Our Week at Disney’s Polynesian Resort

By Michele Blandino

Not long ago, our family – my husband, myself and our two kids, ages 9 and 4 – spent a week at Disney’s Polynesian Resort in Orlando, Florida.

With the exception of a quick day trip taken last summer, it was the first time my husband and I have been to Disney World since our honeymoon 14 years ago and we were anxious to share the magic of this special place with our children. After quite a bit of research and some flip-flopping, we finally decided to book our stay at the Polynesian Resort, the same place we had stayed on our honeymoon. Our reason for this choice was made more for practical reasons than out of sentimentality; unlike the other resorts we had been considering, the Polynesian is situated along the main monorail line.

First Impressions

We left our New Jersey home at 6:30 AM on Sunday morning and finally arrived in Florida around 3:00 that afternoon. Because we took advantage of Disney’s Magical Express Service, we arrived sans luggage which made the entire check-in process somewhat more manageable. We were promptly greeted and before long with keys in hand, were on our way to our room.

We were given a room in Samoa, one of the longhouses that run along side of the resort’s main pool. Fortunately, the building is set back from the walkway and pool area and so noise was not a problem. Although Disney is in the process of refurbishing the rooms at the Polynesian, they haven’t yet gotten to Samoa; the room, while clean, definitely showed signs of age and wear. And, the dried buffalo wing sauce on the drapes didn’t do much to detract from this.

Restaurants

We ate at three of the resorts restaurants during our stay: ‘Ohana, Kona Café and Captain Cook’s Snack Company. While much has been written about the fabulous grilled feast offered at ‘Ohana, we weren’t very impressed. The night we dined there, the pace was packed and after waiting for more than an hour to be seated, it was clear that our waiter had far too many tables to take care of. While he promptly arrived with our starters, he only offered the grilled meat to us twice while we observed him returning to the other tables several times. We had a similar problem at Kona Café. After we had been seated for breakfast for about 15 minutes, I finally went to the hostess to ask if someone was assigned to our table. Turns out, the waitress was MIA and they promptly got someone to take care of us.

Amenities

Because we spent so much time in the parks, the only amenities we took advantage of were the pools. There are two: the main pool and the smaller “quiet” pool. The main pool was terrific, if a little too warm for my taste. The water doesn’t get very deep – 3.5 feet at the deepest point – but there’s a water slide, some built in Jacuzzi’s along the sides and a waterfall. In addition to all of that, the pool served at the perfect viewing spot for the nightly fireworks over the Magic Kingdom. The “quiet” pool, although not nearly as spectacular, was slightly cooler and served as the perfect place to escape from the noise of the main pool.

Final Thoughts

Despite my initial disappointment at the condition of our room and the inconsistent service, we truly enjoyed our stay. The convenience of being right on the main monorail line cannot be overestimated, especially when you are dealing with a 4 year-old at the end of a long day.

If you plan to stay at the Polynesian during the coming months, request to be placed in a refurbished room. While they cannot always honor these types of request, the staff does try their best to accommodate guests.