News around the resort
I am back from my Pacific island tour so not a lot to report. I did some asking about Aulani and I will discuss what some locals had to say about the resort and its location later. I do have some great reviews from recent stays to share and some news around the resort.
Many have been asking me about when the East Pool will close to be worked on. I reported a while ago that they said it would not close in August but people were still worried it would close in September. It is not official yet but the target date for the pool to be closed will be January 10, 2011 to February 18, 2011. I am sure this date can change or even get longer but for now this is the target. I have not heard any more about what they are doing other then the info I got a while ago that said they were going to make a zero entry area to the pool and no plans to add a hot tub. Remember you can use the hot tub at the Grand Floridian Spa that is couple of minute walk from the Polynesian, located next to the Wedding Pavilion.
Many have commented that they should not attract kids to the “Quiet Pool” because it is called the quiet pool but it is officially called the East Pool and was never designated as a quiet area. It just happens that it is usually quiet because it was not as interesting to kids as the old pool or the new pool located over at the beach area.
Auntie Kau’i was in a video from WKMG Local 6 Click Orlando site.
http://www.clickorlando.com/video/24172182/index.html
The new signs are done around the resort. They have a good mix of the old carved signs with the new text font for the names. I like the old signs but they did a great job on the new signs.
Kona Sushi bar will now be permanent. Although the sushi bar has been around a few years now it has recently been in the news because for now the experiment is over and it will be staying. It is a great location for the bar (located just inside the doors to the monorail) and the sushi is very good. Just remember that it does not change over to the sushi bar until 5:00 PM and is open until 10:00 PM.
Mouseplanet reports the Volcano pool is having an outlet pedestal installed.
Chef Dick retirement party
Well as many of you know. Chef Dick retired in June and he made one more appearance at the Polynesian resort for a retirement party. On July 2nd, they 
decorated the Tiki room in the Polynesian resort (not to be mistaken for the show at the Magic Kingdom). Chef Eugene and his luau crew, Kim, Ben, Nelson, Michael and Daniel prepared the food and from what Dick says it was outstanding.
The meal was made up of sushi, the luau ribs, chicken, shrimp lo mein, fried rice, seafood paella and mussels. The bakery chef made a chocolate cake with a picture of the chef on it.
The party was from 1 PM to 3 PM and was mostly made up of cast members from all departments, many of which had to go back to work after the party.
It looks like it was a very nice and emotional event to say thanks to Dick and it is nice to see the recognition.
The chef said he will enjoy his retirement but he will miss his Polynesian ‘Ohana. I know we as guests will miss him.
If you have had the opportunity to meet Chef Dick and would like to comment on a memory or just say aloha send it to me at tikimanpages@gmail.com and I will post it in the next article.
Guest trip reviews
The Crimando Family’s review
“Our family of five stayed in the Hawaii bldg club level, choosing Garden view vs. our usual stay of Lagoon view because no discounts were offered during our stay. I was concerned about “missing our special view” on the lagoon side, but our request was granted for a ground floor room directly across from the Quiet pool. It was lovely, and we still got to enjoy the view from the lounge. The lounge seemed to be undergoing some changes with the upcoming departure of Chef Dick and there were some kinks that needed to be worked out in terms of the evening offerings. It seemed like there wasn’t enough food for all to enjoy. We noticed some guests coming into the lounge at 6pm, and complaining that the food was gone. It was supposed to be out until 7pm.
We were treated like family during our stay, once again the Polynesian did not disappoint. It felt like one big exhale coming back to the Poly after a day in the parks. It just exudes relaxation and calm
and beauty.
The Polynesian is where we always return to again and again..
Steve, Lisa, Katie, Khloe and Kai”
The Briggs family reivew
“My family (DH, 3DD) and my sister’s family (DH, 2 DD and babysitter) stayed in connecting rooms in Tokelau Rooms 3911 and 3912. We LOVED these rooms!!! Could see MK train station from our balcony. Not bad for a Garden View room! LOVED walking a few steps to the back porch of Tokealu to see Wishes and hear them also! We stayed from Friday, May 28 – Friday, June 4. Of my 13 Disney trips, this was my favorite and a 
BIG part was staying @ the Polynesian. My sister and I had stayed there with our parents (both deceased now) in the late 80’s so the trip back to the Poly. was very special for us!!!
