Resort Thread Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

[kylenne]

I can't even imagine why they made things more accessible this year. I'm really tired of competing with non-guests for the spaces I'm paying for when I'm at a Disney Deluxe.
I'm sorry that it's negatively impacting your experience, @kylenne

I felt so bad for the CMs tbh. While walking back to the tower with that one family we saw CM having to pick up discarded towels, garbage. The disrespect for the property was clear.

I just saw a video on TikTok. I took screenshots. It looks like it was insane.



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It truly was insane because I cannot tell you how many people I saw getting turned away from the beach. Resort guests were outnumbered probably 3 to 1. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my Poly stays. And the resort simply cannot handle that kind of foot traffic. Y’all know I am not one to be bothered by crowds there but it was truly absurd.

I had a great time watching from the main beach, they really did an excellent job maintaining that area, but management severely dropped the ball. I think they had a significant learning curve with managing the tower specifically and tbh this is the first time I’ve really felt any kind of negative impact from it. People were literally camping out on the lawn out all afternoon. I felt overwhelmed in a way I never do at the Poly. The beach and pools were the only respite and the pools were closed due to weather until about an hour before fireworks. I overheard a number of guests mentioning talking to managers.

Just echoing some of the above comments about last night. Disney overall is not that crowded but to permit the polynesian to be overrun with non resort guests like it was last night is unacceptable. At one point last night they just gave up on mobile order for quick service, the grog grotto drink line stretched into the building. Dole Whip line was out to the pool. Just absolute madness and the facilities can't handle it. Then they line up about 30 fireworks cruise boats in front of the tower as well. Really devalues the property on what should have been a pleasant evening. Im in Tuvalu so was able to see both beaches.

I mobile ordered dinner from Capt Cook’s fairly early (like 7-ish) and even at that time there was nowhere to sit, anywhere. I had to go to the Oasis pool bar area to eat my food.

It really was outrageous and I’m speaking to someone about it. I’m not one to complain or raise a fuss but it really did feel like the resort was overrun, and I’m almost certain it contributed to my brain situation today (tl;dr I had an AuDHD meltdown in the queue for Smugglers Run and had to exit fast. I’m okay now, CMs really went above and beyond to help.). The only way I’ll ever do this again is CL but something has got to give.

 

[byurick]

Is this strictly a Poly issue currently since the tower is new so people flock to the cool new spot? Or are there issues like this at the Grand/Contemporary too?

 

[kylenne]

Is this strictly a Poly issue currently since the tower is new so people flock to the cool new spot? Or are there issues like this at the Grand/Contemporary too?

This was strictly a 4th of July at the Poly issue. People were literally coming over to the tower beach from the Grand bc it’s right next door. And it did not look like last night at any point during my May stay. It was because of the special fireworks.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Can’t speak for last night, but I just took a spin through IT and was pretty surprised how crawling with people it and the pool are. Granted a pleasant holiday weekend Saturday night. But still, one of those moments IT creates a a little different vibe around the resort. Not saying that necessarily as a good or bad thing, lots of people of all ages enjoying themselves and the Poly grounds and amenities, just an observation.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

May the Luau go on forever in Google Maps. Or at least until the next update. Interesting to see the current path on the former layout for this area.

 

[PolyRob]

May the Luau go on forever in Google Maps. Or at least until the next update. Interesting to see the current path on the former layout for this area.
View attachment 980868

Looks like you ran right through the stage! Poor Leilani!!

 

[DL1WDW2]

I think they learned to control issues for those peak holidays at the BLT / Contemporary Bridge by hosting pay per view dessert parties .
Also that bridge probably has weight/ wind gust / lightning restrictions to help control some of the madness BUT is is still stressful for actual guests.
I scheduled Contemporary for 2 nights for new Dream the Night Away Parade.
Guess I should be thankful the Parade is only ground level view inside the MK.j

I am sorry you experienced that. But thanks for report.
It’s interesting that DL can not have nightly fireworks during the week of school year. And Universal does not schedule big firework extravaganzas at all except to be part of the nightly water show or Harry Potter Castle background last night show on mountain.
The new EPIC even has water fountain flowing throughout the entire resort ( Las Vegas Bellagio style )…

