Will the Poly be a half experience?

[KAT4DISNEY]

Oh boy.... the last time they refurbed the Great Ceremonial House, it reopened without its signature icon (the waterfall).
They also ripped out the lush river in back in order to instal a putting green.

I’m afraid of recent refurbs.

Pretty certain they announced it wasn't much being done inside the GCH. The monorail platform and front entrance are apparently getting redone.

 

[momtwoboys]

What building? How dark ??

tokelau. I love themeing and figured we would love it, but after a night and walking in rain to get to any food, the dark walkways, yet the cruddy side steps up the buidling had awful cheap flourescent light which showed how dingy and crappy looking those stairwells were. the no hot water and the slight weird moldy smell coning off the furniture made me jump ship to CCV. to each their own, some will love POLY but for us we love too many othwe DVC resorts so it will leave room for others!

 

[bobbiwoz]

This makes me so glad we changed from Poly to GFV for December.

 

[momtwoboys]

This makes me so glad we changed from Poly to GFV for December.

GFV although no lobby music had lights on around grounds and music piped in as you walk around. We walked to and from Poly/GF 2x. at least at the GFV you have a covered walkway to main bld if needed in bad weather. We at least know now what we like and what we dont, so lesson learned! Enjoy your trip!

 

[bobbiwoz]

GFV although no lobby music had lights on around grounds and music piped in as you walk around. We walked to and from Poly/GF 2x. at least at the GFV you have a covered walkway to main bld if needed in bad weather. We at least know now what we like and what we dont, so lesson learned! Enjoy your trip!

Thank you for the description! Initially we had three nights at VGF, but I was able to add an additional night to our VWL one bedroom. I was able to get Narcoosee’s ADR for one of the VGF nights. I’m really looking forward to this trip!

 

[Firepath]

Why not stay at your home resort? I assume you chose one you can live with if all else fails. Poly is nice but I think worth waiting for the refurb to be complete.

 

[beercity]

we are here now and on Monday checked into poly and left for ccv after 2 nights. it was not what we wanted. No boat, no tropical music by oasis pool, pool bar near oasis closed ohana closed which we knew. the resort side was dark no tiki lights on at night so the walk from gf was dark and dreary. captain cooks was meh. Our room had no hot water for one day room smelled moldy and just not feeling it. the stairwells outside the buildings are dank dark and old. did not feel deluxe walking up to our room. sitting on balcony you cant see anything unless you stand. Our WL stay is a million times cleaner and atmosphere is alive

I am surprised to hear about the music. We were there Sept 12-19 and the music was working fine throughout the resort. The torches were almost 100% working too. We did have a few windy nights where the torches would blow you (you can hear the automatic igniters trying to re-light them if you listen). I can't imagine how the construction would impact these elements but who knows?
IMO if you like to have a view on a standard view room, ask for a first floor room. It feels very lush with the grass lawn. I can totally see where you are coming from with the bad balcony views.

I won't argue with you on the smell, but I do know one person who says that Poly smells "damp" but we were able to determine what that person was smelling was the ScentAir scent that is custom-made for the resort. But by all means, that might not be what you experienced, could be an actual water leak or humidity issue in your room. I just know that some noses are different and might trigger on one layer of the scent they use.

 

[momtwoboys]

I am surprised to hear about the music. We were there Sept 12-19 and the music was working fine throughout the resort. The torches were almost 100% working too. We did have a few windy nights where the torches would blow you (you can hear the automatic igniters trying to re-light them if you listen). I can't imagine how the construction would impact these elements but who knows?
IMO if you like to have a view on a standard view room, ask for a first floor room. It feels very lush with the grass lawn. I can totally see where you are coming from with the bad balcony views.

I won't argue with you on the smell, but I do know one person who says that Poly smells "damp" but we were able to determine what that person was smelling was the ScentAir scent that is custom-made for the resort. But by all means, that might not be what you experienced, could be an actual water leak or humidity issue in your room. I just know that some noses are different and might trigger on one layer of the scent they use.

I was surprised too we walked back from GV and as we got to Poly it was dark like very dark and I saw the torches and thought geez there could be some ambiance lighting. The smell in the lobby is one thing I love it, and the smell in the hallways of the inside of buildings is good, then you get in the rooms and I have severe sensory issues and smell is one. I could not sleep facing the nightstand or couch, kept waking up smelling mold in my nose and was so upset. so much fabric and older "wood" in the room that it smelled bad. the carpet doesnt help. I was just glad to move and should have done so sooner. the kicker was after being soaked in rain getting back to our room I decided to get in a hot bath and the water was cold. The whole check in area at Pago Pago stinks, even though we did online check in we needed to go there to ask some questions and get our groceries delivered. they almost dont want you entering cause its such a sad way to see the check in process. a few tables set up in the entrance to a building of rooms, but we went in and one CM had to help the other 2 CM's who just seemed to not know what they were doing. I am so glad that we have been going for over 25 years and understand that these are different times right now, and it wasnt our first dream trip. Just first try at POLY and it didnt seem deluxe at all to us. Check in and CM experience at WL was like a totally different experience.

 

[gdrj]

We had 6 nights starting on 12/27 and got rid of it. At that cost per point and no monorail and limited dining and a construction zone in Ceremonial House doesnt seem like it would be worth staying there.

