Pattymouse
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Messages
- 249
Just back from our first conciege stay - 11-29-04 thru 12-06-04 and I thought I would share our experiences about our resort stay. It was just the 2 of us - no kids. I am 53 and DH is 54. This was our 25th wedding anniversary trip.
CHECK IN:
We were greeted and wisked away for our golf cart tour. After arriving at the Hawaii building we were presented with our lei's. Our room was ready at 11:00 am. We checked in on Monday 11/29/04 and our room number was 3505, 3rd floor lagoon view. It was perfect! Thanks Tikiman for your great description of the room views. I was lucky. I asked for nothing and figured I would just take what I got. I got the best! A full spectacular view of the Castle, the Contemporary Resort and the Grand Floridian. We also had a clear view of the Grand's wedding chapel, and an obscure view of "Sunset Point", a small peninsula of land that juts out from the beach at the Poly. We witnessed at least 3 weddings held here during our stay.
HOUSEKEEPING:
Upon checking in, I noted that the carpet did not appear to be vacuumed, the fridge was not wiped out, and the huge sliging glass doors were very dirty. I called Housekeeping and all was corrected by the time we returned to our room a few hours later. The beds were neatly made, the bathroom was spotless and the room was not dusty. It looked like the maid just somehow missed the last steps of her cleaning. No big deal, and as stated rectified very quickly.
THE VIEW:
Perfect. Boats coming and going all day. The nightly electrical water pagent DIRECTLY in front of us. The fireworks from our balcony. Talk about feeling special! The view was so perfect it is hard to describe. We actualy enjoyed the fireworks more from our balcony than in the parks. We did not hear any piped in music for the fireworks but could clearly hear many parts of it from the park itself. Special "wrap around" fireworks were shown on party nights and from afar it apeared as a panaramic display.
THE POOL:
Nice size, nice slide, nice overall! Zero entry excellent for kids. Pleanty of area's to provide shade and also sun. Great pina-colada's at the pool bar.
THE LOUNGE: Fun! As a novice concierge guest we found that having a lounge at our disposal was great!
BEAKFAST was cold cereals, regular and skim milk, fresh fruit, bagels, English muffins, sweet rolls, juices and coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. Two toasters were available as well as jellies, butter, cream cheese etc. No oatmeal was seen, but I did not ask for it. I have heard that instant packets are available if you ask. I did not see any trays for transporting items to you rooms. If you chose to eat in your room, it was a juggling act to carry your food. I did see some folks with trays, but not many. I almost felt as if they brought them up from Captain Cooks snack bar or something. The lounge was never packed, and all guests were dressed appropriately and courteous. None of the ill behavior I read about on these boards was observed.
SNACKS were cookies (sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chip) goldfish, M&M's, gummyworms, a hawaiian type of trail mix (dried fruit, coconut chips etc), and another type of candy that resembeled M&M's but were bumpy. All snacks except the cookies were served in little pails. Very cute. There was always an ample supply out.
EARLY EVENING (5-7)
Monday - Sushi
Tuesday - Beef Kabobs and Chicken Kabobs - Fried Rice
Wednesday - Chicken strips and asian noodles and vegetable spring rolls
Thursday - Barbecue spare ribs and chicken and a beautiful fruit sculpture
Friday - Chicken Wings and fried rice
Saturday - Vegetable spring rolls & pulled pork with rolls for sandwiches
Sunday - Tri colored spiral macaroni in a meat sauce. Spicy and GOOD!
In addition to the hot offerings, there were vegetable platters with ranch dressing, assorted cubes of cheese with crackers, fresh fruit including pineapple chunks with caramel dipping sauce. Delicious. I may not have the above days/offerings exactly correct, but I know Monday and Saturday on correct. Some the the other days may not be exact but all of the food presented had an Asian flair, and every thing was very good. The lounge was kept neat and all guests were well behaved. I asked for a Perrier and was given a 4 pack! Met Chef Dick. He was very nice and you could see the pride he showed in his presentations! Wine was also available during this time
DESSERTS were served between 8-10. At this time liquers were also available.
The deserts were usualy small tarts and a type of sheet cake. This was my least favorite of the offerings. I thought cheesecake, pie, etc would be available but it was only tarts for the most part. They were the size of a half dollar and some had a cookie type base while other were in a milk or dark chocolate "crust". They contained fillings such as raspberry mousse, pina colada mousse, etc.
