I think it's worth mentioning for those who haven't been before, but the beach is just a sandy area next to the lagoon. You can't and shouldn't enter the water because of the alligators that call Florida home.
By the way, AJ, you have, by far, the Very Best Voice Over Delivery! I am a former Radio and TV Station General Manager with decades of experience suffering through, er, I mean Auditioning and Listening to scads of 'Talent'. Your pitches, inflections, sounds and silences are terrific, and the Engineering is fine-tuned perfectly to your pipes. Kudos to you and your Production Team!
I just stayed at the Polynesian Village over Memorial day weekend with my daughter and 3 grandchildren. It was beautiful and the least stressful part of the trip. Word of advice for those of you with pool loving children, DO NOT let them see that Lava pool first unless you intend to let them in it right then. No matter what cool ride we had just been on, the question after was" when are we going in the pool?" They spent hours in that pool and loved every minute of it. My daughter took me along to show her appreciation for my years of providing childcare and lawn care. She did tell me she got some major discounts for the room and park admissions. I certainly hope so.
Staying here after our park days (wanted the cost to be worth it by actually BEING at the resort) for the first time just before Christmas. Can’t wait!
I was lucky growing up and got to stay here once. Normally my family never would be able to afford it, but my mom had booked at the Caribbean hotel and for some reason it was closed and we couldn’t stay there. They ended up offering us a huge discount so we could stay at a hotel with a beach. It is my favorite hotel.
The first time we stayed at the Polynesian Village was in 1974, the rates then were $18, $24 & $32 per night, we chose $24. (that seemed like a lot at the time) It's still my favorite Disney Resort but I can't afford it anymore. Our last four visits we've stayed at Port Orleans/French Quarter
If only we could go back in time. Disney has gone up WAY more than inflation. Disneyland cost $1 to enter when it opened. That would be around $11 today, inflation wise. Guess what? You are not gonna get into any Disney Park for $11 lol. I think Walt would HATE what Disney has become. Universal is a much better deal, though Disney’s good neighbor hotels are also nice, and reasonable.
I love the Polynesian! I visit the hotel every time I go to WDW and find myself in the Poly lobby soaking up the fragrance of the hotel. Nothing like it!
This brought back so many memories for me. I'm 46 now, but my family & I stayed here when I was 16. I remember at 1st being so disappointed bc I wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian aka The GORGEOUS Red Roof Palace as we called it. The monorail was our favorite mode of transportation..I am now a Grandmom of 1 Grandson and wanna take him to Disney maybe next year bc he's 4 now. Love your channel ❤️ but this was great!!!
The Poly has been my go to hotel since my first visit in 1980. A park view room and watching the water pagent are still worth it for us. Tonga toast and Trader Sams keep us coming back.
Oh and I hope they preserve my favorite tree when they do their fancy expansion where the live show used to be. It’s tucked away in a beautiful, quiet corner with a stone mickey head sitting within the trunk and it’s my favorite spot at the resort.
Got to spend some time here only due to having reservations at Ohana. The lobby was GORGEOUS as was the vegetation around the hotel. It was cute to see people doing the hula in lobby. And the food is amazing. Unfortunately due to the price we would never be able to stay there but it was nice visiting.
This is a bucketlist resort. One day my family will stay here and I really want to stay in the overwater bungalow but wow the price for those. May just settle for a Moana theme which my daughter will love anyways. But I have been to Ohana and that is amazing. We try to do breakfast on a MK day or we go there on arrival day to start our vacation. Gets us excited because we can see MK across the way and know we are in Disney.
My favorite Disney resort, I love staying in the Poly, it’s the full Disney experience for me. Staying here again for my birthday in Sept. can’t wait! 🌴🤩🤎
I'm not a DVC member but, I am staying in a DVC room over the Memorial Day week. *Along with another DVC resort* I've never stayed at a DVC resort before. I got a really good deal using a DVC rental site. We made sure coordinate our stay for the extra magic hours at MK. It's going to be amazing to be able to leave MK in the middle of the day to go to our room. Having a little makes this resort worth the effort to find this deal and the price!
my grandfather used to work here at ohana I have so many memories of visiting over there and the time we stayed there. I miss my grandfather but every time I'm there I like to think he is smiling at me.
