Religious Services end at the Polynesian

[MrShiny]

Keep in mind tha Mry Queen of the Universe is not a paris - it is a shrine dedicated to travelers. As such and as these were the priests who celebrated Mass, I really dn't think it was their choosing.

 

[kimmar067]

...mass at the Poly on Sunday, and it was wonderful. Originally, we had planned to attend the 8AM service, but when we called the Poly the night before to confirm, it had been cancelled, and the only option was at 10:15 AM. Now this, too, is being cancelled? Too bad; Luau Cove was PACKED with people ~~ it was "standing room only"! And, it was the first time I actually got to see the Poly first-hand. (I previously only got glimpses of it from the monorail... ) We WERE going to attend the shrine the day before, but who wants to pay $25 for a taxi when we could attend services for free on-site???

 

[reggie92762]

I just called the resort directly and was told this happened because of a shortage of priests. They were very nice about it but explained there was nothing they could do. They gave me the email to complain wdw.guest.communications@disney.com

 

[ptrbryant]

Hmm, if that's the case, then why have the Protestant services been cancelled as well? Plus, it was my understanding that the priest(s) who celebrate the Mass at the Poly are priests from Mother of the Universe Shrine...it's not like a priest was assigned solely to the Poly. Sorry, but it doesn't add up to me.

 

[reggie92762]

I agree there is something not adding up. Since I posted my brother in law and I have both called and gotten three different responses. One, no priest available. Two, renovation of the luau site where mass is held. Three, I can't remember now....we were told that at the last mass 800 people had to be turned away because of overcrowding. I also asked since they cancelled these services would they provide complimentary transportation to and from church and the answer was no. It is a shame. I wouldn't mind if it was my sons and I but we are with a group of 9.

 

[Patabel]

It's true that the priests are from the Shrine. However, if just one of those priests are reassigned to another parish because of need (which happens all the time and can be anywhere), then there wouldn't be an extra one available to go to the Poly. The Masses at the Poly were a nice convenience for us Catholics at WDW, but the primary assignment for those priests is the Shrine. In light of the nationwide shortage of priests, I guess I find that answer very, very believable.

As for the Protestant service...I have been there waiting for it to end in order to attend the 10:15 Mass, and the numbers of folks who attended were very small in comparison. It's possible that if they were eliminating one denomination, they would just eliminate all.

 

[DawnCt]

Originally posted by ptrbryant
Hmm, if that's the case, then why have the Protestant services been cancelled as well? Plus, it was my understanding that the priest(s) who celebrate the Mass at the Poly are priests from Mother of the Universe Shrine...it's not like a priest was assigned solely to the Poly. Sorry, but it doesn't add up to me.

My guess is, if they have had to cancel Catholic Services because there is a shortage of priest, perhaps they feel compelled to cancel all services to be equitable. I can hear the outcry now; "It isn't fair that there isn't a Catholic mass while the Baptists get to have a their service".

 

[DebbieB]

I attended the Protestant service 3 times and each time I don't think there were more than 20 people at any. The last time the Pastor said he had to leave early for the church picnic, so he was going to skip some hymns.

They had to be making alot of money with people having breakfast there before or after the services, plus they would also stop in the shops.

 

[MrShiny]

I find the shortage of priests excuse very fishy. Has anyone gotten a response from the shrine? These Masses were well atended and appeared to do a decent job raising both funds and awareness of the shrine. I would expect they'd cut a Mass at the shrine before they would cut one the oe at the Poly.

 

[MauraAndIainsDad]

I too am very disappointed because I'm not a big fan of the Shrine. At each Mass that we've attended there, the priest has spent more time soliciting money to pay for the church than he spent on his homily. We were planning to switch back to the Poly Mass this year.

I don't buy the priest shortage excuse either - maybe it's just here in Atlanta but we are having priests ordained left and right. I just don't see a shortage problem like we had 10-15 years ago.

 

[ducklite]

I think it's a lot of factors, none of which are to make people pay for a cab to drive off property, or to have them stay off property, or to deter terrorists, or some of the other reasons stated above.

Some factors:

There was pressure by other religious groups to be able to offer services at WDW. Some of these groups are not "mainstream", and WDW was in a bit of a pickle. They didn't want to be called discriminatory, but they also didn't want certain factions tearing into them for "Supporting" non mainstream religious beliefs. They were basically forced to cancel all services. IMHO the biggest screamers about the non mainstream groups would have been the two groups who were already getting services. So WDW was in a no win situation.

The early Catholic mass didn't have huge attendance numbers. If you didn't have a car it was hard to get there. They had started to run "Church busses" from the resorts directly to the Poly on Sunday mornings, but that was costing money. I have no problem with Disney not wanting to spend the money on this. Fewer than .01% of the guests used the service, yet the cost had to be passed on to all.

