The Official Polynesian Resort FAQ thread!

[Obsessed w/Disney in OH]

We are not new to WDW, but new to the Polynesian. We are booked for July 22-29 for Garden View. I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to our stay!!

We stayed at BC in 2003 and ate at Kona Cafe. It was awesome. When we took a tour of the Poly, we knew this was the place for our next trip. We loved the convenience of the Boardwalk area, but missed the "resort feel" of POR. We thought the Polynesian was the perfect combination of both.

As you may be able to tell from the photos--our youngest 11 year old daughter, Jana, was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma, Stage 4 in July. It is a rare and aggressive cancer. However, she began treatment immediately and has been hospitalized most of the time since then receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatment. She has been home some weekends--thus the esctatic smile in the photos!

After she learned of her cancer, she had lots of questions...Will I lose my hair? Will I die from it? After we assured her that she WOULD BE a survivor, she asked, "When I am all better, can we go to Disney to celebrate??" So, here we are planning our trip. I can hardly believe it! She has a couple more months of treatment remaining, but all tests indicate that we are beating this beast.

So, to WDW we come in July and we will be there on the one year anniversary of diagnosis to celebrate CURE!!! Can you imagine anywhere better to be than to be with our entire family immersed in the magic and joy of WDW??

So, I know this is FAQ, and I really do have questions, but I wanted to tell you about our family first! For financial reasons, we have reserved Garden View. We will be traveling with 3 DD: ages 19, 16, and 11. We have a guaranteed non-smoking room because of health reasons and we were thinking of requesting a preferred building of Samoa or Tokelau because of the GV and convenience of location. I've studied Tikiman's site (thank you for that!).

Any suggestions for building location or requests? Also, we are planning her special anniversary day celebration--any and all suggestions will be welcomed. We are due to make ADRs in January so we are trying to plan over Christmas break when all the girls will be home together (hopefully).

It just brings tears to my eyes just thinking of being in WDW this summer, watching Wishes with my family...cherish each day and each moment when you can. ~Lisa

 

[BCV23]

Oh, I hope you have the most perfect trip! Congratulations to you all and I pray everything continues to go well and the treatments are over in a flash!

Tokelau and Samoa are both great buildings to request although we never actually request anything but the floor we prefer as well as nonsmoking. That is easy as few rooms are smoking anymore and Nuie is the only all smoking optional building. I remember when there were few designated nonsmoking rooms way back when.

Tokelau has larger rooms which you might enjoy with three older girls.

Good wishes and prayers again!!!!

 

[suffolkprincess]

We just got back from a trip the first week of November, and we had a garden view room-- Fiji, room 1306. We absolutely LOVED this room. Here is why:

It has a lagoon/ Luau Cove beach view of the wedding chapel. Not a wide open water view, but its very pretty. Then, its a VERY short walk across a nice lawn to the beach, and the beach has a view of the castle! That beach was very quiet and uncrowded pretty much all the time when we were there. We spent some nice time swinging on the swing and hanging out there. In the mornings after I got DD4 ready, her daddy would take her out there to play and hang out while I finished getting ready. A couple mornings we had our breakfast out there. And it was GREAT in the evening to have a glass of wine and hang out a bit before heading to dinner/ evening events.

The first floor was great for us because of occassionally having a sleeping child to carry.

It is very very close to the Great Ceremonial House. VERY. PLUS your walk takes you naturally right past the permanent location of Captn Cooks as well as right past the coffee bar on the way to the monorail. (great for grabbing a drink!) It was an extrememly quick walk. We were door to door to Magic Kingdom in about 11 minutes one day.

It is not particularly close to the pool, but its not exactly far either-- and its a nice walk along the marina.

It was a quick walk to the boat dock to take the boat to MK also.

We are hoping that we can make FIJI 1306 our newest Disney home-- we really really loved it.

And-- WOW to your daughter's recover! What an amazing blessing! Disney is the PERFECT place to celebrate your family.

A little packing tip-- just by coincidence, I used some Rubbermaid totes for packing toiletries/ medical items on this trip (thought it would be better for checked bags.) They were the ones that have the blue tops that have a latch that locks them shut, and they are about 12" x 6" and about 6" deep (or so-- I am bad with measures) They were PERFECT for the vanity in the Polynesian; they slid easily and neatly inder the two "cubbies" and the one smaller one I had brought fit into a cubby. (The vanities have two sort of cubbies under the counter.) Highly recommend-- you could get one for each girl and she would have her own portable bathroom that would be easy to stash away (counter space is at a premium if you don't have double sinks.)

