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

[MsStinkerBelle]

I have heard Rapa Nui would be a great choice as it is close to the TTC and not that far to walk to the GCH.
Will having the travel agent call and request a special building be of any use at all? Or should we just wait till we get there and see what happens?

Rapa Nui is close to the TTC but I'd suggest Rarotonga as a second (backup) choice. Rapa Nui is closer to the TTC but Rarotonga is closest to the GCH. The building housing the Neverland Club is between the both of them.

I would definitely have your travel agent put your requests in for you. And when you check in, please reiterate to the CM that you have a special needs child. I say this because they've taken this into account whenever I check into the Poly with my DD (PDD/ASD).

Hope this helps!

 

[lissiesmum]

I will be booking a garden view room and was wondering if you get better views from a patio room or a balcony room? I wasn't planning on requesting a particular building, only to ask for a "quieter" building if possible, but then I was wondering if that might be too far from the volcano pool? DD and I like peace and quiet, but we will be spending a lot of time at the volcano pool and I was wondering how far it is to walk to the main pool from the farthest buildings? Also, I bought the Unofficial Guide to WDW and the POLY received an F for noise inside the rooms. Is it really that noisy? If babies are crying in the next room or people have a TV too loud, is it like they're in the room with you? Would a white noise machine cover the noise?

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

I will be booking a garden view room and was wondering if you get better views from a patio room or a balcony room? I wasn't planning on requesting a particular building, only to ask for a "quieter" building if possible, but then I was wondering if that might be too far from the volcano pool? DD and I like peace and quiet, but we will be spending a lot of time at the volcano pool and I was wondering how far it is to walk to the main pool from the farthest buildings? Also, I bought the Unofficial Guide to WDW and the POLY received an F for noise inside the rooms. Is it really that noisy? If babies are crying in the next room or people have a TV too loud, is it like they're in the room with you? Would a white noise machine cover the noise?

Regarding noise. We stayed there last August and noise was not an issue at all. I do not recall hearing anything.

If you stayed in Rapa Nui or Tahiti the walk to the GCH and Volcano Pool would be around 5 minutes. This is a quiet area of the resort. You will be close to the TTC and the monorail to Epcot from these two buildings.

We had a patio Garden View last stay and loved it.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I will be booking a garden view room and was wondering if you get better views from a patio room or a balcony room?

It depends. You may get a 'higher' view as opposed to one at ground level. I prefer a patio because I like that 'garden' level feel. From the upper levels you'd get to see more of the resort grounds.

I wasn't planning on requesting a particular building, only to ask for a "quieter" building if possible, but then I was wondering if that might be too far from the volcano pool? DD and I like peace and quiet, but we will be spending a lot of time at the volcano pool and I was wondering how far it is to walk to the main pool from the farthest buildings?

Probably about 5 minutes. That's how long it took us to walk from Rapa Nui (we walked from the TTC) to our room in Samoa. If you will be spending a lot of time at the Volcano pool I would suggest staying in Samoa, Fiji or Tokelau.

Also, I bought the Unofficial Guide to WDW and the POLY received an F for noise inside the rooms. Is it really that noisy? If babies are crying in the next room or people have a TV too loud, is it like they're in the room with you? Would a white noise machine cover the noise?

I love the Unofficial Guide with a passion and have worn the cover off of mine but I don't agree with them on this point. We've stayed in Samoa facing the volcano pool and the only real noise we heard were fireworks and people walking up/down the hall. We heard our neighbors maybe 1% of the time. When we did, the sound was quite muffled. We had the same experience when we stayed in Tuvalu.

Hope that helps!