LOUNGE OVERVIEW: Great! A nice relaxing, clean and fairly spacious place to relax over breakfast, grab an afternoon coke or coffee, and enjoy the evening offerings. Everyone was well behaved. Highchairs are available as well as scaled down furniture for the little ones. A big screen TV was always tuned to a cartoon channel to keep the tykes occupied. Our children are now grown, but we were scoping out what was available for our grand-kids, ages 1 and 3. Great for kids, and also for adults! The lounge is accessible to those on the 1st and 3rd floor via an indoor staircase as well as an elevator. We always used the stairs. Which floor you are on is really not an issue with this lounge. It has an upper deck on the 3rd floor which has a library/study feel to it and overlooks the lounge downstairs. The 3rd floor also has a few tables as well as comfy furniture. The 2nd and 3rd floor offer a full glass view of the lake, castle and fireworks. The 1st floor houses 3 concierge desks and is used for check-in as well as concierge assistance during your stay.
CONCIERGE STAFF:
Friendly and helpful. We did not really use thier services as we were "winging it" with our meals and did not make any priority seatings. I did try to get a PS for lunch on Cinderella's Castle on Saturday 11/4 or Suday 11/5, but they were unable to help me. All full. The staff cannot get something that is just not available! They offer little pails filled with goodies when checking in with kids. Cute.
THE GROUNDS:
Beautiful and clean. Well established landscaping is appeared to be very tropical, but still well groomed. Monday seems to be "mowing day". The beach was "raked" avery morning.
SPECIAL TREATS:
We received a chocolate Polynesian candy bar the first night, as well as a signed picture from beauty and the beast. On December 1st, our actual anniversary, we received baloons, a card from Mickey and Minnie signed in silver (25th anniversary-cute), a certificate from Tinkerbell, a bottle of champagne and a large dinner plate and 2 smaller plates arranged as a mickey head. The large plate had a white chocolate Mickey and Minnie bride and groom, chocolate truffles, and "written" on the plate in chocolate was "Happy Anniversary". It was very nice.
OVERVIEW:
We had a great time. The Poly could not have been nicer. The place is old, but homey and relaxed. The rooms are in good repair for their age. By old, I do not mean run down. If you are looking for cutting edge state of the art rooms, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a peaceful and calm retreat from today's world and enjoy all of the little things not available in newer resorts than you have come to the right spot. I understand that the whole resort will be refurbished top to bottom during the upcoming 1-2 years. Each long house will take approx 3 months to refurbish. They will be starting with Tonga which is the longhouse that contains the suites. The location of the Poly cannot be beat! We also got to tour rooms at the Grand Floridian during this trip. The rooms, while newer, did not compare to the Poly rooms. They had a "stuffy feel" to them. The view from the room was superb and the sliding doors are wall to wall, not something you see in newer resorts.The rooms are very large, housekeeping was good, turndown was very early (about 3:00pm) but that was fine. Remember we were there in the winter months. I imagine that turn down would be later during the summer when the pool is heavily used and the room provides relief from the summer heat. I did not ask for a later turn down. The TV is small (19 inch) but the picture was very clear. The pool is heated but I swam only one warm day. But alot of people (kids and adults) were in the pool when it was quite nippy out! It has a zero entry feature which is great for smaller kids. The Hawaii building is right next door to the main Volcano pool which is very convenient. The quiet pool is just a few steps away in the other direction. The quiet pool has a pool house with a large clean restroom as well as a shower on the outside of the building. The lounge being so close to the pool would also be great with kids especially in the heat of the summer months. Easy to just grab a cold drink, or return to the room for an afternoon nap. The Great Ceremonial House is also very close. They have a little torch lighting ceremony most evenings at 6 pm. A preformer from the luau show twirls fire sticks, drums are beat to set the mood, and it is free! Captain Cooks is open 24 hours (a little snack bar/grill) but the grill closes at 11 pm. Nice indoor booths as well as outdoor seating is available. Hopping on a monorail is almost as easy as just using the boat transportation to the Magic Kingdom. Yes, we preferred the boats. We found them to be a little quicker and more enjoyable than the monorail. FYI, for those with young children strollers must be folded for the boats, but can just be pushed on the monorail. We did not eat at Ohana but did have breakfast and lunch once in Kona Cafe. VERY GOOD. We also did laundry one evening. Nice laundry (if a laundry can be nice!) $2.00 per wash and $2.00 per dry, soap/softener $1.00 each. We only did one load and only 1 dry cycle was needed. The cycle is approx 45 min.
Had a great time and love the Polynesian. I paid $380.00 per night for LVC. Alot of money for 2 but worth it to us. A real treat! Let me know if you have any questions. I did try to be very observant to all areas for couples as well as parents of young kids.
Bye!
Pat
I have tried to cover the Poly instead of doing a trip report. I hope I have not left anything out.