 

[Lives4Disney]

We are not new to WDW, but new to the Polynesian. We are booked for July 22-29 for Garden View. I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to our stay!!

We stayed at BC in 2003 and ate at Kona Cafe. It was awesome. When we took a tour of the Poly, we knew this was the place for our next trip. We loved the convenience of the Boardwalk area, but missed the "resort feel" of POR. We thought the Polynesian was the perfect combination of both.

As you may be able to tell from the photos--our youngest 11 year old daughter, Jana, was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma, Stage 4 in July. It is a rare and aggressive cancer. However, she began treatment immediately and has been hospitalized most of the time since then receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatment. She has been home some weekends--thus the esctatic smile in the photos!

After she learned of her cancer, she had lots of questions...Will I lose my hair? Will I die from it? After we assured her that she WOULD BE a survivor, she asked, "When I am all better, can we go to Disney to celebrate??" So, here we are planning our trip. I can hardly believe it! She has a couple more months of treatment remaining, but all tests indicate that we are beating this beast.

So, to WDW we come in July and we will be there on the one year anniversary of diagnosis to celebrate CURE!!! Can you imagine anywhere better to be than to be with our entire family immersed in the magic and joy of WDW??

So, I know this is FAQ, and I really do have questions, but I wanted to tell you about our family first! For financial reasons, we have reserved Garden View. We will be traveling with 3 DD: ages 19, 16, and 11. We have a guaranteed non-smoking room because of health reasons and we were thinking of requesting a preferred building of Samoa or Tokelau because of the GV and convenience of location. I've studied Tikiman's site (thank you for that!).

Any suggestions for building location or requests? Also, we are planning her special anniversary day celebration--any and all suggestions will be welcomed. We are due to make ADRs in January so we are trying to plan over Christmas break when all the girls will be home together (hopefully).

It just brings tears to my eyes just thinking of being in WDW this summer, watching Wishes with my family...cherish each day and each moment when you can. ~Lisa

Just sending prayers and hugs your way. I will pray that Jana wins this battle. I hope you have the trip of a lifetime in July.

Lives4Disney

 

[stnet]

subscribing

 

[steffali]

We are not new to WDW, but new to the Polynesian. We are booked for July 22-29 for Garden View. I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to our stay!!

We stayed at BC in 2003 and ate at Kona Cafe. It was awesome. When we took a tour of the Poly, we knew this was the place for our next trip. We loved the convenience of the Boardwalk area, but missed the "resort feel" of POR. We thought the Polynesian was the perfect combination of both.

As you may be able to tell from the photos--our youngest 11 year old daughter, Jana, was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma, Stage 4 in July. It is a rare and aggressive cancer. However, she began treatment immediately and has been hospitalized most of the time since then receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatment. She has been home some weekends--thus the esctatic smile in the photos!

After she learned of her cancer, she had lots of questions...Will I lose my hair? Will I die from it? After we assured her that she WOULD BE a survivor, she asked, "When I am all better, can we go to Disney to celebrate??" So, here we are planning our trip. I can hardly believe it! She has a couple more months of treatment remaining, but all tests indicate that we are beating this beast.

So, to WDW we come in July and we will be there on the one year anniversary of diagnosis to celebrate CURE!!! Can you imagine anywhere better to be than to be with our entire family immersed in the magic and joy of WDW??

So, I know this is FAQ, and I really do have questions, but I wanted to tell you about our family first! For financial reasons, we have reserved Garden View. We will be traveling with 3 DD: ages 19, 16, and 11. We have a guaranteed non-smoking room because of health reasons and we were thinking of requesting a preferred building of Samoa or Tokelau because of the GV and convenience of location. I've studied Tikiman's site (thank you for that!).

Any suggestions for building location or requests? Also, we are planning her special anniversary day celebration--any and all suggestions will be welcomed. We are due to make ADRs in January so we are trying to plan over Christmas break when all the girls will be home together (hopefully).

It just brings tears to my eyes just thinking of being in WDW this summer, watching Wishes with my family...cherish each day and each moment when you can. ~Lisa

I hope you and your family have the most magical trip

 

[MCourtney]

Quick report from the Poly about using early check in.

