Summer 2015 Vacation Report
The summer of 2015 was almost over and it was time to return to the mother ship. Yeah I know I was just out at the Polynesian in February but it was much different now. Not only the resort was different (not to my surprise) but I was taking the whole family….I mean the WHOLE family. The kids and the parents were going this time.
For my Daughter (age 3) it was her first time at Walt Disney World. She has been to Disneyland about 200 times, well not really but a lot. For my wife and son (age 10) it has been 4 years and for my mom it has been 13. My dad had officially been to Walt Disney World in 1983 during our first trip out but he only made it to Disney Village (now called Downtown Disney). He had been called to return home for work.
I know people shy away from July and August and I will admit the first day there was hot as balls but (and that was coming from someone who left 110 degrees in California) but the rest of the time was not bad and even rain was only an issue a couple of days for a short period of time. There was one rain storm that came down all of a sudden as we were driving over to the Contemporary to rent jet skis. The first drop to hit the windshield was like I hit a bird and by the time I got over there I think I saw Noah’s Ark in the passing lane. Otherwise the weather was not really an issue for the trip.
We were lucky enough to get some amazing rates for this trip from Michele at Magical Vacations. This allowed us to do Club Level rooms for about what a standard room would be. More about the club level experience later.
Overall it was a good trip but I can say that the whole trip was very Yin and Yang. It was either a great experience or some very frustrating experiences. I think you will see that in my report because even now when I think back I remember some great memories and then I remember some things that were upsetting. From the crowds to the weather to the quality of the Disney experience in the parks and resorts, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
My report will not be about the parks, crowds or weather because I am sure most people reading this want to know about the state of the Polynesian Village Resort and I am sure this report will be longwinded enough.
We always like to split our stay with another resort to check it out. We have done many of the Deluxe Resorts more than once. I’ve done a value resort a couple of times and a few other Deluxe Resorts. Usually I try some other places when I am out there without the family. Now it was time to check out a Moderate.
We decided on Port Orleans French Quarter. I won’t get into a lot of detail about this since this is not a Port Orleans web site but I will say it was a nice place to stay and offered a lot but it was not a Deluxe.
I liked the location of Port Orleans and the boat over to Downtown Disney was nice. Long ride but nice. The food was good but no table service restaurant where we were at. The pool was nice and fun for the kids. We used our rental car to get around so I can’t comment on the busses. I am not much of a fan of the busses from any resort and I still have nightmares of the busses from Pop Century and the Epcot Resorts so let’s change the subject before I start to twitch and sing “It’s a Small World”.
Driving up to the resort and thinking someone would take the bags and park the car was my first mistake. You take your own bags and park your own car. I’m ok with that and I got to park over near the room. The rooms at the Moderates don’t seem much bigger than the values and they are a similar layout with the doors to the room on the exterior of the buildings.
I have visited a few of the Moderates but this was my first time staying. My impression is that they are very nice resorts to stay at but some of the Deluxe Resorts do spoil you with the amenities offered, larger rooms. Also staying at the Polynesian you get spoiled by quicker access to many things and more transportation options.
After a few days at Port Orleans, we met up with my parents early at the Polynesian. We packed up and drove over to the Polynesian Village. Typically in past years if you are staying Club Level they get your bags at Valet and take you and your bags over to Hawaii to check in. I’ve heard mixed experiences over the last few years of people not being told what to do or where to go or even where the club level longhouse was. We were told to go check in at the front desk which I knew was wrong but it was what we were told. Then we were told to go walk over to the Hawaii longhouse. A nice Cast Member with an Ipad asked if he could help my wife so he started to walk the family over. They were getting slammed by people at the Club Level desk inside Hawaii so he said he would try and check us in on his Ipad.
I could see how stressed the Cast Members at the desks were and they seemed to be trying hard to keep smiling through the process of helping everyone. It comes in waves at the Club desk and it has to be difficult when a lot of people are checking in and out.
Unlike the front desk that has someone for checking people in and a place for online check-ins and then a separate place for concierge to handle other things like tickets and dining reservations, the Cast Members in Hawaii have to do it all as well as deal with complaints about lounge food, room maintenance issues and housekeeping issues. I’m sure at times these all happen at once.
