Disney’s Polynesian Resort is where my family has DREAMED about staying for a very long time. On our most recent trip to Walt Disney World, we were able to stay there and fulfill that dream. It was a fantastic stay! From check-in, transportation, food, and our room and the dreaded check-out, we enjoyed every minute of it.
As one of the original Walt Disney World resorts, it is very popular. Compared to a Value resort, there are only a fraction of the rooms available. This makes booking a room very difficult as availability goes fast. Walt Disney (the man) loved traveling to Hawaii – his vacation spot. This hotel is themed after the Hawaiian Islands. In true Disney style, the theme is phenomenally accurate! I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii in 2018 and I can attest to the fact that when you are at the Polynesian resort, it does feel like you are in Hawaii. The only difference is that there is a castle in the background here at Disney. The Polynesian Resort is considered a Deluxe resort and Room rates start around $400 per night. There are also DVC (Disney Vacation Club) Deluxe Studio rooms available.
Checking In to our room was pretty easy. We used the My Disney Experience App to Check In online. When we arrived at the gate for the resort, they scanned a magic band to see the reservation and let us in explaining to us where to park. (Yes, we drove to Disney from Michigan) While Disney Resorts now charge for parking, because we were staying on DVC points, we did not have to pay the parking fee. As soon as we parked, I received a text message from Disney stating a welcome and that they will let us know when the room was ready along with our room number. Our magic band will automatically open the door. Now, we stopped at the check-in desk in the lobby of the resort to ask a question and the cast member asked about our check in. He then stated “Oh, let me just check you in here” I still don’t know why he did that, but was able to let us know what room we would have, what building it was in, and about what time it would be available. Once we got the text that the room was ready, my mom and dad went to the room and one of their bands didn’t work, so they had to go back to the front desk to get that straightened out. Which was just a pain in the rear, but it was fixable. My children and I were at Magic Kingdom while my mom and dad did all of this. So when we got back to the room, we found that my kids’ bands didn’t open the room either, so back to front desk. It was a quick fix, but we had to stand in line to get that fixed. I wonder what would have happened if we just left well enough alone and allowed the online check in to do its job?? The fun part of it all is that we all received leis from the cast member with an “Aloha!”.
Our room was on the second floor in the Tokelau building facing the pool. This building is part of the DVC Studio Villas. The other two buildings that are DVC are Moorea and PagoPago. The Tokelau building is considered standard view rooms so they do not ‘cost’ as many points as others. I really loved the location of this building. If we stuck our heads out from the balcony and looked to the right, we could see the fireworks that were over the castle. We could not see the actual castle because of trees and foliage but it was still fun to be able to see the fireworks from the room. This building is also directly across from the Oasis pool. There is a pool bar there as well as a drink station. So, if you have refillable mugs, it is a short walk to get those filled up. (limited hours, though) It still isn’t a long walk to the Great Ceremonial house, so if you have a craving for your dole whip, its super easy to get to the Pineapple lanai. Capt. Cooks quick service is open 24 hours a day, so you can always walk just a bit more to fill that mug when the Oasis bar is closed. Also, if you want to walk to the beach to watch the Electric Water Pageant or the Magic Kingdom fireworks, it is a very short walk. One great viewing location is just at the lagoon end of the building. I would highly suggest requesting a room in this building. Disney will always do their best to fulfill room requests. It is always best to call the resort about 1-2 weeks before your stay to make any requests.
Our room itself was nice. Because it was a DVC room, it had a queen size bed, a full size sleeper sofa, and a small Murphy style bed. Now, I say ‘small’ because of its width but my 5’10” teenage son slept on it and he was comfortable! I slept on the pull out bed with my 14 year old daughter and I think it was the most comfortable pull out sofa bed I have ever slept on! My parents claimed the bed and they didn’t have any complaints either. The room was equipped with a small cooler type fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, utensils and dishes. These really came in handy for breakfast! Unique to these rooms is a second shower! While there is still only one toilet, it was nice to have a second shower room with sink so all five of us could get ready in the mornings without taking forever. Also, it was nice to have two bathroom sinks and counters for all our toiletries. My parents were able to have all their stuff in one bathroom while my kids and I had all our stuff out on the counter of the other bathroom. The one and only complaint on our room was that when you sit out on the balcony, the cross beam on the balcony is right at eye level so it is hard to see all the beautiful scenery.
Amenities at the Polynesian are abundant. There are a lot of food options. Capt. Cooks is a quick service restaurant with some fun options. Pineapple Lanai offers Dole Whip ice cream at a walk up window. It isn’t just pineapple soft serve. They have a few different options. Oasis bar and grill and Barefoot pool bar have cocktails and some food. Trader Sam’s is the local bar. Tambu Lounge is another bar, but you can also order food – some food from Ohana is available here. Kona island serves sushi. Kona cafe serves american and seafood options. Ohana is a character breakfast and an all-you-care-to-enjoy dinner. Ohana dinner is our all time favorite place to eat anywhere on Disney property! Ohana dinner is Polynesian style food. There is also the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show which is Polynesian style food served during a luau! There are two pools at the Poly. The Volcano pool is the main pool where they do activities and there is a water slide as well. The splash pad is located around this area as well. The Oasis pool does not have lifeguards and is considered a quiet pool. You can rent little mouse boats or pontoons to go out onto Seven Seas Lagoon. Lots of activities going on everywhere, all the time.
Transportation is pretty fun at the Polynesian. This resort is on the Monorail line so you can take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. You can also walk over to the Transportation and Ticket center and take the monorail to Epcot. There is a boat that will take you over to the Magic Kingdom, as well. To get to other parks – Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios – there is bus transportation. (Buses also go to Disney Springs) When we were there, we had a hard time getting to Hollywood studios early (to get boarding passes to Rise of the Resistance) – even Lyft and Uber drivers kept bailing on us. The Bell services cast member was amazing and got us a Mears taxi that fit us all in to get us there on time.
Checking out of our room was so sad! The only thing about this stay that I wish I did differently is enjoy the amenities and the resort itself more. I didn’t take the time to walk around the resort much. We did enjoy the hot tub on some cool days and we did spend a little time there and not all of our time at the parks. I will admit that it didn’t FEEL like I thought it would. It felt totally magical, but it didn’t feel any MORE magical that it usually does when we stay at other on site resorts. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. With the cost of this resort being so much more than a value resort, you would think that the feel of it would be even more magical! I didn’t think it did. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful resort, but so are all the other resorts! I think that if I was going to Disney JUST to stay at a resort, I would definitely stay at the Polynesian or another Deluxe resort. But because when we go, we want to experience the parks to the fullest, I don’t think we need to stay at a Deluxe resort like the Polynesian. Even as DVC members, I feel like I would have had the same magical feeling and experience at my home resort of Old Key West. (which is the oldest DVC resort) and if I didn’t have DVC, we would have been just as filled with Disney Magic staying at the Art of Animation resort or even an All Star resort!
What are your thoughts on the Polynesian resort? Do you splurge on your resort at Disney? Do you make time to enjoy your resort or do you mostly spend your time at the parks, like we do? I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below! (and be sure to like this blog)
The Mouse Traveler 