Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[cinderkelly]

We've never stayed at the Polynesian and currently have a standard view at the Polynesian Resort booked. I just noticed that we could get a deluxe studio standard view at the villas and bungalows section. Interestingly enough, the studio is a little bit less expensive. Which would you recommend and why? Thanks

I recently changed my Poly SV room to a studio villa. For me the main deciding factors were a bit more space, it's just the two of us ( DH and I) so one queen Bed is great, the split bathroom and the close proximity to the TTC. For my res it was $9 more per night, but worth it for us. It's a special trip for us so switching to a villa seemed like the way to go. This will be our first Poly stay so I don't have anything to compare the SV room to the studio villa but I sure am excited to try it out! Good luck with your decision!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Looks like we will be staying at the Poly for our 2017 trip. DH had a rude awakening staying off the monorail last week. Lol! Never again he said.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Looks like we will be staying at the Poly for our 2017 trip. DH had a rude awakening staying off the monorail last week. Lol! Never again he said.

Rude awakening?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Rude awakening?

He's impatient and didn't like waiting for buses every night when we left a park. Just spoiled POR didn't satisfy him on several levels.

 

[ABCastillo]

He's impatient and didn't like waiting for buses every night when we left a park. Just spoiled POR didn't satisfy him on several levels.

Mine says the same thing! Lol. We have become spoiled by the magic kingdom resorts I think. I still love POR though.

 

[maw]

He's impatient and didn't like waiting for buses every night when we left a park. Just spoiled POR didn't satisfy him on several levels.

Were there specific things or just that it wasn't as fabulous as Poly? Thinking about staying at POR in April, so worried about the buses and well, about a bunch of other things. I'm not good with change

 

[SaintsManiac]

Were there specific things or just that it wasn't as fabulous as Poly? Thinking about staying at POR in April, so worried about the buses and well, about a bunch of other things. I'm not good with change

He stayed at deluxe as a child and we stayed at the Contemporary for our honeymoon. Poly is my dream resort, so I am sure that's helping the decision.

As for POR we had no trouble with buses when we left the resort and our room was very close to east depot. Buses ran quickly and smoothly in the mornings. The wait for buses was what I expected after park close, but he just didn't listen when I warned him. We had issues with drivers switching shifts and taking forever and lots of ECV loading issues. I was ok with it, because I knew what to expect.

I am willing to try another moderate, but I won't stay at POR again. We had issues with check in and ME departure. Mousekeeping and bell services were great, though! Food court CMs were 50/50 rude and it took a long time to get food, but it tasted great! It's a beautiful resort and I am glad we tried it, but I won't stay there again.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Mine says the same thing! Lol. We have become spoiled by the magic kingdom resorts I think. I still love POR though.

It was hard to leave the MK resort area! We spend most of our time in MK, so it makes sense to stay there next time.

 

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

2 weeks from tomorrow and i will be back at the Polynesian!! I am so excited but also a bit nervous of the NYE crowds! This is a short 3 night trip(12/30-1/2) that my in-laws are paying for. A total of 19 people going. How crowded is the beach for the fireworks? Will they be enforcing for guests only and people with ressies there?

 

[maiapapaya]

2 weeks from tomorrow and i will be back at the Polynesian!! I am so excited but also a bit nervous of the NYE crowds! This is a short 3 night trip(12/30-1/2) that my in-laws are paying for. A total of 19 people going. How crowded is the beach for the fireworks? Will they be enforcing for guests only and people with ressies there?

Past reports have always had the beach VERY crowded for NYE. They do make a roped off area for CL guests.
Every year they say they are going to enforce Poly guests only on the beach, and every year, whether they don't end up being strict enough or just give up once the crowds overwhelm the CM's, the beach ends up crowded with non Poly visitors. Maybe with DVC now this will be the year they finally get a handle on things.
Good luck! Have a magical NYE!

 

[Ferrentinos]

2 weeks from tomorrow and i will be back at the Polynesian!! I am so excited but also a bit nervous of the NYE crowds! This is a short 3 night trip(12/30-1/2) that my in-laws are paying for. A total of 19 people going. How crowded is the beach for the fireworks? Will they be enforcing for guests only and people with ressies there?

We will also be there for NYE - I know that we will arrive later with a sleeping child in our stroller most likely - I'm not going to stress about having front row spots or anything - I'm sure that I will see the fireworks just fine! I'm trying to not stress about the crowds and just go with the flow as much as possible (which is REALLY hard for me!)

 

[finny1981]

Ok so I just booked the Polynesian for me, my adult daughter and my three kids Aug 20-27. There will be a couple days when the kids' dad well be joining us at the parks and visiting with the kids during "break time" at the Poly, but he is not staying with us because he will be down visiting with his parents and staying with them. My question is will we have any trouble with him going down to the pool with us for a couple hours on one day? We are registered guests and I know in the past he has joined us for some pool time at other resorts, but I also know the Poly has you scan with your MagicBand now.

 

[rcraw45425]

Home yesterday evening from three wonderful nights at the Poly. Room text arrived before we did that the room was ready. Only request I had made was close to elevator and room ready at arrival. 2nd floor Aotearoa, view as of the monorail but the building was quiet and we had very nice housekeepers. Up until the end we had good transportation mojo, short waits for boats buses and monorails until as usual, the boat to DHS from EPCOT (waiting through three ladings) and the never arriving bus "home" when we were leaving DHS on Sunday night and it decided to rain.

 

[Ferrentinos]

10 days until our arrival!!! Staying GV and interested to see where we are placed... Can't wait to enjoy Xmas week and NYE at our home away from home!

