N and I have wanted to stay at the beautiful Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows for a long time. But the cost and the DVC points value is so high, that we didn’t think we would be able to. However, this past visit, we had enough points saved to stay for one night and we jumped at the chance!

The Entrance

The entrance of Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows is absolutely beautiful! Even before entering the resort itself, the island theming is abundant and magical. Before the entrance to the resort is a gorgeous fountain and garden, there are lit tiki torches, and stunning light fixtures.

At check-in, every guest receives a lei. Our two year old, A, absolutely loved it and wouldn’t take it off all day. It adds a special touch and makes it really unique as well as a fun and free souvenir.

The Lobby

As with all DVC resorts, the lobby is magnificent. Soaring ceilings, a fantastic glass chandelier, and a central garden and statue surrounded by island flowers give a sense of grandeur and majesty. There is a large seating area with comfortable couches, the quick serve restaurant and minimart, Capt. Cook’s, Trader Sams, and the gift shop, BouTiki.

In the lobby, there was a woman with a booth. She was making and selling clips and headbands with Orchids. They were really pretty and fun, so N got one for me, and one for each of the girls, my mother-in-law also got one for herself, and two as souvenirs.

Upstairs, there is the Kona Cafe, Tambu Lounge, the Spirit of Aloha dinner show at Luau Cove and Moana Mercantile. There is also a Monorail station.

Exiting out the back of the lobby, leads to the rooms, and the main resort common area. Here, a super special store has the delicious Dole Whip and Pineapple Floats available at the Pineapple Lanai.

The Room/Bungalow

In most DVC resorts there are several types of rooms. The Poly only has two choices.

• The Poly only has one room type, the Studio, which sleeps up to 5. It has a queen sized bed, a queen size sleeper sofa, and a pull down bed. It includes a kitchenette with a mini fridge, sink and counter space.
• However, the Poly also has a special rooming option, the Bungalow, which is a little cabin on the lagoon and sleeps 8. It includes with a master bedroom, a second bedroom, a hall bathroom, full kitchen, living area, two pull down twin size beds and a queen sized sleeper sofa.

The rooming estimates as always account for sleeping on the sleeper sofas. While this may work for many people, others may find it crowded. For this trip, N and I were able to grab a bungalow for one night. As we had 6 people, this was the only option for us.

The Bungalow

To reach the bungalows, you need to go through the lobby and then follow the paths all the way past all of the main buildings. Then you go onto a beach area with a boardwalk that leads to the different bungalows. Before each group of three bungalows is a gate blocking off access so that only guests staying in a bungalow can access the bungalow area. However, the gate to our bungalow was broken. We first thought it was just our key that was messed up, but the key worked fine for the bungalow door, and later we saw another guest also trying and failing to get the gate to open.

The Details

As usual with DVC, the theming was fantastic. From the light fixtures, to the wood engravings, to the art. All was beautiful and unique. The bungalow was beautiful and really cool.

The Entryway

The bungalow has a small entryway with a little table and then a long hall which opens into the main room. The hall is lined with themed pictures and has a soaring ceiling. To one side is the master bedroom, and to the other side is a second bedroom, and bathroom.

The Main Area

The main area includes a full kitchen, with full sized dining table and a large living area. In the living area is a pull down bed, and the queen sized sleeper sofa.

The Master Bedroom

As with all villas at DVC resorts, the bathroom is something special. At the Polynesian, the rain shower and luxurious Jacuzzi tub did not disappoint.

The Second Bedroom

The second bedroom has a queen sized bed, a lovely window seat, a big closet and a pull down bed.

The Bathroom

The Amenities

All DVC Resort rooms comes with many amenities. The bungalow comes with a fully equipped state of the art kitchen, and a washer and dryer. Per request the resort provides many needed child items, including a pack and play, and highchair. We requested two pack and plays, all items were in good condition, very clean and worked great for A and T. As last time, this really appeals to me as it makes traveling to Disney with a baby so much easier. I didn’t have to worry about traveling with a pack and play or a portable highchair as I knew these were complimentary amenities at the resort.

