Help me decide whic Poly room?

[Tinkerfreak]

I have a wonderful choice to make. Either standard garden view or concierge garden view. We love doing concierge and it looks like the Hawaii building is in a great location but we are not sure if it is worth the significant price difference for all of this. We have done concierge before so we know that it is not worth the money just for the snacks. I just want to be in a convenient location. I don't want to have to walk a mile to get to everything. Any ideas on what to request for a building or room if we do a standard garden view room? How would I make this kind of request? I know there are alot of Poly experts on here so I am sure I will get some good feedback. This will be our first stay at the Poly.
Thanks guys!

[SBETigg]

We couldn't justify the expense of concierge because I love planning on my own and we wouldn't be there enough to partake of the food and beverage offerings. But the view from that building across the lagoon is truly something.

We ended up in Rarotonga and loved the proximity to the GCH, plus we overlooked the quiet pool, could see the top of Space Mountain and a thin strip of lagoon (plus some fireworks) from our balcony, and weren't too far from the volcano pool or the TTC.

[pox24]

The best concierge in WDW. Great food and view from the lounge. The room will be facing opposite of the castle but thats ok, you just gotta walk around the corner to see the castle. They do have a concierge water view but I think the added $ is not worth it. Boy I wish I had such a tough decision to make. You're gonna love it!:thumbsup:

[Dicecatt262]

Love the Poly concierge, it is wonderful and the Hawaii building is close enough to everything. The preplanners are awesome, and even though we plan a lot of sit down meals, we loved the lounge for drinks and snacks desserts...

[Tinkerfreak]

If I go with a standard garden view room can I request a certain building or can I request to be close to the T&T center? If so how can I do this? Do I just let them know at MJ what I want and let them put the request in? I really would love to stay concierge but I am just really having a hard time justifying over $1,000 more. We usually do concierge at AKL but it is cheaper to stay concierge there so it was not quite so bad. We had decided not to do the dining plan because we felt that it was just too much food and we always felt like we had to worry about using up credits to make it worth it. It would still be cheaper to do the dining plan with a standard room than with a concierge room. I guess I'll have to talk to DH but every time I ask him he just says "Whatever you want Dear". Sorry to ramble on but as you can tell I am a bit undecisive and I'm getting really confuddled thinking about all of this.
Is there a bad building? I have heard of people being in a building with no elevator?

[SBETigg]

I'm sure the Poly concierge is great, but the dining plan and saving money is good, too. I haven't heard about any of the buildings lacking an elevator, and I don't think any of the buildings are bad choices.

Study a map and see what you like. Make your requests depending on what you want most. They're very accommodating if they can swing it. Tokelau, Rarotonga, Samoa, Tahiti- all good garden view locations. Fiji is right on the marina, but further away from the TTC.

[KarenP]

If you like the location of the Hawaii building but do not want to go with a concierge room, you might want to request Samoa. It is right next to Hawaii, very close to the GCH and main pool.

[Bruegge]

We did Poly concierge garden view in 2002.

I loved it. Now with the ADR's being so tough to get it's hard to take full advantage of the food served at the building ( for dinner).

We had ressies at a restaurant each nite and could have had a lite meal at the lounge instead...

Now its even harder. Some restaurants require payment for late cancellations.. CG for example.

At the lounge we had sushi one nite, fried catfish another, grilled pork loin the third nite..... wine was served... decent vintages, not just the real cheap stuff... Kendall Jackson Cab I remember was one...

If you are looking to skip a meal and eat at the lounge you WILL save some money, You just need to know what's for dinner first...lol

We didn't take full advantage (dollar savings) from the lounge meals but we did use it as an appetizer if you will....

I hate to cancel a ressie late... I think it's kinda.... cheating... so to speak..


We still ate at our reserved restaurants.. tooo much good food to pass up at the signature restaurants (We are big fine dining fans)

The breakfast is great..(when I was first I ran down and got a muffin and coffee before everyone else woke up)

You can go get what you want and take it back to the room or eat it there...

Great way to start the day. With the three of us it was easy for two of us to "start" and Mom to catch up after .... whatever she does in the bathroom for so long LOL..

You cant easily do that at a breakfast ressie.....

From a dollar and sense point of view... you CAN save money not using concierge... but I'm of the school that says "life's too short" live it up.... while on vacation at least...

Oh, My only regret was NOT get the lagoon view...Yes, more money but it would have been worth it since we only get to the world every few years...


Scott

[Aggie97]

For our recent stay at the Polynesian, I just asked very nicely at check-in if it would be at all possible to get a room near the GCH. We were in Rarotonga, which ended up being a fabulous and convenient location. I have not stayed in concierge - every time we book concierge, we end up deciding against spending the extra money and switch to a regular garden view room. I would not hesitate to recommend Rarotonga. :)

[gueli]

We will staying @ the Poly for the 1st time in sept...But I have been doing extensive reaserch (unoffical guide to WDW has lots of tips). Some of the people that have responded to my requests say that to walk from any building to the GHC or TTC is about 5 minutes. it takes at most about 10 minutes to walk the entire length of the grounds. There are some great maps here at intercot (which I found very useful). Also 3 of the buildings are 'newer' and have slightly more square footage ("some of the largest on the property"). I know 1 of these is Tokelau. aslo according to unoffical guide, some of the rooms at tokelau have a sideways view to the castle/MK.
For my family, the concierge was not worth it, but the dining plan was. our thought was at $39 a day might seem like a lot, but with the cost of meals for a family of 4, we would probably be spending more than that on some meals (per person).
Please check out TIKIMANS web site, it has a lot of helpful info (you can search the web for it). remember even a garden view at the poly could be a view of the pool. As far as your request, the easiest way to add it is directly on your reservations, but you can fax it (from what I have read, and do it at least 6 days in advance. You can get the phone # at the poly web site, or I think here at intercot they have a listing ). Last resort you can always make a request at check in.
I also had read that there is a building without an elevator, but there is a connecting building that has one. Again the unoffical guide helps.
Have fun.
:mickey:

[Tinkerfreak]

Thanks for all of your input. I think I have decided not to do concierge. It is just so much more and we would still have to pay for some meals. If I do standard room with meal plan at least all of our meals are paid for. I might make a room-only ressie for now and then add the dining plan later. I'm hoping maybe they will offer some sort of discount for the end of oct. If they do I'm sure Terrisue at MJ will be right on it for me.
Thanks!