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

[Me&3]

We've been on vacation so I need to catch up with this great thread. But I agree that the info on accessible rooms is out of date. I think Tikiman has posted that Niue has an accessible room now too as well as those new ones in Tahiti and Hawaii. Also I think all buildings now have automatic doors, don't they?

For those going soon, I hope Fay doesn't affect you much. A DVCer always posts good info on hurricanes. Here's a link to his thread on Fay. He tends to update daily and sometimes more often.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1921119

Welcome back hope you had a Great trip . Thanks for the thread now I can stay on DIS and track Fay through Jims thread . I live in south Florida. Did you go to Disney for your trip? Maybe a TR is coming our way from you?

 

[BCV23]

Welcome back hope you had a Great trip . Thanks for the thread now I can stay on DIS and track Fay through Jims thread . I live in south Florida. Did you go to Disney for your trip? Maybe a TR is coming our way from you?

Thanks! Not WDW this time. We head North in the summer.

Jim's hurricane threads are always so helpful. Info without the hype of TV reports.

Stay safe. I hope Fay just fades away and doesn't affect anyone too badly.

 

[Britt7]

Okay - so now we have switched our resort to Poly - and i think we will stick with our decision this time. Just wondering what to request if we are only paying for a garden view, but want to be as close to the monorail as possible - will be walking (carrying) a 3 year old. We would also like to be near a pool- also as far up (floor wise) as possible. The walking distance is what has kept us away from the Poly until now ( it just looks like a LOT of walking). I have never made room requests before so am I bit nervous about what to do!

 

[monorailsilver]

Okay - so now we have switched our resort to Poly - and i think we will stick with our decision this time. Just wondering what to request if we are only paying for a garden view, but want to be as close to the monorail as possible - will be walking (carrying) a 3 year old. We would also like to be near a pool- also as far up (floor wise) as possible. The walking distance is what has kept us away from the Poly until now ( it just looks like a LOT of walking). I have never made room requests before so am I bit nervous about what to do!

I don't think the walking is too bad. I think it just looks spread out but when you think of it, other resorts have just as long of a walk if not longer.

I learned when I was a teenager how to cut thru long houses to save time.

Even this past trip I would take the shortest route & sometimes that was cutting thru a long house (OK dh wanted the route with the A/C who am I kidding).

We stayed in Tokelau this past trip (sniff, sniff, last week). If I was going to GCH in the am, I'd walk out our building thru the main enterance vs the sides, go thru the quiet pool area, then hook a left into Niue (?) or is is Samoa (?). When I came out of there, I take a right & was pretty much at the GCH.

If I went to the main pool, I'd go out the beach side of Tokelau & walk along the beach to the pool.

Now if it is raining, all that goes kaputz & we take the longhouses that will get us less wet.

 

[johnsonet]

We have a lagoon room view booked and I've read some conflicting opinions as to if it's worth upgrading to concierge or not?
I kind of like the idea of the cereals in the morning for the kids, the DVD player in the room and snacks throughout the day.
So my question to anyone who's been recently, do you think it would be worth it?
Thanks,

Hi there. We stayed Poly LV CL for the first time last month and I absolutely loved it! The views are incredible and we really enjoyed the lounge. CMs were very friendly and helpful. If you're able to upgrade I would say go for it

As far as upgrading to "concierge" club level. I agonized years ago about the same thing. My daughters convinced me that since we were a group of 9 in 3 separate rooms the club lounge would be a good place to be able to get together every morning. I was not impressed by the cost vs the lounge offerings (snacks). But, being the only male member of a group of 9, my vote didn't seem to count for much. To make a long story short, the so-called (by me) "snack offerings" were amazing! And with all that was available, I honestly didn't require any more than 1 good served meal daily. And I do love to eat. I was never wanting for food. Add to that the ambiance of the lounge , the magnificient view, and the amazing CMs working there, it was the best extra money I've ever spent. Since then, I don't even consider staying at the Poly unless I can do club level. OK OK, I admit that I would love any room at the Poly. But the club level definitely spoiled me. It was well worth the extra $$ for me.

Poly CL spoiled us as well. It was worth every penny, IMO.

Just booked the Poly Magic Kingdom View for our early May trip. We Disneymooned at the Poly 14 years ago, and my kiddos really wanted to try it. They love how the Volcano pool looks. We are very excited!

Which bldgs have Handicap Accessible rooms for MK view? Does Tahiti?

Hope you get Tahiti. Great building... So glad you are going back to the Polynesian.

I'd rather be at WDW than at home durring a hurricane. The good construction of the buildings, and the fact that the resorts have thier own generator systems, mean you'll be safe and cool inside the air-conditioned room

I agree Hope everyone avoids bad weather for their vacation, though.

