We just got back last Wednesday from an 8 night stay at the Poly Concierge LVC.
We checked in on the 10th after being assured by our driver from the airport that there was no need to be concerned about any Hurricanes, after all he had lived in the Orlando area for over 20 yrs and had experienced no hurricanes and said not to be concernd about the weathermen, who in his view loved to over dramatize possible weather scenarios. ( I would like to mention that we were very pleased with the driver and the transportation company who we had contracted, prompt and professional)
We arrived at the Poly and we were ushered in a timely manner with our luggace to the Hawaii, our bellboy was polite full of helpful information and very hospitable. This was our first stay at the Concierge in the Hawaii Bldg. last yrs renovation had us staying in the temporary concierge bldg. which was the Tahiti. We were greeted and checked in by Becky who was a very gracious and accomadating CM. I was happy that they were able to accomadate our 3rd floor request and had high hopes of that lovely castle view on the way up to our rm. which was 3510.
I opened the door with breathless anticapation and was greeted with a lovely room, the only problem being there was a beautiful, lush palm tree right smack in the middle of our view of the castle. I looked at my husband and daughters and we deliberated on what to do. After having read all the great advice on the board I decided to call Becky and ask if there was any way they could move us further down so that we could enjoy the castle view, I also assured her we would understand if they were unable to accomadate our request. She was very kind and assured us that while there was nothng available that night, to try in the morning and she would notify the staff of our request.
Next morning I talked to Cathy who told us she would be able to accomadate us but that we would need to put our bags in storage and then have them delivered to the new room later that day. Now I'm sure many of you are asking is this really worth all the trouble, and we deliberated on this as a family but since we had seven nights to go we felt it would be well worth the effort.
Off we went to the park and later in the day we were moved to 3517, the last room on the East side of the bldg. before exiting the door. We had a lovely view of castle and sunset point. This room aso did not have the multiple carpet stains that 3510 had. It was sad to see how damaged the carpet was considering renovations took place last summer.
We saw Chef Dick the first night of our stay and then only the last day that we were due to leave but the food was great and most of the people were gracious and not greedy as has been reported. If I would have one suggestion however, it would be that the concierge bldg. consider having housekeeping do a quick run thorugh of the bldg shortly after 7:00pm. With so much food going out by transport of little bodies things get dropped and suffice to say they do not get picked up until next morning which I think is a poor showing of the bldg along with putting unneccesary wear on carpet when people inadvertantly ground these things into carpet. (I know some may be thinking Oh for goodness sake just pick it up If you see something on the floor, but Im talking sticky gummy worms and the likes, it was often not a pretty sight.)
The parks were great all four of them, busy but not overly so. Last summer I felt that I saw more dirt and trash, this summer everything was in tip top shape and the cms were on the trash detail with fervor. The weather was hot but again it is August and we find that if you get up early leave mid day for siesta and then return for early evening made it very doable(not sure if thats a word) The wishes fireworks were out of this world and the Mickeys New 3d phil harmagic was one of my personal favorites it is a truly delightful and imaginitive production and a wonderful introduction to 3d for little ones with out frightening them, but enchanting enough even for us adults.
We realy enjoyed Ohanas, Crystal Palace and Whispering Canyon. Were disappointed withthe Hollywood Vine resturant would not reccomend or waste the money again.
Hurricane Charley- We woke up Friday to forecasters hopes that the storm would travel along the west coast by late morning that had changed and we were greeted to some very grim looking emergency county officials on tv warning of the storm traveling directly over our area. Walt Disney World decided to open parks early and close at 1pm, the parks were open to resort guest only and with limited options it was still a wonderful opportunity for us as a family and an interesting thing to watch them prepare WDW for the hurricane. Later that afternoon cms passed out to each room a flashlight along with a letter of information recommending we stay in our rooms along with some others dos and don'ts. We had purchased a puzzle the day before and were prepared to hunker down in our rooms. We went out only a few times to the lounge for evening food, and suffice to stay it was as wild inside as it was outside, I could not believe howe adults were sitting back and alllowing their children to run rampant, at one point I walked down to Tara and told her what a nut house and that there was food all over the floors on the 3rd floor hall ways. We were glad to stay in our room, away from the animal house environment of the lounge. I really felt that the cms working deserved bravery medals for what they had to endure I'm pretty easy going but I was appalled and embarrassed for the lot. For those of you familiar with the 3rd floor lounge there is a lovely marble table located next to sitting area, that now carrys a battle scare form Hurricane Charley, yes apparently it just fell over all by itself according to some darling elfins who were parent less. You'll have to check it out. The storm was really quite something but thankfully the worst of it lasted only about 11/2 hrs(which seemed longer at the time, being from Michigan the worst we see is a blizzard, never have witnessed such wind) The building shook quite a few times which was unsettling but we made it just fine. I have to believe that WDW is counting its blessings for having sustained minor damage, I mean none of the castle turrets blew off, there were a lot of trees down and landscaping damage but as far as bldg very little.
