ALOHA! The Polynesian Resort Information Thread: June 2013

[fla4fun]

WRT Tahiti closing, I based my comment on the info that construction walls are going up and that you've said that Tahiti will be closed (at some point) and converted to DVC. If construction is starting up, even pre-construction, it's probable that by our stay in March Tahiti will be closed. You're right though, you didn't say Tahiti is closing now (I was commenting on what our situation will likely be in the spring).

I agree CM's should be better informed. As I said in another post, at a certain point WDW could, and should share info with their guests. For example, with the reservations that are being moved to the GF, obviously there is a reason and management would have to know why. I think the guests being contacted about the upgrades should also be told why. If it's just for some issue that they are overbooked or if there is a maintenance or construction project people should be told so they can make the best decision for their party.

As frustrating as it may be for those of us with trips scheduled at the Poly (early December here), I can understand why they may not be sharing a lot of info with the CM's. For one thing, once the word is out, there's no stopping it spreading. There's also no control over how it's spread, or whether the information being spread is 100% accurate. Also, especially with construction, schedules change - sometimes at a moment's notice. So if a CM told a guest they were being offered GF because of construction, and then the construction is pushed back, you have an unhappy guest because they could have stayed at their first choice. Yes, I'm sure management (at least at the GM level) knows what's going on, and it's basically a need to know basis for everyone else.

Technically, if they are wanting to empty out Tahiti and Rapa Nui, then they ARE overbooked by the number of guests that would fill those buildings. I think they are just getting their ducks in a row so that the buildings will be empty whenever they decide they are going to start work. Unless someone just camps out next to the building and watches to see if people are coming and going, no one is going to really know if the building is occupied or not. I know on my last trip to Poly there were some longhouses being refurbished, and I couldn't even tell you which ones. I wasn't really paying attention to which buildings had people in them and which ones didn't. I was too busy enjoying my trip! I remember when they were putting DVC into AKL, and at first they were booking guests on the other floors - but it soon became apparent that the construction was too disruptive to the guests and they started moving them elsewhere. In this case, they are moving people proactively - which I think is a much better idea.

I booked a standard view, and had requested Tahiti to be close to the TTC. I'm not going to change the request. I figure I'll let the pixie dust settle where it may and enjoy whatever longhouse I'll be calling "home". I've stayed at Disney resorts with lots of refurbishments going on over the years. One of them was the big CR renovation around 1991 or so, when they totally gutted the lobby. The entire lobby was cut off from the guests and you came down the escalators to the first floor in a plywood tunnel. They had moved a temporary check in desk into the area where the arcade had been (no arcade or qs dining available that trip). Since this was pre-Internet, we had no idea what was going on until we got there. We still had a great trip. I've been at WL and BC when the buildings were covered in scaffolding, at CR when they had totally ripped out the original feature pool to put in the new one, and at VWL when they were totally gutting villas and re-doing them (that was probably the noisiest one as far as the guest room was concerned). All of those trips were still great. So I'm not going to let the situation at Poly get me down.

 

[DebbyLof428]

As frustrating as it may be for those of us with trips scheduled at the Poly (early December here), I can understand why they may not be sharing a lot of info with the CM's. For one thing, once the word is out, there's no stopping it spreading. There's also no control over how it's spread, or whether the information being spread is 100% accurate. Also, especially with construction, schedules change - sometimes at a moment's notice. So if a CM told a guest they were being offered GF because of construction, and then the construction is pushed back, you have an unhappy guest because they could have stayed at their first choice. Yes, I'm sure management (at least at the GM level) knows what's going on, and it's basically a need to know basis for everyone else.

Technically, if they are wanting to empty out Tahiti and Rapa Nui, then they ARE overbooked by the number of guests that would fill those buildings. I think they are just getting their ducks in a row so that the buildings will be empty whenever they decide they are going to start work. Unless someone just camps out next to the building and watches to see if people are coming and going, no one is going to really know if the building is occupied or not. I know on my last trip to Poly there were some longhouses being refurbished, and I couldn't even tell you which ones. I wasn't really paying attention to which buildings had people in them and which ones didn't. I was too busy enjoying my trip! I remember when they were putting DVC into AKL, and at first they were booking guests on the other floors - but it soon became apparent that the construction was too disruptive to the guests and they started moving them elsewhere. In this case, they are moving people proactively - which I think is a much better idea.