CHECK IN:
We were greeted and wisked away for our golf cart tour. After arriving at the Hawaii building we were presented with our lei's. Our room was ready at 11:00 am. We checked in on Monday 11/29/04 and our room number was 3505, 3rd floor lagoon view. It was perfect! Thanks Tikiman for your great description of the room views. I was lucky. I asked for nothing and figured I would just take what I got. I got the best! A full spectacular view of the Castle, the Contemporary Resort and the Grand Floridian. We also had a clear view of the Grand's wedding chapel, and an obscure view of "Sunset Point", a small peninsula of land that juts out from the beach at the Poly. We witnessed at least 3 weddings held here during our stay.
HOUSEKEEPING:
Upon checking in, I noted that the carpet did not appear to be vacuumed, the fridge was not wiped out, and the huge sliging glass doors were very dirty. I called Housekeeping and all was corrected by the time we returned to our room a few hours later. The beds were neatly made, the bathroom was spotless and the room was not dusty. It looked like the maid just somehow missed the last steps of her cleaning. No big deal, and as stated rectified very quickly.
THE VIEW:
Perfect. Boats coming and going all day. The nightly electrical water pagent DIRECTLY in front of us. The fireworks from our balcony. Talk about feeling special! The view was so perfect it is hard to describe. We actualy enjoyed the fireworks more from our balcony than in the parks. We did not hear any piped in music for the fireworks but could clearly hear many parts of it from the park itself. Special "wrap around" fireworks were shown on party nights and from afar it apeared as a panaramic display.
THE POOL:
Nice size, nice slide, nice overall! Zero entry excellent for kids. Pleanty of area's to provide shade and also sun. Great pina-colada's at the pool bar.
THE LOUNGE: Fun! As a novice concierge guest we found that having a lounge at our disposal was great!
BEAKFAST was cold cereals, regular and skim milk, fresh fruit, bagels, English muffins, sweet rolls, juices and coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. Two toasters were available as well as jellies, butter, cream cheese etc. No oatmeal was seen, but I did not ask for it. I have heard that instant packets are available if you ask. I did not see any trays for transporting items to you rooms. If you chose to eat in your room, it was a juggling act to carry your food. I did see some folks with trays, but not many. I almost felt as if they brought them up from Captain Cooks snack bar or something. The lounge was never packed, and all guests were dressed appropriately and courteous. None of the ill behavior I read about on these boards was observed.
SNACKS were cookies (sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chip) goldfish, M&M's, gummyworms, a hawaiian type of trail mix (dried fruit, coconut chips etc), and another type of candy that resembeled M&M's but were bumpy. All snacks except the cookies were served in little pails. Very cute. There was always an ample supply out.
EARLY EVENING (5-7)
Monday - Sushi
Tuesday - Beef Kabobs and Chicken Kabobs - Fried Rice
Wednesday - Chicken strips and asian noodles and vegetable spring rolls
Thursday - Barbecue spare ribs and chicken and a beautiful fruit sculpture
Friday - Chicken Wings and fried rice
Saturday - Vegetable spring rolls & pulled pork with rolls for sandwiches
Sunday - Tri colored spiral macaroni in a meat sauce. Spicy and GOOD!
In addition to the hot offerings, there were vegetable platters with ranch dressing, assorted cubes of cheese with crackers, fresh fruit including pineapple chunks with caramel dipping sauce. Delicious. I may not have the above days/offerings exactly correct, but I know Monday and Saturday on correct. Some the the other days may not be exact but all of the food presented had an Asian flair, and every thing was very good. The lounge was kept neat and all guests were well behaved. I asked for a Perrier and was given a 4 pack! Met Chef Dick. He was very nice and you could see the pride he showed in his presentations! Wine was also available during this time
DESSERTS were served between 8-10. At this time liquers were also available.
The deserts were usualy small tarts and a type of sheet cake. This was my least favorite of the offerings. I thought cheesecake, pie, etc would be available but it was only tarts for the most part. They were the size of a half dollar and some had a cookie type base while other were in a milk or dark chocolate "crust". They contained fillings such as raspberry mousse, pina colada mousse, etc.
LOUNGE OVERVIEW: Great! A nice relaxing, clean and fairly spacious place to relax over breakfast, grab an afternoon coke or coffee, and enjoy the evening offerings. Everyone was well behaved. Highchairs are available as well as scaled down furniture for the little ones. A big screen TV was always tuned to a cartoon channel to keep the tykes occupied. Our children are now grown, but we were scoping out what was available for our grand-kids, ages 1 and 3. Great for kids, and also for adults! The lounge is accessible to those on the 1st and 3rd floor via an indoor staircase as well as an elevator. We always used the stairs. Which floor you are on is really not an issue with this lounge. It has an upper deck on the 3rd floor which has a library/study feel to it and overlooks the lounge downstairs. The 3rd floor also has a few tables as well as comfy furniture. The 2nd and 3rd floor offer a full glass view of the lake, castle and fireworks. The 1st floor houses 3 concierge desks and is used for check-in as well as concierge assistance during your stay.