 

[Mle8308]

I think they learned to control issues for those peak holidays at the BLT / Contemporary Bridge by hosting pay per view dessert parties .
Also that bridge probably has weight/ wind gust / lightning restrictions to help control some of the madness BUT is is still stressful for actual guests.
I scheduled Contemporary for 2 nights for new Dream the Night Away Parade.
Guess I should be thankful the Parade is only ground level view inside the MK.j

I am sorry you experienced that. But thanks for report.
It’s interesting that DL can not have nightly fireworks during the week of school year. And Universal does not schedule big firework extravaganzas at all except to be part of the nightly water show or Harry Potter Castle background last night show on mountain.
The new EPIC even has water fountain flowing throughout the entire resort ( Las Vegas Bellagio style )…

This is because DL is close to actual neighborhoods and apartment buildings, it's in the middle of Anaheim. WDW learned from that mistake and bought up all the land around where the parks were to be built. The MK is far enough away from residential areas that the noise from the fireworks is not too loud. Granted there has been a ton of development in the area behind the MK, but the MK was there first and it still has enough of a buffer zone. And it's actually a selling point for the new neighborhoods and apartments that have been built behind the MK, that they have nightly views of the MK fireworks.

 

[OKW Lover]

The MK is far enough away from residential areas that the noise from the fireworks is not too loud. Granted there has been a ton of development in the area behind the MK, but the MK was there first and it still has enough of a buffer zone.

Have you seen pictures of Anaheim when DL was first built?

 

[Mle8308]

Have you seen pictures of Anaheim when DL was first built?

I have, and Disney made the mistake of not buying that empty land! He learned when he was "imagining" WDW. As clearly the surrounding land isn't nearly as thickly settled as DL.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I've missed some, but have done Poly for the special 7/3-7/4 and 12/30-12/31 days for I think 8 years, maybe longer. There have been a few GMs and other managers during that time - it seems that each year there's always something about the setup that gets tweaked, someone comes up with a new plan, etc. Most over time have been for the good, in my opinion, but you see some stinkers.

I can't remember if the current GM started before 7/4 last year, I think it may have been after, but this would have been his first or second 7/3-4, and first since the Tower. Seemingly some growing pains that should be taken into account for next year.

7/3-4 and 12/30-31 are admittedly apples and oranges (two shows vs four, much longer duration evenings, different weather conditions, etc), although each has some similar elements in terms of the impact on the Poly guest experience and the stress put on guest resources and amenities. Some of the reports here were things you tend to see on these special days, some seemingly not - unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately because it was awesome) we opted for Epcot on 7/4 so I wasn't on the grounds to personally experience the evening.

The attached dark images were a few minutes before the 12/31 11:50pm show, FWIW, showing Island Tower waterfront crowds - which were pretty light. The daylight image was 35 minutes before the 6:30pm show. Note, it is normal for the fireworks cruises to stage in front of Poly for these special shows due to the additional fireworks launch points in the Lagoon.

It sounds like the IT beach was more of the popular place to be 7/4 and took on some of the crowds inevitably milling around the resort?

I was around the evening of 7/3, which to me felt directionally similar to the past - some bending, but not breaking conditions around the grounds.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

One thing I didn't necessarily like was leaving wristbands in the room regardless of actual party size. For NYE you had to visit the lobby and they put the bands on you. When you leave them in the room you open it up to possible abuse. I doubt anything nefarious would be all that widespread, but it's possible. Poly sees some "one guest books a room and invites a dozen friends" type of folks, who can be crafty.

 

[kylenne]

I've missed some, but have done Poly for the special 7/3-7/4 and 12/30-12/31 days for I think 8 years, maybe longer. There have been a few GMs and other managers during that time - it seems that each year there's always something about the setup that gets tweaked, someone comes up with a new plan, etc. Most over time have been for the good, in my opinion, but you see some stinkers.

I can't remember if the current GM started before 7/4 last year, I think it may have been after, but this would have been his first or second 7/3-4, and first since the Tower. Seemingly some growing pains that should be taken into account for next year.

