Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[MammerJammer]

Question about monorail outages. Is it best to just get Monorail schedule at checkin and then plan accordingly? Are people using the buses if monorail is down? Thanks.

 

[gluestickgirl]

I gave a specific room request/longhouse through my TA but I wonder...is it still worth it to do online check in so I get the text that my room is ready? I can skip the actual room request in the online check in so as not to confuse the room assigner. Am I better off just doing regular check in, in case I'm unhappy with my location? Thanks!

From what I've read, yes! You can do the online check in and set up your magic band / credit card / pin beforehand, just leave off requests.

 

[gluestickgirl]

Is anyone else in the "what do I do now" zone of planning? We're under 60 days.. ADRs are done, fastpasses are booked, food and wine menus have been read and our favorites have been marked.... but it's too early to pack. This is my least favorite part of the wait - there's nothing to distract me!

 

[AngiTN]

I was wondering... Can you watch wishes from inside the pool or hot tub!!? What time does the pool and pool bar close!? We are there the first week of October!!

The pool yes but I noted while in the hot tub that they positioned the greenery (even mentioned it to DH) so you would have a hard time seeing most of Wishes from it. Only the high fireworks would be visible.

 

[AngiTN]

Wow! This is the first I've heard that the lifeguards are actually checking guests. Most people say they do not check and the gates can often be left open.

No one was checking during our entire week there. Life Guards are busy watching the pool, not who comes and goes. But we also didn't find it terribly crowded and never found it hard to find a chair or two open. The gates were never open either.

 

[AngiTN]

Do you have to bring birth certificates for the kids for the plane? I've never done that but we haven't flown in the past 15 months!

We've flown on over a dozen flights with DGD and never one time needed a birth certificate for her. And her last name doesn't match ours or DD's

 

[AngiTN]

You need a letter to get on to MDE????!!! What letter?

I read to bring the paperwork I received from Disney regarded MDE.

It states on the letter we received
"Please keep this confirmation letter with you during your travel as it contains helpful information regarding your reservation and is required to check in for Disney's Magical Express at the airport."

I don't recall using the letter the last time we used DME but maybe we did...

In the past we have needed the letter, but last time they scanned our magic bands instead.

8 more days!!

Your MB (if you have them, remember International guests won't have them yet) will get you on ME, typically without issue.
But, we did have an issue on our trip last May.
You scan your bands twice, once at the entrance and again before you board the bus
We scanned our bands at the entrance and they directed us to the lane for our bus for the correct resort
We scanned to board the bus and it showed the wrong resort.
No idea why one scanned right and one wrong (other than we are talking Disney Tech)
So I had to show the 2nd CM our letter before they let us board the bus.
So it can't hurt to stick that letter in the bag, just in case.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I gave a specific room request/longhouse through my TA but I wonder...is it still worth it to do online check in so I get the text that my room is ready? I can skip the actual room request in the online check in so as not to confuse the room assigner. Am I better off just doing regular check in, in case I'm unhappy with my location? Thanks!

I've decided to skip online check-in this time around.

For us, room & location are more important than having a room ready upon arrival and to be honest both times I've done online check-in, we didn't have the best of luck with our room assignments and not one of the requests we made with our TA was even noted. And while I know requests are never guaranteed I'd rather just deal with everything in one shot as opposed to making trips back and forth to the front desk as I have done in the past. Call me crazy but I prefer the old fashion process of checking in and having that face-to-face interaction .

 

[Sue M]

I'll try to remember to report back if I find the coffee in Florida Costco!

 

[Sue M]

I've decided to skip online check-in this time around.

For us, room & location are more important than having a room ready upon arrival and to be honest both times I've done online check-in, we didn't have the best of luck with our room assignments and not one of the requests we made with our TA was even noted. And while I know requests are never guaranteed I'd rather just deal with everything in one shot as opposed to making trips back and forth to the front desk as I have done in the past. Call me crazy but I prefer the old fashion process of checking in and having that face-to-face interaction .

Let us know how you did!!

 

[Simba07]

Back to shade at the pool... what I think I am hearing is that there is none. I am on a drug where I have to be careful about sun exposure (going to be a challenge all trip). Do you think it would be a problem if I brought one of those umbrellas that clip onto chairs for when I am watching my daughter at the pool? Or are they discouraging that kind of thing?

