The Official Polynesian Resort FAQ thread!

[Minnie&Nana]

BaciBecky, I have a Dell laptop and it worked for mine. I do wish they had wireless though.

Thanks!

 

[Joan1]

How often does the boat run from the Poly to the Magic Kingdom and how long is the ride? We are staying in the Hawaii building and notice that the boat launch is much closer then the monorail

 

[HaleysMom2]

How often does the boat run from the Poly to the Magic Kingdom and how long is the ride? We are staying in the Hawaii building and notice that the boat launch is much closer then the monorail

I would say about every 10 minutes. The ride only takes about 6 or 7 minutes. We really enjoyed it and even rode it a couple of times just for the heck of it!

 

[HaleysMom2]

We had 3 nights at the Poly before going on our Disney cruise. The resort really is fabulous! Our room (Tokelau 3915) was on the 3rd floor with a balcony and had a view of Cinderella's castle! Although it was a garden view room, we were able to see the beach...it was nice to get that little bonus without paying extra for it! I was very suprised by how spacious and pretty our room was. Honestly, I guess I was expecting a dark room from the pictures I've seen. It was not dark at all. Especially when we pulled back the curtains and opened the balcony door. And, seeing the castle lit up at night was awesome! Our room was very, very clean. The little refrigerator never got very cold and it took about 2 days for our water to get cold. Anyway, we spent some time at the volcano pool. It was very, very crowded every time we went, but DD still had fun. We ate at Captain Cook's twice for breakfast and once for lunch. The food was good...I liked the touch-screen menu...it made lines go quickly. We ate breakfast at Kona's one morning. I got the famous tonga toast! It was really good, but I didn't LOVE it like I expected to. By the way, it is HUGE! Definitely enough for 2 people. DH got the Eggs Benedict...delish! DD got the Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips and was really happy with those. We were not able to get tickets to the Luau or reservations for dinner at Ohana...I was bummed about that. We did go to Animal Kingdom Lodge one night at ate at Boma though. It was fantastic! Tons of food...most of it pretty different and unique. We watched the torch lighting ceremony one evening. It didn't last long, but was very cool! There was a fire dancer! The monorail to MK and Epcot was such a blessing! We also really enjoyed the water boat to MK. It's a nice, short ride and we actually rode the boat there and back twice just for the ride. The beach was very nice with some covered lounge chairs (these went quick early in the morning) and some hammocks. I was very suprised though, that we couldn't actually swim in the water. There are no lifeguards there, so they do not allow swimming. DD was able to put her feet in and play on the sand...and we got some nice pictures out there, but that's about it. DD and DH rented a little 2 seater motor boat one day and had a blast on it. I think it was around $35 for 45 minutes. Oh, and their is a great drink you can get at the bar by the pool called lava flow (something like that). It's a pina coloda with raspberry puree in it! Yum! (We got a virgin one.)

Now, for my only negative! The day we arrived, we did not get our luggage for 7 hours! That's right, SEVEN hours!!! We were not at all prepared for that! I knew that we needed to pack a day bag when we left the resort to go on our cruise, but I did not know that we needed a day bag for the day we arrived at the resort. All I had with me was DD's bathing suite. I was able to take her to the pool for a while, but then it started raining so we headed back to the room. We would have liked to have gone to MK, but did not have any of our stuff so we were stuck in our room. I called the front desk and was told that it usually takes 2-4 hours to get your luggage after you arrive. We cheked-in before 1:00 p.m. After numerous calls to the front desk, concierge, and Bell Services....being transferred back and forth between them and Disney's Magical Express main office...I was told that our luggage arrived at the resort at 5:45 p.m. I had to make several more calls before someone located it and assured us that it would be brought to our room immediately. Another hour went by. I finally walked down to the concierege desk and spoke with a (very sweet) girl. By this time, I was in tears! (Okay, so maybe that was just my pregnancy hormones making me overly emotional, but I had had it!) She went to talk to Bell services and and had someone take it to our room. She even called my husband in our room to make sure it arrived before letting me go. Needless to say, by this point we were very irritated. We had tickets for MNNSHP at MK which started at 7:00. Because of this ordeal we were much later arriving at the party.

Bottom line, if you are taking Disney's transportation from the airport to the resort...make sure you have EVERYTHING you will need for that first day so that you don't go through what we went through!

Overall, Poly was a very nice place and good experience though!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

How wonderful!! So happy you had a great Garden view room! Have read about those rooms, so it's neat to hear what it's really like!

Awful about ME

Welcome back and thanks for the review!!

 

[SnwflkCts]

How often does the boat run from the Poly to the Magic Kingdom and how long is the ride? We are staying in the Hawaii building and notice that the boat launch is much closer then the monorail

Like HaleysMom, we did try it out just for fun. We took it FROM MK back to the Poly. It does stop at the GF on the way "home" but I am not sure if it does on the way out. Although it was pleasant being on the water ... we did have to wait for other boarders on the way back. I'll be honest and say I still think the monorail is the way to go. I felt a little unsafe for some weird reason (nothing in particular - maybe just me!) ... or it may have been the parent berating his tired child most of the ride back that made it unpleasant -- I don't know.

Just give it a try and see what works out best for you. In Hawaii, you really are not that far from GCH and boarding the monorail. Either probably will work out ok. Have fun!

 

[SnwflkCts]

I got a chance to read thru HaleysMom's trip to WDW and the Poly. Glad you had such a great room! Sorry about ME. I am really surprised though ... I thought the ME documentation said to pack a day bag ... or I may have read other horror stories on the DIS board.

