Poly Question- Standard or Standard Concierge?

[kwhdmd]

Ok, I've jumped onboard the Fairytale bandwagon and have booked a gardenview room at the Poly for July 17-24. I am now contemplating an upgrade to gardenview concierge for $400 more. I would really like your opinions as to whether or not I should do this.
Pros- Free refrigerator (needed with our twin 10 mo boys)
Free continental breakfast and snacks.
Tahiti building is close walk to TTC
Cons- Will add ?$200 cost? when you subtract cost of renting a fridge and cost of food
Not sure I like being that far from Great Ceremonial House

What do you think? I'd like to know!

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70s and 80s- Multiple times offsite
1999- Grand Floridian
2001- Wilderness Lodge
July 2003- Polynesian

 

[PurpleFigment]

Here's the question I always ask myself when booking rooms for a vacation: HOW MUCH TIME DO I PLAN TO SPEND IN MY HOTEL ROOM? I need a place to sleep and shower, that's it. I spend most of the days on my vacation AWAY from the hotel room, so as long as there's a bed without a huge dent and a shower, I'm happy. Ask yourself if it's worth $400 for a fridge and some pastries and juice in the morning. If it was me, I wouldn't do it to save my life...I'd rather spend that money at World of Disney and such or just save it. I've never used Disney transport (I'm big fan of the car rental idea), so I can't help you out on that...but is it worth $400 for a 15-minute (approximating here) shorter walk?

I wish you luck...2 10-month-old kids at Disney...yikes!

 

[tikiman]

Well I don’t spend much time in my room and we never go out of our way to be in the concierge lounge but it is a little more than just breakfast and a fridge. We not only save the money on breakfast (which includes muffins and pastries, tropical fruit, croissants, english muffins, bagels, cream cheese, dry cereal, oatmeal, milk, orange juice, pineapple guava juice, ice tea, Kona coffee, bottled water, and toasters are available.) but we save the time of going somewhere, getting seated and waiting for the check. We also get sodas and at least 6 waters each day for each of us which are $2 each if you got them out side of concierge. For the 2 of us that ends up being more than $30 a day just in drinks.

Add on to that Ahiahi (evening service) 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. offering different themes each day. This may change but this is what they offered when we were there.

Sunday Mexican: Taco salad, tortilla chips, cheese, salsa, grilled vegetables, and tropical fruit with caramel dipping sauce.

Monday Asian: Sushi, noodles, shrimp, fruit salsa, and eggrolls.

Tuesday Luau: Sesame chicken pasta with sweet garlic soy, tropical fruits, noodles, and cheese platter.

Wednesday 'Ohana: Vegetable springrolls with sweet chili sauce, apple pasta salad, and tropical fruit.

Thursday Kona: Sticky chicken wings, chicken fajitas with char sui sauce, potato and macaroni salad, and tropical fruits.

Friday Italian: Lasagna, meatballs in sauce, antipasto salad, pasta, and tropical fruits.

Saturday Moroccan: Cous Cous with vegetables, spicy bean dip, pita bread, cucumber and tomato salad, and tropical fruits.

(the food does change but this is a good idea of what we had)

Aumoe (late evening service) 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. offering wine and cheese as well as cordials and some of the best desserts!!!

The concierge has also been great in getting us reservations for places to eat that in most cases are full but they reserve so many tables for last minute concierge guests. We almost never do reservations ahead of time and get in everywhere we want to last minute.

With concierge being in the Tahiti longhouse you will have a larger and newer room with two sinks in the bathroom.

The building will also be secure with no entry to non-concierge guests.

You decide if that is worth the extra.

Aloha

Steve

 

[tikiman]

If you want to know how long it takes using the monorail or walking around the Polynesian here is a report I did on time:

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Ok I spent the morning going through all my video and I have a few results to share. Now remember these times were with me walking at an even pace. People seem to remember times different and some distances seem farther. I realize that when I hear people give the time they think it took to walk somewhere but I have the video with the time to show what it realy is.

The dibate on if the Epcot resorts are better for Epcot than the Polynesian. Well I always felt this was false and now I have proof.

Time to walk from the Yacht Club building where we stayed which was right above the marina to the YC pool was 3 minutes.

Yacht Club to the Beach Club's first building was 5 minutes.

Yacht Club to the gates of the International Gateway was 10 minutes.

Yacht Club to England was 12 minutes.

Now remember in the morning none of this is open so you still are not anywhere near something you can go on.

Yacht Club to the begining of Future World along the edge of the lake was 17 minutes with no crowds to walk through.

Now lets take a look at the Polynesian time.

From Hawaii longhouse to the TTC was 5 minutes.

From the TTC (yes I taped the whole trip on the monorail because we were up front) to Epcot monorail station the ride took 8 minutes.

From the monorail station through crowds to the same spot along the lake in Future World as the walk from the Yacht Club was 4 minutes.

The totals are 17 minutes for both resorts but 8 minutes of the trip from the Polynesian was not walking and add crowds to the walk from the YC and the Polynesian would win. So how is it that the Epcot resorts are better for Epcot and the Polynesian is only good for going to the MK? This is what I hear all the time.

Now if you were staying in Tahiti you would take 2 minutes off your walk and if you were in the furthest longhouse at the Polynesian you would add 4 minutes for a total of 21 minutes from building to the middle of Epcot. It may sound crazy but it is true and I have the tape to proove this all.

Now for those who think the Polynesian is big or you need a building close to the GCH. Here are the times around the resort and I even stoped to smell the flowers.

