News around the resort
Well a few have observed that the East Pool was not closed on its scheduled dates in January. As with all the dates that the Polynesian has for things to happen, they are subject to change. As of now the East Pool (aka Quiet Pool) is now scheduled for February 7th to March 19th. The plan is to redo the pool and part of that I was told is to add in a zero entry area which I assume means the deep end will be gone. Update as of Febreuary 9, dates have now changes to February 21 to April 8th
I believe this goes along with what someone told me back when the last Disney pools were designed (Polynesian and Grand Floridian new pools). They told me no more pools would be designed with deep ends or hot tubs because of safety and liability. Deep ends can be a hazard for obvious reasons especially at a pool with no life guards but many don’t understand the risks of hot tubs. If the temperature goes above 110 F in many cases people have drowned from getting sleepy but also it can cause heat stroke, heart attack, skin burns and even brain damage. If you consume alcohol it makes it even worse. I was actually at a resort in Hawaii when a couple died in the hot tub because of drinking and going in. These issues are just from temperature but there is a whole list of other things that can happen from it not being clean enough. You can even get fatally ill from the steam, something called “Hot tub lung”.
There are many of us that are not bothered by the Polynesian having a hot tub or not and the resort will do just fine booking rooms without one but to end the argument that all deluxe resorts have hot tubs (speaking of resorts outside WDW) here is a list of just a few well known resorts that do not have hot tubs and seem to do just fine without it.
Sheraton (many including Ka’anapali beach Maui)
Royal Kona Resort Hawaii
Outrigger Keauhou Beach
Fairmont
Kaha Lani
Hyatt Regency
Wyndham
The list goes on….
The Volcano pool will be closing for a short period also for maintenance on February 2nd to 5th (dates subject to change). UPDATE as of Feb 2. The Volcano pool maintenance has been put on hold and no new dates are available yet.
Want to see your trip report on here?
If you have recently visited the Polynesian and want to share your report on this site, send your report to tikimanpages@gmail.com along with any photos from your trip and I will post it. Be honest about your experience. Let people know what was good and what was bad.
For those wanting to let the Polynesian or Disney know about your good or bad experience you can write to:
Guest Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040
Or email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
You can also write to the GM if you want to share with him how a Cast Member made your experience even better. These letters are a great way to do something nice for a Cast Member that made your trip special.
Polynesian and Grand Floridian GM
Norm Noble
Post Office Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
If you have a dispute or question about a charge to your room during your stay but you are at home now you can call Guest Research and Billing office at 407-824-3568.
Requesting a room location.
The biggest discussions you see online are about requesting rooms. I myself have never requested a building and a few times we have asked for a room we have had in the past. My advice is to keep it simple. The more detailed and specific your request, the more likely you won’t get what you want. I would stick with requesting a building and a floor.
Let’s start with saying that requesting a room, building or anything else is best done when you make your reservation. If you try and get the request in later there are factors that could lead to it not being noted properly. Also when you call the Polynesian phone number and speak to someone, that someone is not at the Polynesian at all. They are in a call center away from the resort and in most cases have little knowledge of the resort. Emailing any request can only be done if you are staying concierge since there is no email address for the Polynesian other than the email for the Planning Office. Faxing request sometimes works but can end up being thrown out with the other junk faxes that come through. If you do online check-in you can note your request there also. The last thing you can do and sometimes the most effective is to know where you want to stay and see if it is available at check in. I have asked what is available many times at and been moved at check in.
So as far as when the resort gets your reservation and request, here is what someone that I know at the resort who does this told me.
“The room reservation comes from the DRC (Disney reservation
center) to the resort 5 days out. (we can’t see the reservation in the
computer until then) Then the rooms team go thru all the requests and
try to meet those based upon what’s currently checked-in.
Reservations without a request don’t get assigned and at Check-In the
computer does what’s called a “auto-In House” (the computer looks at
the rack and sees what’s available) (holes) where rooms are empty and
comes up with a list that the Cast Member can select from before the
keys get cut.
If your a group/ Magical Gathering they (the rooms team) will really
try and book the rooms together “pre-assign (the reservation has room
#’s attached)” and find open rooms for this first. Again if the rooms have no requests then the computer grabs the room, suggests to the CM what’s available, the CM can select one of the 5 rooms that “pop up” or go into the rack and find a “working vacancy” and then check with the
Rooms Team if the new room works for a fit for the (holes) that are
in the system. Downside is when we are 100% occupancy the computer
will start issuing what’s left like parking lot views and the least popular locations.”
Now remember that they just changed computer systems that handle reservations and from what I hear it is even easier to get your request.
Club Level Etiquette
Here are some Club Level facts (from Disney) and my own commentary and hopefully it will all come out right.
Let’s start with the facts. Club Level service at Disney and the extra cost was intended to be for the service (meaning the concierge desk and staff and the Personal Itinerary Planning) and in some cases an upgraded room, amenities and location. The food and lounge were not what the extra cost was for and it was just an extra addition for the guests (never intended as a meal). Some might want to argue that the extra money they pay is for the food and they not only want quality but selection and quantity but as far as Disney is concerned this is not what the extra cost is for. I say this because people complain about what the selection is and how much there is and they say that is why they pay the extra and they better get what they want. Well as far as Disney is concerned they are charging that price and it would still be that if they pulled all the food and did not offer it.
I can see their point and I have been to hotels where the club level is for the service and room with food not being a factor. I think back before the Internet and when most people knew what the concierge at Disney had to offer it was much quieter and in some cases used by those who regularly stayed at club levels at hotels. I am not saying anything about people that have more money having better manners because bad manners come from all kinds but I am suggesting that people that are more use to club level service or being in environments were etiquette might be important seem to know how to act when in a club level lounge because of their past experience. Now that many families are reading all about the club level online and they want to experience it they might be in an environment that they might not understand how they are to act and treat the lounge like a food court or a food demo at your local Costco. The other abusers I see are some of the “regulars” to the Disney Club Levels that feel that they know the staff well enough that they are their personal servants and take their past kindness and use it against them by thinking they can get away with any behavior they want to. I know many guests that think the staff loves them and you should only hear what they really think of them when they are gone. The rest of the people that act inappropriate are just those who don’t care if they show up in a robe before they take a shower and sit around in the lounge that they think is their personal living room.
The bottom line is that either the other guests need to speak up to management, staff or tell the people themselves. If things don’t change or get worse than more and more will be taken from the offerings and they would even consider not having the lounge offer food at all (yes I have heard it mentioned). Remember to them you are not paying for the food and if you are one of those people trying to squeeze your budget or take from your kids college fund to stay concierge because you want the unlimited water or free food to supplement your meals than I suggest you don’t. If spending the money is not an issue and you don’t expect that much from the service than you have the right attitude going in and I am sure you will enjoy it.
Well that is my commentary and I hope it came out ok. I just want to make sure the abuse is reduced so people can still enjoy the Club Level service.
