Your Review Of The Polynesian

[CSN2001]

I have always wanted to stay at the Polynesian. I have been there many times going to Ohana, but I was wondering your thoughts what makes it better than a value resort.

Not counting the obvious - Monorail and being close to Magic Kingdom.

 

[Kwaschitz]

We stayed at the Poly on our last trip. I've always stayed in the moderates, so I can't really compare it to a value, but I can tell you what I felt made it better.

The first is obvious: LOCATION!! In addition to the monorail and ferries into MK, the location gives such great evening viewing for fireworks, the electrical water pageant...movies on the beach.

Second: LOVE the pool! The zero depth entry, the games for the kids.

Third: DOLE WHIP EVERY NIGHT!!!!

Fourth: Fun little touches, like the leis being handed out in the lobby, etc.

Fifth: Did I mention... DOLE WHIP EVERY NIGHT!!!!

And even though you said excluding the monorail in this, but this isn't a "pro monorail" one here... it's the lack of need for buses the majority of the time.

I didn't feel a huge amount of difference in the room quality from CSR...a bit bigger - full futon/couch in the room, larger bathroom, but the sink is inside which in my family means less privacy in the shower because someone will have to brush teeth or pee while I'm in there *every*single*time* so I'm not sure the larger bathroom is such a plus

 

[DebbyLof428]

My favorite thing about the Poly would be the lush tropical feel of the grounds. The view of the castle while sitting on the beach is unbeatable. The cast members are very friendly, always greeting you with "Aloha". I love the torches and tiki gods. You can go to Magic Kingdom on the monorail, launch or ferryboat. It's a short walk to the TTC for the Epcot monorail. The rooms are very spacious(although in need of updating). All the restaurants are good. Yup, I'm a Poly person. I think that once you try it you'll be hooked.

 

[poly princess]

Personally, I love Polynesian is like being in Hawaii.
Calm, peaceful, tropical lush gardens, and beautiful pools.
Its so great!

Poly

 

[Sfmarine]

You can get Dole whips at the Poly?

 

[mansionmama]

You can get Dole whips at the Poly?

Yes you can! At Captain Cook's QS. And boy, did we make a bunch of trips to the GCH just for that!

I've only stayed at the Poly once, but it was absolutely paradise for me. It's all beautifully landscaped and lush. The water feature running through the grounds is very calming, like you're on your own private island.

Our room in Tahiti was on the second floor with a balcony. Good to relax there between park visits. We had a standard "garden view" room and it was very spacious, had two sinks, perfect for our family of 3.

Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful, and efficient- from lobby staff to housekeeping, to restaurant staff.

The winner for me though was the beach in front of the Tahiti longhouse with the hammock view of the castle. Just amazing.

 

[Sue M]

Yes, Dole Whips in Capt Cooks!

I haven't stayed at the values, but have visited. It's like comparing apples to oranges. A motel vs a Hilton.

Our room was huge, we were in Tokelau long house. Balcony. Beautiful grounds,the landscaping is so lush, and beach, great pool and slide, can watch Wishes from the beach. Better dining options, 2 of our fav TS are here Kona and 'Ohana.
Great transportation with boat or monorail to MK, and it's a short walk to TTC for Epcot monorail. Only have to take bus to 2 parks.
Beautiful lobby, the entire atmosphere is so different from the value resorts, which are more motel like. It's the intangibles like atmosphere, and how you feel when you enter the Poly that is hard to describe. For us there's just not the wow factor entering a value.

 

[ben1993]

Third: DOLE WHIP EVERY NIGHT!!!!

:O SOLD! Haha, the Poly really is amazing, it's on my bucket list.

 

[CSN2001]

You can get Dole whips at the Poly?

Yes, you can. You also get your own, so you should have enough for a few people. Every time I get some, I always have people commenting on how high I get it.

