Underwhelmed with Poly

[tb1972]

We stayed a Poly studio the week of March 13th and were disappointed. The service at the front desk was awful...a man from Canada left his passport on the counter and it got misplaced. All CM's were looking for it when I went to the front desk since our Magic Bands didn't open our door initially. It took forever to finally get in our room after getting the Magic Bands to work. We were almost late to our Via Napoli dinner.

The walls seem very thin - we could hear everything next door. The teenage boy arguing on the phone with his girlfriend most nights. While we liked the two bathrooms, the rest of the room's color palette wasn't for me.

We don't think it's worth the point value and likely won't stay again. Looking forward to going back to our Boardwalk home in Oct.!

 

[disneynutz]

You experienced PVB first hand, now you can mark it off your list. A positive about the DVC is that there are resorts for everyone, we may not like PVB but others will.

Bill

 

[js]

We stayed a Poly studio the week of March 13th and were disappointed. The service at the front desk was awful...a man from Canada left his passport on the counter and it got misplaced. All CM's were looking for it when I went to the front desk since our Magic Bands didn't open our door initially. It took forever to finally get in our room after getting the Magic Bands to work. We were almost late to our Via Napoli dinner.

The walls seem very thin - we could hear everything next door. The teenage boy arguing on the phone with his girlfriend most nights. While we liked the two bathrooms, the rest of the room's color palette wasn't for me.

We don't think it's worth the point value and likely won't stay again. Looking forward to going back to our Boardwalk home in Oct.!

I have been going to Disney since I was very young and now I am 49. I ALWAYS wanted to stay at the Poly, it was my "dream" lol
We purchased DVC in 2011. Last year, I had the opportunity to go down one night solo prior to meeting my mom at GFVs so I booked the Poly.
I am SOOO happy I stayed there since I really have no desire to go back again with my family of 4 (kids are adults at 18 and 22) and spend all those
points on a studio (or two). We usually stay two bedroom so NO interest in all being in one room together for everything!

Although my room was ready about 11 am when I arrive (BIG PLUS), I still checked in front desk and got my packet of information.
Went to my room and MBs didn't work (I had Lake View so I was all the way by the TTC). Walked back to front desk (left my luggage by my door).
Fixed the problem and went back again and again, didn't work. OMG. I was on third floor and tried to find any CM I could to please help me.
I ended up finding a DVC room for CMs on the first floor and got a nice guy to help me. It took about 20-25 minutes and we went back to my room
to see if the MBs worked and they did but boy that was a good 90 minutes of just trying to get in my room.

I did like the location but do think the points are too high for what we are getting and I really think it is too dark.
When I got home I showed my family the pictures and my dd said it is nice but looks like it needs to be refurbished LOL She wasn't aware it was new.

I wasn't disappointed like you but I am glad that I did try it so I know I don't need to be there again. I do know that if I didn't have the third floor
I would also have been disappointed. I would certainly not want to be on the first floor and possibly the second.

As Bill said this is another great reason for DVC. There are resorts for all and we are so lucky we can try them out when we want (most of the time )

 

[suebeelin]

I loved the poly, hate AKL, SSR and Okw, and usually stay at my homes, bwv and BLT.

The great thing about dvc? You have so many options! Now I just need to try GFV, AUL, GCV, BCV

 

[Tiki Sean]

I have only stayed at the Poly 2 nights last year and loved it. This year we are doing 6 nights and I can't wait to get back. I hope I don't experience some of the horrors as others have had. Only time will tell. Sometimes it is just a matter of who your neighbors are, which can make a big difference.

 

[js]

I have only stayed at the Poly 2 nights last year and loved it. This year we are doing 6 nights and I can't wait to get back. I hope I don't experience some of the horrors as others have had. Only time will tell. Sometimes it is just a matter of who your neighbors are, which can make a big difference.

Enjoy your stay. The MB issue could have happened anywhere and, for me, it isn't a reason not for me to stay again, I just feel
I like other resorts much better, especially for the price point vs. the accommodations I get.

Enjoy!!

 

[TheDisneyFour]

Now you know. We had a very different experience and ended up buying points because we liked it so much. We waited a very long time to stay at BCV and when we finally did, we were underwhelmed. There is a taste for everyone in DVC.

 

[jerseyduke]

Not every resort is for everyone; so very true.

But the Polynesian always had room to room noise issues. Not having addressed this while the opportunity was there is borderline shameful. I understand you have to make money, control costs, etc etc, but some soundproofing measures are not that expensive. In my eyes, it is the smoking gun proof that the Polynesian was done on the cheap.

Sad since it is my favorite resort.

 

[DVCjj]

I have only stayed at the Poly 2 nights last year and loved it. This year we are doing 6 nights and I can't wait to get back. I hope I don't experience some of the horrors as others have had. Only time will tell. Sometimes it is just a matter of who your neighbors are, which can make a big difference.

We also stayed 2 nights recently and LOVED it so much we're going back in a few weeks. Our room was very quiet (except for the boat horns) In fact I saw very few guests in the entire building during those 3 days/2 nights.

Agree. Neighbors make all the difference between a good stay and a bad one.

 

[tb1972]

You experienced PVB first hand, now you can mark it off your list. A positive about the DVC is that there are resorts for everyone, we may not like PVB but others will.

Bill

Very true, Bill - there's something for everyone! In a way, I'm feeling relieved I didn't like the Poly due to the high point costs.

