From: brenda@bookhouse.Eng.Sun.COM (Brenda Bowden)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: WDW resort impressions and questions
Date: 23 Dec 1992 22:28:51 GMT
Organization: Sun
NNTP-Posting-Host: bookhouse

We got back almost a week ago from our long-awaited first trip to WDW, and it
was everything I'd hoped it would be! I can't wait to go back.... 

I hope to write a trip summary when I get some more time, but with Christmas,
catching up at work after a 2 week absense, and a killer cold, it will have
to wait. I did want to quickly relate a few resort impressions, and ask a 
couple of questions.

We stayed for 5 nights at the Polynesian, then 3 nights at the Treehouse
Villas. I can't say enough good things about these places, except of course
about the cost. :-(  But with 40% off shareholder discount, it was almost 
reasonably priced. (I'm bummed out that their cutting back the shareholder 
benefits!) Despite the expense, I'd definately consider staying at either 
place again, if budget allowed.

The Polynesian was just *gorgeous*, much prettier than I'd expected. I took
the advice of another poster (from about a year ago) who recommended staying
in the first floor Tonga with a lagoon view. It was wonderful -- the Tonga
is right in the middle of the resort, and the lagoon view rooms are in front
of a beach. We could walk out of our room a few yards across a grassy area,
and be right there on the beach. Perfect spot to view the MK fireworks and
the water pageant!

The room itself was a decent size, with two queen beds and a daybed. 
Housekeeping came twice a day; once to clean and once for a turn-down service
and a handful of nightly chocolates. I'd seen pictures of the inside of a
room at the Poly, and it was (IMHO) very ugly, mostly done in horrible 
shades of oranges. To my pleasant surprise, our room was mostly greens and
browns, and considerably prettier than the picture I'd seen.

The only trouble we had at the Poly was minor trouble with room service. We'd
ordered coffee and hot chocolate to be delivered between 7:30 and 8:00 AM 
using the card you hang on the door the night before. By 8:15 it still hadn't
been delivered, so we called. They didn't even have a record of our request.
They apologized profusely, though, and said they'd send the order over now.
At 8:55, as we were about to leave, they showed up. Much too late, so we 
refused to take it. On a positive note, we'd ordered room service for 6:30 to
7:00 AM on another morning, and it was there at 6:45. The other mornings we 
just decided to run over to the snack shop (which was close) and bring back
coffees and hot chocolate. Cheaper, and we had it when we wanted it. In
retrospect, I'd consider bringing a small coffee-maker, and requesting a 
refrigerator to store milk. But a quick trip to the snack shop worked out ok
too.

The convenience of the Poly can't be beat. It's a short walk to the TTC, right
on the Magic Kingdom monorail, and has its own boat shuttle to the Magic 
Kingdom as well. If you're planning to walk to the TTC a lot (e.g. if you're
planning a lot of trips to Epcot and don't want to drive), request a room
on the TTC-side of the resort. 
 
The pools at the Poly are a bit small, but nice. They're heated and comfortable,
even for December swimming. My 4-year-old *loved* the water-slide. (Oh yeah, 
another advantage of the Tonga is that it's right between the two pools.) The
water slide is small, but great for a younger child. The towels available at 
the pool are small and thin; you might prefer to bring your room towels, which
are much nicer. 

On one of our days "off" (i.e. not going to any parks), we drove over to 
try the pools at the Yacht and Beach club. Stormalong Bay is *wonderful*; I'd
consider staying at Y&B just for the pools! They weren't going to give us
towels because we weren't Yacht or Beach club guests (they give thick, big 
towels, BTW), but my husband talked them into it since there was hardly 
anyone there and we were WDW guests.

While the pools at the Yacht and Beach club can't be beat, and this may be 
reason enough in itself to stay there, I was a little put off by the 
atmosphere there. It was kind of, how should I put it, too pristine and
sterile.... It's a beautiful resort, but I don't remember seeing much 
greenery (I loved all the plants and trees at the Poly). Also, I noticed 
several people who were very well-dressed in the middle of the day who just 
didn't look very *happy* -- frankly, several seemed rather uptight. Perhaps I 
just encountered an unusual number of exhausted people, or people there on 
business. When we got back to the Poly for lunch I felt so much more 
*relaxed* again. 

So this brings me to my first question: What do people who have stayed there
think of the atmosphere? It seemed too formal and uptight to me, but did we
just have an unusual experience? The book "Walt Disney World With Kids" rates
the Yacht and Beach Club an A+, and claims it is "not one iota fancy." Since
this wasn't our impression (the part about it not being fancy), I'm curious
to hear others reactions. If it's normally a relaxed and casual place, I'd 
like to stay there some day for the pools and convenience to Epcot. I wish 
we'd asked to see a room while we were there.

This is getting longer than I'd anticipated, and I have to get back to work,
so I'll post my other resort impressions (and hopefully a trip summary)
another day.

Brenda