Back to the Polynesian itself. Clean rooms, just was a tad bit annoyed that EVERYDAY when we returned mid afternoon they were cleaning our room even though they said they would switch it up and do us first the next day…not a big deal at all. Used the online check in and loved it! Polynesian front desk was great!!!
Food: LOVED ‘Ohana and The Spirit of Aloha dinner show, as we had in the past. Finally made reservations for Kona Cafe, but couldn’t make b.c of car trouble driving from MA. Next time… Liked Capt. Cook’s. Used our mugs there often.
Recreation: LOVED both pools! The quiet pool was RIGHT outside the Tokelau door so that was great! The Volcano pool was so much fun! LOVED the Barefoot Bar and playing musical trivia there. So happy we got to see the Torch Lighting Ceremony also.
The entire atmosphere of the Polynesian was perfect and worth every penny. The kids loved it (the room, pools, leis) and the adults DEFINETLY loved the beverages and laid back feeling! Can’t wait to return some day…
Erica Briggs
Bellingham, MA”
The Habers family reivew
“Our family made its annual trek to Walt Disney World on June 19-25, 2010. The Polynesian Resort is our favorite resort. The four of us were looking forward to our return despite the retirement of several club level cast members with whom we have become acquainted over the years.
Returning Home: We arrived at the Polynesian around 10:30 a.m. and promptly greeted under the Port Cochere. Our bags were loaded, the Bell Captain notified that we had arrived, and CMs in Hawaii contacted. We learned that our room was not yet ready and our luggage stored. The bell services attendant offered us a ride to Hawaii, which we declined in favor of walking ourselves back. Our kids promptly took off for EPCOT while we parked the car and strolled back to Hawaii for check-in.
Our check-in was smooth, friendly, efficient and without a glitch. We received room 3530 (no complimentary upgrade this year–cannot win them all I guess). As luck would have it, our room suddenly became available as we were checking in. The cynic in me always wonders if the room was actually ready upon arrival, but someone is conspiring with the bell staff to insure more folks are tipped. (We almost left our luggage in the vehicle and unpacked ourselves. Instead, we opted to go with convenience and unload with assistance.) I decided to have the luggage brought to our room and unpack before venturing after the kids.
With check-in complete, we went directly to our room. The room was clean, in good repair, the view was unobstructed, and we found it peaceful on the balcony.
Bell services arrived within minutes and Ron and I quickly unpacked. I tried to text our kids that we were en route to EPCOT, but for some reason my phone would not connect to the carrier’s service. Odd, the phone was working fine before. We took Ron’s phone (which we were loathe to do because he gets so many business calls) and figured we’d grab a seat in the shade and call Sprint while enjoying EPCOT.
Weather: I will not bore you with more minutiae of our trip. Suffice it to say, the weather was SPECTACULAR! When we were there with the kids last May, we had one week of lovely weather. The second week we endured record-breaking rainfall and cooler weather than Florida had ever experienced in May. We had a ball, but it could have been a much happier trip. On the bright side, we all got cool Mickey rain jackets that we brought back this year. Further, those jackets never left the closet on this trip.
It was HOT and we LOVE hot! There was only one bit of rain our entire trip–arrival day in the late afternoon/evening. Ron, Taylor, and I decided that we were not venturing out because we were exhausted from the early flight. Ty, on the other hand, had to see Illuminations. Unfortunately, he got soaked since he did not have an umbrella and a downpour ensued around 7:30 p.m. or so. He tried to hold out for Illuminations, but the weather became too soggy. He was terribly wet and not prepared for an evening of downpours. Ty decided to return to the Polynesian (where there was no rain) in time to see the new Summer Nightastic show at MK and enjoy some desserts and cordials.