We had booked Garden View Club after all these years of Lagoon View because the cost is just becoming outrageous. That is why we purchased DVC in February. I knew construction was going to be an issue and I was prepared. I was just hoping that I would not get the same room I had last time which is the last room toward the lounge. It is right next to the Service elevator and Housekeeping storage as well as its view is of the stairway at the end of the Samoa Longhouse. Well, guess what room I got again. Really? Twice in a row? I was ok when it was just me and I would hardly be in my room but now we had a little one with us and I was worried about the noise.
I let my wife do the checking in because I never know what Cast Members might recognize me and some don’t really like what I do. They feel I should not share so much about the resort. Other Cast Members that I have known for a long time I feel more comfortable talking with because they know I am trying to help them and the guest. They also know I want to pay tribute to a great resort and share its history. So does my site cause me to get things like the worst room in Hawaii….maybe or it might have just been my bad luck.
I told my wife to politely see if anything else was available and they found a room that was a couple of rooms down from it. Not a surprise to me, the view was of the pool construction. It could not be seen from the ground floor but the jack hammers were going like crazy. The good thing is once the door was closed quite a bit of the noise was reduced but when I was in the bathroom at one point I thought I was back in California and there was an earthquake. Stuff was jumping around the counter from the jack hammers. Don’t worry, the jack hammers have been gone for a while now.
So not the best start so far but I knew there was a lot to look forward at the resort. The last time I was out there the pool and all the DVC area of the resort was all closed off. Trader Sam’s was still being built and the only thing new was the lobby and the Moana Mercantile (that replaces Samoa Snacks and Trader Jack’s). I was excited to see all the new things in person although nothing was a surprise to me. I keep up with changes at the resort every day so I see it all from 3000 miles away. I can’t say that anything was any different than I imagined it would be in person and I thought they did a nice job with most of the new additions.
I was excited to see some great Cast Members still at the desk and in the lounge and meet a few new ones. Lawrence was still there and he was helpful and welcoming as always. It was great to see Joshua again. He has so many talents and does so many great things at Disney. He also has a great site about Epcot (http://www.epcotlegacy.com/). Another Cast Member that was very friendly and helpful during our stay was Pam. It was good to see a good staff on hand at the Hawaii longhouse while we were there.
With the offerings being limited in club level from past years and the prices going as high as they are it really comes down to the lounge being a great place to relax and the staff. The staff can be a huge part of what makes staying in the Hawaii club level worth the extra. The offerings in the lounge are nice but alone don’t make it worth the money. I have seen some other club level lounges at Disney that seem to be offering much more than the Polynesian. I will say that on stormy days it is nice to relax in the lounge and not just be stuck in your room. Also you have to like free beer….well maybe you don’t.
Yes the breakfast offerings are sad and lacking. Can I get a slice of bacon or a sausage? I know they don’t have the ability to cook in the lounge. The coffee dispenser is about as bad as it gets but I do find it helpful to grab some oatmeal and a bagel in the lounge instead of grabbing breakfast every day over on the Great Ceremonial House and spending $15 a person. I do go over and get my 100% Kona press pot Coffee from the Kona Island Coffee Bar and bring it over to Hawaii.
The evening offerings seemed to be about the same as I remember. Most of the nights we missed the desserts. They don’t give out a menu of the weekly offerings anymore because it often changes and they don’t want to have someone look forward to something, only to find that it changed.
The room conditions are not holding up well but to be honest this has been going on since well before the redesign in 2013. I find that repairs to the rooms are done quickly and without regards for how the room looks. There are rooms with bad patch jobs and unrepaired damage. Much of the damage I am sure is from guests in the rooms but I find that when maintenance comes in to fix things they do a quick job to get things fixed and don’t take care to make sure the room is in good shape.
You can see quick sloppy repairs done to the rooms and some have reported that when they had something fixed they had to put their own furniture back in place. The DVC Deluxe Studios are the newest rooms on property and they suffer from repairs all over the rooms and hallways. As of a week ago some of the rooms in Tokelau were still having tubs back up with what seems to look like sewage. Our rooms were not in bad shape but the bungalow we stayed in at the end of our trip was not cleaned well. You would hope that for how much they cost someone would do a quick walk through to make sure they were in good shape for the guests.
