ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: September 2012

[hebbynan]

Originally Posted by djse7en

These are the tenitive start dates from tikimans site right now and the rehab takes appox (2 months) so I am figuring first week in march if it goes as planned may be sooner if no problems with rehab. I may be wrong but this is what I know.

Tahiti July 14

Oh man!! I hope they stick to this schedule and don't get behind!! We requested Tahiti for our stay and we check in September 18th. If they take 2 months that is REALLY cutting it close!!!

[pas130]

Originally Posted by disneydreamin247

What are your dates?! You know I'll be there after our cruise!

Nov 1-8

Originally Posted by sjs314

Dani I did not realize you we're going in Nov Too.

We are still not sure of our dates but 11/3 to 11/10 or 11/5 to 11/12. I wish JB flights were out would help in decideing.

[angbuz]

Originally Posted by pixarmom

We just returned from another wonderful WDW trip last Sunday - and we think this one was the best! We spent three nights at Poly and five at BWI CL. I will say that we were disappointed that Hawaii was closed for renovations - would have been nice to stay CL at both Poly and BWI. And while Captain Cook's is my favorite CS for variety, it was still pretty busy in the mornings for breakfast. So for our next stay, CL will be fresh and new, and we'll welcome breakfasts in the CL lounge!

But our stay was great and we were thrilled with our room. We requested Samoa, third floor, volcano pool side and that's exactly what Disney assigned to us! It's such a convenient location - amazing! Our boys (ages 6, 12 and 13) still love the volcano pool, dole whips, the tiki torches outside and the quick monorail to MK in the morning. They love the volcano pool - and staying in Samoa makes pool access ridiculously easy.



We found the construction in Hawaii was a non-issue. We spent the mornings in the parks and the afternoons at the resort, so we were around during the construction. No noise issues at all. And the construction at GF didn't bother us either.

A few things of concern: After defending Poly for years, I now agree that the refurb is necessary. Our room was very clean and in good order, but I welcome the white duvet covers and a bit of a "lift!"

Kona was outstanding for lunch as usual. Entirely underrated lunch/dinner location and we'll be sure to fit it into our plans again next time. The BBQ pork tacos are still my favorite.

Can't beat the beach. So fun for the boys to run around.

Transportation to MK was great. Not so great on the way home. My husband and I love the boat, but not so wonderful after Wishes (even during value season.) The monorail line was a mile long and it took 1.5 hours from MK to Poly by boat. There is a reason we previously avoided staying at MK for Wishes, and we now have confirmation - we'll go back to watching it from the Poly beach!

A few photos:

Oh my goodness, that looks like a fantastic room with a Great view. we would love to get Samoa, third floor, Volcano pool view. I'm just curious how and when you requested your building, view, etc. Did you call, do online check-in and request it then?? I just want to make sure I do it right so we can hopefully get what we request.
Thanks!!!

[pixarmom]

Originally Posted by angbuz

Oh my goodness, that looks like a fantastic room with a Great view. we would love to get Samoa, third floor, Volcano pool view. I'm just curious how and when you requested your building, view, etc. Did you call, do online check-in and request it then?? I just want to make sure I do it right so we can hopefully get what we request.
Thanks!!!

Hello! Our last two Poly stays have been Samoa/3rd floor/Volcano pool view.

In the past, we've never made any requests. But in 2011, I requested balcony or patio in advance and via phone. When we arrived, I asked if we could avoid a parking lot view. The CM at the front desk said she had a great room for us if we were willing to wait, and of course, we were. Well worth the "wait" while we went to Epcot and returned to a wonderful room on the 3rd floor of Samoa facing the volcano pool!

This time, I called in advance and specifically requested Samoa/3rd floor/Volcano pool view. Then I called a week before our stay to make sure the requests were still on our reservation (they were!) And then I checked in online and checked both Samoa and third floor in the requests section. When we arrived, all systems were down and they were issuing temporary keys, but I was so happy they were able to grant all of our requests!

Good luck!!

[princessap]

That is the exact request I made until Samoa began renovations during our stay. Requested Tokelau when I booked but not sure I am going to call and check. Might just see what happens. I read on here somewhere that it is a far walk to ttc and gch from Tokelau, anyone know if this is true? We are only there three days but need to get to ttc quick for BBB appts one day and chef mickeys another. Thanks in advance. I am so excited

[Jo-Anne]

Its actually quite a quick walk from Tokelau to TTC - probably no more than 5-8 minutes I'd say. Its a great location to walk to anything you need in resort or monorails/boats.

[Debrn]

Originally Posted by princessap

That is the exact request I made until Samoa began renovations during our stay. Requested Tokelau when I booked but not sure I am going to call and check. Might just see what happens. I read on here somewhere that it is a far walk to ttc and gch from Tokelau, anyone know if this is true? We are only there three days but need to get to ttc quick for BBB appts one day and chef mickeys another. Thanks in advance. I am so excited

Neither is a far walk. Tokelau is a great location.