 

[lissiesmum]

Thanks DisneyDad and MS Stinkerbelle I have been getting a lot of info from the unofficial guide (it is what I do on my lunch break every day to escape my rambunctious students!) and I found it odd that they gave the POLY an F for noise as I read these posts almost daily and have never seen any complaints before. I like the idea of the three longhouses over by the TTC...seems like the road less traveled and a little off the beaten path, which sounds nice, and five minutes to the pool sounds very reasonable,although, like you DisneyDad, we will be there the last week of August and if we are hot and cranky and needing a swim, it might be nice to have a room that's a stone's throw from the pool...Definitely something to think about. I am really trying to not request anything until I get there and hoping for a sprinkling of some of that pixie dust that I read so much about. I want to ask for a quiet area with the best view possible and I'm hoping they will be able to work with that and surprise me with something nice Thanks for the reassurance on the noise. I remember going to Florida with my parents as a kid and hearing everything from the people in the room next to us each night and I would toss and turn and couldn't sleep until they went to sleep. As an adult that will be traveling alone with my DD, sleep will be very precious and I'm glad to know the noise level isn't what I read in the guide

 

[krbq]

I will be booking a garden view room and was wondering if you get better views from a patio room or a balcony room? I wasn't planning on requesting a particular building, only to ask for a "quieter" building if possible, but then I was wondering if that might be too far from the volcano pool? DD and I like peace and quiet, but we will be spending a lot of time at the volcano pool and I was wondering how far it is to walk to the main pool from the farthest buildings? Also, I bought the Unofficial Guide to WDW and the POLY received an F for noise inside the rooms. Is it really that noisy? If babies are crying in the next room or people have a TV too loud, is it like they're in the room with you? Would a white noise machine cover the noise?

We've never had any in-room noise issues at the Poly and, believe me, DH would complain if he heard anything. I think that "F" was undeserved -- or a misprint.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

We have a Land / Sea package booked for 2009, our land portion will be at the Poly. What type of room will we be booked into? Will it be GV or Lagoon view? Just curious, anything will be fine.

 

[mommy2aprincess4]

subscribing. Someday, I'm staying at the poly!!!!

 

[WoodysRoundup]

I hope this info is helpful

very much so, thanks again!!!!!!!!

 

[WoodysRoundup]

We've never had any in-room noise issues at the Poly and, believe me, DH would complain if he heard anything. I think that "F" was undeserved -- or a misprint.

I have to agree! No noise issues for us either, and I'm a light sleeper!

 

[SeaSpray]

We are headed to the Poly for our first time Sep 7 - 12 . What do you guys recommend with requests attached to the reservation?

I would ideally like a 1st floor room in Samoa that has a view (or opens out toward) the Volcano pool. If I request something like that, is it TOO specific?

I have read people's fears that too many requests = being successful on none. Will it change any possibility of getting upgraded at check in?

I think have you decide WHY you'd like 1st floor of Samoa, facing the volcano. Is it because Samoa is centrally located? Is it because the first floor will make it easier to get to your room (no need to deal with elevators), and you like the idea of a patio? Is it because you like the idea of a view of the volcano pool? The reason I'm asking this is because, while you CAN request "Samoa building, facing the volcano, first floor", that pretty much limits you to only a handful of rooms that meet all 3 of your requirements. But if you say something like "close to GCH, view of volcano, first floor" then that opens up more options for the CM because then you could possibly be placed in the Fiji building with a view of the volcano, and on the first floor. You basically have to decide what you really want the MOST, whether it's a building close to the GCH, OR a first floor room, OR a view of the volcano pool. You can list them ALL, but list them in the order of your strongest preference first, and then go from there. I hope you get a room location that you're very happy with!

We have a Land / Sea package booked for 2009, our land portion will be at the Poly. What type of room will we be booked into? Will it be GV or Lagoon view? Just curious, anything will be fine.

I believe that it would be a garden view room. Have you tried asking over on the Cruise Line board? Many of those DISers have already done a Land/Sea vacation so they'd know for sure. I've done 2 Disney Cruises and they were a lot of fun. Have a great time!!

 

[Native NYer]

We were in Tahiti last month with a garden view room. What longhouse should we request to get the best theme park view?

We considered upgrading to CL, but no rooms available with our 30% bounceback. Plus, we're doing deluxe dining which would mean way too much food!

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

We have a Land / Sea package booked for 2009, our land portion will be at the Poly. What type of room will we be booked into? Will it be GV or Lagoon view? Just curious, anything will be fine.

You will be booked into a garden view unless you request otherwise and pay the difference. This is what I did for our December '06 Land/Sea package. Originally I was booked for a garden view room but asked my TA about upgrading to a lagoon view. If there are lagoon view rooms available for the land/sea block, you can upgrade--for the outstanding difference.

