Question about the Polynesian Resort

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

Im not sure if this was the right section to put this thread in, but what the hay. Just a quick question, my family is due to go to the polynesian on february 12 this year. We decided to book this resort over all the many others, because we had gone there when i was about 6, and apparantly, we thought it was absoluty amazing! (I cant remember) but since my dad booked it, I've been looking at some pictures of the hotel, and to me some of it is looking very old and dated. We've requested one of the newly refurbished rooms, so since most of the hotel has had new rooms installed thats not a problem, but im worried that our hoilday will be ruined, by paying alot of money for the polynesian. Could you tell me your opinion of the polynesian?

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

plus, i've read from a few reviews that captain cooks is a must, and is a great place 2 get some snacks. But ive read that its gonna close for a rehab, as are all quick service places in disney world. Does any1 know any more information?

 

[tikiman]

Other than the fact that it has been there since 1970 there is nothing old about it. 90% of what you see at the resort (inside and out) has been replaced in the last 5 years. Even the rooms that have not had the new redesign were just gutted and redone from 2003-2004. The whole center of the resort and the pool were torn out and replaced in 2001. I could go on and on about how it is not old or dated but it would be easier for you to read the info on my site.

http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/

Some of the first pages will give you a year by year list of what was replaced so you can see that even down to the wood on the outside of the buildings was replaced in the last few years.

If you have questions than I am sure there are many here that can answer them.

Aloha

Steve

 

[tikiman]

You can read about Captain Cook's on my page also but it is being redone and moved during the work to another part of the resort. When it opens back up it will have a full kitchen, new menu and larger seating area.

You arn't missing much from the old one.

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

thanks very much for the info, your website provided the final factor on why we chose the polynesian. due to the relaxing nature and themeing of the result. I was abit annoyed about the removal of the parrots they were one of the best bits !lol! So, your saying the captain cooks will begin after we go, or before. We're goin on the 12th Feb. thanks for the info, I still believe that the polynesian is the best resort there, and finally I've spoken to the guy who made the best polynesian website. Another quick quesition, i did send a preference to the resort about a newly remodeled room, I think it would be likely that we get 1, because its not like a requested a longhouse, but do you think, we should remind the staff a few more times? We had the idea, to go in the morning, and then go to the magic kingdom, and come back later and check in, and hopefully we will get a newly remodeled room, as I hear great things about them from your website.

 

[MouseMadness]

The Polynesian is our absolute favorite resort :sohappy: You will love it, I guarantee. And what we do, normally, is check in when we get there, even if we're early, have them hold the bags, and get into our room later.

If I remember correctly, the parrots were taking some guest abuse, so they were moved. (I'm sure tikiman can correct me if I'm wrong though )

 

[Laura]

I can't imagine a vacation being ruined by staying at the Polynesian. When I stayed there recently I felt like I was in heaven.

I don't personally see that getting a NEW room would make any difference. We had an old room when we stayed there and I hardly stayed in the room. We spent most of the time on the beach, at the pool, etc. The room was just for sleeping.

 

[tikiman]

MouseMadness is right. The parrots were getting objects (mostly money headed for the waterfall) thrown at them from above so they were moved to the Animal Kingdom Park.

There is no exact date (that I have seen yet) for Captain Cook’s rehab but last year they were saying at the beginning of 2006 so if I had to guess I would say sometime this month.

Your request for a newly remodeled room is fine and it seems many people that have had that request have gotten it (or at least the ones that send me trip reports) but I am sure you know there is no guarantee. I think you can mention it again at check in and if they say you can get one if you check in later than do what MouseMadness suggested and leave your stuff there and check in later. I was in an older room in Rapa Nui and Hawaii in August and they were still great but I can understand wanting a new one.

 

[mrtoad]

I use to stay at the Polynesian every year as a kid in the 70s and loved it. My wife and I have been staying at Moderate resorts though as the Polynesian is expensive. Last January we decided to splurge and stay there and to be honest our room was a major dissapointment. We were put in Fiji I think and were down near Luau Cove. Our room was dirty and other issues like a light in the bathroom ceiling missing the the acuatlly decorative part of the light and was just a bulb in the ceiling. There were blood or some other dark stains on the couch in the room. We called to have it cleaned when we went out to dinner the first night to come back and find they only emptied the garbage can. We transfered out that night.

