The Official Polynesian Resort FAQ thread!

[Caitsmama]

Can we buy a bag of Kona coffee in the gift shop??? Would love to be able to make some yummy kona coffee in our room!

It is listed on the DIS menu from Kona cafe - i believe a bag of Kona BLEND is about $15, and a bag of PURE Kona, is about $40.. Don't quote me on the exact $$ i am doing it from memory, and haven't finished my coffee yet!

 

[ekball]

Thanks Caitsmama! I should have checked the menus!
Oh yeah.....Kona coffee in the room.....mmmm.....

 

[marivaid]

Hi there We'll be at the Poly July 21-24. I haven't put any longhouse request yet, because they all seem to have advantages. So we'll just wait and see.

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to walk to the Grand Floridian from the farthest Poly building ? I think my mom will want to use the hot tub there. If we chose to take the monorail instead does that mean we'd have to go all the way around, towards MK and the Contemporary before we'd get to the Grand Floridian?

 

[lklasing]

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to walk to the Grand Floridian from the farthest Poly building ? I think my mom will want to use the hot tub there. If we chose to take the monorail instead does that mean we'd have to go all the way around, towards MK and the Contemporary before we'd get to the Grand Floridian?

Getting there on the monorail is just the first stop. It's coming back to the Poly from the GF when you would have to stop at the MK, Contemp and TTC prior to getting to the Poly. Sorry, but I don't know about how long a walk it would be.

 

[grannyminnie]

Subscribing, just booked Concierge Hawaii building at the Poly for this november!

Is Poly concierge better than BC and YC, in your opinion?
We stayed WL concierge (my first CL experience, and BTW, I'm HOOKED...) I want to experience the Hawaii building, but some say the rooms are no bigger...
Just to have the experience of the view and the lounge, tho...wow!

 

[cara loves the poly]

Is Poly concierge better than BC and YC, in your opinion?
We stayed WL concierge (my first CL experience, and BTW, I'm HOOKED...) I want to experience the Hawaii building, but some say the rooms are no bigger...
Just to have the experience of the view and the lounge, tho...wow!

you are correct, there is no difference in the actual room, just the most amazing lagoon view views! The lounge is very convenient. The staff can get reservations at the last minute sometimes, and they are very good at getting all of your reservations beforehand.

 

[grannyminnie]

you are correct, there is no difference in the actual room, just the most amazing lagoon view views! The lounge is very convenient. The staff can get reservations at the last minute sometimes, and they are very good at getting all of your reservations beforehand.

Well, unless I get one of those elusive postcards with the 40% discount banana: ), my AAA would have to do, and wonder how much a night that would run me to have a LVC?

 

[BCV23]

grannyminnie, the rooms in Hawaii are no larger than the rooms in the original longhouses at the Polynesian.

But they are larger than the rooms in Y&BC and much larger than WL.

Not sure which you were trying to compare.

Is everyone sure that Polynesian guests can use the hot tub at the GF? The only time I've seen notice about being able to use the GF pools was when the Polynesian pool was closed. That's in some 30 stays at the Polynesian...well, of course some of those were before there was a GF.

 

[cara loves the poly]

Well, unless I get one of those elusive postcards with the 40% discount banana: ), my AAA would have to do, and wonder how much a night that would run me to have a LVC?

We had our room and tickets together (package) for seven nights LVC, peak season, it was around $8,000.00

Sorry, you know what, it may have been closer to $7,000.00

 

[cara loves the poly]

We had our room and tickets together (package) for seven nights LVC, peak season, it was around $8,000.00

Sorry, you know what, it may have been closer to $7,000.00

believe it or not, I just found my paperwork from last year! The total was $6408.54. I was way off!

 

[disneyfan67]

Well, unless I get one of those elusive postcards with the 40% discount banana: ), my AAA would have to do, and wonder how much a night that would run me to have a LVC?