I booked a standard view, and had requested Tahiti to be close to the TTC. I'm not going to change the request. I figure I'll let the pixie dust settle where it may and enjoy whatever longhouse I'll be calling "home". I've stayed at Disney resorts with lots of refurbishments going on over the years. One of them was the big CR renovation around 1991 or so, when they totally gutted the lobby. The entire lobby was cut off from the guests and you came down the escalators to the first floor in a plywood tunnel. They had moved a temporary check in desk into the area where the arcade had been (no arcade or qs dining available that trip). Since this was pre-Internet, we had no idea what was going on until we got there. We still had a great trip. I've been at WL and BC when the buildings were covered in scaffolding, at CR when they had totally ripped out the original feature pool to put in the new one, and at VWL when they were totally gutting villas and re-doing them (that was probably the noisiest one as far as the guest room was concerned). All of those trips were still great. So I'm not going to let the situation at Poly get me down.

Great attitude

 

[DznyCrzy11]

I see from your ticker that you are taking your first Disney cruise in 3 weeks . We are taking our first Disney cruise in December and I would love to hear all about your experience when you get back .

Yes, and I am SO excited and anxious for it to get here that I can barely stand it, lol. I will definitely let you know how it goes. We'll be taking the 4 night cruise going to Nassau, Castaway Cay, a day at sea, and then back to port. We'll be doing the 4 night resort stay after the cruise.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Great attitude

I second that!!!

If there was a resort that I really wanted to stay at but there was going to be major construction, if I didn't like what was suppose to be going on, I would just accept that fact and use that time to experience another resort. If the idea of a lot of construction didn't bother me, I would just stay there and not think twice about it, after all I would be on vacation at the best place in the world!!

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[maiapapaya]

Under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't be bothered so much, if we were going to be there for a week and be out in the parks a lot. However, this trip we are only staying 2 nights pre-cruise and we plan on spending a lot of time at the resort, to get a little Poly fix (since we cancelled our fall trip this year to try the cruise in March for something different). Construction walls around SP and the pool and in the GCH would kind of take away from that ... We also have friends who are staying at the Poly with us based on our recommendation. We're feeling kind of bad that this will be their first Poly experience and all of this may be going on after we sold them on how great the Poly is. Someone's "attitude" wrt to something like the construction really is subjective, based on their own situation not necessarily because they don't have a "great attitude". Just sayin'

 

[bluejasmine]

My understanding is construction walls up around Tahiti I spoke to several sources that say GCH and pool are not under construction in Sept it was pushed to Jan or beyond.. So I really don't believe it will be all that bad..

Sept 2013 Poly, 2012 Disney Fantasy, BC CL, GF CL, POR, 2011 Poly CL, CR, Poly CL, AKL, 2010 Poly CL, ASMu 2009, SSR 2008, Pop 2006, POR , Asmo 2005, Asmo 2003, offsite 2000, 1999,1989, Poly 1980, offsite 1979

 

[maiapapaya]

My understanding is construction walls up around Tahiti I spoke to several sources that say GCH and pool are not under construction in Sept it was pushed to Jan or beyond.. So I really don't believe it will be all that bad..

Sept 2013 Poly, 2012 Disney Fantasy, BC CL, GF CL, POR, 2011 Poly CL, CR, Poly CL, AKL, 2010 Poly CL, ASMu 2009, SSR 2008, Pop 2006, POR , Asmo 2005, Asmo 2003, offsite 2000, 1999,1989, Poly 1980, offsite 1979

Sounds like it won't be too bad up until the end of the year (really wishing we hadn't cancelled our fall trip ). Unfortunately March could be interesting, not sure what we're going to do.

 

[leannak]

Does anybody know what the plans are for GCH? Or have a guess? Does it just need some slight remodeling/redecoration and maybe the water feature repaired/maintained? Or are there some sort of grand plans?

 

[bluejasmine]

The word is they are removing the waterfall!

Sept 2013 Poly, 2012 Disney Fantasy, BC CL, GF CL, POR, 2011 Poly CL, CR, Poly CL, AKL, 2010 Poly CL, ASMu 2009, SSR 2008, Pop 2006, POR , Asmo 2005, Asmo 2003, offsite 2000, 1999,1989, Poly 1980, offsite 1979

 

[maiapapaya]

Does anybody know what the plans are for GCH? Or have a guess? Does it just need some slight remodeling/redecoration and maybe the water feature repaired/maintained? Or are there some sort of grand plans?

From what we've been hearing first, they need to remove some asbestos to bring it up to code. Then there is talk of the water feature being removed, to allow for a clear view through the GCH out to the beach and beyond, with some sort of plantings/water feature along the sides instead. There will be some sort of reworking of the restaurants/shops and the convenience store possibly closing (at least in its current location).

