July 28
We went into the Magic Kingdom and Mickey’s Philharmagic was closed do to some problems. We did a few other things and headed back to the Polynesian to enjoy the pool. The pool was not too crowded and there were still plenty of lounge chairs to be found. We went to Kona Café for lunch and Melissa brought the fresh flower leis we got from the “Tiki Plan” to us at the restaurant. They usually have them delivered the day you arrive but to get them there on a Tuesday meant they would have to ship them over the weekend and the lady at Gecko Farms did not want them sitting in a box over the weekend so they were send Monday for a Wednesday delivery. That was fine with me and I am glad she thought of that. They could have delivered them to our room even with us not in it but Melissa knew we were in Kona and was nice enough to bring them up. It was funny because everyone in Kona was watching them give us the leis and wondering how we got such beautiful flower leis. Melissa said the box was a little hot when they got them but a little sprinkle of water and they all perked right up. The leis actually lasted to the end of our stay there which was about a week and they were kept out.
We had a great dinner that night with some friends of ours that may not want their names posted since they work for Disney but it was one of our favorite nights out. I found out a lot about how the resorts work and how upper Disney management is not letting the resorts do what they need to do the right way. Most of what I was told I will not be sharing with anyone because I don’t believe it was information given to me to post. I will tell you that since Disney contracts out for many things now that if something brakes in your room they have to call someone in from offsite instead of the good old days when Disney would pay to have staff onsite. Also if something breaks after midnight you are stuck till the next morning when someone can come in but don’t go and blame the Polynesian staff because they have no control over this.
July 29
I met Dore at the concierge desk who knew me and we talked for a while. She was great to talk to and I was glad to have met her. John helped us at the desk with our tickets for the Spirit of Aloha Show. He was another new face to me. We headed upstairs to the lounge and finally got to see Chef Dick!!! It was so good to see him again and we talked about all sorts of things. He told Tara she was going to have a boy. That night was BBQ chicken and ribs that he worked on with the chef from Luau Cove. We put on our fresh flower leis and headed over to the show. We got many looks for having on real leis and the greeters with the plastic leis looked at us and said we must have come from the real islands.
The show was great and so was the food. Some still say they only thought the food was ok but we had eaten nothing but the best places since we had been there and this was just as good. I think if you are not sure you should just try it for yourself and decide and not go by reports but that is just my opinion. We went to the early show so we had time after to go in the pool and relax before the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes fireworks. They did have speakers on to hear the show but the speakers were louder near the pool than the ones near our room on the path next to the beach.
July 30
I took my walk around the entire Polynesian this day and took photos and had a note pad with me to write down details as I stood looking at views. Here are some of my notes:
The parking lot side of Rarotonga is actually not a bad view at all. I will have photos posted but the amount of garden area, paths and the monorail fill in a large area before you even get to the parking lot and from most rooms you would not even see any of the parking lot. Now that this building was redone I think it is a great location and either side would not be a bad view.
The new bus stop looks great and even have fans going under it. The grounds looked better than ever and the area around the East pool had new concrete done that is stamped like the walkways around the new pool. There were very few people even over at the East Pool and I saw that it goes from 3’ deep to 7’ 8” deep. There are some nice covered sitting areas and plenty of lounge chairs.
Hawaii views have not changed much but this is what I wrote as I stood at each room and looked out. I also tried to figure out some of the upper views by lining up things that may be in the way of the view toward the castle.
Here are Hawaii views:
1518-3518 Has some small plants on the edge of the patio but do not block the view at all but the trees out on sunset point are surrounding the castle in the view but you can see the castle through them as well as fireworks and EWP.
1517-3517 have a clear view of the castle
1516-3516 have a clear view of the castle
1515-2515 look through many trees on the beach and garden area but 3515 may be up enough to see over these short trees.
1513-2513 is blocked by trees but 3513 may be up high enough to see over them
1512-3512 have a clear view of the castle
1511-3511 have a clear view to the castle
1510-2510 have a good view to the castle with some trees to the left
3510 may have more of the tree top blocking part of the view.
1509 looks at the castle through the tree trunks
2509 is blocked by more of the tree top
3509 may be high enough to be looking over the trees.
1508 is a good view through some trees. Not sure about 2508 and 2509 above it.
1507-3507 is a good view of the castle
1506 is a good view around some trees but the rooms above it (2506-3506) look blocked.
1505-3505 are good views of the castle
1504-3504 are good views of the castle with some trees to the left
1503-3505 are looking through trees
1502-3502 are looking through trees
1501-3501 are view through trees with the ground floor room having foliage next to the patio and partly in front of the patio.
The smoking rooms are only half the upper floor of Hawaii now and I looked to see which rooms were non-smoking. They start at the lounge end with 3501-3510 along the lagoon side and 3527 (right across from 3510) till the end 3534 on the garden side. The floor had no smoke smell what so ever and I was told the rooms that are non-smoking have no smell since they were redone before they opened back up as non-smoking.
As I walked through the buildings I noticed not one had a musty smell or a bad smell of any type. The newly refurbished longhouses done now have automatic doors that you need a key to enter after a certain hour but Tokelau, and parts of Tahiti do not have the auto doors yet.