To be honest I give up thinking that housekeeping is going to get better. I know some people who work for housekeeping and I see it from their side also. It is a tough job and I don’t see them being treated well. On the other hand I don’t see anyone addressing the problems when things are not done well. Maybe they need better training or more people assigned to the longhouses. More people would allow them to spend more time doing a better job on each room and get done with the rooms quicker so that we did not have to spend half the day dodging carts in the hallway.
The highlight of the stay for me since I had no view to enjoy at my room was hanging out at the lounge and enjoying the view of the Seven Seas Lagoon. With owning DVC now it may not be much longer before I don’t have the lounge to enjoy.
So what keeps me coming back to Club Level? There are a few reasons I still choose to stay club level although I don’t do it every visit. I love the location of the Hawaii longhouse. It is in a great spot to get to everything and you know when you book club level there is no worry about what longhouse you should request. Keep in mind that requesting a longhouse is not a guarantee. Some people seem to think if you ask for a longhouse you are booking that longhouse. They do their best with requests but you don’t always get what you want.
The main reason I enjoy Club Level is the staff. I know not all the staff in the Hawaii longhouse has had glowing reviews from guests but I have seen some guests being quite rude to the staff also. For me I think they have some of the best Cast Members on property in the Hawaii longhouse and working in the Island Planning Office (Pre-travel planning). They seem to be the most informed also. Many guests and myself have asked front desk for information about the resort and they sometimes give incorrect information. I personally think it is lack of training or management telling them what the current information is. They use to have managers that would teach the staff about the resort and its history and keep them up to date about what was going on. Lately I have heard people ask simple questions and get wrong or no answer. I was at the front when someone asked if the Pineapple Lanai was open and the Cast Member did not even know what the Pineapple Lanai was. Yesterday I got a message from a guest who is at the resort now and went to the front desk to ask what time the Electric Water Pageant was and they had no answer. All they had to do was look in the activities sheet they hand out at check in.
The Club level staff seems to stay on top of what is going on even with it changing all the time. When they don’t know they at least try and find out the right answer. I know the resort still has many great Cast Members that want to learn about the resort and have the right answers for the guests but they need more. They also need to hold on to the staff that has been there a long time and have become an important part of the resort.
At the end of our visit we decided to book a couple of nights in the Bungalow. We were not using our points this year anyway and I thought it would be a good way for me to get to see them so I could answer questions about them.
I do find it a little strange that there is no real DVC check in or a “Welcome Home” like you see on their videos but it did not help that we were also checking out of a room and into a bungalow. I am not sure if the experience would have been much different if we had checked in to the bungalow after arriving at the resort. Basically we had no map of the resort to know where our bungalow was or any information packet to tell you about DVC or the bungalow. At least I know the resort well enough to know where to go.
I will say that I knew the Bungalows would be amazing inside but staying in them was much more than I expected. Even with the fact that they were not cleaned well (food, dust and dirt swept into a pile and left along with tile not cleaned well in the master bathroom) and plugs not working on the deck. You would think for the cost of these things they would keep them clean and in working order but that is just how things are lately.
The bungalow was an amazing experience and you don’t even want to leave it when you are there. I would wake up and go right out onto the deck to enjoy the sunrise and watching the Magic Kingdom come to life. We were in a bungalow that was 4th in from the end next to the ferries. Yes you can hear the ferry horn and no it did not wake me up at night. The ferry horn has been a big complaint lately but it is nothing new. Rooms in Moorea have been there since 1985 and I have never heard a complaint about the ferry horn until DVC opened.
The size and amenities were great for our 4 adults and two kids. The kids loved sleeping in the living room on the fold out bunk and fold out couch. My older son actually took the fold out bunk. There was another one in the second bed room so the bungalow can sleep 8. There were shades that came down to black out the living room. Only problem is it blocks access to the sliding glass door to go out on the deck unless you open the whole wall up. That is hard to do and not wake anyone sleeping in the living room. I just used the door that was off the master bed room to go out to the deck.
The plunge pool was heated and not cold but it was also not a hot tub. It was a good size for adults to soak in and the kids loved to 
swim in it. There was even a shower outside next to the pool. Outside decorative lighting was nice at night and speakers would play the Wishes music during the fireworks show. You had a volume on the wall to control that. The table and chairs along with the lounges and swinging chairs made the deck a comfortable place to relax.