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't be bothered so much, if we were going to be there for a week and be out in the parks a lot. However, this trip we are only staying 2 nights pre-cruise and we plan on spending a lot of time at the resort, to get a little Poly fix (since we cancelled our fall trip this year to try the cruise in March for something different). Construction walls around SP and the pool and in the GCH would kind of take away from that ... We also have friends who are staying at the Poly with us based on our recommendation. We're feeling kind of bad that this will be their first Poly experience and all of this may be going on after we sold them on how great the Poly is. Someone's "attitude" wrt to something like the construction really is subjective, based on their own situation not necessarily because they don't have a "great attitude". Just sayin'

That is for you and your family to decide. If you feel there's too much of a risk, then stay at one of the many other resorts. Since you're spending 2 days at the resort, why not try YC or BC? That way you would have access to SAB and then the Broadwalk at night, that's what I would do. Or, I would even stay at POFQ and have the boat ride to DTD. Yes, I do believe it's all in the attitude. The resort you stay at is not what makes it a great vacation.

My understanding is construction walls up around Tahiti I spoke to several sources that say GCH and pool are not under construction in Sept it was pushed to Jan or beyond.. So I really don't believe it will be all that bad..

Sept 2013 Poly, 2012 Disney Fantasy, BC CL, GF CL, POR, 2011 Poly CL, CR, Poly CL, AKL, 2010 Poly CL, ASMu 2009, SSR 2008, Pop 2006, POR , Asmo 2005, Asmo 2003, offsite 2000, 1999,1989, Poly 1980, offsite 1979

That is correct. Supposedly, none of that is taking place until January.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[maiapapaya]

That is for you and your family to decide. If you feel there's too much of a risk, then stay at one of the many other resorts. Since you're spending 2 days at the resort, why not try YC or BC? That way you would have access to SAB and then the Broadwalk at night, that's what I would do. Or, I would even stay at POFQ and have the boat ride to DTD. Yes, I do believe it's all in the attitude. The resort you stay at is not what makes it a great vacation.

We specifically decided to spend 2 nights at WDW before our cruise (as opposed to Port Canaveral) because we wanted to get a little Poly fix while we were passing through Florida, hence our disappointment.

I should add, this is why it's frustrating that there's so many question marks about what will be happening when (and yes, I do get why they won't announce stuff months ahead - still frustrating though). If we knew for sure that all of this will be going on we might consider a plan B and would definitely recommend our friends decide if there is somewhere else they'd like to stay. But we don't want to change resorts if it won't be that bad (since visiting the Poly was the reason for this brief WDW trip in the first place).

 

[Aristocath]

As frustrating as it may be for those of us with trips scheduled at the Poly (early December here), I can understand why they may not be sharing a lot of info with the CM's. For one thing, once the word is out, there's no stopping it spreading. There's also no control over how it's spread, or whether the information being spread is 100% accurate. Also, especially with construction, schedules change - sometimes at a moment's notice. So if a CM told a guest they were being offered GF because of construction, and then the construction is pushed back, you have an unhappy guest because they could have stayed at their first choice. Yes, I'm sure management (at least at the GM level) knows what's going on, and it's basically a need to know basis for everyone else.

Technically, if they are wanting to empty out Tahiti and Rapa Nui, then they ARE overbooked by the number of guests that would fill those buildings. I think they are just getting their ducks in a row so that the buildings will be empty whenever they decide they are going to start work. Unless someone just camps out next to the building and watches to see if people are coming and going, no one is going to really know if the building is occupied or not. I know on my last trip to Poly there were some longhouses being refurbished, and I couldn't even tell you which ones. I wasn't really paying attention to which buildings had people in them and which ones didn't. I was too busy enjoying my trip! I remember when they were putting DVC into AKL, and at first they were booking guests on the other floors - but it soon became apparent that the construction was too disruptive to the guests and they started moving them elsewhere. In this case, they are moving people proactively - which I think is a much better idea.

I booked a standard view, and had requested Tahiti to be close to the TTC. I'm not going to change the request. I figure I'll let the pixie dust settle where it may and enjoy whatever longhouse I'll be calling "home". I've stayed at Disney resorts with lots of refurbishments going on over the years. One of them was the big CR renovation around 1991 or so, when they totally gutted the lobby. The entire lobby was cut off from the guests and you came down the escalators to the first floor in a plywood tunnel. They had moved a temporary check in desk into the area where the arcade had been (no arcade or qs dining available that trip). Since this was pre-Internet, we had no idea what was going on until we got there. We still had a great trip. I've been at WL and BC when the buildings were covered in scaffolding, at CR when they had totally ripped out the original feature pool to put in the new one, and at VWL when they were totally gutting villas and re-doing them (that was probably the noisiest one as far as the guest room was concerned). All of those trips were still great. So I'm not going to let the situation at Poly get me down.