Over at Tahiti seems so nice to me and I remember loving staying over there. Now I have been told that some of the ground floor rooms had the musty smell so keep that in mind when requesting Tahiti before the rooms are done next year. I did walk the halls and all the patio areas. The second floor on the east half is smoking and there are doors just past the elevators that separate the floor from the non smoking rooms. The smoking area had a slight smoke smell to it. No other smells were noticed on any floors. Just about all but a handful of the lagoon views seemed great over at Tahiti.
These are my Tahiti lagoon view notes:
1038-3038 (end near TTC) seemed to have a great view of the castle
1037-3037 great view of the castle
1036-3036 great view of the castle
1035-3035 great view of the castle
1034-3034 great view of the castle
1033-3033 great view of the castle
1032-3032 great view of the castle (I have stayed in 2032 before)
1031-3031 great view of the castle
1030-3030 great view of the castle
1029-3029 (right next to the middle building entrance and there were many trees and bushes blocking most if not all the view.
Also remember there are some trees out along the beach which I can not tell it they block upper views but they did not appear to. You are also looking at the castle with the island in the middle of the view so you see the castle from about half way up it.
1028-3028 has a good view but has some foliage to the right of the patio of 1028
1027-3027 great view of the castle
1026-3026 great view of the castle
1025-3025 great view of the castle
1024-3024 great view of the castle
1023-3023 great view of the castle
1022-3022 great view of the castle
1021-3021 great view of the castle
1020-2020 has some tree bottoms to look through but 3020 looks at the tree tops.
1019-3019 seems to have a good view of the castle
1018-3018 great view of the castle
1017-3017 great view of the castle
1016-3016 great view with some trees off to the left
1015-2015 possible castle view with trees to the left 3015 looks like the tree tops may be in the way
I walked over to Rapa Nui and looked at the worst parking lot view you could get and it was not really that bad. I even took a photo I will post on the Rapa Nui page.
They seem to be busy cleaning all the longhouses during the day from walls to the glass doors to all the longhouses. Everything was very clean and in great shape and you could not go 10 feet with out getting an Aloha from some staff member.
So on my walk around the other longhouses I snuck around Tuvalu to the private area on the lagoon side of the longhouse and took a photo of the view and I noticed that the two trees that use to block two of the 3rd floor room views were taken out so now every room on the lagoon side of Tuvalu has an unobstructed view of the lagoon and castle. I also got some new shots of the Fiji views on both sides but mostly toward Luau Cove since the last time I was there the construction walls were up.
So during my walk around the Polynesian Tara and Darby went on a shopping tour to the GF, MK and Contemporary. I am surprised they did not head to the spa. We made reservations for Artist Point but we had headed over to Epcot and grabbed some fish and chips (GOOD STUFF) and we were not hungry enough to go so we headed to the lounge when we got back and talked with Dick for a while and he was pulling back the food and gave us what was left which was WAY TOO MUCH but it was SO GOOD!!! It was pork fried rice with big pieces of the pork sausage used at ‘Ohana breakfast and hot wings with Chef Dicks own lip tingling sauce.
We finally met up with Sean and Becki Robb with Megan and Kyle (aka Frog Man). They were such a fun couple and the kids were great. Good training for me being a dad soon. I could play with kids all day or till I passed out. I also did not realize that they both worked for Disney in California. I found out after they got there from the staff at the Polynesian. They ended up staying in Samoa on the ground floor but still kept their concierge status since they were checked into a concierge room but asked if they could move to Samoa. It worked out great for them with the kids because they could see the pool from the room and walk right over to it. I think I even took a photo from their patio before they even got there.
I did get to see some of the new test room stuff but I was asked not to take photos. Everything is going to change and some will like it but those who think the Polynesian is dark will think it is very dark now. Much like the AKL rooms. The chair rail I saw that is now I light bamboo rail will be dark brown and the big TV cabinet will be replaced with a lower longer dresser with a 27” TV (I am told) on top with a desk area. The over the bed mats will be gone to open up the room and the furniture will be a dark wood. The wall color I saw (subject to change) would be an orange and there were a couple of different carpet patterns, one I liked better than the other. I wish with my design background and my time in Hawaii I could have given some advise but I don’t believe they were interested. I also know from a lot of feedback I get from guests what they would like to see and what I saw is not it. I am sure I would like it but I believe many will not. I do like the new light fixtures in the hall and in the room and the day bed will still be there but will fold into a sitting area when not being used to make more room. I have no idea about the bathroom but the curtains I like and the patios are slate tile that looks great. The door will be a 3 glass door with the middle sliding and I guess they have installed it in a room somewhere that needed a new door anyway. I think a change will be great and I would have liked to see more and had something to show you but I guess the only way anyone will see some of it will be from my tape of the Polynesian walk through I did but since making the tape takes a while and the cost of tapes and shipping are not free I don’t know how many tapes will go out and be seen. I mostly use the tape to review areas of the Polynesian to refresh my memory or give to some who just are dying to see what the Polynesian is like. They are going to start doing the rooms a few at a time and the buildings will not be closed when they do this. I was at the Polynesian when they did the room changes in the 90’ and it was not a problem and most did not know it was going on. There are rumors that the Concierge rooms will look even different than the standard rooms but only time will tell.
