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

[disneymagicgirl]

The only building with no balconies is Niue, because Niue has no 3rd floor. The other buildings near the Volcano pool have balconies on the 3rd floor.

So i need to request 3rd floor near volcano pool...gotcha! thanks!

 

[WickedWench]

So i need to request 3rd floor near volcano pool...gotcha! thanks!

It might be better to ask for a balcony, if that's the biggest priority. If nothing's available near the volcano pool, then they would give you a balcony room somewhere else. If they think the volcano pool is the priority, they might put you near the pool, but on a different floor. When making multiple requests, it's best to specify which is the most important in case they can't meet both.

 

[BamaTigger]

can anyone tell me which longhouse would be best to request for our lagoon view room?

Thank you

 

[eyenjeff]

Hi Poly experts, can you help me with this one? I was planning on requesting the Tahiti longhouse for our Sept 09 trip (Lagoon View room), but I wanted to ask this question about the TTC first - Is it noisy? Should I also request the end of the building furthest away from the TTC? One of the reasons I like the Tahiti building is the distance from the pools and crowds, but I'd rather have the noise of the pool than the noise of buses. Please give me your advice! Thanks!

We just got back from the Poly , Dec 7-14 and loved it! We had originally requested the Tokelau building, but when we arrived they had assigned us in the Tahiti building. At first I was a little dissappointed becasue it was so far, I thought, but after the CM explained how convenient it was to the TTC I was ok with it. When we saw the room, it was even better, it was huge, with a big balcony and lots of space. I only wish we had more time to spend in it. THe advantage of being so close to the TTC was the best! We did not hear any noise from the TTC or the busses at any time. We had 5 min walk back to the room every night from the TTC, which also has an express monorail to MK where the monorail from theGCH goes all the way around then to the MK. We had a 3rd fl room and it was very quiet, did not spend much time on the balcony, our view was the front of the building and palm trees. As I said, we did not spend alot of daylight hours in the room. You will Love the Poly no matter what! We did not buy the refillable mugs so the distance to C Cooks was not an issue and it was only warm enough to swim one day and the walk to the volcano pool was lovely. The quiet pool is closer, but we wanted the beach for the kids too. I cant say enough about the Poly! Have an awesome time and if you have any more questions, please ask!

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Trust me, there's nothing like Hawaiian Christmas carols like this one piped through the grounds here that make the Poly such a special place during this time of the year. Much thanks for ConchKahuna for catching up with me later this past Sunday.

DD9 and I are still at the Poly--will be checking out on Saturday but I wanted to give a quick 'live' report about some things while I've got a break. I am loving this concierge level! Between the free cordials in the lounge (cafe latte is great with a splash of *cough* Grand Mariner *cough*), turndown service and, according to my DD9, the 'pb&j uncrustables' I'm afraid I'll get hooked on all this pampering. LOL! The CMs in the lounge are incredible--one nice CM went out of her way to get DD some soy milk from the back for her Froot Loops cereal.

For New Year's Eve last night, we had the honor of watching the 'reinstated-for-who-knows-how long' torch lighting ceremony. Lipoa played the drums while the Samoan fire dancer (from the luau) displayed his skill with the fire dance. I hope Disney keeps this ceremony because it is little things like this that make the Poly more than just a 'hotel'. Hearing the sound of the conch shell being blown runs shivers through me...and no, not just because the fire dancer is *hawt*

Because of how absolutely nucking futz the Magic Kingdom and Epcot were the past few days, the concierge lounge was a welcome refuge. Last night we got to see Holiday Wishes and the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. This has to be the best seating to see these fireworks anywhere near the Magic Kingdom.

The Christmas decorations at the Poly are still up along with some gorgeous gingerbread houses. Last year they had some nice ones but this year they have two standouts. One is a replica of Hawaii's oldest church, the other of Iolani palace. When I get back home I'll post the photos. There is one gingerbread replica that is hysterical! The solid chocolate replicas of Lilo and Stitch are back at Kona this year.

And of course we've dined at a few of the restaurants at the Poly. We had dinner, lunch and breakfast at Kona Cafe. Every meal was superb and the restaurant was quite busy each time we ate there--I guess the secret is out. I had the macadamia encrusted MahiMahi and the teryiaki strip steak for lunch and dinner respectively, and the famous Macadamia nut pancakes for breakfast! And of course I had the 100% pressed pot of Kona coffee at breakfast.

