[dab]

Well I've gotten the mountain of laundry done and everything is once again in it's place so I have some time to report on my trip. I'll make this an in depth report since Scanslonsgirl asked for all the details!!

I'll begin with the resort.
We stayed at the Polynesian in a garden view Concierge room. I can't say enough wonderful things about the staff and service we received!! Official check in was at 3pm but we were told ahead of time that the room I requested wasn't occupied so it wouldn't be a problem to check in early. When we arrived around noon, the valet called a bell hop to bring a club car to take us to the Hawaii bldg. for check in. We were so glad we didn't have to wait in the long lines in the lobby!!!

We were taken on a little tour in the club car and shown the volcano & quiet pools. When we arrived at the Hawaii bldg, the concierge staff (4 people) greeted us at the door with purple silk flower leis. Our bell hop took our luggage straight to our room and the whole registration process took less than 5 minutes. We got a print out of all the PS arrangements the staff had made for us... including Cinderella's Royal Table! They gave our daughter a sand pail & shovel with coloring book & crayons.

We got the room we requested 1528. Great recommendation from Stormalongbay!! A lagoon view would have been even better but decide to save the extra $80/night. Next time around, I might invest the extra $$. We loved having the ducks and bunnies come to our patio every morning. Warning, don't feed the ducks... they will invite all of their little duck friends and the whole place will know you've been feeding them! I think we counted 18 after our one and only feeding.

The Hawaii bldg is such a great location on the beach... very quiet and ultra convenient! On the map it looks like it is a long way from the Great Ceremonial House and monorail station but is really isn't. It was also not far to walk to TTC and take the monorail to Epcot! The boat launch was another great mode of travel, especially coming back when the monorail lines were longer! The dock is a very short walk from the Hawaii bldg.
The lounge was always well stocked and service was great. The offerings for Breakfast, snack & dessert seemed to be the same every day. The only thing that changed was the evening service.
Breakfast: (so convenient and great for a quick bite on the way to the park)
Cheese & pineapple danish, assorted pastries, mini blueberry muffins, bagles, english muffins, jellies, butter & cream cheese, Kellog's cereals (Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran, Cruncheroos, Corn Pops), oatmeal, melon assortment, bananas, oranges, apples, pears, coffee, tea, milk (skim & whole, chocolate if you ask), orange juice, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, bottled water.
Afternoon service:
cookies (sugar, oatmeal raisin & chocolate chip), bananas, apples, pears, oranges, tea, lemonade, guava/orange juice, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and bottled water. Candies in sand pails for the kids were always out at every service (Runts, candy coated chocolates & gummie worms)
Evening service:
one hot appetizer (varied from day to day but included items like chicken wings, pasta with marinara sauce, chicken fingers etc) cheese tray, crackers, melon assortment, PB&J uncrustable sandwhiches for the kids, same fresh fruits as b-fast, wines, same soft drinks as above, tea, lemonade, guava/orange juice, brownies, cookies
Dessert service:
a little variation but usually had bite sized cakes & tarts, cookies, brownies, cordials, soft drinks, lemonade, tea, guava/orange juice, milk, bottled water

The volcano slide is really cool... took my dd by surprise as it is very dark inside the tunnel but she fell in love with it after a couple of turns! The zero entry part of the pool is great. I found myself laying there and basking in the sun on many tired days after the parks! We loved the hammocks and swings on the beach! Oh, and the quiet pool was fun... the ducks swim in it and are so cute to watch. Only did that once, kind of thought that was unsanitary but still neat!

We spent every other day at the parks and planned the in between days to just relax at the Polynesian and enjoy the resort. I'm so glad we did. This was our best trip ever! On our "off days" I started the day out with a turn in the hammock while I watched my daughter build sand castles. I watched the ducks and the boats and was amazed at the beautiful view of the castle (the crane was gone by day 3 of our trip!)

The nightly turn down service was nice and always did something cute with my dd's dolls and left chocolate mints on our pillows. It was so nice to come back from the parks to find a treat!

At MK, a wheel fell off of my dd's stroller and we could not fix it! When we returned from the park that day the concierge gave us a very nice jogging stroller to use for the entire trip free of charge. We could take it to the parks or anywhere we needed!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Ohana's (daughter loved the hula hoop contest, hula lesson and coconut races) and Kona Cafe was great... Tonga Toast for b-fast only once since we had the lounge for free breakfast!

Water mouse boats were fun but not fast enough for my hubby! DD had a blast though!

Nightly water pageant was neat and fun to watch from the pool! Fantasy in the Sky was awesome from the beach especially since it started raining and we were ready to get out of the MK!

What a great trip!

[mickey]

Dab, glad you had a great trip. It sure sounds like the concierge service was a big plus for you. If anyone from the Polynesian is reading this, I will be checking in on December 12 for two nights, and I would like to be upgraded to a concierge lagoon view please. Thanks! :p

[Dana]

Oh Dab! I am so happy for you. What a wonderful trip. It seems as though it was absolutely perfect. The days off in between must have been a blessing instead of the commando version of Disney I always end up doing. I think I may want to take a day to smell the roses. Swimming with the ducks? LOL My DD would have been thrilled. She's an animal nut...just like her mother. Lisa should be pleased and even more excited than she already is once she reads this great report.

One question (don't laugh) what is Tonga Toast? I have seen so many posts referring to it and have no idea what it is. Is is like french toast? I am going to have to mosey on over to the Polly and find out I think. Is there any other place in WDW that has this or just the Polly?

Anyway, glad your trip was great and I hope mine is just as good. A little over a week left for me.

