We had a quick trip (3 nights) to the Poly as part of a college tour (10 days including going to California). It was myself and DD (19) and DS (17). Hubby sat out this trip due to his bad back.

We had not been to the Poly since 2013, my DS and I had been to the Beach Club in 2014 and we enjoyed the hotel. Although we always travel to Disney in November and knew this would be a different trip, I was looking forward to seeing the Polynesian.

We had a 6:00 a.m. flight on Jet Blue (love this airline). Landed safely at MCO around 9:15 and after a wave of our magic bands walked onto Magical Express.

We had done online check in but I did not sign up to just get a room text and bypass the desk. I love the interaction at check in. We walked into the lobby and I liked seeing the Castle, the Poly “smell” was not quite as strong but we noticed that at night it was stronger. The kids missed the waterfall.

My magic band did not seem to register at the desk, but after a few back and forths I was checked in. Room was not ready but they did tell me I was away from the quiet pool construction. We left our bags with Bell services and off to Captain Cooks for some breakfast. The kids enjoyed the waffles and Tonga toast. We started to be seated outside but they were doing some construction in the area so we moved inside.

Off to MK! I had done room only (with discount) and bought 2 day hopper through Disney separately. They looked like they were linked to my Magic Bands but I brought the tickets anyways. Our Magic bands did not work at the gate so used the tickets. The women suggested that I go to guest relations at some point. I thought maybe I did not activate them (magic bands) but pretty sure I had. Not a huge deal.

We went on our favorites, CoP, People Mover, then made our way over to Pooh (the first ride the kids ever went on at Disney). When we came out of the ride I had a voicemail from a live Disney person saying she noticed we had trouble getting into the parks. She let us know she fixed it and would not have to do anything else. Now that is customer service!

Ran through a quick downpour and on to Philarmagic. Headed to our first FP on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (no issues with the bands) which my DD had never been on. She enjoyed it. A ride on Small World and headed over to BoG for lunch.

We had to wait in a quick line on the bridge but since we pre-ordered we were quickly escorted in to get a table.

We love everything about this lunch, the food, (turkey sandwiches), the atmosphere (we ate in the main dining room) and the cast members were very nice.

On a side note I noticed some teenage girls jump at the doors where you see the snow falling. They unlocked the doors (locks were on the top so they had to jump up). They opened the doors and went to look inside. I don’t know what they were looking for but I thought it was inappropriate. It seem to the trend of the week of guest actions making me scratch my head.

We head out to our FP for TMR, we then decide we want to go back to room (just got a text with room number) and give up our Splash FP knowing we will be back in a couple of days.

We received the room number but had no idea what Longhouse we were in (we did not have a map) so stopped at the front desk and they let us know we were in Fiji top floor. We had a nice room of the Marina and our bags were in our room. We could hear the music from the Trader Sams patio which I really enjoy. I could literally sit on the balcony the whole trip and listen to that music and watch the sights.

Kids decided to nap and I went to hang by the pool. The new area looked nice however I did not like the fence around the pool especially near the beach. I felt very disconnected from the view and the beach area. Also the trees on the island seem to block the view of the castle more and more each time we go back.

New pool chairs were much more comfortable then the previous ones.

My DS magic band did not work for room, went to desk and they fixed it. Said it was deactivated, not sure why it worked in parks? We had no further issues however.

Head back to the room and we go off to the Studios for EMH. We had FP in a couple of days for ToT , TSM and Star Tours. Our goal tonight was to get on RoR and GMR. We were able to do this pretty easily and enjoyed the new end of the GMR. We also got on ToT which is great as usual. I don’t know how I feel about the pre-recorded voice on GMR.


Overall thoughts – Magical Express is still great. I love not having to drive. Parks were clean, and crowds were manageable. So many rude guests, at times I think there are language barriers but flash photography, not going to the end of the row and standing up on rides before told to, cutting in line were all things I had witness which I don’t typically see.
The Poly is still #1 in my book due to location and atmosphere. Of course I probably wouldn't stay without a discount!

Tomorrow – Uber, and Downtown Disney