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

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Those are some great pictures cdotla.

 

[momatater]

cdotla, thanks for the great pics! Boy, I miss that place!!!

I know what you mean about tonga toast, I haven't even tried it because I'm afraid it will be too sweet!

 

[Shell54]

luvthemouse71 Your picture looks familiar too and your drink looks very tropical. I'm hoping I can get DH to upgrade our ressie to CL but right now we're booked at GV for our trip in June. CL was heavenly so I might get him to relent.
cdotla fabulous pics..I wish I was still there. I agree with you about the Tonga Toast. (I found it dry) as well as too sweet. My DH got pancakes and he was much happier. Thanks for sharing your pics

 

[FreFam5]

Cdotla - the pictures are gorgeous!!!! What a wonderful view.

I fear I will be "that family" that the people next to us think is too loud! Although I will not be setting my alarm for that early we do get up early and my kids are quite loud- then my husband yells at them for being loud (which really doesn't make sense does it?????) I'm hoping being in Disney will at least make him yell less!

I have to admit (again probably blasphemy on this page) that I have zero desire to try the Tonga toast. We are not big breakfast eaters anyway and will not be eating breakfast at the poly at all (we'll grab something quick from our room before we head out - which will probably add to us being the loud family!!!LOL)

 

[cdotla]

Oh trust me...when I travel with my family we can be loud in the mornings as well. Everyone with kids can. (This was a trip I took with a girlfriend).

However, I guarantee you that we do not disturb people by staying in our room with noisy kids and a crying baby from 5:50am til after 8:30!!! Seriously, who would *want* to be trapped in a room with loud kids for that long???

We may be noisy in the mornings and unintentionally wake up our neighbours in the process, but I guarantee from start to finish, we would be under an hour from getting up out of bed to getting out the door for the day!

Cdotla - the pictures are gorgeous!!!! What a wonderful view.

I fear I will be "that family" that the people next to us think is too loud! Although I will not be setting my alarm for that early we do get up early and my kids are quite loud- then my husband yells at them for being loud (which really doesn't make sense does it?????) I'm hoping being in Disney will at least make him yell less!

I have to admit (again probably blasphemy on this page) that I have zero desire to try the Tonga toast. We are not big breakfast eaters anyway and will not be eating breakfast at the poly at all (we'll grab something quick from our room before we head out - which will probably add to us being the loud family!!!LOL)

 

[JRDMAN]

Thanks for the photos...they're lovely.
I've been to the poly a number of times and somehow missed having Tonga Toast.
All I know is that next time, even if they're dry, greasy, sweet or mushy, I will have some. "I gots to know!"
Thank you all for keeping me close the The World

 

[jackemail]

Just returned from a Poly trip. My first stay there was in 1973, with a Poly trip every year since then. I can honestly say that I feel it gets better and better with each stay! I split stays at times, but always return "home" to Poly.

 

[aprincesswannabe]

February can't get here fast enough!

 

[team disney]

ALOOOOHA!

Thanks for all the comments on my TR!

I wanted to finish up my first day with a report on the Luau.
We did the late show... it started at 8pm. I planned the late show because my DH took a later flight and only got to the poly around 6pm. WE walked down to luau cove and lined up for the show. We were told to get there early as that would decide our seating. We had a good 20-30 minute wait to be seated and I guess that was good because we got a front row (on the side) seating. I think the front is key to this. There were photo package opportunities which we passed on.
I have to say that I did enjoy it. I would not classify it as a MUST DO but it was entertaining. I agred with a previous poster that I enjoyed the second half of the show better when they were doing the authentic dancing. The first half is the more "hookey part of the show that I could classify as a high school musical (the reall type that every hs puts on) entertaing but show rather then exciting luau type stuff. There is also a minor amount of audience participation and an oppertunity for kids to go on stage to learn a dance.
The food was great, the macadami bread was yummy, the salad and ribs hit the spot too. We found the dessert to be very disappointing. They looked awesome but tasted like they were refridegerated for about a week. It was a chocolate moouse type thing shaped in a mini volcano type shape. Very cute but a spoonful was all we had no one in my family liked it (and there was no other options for dessert) This show is 2 ddp and you do not have to pay the tip oop for this show (it is included even with the DDP) This show also inludes free beer and wine and the option to pay for something a bit more tropical
We were all very tired and looking back I realized I was crazy to book this for our first night (we were up since almost 4am for our flight to florida). The show was long for a late night with kids. See the earlier show if you have that option.
The kids enjoyed it, even though they were tired. We all walked back to our rooms and had a great night sleep on those comfy poly beds!

edit to add Luau Pictures

I will post some pictures later and continue with my TR (DAy 2)

 

[team disney]

Views from the sidewalks

walking from Tokelau towards pool

from the mini foot bridge

Views from our Balcony rm 3918 Tokelau

Pool at night

Beach overlooking GF

More to come!!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Views from the sidewalks

walking from Tokelau towards pool

from the mini foot bridge

Views from our Balcony rm 3918 Tokelau

Pool at night

Beach overlooking GF

More to come!!!

Those look great and I can't wait to see the rest.

 

[DLo]

Thanks cdotla and teamdisney for the great pictures and reviews. We are staying at the Poly for the 1st time next month - yeah I can finally say next month. We requested one of the three longhouses closest to the TTC - Tokelau, Rapa Nui, or Tahiti.

Were your rooms lagoon view? That is what it looks like. We booked garden. We are just so happy to be staying and it looks like there isn't a bad view from any room. Staying here has been my ds10's dream for a while now.

Looking at the pictures - I can't wait to be there.

