"Beach Sand Renourishment" at Poly?

[Jungle Cruiser]

As I posted before we are staying there 12/29 thru 1/2. We are paying rack rate, (which is very high) but are willing to do so to see the fireworks on NYE and enjoy the beach. I will have a problem if the beach is closed off during the most expensive week of the year. I am working if staying at the Poly is a good idea...

 

[clarkfamily]

Steve (Tikiman) checked with his connections at the Poly and reported this to me via email:

"So my friend at the Polynesian said there is no plan that they know of to do any beach work during that time."



Please weigh in, anyone, if you know more. (Or weigh in to suggest which is more likely to be reliable: multiple WDW websites or CMs on-site...??)

 

[lillykat]

I have no idea where the sites get their information but I can tell you on our last trip several sights (not allearsnet though) showed for a month or more that the baby care center at the MK would be closed for renovations our entire trip. We were going with our DD#2 who was turning 1 on the trip and an almost 3 year old who wasn't potty trained yet. We liked using the BC center and I tried to find out if it was actually going to be closed or not. I asked on here, and was told that it was wrong, I called disney and told it was incorrect, I even spoke to someone who claimed they were at the baby care center and everyone told me no. Low and behold we arrived and it was closed the whole week we were there. I hope that those sites are wrong and that the beach isn't closed esp b.c that is such a strange busy time to close it.

 

[peggy5]

Talked to a staff member directly at the polynesian who in turn contacted the recreational manager & that manager said there is nothing scheduled for this time & these other unofficial websites reporting this are incorrect

 

[ajcolorado]

Travel agents have a designated official Disney portal at www.disneytravelagents.com. On that site, there is a section for theme park closures and refurbishments in the "Agent Quick Links" section. Under "Walt Disney World Refurbishments" it lists

Disney's Polynesian Resort - Beach Sand Renourishment - 12/24/11 - 1/10/12

I just logged in and checked it and it is still listed. It doesn't indicate whether the beach will be closed or any additional information. That one line is all it tells us.

When I first saw this on the list, I called both the Travel Agent reservation line and the phone number for the Polynesian resort and neither of those could find anything about this in their systems. Unfortuntately, that doesn't really surprise me. Both of those are staffed phone banks and they don't always have all information. When you call the Polynesian's number, you don't actually reach someone at the Polynesian resort.

I know this doesn't really help much but it does at least let you know where the information is originating.

 

[clarkfamily]

Thank you so much to both peggy5 and ajcolorado for sharing more information!

If anyone else wants to weigh in -- about how to obtain more accurate information on an issue like this, about how to know which source is most likely to be correct, or on what these beach renourishment projects are like --we'd love to hear what you have to say!

I totally agree that talking to someone on the phone is unlikely to yield correct information, but I am a bit swayed by reports (from both peggy5 and Tikiman) that CMs and higher-ups at the Poly say this information is not correct.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Are any of you guys staying concierge level? I know that if you do you get the direct access phone number and e-mail to the concierge desk, maybe they would be able to provide more information?

 

[clarkfamily]

Are any of you guys staying concierge level? I know that if you do you get the direct access phone number and e-mail to the concierge desk, maybe they would be able to provide more information?

That sounds like a great, great idea! Maybe someone staying concierge will see this and check into it for us! Thanks for the tip!

 

[DisneyMomma80]

We are staying CL in January. I just called the number provided with my reservation. The CM said that she was NOT aware of any sand renourishment project planned for early January. She also confirmed it with the CL manager who also knew nothing about it. She is going to email Disney Recreation and ask if they have something scheduled. She said it would take a day or two for them to get back to her and that she would email me once she received an official response. I will let you all know what I find out.

 

[clarkfamily]

DisneyMomma80, thank you, thank you, thank you!

So grateful that you took a moment to share this information with all of us! Please follow up when you hear back from them...though so far, I'd have to say that things are looking good for this being incorrect information!

 

[pooh4brains]

I'd like to add a very sincere thank you thank you thank you thank you!! It's great that we might get a definitive answer from the CL CMs. Thanks clarkfamily for doing the legwork, and disneymomma80 for hooking us all up with the extra info! Good on ya both!

 

[Jungle Cruiser]

I would like to echo the thank yous! We haven't stayed at the Polynesian for years and I am excited to be staying there over NYE. I would be disappointed if this was true, I am sorry to say I would change resorts...

 

[DisneyMomma80]

Ugghhh!!! IT'S TRUE! I just heard back from the CL CM. Here is the response I just received:

Aloha!