Summer Nightastic!: The new summer fireworks show at MK is impressive. The array of fireworks is huge–honestly, they shoot from one side of MK to the other and sometimes all at once. That said, we all enjoyed this special fireworks presentation and watched it almost nightly, but Wishes has more of a storyline to it.
Main Street Electrical Parade is back for the summer and we did go up to MK to see it while it is there. We have always enjoyed MSEP and it did not disappoint. The wait, however, is ridiculous. The “camping out” for fireworks and parades usually keeps us from MK. The limited return of MSEP did entice us to venture over on this trip. Hanging out at MK for the Nightastic fireworks was not a goal; rather we could not wait to get back to the Polynesian to relax and view in peace. We typically watch the fireworks from the beach, lounge, or balcony at the Polynesian. It is a much more sane and pleasant experience.
That said, this year the crowds around the Polynesian were huge. I am not kidding when I say that every lounge chair, swing, hammock, and a good bit of sidewalk space was occupied. My advice is to go to the dock and watch from there. (The lounge is always an option if staying club level.) We found for the most part that it was deserted until near in time to the show. There is a speaker on the right side of the dock facing MK and the sound is good.
Crowds: We have been going to Disney since 1992 with most of our visits being in mid-June. We have also visited in July, August, October, and May. We have experienced larger and smaller crowds. This year the crowds were HUGE! We were so thankful that we have experience in navigating Disney and are not first timers.
In all of our visits, we noticed that the parks become more crowded right at 11:00 a.m., for whatever reason. It is around that time we leave for our resort or EPCOT for lunch to avoid the crowds at the other three parks. When we are attempting to leave at 11 a.m.-12 noon, it is like salmon swimming upstream. This year, however, even rope drops were more crowded than I have seen in many years–if ever.
Grounds/Room: The Polynesian has some of the loveliest gardens on property. There were crews working on the gardens constantly while we were there. Everything was looking quite lovely and inviting. There were painting crews touching up the smallest spots on the Tiki huts and I really found nothing in disrepair.
Our room (3530) was very tidy and mousekeeping did an excellent job. We had one night that our room was inadvertently skipped for turndown, but that was corrected after a quick call from a concierge CM to mousekeeping. Everything within the room worked well and we had no complaints.
The beach/volcano pool area was crowded every day, except for the TWO (yes, I said TWO) closures due to kids pooping in the pool. The initial closure was a full 24 hours. It began early on our arrival day and ended early the next a.m. Why for the love of all things aquatic can parents not adhere to the swimmy diaper rule? The first closure created a huge overcapacity in the quiet pool.
It appeared to me that there were a good many more loungers on the beach than in years past. They were usually full, but there were a good number of them. As always, the volcano pool/beach area was packed–oftentimes even in the early morning hours (prior to 10 a.m.) and all day.
The quiet pool is our refuge and heaven help you if you are seated at “our” table. 😉 We can stare daggers with the best of them. It is our M.O. to hit the pool by 1:00 p.m. and earlier if possible, weather permitting. This year we were at the quiet pool right on schedule and sometimes before. Only one day did someone have the audacity to take “our” table. 😉 They, thankfully, moved rather quickly after our arrival.
While the quiet pool is typically just that, this year it was not. Frankly, it was driving us (and most of the other adults) around the pool, crazy. The very young children were overrunning the shallow end and the tweeners taking up residence in the deep end. The blood curdling screams were enough to send shivers down your spine. There were many adults grumbling about the lack of courtesy at the quiet pool. After all, it is a “quiet” pool. I realize my fellow guests have paid a handsome price to visit the Polynesian, but a dull roar would be better than the volcano pool type behavior. Now admittedly, not all the children were out of hand, but enough were misbehaving that it caused a good bit of grumbling among the adults sitting around the quiet pool.
I was also surprised that even the quiet pool was getting a work out in the early morning. Our departure day flight was not until 9:24 p.m. We opted to sleep in (or the kids did) and have a swim until around noon (late checkout granted). Ron and I arrived at the pool around 7:15 a.m. and soon thereafter, we had a good deal of company. In years past, we would have the pool to ourselves until later in the a.m.–guess others are catching on.
