Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

I spent a week here with my wife and son. This was my 4th time staying here and 3rd time staying club level. I booked a lagoon view room again because we loved the view. Got a first floor room and was very upset at my lagoon view. They should start a new category called bungalow view because that was all we could see. I will attach a picture of our view. I can't believe that they ruined the view of the more expensive rooms on site. Having access to the lounge is great and the food offerings were very good. All of the staff in the Hawaii building were wonderful, but 3 in particular made a lasting impression. I'd like to thank Jim and Morgan at the concierge desk for their help and Sara in the lounge was very attentive. Room service was good although not what I remember. There were no towel animals at all this time. Room service would come at 4pm and turn down at 5. This just didn't make sense to us. Room was showing some wear and tear, and the glass on our patio door had water spots the entire trip. Pools were nice and the water was warm. I did not enjoy that small children were always in the hot tub. Had dinner at Ohana late one night after the fireworks crowd had left and it was excellent again. I am not planning on going back for a while and I'm not sure that I will stay here again. Overall we love this resort but mostly because of the memories not from this trip so much. Read less

3rd visit to WDW, 2nd time staying on property, 1st time at a deluxe resort. Stayed at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel last year and arrived with expectations for a similar experience, boosted by a glowing review on The Points Guy. It's hard to expect hotels to live up to high expectations, but a few basic shortcomings: - A hotel's #1 job is to provide a good night's rest, and the Poly sadly failed at that. The power went out in the middle of the night. I suffer from tinnitus and woke up the moment the power went out. It came back on after 12 minutes, but those 12 minutes of discomfort kept me from falling back asleep for the next hour, possibly more. As a result I was late for rope-drop the next day. There was a letter from the manager in the room inviting feedback to an email address, to which I wrote about this incident. I brought it up to the front desk person again at check out. However, I haven't heard back at all. This complete absence of service recovery doesn't seem in line with Disney's values at all. - Also linked to a good night's rest, the walls were too thin. Kid next door cried in the middle of the night and I actually thought it was my own kid crying. - Pillowcases didn't completely cover pillows but gaped open. Unless they wash the pillows themselves between guests, this is unhygenic. I could be putting my face on someone else's drool (or worse!). I liked staying on a ground floor room - we had a nice view of greenery and my kid enjoyed watching the rabbits and ducks that came through the lawn in front of our room. But inside the room was pretty dated and dark. It seems like housekeeping comes a lot later than what I would expect as industry standard (9AM-1PM). They come mid-late afternoon, by which time we may already have returned from the park and be resting in the room. I know some people are fans of food at the Poly, but for such a large resort teeming with people it felt like there were too few options. There were overlaps between Kona Cafe, Captain Cook, and room service menus, which were pretty limited to begin with. Breakfast and dinner at Ohana weren't bad, but as it's prix fixe I wouldn't want to repeat a meal there. It was absolutely necessary to venture out to avoid eating the same food twice. And in terms of venturing out, the best thing that the Poly has going for it is the proximity to Magic Kingdom. We ended up going there 4x over the course of a week, so it was well worth staying there. However, it was quite inconvenient getting to other resorts and Disney Springs. Even when we Ubered, the driver wasn't allowed to drop us off at our building which was the furthest possible distance from the main lobby. Read less

Have always wanted to stay at the Polynesian. Finally got the chance after staying at several other Disney deluxe resorts. There are a few things this hotel has going for it; the pool, the tropical grounds, and the distance to magic kingdom. The rooms are big but feel like you stepped back in time to 1975. Decor was very bland, lighting very gloomy. The elevator was old and small, the hallway carpets were dirty. Hard to believe Disney charges this much money for a very mediocre room. You would think with the amount they charge they can invest some money Into the maintenance of the buildings and the rooms. Also, why doesn’t every room have a balcony? The pool is honestly the star of the hotel. Nothing beats relaxing in the pool with the magic kingdom in the background. The one downside about the pool, it gets too crowded during the afternoon. I did enjoy my stay at the Polynesian, but I think 75% of the value is in the short distance to the magic kingdom. If you don’t care about this aspect, I would recommend staying elsewhere. There are better, more updated, Disney resorts out there. Read less

We visited the Polynesian resort for a character breakfast. It is so beautiful and the people are so nice there. It really reminded us of Maui. We had a great time looking around the gift shops and checking the place out. The pool looked amazing with a zero entry at one end. I saw they have snack stand that offers dole whip which is a tasty frozen treat you find in Magic Kingdom. This is a nice place. Read less