When I arrived at the desk the CM asked me a few quick questions and then handed me my check in "package". The room assignment was Rapa Nui, Rm 1122 (pretty sure it was 1122--I know for sure it was a first floor). Well I had requested Tokelau, 3rd floor so I was pretty dismayed. I told the CM that I had requested Tokelau. So the CM calls for to the manager, she listened to my concern, went into the back room for about 10 minutes and came back and said, "I had to move some things around but I got the room." I thanked her and we went on our merry (and somewhat shaken but quite relieved) way. What I don't understand why, after making my request twice--once at the original ressie and again when I called for early check in--if a 3rd floor Tokelau was available my request was not honored in the first place. When I got to the room and read the printed material in my packet it clearly stated "Requests Tokelua, highest floor possible. . Anyway, all's well that ends well.

So, kids. You CAN change your room when using advanced check in. It may be heart-pounding and sweat-provoking, but it can work out.

Anyway, we are having a great time, all the CMs are great and the weather is wonderful.

Gotta go jump in the pool!

SuperTink

That is indeed good news.... we check in on the 21st and of course, I have lost the early check in phone number. If anyone has it, and could post it, I would be most gratefull!!!

 

[SuperTink]

For you, MCourtney:

Guests can call 407/ 828-7120.

Have a great trip!

 

[MCourtney]

Thanks SO much!!!

 

[Disney8704]

I have a question about the Poly for the xmas season. When MVMCP is going on and if you are in a standard / garden view room, can you hear the music and fireworks from MK? I no theres a lot of complaints about it for GF so I was wondering about that.

 

[TiggerAllie]

We could hear the music (especially from the castle shows) when we were outside, but not when we were inside. If you listened really closely, you could hear the booms of the fireworks through the glass door. We could actually see the castle and some of the fireworks from our garden view room (3940 Tokelau) but they aren't as fun to watch without the music. I wouldn't say it was disturbing at all.

 

[sfbank]

Obsessed in OH--my prayers go out to you and your family. Enjoy your celebration for a cure!

 

[BCV23]

Just a FYI but dclfun posted that she has read that all the accessible rooms at the Polynesian will be undergoing renovation from sometime in January to sometime in March.

 

[Tikiman]

Well I am back from the Polynesian with a few discs full of photos, information from many of the CMs, and even spent about 5 hours one day gathering up info, touring the suites and gathering info with the help of the staff. I won’t be posting the report here because I have been warned to be careful what I mention on the DIS so anyone that wanted to read the report in a few days can get it from my mailing list. I need a few days to get all the info together. It is the most info I have ever gotten in one visit so it will take a while.

I also want to say thank you to all the great people I met on the DIS. I will be moving on from the DIS for reasons I will not discuss here but it has been an enjoyable experience and I have meet many great people through these forums.

I can’t post where to go to my site but I am sure you can find it if you really want to.

With that I will say ALOHA

Steve

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

STEVE:

I feel very sad after reading your post. I always look forward to reading your many posts and I relish all the wisdom you have shared. I will miss you here on the DIS but I am quite addicted to your website and I look forward to reading about your trip and all of the updates there.

ALOHA (w/BIG HUGS)

 

[First timer]

Well I am back from the Polynesian with a few discs full of photos, information from many of the CMs, and even spent about 5 hours one day gathering up info, touring the suites and gathering info with the help of the staff. I won’t be posting the report here because I have been warned to be careful what I mention on the DIS so anyone that wanted to read the report in a few days can get it from my mailing list. I need a few days to get all the info together. It is the most info I have ever gotten in one visit so it will take a while.

I also want to say thank you to all the great people I met on the DIS. I will be moving on from the DIS for reasons I will not discuss here but it has been an enjoyable experience and I have meet many great people through these forums.

I can’t post where to go to my site but I am sure you can find it if you really want to.

With that I will say ALOHA

Steve

Oh wow! I am so sad not to be able to see any more of your insightful replies - but I am a subscriber to your site and will just have to visit more often. Sorry to see you go.

 

[steffali]

Steve,
I am sorry to see you go . You have been so helpful with any questions regarding the POLY. I will check in on your website for any updated info!
Thank you for everything!!!!!

 

[bdklein]

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/

 

[BCV23]

Steve, I too am sad to see you leave the DIS.

I hope you had a fun trip. I've read varying reports on how busy the parks were. Hopefully, you enjoyed the decorations at any rate.

Did you hear about the accessible rooms getting another refurbishment/renovation?

Mahalo and Aloha!

 

[Castillo Mom]

Tikiman, so sorry to see you go. Thank you so much for all of your time and effort, I really do appreciate it. The information you share has been invaluable for me in planning my trip. I will continue to visit your website. Aloha!