 

[team disney]

First a brief mention about Mousekeeping..
I should have mentioned that I called for turn down service the previous night and I was asked if we would like it for our entire trip. Yes! Was my response and it was such a nice thing to have, and the kids got such a kick out of their toys being arranged nightly in the bed.

Unfortunately, the last 2 nights of our 5 night stay, we were some how forgotten. Oh well… it was nice while it lasted. I have to say I did not have any issues with mousekeeping. We were happy with the services. I found the rooms to be very clean and well stocked with necessities. The frigerator issue however really stinks. We kept the doors open and that thing never cooled our bottles of water. I probably should have called the front desk but I figured they would just tell me to keep the doors open. The temperature switch in my fridge was not adjustable. There was a flat plug where a dial would be to change it from 1-6. Luckily we were not counting on the refrigerator to hold anything but the water.

Ok now on to day 2-

We had 8:10 Breakfast reservations at Kona. My parents (who live in Florida) drove up to spend 2 days with us at WDW (they had a room booked at POP). They met us for Breakfast. We ordered 2 pots of the pressed pot coffee (YUMM) which gave us about 5 cups total, guess who got 2 cups . I found the coffee to be such a treat. I would say it was a mild and smooth cup. More like a Dunkin Donuts then a Starbucks. BTW, you can ask for a togo cup to take your last cup with you! DH had the Tonga Toast and I had the Macadamia, pineapple pancakes. The pancakes were so fluffy and the flavor was wonderful! It was very filling. (I saved my Tonga toast order for Captain Cooks) We were not disappointed with Kona.
From here we left for DHS. Since my parents had their car with them we drove. We only took the bus one time during our trip, which was very strange since that has been the norm for us on all past trips. Having the monorail was such a pleasure!
Our day at DHS was just wonderful. The day was beautiful, the crowds were small and we stayed the whole day. We did Toy story mania twice, as well as rocking roller coaster. We had dinner at Momma Melrose which was just ok for us. We stayed to see Fantasmic for the first time, and enjoyed it. It was a great day and with the low crowds we did not feel rushed. We moved at a nice leisurely pace. My parents dropped us of at the Poly. We walked from the great hall back to our rooms and once again had a great sleep on those comfy beds.

 

[team disney]

Thanks cdotla and teamdisney for the great pictures and reviews. We are staying at the Poly for the 1st time next month - yeah I can finally say next month. We requested one of the three longhouses closest to the TTC - Tokelau, Rapa Nui, or Tahiti.

Were your rooms lagoon view? That is what it looks like. We booked garden. We are just so happy to be staying and it looks like there isn't a bad view from any room. Staying here has been my ds10's dream for a while now.

Looking at the pictures - I can't wait to be there.

My room was Garden View!! Wasn't it great!!!

 

[cdotla]

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all of Tokelau is garden view.

Because it is not face on to the lagoon, it has to be considered garden view.

Overall I think it is a great value, because at least on the Hawaii-facing side (which I assume teamdisney was on as well), you will likely get a view of the water from the balcony, particularly if you are on the north side.

Oh, and after all of the discussion about which longhouse people should request if they wanted to be close to Ceremonial House vs TTC vs boat launch, ect. I had to laugh after I reminded myself how quick it is to get anywhere in this resort. Unless you have mobility issues, I can't imagine anyone having a problem walking around this resort. It is literally a beautiful 5 min stroll from one side to the other.

So bottom line - I wld try to put in a request for the area that you want to look out onto from your balcony as opposed to trying to be close to something. Unless you are so impatient that a 5 min walk in paradise is not enjoyment for you!

Thanks cdotla and teamdisney for the great pictures and reviews. We are staying at the Poly for the 1st time next month - yeah I can finally say next month. We requested one of the three longhouses closest to the TTC - Tokelau, Rapa Nui, or Tahiti.

Were your rooms lagoon view? That is what it looks like. We booked garden. We are just so happy to be staying and it looks like there isn't a bad view from any room. Staying here has been my ds10's dream for a while now.

Looking at the pictures - I can't wait to be there.

 

[Tess]

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all of Tokelau is garden view.

No correction necessary, Tokelau is garden view and nicely located too.

 

[PrincessPaczki]

The pictures are beautiful. How long does it take to walk from the club level longhouse, I think Hawaii, to the main building?

cdotla , I really enjoyed your mother/daughter trip report.

 

[jackemail]

The pictures are beautiful. How long does it take to walk from the club level longhouse, I think Hawaii, to the main building?

cdotla , I really enjoyed your mother/daughter trip report.

It takes about 1 minute to walk from Hawaii to the GCH.

 

[isabelleB]

I'm not sure we will be able to ask for a specific view ... beacuse of the high occupency

Poly seems full for my dates : 24 october - 30 otober
all other disney hotels are showing avaibility for these dates

So I will not be expecting something in particular.
I have two sepcial requests in my reservation, but I do not count on them


does someone know how are the crowds this end of october ?
My last visit was 15 years ago, with no crowds at all

 

[shyjade]

Oh, and after all of the discussion about which longhouse people should request if they wanted to be close to Ceremonial House vs TTC vs boat launch, ect. I had to laugh after I reminded myself how quick it is to get anywhere in this resort. Unless you have mobility issues, I can't imagine anyone having a problem walking around this resort. It is literally a beautiful 5 min stroll from one side to the other.

So bottom line - I wld try to put in a request for the area that you want to look out onto from your balcony as opposed to trying to be close to something. Unless you are so impatient that a 5 min walk in paradise is not enjoyment for you!

I TOTALLY AGREE!! And the walk is just gorgeous anywhere you go at the Poly...whether it's beautiful tropical walkways or beautiful water views. DD10 reminded me the other day that even the walk to the TTC from Fiji is so pretty, it really doesn't seem far (and it's not).