Disney's POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT Information & Questions

[DrunkJam]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

 

[Carrie772]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

I wouldn't worry if I were you! Every few months or so there is a discussion about how rundown and how dark and how dated the resort looks. I don't doubt that people are telling the truth. My family and I and my husband and I have been on several trips to the Polynesian. We have never been disappointed with our room, the CM service, or our view. Sometimes just a few things can sour a vacation and it is hard to recover the magic. I hope that your trip is sprinkled with some tiki pixie dust!!

 

[TJA]

For the person worried about the state of the rooms, I agree that it's just normal wear and tear. Especially at a Disney world resort where there are an incredibly large amount of kids. BC rooms look very polished now after the refurb -- I love staying in resorts with newly refurbed rooms! Poly should be due in a year or 2? I can't remember how often they are refurbished.

@Skywise I agree with you about the views! To me, there's something magical about ending each day sitting on the patio with a great view while listening to the Poly music. Oh, and I noticed the off-sync music for the July 3 and 4 shows. I really thought they'd fix it after the July 3 show, but on July 4 it seemed even more off.

I'm going to start drafting my email feedback to guest communications and it'd be great if everyone else did too. The only way they can fix anything is if they hear consistent feedback. One thing I'm going to mention, and I forgot to mention it on here, is about the dessert ending time in the CL. I know it's 10:00, but when Wishes starts at 10:00, it sure would be nice if they could still close the food panels if they want, but please leave out the leftover desserts at least until 10:10/10:15 when Wishes is over.

 

[TJA]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

I highly doubt you could be disappointed at Poly! But no resort is going to be perfect, and not everyone is going to love every resort. You'll find negative comments on this forum about every resort. What type of room did you book?

 

[heath92681]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

We are trying to plan a "perfect" trip too. I appreciate the feedback, positive and negative. I need to weigh the pros and cons and make sure it's worth dropping $500+ a night. Honest feedback factors into my decision.

Also, the more Disney heard about the negatives, the more likely they are to do something about them!

 

[Chrelaine]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

Nothing is ever as perfect as you build it up in your mind. In the end, the Poly is a beautiful resort, in the perfect location with fantastic views. Your vacation is what you make it. If you put too much emphasis on perfection, you're bound to be disappointed. Have confidence that everyone will have a wonderful time, regardless of any small negatives that you may or may not notice.

 

[conandrob240]

Nothing "soured" our vacation- as in, no one thing happened to ruin it. Service, cleanliness and CL quality were just simply unacceptable at a $500+/nt resort. We didn't have a bad time. Fireworks were amazing, parks were great- it's just that, IMO, Poly wasn't up to par. I gave some feedback on resort but frankly I think it fell on deaf ears. What is the email address so I can send a detailed review?

 

[conandrob240]

And I'll a add that I think it's absolutely ridiculous that service and food quality can be that vastly different at two somewhat equivalent deluxe resorts. They should each be held to a minimum standard.

 

[DrunkJam]

I highly doubt you could be disappointed at Poly! But no resort is going to be perfect, and not everyone is going to love every resort. You'll find negative comments on this forum about every resort. What type of room did you book?

Yeah, I get that, and, we did love the look of it (we stayed in WL and got married at the YC, but visited a few times)
We booked Lagoon View.

 

[Scott MC]

Oh, I feel sad after all these negative points.
I REALLY want our holiday to be perfect. Are we going to be disappointed with the Poly?
We loved the look of it when we were here to get married.
But we have never STAYED before.
And this is going to be our LAST big holiday as a family. It HAS to be the best it can be...

I honestly think that if you get yourself all revved up with thoughts like "This trip HAS to be the best it can be...," you're setting yourself up for failure. On our last trip, we weren't overall thrilled with one of our resort choices, and it was easiest to just be upset for a very brief period of time, then make like Elsa and "Let it go." You're in the most magical place on earth, at one of it's most famous, luxurious hotels. If there's a chip in the end table, or the tub isn't so sparking that you need sunglasses, I say make your comments known (in person) to the front desk, and then get on with your vacation! Go for a dip in the pool! Go get some Dole Whip at the Pineapple Lanai. Even better....get a Mai Tai at Trader Sam's and forget your worries!

 

[DrunkJam]

Nothing is ever as perfect as you build it up in your mind. In the end, the Poly is a beautiful resort, in the perfect location with fantastic views. Your vacation is what you make it. If you put too much emphasis on perfection, you're bound to be disappointed. Have confidence that everyone will have a wonderful time, regardless of any small negatives that you may or may not notice.

You are totally right. We are never going to get perfection, but, I guess, knowing it's the last trip, it's kind of more important not to have things to regret.

 

[DrunkJam]

I honestly think that if you get yourself all revved up with thoughts like "This trip HAS to be the best it can be...," you're setting yourself up for failure. On our last trip, we weren't overall thrilled with one of our resort choices, and it was easiest to just be upset for a very brief period of time, then make like Elsa and "Let it go." You're in the most magical place on earth, at one of it's most famous, luxurious hotels. If there's a chip in the end table, or the tub isn't so sparking that you need sunglasses, I say make your comments known (in person) to the front desk, and then get on with your vacation! Go for a dip in the pool! Go get some Dole Whip at the Pineapple Lanai. Even better....get a Mai Tai at Trader Sam's and forget your worries!

