	Everyone	You
Decor	9.1
Drink Quality	8.3
Drink Selection	7.9
Food Quality	8.5
Food Selection	7.9
Mood	8.6
Music	9.1
Product Quality	8.8
Product Selection	8.3
Service	8.9
Tikiness	9.2
Tilt	9
Vibe	8.3

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Regulars & Visitors

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Humuhumu’s description

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort is one of the high-end places to stay on property at Walt Disney World, just outside of Orlando. The resort is near the Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World's analogue of Disneyland), and is situated on the Seven Seas Lagoon. It opened on October 1, 1971, the same day Walt Disney World opened. Between 1985 and 2015, it was called simply "Disney's Polynesian Resort."

The resort underwent a huge refresh in 2015, with the lobby features changing dramatically (tropical plants and waterfalls were replaced with a large logo tiki), and the addition of Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

Orlando, FL

Bar & Restaurant

, a tiki bar patterned after Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

Anaheim, CA

Bar

9.1

in Anaheim.

The hotel is a sprawling complex, with 11 "longhouse" buildings named for Polynesian islands such as Rarotonga, Tahiti, Hawaii and Rapa Nui. Each building is two or three stories tall, and houses dozens of guest rooms; in all, the resort has 847 rooms. The heart of the hotel is the Great Ceremonial House, a massive two-level building that holds the hotel's reception desk, several stores and cafes, and 'Ohana restaurant.

'Ohana restaurant, and its adjacent Tambu Lounge, are on the upper level of the Great Ceremonial House. The restaurant is an all-you-can-eat affair, with great spears of meats brought around to your table for you to choose from regularly, and a pu-pu platter brought to your table to kick things off. There are activities for children, and it can get pretty loud. Tropical drinks are available, including one served in a pineapple, and a Tropical Itch, which comes with a backscratcher.

The hotel's pool area is small, but a looming volcano with built-in water slide gives it some oomph. The grounds are landscaped with tropical plants and many tikis, giving it a very lush feel. Many tikis are copies of those found at the Enchanted Tiki Room

classic

The Enchanted Tiki Room

Anaheim, CA

Themed Attraction

9.8

's pre-show lanai in Anaheim, including Pele, Ngendi, Rongo, and even Uti. (Orlando's Enchanted Tiki Room

classic

The Enchanted Tiki Room

Orlando, FL

Themed Attraction

9.4

has a few of these tikis around, but they are not part of the pre-show). There is a dinner-show luau performed regularly at the resort, called the Spirit of Aloha Show.

The monorail to the Magic Kingdom stops at the Polynesian Resort.

Comments

Cheap bastard

Cheap bastard has visited Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

February 7, 2017, 7:30 PM

Ovbiusly this is Disney. If you don't like theme parks, crowds, or child themed places then you won't like this resort. It is full Tiki everywhere from the design of the building to the wallpaper on the walls. There are lots of tiki themed gifts to buy and of course plenty of Disney themed character wear. The pool is awesome and there's a little bar tucked away on the backside of the pool that is a great place to watch the fireworks at night. I gave it low scores on tilt just to account for the Disney aspect. Otherwise, I think this is a must see and you can't avoid it if you are going to Trader Sam's.

CWGross

CWGross has visited Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

January 21, 2016, 10:40 PM

After a day at Animal Kingdom theme park, my wife and I spent the evening at the Polynesian. We had reservations for the Spirit of Aloha, and had time to enjoy Tambu Lounge, the decor, and the beach beforehand. Trader Sam's hadn't opened yet.

The hotel was quite nice, but a little too streamlined and Seventies for my preference. I'm not a fan of the logo character... It just looks too transparently cartoonish. Roaming the grounds was pretty but not as much as, say, the Wilderness Lodge. Roasting marshmallows on the beach was a quaint little diversion. Receiving leis in the lobby was a nice touch. Drinks in the Tambu were good, and deceptively nearly put us under the table before we could get to Spirit of Aloha.

Sobered up by a brisk walk around the resort, we got our table for the show. The endless food arriving at our "category 1" front-row table was fantastic. The pineapple-coconut bread and warm pineapple bread pudding dessert were to die for. The Spirit of Aloha luau show was mixed. A contrived, Disneyfied storyline frames the actual Polynesian dancing, and I could have done with less of it. The dances interspersed traditional stories would have been much preferred. But I get that it IS Disney, so a contrived, Disneyfied storyline is to be expected.

If we end up at WDW again, I would certainly be willing to do Spirit of Aloha again. Between the food and the dancing it was still a good time. With Trader Sam's, another evening at the Polynesian becomes that much more appealing.

Whaia-Muri

Whaia-Muri is a regular at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

August 21, 2014, 10:22 PM

The Polynesian is where my obsession with Hawaiian music and Tiki began. Although I've never stayed as a guest, I've been regularly visiting since I was a small child and the excitement hasn't worn off yet. The music, the smell (if you've been you know what I'm talking about), the decor were fantastic up until recently. For the last few months the hotel has been undergoing some construction. There is a huge plywood box enveloping most of the lobby interior. Sadly the waterfall in the lobby won't be making it out alive this time (Disney has a long history of killing popular things all over the resort). I suspect it will look and feel totally different in there when it's done. Whether that will be a good, bad or neutral thing is yet to be seen. On the up side, Trader Sam's is coming! If the finished product is anything like the artist renderings, we're all in for a treat! Whatever becomes of the Polynesian, I'll love it just the same.

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