 

[mickeynut1]

Really looking forward to our upcoming stay, especially after a not-quite-stellar Thanksgiving stay at BWV It was our 4th time there and we loved all our previous stays but this one..........well, as I said, really looking forward to our first time at the Poly!

Sorry your stay at BWV wasn't the best, but I hope you have a great stay at the Poly .

We've never stayed at the Polynesian and currently have a standard view at the Polynesian Resort booked. I just noticed that we could get a deluxe studio standard view at the villas and bungalows section. Interestingly enough, the studio is a little bit less expensive. Which would you recommend and why? Thanks

I can't help as we've never stayed in a studio, but good luck deciding (although I think you'll have a great stay no matter which room type you choose) .

I'm thinking about not going to see Spirit of Aloha on our August 2016 trip since we've never been. We'll be staying at the Poly, so I had planned on spending an evening at the later show. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure. It's going to be hot, and it's not air conditioned. Also, we won't have a dining plan, so I'll have to pay out of pocket. I just worry that we would get there and be sorry that we didn't reserve it. Thoughts?

It's been awhile since we've been to SoA, but we enjoyed it. The show was a little cheesy in parts, but we thought the food was good and the fire dancers at the end were amazing! We were also on the DDP at the time, but I opted to pay OOP for tier 1 seating, which I'm glad we did as we had great seats right up front by the stage. The luau gets some bad reviews, but we enjoyed it and are glad we tried it .

Looks like we will be staying at the Poly for our 2017 trip. DH had a rude awakening staying off the monorail last week. Lol! Never again he said.

Congrats on booking the Poly for next year! We love staying on the monorail, too. The convenience of the monorail is nice, but we also love the ambiance of the MK resort area .

We have become spoiled by the magic kingdom resorts I think.

Us too .

2 weeks from tomorrow and i will be back at the Polynesian!! I am so excited but also a bit nervous of the NYE crowds! This is a short 3 night trip(12/30-1/2) that my in-laws are paying for. A total of 19 people going.

Sounds like an awesome trip! Have a great time .

Ok so I just booked the Polynesian for me, my adult daughter and my three kids Aug 20-27. There will be a couple days when the kids' dad well be joining us at the parks and visiting with the kids during "break time" at the Poly, but he is not staying with us because he will be down visiting with his parents and staying with them. My question is will we have any trouble with him going down to the pool with us for a couple hours on one day? We are registered guests and I know in the past he has joined us for some pool time at other resorts, but I also know the Poly has you scan with your MagicBand now.

From what I understand, it's up to the discretion of the CMs at the pool, so I would ask them on the day your DH will be there. With that said, I don't think you will have a problem. Hope you have a great trip!

Home yesterday evening from three wonderful nights at the Poly. Room text arrived before we did that the room was ready. Only request I had made was close to elevator and room ready at arrival. 2nd floor Aotearoa, view as of the monorail but the building was quiet and we had very nice housekeepers. Up until the end we had good transportation mojo, short waits for boats buses and monorails until as usual, the boat to DHS from EPCOT (waiting through three ladings) and the never arriving bus "home" when we were leaving DHS on Sunday night and it decided to rain.

Glad you had a nice time (aside from the transportation at the end) .

10 days until our arrival!!! Staying GV and interested to see where we are placed... Can't wait to enjoy Xmas week and NYE at our home away from home!

Have a great trip!

 

[cleopenn]

Ok so I just booked the Polynesian for me, my adult daughter and my three kids Aug 20-27. There will be a couple days when the kids' dad well be joining us at the parks and visiting with the kids during "break time" at the Poly, but he is not staying with us because he will be down visiting with his parents and staying with them. My question is will we have any trouble with him going down to the pool with us for a couple hours on one day? We are registered guests and I know in the past he has joined us for some pool time at other resorts, but I also know the Poly has you scan with your MagicBand now.

When we were there two weeks ago, one simply scanned their band to open the gate and everybody in the group walked in, not individual scanning of each person's band. I am normally not the type of advocate bending the rules but in this case, I can't see the harm in him joining you. Its one person who will likely be playing with the kids, not 5 people taking up loungers or somehow otherwise effecting guests enjoyment of the pool.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Ok so I just booked the Polynesian for me, my adult daughter and my three kids Aug 20-27. There will be a couple days when the kids' dad well be joining us at the parks and visiting with the kids during "break time" at the Poly, but he is not staying with us because he will be down visiting with his parents and staying with them. My question is will we have any trouble with him going down to the pool with us for a couple hours on one day? We are registered guests and I know in the past he has joined us for some pool time at other resorts, but I also know the Poly has you scan with your MagicBand now.

Surely it won't be a problem.

 

[DetroitAvant]

We were looking at the Art of Animation, but got a deal on the Polynesian for only about 15% more (thanks disboards!) so we're now staying in the Polynesian for four nights! Spent all evening yesterday watching videos of the resort

 

[huntwoof]

We are heading to the Poly on Saturday ... 3 days out Any one currently there, how has the monorail schedule been? Especially wondering about the early morning magic hours. Is the boat a better option ? Thanks!

 

[rcraw45425]

We are heading to the Poly on Saturday ... 3 days out Any one currently there, how has the monorail schedule been? Especially wondering about the early morning magic hours. Is the boat a better option ? Thanks!

We were there from Friday through Monday and had no monorail issues. Buses to AK were good too. The only real bus issue we had was home from DHS but that is every time we stay there as we share a bus with the Grand Floridian. Oh, and the boats to and from DHS from EPCOT were super crowded too, due probably to the Osborne Lights.