Buses: We found the bus service to be timely and without glitches during our stay. Sometimes the buses were too full, crowded and standing room only while at other times they were practically empty. We had not problems with transportation this year.
We did opt to utilize the Ticket & Transportation Center bus to Animal Kingdom and found it a much quicker trip than taking it from the Polynesian. The bus to Downtown Disney is still the bane of my existence at the Polynesian and Disney. After excessively long rides (and the closure of Pleasure Island), we refuse to go to Downtown Disney when we visit.
Concierge Lounge Food: I will freely admit that we are fans and friends of Chef Dick. His presence in the lounge is going to be sorely missed by those of us who are repeat and/or long-term repeaters. I hope our devotion is not coloring my opinion of the evening and dessert services, but we found it totally lacking.
Kim has assumed chef responsibilities and there was a young man helping her out. A new chef was hired and I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, but Ron did. I will say that I hope the new chef is a people person in addition to being a good chef–those skills are crucial to anyone who is trying to fill Dick’s shoes. Ron and I have agreed, the staff is our draw to concierge level service at the Polynesian. If that experience declines–it will no longer be worth it to us especially considering the increase in pricing from year to year despite a decrease in amenities.
I will not repeat the crudites, cheese, crackers, and pineapple/caramel sauce. These were all available nightly along with pb&j, hummus, pita bread, and the usual cocktails, soft drinks. Here were some of the menu changes we found:
Saturday: BBQ pulled pork, spinach balls, and some very strange fruit concoction purported to be salad yet served in a teeny, tiny square container. We found the pulled pork to be the same as in previous years and were disappointed that we received a “spinach ball” instead of the previously offered scallop/bacon wraps. Whatever the “salad” concoction was, it was just okay–Ron disliked it and the rest of us thought, meh.
Sunday: This menu was the same as found on the menu I posted last fall. Chicken satay, duck pot stickers, and Asian slaw. The chicken was dry as a bone, but the pot stickers and slaw were fine.
Monday: Sushi and Kona Salad. Kim does a great job with sushi and the salad was good as well. There was no change from the fall menu.
Tuesday: Pork skewers, some type of fried bread with cherry flavoring, and yogurt shots. Once again, the skewers were dry and tasteless. The cherry bread balls (who knows what they call them) were okay, but not what I would consider an appetizer. Yogurt shots, really?
*SIDE NOTE*–This evening in particular, the club level piggies were out–no I don’t mean food consumption. Large groups of people descended upon the lounge wearing wet swimwear and no shoes thereby soaking seats for later guests to enjoy while they were fully dressed for the evening. I will not even get into the boorish behavior of leaving the dishes, cutlery, drink containers, etc. scattered all over the tables. This really chaps me no end. I really do not care about the swimsuits BUT put your shoes on and be dry first!
Wednesday: This evening was the same as the menu from last fall. Kona wings, pork dumplings, luau salad. Tasty, tasty, tasty.
*Side Note #2*–This evening there was a lovely dipping sauce for the dumplings. A child (old enough to know better) used the serving spoon to dollop some sauce on her dumplings. She then licked the spoon and put it back in the bowl. Thankfully, kind of, many eyes caught it. Kim took the bowl away and apologized because now there was no sauce for others until she made more. It was a warm sauce with garlic, soy, etc. and she had to prepare more. Sometimes all you can do is shake your head at things that happen.
Thursday: Vegetable spring rolls, meatballs, and canapés. The spring rolls were hard as a rock, the meatballs nothing special (BBQ sauce on the side and common tasting–picture Gordon’s Food Service frozen type), and the canapés were nice. There was a nice variety of canapés and I enjoyed the salmon ball and shrimp canapés.
Desserts: The various types of mousse offered (caramel, chocolate, and strawberry) were tasty. The brownies were nothing special and the tarts uninspired. The dessert offerings were minimal with only three types available each night. This is no change from last year when cuts were made in all the concierge levels.