 

[hgeisler]

I am not a Poly lover:/ It took us forever to check in. Our room was very dark. I was surprised, because I normally like kitschy type stuff,but to me,in this case, it just looked dirty. Our building,Tahiti,had dingy carpet, and the elevator looked like it belonged in a parking garage NOT a deluxe hotel. We had a view of the castle,but it was hard to see through the trees. The dining there is great though. However,we stayed for two nights, and transferred over to the Contemporary for the last 5 nights of our stay.
We loved the CR!! The view was amazing. The staff was attentive. It was in our file that it was an anniversary trip, and they gave us buttons. Something the staff at the Poly didn't do. The food there is also great

 

[Sfmarine]

I still haven't had the pleasure of enjoying a dole whip yet but I will be sure to this trip. Even better now knowing it's a short monorail ride away from the GF. The line at Aloha Isle is always wrapping around the side like Ollivanders @ IOA.

 

[CSN2001]

I still haven't had the pleasure of enjoying a dole whip yet but I will be sure to this trip. Even better now knowing it's a short monorail ride away from the GF. The line at Aloha Isle is always wrapping around the side like Ollivanders @ IOA.

Yes, it is. Aloha Isle does not give you near as much as you can get at the Polynesian.

 

[CSN2001]

I am not a Poly lover:/ It took us forever to check in. Our room was very dark. I was surprised, because I normally like kitschy type stuff,but to me,in this case, it just looked dirty. Our building,Tahiti,had dingy carpet, and the elevator looked like it belonged in a parking garage NOT a deluxe hotel. We had a view of the castle,but it was hard to see through the trees. The dining there is great though. However,we stayed for two nights, and transferred over to the Contemporary for the last 5 nights of our stay.
We loved the CR!! The view was amazing. The staff was attentive. It was in our file that it was an anniversary trip, and they gave us buttons. Something the staff at the Poly didn't do. The food there is also great

Yes, I noticed that about the carpet, when I walked through one of the buildings. I was thinking it may be like that in the room, but was not sure.

 

[CR88]

First let me say that I wasn't expecting much, or at least I was prepared for the worst. We just stayed there a couple weeks ago. I booked it almost a year ago and after having read some not so glowing reviews I almost switched to our usual favorite, The Beach Club. But, I figured my wife always wanted to stay there so I just let it be and took my chances.

It was far more than we both expected. I asked my wife if it was everything she hoped it would be. She never read the negative reviews so she was very excited when we pulled up. It was a surprise to her, she thought we were staying at Coronado Springs. She said yes it was, and so much more. Here are a few of our thoughts.

We loved the theme and as others have noted, the lush peaceful atmosphere.

We loved the views.

We LOVED the Sushi bar.

We loved the room and location. Between both pools and within a short walk to the Great Ceremonial House and Capt. Cook's where we enjoyed breakfast every morning. Bringing me to our next highlight. TONGA toast!! We have been doing Disney multiple times per year for the past 4 or 5 years, how did I not know about that sweet addictive QS breakfast item before??? It was crazy good.

LOVED the short walk to the TTC. We didn't have to take one monorail and transfer to another to get to Epcot. We just walked there and jumped on the Monorail to Epcot (our favorite park), or even a bus to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. Pretty cool. I never realized the TTC was right next to the Poly with a short marked path from one to the other. Yes, buses to HS and AK do come to the resort; the bus stop just happened to be very busy during our stay and the ones that at the TTC were practically empty.

LOVED the beach. We actually spent more time at the resort this time and enjoyed just relaxing. We figured we will be back other times to spend more time at the parks and we already had annual passes so it wasn't like we spent extra money on park tickets. At $400+ per night, and probably the only time we will ever stay there, at least unless DVC expands there, we weren't going to treat it like Pop Century and just use it as a place to sleep.

We spent a couple nights at the resort having dinner or dessert (Yes, Dole Whips!!!), watching movies/fireworks on the beach and swimming in the pool. Yes, we still hit the parks and other resorts, just not as much as we normally do. We would start our day with breakfast (Tonga Toast & eggs), chill by the pool for an hour or so, hit the parks and resorts until around 3 or so, come back for a short nap, get dinner, and on the nights we didn't watch a movie we we close out our night at whatever park had the evening EMH.

As for the room, I actually expected it to be less than it was. It was actually very nice. Very clean, perfect location between both pools with a nice view.

As I said, I really didn't think it was going to be worth the expense and approached at it like a once in a lifetime thing. It was my wife's dream to stay there so I cut our days down from our normal 8 days to 5 and splurged.