The master bedroom and bathroom made the bungalow one of the best rooms on property I have stayed in. The bath was jetted and was so deep it took quite a long time to fill even half way. The shower was amazing and who doesn’t like a TV in the mirror?
The first night we had some friends come by and we made our own Lapu Lapus (yes even carved out pineapples) and we enjoyed drinks and fireworks. It was an amazing way to spend the first night in such a great room. With the view from the deck and plenty of room to watch the Electrical Water Pageant and the Fireworks, you can’t ask for a better place to spend your evening.
We decided our second night to order the ‘Ohana dinner to the bungalow since we had this large table to eat at. We invited some friends by to make it a party of 8 but we were told that there is so much food that you can order for less people. We ordered for 6 and we still had a ton of food left over. If you order this meal and there is only two people order for one.
I have to say that relaxing in the bungalow with food from ‘Ohana, good friends and tropical cocktails for two nights while watching Wishes was one of my best Polynesian Village memories. For more details about the bungalows or photos from the room you can go here http://www.tikimanpages.com/poly/bora-bora-bungalows
I hear a lot of negative about DVC coming to the Polynesian from guests and staff. While I am not impressed with the lackluster way they opened the DVC at the Polynesian I think they did a lot of things well. There does not seem to be any amenities for the DVC owners other than a laundry room but luckily we purchased DVC to save money on room cost, not to get extra perks. As far as DVC ruining the resort, I don’t see that at all. The removal of the water fall and the changing of the pool areas were going to happen anyway. 
There were plans for those changed well before DVC came. Also for now you can still book plenty of the DVC rooms using cash. Now I hear that will change as more of the resort sells and it may be harder to book a DVC room with cash but you can still rent points. If anything right now the benefit goes to the non-DVC owner. I have had DVC owners tell me that they had no rooms available for certain dates but they could book a DVC room using cash. That will make you run out and want to buy DVC.
I really don’t see the addition of DVC being a negative impact on the resort other than blocking the view of the old Moorea beach. There also would not be much impact to how crowded the resort is because only the 20 bungalows were added but 3 rooms were removed from the longhouses so really it is only an addition of 17 rooms. I only saw people in two other bungalows during my stay. More of an impact on the pool crowding is from non-resort guests in my opinion.
So let’s talk about food. One of my favorite parts about the Polynesian is the food options and that just keeps growing. Captain Cook’s has been around since I started going to the Polynesian and so has ‘Ohana. I watched Kona Café replace Coral Isle Café in the 90s and Tangaroa Terrace go away. Now we have Pineapple Lanai, food from Trader Sam’s and soon to be a new Grill over at the Oasis pool.
Nothing new at Captain Cook’s since my February stay other than the nice sitting area outside with a view of the pool. The new food items were the same as I tried in February and the touch screen ordering machines were gone for good. People ask why they did not expand Captain Cook’s when they refurbished it. Basically there was nowhere to grow. Trader Sam’s is right against it and the pool had moved closer to the patio. I’m not sure the size ever bothered me because I eat outside or I take it to the beach or my room.
There are 3 things that bother me about Captain Cook’s. The first is the removal of the touch screens was a bad move. They explanation of them being too confusing is crazy. My 3 year old can use the touch screen. The new system creates longer lines and causes more confusion from what I witnessed. No one I have spoken to about how they have Captain Cook’s set up thinks it works well. They also wrap the line right in front of the coolers with the grab-n-go items and people waiting to pick up their food are standing in the same area. This causes some frustrations for all and I think this leads to my next issue. The staff there is not usually very friendly or helpful but it seems to be one of the more stressful places to work. I’m sorry if you work there and are reading this but I worked with the public for 7 years with stressed out customers and I was even assaulted a few times by customers but I had to put on a smile and do my best to make them feel I was happy they were there. On the other hand if a customer is really abusive I am all about having them be removed or taken to the ground. I don’t think Disney will go for that though.