Hawaii to the GCH 2 minutes
Tokelau to the Volcano pool walking the beach 4 minutes
Tahiti to the Volcano pool walking the beach 4 minutes
Tahiti to the GCH 3 minutes taking the path through the resort.
Tuvalu to the GCH 2 minutes

Now from one end to the other from Aotearoa to Tahiti 6 minutes

 

[missypie]

I read on one of these boards that if you need a fridge for baby formula they will comp the rental. I also read that they had discontinued the free fridge for medicines, etc. because people were abusing it. Maybe someone else will know the current policy. If I was the CM at the registration desk and you walked up to me with twin 10 mo. olds, I'd comp you everything I could get by with!

 

[dox]

Hey Steve - I love your poly website.

Quick question: Since the hawaiian longhouse is being re-furbished how does the current concierge longhouse compare? does it have a similar lounge? When will re-furb be done? And does anyone know what is being done?

I had initially considered booking for late summer early fall at a concierge room at poly but then i decided against it based on the fact the concierge had been moved. And now with the fairytale package and the great reviews on another thread i was thinking of doing the AKL concierge. But since Poly was my first choice, I'm not sure what to do due to the construction.

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I have a strong opinion on concierge. DO IT. It is the best. I agree that it is a bargain for what you get. I mean you have a barrel with sodas and water in ice all day long and most of the night. You can take these with you to the park. The breakfast is a nice continential breakfast with a few extras. I was never there for the mid-day service. We enjoyed chicken wings, cihicken tenders and kinds of fruit. The wine was great. The desserts were the best. I liked them alot better than the desserts at the AKL concierge. If you make lunch your big meal, you really don't need to pay for dinner unless you want to. They keep fresh fruit sitting out 24/7. Bananas, oranges, apples and even pears are there anytime you want them.

I can't say enough good things about staying concierge at the Poly. I would not pay full price but when you pay around $239 a night...you more than make up for it with the freebies.

I waited to the last minute to do reservations for PS and was never turned down.

Also, if is so awesome to stay at a MK resort. You actually feel like you are sleeping in the park.

Everything Tikiman says is true. I don't have another MK resort to compare it to but I loved it.

 

[tikiman]

dox,

Well as you may know all the original longhouses were designed different than the longhouses constructed in 1978 and 1985. The main problem was the gap between the foundations. Moisture was building up and causing problems so they decided to tear up the floors and cement under the rooms. While they were doing this they removed most of the wood trip and stairs and replaced them as well as everything in the room (carpet, trim, paint). This process started in October 2001 with Tuvalu. At this point Tuvalu, Aotearoa, Fiji and Samoa are done. Well since Hawaii was an original longhouse the same thing will have to happen but they are also going to do some things to the lounge and what they could not tell me. So as you know Hawaii will be down from June 1st till mid October.

Tahiti is my favorite longhouse. The rooms are larger. The longhouse is larger. The view is as good if not better than over in Hawaii and the beach is much quieter. The lounge will be moved into Tahiti on the 3rd floor and will offer the same things it did over in Hawaii. It will have the lounge in two lagoon view rooms for the food and the central lounge area of the longhouse will have the sitting areas for the tv and just to relax. This will be on the 3rd floor. The lounge area will be smaller but about the size of the AKL lounge. The concierge desk will be located on the 2nd floor and they may have a greeter desk on the 1st floor.
The smoking rooms will be half the ground level starting on the garden side (west wing) with room 1002 and ending halfway down the lagoon side room 1028.

I would not hesitate to stay in the concierge during the move myself. In fact I am sorry I will not be returning to the Polynesian this summer to see it.

 

[kwhdmd]

Steve,

You are DA MAN, when it comes to all things Poly. I switched this morning to a standard-view concierge room thanks to your advice. I am way excited and I thank you for adding to my excitement. You've been very, very helpful. Love your tips.... Keep'em coming!

Kyle

 

[Katherine]

I hope you have a great time!:sohappy:

 

[lentesta]

Hey Steve,

Nice report. Is it possible to add concierge access to a standard room for a few extra dollars per day? I believe it's possible at other resorts (I did it at the AKL last weekend).

Thanks,

Len

 

[tikiman]

I believe a long time ago at the Polynesian you could add concierge but now it is only for the rooms in Hawaii (or Tahiti during the rehab) and Tonga (where the suites are).

Aloha

Steve

 

[kwhdmd]

Tikiman,
You're website is amazing! In it, I have found more info on the Poly than I thought imagineable. great job!:sohappy:

 

[kcacciardo]

How much time you think you will spend in your room is an important consideration. I know when we are traveling with my 20 month old daughter we spend far more time in the hotel than we do when it's just my husband and myself.

There's nap-time, snack-time, break-time (for me). Also, concierge service means a much easier way of feeding her than getting to a restaurant, getting seated, waiting to be served, etc. If she's tired and having an off-day, we'll be able to stay at the lounge and/or room and enjoy the fireworks & beach without running to find her dinner or lunch.

Concierge service when traveling with small children is a must if it's available.

 

[Pixiedust30]

My boyfriend and I stayed in the Tahiti building on our trip in March- The cast member who checked us in said that it was only a short walk to the main pool and Ceremonial building. Not really it is the farthest building from both. Polynesian is a beautiful hotel but to tell you the truth I don't believe that the concierge is worth the extra money- Ill be back in Disney on June 22 my boyfriend and I's sixth trip in 3 years!!! Staying at the Contemporary :king: :king: