the PD CM to finalize everything, and we were getting ready to get on the Wonder!), the execution was flawless.
Wow, that turned out a little longer than I was expecting!
Not that there's anything wrong with that. We all decide where to spend our money.