Breakfast: Nothing changed here. Oatmeal and fruit offered daily along with bagels. There was a rotation of cinnamon buns, mixed mini muffins, and croissants–a combination of two each a.m. The usual cereals, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies, and Raisin Bran as well as fruits: bananas, apples, oranges. Wish I could report better coffee–alas, it is the same old Nescrape.
We did not go back to the lounge on Friday opting instead to dine at San Angel and head back to Tampa just after 5:00 p.m.
I wish I could be more positive about the evening service, but the transition from Chef Dick to someone new will take time and there are bound to be growing pains. I am sure it will all work out in the end. In fact, I have spoken with others who visited after our vacation and they found improvement in the food service. It was probably our bad luck to be visiting in the week or two after Chef Dick left and the new staff was coming on board.
Security: One more thing I should note as much as I hate to do it. I am still not sure if I will be contacting the resort or not. I am undecided. When you are warned to lock up your valuables–do it.
Our daughter brought a minimal amount of $$–less than $40 which she had stowed in her wallet, inside a purse, inside her carry-on which was stored in the closet on top of the safe. She had the money on arrival and took her purse with her to EPCOT while we checked-in. Thereafter, she removed her ID, left the money in her wallet, and put the wallet, purse, a sweater and other items in her carry-on back. The bag remained in the closet all week. She removed it when we departed and it went into the rental car while we went to EPCOT along with all of our other belongings. At no time did she purchase anything that was not room charged.
On Sunday, after we returned home, she put birthday money from her grandparents into her wallet and all her cash was gone. That was the first she touched the wallet since her arrival at Disney. Her ID was in her camera case along with her park ticket and room key. She had no need of the wallet while there.
I really, really hate to think that the cash was taken by a mousekeeper, but we are at a loss what else to think. In fact, we have now begun to suspect that the night our room was inadvertently skipped for turndown could have been the time the money was removed. What better alibi than a call being made later in the evening because the room was not turned down and mousekeeping needed to return? Further, the morning after that (and we thought nothing of it at the time) while grabbing our mousekeeping envelope from the safe, I mentioned to Ron that it was odd Taylor’s purse was out of the carry-on case as was her sweater. As I said, we thought nothing of it at the time because we just assumed she was rummaging through her carry-on and failed to replace it. I did return the items to her carry-on that morning and did not give it another thought.
I just thought I would remind everyone that you could not be too careful. Taylor should thank her lucky stars that her Ipod did not go missing too. It was also in the carry-on. Still, it really irritates me that someone would take $$ from a poor college student.
Oh yeah, one last tidbit: Some time ago, there was a discussion about extra pillows and blankets in the closet. I did not recall there ever being more than a single pillow and blanket in the closet for the daybed. I was surprised to find this year two pillows and two blankets stored in large zippered heavy plastic bags. This was important to someone in the past and I thought I would mention it. I do not remember who wanted to know, so I hope he/she reads this.
New Polynesian Loop: The new music around the resort it is not the beloved “Polynesian Loop”, it did grow on me as the week progressed. I found it to be enjoyable, soothing, and fit the atmosphere well. Thank goodness, I have the old loop on CD because that loop is still near and dear to our hearts! I will be curious to hear what others think of the new music.”
Review by Tim Coffey (creator of Facebook page “Friends of the Polynesian Resort)
“Ever since my son was born I’ve been yearning to bring him to WDW. Ryan’s nearly 5 now and after a string of life changing events (divorce, moving, etc) I was able to gather some interest in a trip this summer (2010). We managed to find a great deal staying at the Polynesian. We had stayed here in 1998 and we all instantly fell in love with its charm.
At check-in, the person at the front desk let us know that the property was oversold and they were bumping us up to concierge level. If I hadn’t been all over the Tikiman pages, I wouldn’t have known what that meant. I was REALLY excited that not only was the Polynesian my son’s first experience of Disney, but a nice bump up to boot!
We stayed in the Hawaii longhouse in room 1525. This is a ground floor room with the terrace facing the north side of the quiet pool. This location was perfect as it was quiet outside, yet very close to the Volcano pool that Ryan would quickly fall in love with.
