Pros and Cons of Polynesian

[goofy&tigger2]

We're thinking about staying at The Polynesian this year. Can you please tell us your likes and dislikes of the resort.

 

[mickeynut1]

We love everything about the Poly . The tropical surroundings are beautiful, the volcano pool is awesome with a dead on view of the castle, the beach is a great place to sit and watch the fireworks, the hammocks on the beach are great for relaxing and taking an afternoon nap, the rooms are big, and the monorail is very convenient to the MK . Our stay at the Poly was fabulous and we can't wait to stay there again.....the Poly was everything we thought it would be and then some....there wasn't anything we didn't like .

 

[DEA]

Our family has stayed there twice in the past couple of years. The pros for us were:
* On the monorail, which was very good with small children.
* Beautiful grounds
* Great views (we were upgraded to MK view the first year, and paid for it the second year, just so we would not be disappointed), and you can watch the Wishes fireworks from the beach, or from your room if you have an MK view.
* With the location, you definitely feel like you are on site in a way you might not in a resort that isn't on the monorail loop.

The cons are simple: It's pricey.

 

[think-like-tink]

Go check out my post....tell me why you love the Poly.It's got some replies over there. We too are staying at the Poly in August

 

[mmmears]

This is what I could think of. It's only my opinion of course.

Pros:
great theming
large rooms
great view of the fireworks from the beach
good restaurants
great access to the MK
good access to Epcot
lovely gardens
beautiful beach


Cons:
a bit spread out
iffy bus service to DTD, AK, DHS
$$$
pool is not big enough for the resort

 

[swald91]

Mmmears hit the nail on the head...although I don't swim, the size if the pool isn't an issue with me-I wish the laundry room had more working washers! Everytime the kids swim I do laundry & there always seems to be at least 2 or 3 washers not working....

 

[ols386]

The only cons I can think of are:

It is a bit pricey, but I still love it.

It is pretty spread out (especially if you have blisters on your feet like I did when I was there).

 

[mmmears]

Forgot to add a couple of Poly pros:

-- Dole whips at your resort!!!
-- 'Ohana -- we love having dinner here -- the have the BEST dessert
-- very easy to return to for a midday nap, rest, or swim

 

[Needafix]

Additional Pros - The smell, Tonga Toast


I miss Poly - I wish it wasn't so expensive

It's not a vacation until I start and end every vacation at the Poly - lots of nostalgia for me.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

The Pros are endless!


The only Con might be the cost. But if you're thinking of staying there that's probably not your main concern.
Become addicted like so many of us!!

 

[TJA]

The biggest pro for us personally is the location. Having the TTC right there for direct monorail service to both MK and Epcot is a GREAT perk especially when you have a large stroller.

The main con for us is the cost, but we feel the pros outweigh the cons, so we'll bite the bullet and pay the price.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

cons (that put us off)
No hot tub
Cold pool
Seperate buildings (we had a lot of rain)
Transport by bus patchy
Crowded lobby
Lots of non resort guests everywhere including the pool.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Main Pro: Lots of transportation options (Bus/TTC/Boat launch)

Main Con: Sharing bus w/ GF, longhouses not connected

 

[honeydiane1953]

The theming is great however the rooms with the decor is so dated. The price also is too high.

 

[gandycat]

People have hit on all of my pros. I do think that the grounds were my favorite, pictures don't do them justice. It was wonderful to have a balcony.

My cons:

The room was not luxery for the price we paid. It just seemed old and dusty. There was a thick layer of dust above all of the picture frames, bathroom mirror, along the baseboards, etc. Although, the beds were comfy.

I wish the rooms had a table and chairs instead of just the one chair and slide out table.

the shower heads were really low, I'm tall, it didn't make for an easy shower.

the pool was small for the size of the resort.

It was convenient to the monorail but when we were there it broke down 3 times which was a big pain.

We did have a great trip despite the room not being totally what I expected. I do think for how much you pay to stay there that Diseny could do some renovations and updates. I would like the style to be the same b/c that's important, just a bit cleaner and newer.

 

[lemondog]

I have only 2 cons:

1. Price. There is pretty much nowhere else on earth I would pay that much for a hotel room. Yet amazingly, I come back to the Poly every time, lol. I guess the pros really do outweigh the steep cost.

2. Size of pool AND the fact they don't enforce who uses it. The pool is not only small, but there are a TON of pool hoppers from the MK and possibly other resorts, which makes it ridiculously overcrowded on those hot summer days. I wish they would go to an armband system like SAB does. Or have SOME way of checking the people there are actual Poly guests.

As far as some of the other cons people have mentioned:

-The pool to me was almost too warm when we went in July. I have heard complaints before about the pool being too cold, though. Perhaps it's the time of year you go?? Although all the pools are supposed to be heated so I am not sure what's going on with that???

-It can be a pain that the rooms are in separate buildings, but we learned to cut through the other buildings in the rain so our "outside" time was minimal.

-I didn't feel it was too spread out at all. I guess it depends on what you're used to. We were smack in the middle of the resort in Tokelau and it was a less than 5 minute walk to both the TTC and the GCH. We were also steps from the laundry room and our car in the parking lot.

 

[Mr Nice Guy]

No cons, the Poly is great.
Guest families that think they don't have to clear their table at Captain Cooks and in the lounge I think most could do without.

 

[Disneylvr]

We love everything about the Poly, except the pool. It is way too crowded. Unfortunately that is a big deal for us since DD loves swimming.

 

[equinoxman]

We love everything about the Poly, except the pool. It is way too crowded. Unfortunately that is a big deal for us since DD loves swimming.

IMHO if you spend that kind of money to go to The Poly to spend a lot of time in pool why go to the Poly when you can stay/swim at the All Star resorts for 1/5 of the cost. I don't mean offend anybody but a dip in pool is ok, but I/we go to Disney and the Poly to do Disney.

 

[time4Mickey]

We absolutely LOVE the poly. The cost would be the only con for us but we have managed to get rooms with discounts so it hasn't been so bad. Funny some people don't like the idea of the long houses but that is part of what we love. It doesn't ever feel crowded except in the lobby at times. It has never been too bad at the pool when we were there and was warm enough in Dec 2008 for our kids to swim. We splurged last trip and got a LV club level and it was amazing. Kona is one of my favorite restaurants at Disney. We also like to ride the boat to the MK. Our next trip we had planned to stay at Bay Lake Towers but when the recent discounts came out I quickly switched to 2 rooms at the Poly. I wasn't really looking forward to the trip but now can hardly wait! We would never stay anywhere else if we didn't have to!