 

[UA DVC Member]

My wife and I were there last week staying at SSR but went to the Kona Cafe for dinner one night. The resort was really empty and didn’t have the same vibe that makes the Poly so special. I’d be pretty disappointed with the experience if we were staying there. I do think the refurb work will be pretty disruptive.

 

[szymcl]

I am going in January, and I plan to keep the Poly for 8 nights. We are going to be looking a real estate this trip, planning to buy a condo on this trip. While I love Trader Sam's and all the great things that will be closed, I am looking forward to this stay anyway, I just like the grounds and wandering around. We will be doing parks for a few days, but I think we will be fine with the limited things? As long as we can still walk over to the Grand, and walk to the TTC for the monorail if we choose, I think we will be fine. We drive most places. I will miss the fireworks the most! Is the Electrical Water parade still running?
I don't think it will be the best trip of my life, but I'll take it! I really like having the separate shower room, that makes us for a lot to me. It might be a good memory, staying when the hotel part is closed!

 

[Salf777]

So I was thinking it might be a good time to be buying a Poly resale maybe get a good price? I’m quite new at this and reading this is a little worrisom. Am I looking at this wrong? It says most of these refurbs are being done in the hotel side not the DVC side, so why the issues at DVC? I have only heard and read great things about Poly and hear people rave about the resort. Do you think these issues are due to the refurb?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So I was thinking it might be a good time to be buying a Poly resale maybe get a good price? I’m quite new at this and reading this is a little worrisom. Am I looking at this wrong? It says most of these refurbs are being done in the hotel side not the DVC side, so why the issues at DVC? I have only heard and read great things about Poly and hear people rave about the resort. Do you think these issues are due to the refurb?

DVC is three longjouses and the bungalows. The hotel side is all closed right now. 'Ohana and Trader Sam's are closed. The monorail is shut down from the resort until next year. Disney laid off all entertainment, including musicians and the fire ceremony.

So the layoffs definitely impact atmosphere and the closures impact amenities. The DVC units are just rooms, not the resort proper. They share the resort amenities, many of which are closed, fired or under construction.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Pretty certain they announced it wasn't much being done inside the GCH. The monorail platform and front entrance are apparently getting redone.

Even so... the Poly is not what it once was.
It truly breaks my heart to say that.

 

[RoseGold]

No boat, no tropical music by oasis pool, pool bar near oasis closed ohana closed which we knew. the resort side was dark no tiki lights on at night so the walk from gf was dark and dreary. captain cooks was meh. Our room had no hot water for one day room smelled moldy and just not feeling it. the stairwells outside the buildings are dank dark and old

Poly is one of my favorite places in the world. This is so sad. Hopefully, it will come back to life in the next few years. Guess I'll be skipping it 2021.

 

[Happy2BMommy0812]

Wow, I’m surprised by the negative reviews.

I would totally book your trip at Poly and aim for June. I mean, they will be aching to open it up and get guests in, so I bet they’ll try and get that refurb done. Likely it mostly will be done. Or, at least the areas you will care about - the great ceremonial house, etc.

We are here right now and are LOVING it. Of course, it’s a weird time to travel, so we like it feeling empty and have been completely happy with our room and the atmosphere.

I will say the food offerings are fine, but not as good as usual. But that seems to be more of a COVID issue - some places closed, lots of mobile ordering, and that may or may not change depending on this virus next spring......but many places are closed on the entire property and they’d be subject to the virus as well. Same with some perks like watching fireworks from the beach area. Until restrictions are modified, lots of cool moments are not going to happen.

If you need the full of people Poly experience, you should book elsewhere. But if you are fine with the rest of the hotel being closed, I’d go.

 

[Smile&NodVB]

We made the tough decision in June that we would not be comfortable traveling this October - I should have been headed to BCV for Food and Wine tomorrow! But, we did take the points we would have used for this trip and tacked on 2 nights at at a Poly bungalow - I would *never* spend the points on that but we decided to treat ourselves since we canceled this trip. In hindsight we probably would have been fine traveling, but I am excited to stay in the bungalow - I know the resort won't be quite the same and will miss Ohana but we really plan to just enjoy the accommodations for those two days and then when we move to BLT we will do parks. Making lemonade out of lemons!

 

[LucieR]

We made the tough decision in June that we would not be comfortable traveling this October - I should have been headed to BCV for Food and Wine tomorrow! But, we did take the points we would have used for this trip and tacked on 2 nights at at a Poly bungalow - I would *never* spend the points on that but we decided to treat ourselves since we canceled this trip. In hindsight we probably would have been fine traveling, but I am excited to stay in the bungalow - I know the resort won't be quite the same and will miss Ohana but we really plan to just enjoy the accommodations for those two days and then when we move to BLT we will do parks. Making lemonade out of lemons!

That sounds an absolute dream

 

[Dug720]

I would totally book your trip at Poly and aim for June. I mean, they will be aching to open it up and get guests in, so I bet they’ll try and get that refurb done. Likely it mostly will be done. Or, at least the areas you will care about - the great ceremonial house, etc.

No way to know if they are going to open it piecemeal though.

The room section is due to open July 19. They could well hold off on reopening the GCH in total until then to make it a big deal.

 

[Happy2BMommy0812]

No way to know if they are going to open it piecemeal though.

The room section is due to open July 19. They could well hold off on reopening the GCH in total until then to make it a big deal.

Well, in that case, if I was the original poster, I would totally either postpone My trip or book someplace else for the first trip. We want to try Riviera sometime!