7/3-4 and 12/30-31 are admittedly apples and oranges (two shows vs four, much longer duration evenings, different weather conditions, etc), although each has some similar elements in terms of the impact on the Poly guest experience and the stress put on guest resources and amenities. Some of the reports here were things you tend to see on these special days, some seemingly not - unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately because it was awesome) we opted for Epcot on 7/4 so I wasn't on the grounds to personally experience the evening.

The attached dark images were a few minutes before the 12/31 11:50pm show, FWIW, showing Island Tower waterfront crowds - which were pretty light. The daylight image was 35 minutes before the 6:30pm show. Note, it is normal for the fireworks cruises to stage in front of Poly for these special shows due to the additional fireworks launch points in the Lagoon.

It sounds like the IT beach was more of the popular place to be 7/4 and took on some of the crowds inevitably milling around the resort?

I was around the evening of 7/3, which to me felt directionally similar to the past - some bending, but not breaking conditions around the grounds.

7/3 seemed like a fairly “normal busy” night by Poly standards to me (like an average Saturday night, lots of people enjoying the resort but nothing extreme) though I spent the actual fireworks up in the tower terraces so I can’t really speak to on the ground conditions that night.

7/4 was a whole different kettle of fish though. As far as I can tell, the hordes of people who were getting turned away from the main beach either camped on the main lawn in front of the Lava Pool or, failing that, headed over to the IT beach because it wasn’t blocked off. And it really should have been tbh. It’s a lot smaller, and even at around 7 when I popped out to go get food, there were significant numbers of people camping out there, and on the lawn and courtyard area. I know it had to be worse later on.

At one point they opened up the resort launch dock because I remember looking up from the main beach and then all of a sudden seeing a swarm of people descending on it.

It really felt like management was unprepared, like there was a learning curve. Re: the wristbands, I agree with you, and how they did it really was kinda weird. Giving everyone the same number of wristbands regardless of how many people were in the room might have been easier logistically but really made no sense. I mean, I was in a duo studio, a room type that holds no more than 2 people, and they still gave me 4 wristbands. What if I was unscrupulous and decided to invite 3 of my local friends over to watch with me?

The more I think about it the more that whole situation bothers me. They should have just scanned people the first time on the spot and given a wristband then. Same as they did with the deluxe pools on Memorial Day.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

We returned home from our stay at the Poly (Tokelau) on July 2. It was our 4th stay there and our 1st with the tower open. All the common areas were noticeably more crowded than in the past. On previous trips, we never had trouble getting a table at Captain Cook's or getting a dole whip in less than 5 minutes. It had a laid back vide that we loved. This trip was different. Cook's was always busy and noisy, and the dole whip line was 30+ minutes after dark. They even had to post cast members at the end of the line at closing to turn people away. All this, and the parks themselves were not busy at all.

I'm sure having the added tower crowds contributed to the July 4th issues.

Edited to correct June 2 to July 2

 

[kylenne]

We returned home from our stay at the Poly (Tokelau) on June 2. It was our 4th stay there and our 1st with the tower open. All the common areas were noticeably more crowded than in the past. On previous trips, we never had trouble getting a table at Captain Cook's or getting a dole whip in less than 5 minutes. It had a laid back vide that we loved. This trip was different. Cook's was always busy and noisy, and the dole whip line was 30+ minutes after dark. They even had to post cast members at the end of the line at closing to turn people away. All this, and the parks themselves were not busy at all.

I'm sure having the added tower crowds contributed to the July 4th issues.

We checked out from the regular side of Poly on 6/3 and didn't actually experience those issues, which is why July 4th was such a shock to me. I only noticed one crazy line at Pineapple Lanai, on the one Saturday night (May 31st). Capt Cook's we were fine getting a table Sunday afternoon but tbh even before the tower opened that place could get crazy and we tended to avoid it at peak times. We were ok getting a table there the day that we left.