This is just a little advice from a person who loves the Polynesian. I f you want to go to the Poly, yet not have to spend a fortune, why not try a regular garden room? Or how about a Garden view concierge room? You might not have that million dollar view that a Lagoon room view has, but it comes with a easier room rate to swallow and you can view the Lagoon from the beach. If a view from your room is that important, go for it, but I would hate to see someone pass up a chance to stay at the Poly due to the sticker shock of some of the prices they charge for a view of the castle. One of the best things about the Polynesian is that the entire grounds it sits on, is beautiful and well landscaped. I would rather be at the Polynesian in a garden view room than at another resort if I had to save a few dollars, but that's just me. Good luck to whatever you choose.

 

[Caitsmama]

Is Poly concierge better than BC and YC, in your opinion?
We stayed WL concierge (my first CL experience, and BTW, I'm HOOKED...) I want to experience the Hawaii building, but some say the rooms are no bigger...
Just to have the experience of the view and the lounge, tho...wow!

Well, i can't answer that yet, since we have never stayed at the POLY, we will be going in november for the first time.. We definately enjoyed the YC and the BC concierge too though.. i guess, how can you REALLY go wrong with any of the WDW deluxes? Although, i gotta tell ya, i am extremely excited about our LV room this coming year!! (But, the boardwalk view room last year at the YC was BEAUTIFUL too, and i should know, considering we were awfully sick (stomach bug) and were room-bound for 3 days of our trip last year, and had PLENTY of time to look out the window/balcony! )
So, another great reason i am looking forward to a "do-over" this year. I said NO ONE will be getting sick on my watch! LOL

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Hi there We'll be at the Poly July 21-24. I haven't put any longhouse request yet, because they all seem to have advantages. So we'll just wait and see.

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to walk to the Grand Floridian from the farthest Poly building ? I think my mom will want to use the hot tub there. If we chose to take the monorail instead does that mean we'd have to go all the way around, towards MK and the Contemporary before we'd get to the Grand Floridian?

We walked to/from the Poly/GF a few times during our visit a few weeks ago for dinner ressies. From our room in Tokelau (which we loved ), it was about a 12-15 minute walk I would say. It is such a lovely walk too because you stroll thru the beautifully landscaped grounds at the Poly, past the marina, between the beach and Spirit of Aloha area, then past the GF wedding pavilion and spa/health center, then to the GF zero entry pool area/beach, and finally to the larger main pool that has the hot tub and bar area. If you were planning on making that a daily trip, I would suggest asking for a room in Figi, Aotearoa, or Tuvalu and that would easily cut 5 or more minutes off your walk time.

Good luck deciding! Really, you can't go wrong with any longhouse. As you said, they all have adv/disadv but...... they are all Polyfabulous

 

[marivaid]

Getting there on the monorail is just the first stop. It's coming back to the Poly from the GF when you would have to stop at the MK, Contemp and TTC prior to getting to the Poly. Sorry, but I don't know about how long a walk it would be.

We walked to/from the Poly/GF a few times during our visit a few weeks ago for dinner ressies. From our room in Tokelau (which we loved ), it was about a 12-15 minute walk I would say. It is such a lovely walk too because you stroll thru the beautifully landscaped grounds at the Poly, past the marina, between the beach and Spirit of Aloha area, then past the GF wedding pavilion and spa/health center, then to the GF zero entry pool area/beach, and finally to the larger main pool that has the hot tub and bar area. If you were planning on making that a daily trip, I would suggest asking for a room in Figi, Aotearoa, or Tuvalu and that would easily cut 5 or more minutes off your walk time.

Good luck deciding! Really, you can't go wrong with any longhouse. As you said, they all have adv/disadv but...... they are all Polyfabulous

Thank you both for your help ! The walk to GF sounds lovely, we'll probably only do it once though since we're only gonna be there for 3 nights.

 

[Angel16]

Really?! You just order it thru reg. room service? I am trying to decide what to do, after hearing all about this toast here on the DIS, i am ready to book breakfast at Kona's.. But, breakfast in bed sounds better! LOL

I totally agree. I really can't think of anything better then having breakfast in bed in your lagoon view Hawaii longhouse room.