CONCIERGE STAFF:
Friendly and helpful. We did not really use thier services as we were "winging it" with our meals and did not make any priority seatings. I did try to get a PS for lunch on Cinderella's Castle on Saturday 11/4 or Suday 11/5, but they were unable to help me. All full. The staff cannot get something that is just not available! They offer little pails filled with goodies when checking in with kids. Cute.
THE GROUNDS:
Beautiful and clean. Well established landscaping is appeared to be very tropical, but still well groomed. Monday seems to be "mowing day". The beach was "raked" avery morning.
SPECIAL TREATS:
We received a chocolate Polynesian candy bar the first night, as well as a signed picture from beauty and the beast. On December 1st, our actual anniversary, we received baloons, a card from Mickey and Minnie signed in silver (25th anniversary-cute), a certificate from Tinkerbell, a bottle of champagne and a large dinner plate and 2 smaller plates arranged as a mickey head. The large plate had a white chocolate Mickey and Minnie bride and groom, chocolate truffles, and "written" on the plate in chocolate was "Happy Anniversary". It was very nice.
OVERVIEW:
We had a great time. The Poly could not have been nicer. The place is old, but homey and relaxed. The rooms are in good repair for their age. By old, I do not mean run down. If you are looking for cutting edge state of the art rooms, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a peaceful and calm retreat from today's world and enjoy all of the little things not available in newer resorts than you have come to the right spot. I understand that the whole resort will be refurbished top to bottom during the upcoming 1-2 years. Each long house will take approx 3 months to refurbish. They will be starting with Tonga which is the longhouse that contains the suites. The location of the Poly cannot be beat! We also got to tour rooms at the Grand Floridian during this trip. The rooms, while newer, did not compare to the Poly rooms. They had a "stuffy feel" to them. The view from the room was superb and the sliding doors are wall to wall, not something you see in newer resorts.The rooms are very large, housekeeping was good, turndown was very early (about 3:00pm) but that was fine. Remember we were there in the winter months. I imagine that turn down would be later during the summer when the pool is heavily used and the room provides relief from the summer heat. I did not ask for a later turn down. The TV is small (19 inch) but the picture was very clear. The pool is heated but I swam only one warm day. But alot of people (kids and adults) were in the pool when it was quite nippy out! It has a zero entry feature which is great for smaller kids. The Hawaii building is right next door to the main Volcano pool which is very convenient. The quiet pool is just a few steps away in the other direction. The quiet pool has a pool house with a large clean restroom as well as a shower on the outside of the building. The lounge being so close to the pool would also be great with kids especially in the heat of the summer months. Easy to just grab a cold drink, or return to the room for an afternoon nap. The Great Ceremonial House is also very close. They have a little torch lighting ceremony most evenings at 6 pm. A preformer from the luau show twirls fire sticks, drums are beat to set the mood, and it is free! Captain Cooks is open 24 hours (a little snack bar/grill) but the grill closes at 11 pm. Nice indoor booths as well as outdoor seating is available. Hopping on a monorail is almost as easy as just using the boat transportation to the Magic Kingdom. Yes, we preferred the boats. We found them to be a little quicker and more enjoyable than the monorail. FYI, for those with young children strollers must be folded for the boats, but can just be pushed on the monorail. We did not eat at Ohana but did have breakfast and lunch once in Kona Cafe. VERY GOOD. We also did laundry one evening. Nice laundry (if a laundry can be nice!) $2.00 per wash and $2.00 per dry, soap/softener $1.00 each. We only did one load and only 1 dry cycle was needed. The cycle is approx 45 min.
Had a great time and love the Polynesian. I paid $380.00 per night for LVC. Alot of money for 2 but worth it to us. A real treat! Let me know if you have any questions. I did try to be very observant to all areas for couples as well as parents of young kids.
Bye!
Pat
I have tried to cover the Poly instead of doing a trip report. I hope I have not left anything out.
My family and I will going 4/28/05- 5/3/05 and can't wait to stay in the Hawaii building also. I have GVC rooms booked and I hope they will offer me a lagoon view upgrade for my birthday when I get there. Does anyone know if they might do this and should I ask? Also when you check in do you go straight to your building for check in or do you go to the front desk in the GCH? Great report and well done! 
