Reviews of Polynesian Village Resort (Deluxe Resort)
Reviewed by mv9393 Review Date: 08/27/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
Myself, wife and 2 children stayed at Poly from July 23-30.
From the negative criticisms below I’d like to make people aware that we were not AT ALL affected by any construction and I have NOTHING negative to say about our stay.
Did the pool close out last 3 days? Yeah, but we are there on vacation to go to the parks, not do something we can do at home. Also to note as I have written the site multiple times however the tip has not been posted, while the main pool is under construction, you are not only able to head to Blizzard Beach but you are also allowed to use the pool at either Grand Floridian or Contemporary.
The Captain Cooks pop up worked great for us…
We were nestled in the Rarotonga building on the 3rd floor which we requested before arriving. Room was ready when we arrived via Magical Express at 1030am.
We could view the fireworks from our deck but we preferred taking the short walk to the beach.
We splurged this trip as we were celebrating so the steep price we paid (even with 30% discount) was tough to swallow. But there is certainly something to be said for staying at a monorail resort. While I prefer our trip 3 years ago at Bay Lake, this place was very convenient and as I have stated prior, I have nothing negative to say about Poly.
Pros:
Location, Monorail, LocationCons:
NONEReviewed by Environmentalist Review Date: 07/23/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
Our family spent 11 nights at the Poly in June 2014. We had three rooms, with a total of 11 people. We had requested ground floor rooms at Niue, but ended up at Tuvalu, which was initially disappointing, but ultimately a fine choice for us.
Our view from our ground room was nothing special. It was standard view, which meant that we saw part of the marina, a lot of flora, and Fiji. Yet being on the luau side of the resort also meant we had little to no construction noise or issues. We also didn't hear the luau in the evening, probably due to being in the marina side of the building.
Our room was clean and spacious. We had special medical requests, which were followed throughout the course of our stay. The pool, GCH, and transportation options were all a quick walk away. The walkway to the TTC changed several times while we were there, but was not a big problem.
Obviously, the plus for being at the Poly is the proximity to the MK and monorail to Epcot, the theming of the grounds, and the excellent cast members. All of those were plusses for us. Location-wise, we were easily able to pop out of our door to watch the fireworks or the electrical water pageant on numerous occasions, which was a lot of fun.
The pool area was a lot of fun - it will be interesting to see what they do with it after it reopens. One piece of advice. Try to get to the pool when it opens at 9:00, if you're not going to a park that day. We had the pool and the slide to ourselves for over an hour, with the first people outside of our family arriving an hour later.
There were a few negatives: Construction in the GCH meant that we couldn't enjoy the full beauty of that building, as well as the ground surrounding it. The refrigerator in our room overheated on several occasions and was actually hotter inside than the room. The biggest annoyance was the automatic door at the end of Tuvalu. You could go out of the building, but not re-enter, even with a magic band or key. We reported this problem on the first day of our stay and continued to report it every other day after. It still wasn't fixed when we left eleven days later.
Still, all in all, the Polynesian is a great place to stay. I would definitely go there again. The price is steep, but with a 30% discount, it was more manageable.
Pros:
beautiful grounds, great pool, theme, transportationCons:
construction, refrigerator issues & automatic door maintenance/repairReviewed by dbfromcincy Review Date: 02/28/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
Sorry to hear the last poster had significant issues. Looks like they may have worked out most of the bugs.
Received my second choice on location (Fiji) which was very good. Room, mousekeeping all very good with no issues at all.
Magicband worked no problem at room or paying for anything at Kona cafe or captain cooks.
Concierge was extremely helpful for my issues.
Biggest drawback was the walkway to the TTC is right along the contruction for the Vacation Club so there is a 6+ foot covered fence next to it. There are a few stretches which end up being fairly dark (one of the tiki lights is not working either). You may want to turn on your smart phone flashlight, at least my kids did. Heard no noise at all from the construction.
Pros:
location and themingCons:
construction work impacts some of the viewReviewed by mane62656 Review Date: 12/16/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We occupied 2 rooms at the Polynesian from Dec.1 to Dec. 7, 2013. First let me say the location is amazing. I am so very disappointed in this resort. From arrival to departure everything was so messed up. We were told we had connecting rooms which we did not. I can live with that although I made the reservation in July. We spent an hour everyday at the Concierge getting fast passes since we could not do them ourselves. They could not get our rooms synced together so we got reservations for only one room not both. We had 2 adults and 1 child in both rooms so that did not work well for us. We could not have breakfast in the hotel during our entire stay. We went to the Grand Floridian and the Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast. We could not have dinner in the main dining room the entire stay. We had the dining plan. After breakfast the first morning at the Grand Floridian I found I did not have charging privileges to my room. So that was another hour at the Concierge. They had to reset my pin and after that the other adult in my room lost her charging privileges, yep, another trip to the Concierge.
Every employee told us how incompetent the last employee was that helped us and said they were so much better at doing the job. Problem is, not one of them got it correctly. We spent and hour or longer everyday at the Concierge desk. Our room was not cleaned properly. I mopped under our sink and took pictures of black dirt on the washcloth I mopped with. There were visible cobwebs when you walked in. Our building entry was not cleaned the entire time we were there. I never once saw or heard a vacuum cleaner.The elevator had mud all over the floor and the walls were filthy. I am amazed to find this is a deluxe resort. There was no signage to the building we occupied. A tiny sign was right in front of the building but no other signs were there. I still don't know how we found the building. I have stayed at Port Orleans and Dixie Landing and I must say these resorts are 10 times better than the Ploynesian. Now that I am home I would like these issues addressed but I am having a problem finding who to contact. If anyone knows I would appreciate your letting me know so I can address these to the correct people so something can be done. All in all we had a nice trip but most likely won't be going back to Disney. Will stay at Universal next time...