 

[mommyrosa2]

Let us know how you did!!

I definitely will.... can't believe we'll be at CR in two more sleeps and at the Poly on
Friday .

 

[AngiTN]

Back to shade at the pool... what I think I am hearing is that there is none. I am on a drug where I have to be careful about sun exposure (going to be a challenge all trip). Do you think it would be a problem if I brought one of those umbrellas that clip onto chairs for when I am watching my daughter at the pool? Or are they discouraging that kind of thing?

Whoever said there is none is wrong. There is shade to be found. There are a number of tables with umbrellas and even a few umbrellas over lounge chairs. Are there an abundance of them? No. But they do exist. You can also stay in the water in the area of the water fall. We found that area shaded all day long. DH can't stand the sun and he sat there, while I love the sun so I stayed on the chair in the sun.

 

[delyrium]

The press pot coffee- can you split it into three cups? For three grownups, I can't see getting two pots.

 

[Simba07]

Whoever said there is none is wrong. There is shade to be found. There are a number of tables with umbrellas and even a few umbrellas over lounge chairs. Are there an abundance of them? No. But they do exist. You can also stay in the water in the area of the water fall. We found that area shaded all day long. DH can't stand the sun and he sat there, while I love the sun so I stayed on the chair in the sun.

Thanks. Gives me hope that I can at least be out there.

 

[Tess]

Whoever said there is none is wrong. There is shade to be found. There are a number of tables with umbrellas and even a few umbrellas over lounge chairs. Are there an abundance of them? No. But they do exist. You can also stay in the water in the area of the water fall. We found that area shaded all day long. DH can't stand the sun and he sat there, while I love the sun so I stayed on the chair in the sun.

I don't think anyone, and more specifically me, intended to say there was "no shade"; rather that there is a paucity of shade with the new redesign of the area and fewer tables with umbrellas than before the redesign.

Thanks. Gives me hope that I can at least be out there.

Stake out your spot early in the day and you should be fine.

 

[Tikiman]

Really? Costco? I know the Costco in Kona carries it. But had no idea Costco outside of Hawaii does. They don't here in Canada. I'll have to check the Florida Costco in Lauderdale! Maybe on the way to that Tiki Bar
Leaving tomorrow!!! Yikes!

The San Francisco brand of coffee at Costco sells 100% Kona but the bag is over $60. It is some of the best Kona beans I have had and I usually buy mine from our trips to Hawaii.

 

[Tikiman]

If that's truly your only request, I would just make it "not facing quiet pool construction" I think the odds are very low that the only rooms available at all would be facing that, so I think your chances of getting just that one request would be very good.

You may want to request no view of the East pool since officially it is not called the quiet pool. When you call you are not speaking to someone at the resort or who may know what pool you are talking about and no paperwork or map will call it the quiet pool.

 

[nixieh]

Hi All,

We returned from our 3 day stay at the Poly on Friday so I thought I would give a little mini review. I know I have had so much great information from this thread over the last few months so if there are any questions I can answer please go ahead and ask.

We are from the UK and our stay at the Poly was the last leg of our 17 day trip. Prior to the Poly we had stayed at the Yacht Club, Sheraton Vistana and Cabana Bay but I was really hoping we had saved the best experience for last - and we certainly did! We had stayed at the Yacht/Beach before and had a great stay there and we also loved our first visit at Cabana Bay but I can definitely reassure those that are worried about the Poly that they shouldn't be. The resort is in amazing shape. We have stayed twice before with the most recent stay being 4 years ago when I felt the resort and rooms seemed a little run down and out of date but that is certainly not the case now.

We checked in at around 10.30am as we were coming straight from Cabana Bay and it was pouring with rain (as it had been pretty much doing non stop for the previous 7 days!). I remember thinking to myself that if the sun didn't come out soon the whole Hawaiian vibe would be spoilt but as luck would have it the rain stopped as soon as we had checked in. We were staying club level garden view but we went first to the main check in desk at the lobby. I jokingly mentioned that I knew our room wouldn't be ready yet and the CM behind the desk laughed and said "ha had you're wrong your room is ready" which I was thrilled about. She called over another CM to escort us over to the Hawaii building (the children were slightly disappointed we didn't get a golf cart like we had in the past) but I was just glad the sun was out.

