Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[GADisneyDad14]

It's been a few days since we got home but I wanted to report back on our latest Poly CL stay. We were there 3 nights 8/25-8/28. It was definitely not long enough!

We booked GV CL and got the third floor Hawaii room we requested. Our room (3525) was ready around 1:30pm on our check in day. It was fairly far down the hall from the lounge but we didn't mind the walk and the view of the Oasis pool from our balcony was lovely.

Housekeeping was efficient. One morning, we went to the pool at 7:30am and returned at 8:30am to our room already cleaned. The next day, our room was cleaned closer to 3:00pm but that didn't bother us.

Food and drinks in the CL lounge were as we remembered from our December trip. All the CMs we encountered were friendly and helpful. We did notice that some families were more oblivious than others in terms of their impact on fellow guests, but that's not the fault of the Poly; that could happen anywhere. The CMs were actively clearly tables throughout each food service period.

We loved the Oasis pool and spent part of each day there; while DS 5 liked the water slide at the Lava pool, it was much more crowded overall. We bounced back and forth between the pools several times.

We did not go to any of the restaurants at the Poly this trip, except Trader Sam's, which we hit twice with minimal waits (<25 min both times). We also let DS try Lilo's Playhouse one night, which he LOVED.

Transportation was smooth with excellent boat service and no monorail issues. We've encountered slow downs previously so we know we were lucky this time with how flawless it was.

My only one small complaint is that the smoking area for that end if the resort appears to have been moved to right next to the Oasis pool gate closest to Hawaii longhouse. This meant a slight smell of cigarette smoke when the breeze drifted it toward the pool. I've not yet received my post-trip survey from Disney but when I do I plan to bring this up.

We enjoyed every moment of our stay and are now considering when we can return. We have a trip planned for Yacht Club in November but I'm seriously eying the Poly for late Fevruary/early March.

Great review, thanks for sharing!

Regarding that smoking area by the entrance to the Oasis Pool, that was new at least as of July when I was there, and I must admit I was pretty shocked. We had to walk by numerous times with someone smoking and there's just no way to avoid it. I'm not all anti-smoker and all that, but to me that didn't seem like a logical place to have a smoking section at all. I mean, there are hundreds of children (and adults) going in and out of that gate all day long.

FWIW, I did write a note to guest relations about that very topic. Hoping they change that sometime soon.

 

[caliope]

Regarding that smoking area by the entrance to the Oasis Pool, that was new at least as of July when I was there, and I must admit I was pretty shocked. We had to walk by numerous times with someone smoking and there's just no way to avoid it. I'm not all anti-smoker and all that, but to me that didn't seem like a logical place to have a smoking section at all. I mean, there are hundreds of children (and adults) going in and out of that gate all day long.

FWIW, I did write a note to guest relations about that very topic. Hoping they change that sometime soon.

Great suggestion - I'll write to guest relations too. I understand the need for smoking sections and I can guess as to why they moved it from where it was near the lawn. However, the Oasis pool seems like an odd choice. It certainly didn't detract from our trip but it stood out as noticeable. My DS even commented on it, and he's usually pretty self-absorbed (as 5 year olds can be!).

 

[Runnsally]

Hi, all. Any thoughts about monorail vs boat when trying to get from the Poly to MK prior to a 9am opening? Thanks!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi, all. Any thoughts about monorail vs boat when trying to get from the Poly to MK prior to a 9am opening? Thanks!

Both are viable. Monorail schedules change but 'generally speaking' the morning start times lately have been 7AM - see this week for an example: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Although you do have to watch out for an occasional late start, so always check the Times Guide for when you're there.

But assuming both are running.... if I see a boat heading towards the dock and the line is short, I'll usually take the boat. If I don't see a boat anywhere on the water or there's a long line at the dock, I go monorail. I don't always follow this but on the whole it tends to work for us.

Hope that helps!

 

[mickeynut1]

It's been a few days since we got home but I wanted to report back on our latest Poly CL stay. We were there 3 nights 8/25-8/28. It was definitely not long enough!

We booked GV CL and got the third floor Hawaii room we requested. Our room (3525) was ready around 1:30pm on our check in day. It was fairly far down the hall from the lounge but we didn't mind the walk and the view of the Oasis pool from our balcony was lovely.

Housekeeping was efficient. One morning, we went to the pool at 7:30am and returned at 8:30am to our room already cleaned. The next day, our room was cleaned closer to 3:00pm but that didn't bother us.

Food and drinks in the CL lounge were as we remembered from our December trip. All the CMs we encountered were friendly and helpful. We did notice that some families were more oblivious than others in terms of their impact on fellow guests, but that's not the fault of the Poly; that could happen anywhere. The CMs were actively clearly tables throughout each food service period.

We loved the Oasis pool and spent part of each day there; while DS 5 liked the water slide at the Lava pool, it was much more crowded overall. We bounced back and forth between the pools several times.

We did not go to any of the restaurants at the Poly this trip, except Trader Sam's, which we hit twice with minimal waits (<25 min both times). We also let DS try Lilo's Playhouse one night, which he LOVED.

