The *NEW* Polynesian Resort FAQ thread - *2008*

[juliebee]

Love that pic on the hammock! And how magical that you could see the castle! Hope your dad is okay! Best wishes,

 

[BKMETV]

Also: I will be having a lapu lapu on the patio this time in 2 weeks!!!!!

Be sure to post a photo so we will be suitably jealous!!

 

[BKMETV]

Ron:

Hope your father is doing better. Your daughters are gorgeous. Julie's right...love that hammock shot.

 

[WDWBetsy]

MagicalEars,

Thanks for sharing the pics! Your girls are really cute.

Hope your dad is doing better.

 

[huntconn]

I was wondering if anyone has been in the Concierge Longe recently? I have a question about the view from the lounge: when we vacationed at the Poly last year (August), I noticed that there was a very large bamboo plant that obstructed at least 1/3 of the view from the lounge. I was wondering if the tree has been cut back at all. I was really disappointed that they allowed it to grow so much as to block some of the view of the lagoon/castle. I absolutely love the view from the lounge and was bummed out that I could not see as much as the year before when the plant was well pruned. This is only a minor complaint, we had a fantastic vacation, as we always do at the Poly. Just curious if anyone has any info on this.

 

[huntconn]

accidental double post-sorry/deleted

 

[jenn-n-okla]

I got a wonderful suprise e-mail today from Disney. It contained the elusive PIN Code.
I was very excited Then I couldn't find Poly as one of the listed resorts it was good for. I sent it on to my travel agent not expecting anything but thought I would give it a shot. Nothing ventured nothing gained right?
Well low and behold the she got the CM to allow it to work!
We will be credited $714.
That will more than enough cover the hidious cost of a double stroller for the time we are there.
I am so excited we will be there in 8 days!!!!!!!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I got a wonderful suprise e-mail today from Disney. It contained the elusive PIN Code.
I was very excited Then I couldn't find Poly as one of the listed resorts it was good for. I sent it on to my travel agent not expecting anything but thought I would give it a shot. Nothing ventured nothing gained right?
Well low and behold the she got the CM to allow it to work!
We will be credited $714.
That will more than enough cover the hidious cost of a double stroller for the time we are there.
I am so excited we will be there in 8 days!!!!!!!

Wow!! What code did you get?? We got two 30% ones and a 40% one. I tried the 30% ones, but neither one worked, so I didn't try the 40%. Maybe I should call.

 

[dmccall]

We just got back from 4 nights at Poly and loved it!! Here are some points:
* We got upgraded to concierge (Hawaii), and the food there was great. Breakfast was continental (4 cereals, 4 danishes, muffins, juice, milk, coffee). Around dinner there is a great little appetizer bar. One night they had some delicious polynesian style chicken drummettes and fried rice. Beer and wine are available from 4pm -10pm and are free (Bud light, Bud, Heineken, one other). Soft drink fridge is always available. The Guava fruit juice was my favorite find on the trip. The view from the lounge was a giant picture window of the Grand Flo, Contemporary, and in the center, the Castle. We got very, very lucky, indeed.

* Main pool is awesome. Volcano's water slide is excellent, and there is a bar with froo froo drinks at the other side of the volcano.

* This is what Disney is to me: One morning there was a woman from the lobby out using a blower to make the rear entrance perfect. When we walked over to the TTC, the path had many fallen flowers. There was a maintenance guy blowing, and he stopped for us to pass. The next morning one of the lifeguards was powerwashing the pool deck. She had the hose connected to a permanent powerwasher hookup in the Vocano's cave! Disney Imagineers thought about powerwashing when they designed the freakin' volcano!!!

* The lobby is gorgeous, and if we didn't have so much to do, I would have been happy just sitting there. In fact, the Polynesian is too nice, really. I could go on a vacation there and never do any Disney stuff, but what a wasted opportunity that is!

* Kona Cafe for dinner was excellent. The Kona Salad was one of the best things I ate on the trip: Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette $6.99
I had Shrimp and Scallops: panko breaded shrimp and pan-seared scallops with sticky rice and ponzu, spicy guava-passion fruit and wasabi cream sauces $20.99 The breading on the shrimp was perfect, as was the frying job on it. My wife got Macadamia Nut and Chive-crusted Mahi-mahi - served with watercress salad with warm shiitake-soy vinaigrette and sticky rice $20.99. She really liked it, though the flavors were a bit subtle. For desert I got Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart - $5.99 - Outstanding.

* We did Basic Dining (of course this thing is a bit of a racket, I feel. They always ask before seating,"are you on a Disney Dining plan?" Well, I know that the prices on the menu were inflated. Every one of our seated dinners was "$100" or more. Tips are not included, so your going to tip outstanding services pushing 20% at the inflated overall price. Then, they know they can't really sell that many deserts, so they include that and make you buy your salad - which is at an inflated price. I will sit down tonight with the bill and figure out how much dining really cost us.)

* We didn't have time to explore the 2nd pool (the giant oval).

