One of three monorail resorts, the Polynesian is perfect for people who want a deluxe resort, close to the Magic Kingdom, with a more relaxed feel.
The location of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is located across the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom and is adjacent the Grand Floridian. There’s a nice walking path between the two resorts, taking you past Disney’s Wedding Pavillion. This means that from some of the rooms and from various locations around the resort, you can have that Magical View! The location is the true benefit to this resort, with the Magic Kingdom and Epcot just a monorail ride away.
Theming of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
The South Pacific and tropical paradise is the theme to the Polynesian (Polynesia is a group of Islands in the South Pacific for those who didn’t know.) The buildings are longhouses and these are set within tropical landscaping, with a beach, water falls and tiki lamps. You’ll also some hints of Moana, here and there.
Rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- All of the rooms are located within 11 different longhouse buildings, which are 2 or 3 stories high.
- Like a traditional hotel, you access the rooms through interior corridors.
- Sleep up to 5 (plus one child under age of three).
- Only some rooms have balconies.
- Feature 2 queen beds, and a day bed.
- Also have an armoire and table with 2 chairs.
- Vanity area with two sinks, plus bath and shower in adjoining bathroom.
- Refrigerator, iron, ironing board, hairdryer and coffee maker.
- Free wifi.
- You also get robes for use during your stay (with a note reminding you not to take them with you when you leave)
Options
As with all Disney hotels, you get a choice of views, the better the view, the more you pay. For standard rooms the following options are available:
- Garden view – looking over the hotel’s landscape or pool.
- Lagoon view – will have a view of the Seven Seas Lagoon. This is unlikely to include a view of the Magic Kingdom, but you may be able to view it at an angle – but equally, you could easily be facing the other direction.
- Magic Kingdom view – the view of dreams – you can see Cinderella Castle from your room.
You can also select to upgrade to Club Level. The King Kamehameha Club offers concierge service with front desk and guest services exclusive to Club guests and an evening turndown service. In addition the Club lounge in the Hawaii building provides morning breakfast and snacks and drinks at midday and in the evening. Once booked, Guests can also use the pre-arrival Itinerary Planning Services – i.e. they’ll take your requests and make your dining and show reservations for you. All the rooms are located in the Hawaii building (which has a great central location for accessing the pools, main building and transport). With the Club rooms you have the option of Garden view or Lagoon view, with most of the lagoon view rooms having views of the Magic Kingdom. There is also a 1-bedroom suite option at Club level.
Longhouses
There are eleven different longhouses, which hold the 847 rooms. Unless you have booked at Club Level, you won’t know which long house you’ll be in before your stay. If you have a strong preference, you can request it a few days before you go and while Disney won’t guarantee it, they will try their best to grant your request:
Aotearoa
- Close to the Great Ceremonial House
- Transportation & Ticket Center a distance away
- Views are of the Lagoon (Cinderella Castle or Grand Floridian) or gardens and monorail or road.
- No balconies on the second floor
Fiji
- Close to the Great Ceremonial House
- Transportation & Ticket Center a distance away
- No balconies on the second floor
Niue
- Close to the Great Ceremonial House, between the two pools
- Transportation & Ticket Center a distance away
- No balconies on the second floor
Rapa Nui
- Closest to Transportation & Ticket Center, but a distance from Great Ceremonial House and main pool
- Views are of the gardens or parking lots
- Balconies on all floors
Rarotonga
- Next door to Great Ceremonial House, a few minutes from Transportation & Ticket Center
- Close to both pools
- Views of gardens, quiet pool and parking lots
- No balconies on the second floor
Samoa
- Close to the Great Ceremonial House, between the two pools
- Transportation & Ticket Center a distance away
- Views are of the marina, volcano, gardens or beach
- No balconies on the second floor
Tahiti
- Next door to Transportation & Ticket Center, but a distance from Great Ceremonial House and main pool
- Views of lagoon, including Magic Kingdom, but mainly of other resorts and T&TC.
- Balconies on all floors
Tuvalu
- Close to the Great Ceremonial House
- Transportation & Ticket Center few minutes away
- Views are of the Volcano pool or gardens
- No balconies on the second floor
Tonga
- Houses the suites.
- Right next door to Great Ceremonial House.
- Views are of the Lagoon (including Cinderella Castle) or gardens.
- Balconies on all floors.
Hawaii
- Club level lodge, accessed by Key
- Central to Great Ceremonial House, Transportation and Ticket centre and the pools.
- Views are of the Lagoon (including Cinderella Castle) or gardens.
- No balconies on the second floor
Dining at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
There are some great dining options at the Polynesian, plus you’re just a monorail ride away from all the options offered at the Grand Floridian and Contemporary Resort.
Counter Service and Snacks
- Captain Cooks – food court style
- Kona Island – for snacks and drinks
- Tambu Lounge – bar next to Ohana
- Barefoot Bar – poolside bar serving drinks and snacks
Table Service Restaurants
- Kona Cafe – mixes an Asian twist with American meals, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you go for brekkie, make sure you try their famous tonga toast – fried french toast stuffed with bananas and topped with sugar and cinnamon.
- ‘Ohana – meaning ‘family’ in Hawaiin. offering Family Style meals – i.e. they put a big platter of everything on your table and you all help yourself and if you run out of anything, just ask and they’ll bring you more of it. They are open for a regular dinner in this style, or for a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch.
Dinner Show
- Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show – a family style meal offering amidst a luau with hula dancing and fire eating, located in Luau Cove. This is a pretty noisy show and you might hear it in the evenings if you’re in a nearby longhouse.
Recreation at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- 2 pools – the main pool is the Nanea Volcano pool, featuring a water slide as ‘molten water’ erupts down it, with Cinderella Castle in view in the distance.
- 3 beaches with hammocks, and for playing on
- Free access to the Grand Floridian Resort’s health club and spa – just a walk or monorail ride away.
- Bike and surrey bike rental
- Watercraft rentals including sea racers, pontoon boats and canoes
- Neverland Kid’s Club
- Arcade
- Fishing
- View the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the beach
- Electrical Water Pageant – see the lit up floats in the evening
- Plus lots of little extras such as story-telling each night, a torch lighting ceremony, Hula dancing lessons, arts and crafts and water games.
- And you have access to many of the activities offered at the Grand Floridian, including movie nights and campfires.
Transport to and from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The monorail is a huge benefit to this resort and will take you right from your hotel to the doors of Magic Kingdom. Or you have the option of a boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon to get to the Magic Kingdom. The monorail will also take you to the Grand Floridian and Contemporary if you are dining at these hotels; a real advantage as they have some great restaurants and no other Disney transport goes between resorts so directly.
You can also take the monorail to Epcot but you need to transfer to a different monorail at the Transportation and Ticket Centre. If you don’t want to change trains, you can also walk to the Transporation and Ticket Centre, and just get the one monorail from there.
Disney buses will take you from the front of your hotel to all of the other parks, water parks and Disney Springs.