(BTW...glad the crane was gone after three days. Was it there for your breakfast? )
:)

[mickey]

Dana, Tonga Toast is only served at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian. It is a very thick slice of sourdough bread, split partially in half, and stuffed with bananas. It is then cooked like french toast on all sides and coated with sugar and cinnamon. So sweet don't even think about syrup.

By the way, if that doesn't sound real good to you, they have other wonderful choices as well, definitely the best breakfast on property.

[Dana]

That sounds awesome....I love bananas....I have to go there for breakfast.. Since my daughter made me cancel alot of our Ps's I have many meals open now. Do you need to have a PS? The sound of it makes me hungry. My picky eater DD may even like that one.

[jgriff2388]

Dab, sounds like you had a wonderful time, but you can't have a bad time at the Polynesian. I've stayed there several times and always want to go back for more. This resort definitely gets better with age.:)

[mickey]

Originally posted by Dana
Do you need to have a PS?

While I wouldn't say you need one, I would suggest you get one. I would suspect you could call the day before and get one any time you like.

I have eaten there about 6 times, and every time, we make a PS for about an hour and fifteen minutes before MK opening. We get done, hop on the monorail and are there for rope drop. Every time we went, when we are leaving, there is a huge line and about an hour long wait. Nothing like sitting in a line for breakfast while the parks are open.

[Scanlonsgirl]

OUTSTANDING REPORT DAB!!! :D

WOW they greeted you at the door with purple leis, you must have felt like royality!! :)

And you can watch the Water Pagent come by from the Pool! GREAT IDEA!! I think you and I have the same idea about relaxing at WDW, I"m sure I'll be sitting in the same spot of the zero entry pool reading a book some mornings!

Everything sounds wonderful! We just can't wait! We were thinking that we wouldn't have to get breakfast other then the lounge since we tend to get up a little later. Our plan is that Patrick ;) my hubby will get up and go get us some grub and then come back to the room and we will get up as we feel like it. LOL We are planning on late night fun at Pleasure Island this trip.

I'm so glad that the staff helped make your trip wonderful! That is great about your stroller and the special stuff for your daughter! I'm not going to anticipate anything but participate in all the fun i'm sure we will have!

DAB thanks so very much for the great review! and for getting it on the boards so fast! We all know how crazy it is when you get home from vacation! Now not only myself but all who read will know how great it was!

Take Care Thanks again!


Lisa :) aka Scanlonsgirl

[quartz7]

Dab,

Great report!! Makes me want to be there now!! Don't know about the ducks though LOL. You had a patio room, right? If you really had the extra dollars would you stay in the lagoon view rooms? Why?

Thanks

Janelle

[critter1]

Dab.
I loved reading your report on the Polynesian. It made me want to go back! My DH and 3 DD's stayed in the Hawaii building at the end of May and had a great time. We were supposed to be in a garden view room, but were upgraded to a lagoon view due to the first room having a very strong odor! The previous guest might have had a "few too many" the night before, but their accident landed us in a great room!! I can't say enough about the staff in the Hawaii building...they go way beyond typical customer service. Of course now the challenge is to top that experience next time we go to WDW. Hmmmm maybe Concierge at the Animal Kingdom? I guess I need to start saving. :)

[dab]

Thanks everyone. We really had a wonderful time and I still have more to post. Hope to get around to it some time today.

Originally posted by quartz7
You had a patio room, right? If you really had the extra dollars would you stay in the lagoon view rooms? Why?

Well Janelle, the lagoon view rooms in the Hawaii bldg. have an incredible view of the seven seas lagoon and the castle. If you are in a patio room (which is what I prefer) you could walk right out onto the beach... great for the days when you want to stay at the resort to play. There are a few patio lagoon view rooms that might have obstructed views (also might be some on 2nd & 3rd floors due to palm trees) but the ones in the center of the bldg. would be the best. We loved our patio room because it was easier with the stroller and because we could access our room throught the sliding glass door if needed. Our garden view was nice and the grounds are well cared for but the beach... ahhh that's my favorite!
Lisa, I hope you have a WONDERFUL trip!! Eat some sugar cookies for me!! I think I'm going through sugar withdrawls!! Time to get back on the treadmill!!

[dab]

Oh, another thing I wanted to add about the concierge staff... I think they have ways to get you PS arrangements that are already full. For instance, we wanted to go to O'Hanas one night and walked by the hostess stand around 5pm to have our name put on a list (line already assembled out front). They said it was about 1 1/2 hr. wait. We walked bk to the concierge desk and asked for a PS and we were told 5:25. When we went back to O'Hanas and told them our names we were taken straight to our table (a really good table too!) I don't know if the concierge made a difference but we didn't mind as long as we got in!

[Donna B]

Great report, glad your family had such a good time. We are also going to try to rest every other day. I think my 2 DS's are alittle young to do commando, plus I would also like to take some relaxation time. Glad it worked out for you. Can't wait to hear more when you get a chance.

[dab]

Originally posted by Dana
One question (don't laugh) what is Tonga Toast?
(BTW...glad the crane was gone after three days. Was it there for your breakfast? )
:)

Hey I just saw the recipe for Tonga Toast in my last issue of the Disney Club newsletter! So, Dana if you have it maybe it could give you a better idea! Of course I don't think it would taste the same at home but I might give it a try! Sorry I missed your question before... yes, the crane was gone by the time we had our b-fast at CRT! That pixie dust works! Thanks guys!

[Dana]

I don't think it would be quite the same Dab. I am a horrible cook on top of it and I wouldnt wan to ruin what might be the best thing since sliced bread. I will have to try it there and just eat it at WDW. That will be just one more excuse for me to go back again.