A little tip concerning the pressed pot of 100% Kona Coffee. If for some reason you can't complete the whole pot because say, I don't know, you're pressed for time, you can always request one of those disposable coffee cups with a lid to take your cofee with you. We were running late to get to Epcot and there was no way I was leaving my Kona coffee behind!

One more thing about the concierge lounge. Uh, 'lounge' does not mean '24 hour chow line'. Some folks seem to ignore that little welcome piece of paper that shows the hours of food service in the concierge lounge.

I'll try to answer a few questions here before DD and I head off to the Grand Floridian for dinner. If any folks have some questions they'd like answered while I'm still at the Poly, fire away. I'll have some time later this evening to answer.

Speaking of chow line, it's 5pm--time to roll down to the lounge for Ahiahi (Evening) food service.

 

[blessedby3]

Does anyone know if they sell Soymilk at the grocery area of the Poly? My DD drinks Vanilla Soymilk and I figured I would have to get it from Garden Grocer or something like that. If they do sell it, does anyone know how much it is?
MsStinkerbells post made me think of it and said that the CL got it for her DD. Thanks

 

[eyenjeff]

Does anyone know if they sell Soymilk at the grocery area of the Poly? My DD drinks Vanilla Soymilk and I figured I would have to get it from Garden Grocer or something like that. If they do sell it, does anyone know how much it is?
MsStinkerbells post made me think of it and said that the CL got it for her DD. Thanks

YOu can call the main number for the Poly and asked to be switched to the store and ask. That way you will know for sure!

 

[NMW]

We are doing the POLY in May 09. When I booked (4/3 free deal) only Garden view was available or club level lagoon. We do the deluxe dining plan, so the club level didn't interst me. We booked garden view and when I called 2 days ago I was able to get Theme Park View!!! I was so excited to upgrade our view. But now I'm not sure if I should request a specific longhouse. DH wants ground floor so we can walk out on the patio. I made that request, but not a specific building. Any thoughts, reccomendations on a MK view longhouse? From looking at tikimans website, there are only 3 longhouses we could even be in. I was thinking Tahiti?? Anyone have a suggestion? Also, what about the ground floor thing? Would the view be better on ahigher floor?

 

[Genieswife]

I guess this might be a silly question but do all bathrooms have one sink? We usually stay at SoG and they have double sinks, which helps out alot in the mornings.

 

[mmmears]

MsStinkerbelle,

Thanks for taking time from your vacation to post an update.

We've stayed CL before at the GF and the YC, but never at the Poly. I was wondering what you meant by:

"One more thing about the concierge lounge. Uh, 'lounge' does not mean '24 hour chow line'. Some folks seem to ignore that little welcome piece of paper that shows the hours of food service in the concierge lounge."

Are people in there demanding food the rest of the time, or just gobbling up everything in sight? Just want to know what I can expect when we're there -- it's during Spring Break, so I think it will be as crowded as it is as xmas-time.

I hope you and your DD have a fantastic rest of your vacation & I'm happy for you that you got that great upgrade!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

It might be better to ask for a balcony, if that's the biggest priority. If nothing's available near the volcano pool, then they would give you a balcony room somewhere else. If they think the volcano pool is the priority, they might put you near the pool, but on a different floor. When making multiple requests, it's best to specify which is the most important in case they can't meet both.

i see...thanks!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We are doing the POLY in May 09. When I booked (4/3 free deal) only Garden view was available or club level lagoon. We do the deluxe dining plan, so the club level didn't interst me. We booked garden view and when I called 2 days ago I was able to get Theme Park View!!! I was so excited to upgrade our view. But now I'm not sure if I should request a specific longhouse. DH wants ground floor so we can walk out on the patio. I made that request, but not a specific building. Any thoughts, reccomendations on a MK view longhouse? From looking at tikimans website, there are only 3 longhouses we could even be in. I was thinking Tahiti?? Anyone have a suggestion? Also, what about the ground floor thing? Would the view be better on ahigher floor?

Only GV was available for my dates also, but I was curious the price diffence btwn GV and TPV. Would you mind sharing? Maybe I should call and see if it is available for our dates....