I am sure my experience was not the norm as we loved it when I was growing up and I had spoken to my parents and indeed a wonderful place to them as well, not just me as a kid having fond memories. So it was a major dissapointment to me as I had these great memories. And just as bad, my wife had always wanted to stay there and it did not meet what she had expected.

So that being said, I would request a room that has been redone recently and I would request a room away from Luau Cove as it was extremely loud at night.

Not trying to be downer at all, just wanted to make sure you knew what to request as it really was dissapointing to us.

Mike

 

[tikiman]

Mike,

Does not sound like Housekeeping did what they should have done but all the rooms in Fiji have been redone. Many of the rooms that are done are over near Luau Cove except the rooms in Rapa Nui, Hawaii (all concierge) and Niue (all smoking). I myself stayed over in Tuvalu and never had an issue with the noise and the reviews from those who have stayed over there are mixed on if it is an issue or not but it is good you brought it up. That is also rare that a room is in that condition but those rooms were just redone in 2003. There are going to be rooms at any resort that are not in the best of conditions (due to guest abuse and poor housekeeping) but it is not due to age.

Sorry you were disappointed.

Great photos you have by the way.

Aloha

Steve

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

Thanks for all the opinions, I had real worries, but now I feel excited as ever; finally I’m with people, who love the Polynesian as much as I do. I’ve been on other forums, and there saying, animal kingdom lodge is the best resort. But I always believed that the Polynesian had something special about the place. I understand Laura22 argument, that you hardly spend any time in the room and that did turn out as an argument for our family not going to a Disney resort, but I soon persuaded them that we couldn’t miss this magical experience at the Polynesian. And thanks from the advice from MouseMadness and Tikiman about the reservation, we were already planning on doing what you two said, but thanks any way. I’m soooo sad that the parrots, I haven’t been there soooo long, I didn’t know the reason for their departure, and they had to go to such a crappy park as Animal Kingdom, but I’m sure there happier there. And what Tikiman said about there’s no guarantee about getting a new room, I’m sure we will as the cast members at the Polynesian, there some of the best at the Walt Disney World resort. I’m sure this will be one of our best visits to Disney world ever (mostly due to the hotel) A few more questions ( I don’t really want this thread to stop, because its so much fun talking to fellow Polynesian fans)

We rang the resort, to add tickets to our package, but they haven’t sent us any tickets. I’ve heard of something called ‘Key to the World’ and not sure what this means. Please explain.

Due to our busy schedule we’re not going to have dinner at the resort (I really wanted to go to Ohana), but could you recommend the best places to have breakfast and lunch.

It’s my mums birthday when we are there, is there anything the resort could do special for here

Finally, the last time we went years ago, they had a great marina area, where you could rent a boat, and go round seven seas lagoon. I’ve that was restricted to small boats due to damage problems. Is this true? Because we were really looking forward to reliving a great memory we had of the resort

Any1 up for starting a Polynesian fan club? By the do they still give you the Polynesian Lei’s when you arrive? That was another of the great memories we had.

 

[mrtoad]

Steve,

Thanks. I am sure the resort as a whole is as special as I remember it, we just got a bum room is all I guess. I still have my great memories of it and I am sure I would like to try it again someday. My wife though, since it was her first taste of it made it a real dissapointment to her. But I hope to go again. On our next trip (tomorrow ) we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I am really looking forward to it as it is suppose to be beautiful. As long as I am at WDW, I am a happy guy.

Thanks also about your kind words about my photos. I can't wait to add new ones this week...

Mike

Mike,

Does not sound like Housekeeping did what they should have done but all the rooms in Fiji have been redone. Many of the rooms that are done are over near Luau Cove except the rooms in Rapa Nui, Hawaii (all concierge) and Niue (all smoking). I myself stayed over in Tuvalu and never had an issue with the noise and the reviews from those who have stayed over there are mixed on if it is an issue or not but it is good you brought it up. That is also rare that a room is in that condition but those rooms were just redone in 2003. There are going to be rooms at any resort that are not in the best of conditions (due to guest abuse and poor housekeeping) but it is not due to age.

