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MORE ON DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN RESORT

There are currently 8 official Disney owned and operated deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World.

In their recommended order for first time family visitors, they are

1. Polynesian
2. Wilderness Lodge
3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
4. Contemporary
5. Grand Floridian
6. Beach Club
7. Yacht Club
8. BoardWalk Inn

(Many of these also offer Disney Vacation Club studios and villas, all for rent to the general public–see this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.)

All Disney deluxe resorts have standard rooms; preferred rooms–standard rooms 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 (See this for more on suites at Walt Disney World.)

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

• Preferred rooms include “Lagoon” and Magic Kingdom views.
• 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–40% 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.  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 2 to 8 people are available 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 twice.

The latest renovation was completed in 2006.

The resort contains the Great Ceremonial house, where you will check in, find dining and shops, and access the resort monorail line; 11 longhouses; and two pools.

All of the longhouses have elevators except for Niue, which shares the elevator in Raratonga.

• Tuvalu, Aotearoa, and Fiji are the westernmost longhouses (see map on the first page of this review), 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 suites are located. 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 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.
• All of the longhouses noted so far except Tonga have the smaller of the two standard rooms sizes at the Polynesian (for floorplans, see the first page of this review), and do not have balconies in their second floor rooms. (Tonga has suites, and balconies in its second floor rooms.)
• The three easternmost longhouses–closest to the TTC–are Tokelau, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui.  These longhouses, the most recently constructed, all have the larger floorplan, and all have balconies on the second and third floors (and patios on the first).  The walkway from the Polynesian to the TTC is just east of Rapa Nui.
• See this great unofficial Polynesian Resort fan site for more on the longhouses…or anything else Polynesian!

The Polynesian’s strengths for first time visitors are its unsurpassed convenience, its great kid appeal, and its very strong staff (“Cast Members” in Disney-speak).

The Polynesian’s principal negatives are its high prices, and its lack of a few items that other deluxe resorts typically have–e.g. a hot tub, and a fitness center and on-site spa.

THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB AT DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN RESORT

The Polynesian is one of only three deluxe resorts without a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) component. (See this for more on the Disney Vacation Club resorts.)

As I write this, I am not aware of any plans–or even rumors–for creating such a resort on the grounds of the Polynesian.

(If you’ve heard of such, let me know using the comment form below!!)

That said, the Polynesian is immediately adjacent to what I view as the single most underutilized property at Walt Disney World–the ferryboat landing at the TTC and a small bit of land just to its west.

Why do I call it this?  See the image to the right–click it to enlarge it.

The Polynesian is on the western side of the image, and the TTC to the east. The red line is where Main Street in the Magic Kingdom would intersect the shoreline, if it extended all the way across the Seven Seas Lagoon.

In other words, the red line indicates the single best spot in ALL of Walt Disney World for Magic Kingdom views.

If I were Disney, I’d move the ferry landing east, take down Tahiti, and add a five story DVC resort in a V or crescent shape in the opened Polynesian and ferry space.

Based on my calculations, a one-sided (that is, only with rooms with Magic Kingdom views) five story DVC resort in this space could have 45 two-bedroom villa equivalents–for example, 5 grand villas, 20 dedicated two-bedroom villas, 15 one bedrooms, and 15 studios.

Making it two-sided could double this capacity.  Taking Rapa Nui’s footprint, and space to the east of Rapa Nui, would allow for an x-shaped design that could double capacity again–although all these added rooms would not have the views that the first rooms above would.

EXTERNAL LINKS FOR DISNEY’S POLYNESIAN RESORT:

• Official Disney Polynesian Resort page
• Wikipedia’s Polynesian Resort page
• Great unofficial Polynesian Resort fan site

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MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this

• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

• Military/DOD families should look at this

• Tightwads should look at this

• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this