The Pools and Beaches at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

(For the first page of this review of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, click here.)

REVIEW: THE POOLS AND BEACHES AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

There are two pools and many beaches at the Polynesian:

• The smaller and quiet East Pool–to go into a multi-month refurb at any moment
• The larger Lava Pool, loaded with amenities, which just came out of a multi-month refurb
• Multiple beaches, a large chunk of which just became accessible at the end of a construction project

THE EAST POOL AT THE POLYNESIAN

The East Pool is expected to close shortly–see the excerpt below from a letter the Poly sent me in March 2015 regarding my April visit:

Until then, it is available to guests.

Basically, it’s just a pool, quieter and simpler than the happening main pool…

…although kinda pretty at night…

…and with some deck chairs added while the main pool was being rehabbed.

It’ll be quite interesting to see what happens during the refurb.  Leaked early plans were quite extensive, but nothing like that has been rumored for a while.  If the pool and sunbathing space grow quite  a bit, then we may in fact see a new DVC building coming later with one and two bedroom DVC villas…

THE MAIN POOL AT THE POLYNESIAN

The main pool, variously known as the Nanea Volcano Pool and the Lava Pool (Lava Pool on the map, so that’s what I’ll call it) came out of a multi-month refurb in April 2015.

The body of the pool itself changed little. What’s new is

• A bigger pool deck with much more sunbathing space (coming partly from eliminating the old cabanas)
• A hot tub
• And a very cool kids water play area, replacing a limp old splash pool

Some shots of the main pool from a couple of angles showing the bigger sunbathing space:

The main slide:

The hot tub–which is elevated,  a nice effect:

…the zero entry area on the beach side:

Another shot of the main pool:

Also added was a remarkable kids water play area, replacing the old simple splash pool.

It includes two slides, one on the left above…

…and another on the right.

In the back of the play area is this splash and play spot.

Also in the pool area you’ll find this bar. No real food, but the pool is right outside the Captain Cook’s quick service, so that doesn’t matter.

This refurb addresses all the major issues with the Polynesian pool and brings it into the front ranks of Disney World pools.

THE BEACHES AT THE POLYNESIAN

Back in the day you could walk right from the pool deck to the beaches at the Polynesian.  Not anymore, as the pool–but not the beaches–is now fenced in. But with the major construction ending, we are now back to multiple beaches at the Polynesian.

One is next to and just north of the main pool. Here besides lots of lovely sand you’ll also find this firepit…

…and movies at night.

Another beach stretches along the DVC Bungalows.

(Sunset Point, by the way, has been rebuilt.)

And there’s a third stretch of beaches near Luau Cove, between most of the Poly and the Grand Floridian.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

This review continues here. 

TOPICS IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT:

• Overview of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Photo Tour of a Standard Room at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Amenities at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Dining at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• The Pools at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Accommodations at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• The Disney Vacation Club at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Photo Tour of a Studio at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Renovation and Construction at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!