The Resort was GREAT, The Weather was HORRID!

[Tess]

We just got back yesterday late afternoon from our nine day stay at Polynesian GV Concierge (with one night at the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport). We just couldn't have been more pleased with our stay (not our first) in Hawaii and are already counting down the days until next summer's trip--who knows, we may make it back for a school band trip in April, too! I doubt that the band will be springing for concierge though!

The weather was horrid! The worst we've ever had in June in the 8 or 9 trips we've taken at that time. Sadly, for those going this week and next, the weather outlook isn't changing much for you. The weather we had for the entire stay was very similar to our August, 1995 trip (Tropical Storm Jerry). Rarely have I seen full day rain wash-outs--we had at least two on this trip! It rained everyday and not just those expected popcorn, afternoon time showers--I'm talking torrential. Not much would keep us from hitting parks, but we actually spent several evenings in the Hawaii building simply because it was way too wet to be out--not to mention the lightning strikes.

We saw very few hours of sun and too many days where the weather was downright chilly. What really bites is that while we were gone--we had only one evening of rain and 90s here and we have a pool! Aaarrgghhh! That doesn't happen often either.

If you have to be stuck inside or dodging raindrops between buildings--the Polynesian would be high on my list of places to do it! Everyone was exceptionally courteous (save one--he wasn't unpleasant, just not too willing to help with anything). Chef Dick was wonderful--he's got to be the concierge service's best ambassador! The food was good, although I'd have to say less plentiful than usual (I should also note that it was plentiful when Chef Dick was there but he was off a few days and things ran low--we did NOT run out of Bailey's though).

There's so much more to tell about a variety of topics--I just don't have the time right now--we came back to a nonfunctional television set (1.5 years old) and trying to find someone to repair it has been problematic--then there is that mountain of laundry! Yuck.

I will say the bus system from Polynesian remains the one thorn in my side--it stinks! I complain each and every year about it and unfortunately little changes with it! I will persevere, however. When we are on vacation I do not want to rent a car to drive to parks--further, a deluxe resort's bus system should be at least as good as the moderates and value! That's mho anyway. . .

I will try and report more fully later, if anything I've written sparks a desire for further information--just ask!

 

[jwfla422]

So sorry about the horrid weather. We're ready to get out the canoes here, but they're saying there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're supposed to get back to our normal June weather in the next day or so, you know those "popcorn" afternoon storms, etc...so they say. I wouldn't mind seeing the sun myself. It is a bummer though day after day at WDW when the weather is crummy

Glad you had a good POLY stay and that you didn't run out of Bailey's!!

I think every resort is having problems one way or another at one time or another when it comes to transportation. And, I can't agree more that it's really irritating when the deluxes lack in that area. We drive up but would normally park and not drive til we leave to go home. But, it's just so much quicker to hop in the car than take 2 buses to get to a resort (because you have to transfer somewhere). Next trip I plan to take advantage of valet. It wasn't an issue when it was just dh and I but now that we're on more of a schedule with dd it's easier to just drive.

Hope your next trip is "dryer"

 

[eeyore0062]

Sorry to hear about the lousy weather. We had a simular situation in January...cold and raint---ugh! Florida must be heading into a busy rainy season this year! I am glad that you were able to take great advantage of the concierge services, though!

 

[jeannej]

Sorry to hear you were in Florida when a tropical wave decide to visit. We are still under it's influence and beleive me it isn't any more fun to be stuck in one's house with kids on summer vacation.

When traveling to FLorida during the summer and fall, it is the chance you take. I am glad your expereince over all was a positive one.

jeannej

 

[DeeP]

Sorry to hear about the weather what a bummer, but I am glad you had a great trip dispite the weather!
I agree about the buses, the value resorts have the best bus service and the deluxe resorts have the worst! This never ceases to amaze me!

 

[mirlow]

The rain is definately a bummer, but it sounds like you did your best to deal with it. I bet you are glad you stayed in the Hawaii bldg? One of my favorite features of staying in concierge is the lounge. You can go and just hang out, especially on rainy days We will be there 3 wks

 

[hallie]

I was at WDW in August 95 during Jerry for our honeymoon!

We joked that EVERY ride was a water ride. That was some serious rain-lol.

 

[Beanie]

Sorry to hear about the yucky weather, but glad you enjoyed yourself anyhow!! Welcome back!!

 

[Belle5]

I have always bragged that a little rain wouldn't stop us at WDW.( We've even been there during a November hurricane.) That was until our September trip. It just didn't seem to stop and we kept getting chilled and were just tired of being miserable. We spent a lot more time than we would have liked in the villa.