BTW, we LOVED our lagoon view before our cruise! We had a Navigator's cabin (cat 7) and it was a nice follow-on to our lagoon view room at the Poly.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

We were in Tahiti last month with a garden view room. What longhouse should we request to get the best theme park view?

It's a tie between Tuvalu (I LOVE the view of the water there) and Tahiti. If you want double sinks then Tahiti is the longhouse you want. Tuvalu only has one sink as it's one of the older longhouses.

 

[ConcKahuna]

It's a tie between Tuvalu (I LOVE the view of the water there) and Tahiti. If you want double sinks then Tahiti is the longhouse you want. Tuvalu only has one sink as it's one of the older longhouses.

I personally like Aeotearoa. It's set back from the lagoon some, but you still get a good view, and it's very close to the GCH (closer than any other lagoon view rooms).

 

[tracyad2003]

I have to agree! No noise issues for us either, and I'm a light sleeper!

you know the unofficial guide also gives a really low grade to the GF on the noise issue and we just stayed at the GF this month, even right next to the elevators and a building right by the pool and the noise was not a problem AT ALL. not sure what the unofficial is experiencing at all these resorts to rate them as noisy!

 

[Native NYer]

It's a tie between Tuvalu (I LOVE the view of the water there) and Tahiti. If you want double sinks then Tahiti is the longhouse you want. Tuvalu only has one sink as it's one of the older longhouses.

I personally like Aeotearoa. It's set back from the lagoon some, but you still get a good view, and it's very close to the GCH (closer than any other lagoon view rooms).

Thanks! I may lean toward the double sink.

 

[Wee Annie]

Hi all!

First, love this thread -- it's helped me change my mind and book the Polynesian over the GF!

I have a reservation for a long time from now (April '09) for two concierge lagoon-view rooms (forgive my inability to remember the abbreviations!). We have requested connecting rooms for us and our three children. We have also requested 1st or 3rd floor rooms, as our youngest is a baby and we need to be able to escape from our room in the evening outside to hang out with each other (the other two kids are a bit older).

Can anyone reassure me that there are indeed connecting rooms on the 1st and 3rd floor of Hawaii? It would really put my mind at rest. The price of the rooms are a stretch for us, and if our chance of getting connecting rooms in Hawaii are limited, I would rather save a lot of money and book standard MK view connecting rooms.

Thanks in advance for any info. you can provide!

 

[minnie my my]

Hi all!

First, love this thread -- it's helped me change my mind and book the Polynesian over the GF!

I have a reservation for a long time from now (April '09) for two concierge lagoon-view rooms (forgive my inability to remember the abbreviations!). We have requested connecting rooms for us and our three children. We have also requested 1st or 3rd floor rooms, as our youngest is a baby and we need to be able to escape from our room in the evening outside to hang out with each other (the other two kids are a bit older).

Can anyone reassure me that there are indeed connecting rooms on the 1st and 3rd floor of Hawaii? It would really put my mind at rest. The price of the rooms are a stretch for us, and if our chance of getting connecting rooms in Hawaii are limited, I would rather save a lot of money and book standard MK view connecting rooms.

Thanks in advance for any info. you can provide!

Yes, there are connecting rooms in Hawaii. We always stay in the Hawaii building and have had connecting rooms before. No need to worry. I have also always had wonderful experiences with my requests being met there. I don't always get every request I put down but they do try their best. Being able to sit down with the concierge cm helps too. If one of my requests isn't met they always look over their records and do their best to change it so I can get what I want.

 

[packerbeth]

With three children, ABSOLUTELY! Aside from the monorail (which is a huge plus and invaluable IMO), there are boat launches to the MK. I took four kids to WDW last August and the Poly was absolutely essential to the great time we had.

POR is cheaper and I did stay at POFQ twice but the buses made me .

This is just the answer I want to hear after upgrading from POR to the Poly. We have 4 children, including one in a wheelchair, and the bus issue was giving me a lot of anxiety. I decided to go ahead and upgrade as part of our 15th anniversary celebration. Thanks for the reassurance that our family will benefit greatly from the switch!