Seriously, we are laid back people (OK, the small boy has ASD, so, laid back might not be his thing, but...) We are not looking for absolute perfection, but, it's a big thing to know you are on your last family holiday, I think. Of course once we are actually there, MOST of the time will not be filled with that, but it will always be a background thing.

 

[conandrob240]

What does "last family holiday" mean? I hope everything is okay.

 

[DrunkJam]

What does "last family holiday" mean? I hope everything is okay.

We got married in WDW in 2010, when our son was 4 and a half.
When we go back his sister will be 4 and a half.
He remembers going. So, she will be able to remember going (and we'll have a bunch of photos that show that they both were there, and they went with their Dad)
Their Dad now has Leukaemia, which will not be cured (unless a new treatment is discovered) and while his Doctors are confident he will be able to cope leaving this trip until our daughter will remember, we know he won't be able to make any more long distance holidays after this one.
If it turns out he can't even make this one, then that's horrible, but, with the biggest hope that he can, it DOES matter that we make the best choices we can.
Millions of people in such circumstances go to WDW so, we are not looking for special treatment, but, we have put a lot of thought into things like resort choices (yes decor, but, more importantly, location, transport, kid wow-ness etc) to make it, well, you know...

 

[conandrob240]

Gosh, I am so very sorry. That sure puts it in perspective and, yes, you definitely want to make a great choice.

 

[TJA]

Yeah, I get that, and, we did love the look of it (we stayed in WL and got married at the YC, but visited a few times)
We booked Lagoon View.

Lagoon view at Poly is our favorite view! We love watching Wishes from our own patio/balcony. And sitting outside during the day or at night is so relaxing with the Poly music playing in the background.

As I said before, you'll always hear negativity on these boards, no matter where you choose and then you'll second guess. I used to do the same thing until we tried many different resorts and now we know for ourselves. However, given your situation, I understand how important your choice is to you. I can't see how a lagoon view at Poly could ever be a wrong choice. Maybe take a look at some pictures? I posted some a few pictures back of our lagoon room view.

 

[TJA]

I use WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com to email my feedback. I usually get a response within a day or 2, and the response directly touches on my feedback so I know it has been read. I detail all of the positives naming each awesome CM, then I list the things that could be improved.

 

[tarak]

Slightly concerning. Are the rooms really looking that rundown? I know people had said the same about the Beach Club (pre-refurb) back in 2014, but we found the rooms to be fine. Also had a day there where our room wasn't cleaned. We called housekeeping and they came while we went back to Epcot for the evening.

I realize it's darker, due to décor, foliage, etc. but I'm more nervous about rundown, how bad? Normal wear and tear or worse? Hasn't the resort been recently refurbished in the last 5 years? We are not staying club level.

I was there in May and thought the rooms were fine. I don't notice things unless they are pretty egregious. My husband will see everything. We were at Kidani Village in January and I didn't see anything really off but my husband said it was pretty tired looking and wants to stay elsewhere until it's refurbished.

 

[tarak]

We got married in WDW in 2010, when our son was 4 and a half.
When we go back his sister will be 4 and a half.
He remembers going. So, she will be able to remember going (and we'll have a bunch of photos that show that they both were there, and they went with their Dad)
Their Dad now has Leukaemia, which will not be cured (unless a new treatment is discovered) and while his Doctors are confident he will be able to cope leaving this trip until our daughter will remember, we know he won't be able to make any more long distance holidays after this one.
If it turns out he can't even make this one, then that's horrible, but, with the biggest hope that he can, it DOES matter that we make the best choices we can.
Millions of people in such circumstances go to WDW so, we are not looking for special treatment, but, we have put a lot of thought into things like resort choices (yes decor, but, more importantly, location, transport, kid wow-ness etc) to make it, well, you know...

I am so, so sorry to read this.

 

[johnsonet]

We got married in WDW in 2010, when our son was 4 and a half.
When we go back his sister will be 4 and a half.
He remembers going. So, she will be able to remember going (and we'll have a bunch of photos that show that they both were there, and they went with their Dad)
Their Dad now has Leukaemia, which will not be cured (unless a new treatment is discovered) and while his Doctors are confident he will be able to cope leaving this trip until our daughter will remember, we know he won't be able to make any more long distance holidays after this one.
If it turns out he can't even make this one, then that's horrible, but, with the biggest hope that he can, it DOES matter that we make the best choices we can.
Millions of people in such circumstances go to WDW so, we are not looking for special treatment, but, we have put a lot of thought into things like resort choices (yes decor, but, more importantly, location, transport, kid wow-ness etc) to make it, well, you know...

I think you've chosen a beautiful spot for your family vacation.

I stayed at the Polynesian last July and it was fabulous and better than ever (I've stayed at least 5 times before). We were in Fiji and the carpeting in the hallway was brand new and the room was in very good condition. Housekeeping was excellent. I'm hoping for the best for our upcoming trip.
I book standard view these days but Lagoon View will be very nice. I'd request Tuvalu. I've seen photos of unimpressive lagoon views from Aotearoa...

I will be posting photos from all around the resort in a few weeks. Hopefully they will make you feel more confident