Official Poly construction update thread **updated video page 103(2/17/15)**

[xipotec]

I'm not sure why they are telling you this, because it's simply not true. Have you asked them to call and try? Like I said, I have done this many times and there has never once been a problem or issue. Maybe if they don't specialize in Disney they just don't know.

That is a good option, to stay in a standard room and upgrade your dining.

Yes, anyone can walk onto the beach in front of the Hawaii building and watch Wishes. Most of the time. They do check and only allow Poly guests at certain times of the year - 4th of July being one of them. But, generally anyone can watch Wishes from there. As far as the CL lounge - only Poly CL guests can watch from there.

Yup, get on that agent, or call Disney directly. Especially considering the construction. I do not think you will lose anything, except maybe you travel agent...which is why I never use them....

 

[MelissaTnNc]

Honestly, I'd call Disney myself. I moved a FD ressie twice after the deal expired and got to keep FD.

 

[kimysbug]

Will construction be complete by January 2015?

 

[Tikiman]

Will construction be complete by January 2015?

I was told by those working on the project that they did not expect everythign to be done until late 2015 or early 2016.

 

[Sue M]

Hi there,

A few days ago we booked up a 10 night stay at the Polynesian for what we thought will be our dream honeymoon, paying the extra money for a CL LV room (which I guess puts us in Hawaii).

Then yesterday we discovered the terrible news regarding all the contruction next to the Hawaii beach, and the possibility that the main pool will be closed, and there being disruption around the CRH.

Today we just don't know what to do. Should we save money and downgrade to a CL GV room (as you can watch the wishes fireworks from the CL Lounge anyway)? Or should we just change hotels and go the GF?

To further complicate matters we booked on the last day that you could receive free disney dining plans. Which means (and has been confirmed by our travel agent) that if we do change to the GF we will effectively be making a new booking and such will now have to pay for the disney dining plans!

We're kind of in a tricky situation here. It's our honeymoon, which we have saved long and hard for, and supposed to be one the most magical experiences of our lives. The Polynesian was hands down our first choice. But with all this construction and the probability that the main pool will be closed (!) we're really deflated about the whole idea of staying at the Poly now.

Does anyone have any thoughts / advice on our situation??

Your TA is mistaken. It wouldn't be a new reservation, and you wouldn't loose free dining by moving resorts. I've done it several times. And just did it again the other day after hearing about POFQ pool closure. Booked play, stay, dine, res # remained the same.

I've also changed BB bookings and discount was transferred to new resort. Not new reservation. They don't have to cancel and rebook as new reservation unless you are switching from package to room only reservation or visa versa.

The only thing is, with wdw discounts, all the rooms allotted for free dining may have been booked up. Wdw only allots a certain # of rooms for each promo. So it is possible there was no free dining rooms left at GF.
Having said this, if there are only 2 of you, we have found that the room discount and buying the DDP is cheaper. You'd have to price it both ways and see.

I hope you find what you want for your special trip!

The problem is regular travel agencies don't know much about WDW booking. When I use a TA for WDW, it's always an agency that specializes in Disney, and is a Official Disney Vacation Planner.

 

[wmoon]

Thank you for the replies.

Since my initial post I have called our travel agents (Thomson Holidays) and triple checked with them and they confirmed that if we switch hotels we lose the free dining plan.

However we are now also considering a third option: Stay at the Poly, but downgrade to a standard room in one of the other longhouses, away from the unsightly construction. And then upgrade to a Deluxe disney dining plan! So we'd be saving a ton of money, losing the food in the Club Lounge but gaining the extra food on the upgraded dining plan.

With regards to losing the view from the Club Lounge, anyone can just walk onto the Hawaii beach at night and stand there and watch wishes and get the same view, can't they?

That's harsh. Have you tried posting on their Facebook page? I called Disney uk the other day to ask about moving resort and they said all the conditions would stand if the price went down they would charge £50 amendment or no charge if it was an increase in price. So it's purely Thomsons that won't let you do it not Disney.