We had booked GV Club Level with the 'magical rate' and I had requested either a patio or 3rd floor balcony but hadn't done online check in. I had been really worried about the construction and was going back and forward about changing the reservation but I am so glad I didn't in the end because when we checked in we found out we had been upgraded which I was so thrilled with. She said we had a 3rd floor room on the lagoon side but when we got into the room we had the most amazing theme park view room with a perfect unobstructed view of the castle. I was over the moon as it has always been a dream of mine to have a theme park view but have never been able to justify the cost. Here is the view from our balcony.



It was really hard to capture it fully in a picture but standing on the balcony you could see the Grand Floridian on the left, the castle and the railway station at MK in the middle and the contemporary on the right. We were in the end room on the 3rd floor so furthest away from the lounge but such a great location. I spent hours on that balcony just people watching and taking in the lovely ambience of the Poly. I particularly loved it at dusk when the lamps were on and the music was playing.

With regards to the rest of the resort I thought all the new renovations were great. I didn't find the fence around the pool ruined the look of the pool and it seemed more airier and open by the pool than previously. We never had a problem getting 6 loungers together unless we came to the pool after around 4ish. There were several tables with umbrellas near the pool bar and they weren't always occupied during the day if you are looking for shade. The kids play area looked lovely although my children are teenagers so too big to play there. The hot tub seemed to be closed a couple of the days we were there so we didn't get a chance to use it.

We loved the new lobby, it has a much brighter and lighter feel to it and I loved that you could see the castle as you walked in. I didn't like the new grassy area right outside Cpt Cooks as the grass was turning brown already. I much preferred the old area with the rocks and flowers. The shops seemed pretty similar to us but I liked the new menu at Cpt Cooks and that weird 'greasy' smell that used to be there seems to have disappeared which I was pleased about.

We didn't get a chance to try out Trader Sam's and if I hadn't known it was there I don't think I would have even noticed it. I guess I thought that the bar terrace would be more open in terms of a wider door from the bar to the terrace but it just seemed like a single door on both sides that didn't seem that inviting. I guess I have never seen the one in Disneyland so I probably wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

We loved the club lounge and had the following food items while we were there: Tues we had sushi (veggie and salmon), red pepper humus and pitta, vegetables, pineapple and caramel sauce and PBJ uncrustables for the children. Weds we had bacon rolls with beef in the middle, veggie spring rolls and the usual vegetables, crackers and cheese etc, Thurs was my favourite as we had chicken quesadillas. During the day it was oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, goldfish crackers and trail mix type things. Desserts were nice (though I am not a big dessert person) we had mousses, cheesecakes, mini cakes etc. In terms of drinks the fridge was stocked with coke, diet coke and sprite and they had lemonade, POG (pomegranate and orange) and water on tap. Breakfast was bagels, croissants, sometimes Danish pastries, cereal (coloured fruit loops, rice krispy type things and something else I can't remember). They also had wrapped apples, bananas and oranges out all day. I was really pleased that the new bungalows didn't have much impact on the view from the lounge and if I can find the picture I took of the view I will post it when I can.

We had a great view of the fireworks from the lounge but on the second night we watched it from our own balcony which I loved best of all. Sorry the picture is not great as I took it with my mobile.



In terms of the construction at the East Pool, I think there was some noise during the day but as we were on the other side we didn't really hear it. I did take some photos for those that are travelling soon and I will find them and post them soon.

In terms of transportation, one day the monorail was not running so we took the boat to MK which we actually preferred. The boats are very small and the launch is very convenient as it is right by the pool/beach.

Overall, we had an amazing trip to WDW and the Poly in particular was the icing on the cake. If you are going soon, I am sure you will have a great time. The resort is looking beautiful and the staff were nothing but helpful and courteous too us.

 

[nixieh]

Sorry me again...

Here are the construction photos I took for those going soon.

This is what you see if you take the path to the right just before Samoa when you come out of the Grand Ceremonial House.



This screen is all the way around the East Pool and so if you are on the ground floor you will see this in any of the buildings surrounding the pool.

Obviously I couldn't get a picture from any of the garden view rooms on the 2nd or 3rd floor but I did go up the stairs at the end of Samoa and took a photo of the construction from the 2nd floor to give you an idea of what you will see. I have tried to upload it but it says it is too big so I will try and sort that out now. From what we could see there was basically a few diggers and a lot of mud on the other side!