This is a great attitude! I think it's very easy in the age of the Internet to plan things too much and when our trip falls into the less than perfect category, we get too upset. We set ourselves up to expect upgrades and elaborate towel animals and pixie dust every day. I'm a big planner but I have to check myself every so often and I'm not talking just Disney trips either. On our recent trip to Hawaii, one of our hotels did not quite live up to the pictures and reviews. I took a few deep breaths, reminded myself I was in Hawaii and relaxed and enjoyed it.

We are still planning our 2014 trip for the Poly. We had a family meeting to discuss options but we realized we really like the location of the Poly and most construction wouldn't deter us from staying there.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

We were there 8/6 through 8/12 in Samoa Rooms 2612 and 2613 (2nd floor, facing the quiet pool)..so the Good the Bad and the Ugly in reverse order:

The ugly - there is no ugly!

The bad - three minor quibbles with the room.

1. there is no full length mirror in the rooms. Mom and 4 daughters missed it!

2. there is no towel rack within reaching distance of the shower. Inconvenient.

3. the bathroom fan is motion controlled but has a mind of it's own! It would click on for 3 seconds when you walked in but would randomly start and stop after that. By the end of the week it was driving us crazy!

Perhaps 2 and 3 were just our room I don't know...I mentioned 2 to Guest Services.

Also in the bad category - the pool! Well, "bad" is way to strong a word but we found the Volcano pool to be too small. We all agreed we much preferred the pools at the GF and WL (from prior stays). SAB was also preferred but that's not unusual I guess since it's the most popular pool generally. You can get tables around the pool sort of, but they aren't particularly close and blocked by bushes...but no lounge chairs at all except for a small row by the beach.

The Good

So many things....the landscaping, the room size, the views, the fireworks, the convenience to MK, Kona Café, etc etc etc

Samoa is a perfect location and is close to everything.

The rooms are gorgeous and we loved the green and brown décor.

Here is our favorite surprise from the trip:

My 10 year old kept saying she heard music underwater while swimming. She talks A LOT and we sort of nodded and figured it was just an echo from noise above water or something and we poo poo'd her and moved on.

Next day she said it again and we happened to have a few of us in the pool and she made us all go underwater and listen. Sure enough...we heard music.

After a couple of swims under water we agreed it was Hawaiian music.

Turns out she was right! there are underwater speakers playing Hawaiian music in the Volcano pool. How cool is that?

So would we go back? The answer is "someday" but for us there are so many charms at other resorts that it will be a while.

 

[ahoymatte]

Hi all! New here

Do you think discounts will come out for Easter break [4/14-ish]? We really want to stay at Poly and never have before, but so far, prices are posted at on average $700/night!!! A little CRAZY, if you ask me. I know discounts ALWAYS comes out and Easter is a popular time, but just looking for some insider info

ALSO, if we book soon [w/o a discount] and then a discount comes out in a few months, can we apply that discount to our reservation?

 

[jiminykrikkit]

We've only visited Poly to eat at Ohana (twice), but I just had to comment here to guitarob about how beautiful this thread and the photos are. Nice job. I really appreciate the time and effort that went into organizing this! Hope to stay at Poly soon!

 

[apocalyps3]

Starting to get a little bummed about our mid-January trip. If rumors are to be believed, we could be looking at closed pools and an under renovation beach and GCH?

I kinda feel like for the amount of money I'm spending I should be made aware of this well ahead of time or be provided a discount of some kind. All three of these things are big features of Poly, are they not?

I know anything can happen between now and then (and probably will), so I don't really expect anything at this point, but its a little disconcerting to know that this is a possibility. I'd rather not change resorts if I don't have to... GF and Contemporary don't hold much interest for us (we want to stay on a monorail resort).

What is everyone's 2nd favorite resort?

 

[ahoymatte]

Starting to get a little bummed about our mid-January trip. If rumors are to be believed, we could be looking at closed pools and an under renovation beach and GCH?

I kinda feel like for the amount of money I'm spending I should be made aware of this well ahead of time or be provided a discount of some kind. All three of these things are big features of Poly, are they not?