 

[luvdzny]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, despite the rain. We just returned from AKL on the 21st and although we had a great trip, the rain did put a damper on some of the fun. Our town car driver that took us to the airport said that this is the most rain they have had in 150 years....aren't we lucky to witness such a historical event. LOL. We too spent more time at the resort then we had planned, but AKL is a beautiful resort to hang out at. I agree about the bus transportation at Poly. We stayed Poly concierge in November, and were not happy with the busses at all. Having only 1 bus stop is a mess, and we were there during a slow time. Oh well, welcome back to the real world.

 

[nolanzzz]

We were at the Poly from 6/15-6/21, and we were bummed about the rain too. I do have to say, though, that we did see almost everything we wanted at all four parks - the only thing we really missed was World Showcase at Epcot. Thank God for Park Hopper passes, the monorail and small crowds!

Did you find the park attendance to be low? We were very surprised - thought it would be very crowded. The longest we waited for a ride was 30-40 minutes one nite for Big Thunder Mt Railroad - all Fast Passes were gone. Otherwise we Fast Passed it and did just fine, or waited 10-20 minutes for everything. My hubby works for GM so we are able to get on Test Track at Epcot without waiting in line at all - what a treat!

We did manage to squeeze pool time in every day, too - in between showers and in the evening (except one nite when it just poured buckets ALL NITE LONG!). We all got burnt, so I guess we didn't need any more sun than we got!

I agree that the Poly was a great place to spend a rainy vacation - if I'm stuck in a room for hours at a time, at least I want to enjoy my surroundings. I also took my daughter over the Neverland Club a couple times before 4pm - this place is terrific! They let her play to her heart's content - no charge, as long as I stayed with her, and they even have arcade games you can play for no charge. I got reaquainted with Donkey Kong while she played with all the other stuff! Not as good as I used to be in college though !

 

[Tess]

nolanzz--we were at Poly concierge from 6/14-23/02. Did we see you? LOL I would bet our paths crossed at some point and we just didn't realize it! We actually left earlier (6/22) than planned because the weather on Saturday afternoon/evening was so bad it was obvious we weren't going to get back out. We skipped our evening at WDW and headed to the Hyatt Airport.

On a side note, the Polynesian staff is so great--I (guess we were in too big a hurry to get out of the weather), or the bell people--not sure which--inadvertently failed to load my WDW bag with airline tickets, phone, and other necessities of life into the limo when we left. I missed it when we were unloaded at the Hyatt. The Hyatt bell staff told me to immediately call the Polynesian bell services and speak with a manager. The Hyatt staff said that the WDW Resort was wonderful about getting things to their owners. That was certainly an accurate assessment. Within an hour I had my bag in my room! Thanks Lisa--you can't know how panicked I was when I realized those vital documents were not with my other bags at the Hyatt!

Park attendance was about the same as we've experienced other years--lighter early on in the week and building somewhat by week's end. The people that say the parks are terribly crowded during this time must be comparing them to January. We've never waited more than 10-20 minutes for anything during this time of year (we are experienced at it though and know better than to wait for long lines). We didn't really need Fast Pass much except on RnR, SM, and Splash. We did single rider's line at TT. That's not to say the lines weren't there, we just know to hit the parks at opening time and get things done.

I noticed the parks got really crowded in the afternoons--usually after 11:00 a.m. During this trip if you didn't get up and get at it, you were only rewarded with all afternoon rain for the most part.

The Polynesian itself was, or at least appeared to be, full. I know Hawaii was very busy! I'm going to quit singing the praises because there may soon be no room (at a discount) for us!

We spent a good deal more time at the resort than usual but, that said, we did everything! We slipped Blizzard Beach in on Wednesday (went early did it all except Summit/Slush Gusher) and got out when they closed the park due to lightning. We hit PI for the Comedy Club and Adventurer's getting out before it was the late adult crowd.

We kept all of our PS (at lunch) and only got completely drenched once when we forgot our ponchos. There were a couple of afternoons there where we tried to get gung ho and go in the rain, but the rain was simply too torrential. We've been there and done that before and now don't feel the need since we've spent so much time at WDW and don't have the "do it all" mentality.

Our kids spent rainy time at the various resort arcades--Contemporary, Polynesian, and Beach Club.

The weather difference this year is the length of the rain. It just kept coming down--we weren't blessed with those brief afternoon showers that are so typical of June. We, too, got in pool time each and every day--even if it was at night. We did not, however, get sunburned and were a little bummed that we didn't get the Florida "tan"--we already had a fairly good tan from home, but lounging in the sun around the pools is part of the vacation for us too. You just don't get the same happy feeling sitting under an umbrella while it's raining watching your kids swim in the pool.

All of the rain aside--I feel worse for those people the Orlando station interviewed at Daytona who had only planned beach vacations. They were the real losers--nothing worse than being crammed in a hotel room looking at an angry sea and torrential rain for most, if not all, of your vacation. The coast seemed to take a harder hit than we did at WDW. That's just one of the reasons we do Disney--there's always something to do regardless of the weather!