[akkraft]

Regarding the Volcano pool closure, I've called several times on this& originally it looked like the acid wash would start on the day of our arrival 18th feb (might be later now). so i asked if we'd be able to hop to the GF pools, they said yes, Poly guests would be able to use them& so sweet, they have a pretty cool kids play area etc at the GF& if you get a room on the west side of the poly grounds you're only like .41 miles to the poly (yes i measured it on Google Earth) so clearly not ideal, but a tolerable workaround. best luck to all getting a stay free of closures & noise etc

[Tinkerbellie16]

I will be at WDW (POR) for a conference and I will have a rental car. I would like to pick up a case of water and some other items and leave it at the Poly for my return trip 8 days later. I am not planning on having a rental car for the Poly trip. I've read on the 'shipping to resorts' sticky that the resorts will hold packages (sounds like up to 2 weeks) but what about me giving it to Bell services for them to hold for 8 days (I'd drop it off on a Friday and then check in the following Saturday)? And how does it need to be packaged? I was hoping just to hand over the case of water and then two bags worth of stuff (nothing refrigerated though) with my name and 'be back in 8 days' sort of thing. Is that possible?
Thanks!

[disneydreamin247]

Originally Posted by sjs314

Dani I did not realize you we're going in Nov Too.

We are still not sure of our dates but 11/3 to 11/10 or 11/5 to 11/12. I wish JB flights were out would help in decideing.

I completely agree! I like the price of the flight down and I am thinking of committing to the one way flight so far. We have to fly down on a friday and it is only $112 PP which is like a steal for a Friday flight! They have a 10 AM flight arriving at 1. I would be okay with arriving later so that we aren't wiped out from getting up at 4 in the morning and then wasting the rest of the day. I would like to eat at BOG that night. Then the next morning head to PC for our cruise. When we get back from the cruise I still do not know where we will be though.

[mickey2minnie1]

[QUOTE=akkraft;47489345]Regarding the Volcano pool closure, I've called several times on this& originally it looked like the acid wash would start on the day of our arrival 18th feb (might be later now). so i asked if we'd be able to hop to the GF pools, they said yes, Poly guests would be able to use them& so sweet, they have a pretty cool kids play area etc at the GF& if you get a room on the west side of the poly grounds you're only like .41 miles to the poly (yes i measured it on Google Earth) so clearly not ideal, but a tolerable workaround. best luck to all getting a stay free of closures & noise etc [/


A few years ago we arrived at the Poly and found the pool to be closed the second day. We had no idea. You can imagine 3 kids' disappointment. they assured us that we could use the GF pool AND had a racing boat to shuttle us back and forth all day. It all worked out because the kids got to enjoy both great pools.

[maiapapaya]

Originally Posted by akkraft

Regarding the Volcano pool closure, I've called several times on this& originally it looked like the acid wash would start on the day of our arrival 18th feb (might be later now). so i asked if we'd be able to hop to the GF pools, they said yes, Poly guests would be able to use them& so sweet, they have a pretty cool kids play area etc at the GF& if you get a room on the west side of the poly grounds you're only like .41 miles to the poly (yes i measured it on Google Earth) so clearly not ideal, but a tolerable workaround. best luck to all getting a stay free of closures & noise etc

I was just going to say (like mickey2minnie1 mentioned) we have been at the Poly when the slide was closed and they provided a dedicated boat shuttle to take guests back and forth to use the GF pool.

[glass half full]

What will be the best way to get to BBB or a 8 am at the castle? How early should we head out? This will be first trip into the parks so we will probably be walking around a little wide eyed and not moving as fast as possible :lol

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[sjs314]

Originally Posted by disneydreamin247

I completely agree! I like the price of the flight down and I am thinking of committing to the one way flight so far. We have to fly down on a friday and it is only $112 PP which is like a steal for a Friday flight! They have a 10 AM flight arriving at 1. I would be okay with arriving later so that we aren't wiped out from getting up at 4 in the morning and then wasting the rest of the day. I would like to eat at BOG that night. Then the next morning head to PC for our cruise. When we get back from the cruise I still do not know where we will be though.

Dani In Nov we took a 10:30am flight instead of our usual 6:30am and it worked out better for us we did not arrive dead tired so I think we might do tt again. Only drawback the airports were a bit more crowded and we ad a longer wait for ME. I am thinking 'Ohana for our first night since we will be staying at the Poly and have never ate there.

[disneydreamin247]

Originally Posted by sjs314

Dani In Nov we took a 10:30am flight instead of our usual 6:30am and it worked out better for us we did not arrive dead tired so I think we might do tt again. Only drawback the airports were a bit more crowded and we ad a longer wait for ME. I am thinking 'Ohana for our first night since we will be staying at the Poly and have never ate there.

'Ohana on our first night is a tradition. In fact we already changed our plan to eating there on our arrival night!