We surprised my DH last November with our whole family for a "Celebration of Life" I had planned the trip prior to knowing our children and grandchildren were going to be able to join us. I had reserved a Lagoon Hawaii Concierge room, I had requested the third floor and non-smoking. A good three months into planning our trip I found out our children were able to get off work and come join us. We made arragement for our children arrived the next day, I had booked them standard rooms, garden view because concierge was full "I was told" and I couldn't afford lagoon for everyone.

We were given a Dream. Our room was the Tikiman room, fantastic view and gifts waiting in it that I had purchased for my DH. Our children had been upgraded to concierge across the hall from us. They felt they had been given the "Dream" and I felt that I had. We had a fantastic week together and my DH was so surprised. The staff at the Polynesian were so kind, and friendly helping in any way they could. The resort is beautiful with grounds that made us all feel we were in Hawaii.

I know you and your family will have a wonderful vacation. The weather was perfect for our two weeks. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[Caitsmama]

Angel16 - What a great story!!!

 

[Toeknail]

Tikiman room[/B], fantastic view and gifts waiting in it that I had purchased for my DH. Our children had been upgraded to concierge across the hall from us. They felt they had been given the "Dream" and I felt that I had.

Do you know why your children were upgraded? Sounds like a fantastic surprise!

 

[Tina G]

We just returned from a 8 day stay at the Polynesian. It was our first time there after staying at POR for our last trip. We absolutely loved it. I don't think we'll ever be able stay in less than a deluxe resort after this trip. The monorail convenience was just what I expected and being able to walk to the TTC to go to Epcot saved lots of time as well. Even the bus rides seemed to be less crowded as they only ever picked up the Poly and GF and the buses seemed to come very regularly.

We requested and received a 3rd floor room in Samoa facing the volcano pool and it was the perfect location for us - convenient to everything with a nice view especially at night.

My only complaint is the Captain Cook food area. I am shocked that it was recently renovated and that is the best they could come up with. It is far too small for the amount of people and the set up is just awful. I don't know whose idea it was to put the cashier right in the center of the main food area but they should be shot. Everytime we were in there, the lines for the cashier were intermingled with people trying to move around to get their food. We ended up avoiding the whole place and eating after we got to the park in the mornings instead of dealing with the crowds at Capt. Cooks in the morning.

My husband had the best comment about it - he said they should have expanded the food area into the nearby art gallery. How many people go to Disney to buy artwork anyway? The entire trip I never saw one person in the art gallery, meanwhile the food court was always packed and overcrowded.

It wouldn't stop me from staying at the Poly again but it made it very inconvenient to have to find other places to eat a quick breakfast in the mornings. Now that I know, I will plan accordingly for our next trip.

Oh the other thing we did to avoid the crowds at Capt. Cooks was to go later in the evening after we returned for the day and buy breakfast stuff for the next morning to take back to our room. We got the little cereals, fruit, milk, and pastries and then we had them right there in our room. Or else I would try the room service if I wanted a hot breakfast.

My only other complaint was a lack of staffing at BouTiki. I had several packages delivered to the resort from the parks and everytime I went into BouTiki to pick them up (usually later in the evening) I had a long wait to do so. One night I couldn't find a single worker for almost 10 minutes. I guess they were in the back or something but I could have walked out with half the contents of the store and nobody would have been there to stop me.

 

[Tink-in-Training]

Subscribing.

I'm starting to research an 'Oh good Lord I'm turning 29 and it's been WAY too long since I've been to the World!' solo birthday trip for September/October 2008 and I'm strongly leaning to making it a totally deluxe trip. The Poly has always been on my "If I won the (Disney) lottery, I'd stay here" list. I've also got the AKL and the CR on the radar.

 

[dancemomnj]

Hi Everyone! So excited. We changed changed and will now be staying at the Poly from July 1-6. My question is this, is Samoa a smoking or nonsmoking building? I know things will be all nonsmoking in June but I want to make sure I have a nonsmoking room due to my dd7 with asthma. One of my books for planning syas it's smoking but I've read it's not.
Thanks!