Accommodations at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

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

THE ACCOMMODATIONS AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT: LONGHOUSES AND MORE

All Disney World deluxe resorts have

• Standard rooms with various names
• Preferred rooms, also with various names–rooms similar to standard rooms, but for which more is charged, because of better views, closer proximity to a resort’s central services, or both
• Concierge rooms, which Disney calls “club” rooms, and
• Suites

At Disney’s Polynesian Resort, standard, preferred and club/concierge rooms sleep five, in two queen beds and a day-bed.  (To see a floor plan, click here for the first page of this review.)

• Preferred rooms include “Lagoon View” and “Magic Kingdom View” rooms.
• While this site generally recommends that first time family visitors should avoid preferred rooms (as the value is not there, since you won’t be in your room much) it makes an exception for the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where you should always pay for a savanna view.
• Magic Kingdom view rooms at the Polynesian are also worth it, but only if you can afford the substantial extra cost–35% more per night during the Value Season, when prices are lowest.
• Club rooms–which the rest of the world calls concierge rooms–are not worth the extra cost for most first time family visitors, since they won’t be in their rooms much.  However, they may be well worth it for families intending to spend more time at the Polynesian than implied by this site’s itineraries. TikimanPages.com has a great discussion of the value of concierge rooms here.
• Suites sleeping 5 to 9 people are available at Disney’s Polynesian Resort for families seeking a particularly comfortable visit–see this for more on suites at Walt Disney World.

(To each of the capacity figures above, you can add one more kid under 3 at time of check in who sleeps in a crib.)

Disney’s Polynesian Resort is described on Walt Disney World’s website as “a relaxing tropical paradise, featuring lush vegetation, thatched roofs, koi ponds and white-sand lake beaches, and offering a warm, welcoming world that celebrates the spirit of the South Pacific and ensures “Ho’Onanea”—the passing of time in languid tranquility.”

The resort opened in October 1971, at the same time Walt Disney World was opened, and since has been expanded three times.

The latest room refurb was completed in 2013, and major construction was completed (some projects remain) in April 2015.

The resort contains 11 longhouses of which 10 are open (the 11th, Tokelau, will re-open soon). All of the longhouses have elevators except for Niue, which shares the elevator in Raratonga.

See the map (as always on this site, click it to enlarge it).

Tuvalu, Aotearoa, and Fiji are the westernmost (left on the map) longhouses, and are closest to the building where the “Spirit of Aloha” luau dinner show operates–noise from which can be annoying, and which itself is not recommended for first time visitors.

These buildings are the least convenient to the Epcot and express monorails at TTC.

The walkway to the spa and exercise area at the Grand Floridian, which Polynesian guests are welcome to use, can be found between Fiji and Aotearoa.

Tonga is next, just west of the Great Ceremonial house, and is where the five suites at the Polynesian are located.

On the marina side, these include the 2 bay, 5 person One-Bedroom Princess, the 3 bay, 9 person Two-Bedroom Princess, and the 6 bay, 8 Person King Kamehameha Suite.

On the monorail side, there’s two 4 bay, 8 person Ambassador Suites.

Also in Tonga is the “Honeymoon Room”–not a suite, but a 1 bay king bed space.  Until the Poly’s 2013 renovation, this was the only single bay space at the hotel with king beds.  After the renovation, other longhouses have king rooms as well.

The walkway to Shades of Green can be found between Aotearoa and Tonga.

Four longhouses are just east of the Great Ceremonial House–in order of their nearness to it, they are Raratonga, Niue, Samoa, and Hawaii. All these rooms border the East pool, expected t0 begin a major refurb shortly.

All rooms in Hawaii are club level.

Samoa and Niue are between the two pools–the volcano-themed Nanea Volcano pool, and the smaller “quiet” pool.  As a result, these buildings can be noisy, but are the favorites of many families.

The three easternmost longhouses–closest to the TTC–are Tokelau, Moorea (formerly Tahiti), and Pago Pago (formerly Rapa Nui). These longhouses, the most recently constructed, are all being converted to DVC Studios.

The walkway from the Polynesian to the TTC is just east of Pago Pago.

The final area at the Polynesian are the DVC Bungalows in the Bora Bora area on the Seven Seas Lagoon. The Bungalows, which you can’t afford, come in “Ferry Noise” and “Boat Noise” options.

For more on the longhouses, see this.

The DVC conversion has taken away what used to be the best longhouses at the Polynesian.

Of what’s left, Raratonga would be the recommended longhouse as it is convenient to everything, except that the East Pool refurb will make it not a great choice.  Frankly I guess until the East Pool is done, the western longhouses–Tuvalu, Aotearoa, and Fiji–will be the best choices, 

Ideally, you’d request a third floor room and a balcony (no second floor rooms have balconies except in the DVC studios) for both better views and more quiet.

But the current room request form looks like this (click to enlarge).

You can request any longhouse, and request a balcony…but not the third floor…maybe because some of the longhouses have only two floors…

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN 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

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