When we used ME, yes indeed ... we had a carry on with a full day's clothing in it (and our bathing suits in case we didn't see our bags for a while!). Plus meds, make up (gotta have!) ... and I think hair gel ! But I guess you were waiting for costumes too so I don't know that I would have had those in my day bag!

Anyway ... ME can be late with the bags (I'm not sure when ours came because we were able to make it to EPCOT and did not return until much later in the evening).

I hope it didn't spoil your trip too badly ... those hormones can make it tough!

 

[SnwflkCts]

Hey all,

Had to cancel my October trip to the Poly--so sad. As a consolation,--for having to endure such disapointment--I booked the Princess Suite for 8-nights November 2008!
:

Is the Princess Suite the Honeymoon Suite? If so, we stayed there but since I am unsure whether that is the correct suite, I didn't want to say too much.

(sorry for all the different posts ... I'm playing catch up -- didn't read the Poly posts for a little while! )

 

[ConcKahuna]

Is the Princess Suite the Honeymoon Suite? If so, we stayed there but since I am unsure whether that is the correct suite, I didn't want to say too much.

(sorry for all the different posts ... I'm playing catch up -- didn't read the Poly posts for a little while! )

There are both one and two bedroom princess suites, and they are seperate from the Honeymoon suite. The princess suites both have a bedroom that is set up like a standard room, and a "living room" area. The 2 bedroom suite also has a room with a king bed.

 

[SnwflkCts]

I see the difference now (between Princess & Honeymoon). I went out and checked the Tikiman site. There are pictures there but may not do the room justice! We were in the Honeymoon suite and the view was just wonderful. That is right next to the King K suite (and indeed I believe can be made a part of that one by a connecting door) on the 1st floor.

Anyway ... the building is Tonga and it is just a few steps away from the GCH but a little walk (not that far) to the Hawaii building where the main Concierge lounge is. But you do get access to a small "lounge" [in Tonga] for breakfast. No seats ... but just fill up and go back to your suite. We loved eating breakfast on our patio.

In the evening we watched people going to the Luau which was fun. The bushes in front of our patio were quite overgrown and I think we scared a few people -- the bushes are TALKING !?! (Like we were DeVine!).

Anything in that building is probably fabulous. I know we had a great time ... if only I would win the lottery and could stay there in Tonga each time we went!!

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I am so excited I just had to share!

Last night I finally contacted my TA and gave her the 'go ahead' to book the Polynesian for Christmas '08. We'll be staying there from Christmas Eve through January 4th. Booked the regular dining plan as I plan to use my DDE card for any extra meals.

And the best news is...I booked a lagoon view!

Okay, back to work. I have to save money.

 

[Sea Turtles]

I am so excited I just had to share!

Last night I finally contacted my TA and gave her the 'go ahead' to book the Polynesian for Christmas '08.

Very nice!!
We're still on the fence about a Dec/MVMCP/Poly stay. I hope we end up leaning the right way, LOL
Enjoy!

 

[ConcKahuna]

Very nice!!
We're still on the fence about a Dec/MVMCP/Poly stay. I hope we end up leaning the right way, LOL
Enjoy!

Just think of laying on a hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance....

 

[Sea Turtles]

Just think of laying on a hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance....

Man, I knew this thread was gonna be trouble.
Goodbye bonus check. Hello hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Man, I knew this thread was gonna be trouble.
Goodbye bonus check. Hello hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance.

LOL! That was pretty much my rationale as well. My raise and my bonus are going to Disney for Christmas at the Poly.

I'm probably a bad influence on ya but we LOVED doing the MVMCP/Poly for December last year. So much that while we're looking forward to staying at the AKL for Christmas this year, we're really missing the Poly. I'm going to miss hearing the lovely Hawaiian christmas music piped through the grounds.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Man, I knew this thread was gonna be trouble.
Goodbye bonus check. Hello hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance.

CanadianGuy tells me I'm evil all the time.

I think the world needs more of my kind of evil!!

 

[Sea Turtles]

Might be Dec '08 for us as well. I guess we sat on the fence too long. I tried to book online for this December and there was zero availablilty. Will call later...

 

[Tink rules]

Man, I knew this thread was gonna be trouble.
Goodbye bonus check. Hello hammock below a swaying palm tree looking at the castle covered in lights and ice in the distance.

Hey!!!

Get out of MY hammock!!!!!

 

[sillyguys]

Great thread! I'm currently booked for May 2008 at GF in the Sugarloaf building but I'm having second thoughts. I'd love to stay in a Lagoon view concierge room but here is my hesitation. I think I'd be pretty upset if I got a 2nd floor room with no balcony. Has anyone ever stayed in a 2nd floor room in the Hawaii longhouse and if so, did the no balcony thing bother you. Thanks.

 

[steffali]

Great thread! I'm currently booked for May 2008 at GF in the Sugarloaf building but I'm having second thoughts. I'd love to stay in a Lagoon view concierge room but here is my hesitation. I think I'd be pretty upset if I got a 2nd floor room with no balcony. Has anyone ever stayed in a 2nd floor room in the Hawaii longhouse and if so, did the no balcony thing bother you. Thanks.

I stayed on the second floor LVC and I didn't mind that there was no balcony, we opened up the sliding doors and enjoyed the view also the Concierge Lounge was on the same floor so I could enjoy my evenings drinks