This is a bucklist resort for sure! I used to love to visit it and wander around as a CM, but back then, it was out of my price range. We'll have to stay there one of these days though!
God bless people that can afford the stay at this place, me and my wife do well above average and I could never justify spending that type of money for a room I will barely be in.
i stayed at the polynesian every year since i was 2 and stopped going for a while in 2015. summer 2022 i finally went back but stayed at the beach resort. now im going in a week and finally staying at the polynesian again. soooo excited
If you’re using DVC rental points to get a discount room, it’s TOTALLY worth it. our four night stay in a Moorea studio came to around $1400. Excellent stay!
I just spent a week staying in a Disney Resort in an ACTUAL Tropical Paradise..in a 2 Bedroom 1100 sq ft villa with kitchen and laundry…and a wonderful view overlooking the gardens where they host a luxury Luau three times a week…with an Insane level of activities and Six pools and water slides…And it was…$1100 a night…Oh yeah, and it comes with its OWN HAWAIIAN ISLAND…This can’t compare to AULANI…and is Twice the price!
I went there 2 times and next summer I’m going again! It’s my favorite hotel everything abt it is incredible and if u love Disney and tropical stuff it’s THE BEST. The food is amazing, the pool, the rooms, etc. I promise you’ll love it if u go I have no complaints!
I love visiting the Poly for the restaurants or whatever but when I stayed there it was a bit of a letdown. Felt it was a bit too spread out and too much money when compared to some other hotels in the deluxe category. I did love sitting on the beach watching the MK fireworks at night but for MK area hotels I would take the Wilderness Lodge any day.
Those prices are just too high, and yet they sell out. Wow. The good news is that you can just visit the resorts by getting a reservation at one of the resturants. That's what we do.
AJ..excellent , balanced review of the Poly...when we lived in Orlando ( yerars ago) my wife was a supervisor there & we loved the ambience;but must say the cost is now rather prohibitve and frankly as primarily EPCOT afficiandos prefer other Resorts. Of late we find that the Moderate Rseort, Port Orleans French Quarter has become our go to favorite for speedy one stop bus service & a relaxing vibe...
Watching this (sadly} waiting in the Polynesian lobby to go home after 8 days at WDW. The relaxed vibe is right, hardly a care in the world when we stay here. Our family has DVC & the Poly is our home resort.
My absolute dream resort. May never get to stay there, but I did get to go to Ohana (in full luau outfit of course) last year, and even that taste of the resort was magical. We sat on the (crowded) beach after dinner and cried while watching fireworks…because adults cry watching fireworks across a lake…right?!?!
I love these in-depth hotel videos. Always been interested in the deluxe Disney hotels, but I could never afford to stay in them! Still would love to see a Blizzard Beach food video!
This resort looks beautiful, but the price is a little too high. When we go to Disney my family and I stay at the wilderness lodge.Given the choice,I would love to try this resort at least once.
We have done both. Save the extra bucks up and stay at Poly's for one vacation. It was our bucket list and my husband was terribly I'll while there. He still had a good time.
Around 0:50, you ask whether we’d be better off planning an actual Polynesian vacation instead, but as far as I can see, there’s no comparison in this video between the Polynesian resort and, say, a typical Hawaiian resort stay or even a premium Hawaiian resort. Yes, a Hawaiian resort doesn’t have Disney (unless it’s Aulani), but it has actual frickin’ Hawaii.
So I’m not going to Hawaii so I can’t compare to that, but I’m going to Bora Bora for my honeymoon in November for 9 days and staying in overwater bungalows with mountain views at two top hotels for just under $20K for 2 of us. That price includes our airfare, boat transfers, breakfast at the Four Seasons and breakfast and lunch (or maybe it’s breakfast and supper I can’t remember) at the Conrad Nui. So if you’re in a standard room for 9 nights during early November you’re looking at $6700-6800 ish for the standard hotel. If you were planning to stay in the bungalows for 9 nights it would legit be cheaper to go to Bora Bora, by a significant amount, like $12K+ difference.
