Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[Hoosier1329]

Excited to see the finished product. Glad they are keeping the similar style roof on the main building. Wish they would add a big fountain/waterfall back into the main lobby, but I doubt they will. I love walking the grounds at Poly and look forward to seeing how they spruce it up.

 

[RanDIZ]

Walked through today to grab a Dole Whip. Couldn’t tell if they were working hard or hardly working. Hopefully it’ll be done by next Dec for my trip.

 

[sbbwdw]

I wonder when will we will start to get sneak peeks of the room refurbs? From those recent pics, it looks like they are being totally gutted. Perhaps just for the flooring? Do we think it will be a complete overall? Wondering if they are changing the configuration of the bathroom? Isn’t Poly one of the few if only bathrooms without the separation of the shower/toilet/sink area? For people who have stayed at Poly in the past, are there any changes you are hoping to see in the rooms? Were they feeling very dated? We have booked our first Poly stay for next Sept. Super excited after canceling 2 trips this year, it is nice to have this trip to look forward to, plan, and dream about.

 

[merry_nbright]

I think you guys will appreciate this. My Dad purchased one of the chairs from the Poly for my mom for Christmas. When we stayed there back in 2018, she loved that chair so much, she legit slept on it every night. She is absolutely over the moon!

 

[kylenne]

I wonder when will we will start to get sneak peeks of the room refurbs? From those recent pics, it looks like they are being totally gutted. Perhaps just for the flooring? Do we think it will be a complete overall? Wondering if they are changing the configuration of the bathroom? Isn’t Poly one of the few if only bathrooms without the separation of the shower/toilet/sink area? For people who have stayed at Poly in the past, are there any changes you are hoping to see in the rooms? Were they feeling very dated? We have booked our first Poly stay for next Sept. Super excited after canceling 2 trips this year, it is nice to have this trip to look forward to, plan, and dream about.

I don’t really get the big deal with the bathroom separation issue but that’s probably because it’s just me and my partner and we don’t have kids. I will say I was sad to see the ceiling fans taken out before our stay and I hope they put them back in, I’m one of those people that likes to sleep with them on. I didn’t feel it was dated at all but I like 70s kitsch. I love Moana though, so I’m curious to see the changes.

We stayed in 2018...were supposed to stay this year and then postponed to next year only to get blocked by refurb. Praying that by some miracle they will be done by time we go back in late May. Very depressed about the whole thing (why I have not been on the boards in a while).

 

[Heather07438]

I don’t really get the big deal with the bathroom separation issue but that’s probably because it’s just me and my partner and we don’t have kids. I will say I was sad to see the ceiling fans taken out before our stay and I hope they put them back in, I’m one of those people that likes to sleep with them on. I didn’t feel it was dated at all but I like 70s kitsch. I love Moana though, so I’m curious to see the changes.

We stayed in 2018...were supposed to stay this year and then postponed to next year only to get blocked by refurb. Praying that by some miracle they will be done by time we go back in late May. Very depressed about the whole thing (why I have not been on the boards in a while).

Yeah this year stunk. Hope when you finally make it back it's CL+++

 

[kylenne]

Yeah this year stunk. Hope when you finally make it back it's CL+++

You and me both, lol! I feel like I cursed it. At the very least we will get Poly time when we go down for the 50th, since it should definitely be open by then. We are booked CR CL for that weekend (snagged it before everything went to the hand basket with bookings) but am strongly considering switching to the Poly. We really only wanted CR for the history and walkability factor and with the GF walkway...we are urban dwellers who love walking so would have zero issues.

 

[Summer2018]

I don’t really get the big deal with the bathroom separation issue but that’s probably because it’s just me and my partner and we don’t have kids. I will say I was sad to see the ceiling fans taken out before our stay and I hope they put them back in, I’m one of those people that likes to sleep with them on. I didn’t feel it was dated at all but I like 70s kitsch. I love Moana though, so I’m curious to see the changes.

We stayed in 2018...were supposed to stay this year and then postponed to next year only to get blocked by refurb. Praying that by some miracle they will be done by time we go back in late May. Very depressed about the whole thing (why I have not been on the boards in a while).

I've missed seeing you here. I hope everything works out for your trip.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I think you guys will appreciate this. My Dad purchased one of the chairs from the Poly for my mom for Christmas. When we stayed there back in 2018, she loved that chair so much, she legit slept on it every night. She is absolutely over the moon!

Can I ask where he got it? I saw some twitter posts a few weeks ago about a surplus furniture store somewhere in central FL that had some Poly furniture. I meant to look it up when I was there Thanksgiving week to go check it out but it slipped my mind. Doh!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I wonder when will we will start to get sneak peeks of the room refurbs? From those recent pics, it looks like they are being totally gutted. Perhaps just for the flooring? Do we think it will be a complete overall? Wondering if they are changing the configuration of the bathroom? Isn’t Poly one of the few if only bathrooms without the separation of the shower/toilet/sink area? For people who have stayed at Poly in the past, are there any changes you are hoping to see in the rooms? Were they feeling very dated? We have booked our first Poly stay for next Sept. Super excited after canceling 2 trips this year, it is nice to have this trip to look forward to, plan, and dream about.

I’m going to go with complete overhaul.

My ‘guess’ is the look/style will be along the lines of the Poly villas. Not the same layout of course, but maybe a similar general base color scheme. I think (hope) that the Moana influences will be subtle.

I don’t personally think the resort rooms were dated - my feeling is more along the lines of “it was time” just given the overall life cycle of hotel rooms. Especially when comparing to what Disney has been doing to their newer rooms up and down the Deluxe-Value scale over the last few years.