I have heard back from our Recreation Manager regarding the beach sand
renourishment! The beach will be undergoing sand renourishment
12/24-1/10 but it is not something that will inconvenience you during
your stay as they will not be closing the beach. Please let us know if
there is anything else we can assist you with.

Not sure what to think about this. If anyone has more specific questions you would like me to ask, please let me know.

 

[Jungle Cruiser]

Ugghhh!!! IT'S TRUE! I just heard back from the CL CM. Here is the response I just received:

Aloha!

I have heard back from our Recreation Manager regarding the beach sand
renourishment! The beach will be undergoing sand renourishment
12/24-1/10 but it is not something that will inconvenience you during
your stay as they will not be closing the beach. Please let us know if
there is anything else we can assist you with.

Not sure what to think about this. If anyone has more specific questions you would like me to ask, please let me know.

Thank you for following up on this. I must say though I honestly don't see any way this won't impact the beach and the Polynesian experience. What do others think?

 

[pooh4brains]

DisneyMomma80 - Thanks for posting the update even though it's not what we wanted to hear. Can you email your CL contact and ask exactly what the renourishment process entails? If it won't inconvenience us, and the beach won't be closed, what should we expect? Lots of noisy equipment during the day? Night work with dump trucks? CMs with a rake? At this point it could be anything KWIM??

Thanks again.

 

[clarkfamily]

Progress! DisneyMomma80, you've managed to get us the information that keeps eluding us! Thank you again! (And thank you, CandleontheWater, for the suggestion of using CL contacts to get to the source!)

Can you email your CL contact and ask exactly what the renourishment process entails? If it won't inconvenience us, and the beach won't be closed, what should we expect? Lots of noisy equipment during the day? Night work with dump trucks? CMs with a rake?

I'd still like to know what exactly the project entails. So, I would second these questions from pooh4brains! (And add...if it is going to be CMs rakes, is it going to be good looking CMs? ) Okay, okay, just kidding about that last one...but "CMs with rakes" was just so funny that I had to follow up! We know now that it won't close the beach, but will see or hear any signs of the project during our stay?

 

[Jungle Cruiser]

Hmm, and saying they won't close the beach doesn't necessarily mean that sections won't be closed at a time.

DisneyMomma80, thank you for getting this information. It might not be what we want to hear but I would rather know.

 

[pooh4brains]

Jungle Cruiser, you make an excellent point. If we could find out if sections of the beach will be closed (which is what Tikiman said initially if I recall correctly) that would be great, too. Also, can we pick the CM rake crew - if they will be obstructing the beach, they should at least be easy on the eyes! clarkfamily, are you with me on this??

Seriously, I appreciate all who have tried to answer this question. In the grand scheme of things it's probably not a huge deal, but when you plan a Disney vaca (and do it over a year in advance!) the expectations of perfection grow greater with each passing day. At the very least I hope to have sandy toes whilst I watch the ELWP and Wishes. It seems like that will be possible so I am happy to have the answer that we have.

 

[peggy5]

Talked to another recreation staff, he said, they have a tentative beach sand drop off but he thinks that it's for the luau beach not the main beach since he vaguely recalls that the main beach already had beach renourishment this year. I didn't feel it was a concrete answer since he said "he thinks" but hope this is going in right direction & that it's not the main beach area

Also, for those interested & going in January, he mentioned the pool painting was also in the list of work to be done & it's supposedly starting Jan 3rd. It's a 6 wk project & somewhere during the 6 weeks, slide would be closed. Again it's not 100% because he said rehab dates, etc change all the time & nothing is guaranteed.

I think as of now, we'll keep our xmas week poly reservation as is & see what happens with the whole beach thing. If in fact is is just the luau area, that'd be great

 

[clarkfamily]

Also, for those interested & going in January, he mentioned the pool painting was also in the list of work to be done & it's supposedly starting Jan 3rd. It's a 6 wk project & somewhere during the 6 weeks, slide would be closed. Again it's not 100% because he said rehab dates, etc change all the time & nothing is guaranteed.

Wow! This is really, really bad news. If the pool is going to be closed, I would, without a doubt switch my reservation to another resort. I totally understand rehab in January, I just don't want to be ambushed by one. If I know about it in advance I can deal with and make decisions about what matters to us and what doesn't. But I can't even imagine arriving and finding that the volcano pool is closed for our entire visit when we easily could have stayed elsewhere. Ugh! Worried again.