In our opinion, we would rate the Poly a 10/10. Service was great, the food was great, location was great, weather wasn't so great every day but it wasn't enough to ruin our stay. If we would have had a bad experience with service or anything else for that matter I am sure our opinion would be different. But we didn't, everything was perfect and that's how we will remember our first stay at the Polynesian, perfect.

 

[jujube]

The Poly was our least favorite Disney stay. The CM at check in was not even mediocre. She sent us to the wrong building on the opposite side of the resort from where our building was located. None of the CMs we came across on the grounds as we were looking for our room could point the way. The room was very dark, the internet connection didn't work, someone had left dirty underwear both on the bathroom floor and in a drawer. The room smelled musty. Captain Cooks did not have very good food offerings. The Volcano pool was super crowded. The one bright spot was a sweet CM in the gift shop. It had been our second stay at the Poly. The first time we didn't like it but after having read rave reviews here on the Dis, we thought we'd give it another try. Let's just say there won't be a third time.

 

[Waltgirl]

Plusses: room size, resort location, Kona Cafe

Minuses: no hot tub, must walk outside from room to lobby, room distance from lobby, some rooms noisy near Speedway

Waltgirl

 

[kinggoofy]

Our only negative about the Poly is the pool situation. We last stayed there in 08 and it was bad then and, based on these boards, it seems to have gotten worse.

We stayed at YC in 09 and 10 and got spoiled by the fact that you needed to be a resort guest to use the SAB pool. That was nice but STILL...finding a table was a chore if you got there late morning / early afternoon.

All that being said, we are staying at the Poly Aug 14 to 25th and cant wait. Every visit we always stop by the Poly a few, 3 or 4 times for a visit. either to Kona or Ohana or just get on the monorail from the MK and get a drink in the Tambu lounge.

We enjoy the resort. Yes, there are a few things that set me off more than they set off DW, but nothing that would stop us from staying there. We kinda keep an open mind.

One thing that has really helped us in a building location is requesting our top 3 in order. The one time we didnt do that we were stuck in Tahiti...VERY last room looking at the TTC and the boat launch. Talk about a walk to the GCH.

But since then, we have done our homework and the next 2 times we have stayed there we have always gotten the building we requested with a 3rd floor balcony.

This year we requested, A)Fiji 3rd floor marina side; B)Samoa 3rd floor quiet pool side and C) Aotearea 3rd floor looking down at the Luau Cove.

We are balcony sitters in the afternoon early evening before dinner or parks. That afternoon sun is brutal down there. The 3 requests we made are not affected by the afternoon sun. Samoa Volcano pool side is affected and its a brutal hot sun that also heats up the room. Been there done that in 08.

 

[ben1993]

Oh I didn't realise there was no hot tub, eek that would sway me more towards GF (if I could afford either, lol)

 

[Masonmj84]

The Poly was our least favorite Disney stay. The CM at check in was not even mediocre. She sent us to the wrong building on the opposite side of the resort from where our building was located. None of the CMs we came across on the grounds as we were looking for our room could point the way. The room was very dark, the internet connection didn't work, someone had left dirty underwear both on the bathroom floor and in a drawer. The room smelled musty. Captain Cooks did not have very good food offerings. The Volcano pool was super crowded. The one bright spot was a sweet CM in the gift shop. It had been our second stay at the Poly. The first time we didn't like it but after having read rave reviews here on the Dis, we thought we'd give it another try. Let's just say there won't be a third time.

I'm comtemplating a Poly stay and am concerned about these reports that the rooms smell musty. Is it musty as in mildewy? (DW and I are very sensitive to must/mildew smells).

Would be curious to know which longhouses or floors are more susceptible to the musty smell.

 

[Grumpymom73]

We just came back last night from an amazing stay at the Poly. We had a beautiful room with a gorgeous view! 3rd floor Somoa. We had requested Tokelau but this is our new favorite. Close to everything even the walk to the TCC was not bad. The room was very nice and had no musty smell at all. Both my DH and DS have severe allergies and both were fine. The only thing I noticed that needs some work was the elevator in our longhouse. Worked fine just a little beat up. The only problem was leaving! Wish we were back!