JULY 27
We got up and went to the Dolphin Picabu Buffiteria for breakfast. I ate nothing after seeing how dirty the place was.
We checked out and drove to Coco Beach to go to Mai Tiki to pick up the tiki Wayne carved for us for Tikifest. It took us about an hour to drive there. We did pass the ports where the Disney ships are docked so now I know how far it is. On the way into Coco Beach there was a Mai Tiki with the welcome to Coco Beach sign and even the bus stops had Mai Tiki ads on them.
We got to the gallery and we got to talk with Wayne. He showed us his new paintings and we also checked 
out the carvings. We also went into the room next door where they were carving.There were so many I wanted to take home. I have to order another one when I get home. I 
saw the exact one I want. If you ever want a great quality tiki and not some cheap, less detailed version from someone who has not done 
it very long than get one from Mai Tiki. They have been carving them for over 30 years in that location for places like Disney, Sea World, Hard Rock, etc. I was glad I had the tiki done here because I wanted it to be a good tiki done with detail and care and Wayne is such a great guy that all my tikis will be coming from there for my home or another Tikifest.
We stopped at the Ron Jon’s there in Coco Beach on the way out since it had been many years since I had been in a Ron Jon’s and I think this was the original. It had to be the largest. The place is huge and open 24 hours. It had everything you could ever need for the home or to go surfing. I got split up from the group and it took me a while to find them again.
We got to the Polynesian about 3:00 and things were a little different. The valet is now an offsite company and it shows. They were very nice but did not know how things run at the Polynesian. We told them we were staying concierge but they unloaded our bags on a cart and put them aside. They said our room was not ready (when it actually was) and than they said you can sit here (out in front) and they could store our stuff and we could go off to the parks.
Usually when staying concierge you are still taken over to the Hawaii Longhouse so you can relax and enjoy the lounge until your room is ready but they had no clue as what to do. We sat on the bench up front for about 25 minutes until someone (who was a Disney employee) came over and offered to take us by cart to Hawaii. His name was Jim and he was very helpful and friendly. I hope they do not decide to replace the bellmen with offsite companies.
We got to Hawaii and there were a few new faces. I recognized Wes from before but Amanda and Kristina were new but great additions to the concierge staff. We checked in with Wes and than relaxed in the lounge. The lounge is nice to have if you check in and your room is not 
ready. You have a place to go relax if you do not want to head off to the parks right away.
I want to say a special thank you to Wes, Amanda, Kristina and all of the concierge staff that was there with making our trip even better. I saw some guests being abusive to the staff and they were very friendly and professional where I might have snapped and sacrificed them to Pele (the goddess of fire)
We were excited to have our same room (1505) and so far it is the only room Tara has stayed in at the Polynesian.
Up in the lounge we saw Terry and John Brown who I have emailed for years about the Polynesian and Terry has her own great site (http://www.brownfamilyvacations.com)
Sean got there after flying in from California. He was told at the bell desk that he had the room next to us (1506) and by the time he got from the front of the Polynesian to the Hawaii Longhouse a manager up at the front desk bumped his room for someone getting upgraded and put him on the second floor (no balcony) at the far end. I won’t even comment on this but I think who ever is doing something like this up front could at least communicate it with the concierge staff. It is one thing to happen to someone with out them knowing but it is bad practice to do it when the guest had already been informed of their room number. The concierge desk staff was so helpful and told Sean they would move his stuff from 2516 to 1504 the next day. They also gave him and his family a huge basket full of goodies for the problem, even if they had no control over it.
We spent even more time up in the lounge just taking in the fact that we were all there and together ready to enjoy all the Polynesian and Disney World has to offer.
Sean had come with Becki his wife, Megan and Nicholas his kids with their cousin Kyle and Becki’s mom Brenda who would be visiting for the first time. While in the lounge I also saw Ann and her husband. They brought their daughter also but I never got to meet her. I kept on seeing people with the orange bracelets around the resort. I even met a few that got in on the group rates we had for Tikifest but were not going to the party.
One of the guests staying with the group rates was a guy named Dan and I think this was his first time trying the Polynesian. He tried it because of the great rate through Magical Vacations and later he emailed me photos of his great garden view room in Tokelau with a nice view of the lagoon. You could even see the castle since it was the room on the corner.
I was even coming out of Captain Cook’s and a nice lady opened the door for me since my hands were full and later I found out it was Nancy that I had seen on the message boards for years. I later got to meet her family and they were all very nice. They seem like the type you could hang out with and have a great time.
By the way Jennie has the coolest tattoo ever!!!
Everyone I met that was there for TIkifest or that was staying with the Tikifest group rates were all great. It would have been nice to spend another week with everyone. I was lucky enough to run into some of them at the resort at the pool or lounge where we could relax and talk.
Even concierge said that all the people checking in that were Tikifest people were so nice to them.
I had asked if Lisa Wagner had checked in yet and they asked me if I meant the Wegners. I asked if the Wegners were there also. I was surprised to hear the name. Every year during 4th of July week the Wegners were always our neighbors in 1504. They would go for 2 weeks every year at 4th of July and were so well known that an article about them use to be framed up in the concierge lounge. Later that day I ran into Ken Wegner and we 
were so surprised and happy to see them. It had been a few years since we were there the same time.
We headed to the room to check out things and there were a few issues. There was a light out in the bathroom and the DVD player did not work. I told concierge and it was fixed before we were back in the room. We decided to let the kids cool off in the wet play area.
We finally got to meet Lisa Wagner and her husband Chris and daughters Alyssa and Kristen at the Tambu Lounge before our ‘Ohana dinner. All of them were like old friends.
‘Ohana was good as always and the entertainment was a great addition to the awesome food. This is always one of our favorites. 
Lipoa was entertaining that night (she is Sean’s favorite). This is the third time eating the new menu and we still enjoy it more than the old menu. There was some word of another menu change but nothing drastic. It was mentioned that the shrimp will go back to the skewers but they will cook them on a different grill so that there is no cross contamination with the meats for those with shellfish allergies. I sort of like the shrimp the way they 
are personally. We shall see what some of the other changes might be.
The kids enjoyed the activities that ‘Ohana is famous 
for. They were up doing the coconut race and the kids march around with the shakers and even the hula lesson.
Megan helped Kai around for his march. After he was done Kai needed another Lapu Lapu so he could 
keep partying and get back out to learn the hula even if he learned how in December.
Tara made sure no shrimp got left behind and when out to dance with Kai. Another good dinner and fun evening at ‘Ohana. Now it was back to the lounge to hang out, relax and get some goodies.
The lounge always offers up some nice things in the evening. You can see more about that on my concierge page
The room was all turned down when we got back and we watched fireworks from the patio while enjoying some of the treats from the lounge.