We stayed at the Poly this summer and loved it but have chosen the Yacht Club for next year due to the construction.

Ask again, perhaps publicly using Facebook or twitter, stating Disney uk does let you do it. Hope you get sorted.

 

[CNYGuy]

We just got back from the Poly CL GV on monday. We had a wonderful stay. Barley had any impact by the construction and went back for naps and was still super quiet. We were in room 3521 over looking the quiet pool twords the construction end and still no noise. here are some pics I took from the lounge on our last day. And pics of wishes from the beach in front of Hawaii watching wishes.

Too funny! We were right next door in 3520 and also checked out Monday. Glad it was quiet for you too. We never want to be the noisy family next door.

Agree with your comments. Noise and construction a nonissue on GV side. Looking forward to going back when construction is done.

 

[Jennygt]

Thanks for all the great updates and photos everyone! Disney fan Dan I agree with the others, call wdw yourself. I think you need perhaps get a new TA.

 

[Disney Fan Dan]

Hey all,

My wife-to-be and I have decided to stick with the Poly, for better or worse. We feel really happy with our choice as we always wanted to stay at the Poly (she never really dug the GF's victorian theme).

But... we did downgrade from the Club Lagoon Room to a standard room and saved ourselves over £2,000 (which we can plug into our first home together). And we stuck with the Standard Dining Plan, as the deluxe plan would just be too much food for us. But hey, if we turn up on the day, tell them it's our honeymoon and they want to upgrade us to the Hawaii building for free... we wouldn't say no! But otherwise, we're happy to take an evening stroll down to the beach at night, from whichever Longhouse we stay in, to watch the wishes fireworks.

Can't wait! But I will be following this thread with great interest.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Hey all,

My wife-to-be and I have decided to stick with the Poly, for better or worse. We feel really happy with our choice as we always wanted to stay at the Poly (she never really dug the GF's victorian theme).

But... we did downgrade from the Club Lagoon Room to a standard room and saved ourselves over £2,000 (which we can plug into our first home together). And we stuck with the Standard Dining Plan, as the deluxe plan would just be too much food for us. But hey, if we turn up on the day, tell them it's our honeymoon and they want to upgrade us to the Hawaii building for free... we wouldn't say no! But otherwise, we're happy to take an evening stroll down to the beach at night, from whichever Longhouse we stay in, to watch the wishes fireworks.

Can't wait! But I will be following this thread with great interest.

That's great!! I think you and your wife-to-be will love the Poly despite any construction. Fiji is a great longhouse to stay in. It's right next to the GCH and you can request marina, it will still be a standard room, and that will give you a view of the marina, the GCH and the back of the volcano pool.

 

[wmoon]

Hey all,

My wife-to-be and I have decided to stick with the Poly, for better or worse. We feel really happy with our choice as we always wanted to stay at the Poly (she never really dug the GF's victorian theme).

But... we did downgrade from the Club Lagoon Room to a standard room and saved ourselves over £2,000 (which we can plug into our first home together). And we stuck with the Standard Dining Plan, as the deluxe plan would just be too much food for us. But hey, if we turn up on the day, tell them it's our honeymoon and they want to upgrade us to the Hawaii building for free... we wouldn't say no! But otherwise, we're happy to take an evening stroll down to the beach at night, from whichever Longhouse we stay in, to watch the wishes fireworks.

Can't wait! But I will be following this thread with great interest.

Sure you will love it. We did. We stayed Tokelau and loved the location, very handy for everything.

 

[jandkmom]

Hey all,

My wife-to-be and I have decided to stick with the Poly, for better or worse. We feel really happy with our choice as we always wanted to stay at the Poly (she never really dug the GF's victorian theme).

But... we did downgrade from the Club Lagoon Room to a standard room and saved ourselves over £2,000 (which we can plug into our first home together). And we stuck with the Standard Dining Plan, as the deluxe plan would just be too much food for us. But hey, if we turn up on the day, tell them it's our honeymoon and they want to upgrade us to the Hawaii building for free... we wouldn't say no! But otherwise, we're happy to take an evening stroll down to the beach at night, from whichever Longhouse we stay in, to watch the wishes fireworks.

