Thursday, September 12, 2013

Polynesian Concierge

    
      The Polynesian's concierge lounge had been located at the Great Ceremonial House in the King Kamehameha room since it's inception in the early 1990's.  This was the first Disney resort to offer concierge services to it's guests.  The room was fairly small, and included a few desks with cast members there to make dinner reservations and cater to the guests needs.  There were a couple couches and chairs to rest your tired feet.  The food options were minimal with pastries and coffees and such during the morning, cookies as well as various sweets and beverages available throughout the day.  This service was available to all the Lagoon view rooms at the resort. The King Kamehameha lounge does not exist anymore as it was swallowed up by the sprawling Boutiki gift shop.


    In July of 1994 the concierge lounge was relocated to the Tonga (now called Hawaii) longhouse, which required major modifications to the building.   The west end of the building was remodeled to include a three level "wing" with desks on the lower level for guest services.

  
    A second level that housed the kitchen area and main seating area as well as a big screen tv,  before big screens were the norm.  I watched many a Super Bowls here as that was the time of year that we would head down.  My family would usually stay in some other longhouse and my grandfather would somehow get us access every time we went.  A smooth talking son of a gun.

I swear there used to be a bigger tv than this
   The third level was a more quaint area that included a seating area with books to read and a couple of tables with checker games set up that used shells as chips.


     This area also had a single men's and women's bathroom located upstairs, which was very useful when you had a family of five and only one bathroom in the room.

     The food options were vast throughout the day.  Breakfast included many pastries, muffins, breads,  cold cereals, fruits, juices, and coffees.  Lunch was more snack like options and small sandwiches.  And for dinner they expanded to include many different options that varied day to day.  Sometimes there was sushi other times there was chicken wings.  Foods that were pretty filling and you could substitute for a meal if need be.





      In the evening there were also adult beverage options for a little night cap.  Or come down and have a drink before you head out for the night.  Maybe off to Pleasure Island to celebrate the New Year?  Options included beer, wine, and various liquors.

Dick, the famous personality of many years.On the left.




    I feel like the concierge experience used to be an added bonus to your stay at a nice resort.  Now it seems like people are trying to "get their monies worth" when it comes to this offering, which has lead to more of a cafeteria experience than a "lounge" experience. There have been many changes to this area since these pictures were taken, and I hope to document them on my upcoming trip for reference.  Disney has added more table seating and removed the couches to allow for more families to eat their breakfast and get to the parks and spend more money.  The food offerings seem comprable to what they used to be, but the atmosphere is definitely lacking compared back in the late '90's when I actually used to hang out here and watch old Donald Duck shorts.  Or the great programming that used to be shown on the Disney Channel.  I am glad I got to enjoy these offerings when it was in its prime.    Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to get a lot more of my WDW info and pics out to the masses soon.