* We loved having monorail service so convenient to the hotel. Trains were every 5 minutes usually, but they only go clockwise. It's quick to get to the park, but coming back you have to go through the Contemporary and the TTC before reaching the Poly. (They have turned the outer, counterclockwise track into an express that only serves TTC and MK. It's sad to see the outer platforms at the resorts going unused, but I guess in the old days, when outer also stopped at each resort, people in the Contemporary and Grand Floridian were met with full trains in the morning going to MK.

* Fireworks are fantastic from the Polynesian. We watched Wishes from the beach one night, but there was no music. Two nights later we watched it from the pool where they had the music coming in from the bushes.

 

[Marc A.]

Seems like a lot of people are getting upgrades when they check in.....Is this very rare or does it happen quite often????
Are they free???

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We just got back from 4 nights at Poly and loved it!! Here are some points:
* We got upgraded to concierge (Hawaii), and the food there was great. Breakfast was continental (4 cereals, 4 danishes, muffins, juice, milk, coffee). Around dinner there is a great little appetizer bar. One night they had some delicious polynesian style chicken drummettes and fried rice. Beer and wine are available from 4pm -10pm and are free (Bud light, Bud, Heineken, one other). Soft drink fridge is always available. The Guava fruit juice was my favorite find on the trip. The view from the lounge was a giant picture window of the Grand Flo, Contemporary, and in the center, the Castle. We got very, very lucky, indeed.

* Main pool is awesome. Volcano's water slide is excellent, and there is a bar with froo froo drinks at the other side of the volcano.

* This is what Disney is to me: One morning there was a woman from the lobby out using a blower to make the rear entrance perfect. When we walked over to the TTC, the path had many fallen flowers. There was a maintenance guy blowing, and he stopped for us to pass. The next morning one of the lifeguards was powerwashing the pool deck. She had the hose connected to a permanent powerwasher hookup in the Vocano's cave! Disney Imagineers thought about powerwashing when they designed the freakin' volcano!!!

* The lobby is gorgeous, and if we didn't have so much to do, I would have been happy just sitting there. In fact, the Polynesian is too nice, really. I could go on a vacation there and never do any Disney stuff, but what a wasted opportunity that is!

* Kona Cafe for dinner was excellent. The Kona Salad was one of the best things I ate on the trip: Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette $6.99
I had Shrimp and Scallops: panko breaded shrimp and pan-seared scallops with sticky rice and ponzu, spicy guava-passion fruit and wasabi cream sauces $20.99 The breading on the shrimp was perfect, as was the frying job on it. My wife got Macadamia Nut and Chive-crusted Mahi-mahi - served with watercress salad with warm shiitake-soy vinaigrette and sticky rice $20.99. She really liked it, though the flavors were a bit subtle. For desert I got Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart - $5.99 - Outstanding.

* We did Basic Dining (of course this thing is a bit of a racket, I feel. They always ask before seating,"are you on a Disney Dining plan?" Well, I know that the prices on the menu were inflated. Every one of our seated dinners was "$100" or more. Tips are not included, so your going to tip outstanding services pushing 20% at the inflated overall price. Then, they know they can't really sell that many deserts, so they include that and make you buy your salad - which is at an inflated price. I will sit down tonight with the bill and figure out how much dining really cost us.)

* We didn't have time to explore the 2nd pool (the giant oval).

* We loved having monorail service so convenient to the hotel. Trains were every 5 minutes usually, but they only go clockwise. It's quick to get to the park, but coming back you have to go through the Contemporary and the TTC before reaching the Poly. (They have turned the outer, counterclockwise track into an express that only serves TTC and MK. It's sad to see the outer platforms at the resorts going unused, but I guess in the old days, when outer also stopped at each resort, people in the Contemporary and Grand Floridian were met with full trains in the morning going to MK.

* Fireworks are fantastic from the Polynesian. We watched Wishes from the beach one night, but there was no music. Two nights later we watched it from the pool where they had the music coming in from the bushes.

Thanks for posting that great review and congragulations on getting that amazing upgrade.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Seems like a lot of people are getting upgrades when they check in.....Is this very rare or does it happen quite often????
Are they free???

Whenever someone get's upgraded at any WDW Resort it's totally random, so it could happen to anyone at anytime of the year. Also when it's the Resort giving the upgrade to the guest in that case it's free, so if the guest asked at check-in about upgrading then they would be willing to pay for the upgrade.

 

[Marc A.]

Whenever someone get's upgraded at any WDW Resort it's totally random, so it could happen to anyone at anytime of the year. Also when it's the Resort giving the upgrade to the guest in that case it's free, so if the guest asked at check-in about upgrading then they would be willing to pay for the upgrade.

So it doesn't hurt to ask for a free upgrade at check in????
I tried to upgrade using my DVC points this morning. We currently have a GV and have some extra points we could use but there was nothing available. I'll try back in a few weeks.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

So it doesn't hurt to ask for a free upgrade at check in????
I tried to upgrade using my DVC points this morning. We currently have a GV and have some extra points we could use but there was nothing available. I'll try back in a few weeks.