We've been on vacation so I need to catch up with this great thread. But I agree that the info on accessible rooms is out of date. I think Tikiman has posted that Niue has an accessible room now too as well as those new ones in Tahiti and Hawaii. Also I think all buildings now have automatic doors, don't they?

For those going soon, I hope Fay doesn't affect you much. A DVCer always posts good info on hurricanes. Here's a link to his thread on Fay. He tends to update daily and sometimes more often.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1921119

Welcome back BCV23

Okay - so now we have switched our resort to Poly - and i think we will stick with our decision this time. Just wondering what to request if we are only paying for a garden view, but want to be as close to the monorail as possible - will be walking (carrying) a 3 year old. We would also like to be near a pool- also as far up (floor wise) as possible. The walking distance is what has kept us away from the Poly until now ( it just looks like a LOT of walking). I have never made room requests before so am I bit nervous about what to do!

We have twice been in Raratonga and LOVEd it! SO convenient to the GCH and therefore the monorail. You might even have monorail views from your room I've only stayed in Rapa Nui, Tahiti, Raratonga and Hawaii but I've never found the walking to be bad at ALL. Good luck and ENJOY

 

[Picabo]

We have twice been in Raratonga and LOVEd it! SO convenient to the GCH and therefore the monorail. You might even have monorail views from your room I've only stayed in Rapa Nui, Tahiti, Raratonga and Hawaii but I've never found the walking to be bad at ALL. Good luck and ENJOY

Raratonga keeps coming up as a great location for garden view. DH (for whatever reason) does NOT want a view of the monorail? Not sure why exactly, perhaps he is afraid it'll be noisy at night or that people can see in the room? Not sure. In anycase, if you don't face the monorail, do you have a decent view of anything? And how long does it take to get from Raratonga to TTC?

I requested Tokalua north/east side for our trip (not till NEXT year ) b/c I thought it was pretty central, liked the idea of all 3 floors having balconies, liked that the rooms were slightly larger, and was hoping to get a partial view of the lagoon. Soooo is there any other beneit to Raratonga that I should be considering....? As I said, I keep hearing it's a great location so should I pick CLOSE PROXIMITY to the main building over the other reasons?

THANK YOU!!!

 

[Sandy Wyatt]

I have never stayed at the Polynesian, what is it's best asset?

 

[WendyDarlingXOXO]

Aloha everyone!

My husband and I are saving for our 2010 trip and we're planning on having enough $ to splurge on the Poly. (I'm budgeting for rack rate...I haven't seen much promising info yet on codes for the Poly, but then again I haven't done a throrough search.)

This thread is awesome! It has taken me a week to read (off and on, obviously) but has been totally worth it.

With 4 kids, staying at a Deluxe was never in the budget, but then again I never made it a priority. Our 2010 trip will be special - it's the first time I'm going with my husband (went with my ex and the kids in years past) and we'll be celebrating the graduation of both of my teenagers (one's graduating in 2009 and the other will graduate in 2010) so I want to make it extra-nice.

Right now, we're planning on the 3rd week of June 2010, but I haven't decided on whether or not to just plan to stay our entire stay at the Poly with 2 standard GV rooms or if I should plan a split stay between the Poly & Ft. Wilderness in an effort to save some $ for "extras". At least I have PLENTY of time to decide, eh? If I DID decide to do a split stay, I will be keeping the Poly portion of our stay as a secret - I think it'd be fun to surprise the kids!

Good luck to all that have a trip planned this week - hope Fay decides to stay away!

XOXO~

~Wendy

 

[CJK]

Raratonga keeps coming up as a great location for garden view. DH (for whatever reason) does NOT want a view of the monorail? Not sure why exactly, perhaps he is afraid it'll be noisy at night or that people can see in the room? Not sure. In anycase, if you don't face the monorail, do you have a decent view of anything? And how long does it take to get from Raratonga to TTC?

I requested Tokalua north/east side for our trip (not till NEXT year ) b/c I thought it was pretty central, liked the idea of all 3 floors having balconies, liked that the rooms were slightly larger, and was hoping to get a partial view of the lagoon. Soooo is there any other beneit to Raratonga that I should be considering....? As I said, I keep hearing it's a great location so should I pick CLOSE PROXIMITY to the main building over the other reasons?

THANK YOU!!!

I can't answer all your questions, but I can talk to you about our experience with rarotonga. Our view was not facing the monorail. It faced the quiet pool and I LOVED our view! It was quiet and fun to people watch too. It was so close to run to Captain Cooks with my refillable mug whenever I wanted as well. I sat on our balcony with my morning tea and evening glass of wine EVERYDAY!! That said......I'm sure other longhouses are lovely as well, but I just love Rarotonga!