Transportation was smooth with excellent boat service and no monorail issues. We've encountered slow downs previously so we know we were lucky this time with how flawless it was.

My only one small complaint is that the smoking area for that end of the resort appears to have been moved to right next to the Oasis pool gate closest to Hawaii longhouse. This meant a slight smell of cigarette smoke when the breeze drifted it toward the pool. I've not yet received my post-trip survey from Disney but when I do I plan to bring this up.

We enjoyed every moment of our stay and are now considering when we can return. We have a trip planned for Yacht Club in November but I'm seriously eying the Poly for late February/early March.

Thanks for your review. Glad you had a great time .

I'm going to call Poly directly and see what I can find out. I'll let you know

Unfortunately, there's no way to contact the resort directly. The numbers associated with each resort are routed to a call center. They answer as if they are at that particular resort, but you are actually speaking to someone at a call center and not the resort itself.

Just checked in today! We didn't get a room alert via email or text and when we got to the resort at 10pm it still wasn't showing in MDE. We did however get 3rd floor Fiji overlooking the grand Floridian and LOVE the location -in case you were wondering we are booked for standard room... we did do a request for 3rd floor Samoa or Fiji on touring plans and picked balcony during online check in! Very happy so far! Excited to spend the next 6 nights here!

Glad your request was met! Have a great time and enjoy the Poly .

 

[Runnsally]

Both are viable. Monorail schedules change but 'generally speaking' the morning start times lately have been 7AM - see this week for an example: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Although you do have to watch out for an occasional late start, so always check the Times Guide for when you're there.

But assuming both are running.... if I see a boat heading towards the dock and the line is short, I'll usually take the boat. If I don't see a boat anywhere on the water or there's a long line at the dock, I go monorail. I don't always follow this but on the whole it tends to work for us.

Hope that helps!

Very helpful as always...thanks!

 

[Farro]

Both are viable. Monorail schedules change but 'generally speaking' the morning start times lately have been 7AM - see this week for an example: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

Although you do have to watch out for an occasional late start, so always check the Times Guide for when you're there.

But assuming both are running.... if I see a boat heading towards the dock and the line is short, I'll usually take the boat. If I don't see a boat anywhere on the water or there's a long line at the dock, I go monorail. I don't always follow this but on the whole it tends to work for us.

Hope that helps!

Hi!

When you say a long line at the boat dock, how many people about? I know that's a weird questions, but the Friendship boats over at Beach Club could fit quite a few people. I think the Polynesian boats are smaller?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi!

When you say a long line at the boat dock, how many people about? I know that's a weird questions, but the Friendship boats over at Beach Club could fit quite a few people. I think the Polynesian boats are smaller?

Hmmm... hard to say. Yes, the 'normal' Poly boat is smaller than those Friendship Boats. Not sure of capacity though? It comes from the GF so can have some people on it already. If I see the line more than half-way back to shore... I move on!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi!

When you say a long line at the boat dock, how many people about? I know that's a weird questions, but the Friendship boats over at Beach Club could fit quite a few people. I think the Polynesian boats are smaller?

Actually this pic is a pretty good example, although a bit hard to see. This crowd looks doable, but any more and I'd probably be on my way to the monorail.

 

[coprogressfan]

We are 52 days from our stay at the Poly. Yay! Our party is DH, DD(5), DS(7), my FIL, MIL, BIL, and me. What's your experience with watching the MK Fireworks from Poly? Now that HEA has the castle projections, is it something that you just really need to see from in the park? My issue is that the other adults in our group will NOT be okay with finding a spot an hour before the show. So, we probably wouldn't end up with a prime viewing spot. They also won't be too excited about exiting with so many people. We also will be attending MNSSHP and will get a chance to see those fireworks.

Is it a decent show from Poly? Or perhaps we just need to stay in park but stay toward the park entrance?

We just got home last week after an 8 night stay. We saw HEA twice in the MK and twice from the Poly beach.

The first night at MK the fireworks crowds were awful. Wall-to-wall to people, no room to stand, breathe, move, etc. We ended up having to hold our 4 and 6 year olds in our arms so they could see anything (which was exhausting). The second time we saw it at the MK, crowds were a bit lighter and we were able to secure a great spot about 30 - 40 minutes before the show. The best place for kids (and shorter adults) we found is right behind one of the fenced in fountain areas in the hub. It's not directly on center, but because of the fenced in garden and fountain area, there's a solid 10+ feet in front of you where there are no people, which resulted in a perfect view of all the castle projections for my kids and wife (I'm taller and can usually see wherever we stand).

The projections are great and the show overall is awesome. That said, if you don't want to deal with the MK, the show is still fantastic from the Poly beach. Other than the first two minutes or so, which are all projections and no fireworks, you wouldn't really even know that you're missing anything because the fireworks themselves are bigger and more explosive than what was used in Wishes, and even without the projections I would say that this is probably one of the best fireworks shows they've ever had at the MK. It's pretty long too, running over 15 minutes.

As you noted, the nice thing about the Poly beach is that you can arrive just a few minutes before show time and get a great spot, and they pump in the music much louder than they used to in days past so you can hear everything from the beach, pool, marina, even at Trader Sams patio (also a decent view from there).

