Polynesian Review

On my February trip to Disney World I got to stay at the Polynesian Resort, which was on my Disney World bucket list.  I had the benefit though of not having to pay full price though as I went with my sister and her two kids ;)  The resort is really nice; but, it didn't live up to my expectations.


The rooms were really nice.  They were large with lots of storage.  The rooms had 2 comfy Queen sized beds, two chairs and a couch that converts to a bed, allowing a 5th person to sleep in the room.  And a balcony.  As far as storage there was a dresser, two closets, and a desk with a pull out table underneath.  There was also a night table and a refrigerator.  My nephew complained that the couch/bed thing wasn't comfortable, but my brother-in-law had slept on one on a previous trip and said it was fine.  Do you trust the adult or the 13 year old?

 

The bathroom was very nice - it had nice tiles and an asthetically pleasing look.  But that's where the hype on the bathroom ends.  I have stayed in a value and a moderate resort in the past and liked the bathroom set up there MUCH better.  Both had the shower and toilet in a room with the sink area seperate, allowing for more then 1 person to use bathroom facilities at one time.  With everything in the bathroom at the Polynesian it made getting ready much more complicated and we were two adult woman and two boys, I pitty a group of 4 or 5 woman trying to get ready with this bathroom.  Additionally, the bathroom had 1 sink and 1 mirror - again an issue when more then 1 person is trying to get ready at a time.  There was another mirror in the room, but the lighting around it was terrible. 

The resort did offer free Wifi, it wasn't worth the money!  It never worked, every single time I logged on it worked for less then 5 minutes before it just stopped working.  My sister got it to work one morning around 6 AM.  It was actually worse then not having wifi at all.

On to transportation...
If you're spending most of your trip going to the Magic Kingdom, you can't beat the location.  However, Disney recently changed the schedule for the monorail and it stops running earlier then it used to.  Don't ask me when it stops running because no one actually told us when, you just had to look for the sign.  While the boat isn't bad, it's not the monorail - one of the reasons people choose to stay at the Polynesian (or any Magic Kingdom/monorail resort for that matter).  I would definatly factor in this change in the monorail schedule into your decision to stay at any resort along the monorail. 


If you're not spending much time at the Magic Kingdom then I would consider other resorts.  From the Polynesian you can take a reasonable walk over the the Ticket and Transportation Center and take the monorail over to Epcot, but I'll admit that the ride was longer then I expected, the monorail is just a form of transportation, and not a magic bullet.  The bus ride to The Hollywood Studios wasn't long and I never went to the Animal Kingdom. 

Where the Polynesian shined though was in its theming. From the scents in the lobby to the trees around the resort, everything about the Polynesian represented the region it was themed after.  Even the pool was a volcano.  The resort had a relaxed "Aloha" kinda vibe to it, and that made it a fun place to stay.

Nanea Volcano Pool

There are two pools at the Polynesian (well, I saw two pools), the quiet pool was large and quiet...  The main pool with the volcano slide was on the small side, but it did have zero entry, nice if you're traveling with small kids.  And there was also a beach area.  I'm not sure if you can swim here, but sitting on a beach chair on the white sand is nice.  Or better yet, take one of the hamocks or swings inbetween beach vollyball games.  Are you getting the idea?  There is a very nice pool/beach area here - making the resort - resortlike. 

Quiet Pool

Overall the Polynesian is a very nice resort, it has a lot of great ammenities.  However, it's not all sunshine and leis, before spending a lot of money on this resort I would give some real thought to the needs of your group and if this resort offers the right ammenities for you.

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