It wasn't the tower at fault for July 4th though, because the main beach area (the only part blocked off to nonguests) was perfectly fine with plenty of space to spread out. It was 100% nonguests crowding the rest of the resort. I know because I witnessed tons of them being turned back by CMs from the main beach and none of the people I saw camping out at the tower beach had wristbands on. Everyone who did was at the main beach. If it had just been hotel side/old DVC side and tower guests I would not have seen the crowding I saw elsewhere.

 

[Wojodis]

Just returned from a long weekend Poly CL stay and I’d have to agree that July 4th was complete mess throughout the resort—except where wristbands were required. We showed up to the reserved CL section on the beach about an hour before the fireworks and were able to easily find 2 seats together. Dakota was making red, white, and blue cocktails in the back—you could easily and freely move around—everyone was in good spirits—no issues at all. Once you ventured outside this area—it was a madhouse. The beach to the right of the club level area was packed. The lawn area in front of the Hawaii bldg was packed. There were multiple CMs as well as at least 4 security guards in the immediate vicinity attempting to keep order and the pathways clear. People were sitting, lounging, drinking, and smoking pretty much anywhere they felt like it. We actually got a bit nervous when we saw the crowd storming the boat dock, wondering if it was meant to hold all that weight.
Surprisingly though, I’m normally not a big fan of the Poly CL, but despite all the issues, it was one of the quietest and most peaceful stays I’ve ever had there. Go figure!

 

[teamsamant]

We were at Poly last year and now won't stay there and go to other resorts because it is a madhouse. All of the Deluxe suffer a little from non resort guests but nothing compares to the ridiculousness of Polynesian. This isn't just a 4th of July issue. If you want quick service food you will not get a seat, need to mobile order an hour in advance. Did the glow party, tons of non guests in the party. The Polynesian feels like an extension of the magic Kingdom, not a hotel.

This year at Grand Floridian we noticed an uptick of non guests during the fireworks hour too. So the problem is everywhere but Polynesian has it the worst.

 

[jillt2ph]

I was at the tower 7/2-7/7, and I will not be staying there again on the Fourth of July. The craziness started in the afternoon with the corridors in the great ceremonial house being difficult to work your way through. There was a line for people wanting into Captain Cook’s and then the line of people waiting to sign up for trader Sam’s. It was even worse when I tried to get to the monorail station around 6 PM. Because then you had everybody standing around, hoping to get into the taboo lounge or Kona cluttering up the upstairs level. And as mentioned by someone else, folks were already camped out having picnics on the little patch of beach in front of the tower. when I came back after dinner, but before fireworks, the monorail was full of non-resort guests getting off at the Polynesian to watch the fireworks. The sign they had up at the exit from the monorail was not even in a very visible place and people just ignored it. None of the people sitting in the chairs or at the tables in the tower lobby were wearing resort IDs. There were people pushing their strollers onto the landscaping where they should not have been. And people climbing around to set places where they shouldn’t be. It was a total turn off!

 

[pwdebbie]

Hi. New to this thread. Last night, I booked a 2BR villa in the tower for the beginning of December. I've only read a bit of the conversation here so far and I sure hope the holiday decor doesn't cause a repeat of the July 4 issues.

I usually stay at POFQ, and did my first Deluxe stay with my adult daughters this spring at Yacht Club. I'm coming back with my son and his family at Thanksgiving and we will start at POFQ, switch to the Island Tower, then finish out at AKL, Kidani, (another 2BR villa). Yeah, crazy me plans for three resorts over nine nights.

So here I am, ready to learn all about a resort I never dreamed I'd be staying at.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi. New to this thread. Last night, I booked a 2BR villa in the tower for the beginning of December. I've only read a bit of the conversation here so far and I sure hope the holiday decor doesn't cause a repeat of the July 4 issues.

I usually stay at POFQ, and did my first Deluxe stay with my adult daughters this spring at Yacht Club. I'm coming back with my son and his family at Thanksgiving and we will start at POFQ, switch to the Island Tower, then finish out at AKL, Kidani, (another 2BR villa). Yeah, crazy me plans for three resorts over nine nights.

So here I am, ready to learn all about a resort I never dreamed I'd be staying at.

Stayed in a 2BR this past December - loved it, so much space and the rooms are lovely. Enjoy your stay!