Sorry you were disappointed.

Great photos you have by the way.

Aloha

Steve

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

hope you have a great trip! don't you wanna go abit later in the month, and you might get a chance of riding everest. I'm going 12th February to the 18th February, and hopefully, will get a soft opening preview.

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

on the subject on everest, is there any internet access points at the polynesian, because I want to keep track of info on soft opening, to see if previews are happening while I'm there.

 

[buzzbeebara]

Went to Poly in Aug2005. We had transferred from the Pop Century (got an earlier cheap flight for day before trip) and arrived at Poly at 8:30 am. I requested at the desk a refurbished room, but they didnt have one available until much later that day. I really wanted to get settled in and get park hopping, so I took the unfurbished room that was ready. We got to our room in Samoa, and aside from a "testy" floor lamp, the room was very relaxing, clean, and well maintained.

Again, the room is only for sleeping, as you will either be park hopping, or in the pool, or doing any other number of activities during the day. I would recommend the Poly because of its themeing and location. We saw Wishes from the beach as they piped in the music.....*Magic!*

Enjoy!

Buzzbeebara

PS - Tikiman, your site was sooooo helpful in our trip planning, you are a true Polynesian expert. Keep up the good work!

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

great trip report, its good that even though, you had an unrefurbished room, and still enjoyed the hotel. I would of dropped my bags off, gone to the parks, and come back like mousemadness.

 

[shari71]

We just stayed at the Polynesian on our recent trip (Dec 3-10) and were put in the Tokelau building. This is probably a hidden charms since we asked for a renovated room and a lot of other things. Unfortunately we had a smart alec person checking us in, but fortunately reservations ignored out requests and put us in this building. Even though it is not one of the most recently renovated buildings it still has a very nice look. Only draw back for me was having only one sink to share amongst four people.

This building is centrally located with hardly any walk to get anywhere. Straight walk to the bus stop, quick jaunt to the TTC for easy access to EPCOT, even better access to MK for the monorail in the Ceremonial house. It is non-smoking which is a must. Our patio led out to the lawn where we could see fireworks every once and a while, but it was also easy to go to the beach to get the ful affect.

We had room 1925 which was centrally located in the building. We could come and go through several doors that helped in the walk.

I do go on about the walks because we have two children that love to fall asleep on the buses and monorail. This makes the walks hard when you are carrying them so this building was a godsend.

I totally loved the laid back feel and enjoyed just being there (when we were....)

Also, Ohana's for breakfast was great. Character dining, but we loved the breakfast. We tried Ohana's, the Luau, CRT, Crystal Palace, Sci-Fi, Chef Mickeys and Storybook Princess Breakfast for sit down meals. All were great. I would recommend Chef Mickey's if you want to meet characters and have a birthday celebration. We had two while we were there and it was fun to see everyone twirling their napkins.

After staying at the Polynesian, we never want to stay anywhere else!

 

[tikiman]

Jumba,

I believe that you will not receive tickets because they will be placed on your room key card, which is probably what is being referred to as “key to the World”.

I was not a big fan of the ‘Ohana character breakfast unless you have kids with you. I had bad service but that is not my reason to not recommend it. I know service can run the spectrum of quality. I didn’t think it was worth the money for what was offered. I prefer Kona Café for breakfast and definitely lunch unless the new Captain Cook’s is open by the time you go.

Be sure to mention the birthday in your reservation.

You can see on my site the different boats that you can rent on this page
http://www.tikiman2001.homestead.com/poly10.html

You can rent a patio boat to take everyone over to Bay Lake or just around the Seven Seas Lagoon.

The only internet connection you can get is in the room.


Mike,

Enjoy your trip to the WL and make sure to go over and check out the Polynesian changes. Maybe even ask to see inside a new room. I look forward to your added photos when you return.

Aloha

Steve

 

[IMAGINEER JUMBA]

thanks very much tikiman, suppose i will need 2 bring my laptop

 

[minniemom25]

The Kona Cafe has an awesome breakfast -- be sure to try the Tonga Toast. :slurp: We have also done the Ohana breakfast (during Hurricane Wilma) and found it to be pretty fun, mostly because Stitch was there, which was a big hit with the kids. I thought the food was just average however.