I know that the other reason for the removal of the touch screen was also because of people needing to modify their order for special requests but now that is more that the cashier has to deal with. For a while they had a CM taking the order and making any adjustments needed, then you would take your receipt up to the cashier but I never saw anyone at the podium to take orders while I was there. They need a better system and I think guests and Cast Members will be much happier.
My last complaint is a complaint that I made in February. Captain Cook’s needed to have a better menu more themed to the resort similar to the Tangaroa Terrace at the Disneyland Hotel. They did an amazing job out there selecting items for the menu and that hotel is not even Polynesian themed. I mean come on!! Chicken and Waffles?
On a positive note, they have not printed it on the menu yet but the Adult Grilled Cheese can be ordered at Captain Cook’s and it is still great. I also think that while I think they could have a better menu at Captain Cook’s, it is still the best quick service place I have been to at WDW. It is also open 24 hours and that is hard to find at any resort.
One of the things I was looking forward to the most was Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto. I have known about Trader Sam’s coming to the Polynesian for a few years now and being a big fan of the one at the Disneyland Hotel I was excited to have it be at the Resort. Before I knew it was coming to the Polynesian I had actually sent a wish list to Disney about some things they could do to the Polynesian and one of those things was to add Trader Sam’s to the Polynesian. I knew this one would not be a copy of the one out west but I thought it was nice to have a different version and not just a copy. Then again I am one of the 6 people that actually thought the Enchanted Tiki Room “Under New Management” was a funny twist on the original. That was because the original is in Disneyland and something different was nice to see. Now if they had touched the one in Disneyland I would have freaked out!
I met up with my friend Jim “Hurricane” Hayward (www.atomicgrog.com) and his wife Susan at the Tambu lounge to start off this year’s Polynesian visit because there is no better way to start off my visit than with a drink from Walter. He made us a Navy Grog (not on the menu). After a little while we decided to get a pager from Grog Grotto. By the time Susan walked back up with it the buzzer was going off.
We headed down and right into Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and there were no tables open or 4 seats in a row open. What happens is people leave a seat between their group and the next group so you end up with a bunch of random seats empty but none together. All I have to say is “make friends! Get close!”
After hanging out for a while at two seats at the end a table opened up. I won’t try and tell you all about Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto because I am sure you have seen 62,000 YouTube videos and 24,000 articles about the place and its details. I think the effects are much better and there are more details in the Grog Grotto compared to the Enchanted Tiki Bar but it is a much different atmosphere. The only thing you probably don’t know about the Grotto is what my opinion of it is, so that is all I have to give.
I found it to be comfortable and an entertaining place to relax and drink. It could get hard to have a conversation when the effects were going off but if you were looking for a place to nap than go to the Grand Floridian.
It seemed to have a lot of regulars there and they seemed to know the staff so at times you can feel a little like you just invaded someone else’s party but it was still a fun place to drink. I was a little worried the staff was going to be like what I saw on YouTube. In the videos they seemed a little too over the top or even somewhat goofing on the whole thing but I did not experience that sort of thing myself. I felt the staff was very good and having fun with us, not at our expense.
The drinks were done well but not all were favorites of mine. I think I prefer the drinks on the menu that made their way out from the west. The Nautilus was good but expensive and not something I would order every visit (even without the mug) but I did enjoy it. I would do an Uh Oa over the Nautilus personally.
If you ever want to check out more about Tiki bar drinks, check out Hurricane’s site http://atomicgrog.com/
My friend Duane (who does the DVC info on my page) and my wife went to Trader Sam’s one night for her first visit inside. We had a great Bartender Cris (hope I spelled it right). After I placed our order I had a nice couple pay for my drink. I can honestly say I have never had someone I did not know ever buy me a drink. I wish I wrote down their names because I am so bad at names but if you are reading this than thank you again. You don’t know how lucky you are that I changed my order from a Nautilus to a Tahitian Torch.
We went back another day to hang out at the Tiki Terrace with Ashley (http://www.acupofdisney.com/) to try out appetizers and more drinks and we had a great Server named James. He was friendly, helpful and made our visit to Tiki Terrace a great experience. I also noticed that our bartender Cris from the other night was working the bar outside.