Ryan is a good swimmer for his age, but I knew I’d have more peace of mind if he were swimming with some type of flotation. I asked the lifeguard if they had life vests for rent or purchase. She pointed me in the direction of the marina. She said that if you have a room key, you can keep the life vest for the length of your stay. BONUS! I was thrilled. This worked perfectly as we were able to keep the vest in our room between swims and could just head out on a whim.
The resort – and much more so the parks – were more crowded than I’ve ever seen. I’ve only ever been to Disney in the summertime. Everything was overly crowded. Longer lines than I remember, lunch venues packed even through 2pm, etc. Luckily, our weather wasn’t bad at all, considering the time of year. Temps in the lower 90s and only one afternoon of rain.
Despite the crowds, we had a GREAT trip. The Polynesian is ideal if you make frequent trips back to the room/pool to charge your batteries. We spent much more time at the resort than we might have if Ryan weren’t with us.
Hands down our favorite place to stay in Disney!”
‘Ohana news
As with any resort the Polynesian has its good and its bad and I like to share any and all information with my readers and hopefully Disney will pay attention and try and fix things that people report. I know they have in the past.
Two things that were brought to my attention about ‘Ohana. Not only was it reported that they lost their talented chef TJ (Tjetjep Sudiswa) was moved from ‘Ohana to the Grand Floridian Café but there have also been some mixed reviews about the service at ‘Ohana. I have to agree that for me the food at ‘Ohana has always been good (except breakfast) but service has been hit or miss. My character breakfast experience was just so so food and horrible service to where I don’t end up going when they take the kids. On top of that the server spilled coffee all over my camera with no apology.
Denise from Mousesteps.com, wrote a report about an experience at ‘Ohana recently and I trust her judgment so I thought I would share the report.
“I’d looked forward to an evening at ‘Ohana ever since I’d booked the
reservation – it’s one of the harder restaurants to make a reservation
with on Walt Disney World property, and has been for years (I used to
recommend ‘Ohana and book it for guests when I was a Disney specialized
travel agent) We were able to snag an 8:50pm dining time at 6 weeks out,
the first night I could find where we’d not have a 9:55pm seating.
The dining experience started out fine – it only took 5 or so minutes to
get into the restaurant (in the past it has taken longer, even with a
reservation). We were greeted warmly and given the ‘Ohana sweet bread,
then shown to our seats not too far from a window. Everything came out
quickly at first – the salad (which still has the wonderful honey-lime
dressing), as well as the honey-coriander chicken wings and pork dumplings.
I am not a huge fan of pork and didn’t realize they were pork until
later – but I really enjoyed the dumplings. Up until now, the meal was
going well.
Not long before the chicken wings and dumplings arrived, our server
appeared. I was actually a little confused by this, since we’d had
several people to our table and we weren’t sure who was actually waiting
on us. Our server never introduced herself, and said she was sorry she was
so busy and would be right back (I am not giving the servers name in this
article). We ordered drinks, one of them ended up coming in a paper cup
since “there were no more glasses” at that point. Our drinks were
overlooked all night, I did eventually get one refill but paced drinking my
tea until I received it.
The broccoili and thai noodles were brought out – both were good, I stuck
more with the brocolli to save room for the meat. It actually became
almost comical at that time that we kept getting passed by in the
restaurant by the servers with skewers – it was like we weren’t even
there. We were eventually served each meat item – there was shrimp,
pork, chicken (instead of the turkey ‘Ohana used to have) and beef. I
only ate the chicken and beef, and the chicken was good – not as good as
the turkey used to be, but I really enjoyed it. The beef had the same
great flavor as previously, but my pieces had quite a bit of fat on them.
I decided against any more beef, but I did want chicken and Jeff wanted
more shrimp. At this point, the server showed up at the table (I’m not
sure what she was doing most of the time) and asked if we wanted dessert.
I said no, we were waiting still for meat – she asked if they’d not
already stopped by the table (yes, but we wanted something else!) There
was a real disconnect with the server, she had no idea where we were in the
meal.
It took maybe another 10 minutes to get the shrimp and chicken – we were
really pretty full anyway, and finished what we had in just a few minutes.