I would wait until you're there, feel out the crowds (and your family's mood/tiredness levels) and play it by ear. If everyone's up for it, I'd stay at the MK to see them, but I wouldn't worry if you watch from the Poly. You can't go wrong either way.

(BTW, despite the fact that exiting the hub can be really tough after the fireworks, our kids were literally in bed passed out at the Poly about 45 minutes after the show ended! One of the great perks of staying at the Poly!)

 

[Long Beach Mike]

Thanks MickeyNut, I didn't know the Poly # I had didn't reach them directly. I wonder if when guest relations call "Poly" are they calling the hotel or the switchboard.

 

[TulipMom]

We just got home last week after an 8 night stay. We saw HEA twice in the MK and twice from the Poly beach.

The first night at MK the fireworks crowds were awful. Wall-to-wall to people, no room to stand, breathe, move, etc. We ended up having to hold our 4 and 6 year olds in our arms so they could see anything (which was exhausting). The second time we saw it at the MK, crowds were a bit lighter and we were able to secure a great spot about 30 - 40 minutes before the show. The best place for kids (and shorter adults) we found is right behind one of the fenced in fountain areas in the hub. It's not directly on center, but because of the fenced in garden and fountain area, there's a solid 10+ feet in front of you where there are no people, which resulted in a perfect view of all the castle projections for my kids and wife (I'm taller and can usually see wherever we stand).

The projections are great and the show overall is awesome. That said, if you don't want to deal with the MK, the show is still fantastic from the Poly beach. Other than the first two minutes or so, which are all projections and no fireworks, you wouldn't really even know that you're missing anything because the fireworks themselves are bigger and more explosive than what was used in Wishes, and even without the projections I would say that this is probably one of the best fireworks shows they've ever had at the MK. It's pretty long too, running over 15 minutes.

As you noted, the nice thing about the Poly beach is that you can arrive just a few minutes before show time and get a great spot, and they pump in the music much louder than they used to in days past so you can hear everything from the beach, pool, marina, even at Trader Sams patio (also a decent view from there).

I would wait until you're there, feel out the crowds (and your family's mood/tiredness levels) and play it by ear. If everyone's up for it, I'd stay at the MK to see them, but I wouldn't worry if you watch from the Poly. You can't go wrong either way.

(BTW, despite the fact that exiting the hub can be really tough after the fireworks, our kids were literally in bed passed out at the Poly about 45 minutes after the show ended! One of the great perks of staying at the Poly!)

SUPER helpful! Thanks!!

 

[mickeynut1]

Thanks MickeyNut, I didn't know the Poly # I had didn't reach them directly. I wonder if when guest relations call "Poly" are they calling the hotel or the switchboard.

You're welcome! Good question about guest relations. Not sure if they have a way to actually contact the resorts directly or not .

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Actually this pic is a pretty good example, although a bit hard to see. This crowd looks doable, but any more and I'd probably be on my way to the monorail.


View attachment 265874

I read somewhere they have bag check at monorail, so does that make a difference?

 

[Smittolis]

The bag check is right by the upper entrance to the monorail, the line there isn't usually long at all as they have 2 channels and 2 people checking. If you get on the boat you will wait just as long if not longer when you dock at MK to get through their bag check, so its a case of choosing your poison.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

The bag check is right by the upper entrance to the monorail, the line there isn't usually long at all as they have 2 channels and 2 people checking. If you get on the boat you will wait just as long if not longer when you dock at MK to get through their bag check, so its a case of choosing your poison.

I thought if you went thru bag check at the monorail it might be quicker than the boat. Do you go thru main bag check when you get off the boat? (I have not yet stayed at Poly, trying figure how things work)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I read somewhere they have bag check at monorail, so does that make a difference?

I agree with the PP. Security at the monorail is rarely that crowded in my experience. Security at the boat dock could be longer, but depends on the order you get off the boat. If you're the last off the boat, you'll be in line behind everyone else on that boat. This wouldn't sway my transportation decision one way or the other though.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I thought if you went thru bag check at the monorail it might be quicker than the boat. Do you go thru main bag check when you get off the boat? (I have not yet stayed at Poly, trying figure how things work)

There is no "main bag check" anymore really. If you take the Poly boat, you go through a security check point right there on the dock at the MK that only services people coming in on that GF-Poly-MK boat loop. The other boat launches have their own security. The bus folks have their own security. Etc, etc.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

There is no "main bag check" anymore really. If you take the Poly boat, you go through a security check point right there on the dock at the MK that only services people coming in on that GF-Poly-MK boat loop. The other boat launches have their own security. The bus folks have their own security. Etc, etc.

So when you get off the ferry from TTC, there's no bag check? Or it's now separate for each mode of transport?

 

[Smittolis]

The bag check for TTC is to get into the TTC, so once on the ferry there are no more checks.

From memory, the bag check from the Poly boat is only 1 person, where as from Wilderness it is 2 so is a little faster but has more people.

We much preferred using the monorail from the Poly as once you were through the bag check at the hotel that was it, get off the monorail and straight through to the Annual Pass Holder line! ;o)