 

[JRDMAN]

I have never stayed at the Polynesian, what is it's best asset?

What is Poly's best asset?
If you ask 10 people, you'll probably get 10 different answers. That's the beauty of Poly! It has sooo many great assets.
The grounds are breathtaking, the convenience of the monorail and boat launches, beautiful rooms, really kewl pools, amazing restaurants, unique shops, helpful and courteous CMs.
But I have to say that, for me, I always feel like a member of the family when I'm there. I've been to many resorts. But none have ever made me feel more like family than Poly. It truly is like home away from home.
Stay tuned....I'm sure you'll see dozens of other reasons to choose Poly posted here

 

[johnsonet]

Raratonga keeps coming up as a great location for garden view. DH (for whatever reason) does NOT want a view of the monorail? Not sure why exactly, perhaps he is afraid it'll be noisy at night or that people can see in the room? Not sure. In anycase, if you don't face the monorail, do you have a decent view of anything? And how long does it take to get from Raratonga to TTC?

I requested Tokalua north/east side for our trip (not till NEXT year ) b/c I thought it was pretty central, liked the idea of all 3 floors having balconies, liked that the rooms were slightly larger, and was hoping to get a partial view of the lagoon. Soooo is there any other beneit to Raratonga that I should be considering....? As I said, I keep hearing it's a great location so should I pick CLOSE PROXIMITY to the main building over the other reasons?

THANK YOU!!!

I would keep your Tokelau request. We walked by several times on our trip last month and if I had GV booked I think I'd LOVE to be in Tokelau. It's so close to the beach It's no distance to the GCH either ~ just not as close as Raratonga.
I just recommended Raratonga b/c the poster wanted to be close to the monorail...

I miss the Polynesian so much

 

[johnsonet]

I have never stayed at the Polynesian, what is it's best asset?

In a word: Atmosphere

 

[shyjade]

In a word: Atmosphere

EXACTLY!!!

 

[Shell54]

As far as long house requests go..yes we made 2 of them,being newbies at this and pre DisBoard ..but for those of you who have actually stayed at the Poly....how often are your requests honored and did I screw up by making 2 requests (giving them a choice where to put us..if requests even matter)? Would I have been better off just making one request? I requested either 3rd floor Tokelau or 3 floor Tahiti.

 

[JRDMAN]

I don't think I'm in the monirity when I say that any specific requests I've made at the Poly have been honored 100% of the time.
Maybe I've been lucky or the Poly is thaat good or BOTH

 

[Picabo]

I don't think I'm in the monirity when I say that any specific requests I've made at the Poly have been honored 100% of the time.
Maybe I've been lucky or the Poly is thaat good or BOTH

I think the key is to not be TOO detailed in the request. I've never been there but I would THINK that if you request "Raratonga monorail view" instead of "Raratonga monorail view, 3rd floor balcony, near elevator" you'd have a better chance of getting your wish. I've heard (with ANY resort) that too MANY requests and that can muck things up.

ALL this talk about the best assets of Poly is getting me so excited! I WISH Dec 09 would hurry up and get here already!!!

For those who've been with kids - do toddler seem to enjoy 'Ohana's dinner? My girls love rice and lomein noodles and dumplings, etc (hubby is Vietnamese, so we eat lots of asian food around here) so I'm HOPING that's a good pick for a 2 and 4 yr old, cuz I really want to eat there!

 

[BCV23]

I don't think I'm in the monirity when I say that any specific requests I've made at the Poly have been honored 100% of the time.
Maybe I've been lucky or the Poly is thaat good or BOTH

We've been 100%, too! Our requests have always been fairly simple though. In the old days, it was nonsmoking, first floor. Now just first floor.

 

[Shell54]

I don't think I'm in the monirity when I say that any specific requests I've made at the Poly have been honored 100% of the time.
Maybe I've been lucky or the Poly is thaat good or BOTH

That's encouraging! I'm glad you got your choices honored I just hope I didn't mess up by making 2 requests..maybe I should have just made up my mind and requested 3rd floor Tahiti and not thrown in a second choice "just in case" KWIM?

 

[Mocharilla]

We're going to be staying 3 nights at the Poly for part of our Honeymoon. Well, we're wondering what the difference is between the Garden and Lagoon CL views against the Honeymoon Suite. We figured the obvious thing for us to do would be the Honeymoon Suite, but I was just wondering what the difference is that causes the price jump. Room size? Extra amenities?

I mean, Lagoon View CL vs Honeymoon. It seems like it'd be pretty close to the same.

 

[Shell54]

We've been 100%, too! Our requests have always been fairly simple though. In the old days, it was nonsmoking, first floor. Now just first floor.

A very good tip