It was getting close to fireworks time and the server came up to us and
asked if we were in a hurry, that a large group (it was a group of 10 or 12
cast members) came in and she needed to wait on them. This is when the
service went from bad to really bad. We really were not in a hurry, we
wanted to watch the fireworks and have a few minutes before dessert came.
The fireworks started a few minutes late, and probably ended at 10:20. At
this point, it had been 20 minutes since the server had come by (she was
always busy with someone else, including the cast member group – we were
never her priority). Around 10:30 she was passing by and said “honestly,
you will be getting dessert!” That did happen, but it took another 10
minutes. It was excrutiatingly bad service by then, and Jeff asked for
coffee – the server said she’d get it for him, and he turned to me and
said he’d probably never see the coffee. (The bread pudding was
fantastic, but no coffee came).
At this point, I went to find a manager. I was visibly shaking a bit since
I hate (really hate) complaining and it was even worse because the server
was in the restaurant. I hid behind a large pole while waiting for cast
members to find a manager (that took a while in itself). A chef came out to
talk to me because the manager wasn’t found at first, and he was
extremely nice and really listened. The manager did eventually arrive – and
said that I was able to show how I felt with a lesser tip to the server. I
said I really couldn’t since we had Tables in Wonderland and that has an
automatic gratuity. He asked my name and said he’d “take care of
it”. I have no idea what “it” is, whether he spoke with her or not,
and our gratuity was still on the bill we received. I just didn’t want
him speaking with the server at that time since we were still there. Our
server was actually nice, just neglectful of our table. When we’d arrived
earlier, a guest was in a table next to us – looking unhappy and speaking
with the manager. I wondered what could have made him so upset. I have no
idea if he had the same server, his meal was over by then – but I’d not
be surprised if he had the same situation.
While I was speaking to the manager, the bill came – and the server
finally remembered the coffee (we took it to-go cups).
I am not sure I can recommend ‘Ohana right now – the food was great, but
the service was the worst I’ve had anywhere since the mid-90’s
(surprisingly at Artist Point). The management response was tepid at best
– just feeling like I was being listened to would have been enough
(although I’d have liked the automatic gratuity removed to choose my own).
Our meal was nearly $75.00 for two and that is a large expenditure for me –
especially on a meal with bad service. I’d been really looking forward to
dining there, it had been a few years since my last ‘Ohana meal – and the
experience was a tremendous disappointment.”
Aulani news
Scheduled to open August 29, 2011, the latest Disney resort and the first in Hawaii will be something different. Those I have emailed say that they expect a lot of growing pains and bumps in the road the first year but they hope to have things running well by summer 2012.
I think it will be a fun and interesting place to visit. It seems that it will have a more Disney feel then is you were to just go to Hawaii and stay in another resort and I am very interested in seeing what exciting things they add.
I hope you will join us in 2012 when my family and some of the past Tikifest group meet up in the islands to take our first look at the new Disney property. This will not be a Tikifest gathering like we have had in the past with a paid party, it will be more like a gathering of friends. I am sure we will plan some group activities around the island.
Friends of mine that have lived in Oahu and people I spoke to in Hawaii when I was there last week had some interesting comments on the location of the resort. It is out of the congestion of Honolulu in a section of the island that was mostly rock and no beach so man made beaches were carved out and added. The Marriott is one of the resorts that currently occupies land on one of these man made coves. For those that are use to the Disney way of portraying Hawaii (like the Tiki room and the Polynesian resort) I think they will enjoy what Disney is dreaming up but for those looking for the true Hawaii experience I think it is going to be a little too much of a Lilo and Stitch feel. This was one of the concerns from locals. They feel that it is going to be a cartoonish version of Hawaii in Hawaii. Disney is great at immersing you in a theme when it is somewhere else. In other words you don’t have to go too far to make people feel that they are in Hawaii when they are in Hawaii.
With that said I think it is great Disney is expanding to the islands and I hope they come up with some cool resort amenities and activities like they have at their Disney World Resorts. I am excited to check it out and lets hope they get through the growing pains by 2012.