Personally I wouldn't ask for a free upgrade because it might put the Cast Member in an uncomfortable position, so that's just my opinion. As I said before when asking to upgrade at check-in the Cast Member will assume you are willing to pay for it. On other threads about asking for free upgrades others have said try telling the Cast Member how happy you are to be at WDW and to have your kids looking all excited, however even if you did all that there is no guarantee of getting a free upgrade so you could be disappointed if nothing comes out of doing that. I say if you want a specifc room is to make a reservation for it, this way you won't be disappointed with what you have reserved.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Sorry, but I didn't get around to my trip report tonight. Things have been really hectic since we got back. Mostly the typical unpack, clean and pay bills thing, but we also found out that while we were gone my dad ended up in the hospital after suffering a few mini strokes. It's really spooky since he's in such great shape and takes such good care of himself.

So sorry to hear about your dad. Great pictures of your and your family at the Poly. Thanks for sharing them!

* Kona Cafe for dinner was excellent. The Kona Salad was one of the best things I ate on the trip: Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette $6.99
I had Shrimp and Scallops: panko breaded shrimp and pan-seared scallops with sticky rice and ponzu, spicy guava-passion fruit and wasabi cream sauces $20.99

You had two of my favorite dishes to have at Kona Cafe for dinner. My sister kept trying to eat my scallops--had to spear her hand a few times. LOL! I don't think I've ever had a bad meal at Kona.

And CONGRATS on the concierge upgrade!

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Personally I wouldn't ask for a free upgrade because it might put the Cast Member in an uncomfortable position, so that's just my opinion. As I said before when asking to upgrade at check-in the Cast Member will assume you are willing to pay for it. On other threads about asking for free upgrades others have said try telling the Cast Member how happy you are to be at WDW and to have your kids looking all excited, however even if you did all that there is no guarantee of getting a free upgrade so you could be disappointed if nothing comes out of doing that. I say if you want a specifc room is to make a reservation for it, this way you won't be disappointed with what you have reserved.

I agree with this. Last December when DD8, my sister and I checked into the AKL for our standard view room, I just asked the CM for a room in a 'quiet' area of the hotel due to my daughter's PDD. After she checked a few things she told me in a lowered voice that she'd given me a complimentary upgrade to savannah view. In the meantime, a loud gentleman next to me was trying to ask the CM helping him for a free upgrade to savannah. He was told by the CM that he could upgrade but for an additional $75/night. I never told my DD8 we had a savannah view before we got there as I wasn't counting on it. So it was a great surprise and Christmas gift to her to get the view.

So to make a long story short and to agree with CRFan, if there's a specific view you want, book that view so you're not dissapointed.

 

[jenn-n-okla]

We ended up saving $89.25/night on our room. No sure what % that is....we booked it all together (air, ME, tickets, hotel, and DDP)....all on my mom's Disney Visa. Weird thing is the code was in my husband's name. The travel agent had to show the CM he was staying in the room with the reservation number we had.

 

[brendalee59]

We booked a land/sea pkg in Feb of 06,so we have been waiting a long time to get to the Poly. Still have 7 months to go. We have a lagoon view booked,and are waitlisted for club level upgrade. Do you think we have any chance of getting it during Christmas week? I'm not counting on it,and I'm really hoping for a 3rd floor LV in Tahiti.
Also, we fly into MCO at 10:00 am. Considering how early we have to get up to get through security at DFW(our flight is 6:30 am) we are going to be tired and hungry. We can't decide if we want to hit a park(our original plan) or spend that day at the resort recovering from our very early morning. Any suggestions? If we wanted to do a park, which would you suggest for two adults and a set of 16 yr old twins who have been up since 4:00 am?

 

[Tonyspad]

We booked a land/sea pkg in Feb of 06,so we have been waiting a long time to get to the Poly. Still have 7 months to go. We have a lagoon view booked,and are waitlisted for club level upgrade. Do you think we have any chance of getting it during Christmas week? I'm not counting on it,and I'm really hoping for a 3rd floor LV in Tahiti.
Also, we fly into MCO at 10:00 am. Considering how early we have to get up to get through security at DFW(our flight is 6:30 am) we are going to be tired and hungry. We can't decide if we want to hit a park(our original plan) or spend that day at the resort recovering from our very early morning. Any suggestions? If we wanted to do a park, which would you suggest for two adults and a set of 16 yr old twins who have been up since 4:00 am?

I would say you need to visit the Magic Kingdom since you will be soooooo close you can see and hear many of the rides. Then at night use the hotel pool and grounds, We love the Poly and will no longer stay anywhere else!

 

[suffolkprincess]

I got a wonderful suprise e-mail today from Disney. It contained the elusive PIN Code.
I was very excited Then I couldn't find Poly as one of the listed resorts it was good for. I sent it on to my travel agent not expecting anything but thought I would give it a shot. Nothing ventured nothing gained right?
Well low and behold the she got the CM to allow it to work!
We will be credited $714.
That will more than enough cover the hidious cost of a double stroller for the time we are there.
I am so excited we will be there in 8 days!!!!!!!

HOW?!?!?!? How did you get the PIN?!?!?!?!?

I am so.jealous.

Seriously. What *else* do I need to sign up for? I'm getting emails, snail mails and what-have-you from every department at Disney as it is....