 

[swald91]

Only GV was available for my dates also, but I was curious the price diffence btwn GV and TPV. Would you mind sharing? Maybe I should call and see if it is available for our dates....

We have stayed there a few times...LOVE IT!!!! Anyway...we have had a few different views & stayed at a few different longhouses. Our last trip in Aug was the best. We were in Rarotonga-next to GCH, laundry, pool, buses-awesome location. I was a bit concerned when we were told we had a view facing the parking lot-but the landscaping there you can't even see it!! We sat on our patio-ground floor and waved to people on the monorail-it was by far our favorite room yet. But then again any stay at the Poly is great! Have a great trip!!!!

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Does anyone know if they sell Soymilk at the grocery area of the Poly? My DD drinks Vanilla Soymilk and I figured I would have to get it from Garden Grocer or something like that. If they do sell it, does anyone know how much it is?

I don't know if they sell it in Samoa Snacks but they definitely sell it in Captain Cooks. I forget the exact price (I think it's about $1.99) but I can check tomorrow for sure. In one of my posts SeaSpray has a link to in post #1, I show a photo where you can see the Silk soy milk offered at Captain Cooks. They have the plain and vanilla varities.

MsStinkerbells post made me think of it and said that the CL got it for her DD. Thanks

Glad my post 'jogged' your memory.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Are people in there demanding food the rest of the time, or just gobbling up everything in sight? Just want to know what I can expect when we're there -- it's during Spring Break, so I think it will be as crowded as it is as xmas-time.!

I know I've seen a couple of folks come in either wondering where the food is or annoyed there wasn't food out. Granted this was in-between food service times or really late at night (past 10pm). I think it had more to do with how many people were on the concierge level at such a peak time. Now at 5pm when they start the evening service, the lounge was hopping! The food went f-a-s-t but the CMs there replaced everything in a timely manner. Again, just because of the sheer number of people the lounge got quite busy. In the evenings I just got mine and DD's selections and brought them back to our room--much more peaceful.

I hope you and your DD have a fantastic rest of your vacation & I'm happy for you that you got that great upgrade!

Thanks so much! We're having a fantastic time! It is going to be so hard to leave the Poly on Saturday....

 

[DisneyLily]

MsStinkerBelle- You are in Disney right now? Oooh I am SO jealous of you!

 

[DisneyLily]

We stayed in Tahiti 2013 and 2014, the end away from the TTC. Rooms were very quiet and I am a very light sleeper! I loved the location, building, room size! I think it's a great choice. Although we were on the end away from the TTC, I spent some time outside sitting on the benches enjoying the gardens and never heard busses. My DD 14 thought it was too far from the pool and the refillable mug refills at Capt Cooks. Also, I found the walk to the pool--and bar!--along the beach so gorgeous, so relaxing, so enjoyable. I have requested Tahiti for our next visit. Hope you have an awesome time!

We were in the same room this last trip!!
Fantastic room.
I love the distance from the GCH to Tahiti.
I also love the distance from Tahiti to the TTC.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Any thoughts, reccomendations on a MK view longhouse? From looking at tikimans website, there are only 3 longhouses we could even be in. I was thinking Tahiti?? Anyone have a suggestion? Also, what about the ground floor thing? Would the view be better on ahigher floor?

For a MK view I'd recommend either Tuvalu (I've stayed on the ground floor there) or Tahiti. Tahiti is close to the TTC while Tuvalu is close to the GCH and the boat launch to the MK. With a MK view, I don't think it would better on a higher floor--just a slightly different perspective.

I guess this might be a silly question but do all bathrooms have one sink? We usually stay at SoG and they have double sinks, which helps out alot in the mornings.

Not all of them. The bathrooms in the newer longhouses have double-sinks. The older longhouses like Hawaii, Tuvalu and Samoa have single sinks.

 

[fortheboys]

We are thinking about bringing the Wii along for my son for our upcoming vacation. The parks close early while we are there, and my youngest will crash around 8, and we'll want to keep our 5 year old quiet and wind him down in the room in the evening after fireworks. Not to mention it will give us a break mid-day when the youngest is napping as well. Is it possible to hook a game system up to the TV's?

Thanks!

 

[Genieswife]

MsStinkerBelle. I will make that my only request. Sounds funny but we really need any/all the help in the mornings to get ready. We are not morning people