I know anything can happen between now and then (and probably will), so I don't really expect anything at this point, but its a little disconcerting to know that this is a possibility. I'd rather not change resorts if I don't have to... GF and Contemporary don't hold much interest for us (we want to stay on a monorail resort).

What is everyone's 2nd favorite resort?

When I stayed at AKL in 2010, it was AMAZING. SO BEAUTIFUL. I can't even describe it. The entryway far surpasses ANY WDW resort. The only problem was it was VERY far away from all the parks [except AK obv] and even tho we went very early Sept, the buses still took AT LEAST 25 min, if not more. The pool was also stunning. Loved the beach like feeling. I would stay there again in a heartbeat (esp if I had that 40% discount again AND went during a very slow time)

 

[maiapapaya]

Starting to get a little bummed about our mid-January trip. If rumors are to be believed, we could be looking at closed pools and an under renovation beach and GCH?

I kinda feel like for the amount of money I'm spending I should be made aware of this well ahead of time or be provided a discount of some kind. All three of these things are big features of Poly, are they not?

I know anything can happen between now and then (and probably will), so I don't really expect anything at this point, but its a little disconcerting to know that this is a possibility. I'd rather not change resorts if I don't have to... GF and Contemporary don't hold much interest for us (we want to stay on a monorail resort).

What is everyone's 2nd favorite resort?

ITA. We like being on the monorail/lagoon, but also aren't very interested in GF or CR. I have no idea what we will do if we decide to change resorts. Since it's such a short stay and we are only doing one park day at MK it makes sense for us just to stay at one of the monorail resorts. AKL sounds beautiful and we would like to try it sometime for a split stay.

 

[mickeynut1]

Yes, and I am SO excited and anxious for it to get here that I can barely stand it, lol. I will definitely let you know how it goes. We'll be taking the 4 night cruise going to Nassau, Castaway Cay, a day at sea, and then back to port. We'll be doing the 4 night resort stay after the cruise.

We are taking a 3 night so we won't have a sea day, but I am very excited to see CC......I have heard nothing but amazing things about it . My boys want to be home for Christmas, so we are doing 2 nights CR prior to the cruise and then 2 nights Poly after......figured we would end with our favorite resort . I can't wait to hear how you liked the cruise .

If there was a resort that I really wanted to stay at but there was going to be major construction, if I didn't like what was suppose to be going on, I would just accept that fact and use that time to experience another resort. If the idea of a lot of construction didn't bother me, I would just stay there and not think twice about it, after all I would be on vacation at the best place in the world!!

I agree .

The word is they are removing the waterfall!

This makes me sad .

We are still planning our 2014 trip for the Poly. We had a family meeting to discuss options but we realized we really like the location of the Poly and most construction wouldn't deter us from staying there.

That's a good attitude to have .

We were there 8/6 through 8/12 in Samoa Rooms 2612 and 2613 (2nd floor, facing the quiet pool)..

So would we go back? The answer is "someday" but for us there are so many charms at other resorts that it will be a while.

Thanks for your review . I'm glad you had a nice stay and enjoyed the Poly. The Poly is our favorite resort, but we also like to try different resorts.

Hi all! New here

Do you think discounts will come out for Easter break [4/14-ish]? We really want to stay at Poly and never have before, but so far, prices are posted at on average $700/night!!! A little CRAZY, if you ask me. I know discounts ALWAYS comes out and Easter is a popular time, but just looking for some insider info

ALSO, if we book soon [w/o a discount] and then a discount comes out in a few months, can we apply that discount to our reservation?

Welcome to the Poly thread . It's anybody's guess whether or not discounts will come out for Easter. Spring break/Easter is usually blacked out for discounts, but that's not to say it can never happen. If you do book now and a discount comes out for your dates, you can have the discount applied to your existing reservation as long as the resort/room type you have booked is available under that promo. Having a reservation in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied, so sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort choice.

Starting to get a little bummed about our mid-January trip. If rumors are to be believed, we could be looking at closed pools and an under renovation beach and GCH?

I kinda feel like for the amount of money I'm spending I should be made aware of this well ahead of time or be provided a discount of some kind. All three of these things are big features of Poly, are they not?

I know anything can happen between now and then (and probably will), so I don't really expect anything at this point, but its a little disconcerting to know that this is a possibility. I'd rather not change resorts if I don't have to... GF and Contemporary don't hold much interest for us (we want to stay on a monorail resort).

What is everyone's 2nd favorite resort?

My resort choice after the Poly would probably be a tie between the GF and WL. They are totally different resorts, but we love both of them for different reasons and wouldn't hesitate to stay at either one of them again .