Just back from a 5-night stay at Poly, first 4 nights CL. It was a relatively last minute decision to go and the only CL room I could get was resort view. As many of you know, some of our favorite trips have been on the lagoon side of Hawaii over July 4 holiday, so this felt very different being on the resort side of Hawaii.
There was no dedicated area on the beach on July 3 for CL guests, so our only option was to watch the show from the lounge. It was ok…nice to have a table and fairly good view. But we totally missed watching from our balcony and no way were we going to fight crowds for a spot outside. July 4 required wristbands for beach access and also had a dedicated area for CL guests, but July 3 was a free-for-all.
It ended up being a good thing that I couldn’t secure CL for July 4-5. The only room I found was regular TPV room, so I snagged it and we moved to Tuvalu in the morning on July 4 and we had a fantastic view! It rivaled the old view from Hawaii pre-bungalows. We still had use of the lounge, so I have some pics of July 4 food too.
So onto the lounge and food….this was our first stay back at Poly since Covid. As a family of 4, we found it super difficult to find a table in the lounge as most were for 2 people. I think there were only 3 (huge) spots for families of 4 or more, plus the long table with stools.
People were swarmed at the food station, so I only took pics of the food on our table. We are coming off an April trip to WL CL and a May trip to Portofino CL, so this Poly appetizer food wasn't as ideal to us…it kills me to say that. It wasn't necessarily the taste (because we actually liked most of the food), but we're not fans of the tiny plates. Poly had around 4 different apps on tiny plates each night, one big pan of what was I assume the kids’ option, no side dishes of salads or anything like that. Just the normal raw veggies and cheeses. Sometimes had pineapples or strawberries.
A really big plus was we loved Poly’s breakfast now! I’m so happy CL’s are doing scrambled eggs and sausage/ham/spam and sometimes pancakes and french toast sticks. Plus all the normal stuff.
Afternoon snacks were still blah as reported on here - just chips, nuts, m&m's, etc. Loved when they used to do the lettuce and chicken or shrimp.
Desserts were good! They had the tub of vanilla ice cream and toppings each night. Plus the normal little bites which were all pretty good, macaroons, and many cookies.
The kids' large pan each night was different: mac n cheese one night, chicken nuggets one night, hamburger roll-up one night, and July 4 had the corn dogs.
Onto pics now. DH sometimes combined the tiny plates to make easier to carry. The chefs stood right there watching and when someone took a tiny plate, they immediately replaced with another plate. They were super nice and I believe took pride in their creations. They did have many times when they couldn't keep up because it took a fair amount of time making each tiny plate.
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