I hope they add modern electrical capacity - meaning, more outlets, ones that actually hold a plug, etc.

I have mixed feelings about hard flooring. I love the way it looks when we arrive - I hate the way it feels after a couple of days. Our party of four makes more of a mess in hotel rooms than I ever realized... and with limited Mousekeeping these days....yeah, you get the drift. But I’m going to assume they go the hard flooring route, since that’s pretty much the trend everywhere.

The combined bathroom has never bothered us. Funny enough, I would have never even thought of it as a thing if not for reading about it being a ‘problem’ around here. But mine are younger - that opinion may change later in life.

Thanks for the question!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We stayed in 2018...were supposed to stay this year and then postponed to next year only to get blocked by refurb. Praying that by some miracle they will be done by time we go back in late May. Very depressed about the whole thing (why I have not been on the boards in a while).

Nice to see you on the boards @kylenne - I hope all is well (other than the postponed trip and missing Poly part).

 

[bcuinohio]

Can I ask where he got it? I saw some twitter posts a few weeks ago about a surplus furniture store somewhere in central FL that had some Poly furniture. I meant to look it up when I was there Thanksgiving week to go check it out but it slipped my mind. Doh!

If you watch “Paging Mr Morrow” on YouTube he has some videos from a store near Lakeland that sells Disney items. Recently they have had a lot of stuff from the Poly.

 

[bcuinohio]

If you watch “Paging Mr Morrow” on YouTube he has some videos from a store near Lakeland that sells Disney items. Recently they have had a lot of stuff from the Poly.

I think this is the place:


https://antiqueslakeland.com/

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

 

[Hoosier1329]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

That is a tough one...
I love the Polynesian and it has a great location....BUT with it being your first trip to Disney World I would hate to have it impacted by numerous barricades/fences/sounds that may not be exactly what you had hoped for. The construction could take away from the overall ambiance, while not a big deal, I think it still would make me strongly consider another option. Most of your time is spent in the parks anyway, but I personally enjoy walking around the Polynesian and having the beautiful views that would likely be severely altered by the construction. However, by the time you go they may be done with a lot of the major outside work and just be doing work on the individual rooms which would not be as intrusive. Maybe keep it booked and re-evaluate as it gets closer.

 

[bcuinohio]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

The front entrance to the Grand Ceremonial House is closed. The monorail stop at the GCH is also closed. You can still access the GCH from the back entrance. The stores are open as well as some food options. You can also walk over to the Ticket and Transportation Center and catch the monorail there. The TTC is not far from the DVC rooms. The drawback for this is that sometimes the wait for security is longer at the TTC. I attaching a link with the latest updates on the Poly.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/resorts/#drawer-card-polynesian

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

I guess I’m as big a Poly homer as you’ll find. Visited the resort two weeks ago (was staying at WL and CSR that trip) and as much as I’ve been pro-Poly even with construction, even I was taken aback a bit just seeing/feeling things with the front of the GCH closed. There is still much to like about a Poly stay right now, but you definitely need to have expectations in check.

We stayed at Poly several times during the 2014-2015 work, which in many ways was more obtrusive than what you’ll find now. We enjoyed those stays quite a bit. However, I have a pretty high tolerance for disruptions/things not being normal and generally have more of a “just happy to be here” approach to things.

I think if you can be happy with what is available, it’s a great time to visit Poly during a unique time with less action, commotion, traffic, etc. But if you’re one that needs most things to be perfect and want a “full” Poly experience (which of course will have a different meaning to everyone), then now is probably not the best time.

I don’t know, such a tough call.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

However, by the time you go they may be done with a lot of the major outside work and just be doing work on the individual rooms which would not be as intrusive. Maybe keep it booked and re-evaluate as it gets closer.

I have to wonder what things will be like come spring as they move over towards Hawaii, Somoa, Rorotonga, etc - towards the DVC side of the resort. I’m a little worried the longhouse work is going to be a bit more in your face/obtrusive by that point. Right now it’s just “off to the side” and you only really see/hear things if you walk to GF. We were at WL a couple of weeks ago (where they are working on the resort side rooms) and there were a few times where it was pretty darn noisy out by the pool - they had the balcony windows open on the rooms they were working on.

I like your last point, definitely have some time to monitor and see how things go. Most resorts/room types are in little danger of filling to capacity, so that takes some pressure off having to make decisions to some extent.

 

[Heather07438]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

Our first stay at Poly is in 30 days, booked before restrictions or refurb announcement. A double whammy. No MK fireworks views or easy exit post-fireworks. No Resort Monorail, no Epcot Monorail. No Trader Sams. etc.

We gave it some deep thought. Would we regret not moving somewhere else &/or feel like the cost wasn't worth it. BLT lakeview is still open for $20/nt less.

After considering everything POLY is still for us We'll enjoy it not being as hectic. Still has the great island vibe, good eats and good views. We're still going to love being there even if it is different.

And with a little pixie dust MK fireworks may be back before your trip in April

 

[Dave006]

We have Poly Villas planned for last week of April. We booked pre-refurb announcement. We have a reduced rate bc we were price protected from a Covid cancellation. Its our first trip to Disney & i was over the moon to get “upgraded” to Poly. Should i look into a different resort if Poly is being worked on, or still worth it to stay there even during refurb?

I would not expect Disney to allow you to make a change to another hotel since you are on a price protected reschedule offer. You indicated you were already "upgraded" to the Polynesian.

It can't hurt to ask but I would not expect a further modification to your reservation. What resort were you originally booked at since by April there will be multiple resorts open in every resort category?

Dave