Pros:
LocationCons:
everything elseReviewed by jim61vik Review Date: 11/22/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
Just finished our first stay at the Polynesian resort. We stayed 5 nights from 11/13 to 11/18/2013. After some research (thanks to Tikiman) we chose the Niue building because it's close to the central meeting house with all it's amenities and the monorail. This was an awesome choice for us. Very short walks to CMH, pool, monorail, bus stop and even a moderate walk to the TTC.
The ground level room was spacious and clean, housekeeping staff was great. My daughters (10,17) and wife were very happy with our ground level room.
Bus waits to other Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom were the standard wait up to 20-30 minutes. Buses were definitely not as crowded as when I've visited during the summer. I don't think I ever had to stand during a bus ride.
Food at the Poly was good, tried Ohana breakfast, Kona and Capt Cooks for those late nite snacks. The new refillable cups were a bit of a challenge to get the hang of but once we realized you have to have the base on the stand to fill the cup it was no worries.
The monorail broke down while we were there and my wife had some trouble getting to a brunch at the GF. Eventually someone explained how to use the boat to get over there and that worked fine. Seemed to have a couple issues with the monorail which was a shame as that was one of the main reasons we chose the polynesian for it's ease of transportation options.
The construction going on was no issue, in fact a couple of the contractors were friendly enough to point us down the right path one day when we were walking to the TTC to catch the epcot monorail.
I enjoyed the Poly and would stay again, although I will try another resort next time, wife wants the GF I want the Wilderness Lodge we'll see....
Pros:
LocationCons:
Trouble with the monorailsReviewed by melody Review Date: 11/13/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed from Oct. 31-Nov. 9 and had a fabulous time! Grounds are gorgeous, cast members are so friendly & willing to help and remodeled rooms were nice. Would definitely recommend to everyone!! Can't wait for the Villas to be built.
Pros:
Great location, beautiful grounds & nice roomsCons:
noneReviewed by DisneyJunkie Review Date: 11/01/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Despite the hefty price tag, my wife and I have always loved staying at the Poly. Between the rooms overlooking Seven Seas Lagoon with a view of nearby Cinderella Castle and the monorail station right there at the resort, it really has so much of what we personally look for. The rooms are spacious and comfortable; the restaurants are among the best on property, and the overall South Pacific tropical paradise theme is terrific.
Pros:
Great views. Fantastic theming. Monorail.Cons:
ExpensiveReviewed by disneyhardin Review Date: 10/25/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
We stayed at the Polynesian the first week of October and it was fantastic.
The resort is just beautiful. Especially at night when the tiki torches were lit all along the pathways.
We had a ground floor, King room in Rarotonga and the location couldn't be beat. The quiet pool was right outside our patio doors and the main building was just across the walkway. The room was clean and housekeeping did a great job while we were there.
The Volcano pool got a little crowded in the afternoons, but the quiet pool was practically empty. We did go down to the pool area two evenings to watch the fireworks and that was really fun. The pool bar is open and you can get a drink, pull up a chair and watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
This was our first stay at the Poly, but won't be our last. We are already planning a return trip next fall.
Pros:
LocationCons:
—Reviewed by Ebersole2 Review Date: 08/11/2013
Rating: (10) Recommended
Throughout my childhood, my grandparents, parents and I stayed at the Polynesian Resort. When my now husband and I decided to pick our honeymoon hotel, we picked the Polynesian because it had played such a special role in my family history. As our trip approached, I was a bit concerned that the Polynesian would not live up to the magical memories I had from yesteryear, that my husband would “get†why it was so special to us. I worried for nothing. The Polynesian was exactly the way I remembered it – which, in this case, is a very good thing! The resort still has that magical, “neverland†feel – the feelings that you have truly escaped off the mainland to this lush, romantic jungle. Everything about the place was incredibly clean and the continuation of the island theme in every nook and cranny is absolutely incredible. We stayed in Tahiti which was the perfect remote longhouse for honeymooners (away from the kid-centered activities and the pool), but a perfect, less than 5 minute walk, to the monorail station. We had romantic dinners in Epcot every night, and we were on-time every evening. Through it will probably take us till our 5 year anniversary to save up for the Polynesian again – it IS a pricey resort, I don’t think we would stay anywhere else.
Pros:
Everything about the place was incredibly clean and the continuation of the island theme in every nook and cranny is absolutely incredibleCons:
It is a pricey resortReviewed by plt964 Review Date: 08/04/2013
Rating: (9) Recommended
My husband, son(8) and I just completed an 8 day stay at the Polynesian. We have visited Disney almost every year for the past 12 years. The first few years we stayed at Pop Century and for the last several years at Wilderness Lodge. This year we were able to afford the Polynesian due to a 30% discount that Disney was offering. We loved our stay!
The room was much larger than those at the Wilderness Lodge (can sleep 5 with the pull out sofa). Being on the monorail was great. We preferred the eating choices (Kona and Cap'n Cooks) over the choices at Wilderness lodge. It was a treat watching the night parade and the fireworks from the pool beach area.
The only reason that we give the Polynesian a 9 instead of the 10 is the cost. The price difference can pay for our food (and maybe more) over the course of the trip. Although the extra space was nice, it was not needed for a family of 3. If we needed sleeping for 5, the Polynesian would be at the top of our list.