@@notsowickedstepmom Congratulations (or congrats in advance) on your wedding! And thanks for the price comparison; that's the kind of thing I was hoping the video would provide. Right now, I'm trying to decide on a family vacation either in Hawaii or in Mexico. WDW hasn't been a consideration this year.
@@awlabrador fantastic options! I haven’t been to Hawaii, but have been to Mexico a handful of times. I like the Mexico all-inclusive vacations (we call them hot trip vacations as there’s also DR, Cuba, etc as options). It makes things so much easier with kids/teens and not having to worry about meals/alcohol. Plus you can book quite nice 4 and 5 stars for relatively cheap (compared to WDW). Not sure how it compares to Hawaii in pricing though. Anyways best of luck in your trip planning!!
Hello! AJ, I was like wow sooo tempted to staying there…. I visited look around back in 2000 it has been long time ago not stayed at that hotel I stayed from outside from Disney…. More cheaper to stay outside from the resorts. Thank him for all those tips! 👍🏽🥰
Hi: We are CA Natives (yep, Grewsom Newsom who closed Disneyland for 2 years) and are wondering if there is another group (blog) that is keeping up with all that is for Disneyland/CA Adventure. My Dad worked for Garrett Airesearch in the 1950s until the 1980s when he retired. Garrett had employees/family night once a year. The whole park was closed 6pm until 12pm to the public. Was such a great way of growing up with Disney. We were introduced once to Walt Disney which still is one of the highlife of my life. My girlfriend and I were part of the Passholders in the mid 1990s after I received a preowned kidney 25 years ago. Was still cheap and so much fun.
Slight correction, AJ: in 1971, in addition to the Contemporary Resort and Polynesian Village, there was A THIRD hotel/resort, the GOLF RESORT. I know, since I stayed there while substituting for the no-show musician in the Polynesian Resort Lounge. Not a big deal, I know, but Historical Accuracy is important to those of us who remember when Disney was Disney, and not so much what it is now. Thank you for persevering (Mahalo)
Hey AJ, I fear that you have an outdated photo of the DVC rooms since these have been refurbished and now include a pull down queen bed instead of the pullout couch.
There aren't many other resorts where you have a direct view of Magic Kingdom fireworks AND Electrical Water Pageant from your room! No other resort has so many transportation options. I once wrote an article on "Seven Ways (and more!) to get from Polynesian Resort to Magic Kingdom"! And the rooms are nice. What's not to like?
My beef as Kanāka with PV, they need to get rid of Capt. Cook's. He's the Conquistador of Hawai'i, like celebrating plantation life in the South. That and no haole Moanas. I know it's confusing because Emma Stone played a Native Hawaiian. But it's no different than a haole CM playing Tiana or Mulan. :-) :-)
Oh AJ, how I love thee….but you did not do the Spirit of Aloha any justice with the paltry mention in this video! I literally am in mourning over the permanent closure of that…so many memories of it over the past 20+ years. 😔
I NEED some advice. I am planning to take my kid to Disney for a 5 night vacation. My main focus is 2 days at MK and one day at AK. I am paying for this and I have theme park view. I am thinking maybe I should modify and do 4 nights instead and save about 1, 500. My kid will be 6 at that time. I think 4 nights will be pretty amazing as is....what do you guys think?
Have you ever stayed here ? You talked about the main pool then you said there was other pools scattered around the Polynesian???? There is only one other pool.
We just stayed here for a week. Nice, clean rooms, and nice pool. However, no chairs to watch fireworks? Why am I sitting on concrete or sand for this? Staff got us lost giving bad directions causing us to miss dining reservation. Most importantly, did not get room type I paid extra for and staff was disinterested in moving us and made it so challenging we could not do it. For what I paid, over $7k for the week, they should have given us the right room or at least fixed it when I spoke with them. $7,000 to look at garbage cans? Nope.