Trader Sam’s no longer seems to ever be a long wait. Even on Friday and Saturday nights the wait was not long or not at all. It is a fun place to get good drinks and appetizers but it is not worth a 4 hour wait or even a 1 hour wait. I am not knocking it at all but I will move out to the Tiki Terrace first or even up to Tambu or the Barefoot Pool Bar before I wait that long to get into TSGG. I am sure if I had been out there on opening day I would have waited the 4 hours but it’s sort of like when the Pooh ride opened and people waited for ever to check it out…..did I really just compare Trader Sam’s to the Pooh ride? Well you know what I mean. Disney people get excited about a themed bathroom, and now I just lost half my fan base.
Once the Oasis pool and bar opened you will no longer have to go to Epcot to drink around the world, you can do the Village crawl. Start and one bar and get a drink and appetizer. Split the appetizers amongst your group and move on to the next are…rinse and repeat. You will have 4 bars, 5 if you count Tiki Terrace as a separate bar from Trader Sam’s and it is. You can only get the Spikey Pineapple drink at the Terrace.
We went to ‘Ohana with the whole family and the only thing different from my last visit was the lettuce wraps were gone and replaced with the salad. I like the salad but I was one of the few that thought the lettuce wraps were good. The whole meal was good and service was fine. We were lucky that the whole family go to sit in the big corner table right against the window and we were there around the time of Wishes. This would have been a nice ending to a nice meal if it were not for people that feel it is okay to be inconsiderate. We had a few people decide to walk over from other tables and stand at the window to watch the fireworks. Now keep in mind that our table is only a few feet from the window and the back of my chair is maybe a foot from the window. My 3 year old was on my wife’s lap to watch and a few people realized they were blocking the view and moved. A very excited teenaged girl with her Ipad decided it was ok to literally stand inches from my daughter and wife to the point where sometimes she bumped my daughter. Since she was totally blocking their view I asked her to move but other than shifting a few inches and holding her Ipad in from of my daughters view she would not go to another location to watch. This became even more annoying when she had to sing loudly with the songs playing and during her excitement of seeing the show spit out a few “oh s**t and oh f**k” in front of my daughter. This was the type of selfishness I saw often at Disney. People think that it is ok to make their experience more magical at the expense of others experience.
Everyone wants to know about construction. At this point I can tell you that the Oasis pool construction is the most active job going on at the resort right now. There are other things that were going on around the exterior of the longhouses and around the Outrigger Assembly House but it seems as of today only the pool construction is going on. There are still permits for more things to be done but you will have to ask Disney about when and where that will occur. People keep asking 
me when the Oasis Pool will be done and Disney would rather I not give dates. Even if I gave a date that I was told the chances are that will change by next year. I will see how things are progressing when I return next year and I keep posting photos of the progress on my Tikiman Facebook page. By the way, thanks to all of you sending in photos of the progress.
Besides asking what construction is going on or when it will all be done, the most common question I get is “what longhouse should I request?” If you have read my Facebook page or my web site long enough you know I don’t usually answer that. Why not? First of all my opinion of what longhouse, floor or view is best is just my opinion. Others feel that other longhouses are better than what I would pick. Just because I might know the resort better than others does not mean you will agree with my likes and dislikes so I try and put the information on my site under the planning tab to help you pick for yourself. Also each longhouse page has details and photos of the views for you to choose. I add all the photos I am sent from each longhouse to those albums. People also ask what longhouse will be away from construction but since we do not know when and where other projects will be in a month or 6 months it is hard to say what will not be near construction.
The new pool is another example of the good and the bad at the resort. While the pool area redesign is not much like the concept that I saw I think they did a great job on it. I enjoyed every minute I had in the pool but let me give you my take on the situation.
The pool is now fenced off and that was something that Disney had to do to be up to code. Most guests that I have spoken to or heard from are happy that they gate would restrict access to the pool area to be for Polynesian Resort Guests only. Officially the beach and pool area are designated as for Polynesian Resort Guests only but we know that the Polynesian does not enforce rules very well. Here are the problems that have come up now with the pool being closed off.
The gates many times do not work well or at all. I myself think that people assume they are not working because when I used my Magic Band there is no light to indicate that the band unlocked the gate and you cannot really hear it unlock. You can’t reach the gate from where you scan your band so if you don’t run over and pull it or have someone pull it, the gate relocks. Some might think that it never unlocked to begin with. Many times the gates get propped open by guests or staff which would allow anyone to access. People also reach over the gate and hit the bar to open the gate. Staff watches this happen all day long.