Unfortunaetly the cms did not fare as well many of you who know Ivette, her home sustaned major damage.some of the roof was gone and the like, Chef Dick's home also sustained roof damage and tree damage, but he was grateful that he and his family were okay. I would like to encourage all of us to keep them and the many others in your prayers and thoughts. This was a truly devastating storm for the orlando area. and the state of Florida
When our driver picked us up I kidded him about his predicitons and he told me that he thought about them while he and his family spent that Friday night in the bathroom of his home.
After having stayed at the Tahiti the lounge in the Hawaii bldg is much more fitting and accomadating, the only thing we missed was the room size we had in the Tahiti. I know some say you may not notice the difference but we did, being a party of 5 with three older children we did notice.
Overall it was a wonderful vacation after all not many can say that they stayed at WDW during a hurricane as my best friend would say we built a memory(Oh boy did we) The CMS were great, the resort a delight and the parks were awesome. Just a couple thoughts I would love share please know they are put forward with a gracious plea:
Parents please remember that while you are in a pretty safe place at a WDW resort don't throw caution to the wind and let your little ones run around unsupervised, your really taking a chance with their safety and placing many others in a awkward position
To all you men out there I know that womens lib has all but beaten chivlary to a pulp, but please remember there are many women out there who truly appreciate the men who give up their seat, espcially those older ladies who need a break (Please don't beat me up on this one
) I was so grateful to see a young teenage boy offer his seat to a young lady while many of what could be role modeling men sat
And a word to all of us, Walt Disney World and the cast membrs can do all they can to make sure things stay magical, but if we who are visiting WDW don't remember that we are the guests and that we need to be ready to extend a gracious and cooperative attitude, we will be the ones who will steal the magic
Sorry this is a bit long winded, I'll be glad to answer any questions just be patient please
We checked in on the 10th after being assured by our driver from the airport that there was no need to be concerned about any Hurricanes, after all he had lived in the Orlando area for over 20 yrs and had experienced no hurricanes and said not to be concernd about the weathermen, who in his view loved to over dramatize possible weather scenarios. ( I would like to mention that we were very pleased with the driver and the transportation company who we had contracted, prompt and professional)
We arrived at the Poly and we were ushered in a timely manner with our luggace to the Hawaii, our bellboy was polite full of helpful information and very hospitable. This was our first stay at the Concierge in the Hawaii Bldg. last yrs renovation had us staying in the temporary concierge bldg. which was the Tahiti. We were greeted and checked in by Becky who was a very gracious and accomadating CM. I was happy that they were able to accomadate our 3rd floor request and had high hopes of that lovely castle view on the way up to our rm. which was 3510.
I opened the door with breathless anticapation and was greeted with a lovely room, the only problem being there was a beautiful, lush palm tree right smack in the middle of our view of the castle. I looked at my husband and daughters and we deliberated on what to do. After having read all the great advice on the board I decided to call Becky and ask if there was any way they could move us further down so that we could enjoy the castle view, I also assured her we would understand if they were unable to accomadate our request. She was very kind and assured us that while there was nothng available that night, to try in the morning and she would notify the staff of our request.
Next morning I talked to Cathy who told us she would be able to accomadate us but that we would need to put our bags in storage and then have them delivered to the new room later that day. Now I'm sure many of you are asking is this really worth all the trouble, and we deliberated on this as a family but since we had seven nights to go we felt it would be well worth the effort.
Off we went to the park and later in the day we were moved to 3517, the last room on the East side of the bldg. before exiting the door. We had a lovely view of castle and sunset point. This room aso did not have the multiple carpet stains that 3510 had. It was sad to see how damaged the carpet was considering renovations took place last summer.
We saw Chef Dick the first night of our stay and then only the last day that we were due to leave but the food was great and most of the people were gracious and not greedy as has been reported. If I would have one suggestion however, it would be that the concierge bldg. consider having housekeeping do a quick run thorugh of the bldg shortly after 7:00pm. With so much food going out by transport of little bodies things get dropped and suffice to say they do not get picked up until next morning which I think is a poor showing of the bldg along with putting unneccesary wear on carpet when people inadvertantly ground these things into carpet. (I know some may be thinking Oh for goodness sake just pick it up If you see something on the floor, but Im talking sticky gummy worms and the likes, it was often not a pretty sight.)