The Porch

The bungalow as I said is directly on the lagoon. It has a large wrap around porch with a view of the Magic Kingdom, a swing, full patio furniture, and a mini pool.

The view from the porch was great. Directly across the lagoon is the Magic Kingdom, to the left is the Grand Floridian and to the right is the Contemporary. Looking back towards the resort the main lobby house is an impressive sight.

Another perk of the incredible view was the sitting on our balcony and enjoying the new fireworks show, Happily Ever After, over the castle. There are even speakers on the balcony where the music is piped directly, with a special control to turn it on or off as well as to adjust the volume. We had a great view of the fireworks, but sadly were a bit too far to see most of the projections on the castle.

After the fireworks, another show started, the Electrical Parade! We had a great view of that as well. The boats go across the lagoon right by the bungalow.

The porch has an excellent view, and we quite enjoyed our private show of the fireworks and parade. However, due to the weather being so cold we were unable to enjoy the pool. I would have loved to spend more time outside, possibly eating or relaxing on the lounge chairs or in the swing. However, there were tons of little bugs all over the glass doors inside and out. There is a side door to the porch off of the master bedroom, but it was covered in spiderwebs and bugs. There were also several bugs inside the bungalow. I went around killing them, which is something I don’t appreciate at home and was very upset to have to do on vacation, much less at a Disney resort.

It was really gross. This was very surprising to me. I have been to Disney many times year round and January is the least bug active time there. Bugs may be everywhere, but Disney has much less than most because of their thorough bug treatments. I have never had so many bugs in January, in Disney. It was very surprising and not so pleasant.

The Resort Extras

In all DVC resorts there are many resort features for guests. These include a pool and specialty features that depend on the resort. Most include movie nights and movie rental, a bonfire, and special activities. The pool area at the Poly looked awesome. Sadly, it was quite cold when we were there so we were unable to enjoy it.

Location

Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows is one of the first Disney resorts, it is right next to the Transportation and Ticket Center, directly across the lagoon from the Magic Kingdom. From our balcony as I said, we had a great view of the Magic Kingdom. There is also direct transportation to the Magic Kingdom from the resort via Disney busing, the monorail or the ferry. The monorail line now goes includes stops at the Magic Kingdom, the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, and the Contemporary. This is a huge benefit of staying at the Poly. There are bag checkers and metal detectors at the station, so that after an extremely short line, you can board the next monorail and go past the long lined bag checks at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom.

Final Remarks

Our stay at the Polynesian started off on the wrong foot. We had hoped to get the kids fed and to bed early. We figured an early night for them would be really good. However, even though we had done advance check in that morning, and actual check in is at 4pm we were not given a bungalow until 6pm. We were extremely disappointed.

All of the lights in the bungalow are controlled via digital switches. While this was very cool, it was a little confusing and that made it quite difficult to use for our short stay.

The service from the bungalow itself was incredible. A call to bell services to get our bags the next morning resulted in a knock on the door five minutes later. Usually the wait for bell services is around 30-60 minutes. This was quite nice.

For the price, this was not worth it. We are very happy that we got to stay at the Poly and it was really beautiful but that was really it. The bungalow is basically the same size as a two bedroom villa. The only differences are the slightly bigger kitchen and living area, and the porch.

I would much rather spend almost half the price and stay at a two bedroom villa at the next most expensive Disney Resort, The Grand Floridian. This will still provide the same view of the Magic Kingdom, possibly even a better one. The same monorail benefits would also be there. In fact, that is what I plan on doing next time we want to have an extra special trip.

It’s also worth noting that the brand new cabins at Copper Creek are also 1/3 less of the expense of the Poly cabins. While it was fun to stay at the Polynesian, and a cool experience, I don’t expect to do it again.

Room size and comfort: B

Amenities: B-

Theming: A

Staff: A

Pool: A

Activities: A

Cleanliness/Bugginess: D

Cost: D

Overall Grade: C