So why is this a problem? Well the Polynesian pool for many years has been a popular stop for locals to hang out at or people coming from the Magic Kingdom to cool off.
How do we know so many people are there that are not staying at the resort? I think sometimes we assume and are wrong about how many people are not supposed to be there but we all have our stories of large families hanging out and bragging about not even being a guest there. Just last week a guest watched a family roll in coolers and take up a few tables that were overheard talking about how they were not staying at the resort.
My first attempt to go to the pool this last trip I stood and waited for a group of 6 people trying to scan their bands who told me they were not staying at the resort but they were told by their resort staff that they could use any Disney resort pool if they were staying at a Disney Resort. This is another case of bad training of staff. You are not allowed to use other resort pools and while DVC members can “pool hop” they cannot pool hop to all resorts. The Polynesian pool is one of those resorts they are not allowed to access.
If people are leaving doors open or finding ways to come into the pool then there is an easy fix that the Polynesian has already done in the past. They don’t have to have someone be at each door but one or two staff with the scanners giving out wrist bands would work well. They did this on the 4th of July. That gives the staff an indication that you have been scanned and you don’t need to be checked again.
The other problem with management not addressing the gate access issue is people now are starting to feel they need to police the gate. There are discussions about making sure you slam the gate behind you even when someone is coming or when someone can’t get their band to work, not letting them in. My mother was trying to scan the gate at the beach side and could not get it to work. She looked at a guy inside the gate on a lounge and asked for his help. He very rudely told her no because how did he know she was a guest of the resort. If management had staff to assist people and scan them then we would not have this sort of problem.
I have found this frustrating for the life guards also but I have to say I have mixed feelings about the lifeguards. When the pool was closed and only the East Pool was open, lifeguards were telling guests they could go use the Grand Floridian pool. This was not correct information. I have even heard some lifeguards say they don’t care about groups of people coming into the new pool that are not staying there. Early on the life guards were doing a good job monitoring the hot tub. If kids under 12 were in the hot tub unattended the life guards had them removed or made a parent stand up there and watch them. When I was there the hot tub was often a snorkeling and cannonball pool for the kids.
With that said, the lifeguards that were on duty when I was there the beginning of August were great. They were friendly, helpful and professional. They were very good about watching the little kids in the splash area and even removed two older boys that were pushing the small kids out of line for the little kids slide. I wish I had the names of the staff for that week to let their managers know what a great job they had done.
The bottom line with the new pool fence is they need gates that work properly and have a better indication of when they are activated. They need to have staff scanning bands because the whole world knows there is still many ways to access the pool. They should not be concerned with upsetting non-resort guests and more concerned with making the paying guests happy.
This is nothing new. Disneyland Resort Hotels all have gate access and no one gets in without a key. Even if you say you are with someone inside and they have your key they will escort you over or have that person come over to the gate with your key. Hawaii hotels have been going around to the pools and checking keys and giving out wrist bands for years. If they Polynesian can’t figure out how to deal with this, they need to hire people that can deal with this situation. At this point they don’t care enough to address the problem.
I personally never felt the pool was too crowded even when a lot of people were using it but then I am not trying to swim laps in the pool. I also found the renovation to be very well done with an exception of the poor workmanship of the hot tub. Come on Disney….is a well-functioning hot tub that hard to make?
The Barefoot bar was another highlight of the pool area. Not only does it have some of the best staff on property but they have finally added some decent drinks to the bar with their Specialty Drink menu. The Pain Killer is another version of the Trader Sam’s Tiki x 5 Rum. Pain Killer is the authentic name for this drink developed in the British Virgin Islands in the 1970s. I did not have the Niue Rita but the Tonga Tea was my favorite followed by the Samoa Sunrise. The Lava Flow is a Pina Colada made with a swirl of Strawberry. Many people know it by its incorrect name that the resort gave it for years (the Pina Colava) but Lava Flow is how I know it from way back when I 
spent my vacations in Hawaii. Remember to tip your bartenders well. They work hard and the tips really do help. Now maybe they can get their refrigerator in the back to work well. Maybe the guys that built the hot tub worked on the refrigerator.
