Disney's Polynesian Villas

By Nick

Ever since I started going to Walt Disney World in the early 1990's, I thought about how great it would be to stay at the Polynesian Resort, but could never bring myself to pay $400 plus for one single night.

Enter the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and Disney's Polynesian Villas and Bungalows, which afforded me the opportunity to finally stay here!

And it was, well, it was okay. (queue wahwahwah sound effect)

Right up front here I'm going to say that there are a few things that are absolutely clouding my judgement, and that I would certainly consider staying here again, if things lined up properly.

The first thing preventing this stay from being more magical was the fact that I was solo. I would absolutely have had a better time with my wife.

Secondly, I didn't have enough points available to book a Lake view room, instead getting a standard view, which wasn't bad...

...but due to the railings, if you did decide to sit out, your view would be:

Then there was the room itself. It was nice, but I didn't feel that as much high quality touches were put into these rooms compared to The Villas at the Grand Floridian.

And even though they solved a design flaw in the under the bed storage I'd found at the Grand, there is even less room for clothes!

And finally, something that didn't have that much of an effect on me, but one I would certainly warn about in case you get a standard room in the next few months. The construction tarps, which stretched over a rather large portion of the grounds. I was told that this was going to be a refurbished pool and counter service restaurant, or the pool and a barbecue area. Perhaps both?

All things considered, however, there is much to be said for staying at the Poly. The top 3 things on the list being location, location, location. I especially liked the location of my building, Moorea.

While it was a bit of a hike to the Great Ceremonial House, which contains the main lobby, restaurants and lounges, it is very close to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC). It's also fairly close to the bus stop. So I had several options when it came to getting around.

And though the Great Ceremonial House is far-ish, the walk along the water is wonderful.

And you can watch Wishes from the beach!

Speaking of views, the grounds in general are lovely, even during rather cool January weather, they help convey a feeling of warmth.

The pool looks nice with a volcano themed slide, but I did not go for a swim during my stay.

While I didn't feel the rooms felt as posh as others on property, the double bathroom is a great touch.

The bed and pillows are super soft. I slept better on this trip than any other before!

Then there are all the food and drink options, from the newer Trader Sam's Grog Grotto, to the classics, Kona Cafe and O'hana, to the fact you a monorail ride from all the options at the Grand, Contemporary and Magic Kingdom, this is maybe my favorite thing about the Poly.

Which I suppose goes back to location, location, location.

So, to recap. Yes, it didn't live up to my expectations, but really, several of the reasons why were not the fault of the Polynesian.

In other words "It's not you Poly, it's me."