 

[js]

We also stayed 2 nights recently and LOVED it so much we're going back in a few weeks. Our room was very quiet (except for the boat horns) In fact I saw very few guests in the entire building during those 3 days/2 nights.

Agree. Neighbors make all the difference between a good stay and a bad one.

Funny you mention that about people. I hardly saw anyone either and thank goodness I didnt have any noise issues. Enjoy your stay!

 

[Amw1064]

We stayed our visit in a Poly studio on March 13th. We never saw anyone in our building either which I thought was strange. It was very quiet so that was nice. Out of the 4 of us, only 1 magic band would open the room door and a different one out by the pool. It was highly annoying if we wanted to get drink refills or buy food as we had a chair on the complete other side of the pool. We did like the room however the sliding door on our bathroom side did NOT slide which made it a little awkward. You have to lift it to close the door and it made it very loud and most of the time my daughter and her friend had to be let out of the bathroom if they got it closed. I called but nobody came to fix it and since we were only staying for one night I just dealt with it. I didn't want to wake everyone in the middle of the night so I had to just leave it open and hope nobody woke up. (which they didn't) I would stay there again but on a lower point scale. 23 points for a studio during the week was a bit much for nothing special.

 

[Boopuff]

We stayed at the poly last Oct in a studio. It wasn't nearly as roomy as I thought it would be and the bathroom situation is odd. I'd rather two toilets! Having a balcony helped give us extra room. And like others have said the resort is very quiet during the day. We were near the TTC so transportation was a breeze.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

I've never understood the allure of the Polynesian. I mean, to the point that it's the highest priced resort. That's strange to me, considering that it's not all that nice.

 

[jscottnc]

Some of the allure is nostalgia. Unfortunately when I compare today's Polynesian with the Poly of 10 years ago, it comes up wanting. It doesn't help that many of the buildings are over 40 years old and, IMHO, DVD build too many bungalows. Spoiling the view from Sunset Point (I think that is the name) was a bridge too far. I have stayed a couple nights in a deluxe studio (garden view) and I found the room comfortable enough and quiet (it was the off-season) but I was disappointed that the corridor outside the room looked like the same tired building. [Really guys? You gut and replace all the rooms but leave the halls untouched?] Lack of one bedroom villas is annoying but understandable; member dues are going to the upkeep of the bungalows. To hit an acceptable price-point for dues you have to contain cost somewhere.

 

[MikeyPants]

We stayed at the Poly for a week last May. I felt like I had a lot of positive experiences, but also a lot of negative ones, (and sometimes they were the same). I loved being able to walk out the door down a short path and hop on the ferry to MK, but I was not a fan of them blowing the horn way late into the night and first thing in the morning. The neighbors noise, as others pointed out, was definitely more noticeable than any of the other places I've stayed. The things that were mostly positive for me ended up being things that you don't need to stay there to experience: The Great Ceremonial House ambience and the restaurants and the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. Overall, I'd say that it definitely dissuaded me from adding on there, but I can see trying it again down the line.

 

[Shanti]

Not every resort is for everyone; so very true.

But the Polynesian always had room to room noise issues. Not having addressed this while the opportunity was there is borderline shameful. I understand you have to make money, control costs, etc etc, but some soundproofing measures are not that expensive. In my eyes, it is the smoking gun proof that the Polynesian was done on the cheap.

Sad since it is my favorite resort.

We stayed at the Poly Villas last year and loved the theming- so different from the generic beige that is creeping into other Disney resort rooms.

The noise issues are not unique to Poly- I've noticed room-to-room noise in almost every Disney resort we've stayed at (coughing, nose-blowing, etc. are clearly audible from the next room, as of course is arguing...) It seems to be a structural issue with the walls at Disney resorts.

 

[merrick]

for our first disney trip in '14, the poly was my first pick. the exotic setting made it feel like we would get a "beach" vacation with our "disney" vacation. little did i realize how little we would actually *be* at the resort. there were renos so i crossed it off the list - i didn't want a closed pool, less food options or worse - construction noise on my holiday.

we stayed at the contemporary instead and i found the rooms remarkably quiet. in fairness, we had garden view, at the end of a long "pier" and about as far away from the main building as possible. so we loved the quiet and privacy, but others would complain the walk was too far.

 

[Sue M]

We stayed at Poly last summer for 2 weeks in a regular room, not DVC. But we never heard our neighbours. Didn't have any problems.
I think with the new studios, a lot of the bedroom space is taken up with the addition of 2nd bathroom. The regular rooms with 2 queens have more living space.

 

[Tikiman]

Some of the allure is nostalgia. Unfortunately when I compare today's Polynesian with the Poly of 10 years ago, it comes up wanting. It doesn't help that many of the buildings are over 40 years old and, IMHO, DVD build too many bungalows. Spoiling the view from Sunset Point (I think that is the name) was a bridge too far. I have stayed a couple nights in a deluxe studio (garden view) and I found the room comfortable enough and quiet (it was the off-season) but I was disappointed that the corridor outside the room looked like the same tired building. [Really guys? You gut and replace all the rooms but leave the halls untouched?] Lack of one bedroom villas is annoying but understandable; member dues are going to the upkeep of the bungalows. To hit an acceptable price-point for dues you have to contain cost somewhere.

The hallways were completely gutted also during the renovation of the buildings. I have photos that you can see from one end of the building to the next with no walls inside the entire building, Everything on the interior was replaced.