A new service is being tried out around the pool that I mentioned in my past article. They are serving food pool side. We were lucky enough to get the same great server (James) and he managed to keep smiling in brutal heat while running food all over the pool deck. That is a Cast Member that knows that while the job can be rough you still have to try and have a great attitude with the guests. They have tried this pool side service before and it did not last but people seemed to be enjoying it. I hope it stays this time but I think they need more servers. It is a large area to cover. I am not sure if this service will survive the cooler months but if it goes away I hope to see it back next spring.
Some other stuff going on around the resort is the torch lighting should be returning in October 2015. The grass area outside the back of the Great Ceremonial House was intended to be what they were calling the Gathering Place. In the concepts it was to have some entertainment and be the location for the movies and fire pit (as seen in the concept art I shared before). The torch lighting was to return to this area but I was told they were waiting for “props” to be made. They tested out the torch lighting out there in September but only for one night.
The highlight of the trip is always spending time with the Cast Members who make this place great, from the greetings of Joshua and Lawrence, to the enjoyable drinks and conversation of Walter, Steve and Cris to the Alohas from Ku’ulei and Auntie Kau’i. That is always something that is always worth the visit. I get the feeling at even though Auntie looks younger than I did when I was born, that she may be getting to the point where she might be ready to move on to other things. I don’t know this for sure or if I do I would not say, so don’t go running up to her and ask if she is leaving, but make sure you say Aloha to her and let her know how much you appreciate all she has done. In fact, make sure you do that with any staff that has been an important part of your stay because you never know when you won’t see them there again. I’m hoping that Ku’ulei will be someone that stays around a long time even when Auntie decided to go because she has been an amazing part of the resort for a long time also and someone has to be that representative of the resort and the Aloha Spirit.
We all have our stories of great Cast Members that share that spirit and we see them as part of the excitement of going back to the resort. I think it is important to let them know how much they mean to us and how much we appreciate what they do to make our visit that much better.
I will be returning to the resort next year to work on details for next summer’s Tikifest. Yes I said Tikifest. Michele at Magical Vacations talked me into us doing another Tikifest. The details are still being worked out but it will happen in July 2016. Magical Vacations (http://www.magicalvacationstravel.com/) will have more informaiton on the event and special rates. More to come later
Keep sending in your room photos. I put them in the longhouse albums or if you have any other photos from around the resort I often share them on my Facebook page and they all go into one of the albums on my site. I have also been going through my pages and updating photos and info so keep coming back to see what is new.
Until next time, be kind to one another. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the clouds. Have your pets spayed or neutered, and that’s the way it is.
Aloha
Steve
Room request
The most common question I get is what room or building to request and the thing people what to know the most is how to request. I discuss some details about how to request in the planning section of my web site but I think the most important thing to understand is that requests are not guaranteed. I hear the stories all the time about how people get their request every time by….(insert request method)…
The thing to understand is that no method of requesting a room or building is fool proof. There are so many factors working against you in the process of your room getting assigned that if you do get your room or building you are one of the lucky ones. Now obviously the more complicated your request, the less likely you will get it. If you request something simple like a room with a balcony, you still might not get it but you have a better chance the simpler your request is.
Now with the “Direct to room check in” being used you won’t have much chance to change your room if you get one you don’t like. Also with more people doing this there will be more rooms that are already assigned and cannot be changed. In the past a room might have been assigned to someone but if you get there before them you might get moved into their room if you asked to. Now if people already have their room number texted to them that will make all those rooms not available even if you get there before those guests. I guess that can be good and bad. The point is there will be less of a chance that you can see what is available when you check in because they will have less flexibility to move you.
Since you can’t book a room, floor or building (you can only book a view) you will be at the mercy of the room assigner. Remember that if you don’t get the room you want it is not the fault of the front desk Cast Members and it is not the fault of the Travel Agent that booked your room. Whoever sets up your reservation can only get your request noted (which is still the best way to get to info to the room assigner) and they have no control after that. Yelling at them because you didn’t get your room request is like yelling at the grocery store cashier because Cheerios changed the color of their box.
Just something to keep in mind.
For more planning info you can go here.