BTW, I did see a snake on the sidewalk at Polynesian--I'm one of those people who just "hate" snakes--I was doing the "dance" for a few minutes until it slithered on. I really don't care that it is more scared of me (or at least equally)--they are such gross creatures that I don't even look at them in books or on tv! Major yuck! This is my second snake sighting while at WDW (the other at GF).

Our mantra for this vacation was "There's always next year!" I'll be making those ressies (already have had HDD for over a year) along about October and looking for the AP (or better) discount!

I'm happy you and yours also enjoyed your trip--I'm trying to make time to do my restaurant reviews and our stretch limo report. Just too much going on around here right now!

Thanks to everyone else for the words of encouragement, sympathy, empathy, etc.! Weather aside, I wouldn't have missed my trip for anything!

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

it rained the whole time I was there, june 13-17. The airport was closed down on the day we came home so we sat in the plane for 2 hrs on the runway. I didn't like the rain but I look at it this way, I wasn't in hawaii or some tropical island on a bead, overall it was still a nice trip.

 

[Tess]

Take heart Gail T--there's always next year! Our new family mantra--you may borrow it if you wish!

The rain really was a drag--but I'm over it after several days in the hot, dry, weather here AND several hours by my own pool! It ain't the Polynesian, the view isn't as spectacular (although we do have a nice one), but it sure is hot and dry!

I've been working on our trip report--hoping to get it done soon. It might be helpful for those going to Florida soon since it will give you ideas on what to do in the rain. I understand it hasn't stopped yet! My Aunt and Uncle finally gave up (they have a home there and wanted to stay the summer) and went back to Ohio. She said a solid month of rain was more than they could take.

 

[nolanzzz]

Tess, if you were at the pool a lot we probably were there at the same time! How old are your kids? We have an 8 yr old daughter who wanted to LIVE in the pool!

 

[lolatuck]

My hubby and I are taking my sister to WDW next June for her very first trip to the world. I am really trying to make it special for her, and would hate to have out plans spoiled because of rain. I don't mind the rain too much, but if it just dumps for that long we'll miss out on a lot.

Just wondering if this is typical June weather.

Lola

 

[BevS97]

we were there June 1 - June 17th, and yes it did rain a lot, but it didn't spoil our trip. The were a few days when it rained most of the day, but generally it rained for a couple of hours and then it stopped. The last Sunday was pretty horrible - we had to drive down to Miami to catch our flight and I have never seen rain like it - I can imagine that it would have closed an airport. We had similiar rain one day at Epcot, other than that we didn't find the rain too bad - we just put on our ponchos and got on with it.
More than once it was raining as we left the hotel, and by the time we got to the park it had cleared up,

Bev

 

[Tess]

Lola--this is NOT typical weather for June. There are usually brief periods of showers in the afternoon or at night--nothing like the torrential downpours we experienced this year! Don't worry--this too shall pass and I'm sure things will be more normal next year--fingers crossed anyway! We're going back and you can't let the weather stop you at WDW! Our vacation time is too precious.

nolanzz--I've got a now 12 y/o daughter who lives for the pools! We were there a good bit--quiet and volcano both. Our daughter has long hair always in a French braid--blue 2 piece swimsuit (Hawaiian print) and our son is 14--wearing a floral blue/black swim trunks--tall and thin.

To all--I just posted a full trip report on that board--if you're interested in the gory details!

 

[padisneyfan]

Just back today from 4 day DCL and 7 days CBR. On the DCL the weather was great from June 16th to the afternoon of June 19 @ Castaway Cay when the rain moved in and the sunshine went away. We were at CBR 6/20-27 and I agree with the Tess it has been one of the worst weather wise. I was so cold and wet that I had to buy a long sleeve denim shirt and sweatshirt to keep me warm. We purchased umbrellas and had them with us each day, if nothing else I got my money worth out of the umbrella and long sleeve shirt and sweatshirt. Most days we did try to plug along in the rain and still had a good time. But there were a few nights that we called it quits early. Who would think that you would be wearing long sleeves and sweatshirts in Florida in late June.

 

[nolanzzz]

I love to people watch, so I probably saw you guys. We were one of the very few black familes at the Poly so we probably stood out ! My daughter is tall for being only 8 and wore a bunch of french braids and many different swimsuits, but her favorite was a two piece blue and red one. My hubby is tall and completely bald, and is often told that he looks like the basketball player Reggie Miller or Damon Wayans from that show called "My Wife and Kids." I'm tall and chubby and Puerto Rican. My hubby and daughter don't swim well, so they usually hung out at the end where the whirlpool jets and the mouth to the slide are.

I see you're from Michigan too! Are you on the west end? We're from Lansing, but have lived north of Detroit for almost three years now.