The parks were great all four of them, busy but not overly so. Last summer I felt that I saw more dirt and trash, this summer everything was in tip top shape and the cms were on the trash detail with fervor. The weather was hot but again it is August and we find that if you get up early leave mid day for siesta and then return for early evening made it very doable(not sure if thats a word) The wishes fireworks were out of this world and the Mickeys New 3d phil harmagic was one of my personal favorites it is a truly delightful and imaginitive production and a wonderful introduction to 3d for little ones with out frightening them, but enchanting enough even for us adults.
We realy enjoyed Ohanas, Crystal Palace and Whispering Canyon. Were disappointed withthe Hollywood Vine resturant would not reccomend or waste the money again.
Hurricane Charley- We woke up Friday to forecasters hopes that the storm would travel along the west coast by late morning that had changed and we were greeted to some very grim looking emergency county officials on tv warning of the storm traveling directly over our area. Walt Disney World decided to open parks early and close at 1pm, the parks were open to resort guest only and with limited options it was still a wonderful opportunity for us as a family and an interesting thing to watch them prepare WDW for the hurricane. Later that afternoon cms passed out to each room a flashlight along with a letter of information recommending we stay in our rooms along with some others dos and don'ts. We had purchased a puzzle the day before and were prepared to hunker down in our rooms. We went out only a few times to the lounge for evening food, and suffice to stay it was as wild inside as it was outside, I could not believe howe adults were sitting back and alllowing their children to run rampant, at one point I walked down to Tara and told her what a nut house and that there was food all over the floors on the 3rd floor hall ways. We were glad to stay in our room, away from the animal house environment of the lounge. I really felt that the cms working deserved bravery medals for what they had to endure I'm pretty easy going but I was appalled and embarrassed for the lot. For those of you familiar with the 3rd floor lounge there is a lovely marble table located next to sitting area, that now carrys a battle scare form Hurricane Charley, yes apparently it just fell over all by itself according to some darling elfins who were parent less. You'll have to check it out. The storm was really quite something but thankfully the worst of it lasted only about 11/2 hrs(which seemed longer at the time, being from Michigan the worst we see is a blizzard, never have witnessed such wind) The building shook quite a few times which was unsettling but we made it just fine. I have to believe that WDW is counting its blessings for having sustained minor damage, I mean none of the castle turrets blew off, there were a lot of trees down and landscaping damage but as far as bldg very little.
Unfortunaetly the cms did not fare as well many of you who know Ivette, her home sustaned major damage.some of the roof was gone and the like, Chef Dick's home also sustained roof damage and tree damage, but he was grateful that he and his family were okay. I would like to encourage all of us to keep them and the many others in your prayers and thoughts. This was a truly devastating storm for the orlando area. and the state of Florida
When our driver picked us up I kidded him about his predicitons and he told me that he thought about them while he and his family spent that Friday night in the bathroom of his home.
After having stayed at the Tahiti the lounge in the Hawaii bldg is much more fitting and accomadating, the only thing we missed was the room size we had in the Tahiti. I know some say you may not notice the difference but we did, being a party of 5 with three older children we did notice.
Overall it was a wonderful vacation after all not many can say that they stayed at WDW during a hurricane as my best friend would say we built a memory(Oh boy did we) The CMS were great, the resort a delight and the parks were awesome. Just a couple thoughts I would love share please know they are put forward with a gracious plea:
Parents please remember that while you are in a pretty safe place at a WDW resort don't throw caution to the wind and let your little ones run around unsupervised, your really taking a chance with their safety and placing many others in a awkward position
To all you men out there I know that womens lib has all but beaten chivlary to a pulp, but please remember there are many women out there who truly appreciate the men who give up their seat, espcially those older ladies who need a break (Please don't beat me up on this one
) I was so grateful to see a young teenage boy offer his seat to a young lady while many of what could be role modeling men satAnd a word to all of us, Walt Disney World and the cast membrs can do all they can to make sure things stay magical, but if we who are visiting WDW don't remember that we are the guests and that we need to be ready to extend a gracious and cooperative attitude, we will be the ones who will steal the magic
Sorry this is a bit long winded, I'll be glad to answer any questions just be patient please
We too checked into Hawaii on the 10th and was very content with the selection and service! 
) or could have sat on the lap of a parent. But, no, the parents let each of them have their own seat while I was juggling a stroller and my 4yo and my sister was standing. Her health is good, by the way, but still it's a matter of respecting your elders. And of course we could have waited for another bus, but that would have meant a while longer standing waiting for that bus (I think we did that a time or two when the bus was very crowded).
dutch 63