The Protestant mass didn't do big numbers either.

There was some cost to WDW associated with offering the services, including clean up of the facility after the mass. Again, this cost had to be passed on to all guests for teh convenience of a very few.

Anne

 

[vickyBaby]

That's too bad. I guess I'll be going to the Shrine.

 

[Disneydenise]

I find any of the folks that don't buy the shortage of priests story fishy must not have been listening to the news lately. Here in the Trenton Disocese we have retired more priests than we have had ordained. It has been happening like that for at least 20 years. I hope they are ordaining alot of the southern boys because all the northern boys are marrying and having families and becoming Deacons. We have lots of those but only 3 priests in an active parish with over 10,000 active parishoners.
I too found that attending the mass at the Shrine was like attending a begathon. The shrine is lovely but you need to have a car to get there and back. I think it would run about $10.00 each way. I can't think many families will be able to give much more than $10 in the collection. It is a shame for the devoted to enjoy going to mass each week. I guess the Lord will understand. I wonder what they will do for the people vacationing during Christmas and Easter?

 

[Kellyh123]

When we went to the Mass in June we went to the 8:00 Mass and it was packed. Every seat was taken and people were standing. We went on the bus with a family who goes to Disney and the Mass at the Poly at least once a year. They said the whenever they went it was packed.

We were staying on property and there were no special buses for the Mass so I really don't see that there was all that much extra money spent. After Mass we ate breakfast at the Poly as did many other people. I actually think that Disney made money by having the Mass there. This really makes me sad.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Disneydenise
I find any of the folks that don't buy the shortage of priests story fishy must not have been listening to the news lately. Here in the Trenton Disocese we have retired more priests than we have had ordained.

We have 600 registered families in a very active church with one priest, plus a p/t deacon. Luckily we are near the headquarters for a missionary order, and we get a visiting priest from them every Sunday. 95% are from outside of the US. We've had priests from Africa, France, Spain, Portugual, various countries in Latin America, and more. Plus of course one from Chicago

Send some of those Southern priests up here to NJ. We're desperate.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Kellyh123
When we went to the Mass in June we went to the 8:00 Mass and it was packed.

I've never sen teh 8:00am mass packed, but then again I avoid busy times. They were definitely running "church busses" last August and December from the BW and AKL.

Anne

 

[randbmom]

the early Mass last year for Veteran's Day weekend was PACKED! We came over from CSR and later had breakfast at Kona Cafe. Although we had PS, the CM asked us if we had attended religious services that morning. I guess they were taking the survey to see how much impact the Masses/Services had on restaurant breakfast attendance. At a not so busy time, Kona Cafe and Ohana were jumping at breakfast. I guess it was not enough, though.
I think this is a real bummer. We have no car this trip, so the shrine is out, and we'll be there over two Sundays!

 

[Patabel]

I agree, while the Shrine is beautiful, the amount of time they spend on soliciting for donations takes away from the experience. Awhile back someone wrote about a local neighborhood Catholic Church down from the Crossroads intersection that was an option if you didn't want to go to the Shrine. I will see if I can find my notes about it.

 

[PamOKW]

A little background.....

Holy Family parish in Orlando had a pastor, Father Harte, who first began saying Masses for visitors to WDW at the Royal Plaza Hotel in the DD area. This evolved into the parish providing their priest and parishoners to conduct the Masses at the Polynesian. Father Harte saw the demand and was granted permission to establish a church solely devoted to the visitors to Orlando. He left Holy Family to do this. The church is the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. The priests from here continue to say the Masses at WDW and parishoners from Holy Family continue to help as part of their parish ministry. I realize the Shrine does spend a bit of time pushing for donations. However, the donations are what brought the church into being and continue to sustain it. There are no regular parishoners. They have taken a big hit in donations with the drop off in visitors to Orlando. Unfortunately, if they don't ask for help the Shrine could also cease to exist. Of course, no one is required to make a donation....just keep in mind how much everything else in Orlando costs and, if you can, budget something for the Shrine.

I don't think it's a lack of priests that caused them to cease the Masses at WDW. Since the Protestant service has also been cancelled, I think it was probably some "political pressure" that caused them to cease. It couldn't hurt to write and express disappointment that no on-site services will be held. I always thought that was pretty special.

 

[Zoo Keeper]

If you have transportation and would like to attend a mass somewhere other than the Shrine, try www.masstimes.org

They list addresses and mass times of all the Catholic churches in the area. We have gone to St. Mary Magdalen's in Altamonte Springs a few times. It was very nice and we were invited to coffee and doughnuts after the mass.