Can't wait! But I will be following this thread with great interest.

I'm with the others...you won't be disappointed. For all of the stress about the construction, Disney does a good job of trying to contain their work as much as possible so the guests can have an enjoyable experience. We were at the Poly a few years back when a freeze killed much of the tropical foliage. It was still a beautiful place. Our favorite! We will be there in CL in a couple of months. When do you go?

 

[TeacherDL]

We are planning our trip in May 2014. Is the construction supposed to be over by then? We have never stayed at the Poly but we would love to try it, but I don't want to if things will be closed. (I'm sure this information is somewhere in the threads, but I'm having a little trouble sorting through all the information.) Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[maiapapaya]

We are planning our trip in May 2014. Is the construction supposed to be over by then? We have never stayed at the Poly but we would love to try it, but I don't want to if things will be closed. (I'm sure this information is somewhere in the threads, but I'm having a little trouble sorting through all the information.) Thank you for your help in advance.

From what we've heard, the construction is going to go on well into at least 2015. The bungalow construction is off to one side of the resort, but based on reports, unless the schedule changes, the volcano pool will be closed in May 2014 (for most of the year) and there will be work going on, in stages, in the GCH as well (they do not plan on closing the whole building, but working on sections at a time).

 

[Sue M]

I'm with the others...you won't be disappointed. For all of the stress about the construction, Disney does a good job of trying to contain their work as much as possible so the guests can have an enjoyable experience. We were at the Poly a few years back when a freeze killed much of the tropical foliage. It was still a beautiful place. Our favorite! We will be there in CL in a couple of months. When do you go?

I think we were there the same January! 2010. We were lucky and arrived just as the cold snap ended. Signs were up all over the resort plant beds, Excuse our appearance!

 

[Sue M]

Sure you will love it. We did. We stayed Tokelau and loved the location, very handy for everything.

We loved Tokelau too, but since it's right next to Tahiti construction we decided to try the other side of the resort for August.

 

[margaret07013]

From what we've heard, the construction is going to go on well into at least 2015. The bungalow construction is off to one side of the resort, but based on reports, unless the schedule changes, the volcano pool will be closed in May 2014 (for most of the year) and there will be work going on, in stages, in the GCH as well (they do not plan on closing the whole building, but working on sections at a time).

Where can I find any info about pool being closed in May 2014? How can I confirm it with Disney? We are planning to go in first week of May 2014 but pool being closed would put plans on hold for us.

 

[toddh618]

Where can I find any info about pool being closed in May 2014? How can I confirm it with Disney? We are planning to go in first week of May 2014 but pool being closed would put plans on hold for us.

the info is in this thread. closed for resurfacing in jan. then reopening and closing again in march for several months for reworking of the volcano slide. when i called to book for next june the CM semi-confirmed this. my daughter looked at the slide/pool at the GF and she gave it her blessing.

 

[Sue M]

Where can I find any info about pool being closed in May 2014? How can I confirm it with Disney? We are planning to go in first week of May 2014 but pool being closed would put plans on hold for us.

You can also check out Tikiman web site. He has a great web site on all things Poly, and has construction updates.
My understanding is that when the pool closes, they will run a shuttle to GF pool. We stayed at GF last August and like their pools, so we did go ahead and booked Poly for this August.

 

[margaret07013]

I can deal with construction - thats not the problem. During the day you are in the parks and even if kids need a nap - they are so tired that nothing bothers them. they simply need sleep.

I can deal with GCH being closed. also not a problem. sure its not the same.

but pools are where I would draw a line. with two small kids just to have them go to the water for 1-2 hrs needing to take a shuttle - why not stay at GF in the first place?

You can also check out Tikiman web site. He has a great web site on all things Poly, and has construction updates.
My understanding is that when the pool closes, they will run a shuttle to GF pool. We stayed at GF last August and like their pools, so we did go ahead and booked Poly for this August.